Garden stuff

After my maters got to growing I dug a hole close to each plant. I took a 2 liter bottle, poked a hole in the bottom and cut the neck off. Planted them about half deep. I catch rain water from the drip of the house in buckets and barrels. I fill the bottles about every 3 to 5 days. Most of the containers are empty, looks like I'll be dragging the water hose out soon.
I covered the ground around the maters and middles with newspaper, 2 and 3 layers. Then cover with leaf mulch, sawdust and lawn clippings.

Are you talking about a dog as a critter getter?

Picked my first tomato today, a bit smaller than I would like, but still in June in Minnesota! A couple of others are coloring up. Lots of tomatoes set, peppers not so much.

Tomorrow I dig my garlic, potato onions are all down; so I think they come out, too (both fall planted). I think I will cure em on an old window screen in the front screen porch, shaded, rain won't get at them and its warm out there. Here's hoping that works. Back on the farm we used to cure our spuds and onions on the north side of the empty corn crib; so the porch should work I would think. Once they wilt good enough the potato onions should braid up real nice,they had a real nice set of tops. The garlic was Music, hard stem, them wont braid. I never had much luck with spring planted garlic, but the ones I put out last fall came up big and healthy. I put out some elephant garlic last fall, too. I have no idea what to expect from them.

The first year we grew potatoes we had 15 milk crates of some super and good size ones. And 6 crates of new size ones. Stack them up in the shed, we had them ate by christmas. The next year we had 1/2 crate of little ones. The next year we had 6 little ones. We didn't plant them this year.
Elephant, wild, indian garlic, I found at the vacate lot next to the first house we looked at in '71. I dug up 6 pods and have had it since. Nice to pull up a pod to have with a family dinner.
I have bunch onions. They are white little bunch like what is sold in stores, a bit harder than the others but good. In poor soil they service as a border, but good soil they will take over.
Peas, field peas to some. I grow Top Crop, they are a pinkeye pink hull pea. They don't stain your hands like purple hulls do. But just as good. So far we have put 6 qts. in the freezer.
Contender green beans, the plants are just about gone. Still a few beans on the plants and 42 qts. in the freezer.
Okra, picked the first good sets today. Boiled 12 pods for dinner and cut up 3 qts. for the freezer.
Maters, I have 50 heirloom plants. 2 to 10 of each, what I could find when planting. Mother has 46 Better Boy plants. I have been getting a few, maybe a second row in a bucket of mine and mom's. But today I got 1 1/2 bucket of mine. I guess my stepdad came by and picked their's. I put 4 qts. of their's in the freezer tonight. I'll start on mine tomorrow.
Speckled limas, butter beans. They are ready to pick. Now to find the time.

I always plant some potatoes. Key to them is plant as early as you can. Up here my grandfather always said plant em on Good Friday, but years with early Easters often still had the ground frozen then. Not so much anymore. Anyway this year I did the Good Friday deal and used store bought potatoes from the organic section. Those are not treated to prevent sprouting. Right now they are blooming. They have such nice flowers that my mother even won a blue ribbon at her local county fair with an arrangement of potato flowers one year. The judges loved the arrangement but had a heck of a type figuring out just what they were...

At home my father always planted Norlands for early reds and Kennebecs for the real big ones for most of the stored potatoes. He always bought new certified seed every year and cut his own eyes a week ahead of planting to let the cuts heal. When we dug them, we cured them on the north side of an empty corn crib and bagged up em for winter in feed sacks. The first new potatoes boiled and then with a dab of butter and smothered in creamed new green peas was always a special treat back home.

The potato onions and the garlic did pretty well from a fall planting last year. Right now they are on screens in my front porch for curing. I think I planted them too deep, some of the garlic bulbs were easily 6" down at the top of the bulb. Still the best garlic I have ever grown, if not exhibition size. The potato onions are the best keeping onions there are, too. They almost never go to seed; so once well wilted they can be braided and will keep that way too even in the kitchen if just kept dry. No special care needed at all, and you gotta go a long ways to find a better cooking or salad onion.

I have real sandy soil here; so the key to my harvest is to keep them watered. Potatoes and onions both. Squash and tomatoes, too.

My Butterbush squash are starting to throw female flowers already, too. I think the butternut type are as good eating as any, they keep real well (I still have two from last summer in the kitchen, a little shriveled but neither of them has begun to spoil) and squash borers never bother them. I keep my own seed from these and it holds real well for more than a year, too. Mine come true enough; so they don't seem to have come off hybrids either. I think originally they were Burpee's Butterbush. Nice short vines, and a surprisingly large number of flowers and fruit set for such a small squash plant. Never a string either like you can get with acorns when they are stored for any length of time.

Peppers? not so good this year. I should have stuck with my old favorite, sweet bananas. They never failed me, regardless of the weather. What I have this year are proving to be real fussy about what kind of weather they flower and set fruit in, never had that problem with the sweet bananas.

There will be a few more tomatoes to pick tomorrow. Nothing like what my mother used to get off her Big Boys, but then she had the space and we had the wash tubs to pick into. LOL I like Big Beef, but I only put out three or four plants primarily for slicing tomatoes.

I also like daikon radishes. From the robust tops there should be roots at least a foot and a half long in the next month.

I got my sweet potatoes in late; so I don't really expect much from them, although they are strarting to run a bit now. We shall see. I started my own slips from a grocery store potatoe in a cup of water. That part went well enough, I just hope I had enough growing season left from when I got them out. It is amazing how many slips one can get off a single tuber!

no sir. their are only two kinds: 12gauge and 30.06

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Originally Posted by canebreaker

Are you talking about a dog as a critter getter?

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canebreaker and no1son, it sounds like you guys have tremendous gardens. can't wait until i can kick back from work a little bit and get back to growing some good stuff.

MAKING ANY CHOW-CHOW AND PEPPER SAUCE ? LOOKING GOOD .Thumbs Up

"no sir. their are only two kinds: 12gauge and 30.06"

Dang, in the city limits, can't shoot. I'm looking at a crossbow.
I've had or my family has had a garden as long as I can remember.