PNW May updates :)

I put two toms out today...no cover, no protection. I'll be putting 4 out tomorrow. Living dangerously!

Deb, the one thing that my hoop houses can't do is keep tomatoes warm all summer. I built my green house for tomatoes and peppers in the summer time. Isn't that awful?! Everybody else has a greenhouse to extend seasons or winter gardening. I need one for the middle of summer!

@Boffer I was thinking about doing something under poly for tomatoes. The cover we have with a frame looks good for peppers and eggplant BUT not tall enough for most tomatoes. That is why I was so jazzed with yours.

@Rose, almost all of my determinants are in their permenant homes (big pots) and the indetermenants are in 1 gallon pots waiting until I'm less afraid. I just have WAY to many tomatoes!! Got to find good homes for more of them.

I have been eying the grafted toms I saw at Wilco today......been debating in my head if the extra expense is worth it or not.

Deb's same here.....to many tom's but....we are going to make it work!....their our babies *promised hubby we wont be growing so many next year* some can share a few wine barrels that we have also.....

boffer.....hubby bought me a small green house this spring a 5x6

we are going to try and grow our first cantaloupe in there along with a couple peppers and some tom's.....which tom's are you going to put out doors and which ones are you going to keep in the green house over the summer?

this is what we have....any sugestions from anyone would be great

5 amish paste

3 brandywine.....one not doing so well

4 marglobe...... the only det we have

2 bradley

2 rainbow

yellow pear

1 sweetie

5 jubilee

3 volunteer from last year....yellow cherry of some sort

hugs

rose

ooops not 5 amish paste....but 5 super italian paste....not sure why i thought they were amish paste....we are going to grow an amish pumpkin

hugs

rose

Hi All
I am posting here since this is the closest climate to mine, as well as closest geographically.
I have garlic growing huge, big feed of Kale that has been outside for a month...last night.
Peas planting once a week and first few sets are over 6 inches.
Spinach doing wonderfully in SFG.
Cilantro still under plastic, with celery.
All my tomato plants died the other night with the frost, but no loss I grew TONS.
My concern is the peppers, they were the first thing I planted and have been almost 3 months, but they are teensy weensy maybe 1 inch high.
They are in 3 inch pots with mels mix and not thriving at all.
Everything else seems to be comparable to everyone else's pictures EXCEPT the peppers. Oh I should add that the peppers have been in the greenhouse all this time

I have kept silent about mine because of shame.

My sentiment is more worry, I had BIG PLANS for these for the fall.
I have been reading about peppers that they really need water water water, and I wonder whether being in the mels mix they did not get enough.
It will be fine once they are in the garden because I have timers, but in the greenhouse I am not as regular as I should be at watering.

DONT be SHAMED.... find something else to blame!!

Your peppers sound like my tomatoes

boffer, my grandmother has a greenhouse for growing tomatoes in the summer. (It's one of my "scent memories" from childhood.) She's in Anchorage, AK. Tons of daylight in the summer, but not real hot.

GWN, my peppers didn't grow at all either for the longest time. Then curio talked about up-potting hers and how they took off after that. I hadn't thought mine were big enough to need up-potting, since they sprouted and then just hardly grew. But I did, based on her post, and they really did grow quickly after that. Practically before my eyes! I had to up-pot them again just two weeks later. Mine were grown in Mel's Mix in my sunny windowsill. At six weeks old they had flower buds.

Thanks Gwennifer
I have uppotted 2 of my plants and they do not seem to be doing much either.
oddly enough at least 3 of my 30 pepper plants look healthy, the rest do not, I am going to plant them all today in my hoop house and SFG.
We will see what happens.
We have had record lows at night the past 3 nights with bad frosts, but tonite it is supposed to be quite warm
Thanks for the kind post about my music.

Your man has to be able to sit comfortably on the ground in nothing but a loin cloth for it to be warm enough to plant corn

Might be worth growing corn after all....

I like where you are going with this GWN.

