Third Year SFG in Canada

Dropbox is a good solution for photo storage. The images stay on your computer and also sync online so you can share with others. I use it for business so I have a paid plan with lots of storage, 1 TB or 1000 GB (I think its $99/year?). I don't use it for the forums but maybe I should start.

Google Drive is also a good option. 15 GB is included in your free Google account and it can sync the same way as Dropbox.

Please make it stop! The rain that is. It's coming down so heavily right now that I can barely see my SFG from the house. 




The Old Farmer's Almanac planning guide for the next two weeks just arrived in an email.

Sorry about all your rain, TD.  Looking at my local forecast, guess what?  On our local forecast, right in the middle of clear, cloudless and warm days, today has symbols of rain/lightening later this morning and then again later tonight.  We may or may not get it, it is a percentage thing.

I will be prepared with umbrella and rain-jacket, but being a pedestrian it is a pain carting them around but if the worst happens, then it will mitigate the effects.

Interesting, I would have thought lettuce and carrots were not advisable to plant niece that the heat has arrived.

Fiz wrote:Interesting, I would have thought lettuce and carrots were not advisable to plant niece that the heat has arrived.

I thought like you, Fiz.

Today, from the SFG I harvested radishes, onions and garlic scapes. I cut the scapes into short pieces, blanched them and they are now in the freezer. And I almost forgot ... there is a lone strawberry at the edge of the table in front of the onions.

I am trying to install Ross trellis netting on my megatrellis.  My other trellises have Dalen trellis netting which has square holes. The Ross stuff has diamond shaped holes. Because of the diamonds there are no straight edges along the sides and top which makes the Ross netting much more difficult to install. I hate this stuff and now wish I had paid the extra money for the Dalen product. I'm going to have to get Mrs TD to help me.

We got 'er done. It's not pretty but hopefully will be functional. Come on little plants, get a move on and reach for the trellis.

TD, changing the subject: You suggested direct sowing seeds in bottomless plastic cups to keep the rollies and other wee beasties away while the plants get established. Last week I tried your idea in the Salad Bar (sfg) for Armenian cukes and red beans. At the same time, I planted the same seeds in the BTE, directly into the compost, surrounded by wood chips. The plants in the sfg are up and already have their true leaves. There's no sign of the ones I planted in the BTE. I didn't have a problem with my first plantings. I'm guessing the fresh compost and fresh chips hadn't alerted the little monsters yet. These beds had already been used once, so I'm guessing the bad guys were already casing the joint, just waiting for any tender young shoots to emerge. Thank you so much for this great idea. From now on, anything with seeds too big for Jiffy Pellets will get your plastic cup treatment. Nothing will go unprotected into any of my garden beds.

trolleydriver wrote:We got 'er done. It's not pretty but hopefully will be functional. Come on little plants, get a move on and reach for the trellis.

Nice job. I thinks it's very attractive and should be gorgeous covered in green.

I have many open squares and decided to fill in a few with some garden center grown plants. They happened to be half-price today.

I got

• Pinstripe Eggplant
  
• White Eggplant
  
• Super Chili Pepper
  
• Green Sweet Pepper
  
• Stevia (not on sale)
  

If all of my previously planted and store bought peppers plus these new ones produce a a good crop, then we should have an abundance of sweet and hot peppers.

My tomato plants (started indoors) have started to take off, especially the True Black Brandywine tomatoes.

The squash and melon plants in the 3x6 leg of the U-Bed are nice and green and growing well.  The squash (white scallop, acorn and golden zucchini) in the rest of the U-Bed look pathetic ... pale leaves and some yellow leaves. I have a zucchini plant that I put in front of my wire compost bin and it looks much, much better than those in the U-Bed.  There were two different batches of MM made for the U-Bed and I'm wondering if the MM in the 2x6 leg is weak in compost nutrients. I'm going to give that part of the bed a shot of compost and blood meal.

This morning I also picked up some cardboard from the local coffee shop. I'll use this cardboard in the paths around the new beds.

