Show your gardens

[Los_Control]

Sigh .... it's growing 

 

[Ulu]

No veggies here, but my wife gets them from all the relatives. Then, since the woman has no interest in cooking, half of them rot and go back into the ground. Relatives are dying to give the stuff away and so she always takes too much.

 

But she’s going great guns on the gardening, and we are up to our earlobes in ornamentals.

 

 

 

 

[Los_Control]

1 hour ago, Ulu said:

But she’s going great guns on the gardening, and we are up to our earlobes in ornamentals.

A whole lot of time & effort has gone into that, it looks beautiful & relaxing.

She gets a "AttaBoy"  I can only imagine how many "honey doo's" you were involved in ... you get a attaboy too 

 

 

[Plymouthy Adams]

Nice patio setup.....looks totally inviting.

 

I have eaten onions, banana peppers, tomato, cucumber, strawberries out of the garden so far this year.  Today and as I type, mums is making some dill pickles from this morning crop of cukes.  There is a mess of green beans to pick also and my pick these later today or tomorrow.   My squash was a bust this year for some reason, zucchini still coming on strong and of course, okra this year, just a couple plants to see how it would do in a bucket garden.  The lady finger peas, jury still out on them, never grew these before either and so hard to comment on the possible crops here.

[Ulu]

22 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

Nice patio setup.....looks totally inviting.

 

I have eaten onions, banana peppers, tomato, cucumber, strawberries out of the garden so far this year.  Today and as I type, mums is making some dill pickles from this morning crop of cukes.  There is a mess of green beans to pick also and my pick these later today or tomorrow.   My squash was 

Well a little more encouragement was all I needed. I can’t take too much credit here. I fix fences and ironwork. Sometimes I rototill. The aquariums you can barely see are mine.

 

Judy planted almost everything you see except sod and big trees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[keithb7]

We live in a bit of a summer desert here in Kamloops. Watering restrictions are enacted every summer. Is having a green lawn a carried-over trend from the palace of Versailles? A sign on wealth? A notch in society? Lush lawns and gardens can be rewarding. Stress reducing. Cooling. Visually appealing. They can be a PITA too. 
 

This year we let our lawns dry up to become basically straw. We indeed have conserved a lot of water and carbon in the process. Carbon? How so?
 

Well no 4 stroke lawn mower running every week. No 2-stroke weed whacker running weekly. No 3/4T Dodge diesel truck taking away bio yard waste to the compost facility.

I’ve had more time to tend to my flathead Mopars too. I’m less grumpy as it behooves me to drive my truck across town and back to adhere to city rules to recycle bio yard waste. $20 in diesel fuel for one trip. Sure I could accumulate clippings and make less trips. Bagged fresh cut grass turns into rotten stinking silage in about 10 days in 100F weather. Then it spreads just like manure fertilizer in your truck bed. The smell stays there for about 6 months. I could mulch it with the mower which means cutting it more often in 100F weather. 
 

So none of that this year. Good thing too. Because right now the lawnmower won’t run. Carb main jet is plugged with old dried up ethanol residue I’m sure. My ultrasonic cleaner will fix that problem later this fall. The grass will turn green again in the fall. Morning dew returns. Less intense sun. Cooler days. 1, maybe 2 cuts in the fall and we’re good ‘till next spring again.  

I am procrastinating on the carb work. 

Headed back to tend to my Mopars again…

 

Edited August 11, 2022 by keithb7

[Los_Control]

Nothing wrong with your choice if it works for you.

 

For me I have many weeds & wild flowers that grow in my yard .... If I did not water it ....

 

It would turn into a dust bowl in no time at all.

I keep a few girls around the house, the yard is their yard & they would destroy the grass if not kept watered....

 

 

 

[Ulu]

I am unfortunate enough to live in a place where I can hire people to come and mow and prune and rake. My wife is happy enough to plant & trim her ornamental stuff.

 

I contribute a lot of poopy fish water from my aquariums, and that helps keep things growing.

 

That catfish is over 14 inches long now. All these plants are fake though, except for the algae growing on them which is minimal. All the water from my big aquarium goes to an outdoor filter pump tank and showtank arrangement. All the algae grows out there where the sun is & my indoor tank is virtually free.

 

So I just pump water from the tanks outdoors onto my trees, and that brings water out from the indoor tank as well. I will normally just stick a hose in the indoor tank and water with what comes out of the outdoor tank after I stir it all up.

 

This is my wife in the garden shed. You can barely see her there in her robe, but she is out there first thing every morning.

[Kilgore47]

There is a bulb in the back yard that comes up towards the end of summer.  They were here when I bought the place 18 years ago.  When these sprout it's an indication that the dog days are over.  Doesn't mean it's going to get cool - just means that the hundred degree days should be done for this year.  Always look forward to the end of the dog days.  The bloom comes up first and then the leaves.  They are called Oxblood Lily.  The bloom picture is from a couple of years back.