I planted about 20 tomato plants yesterday 8 Zapata, and the rest brandywine. It was so hot I covered the ones out in my open garden with landscape fabric, and the rest were in hoop house with the ends taken off.
I had plans to close it all back up AND cover the open garden ones with cloches... but went out to dinner last night, got home late, forgot.....
It looked like frost on my skylite window, but everything looked just fine. I even left the greenhouse door open overnight and everything looks OK.
As gwen suggested, I up potted most of my peppers into bigger pots.
I have decided to grow Basil in planters this year, measured them out and calculated the square footage in my garden planters was about 1.5 square feet, 6 inches deep. (Those long thin planters that people put on the railings of decks etc, approx 22 inches long and 7 inches wide)
I have several of them I have collected at garage sales and my mothers old garden. I have filled them with MM and figure perhaps I can even bring them in in the fall and have on going basil.
I am growing potatoes in a variety of ways, in the metal mesh rings, in garbage bags, just in the ground, and in my square foot garden.
My artichokes that are second year plants are growing like gangbusters, the first years are STARTING to get bigger.

I am going to post separately about my peas, there are groups of them that look like they are dying PALE ...not sure what to add to the mix.... I am thinking nitrogen (guano) but I thought peas did not need much.??
Garlic looks great, I might harvest a few early as I am getting quite tired of the store bought ones. Does anyone do that?

Might be worth growing corn after all....

Just saying.....


Wonder how early you start "testin the soil"??

Yep, this weather is sure different from last year. I don't want to hear that my spinach is done - it only just started growing!

Debs, I like your notes on corn. I'm going to focus on the apple blossom part! (Wish you lived closer and could come show me how to take care of my new espaliered apple tree.) Most of the blossoms on my tree are done and dropping now.

Can anyone tell me what I should expect of lettuce direct-sowed in April? I barely have more than sprouts still (I posted a pic in this thread earlier) and now it's getting so hot. Am I not likely to get a garden fresh salad this year?

GWN, I love your ambition. Are all the potato methods just because you can? Or are you researching what's going to work the best for you? I'm sending happy pepper thoughts your way. You are our pepper hero here, remember? I hope it's not your mix that's the problem. When you up-potted, how did the roots look?

I'm beginning to feel a bit desperate about my beans. I do so want them to sprout, but no sign yet. (My first beans). I'm making myself wait until next weekend to give up and re-sow if they don't show themselves, based on the germination time and temp chart on page 252. But it's hard! My carrots are all up, right on time according to the chart. I keep reminding myself that.

to feel a bit desperate about my beans. I do so want them to sprout, but no sign yet. (My first beans). I'm making myself wait until next weekend to give up and re-sow if they don't show themselves, based on the germination time and temp chart on page 252. But it's hard!

Beans will not sprout until they are good and ready to, and when that happens you can almost watch them pop out of the ground.
It HAS to be very warm.
I haven't even planted mine yet.
Last year they took awhile but once up, LOOK OUT, you are out there every day picking beans.... great fun
Yes I do want to stay the pepper queen, but not looking so good right now

HMMMM I would think using a kilt rather than a loin cloth, one might get their corn in way to early...
but then again leather vs wool.

GWEN I just got out to the garden and remembered I had not answered your potato question.

Are all the potato methods just because you can? Or are you researching what's going to work the best for you?

I think you are giving me FAR too much credit here. I am using all these methods basically because I did not have a plan for what to do with the potatoes.
I ordered 2 boxes when I ordered all my seeds, they said that the potatoes would come out in April. I did NOT get them until last week, and I had already given up on getting them, so I had bought more seed potatoes.
So now have have tons of potatoes and no plans, so I am just trying to find the easiest thing to do to get potatoes. The bed I used last year, now has all of my garlic in it.

.

My brother used to choke a lot when he was a toddler (hang on; I remember that I am on a garden forum, I haven't totally lost it yet). The doc used to tell her to hold his hands over his head (like "stick-um up") when he started chocking.

Likely just a way to make your mom feel useful.
I could try some worm tea....... they say its good for what ails ya... even if nothing ails ya

LOL...... cant wait to let hubby and son know what Debs said about how to tell if the ground is ready to plant corn!!!!!! and to think son thought it was cool to pee in the compost pile.....ha ha ha.....this gardening stuff is fun!!

hugs

rose.....

here is a few pics from this weekend hope you all had a great weekend!

our new trellis for our new grape vines.....didnt hubby do a great job! (please ignore the grass )



under our new hoops in our new raised beds



brocs are forming heads...hoping they wont bolt from our heat



both artichokes seem to be doing well in their containers



potatoes



fava bean flower ????



here is what our spinach is doing...they dont look to great



lettuce doing good though....they share the same SFG box as the spinach ...oh...lookie there....a carrot...cant get them to grow in their own squares but they will hide in others......



hugs

rose....who is very tired!