TD, can you post a pic of your poor squashes? I'm wondering if SVB got them since she loves those 'flavors'. Did you check for that?

Btw, your sky-hi trellis is VERY nice!

CapeCoddess wrote:TD, can you post a pic of your poor squashes?  I'm wondering if SVB  got them since she loves those 'flavors'.  Did you check for that?
...

I did not check for SVB but here are some photos.

First, an overview with the squash and melons in the 3x6 leg (on the left) doing well and the squash in the 2x6 (on the right) not so good.




Next up is the good looking Canada Crookneck Squash plant in the 3x6.



Sakata Melon in the 3x6.



White Scallop Squash in the 2x6.




Zucchini in the 2x6.



Acorn Squash in the 2x6.



Zucchini next to the compost bin.



These are the potatoes in the compost bin.




And here are the peas in a 4x4 bed and growing way above the 5 foot trellis.




The Table Top ... first photo showing the Ant Guardian and second photo showing the overflowing Lobelia and Kale on the left and Nasturtiums on the right. The Nasturtiums are winning the battle for used space.

And, a beautiful sturdy trellis.

sanderson wrote:

And, a beautiful sturdy trellis.

Sanderson, your advice made the trellis a success. Thanks.

I also like to look of your trellis. The diamond shaped holes, while I'm sure were difficult to work with, looks really nice! Seeing your trellis makes me wonder if mine is not taut enough.  How taut does a trellis need to be? Mine's kinda floppy at the moment.

Robbomb116 wrote:... How taut does a trellis need to be? Mine's kinda floppy at the moment.

"How taut ..." -  I've got the new trellis quite taut. I could probably use it as some kind of weird musical instrument. If a bird flies into it then that bird will be catapulted across the city.

As for "Mine's kinda floppy at the moment" - 

Very

I'm seriously thinking of trying to tighten it. As maybe it's not as supportive as I thought. The only way to so that would be cable ties at this point, as I doubt I'd be successful at untying my knots to re-tie them.

Robbomb116 wrote:I'm seriously thinking of trying to tighten it. As maybe it's not as supportive as I thought.   The only way to so that would be cable ties at this point, as I doubt I'd be successful at untying my knots to re-tie them.

When mine are too loose, I move one of the rebars a smidge and spread the conduit out. Tightens the netting beautifully.

Like TD, my conduit it attached to my boxes. I do have the rebar I. The ground as well next to the box. I felt like it added extra stability to attach them to the box. So simply moving the rebar isn't the best option for me unless I ditch the idea of having it attached to the box.

But that's probably enough said about my trellis, don't want to hijack TD's thread!

Another nice day for working in the garden. I decided it was time to do something with the material that has been composting in the 3x3x3 bin. I sifted some of it for use on the veggie beds. There is still a ton of material in the bin.

The first thing I noticed was the worms. This big one was right under the surface layer in the compost bin.





This is what the sifted compost looks like.  Smells good too. 





I top dressed the new SFG U-Bed.





Then I decided to remove the wood chips on the two 4x4 old style SFG beds and top dress them with the compost. Here are before and after photos of one of the beds. Please ignore the bamboo sticks.







And both beds together.




The Roma Tomatoes on this plant are getting bigger.





This tiny tomato is just getting started. It's a True Black Brandywine tom.
 


I need to do something about these Daikon Radish plants which are really overflowing out of the 4x4 bed onto the lawn.  The pods are delicious.

Beautiful! They always looks so pretty when they are first composted, don't they?

TD, I can't tell what's going on with your problem squashes. Have to checked the base of the stems for entry holes and/or frass yet?

CapeCoddess wrote:Beautiful!  They always looks so pretty when they are first composted, don't they?

TD, I can't tell what's going on with your problem squashes.  Have to checked the base of the stems for entry holes and/or frass yet?

CC ... I cannot find any signs of a SVB problem. The plants finally seem to be greening up and there is new growth in the centre.  Here are closer photos of the zucchini and acorn squash plants. Maybe our hot humid weather will help them.

Nothing prettier than top-dressing with fresh homemade compost! Did you have any feather friends help you with the worms?