[Los_Control]

On 8/22/2022 at 9:39 AM, Kilgore47 said:

They are called Oxblood Lily.

Those are very cool. The Lily have  a large variety & some really bizarre looking flowers.

Kinda the same deal here, previous home owner must have planted them, they only appear & bloom once a year. They last a very short time ... maybe 3-4 weeks? First time I saw it I showed it to the wife, she asked me what it was? I told her it was a special plant & came from the planet Mars .... Ours are orange & purple. I was hoping to get a picture of them this year thinking mine would come up about the same time as yours, I just never saw them this year.

[Los_Control]

Time for Salsa .... Today is the end of the "summer garden" Will get down to 28F tonight.

One of those days where it is 50F at 6:00am and 42F at noon. The storm is coming in.

So I picked all the fruit. Green tomatoes, Tomatila, 4 kinds of peppers. A cold week end .... Think I will be making & canning Salsa.

I also need to can some more BBQ sauce and sauerkraut ..... No work on the truck this weekend.

 

[Adam H P15 D30]

Moved from the city in June to 5 acres.  Started prepping a garden area, maybe try some winter plantings?

I am a complete novice at this so any tips would be appreciated.  Winter temps range from 30-65 degrees, hot summers and mild fall / spring temps here.  Good news is the PO left me about 2 miles of drip lines so it will all be on a drip watering system.

 

My son breaking the ground

 

Getting there

 

First phase done, a little frosty this morning

 

Still need to figure out what to do with the blackberry bush.  Maybe burn it in winter?

[Los_Control]

What I see is a blank canvas for a artist to create?

I would love to put some of a garden in the ground like corn, it takes a lot of space.  I would add fruit trees I hope to add a few this year.

 

I still prefer boxes where I can. My back just cant handle bending over for planting or weeding, maintenance etc... For working a garden in the ground.

 This 4'x12' is really a nice size. Very cheap to build. 1/4 of it is filled with logs & branches, then topsoil from a local dirt supplier, then 6"-8" of store bought bags of garden soil on top. The garden soil is mixed with compost and cow manure.

I bury eggs, coffee grounds .... when I plant I buy a dozen cans of sardines from the dollar store & bury the fish.

I'm constantly working on improving the soil. You can do the same in the ground, for me a container is easier.

 

Also you can create a hoop house simply by adding rebar with 18" sticking out of the soil, A 10' stick of 1/2" pvc pipe slid over the rebar bend it over to the other side & slide that end onto the rebar. You have a nice "hoop" truss to hang plastic over, creating a unheated green house for the chilly winter months.

You can remove in the summer or hang bird netting on it for critter protection. The netting also provides shade in the heat of the summer. ..... Just saying that containers have a lot of advantages. I want to build at least 2 more.

Covering the ground with weed barrier & beauty bark .... adding some bushes & flowers in the ground to attract bees.

Couple chairs & a table in the shade under the tree.

This is what I mean by a blank canvas & you are the artist creating something over time

 

The photo above is late January or early February where I planted my onions. Fall time is when you plant garlic.

The garlic will come up early spring & should be ready same time as onions.

The wooden boxes would be spinach, lettuce, broccoli, beets that I planted in September & been cutting salads off of through the winter.

This would be early spring around May with the leafs appearing on the tree, grass starting to turn green from dormancy.

The garlic & onions are almost ready to harvest. I have tomato & peppers started in the bed.

The wooden box on the left the salad plants are going to seed. I emptied the box and did a fresh spring salad planting.

When it gets too hot for salads I then planted the box with peppers .... I cycled 3 different crops in 1 year in that box.

I cycled the box on the right 2 times ..... The large box is  cycled 2 times & getting ready this month for 3rd this year.

 

So thats my tip ..... Containers are more work to create, easier & more productive to maintain as we get older.

 

This photo I was just showing how crappy my yard is .... I physically can not bend over & pull weeds, taking care of the boxes is easy and fun .... I look at a garden in the ground .... thats work for me.

This photo I took today, in my office or "spare room" I have picked the best 3 plants from the season to keep over winter.

The one on the left is on it's 2nd winter indoors, best pepper producer ever. .... It is a year around hobby.

 

You keep it fun, enjoy the fruits of your harvest .... You can teach your son A great skill of survival.

My Father had a 1/4 acre garden in the ground when I was young. My older brother was forced to work it & weed it ... I was too young. I just sat in it & played ..... My older brother hates gardens & will not participate in one .... He is 70 years old now ....talk gardens to him & his responce is F that!

[Los_Control]

Bad year for onions  

When I bought the onion sets from tractor supply this year, was a week after a winter ice storm ... freezing weather.

They store them outside but they looked good so bought them.

 

Turns out when onions go through a freeze, it tricks them into thinking they are in their 2nd year growing .... Their job on 2nd year is to flower with seeds. Thats what is going on, one after another.

Only thing to do is harvest them early & salvage what I can. Think I will let a few go to seed to collect them ... grow my own next year.