2016 SFG in Brooks, Ga

Now that all that cleaning and rearranging of my junk has temporarily ended, I can get back to gardening.  Garden Update 05/01/16.

Yesterday I harvested my second batch of Fava Beans that I planted last fall.  Yummy.




Yesterday I also harvested my leeks that I planted last fall from Bonnie transplants.  They were not as big as I like but they were bolting so they had to be harvested ASAP.


Here is my 4 x 4 of broccoli I transplanted into the garden in the early spring.  The heads are just forming and I hope they have time to fill out before it gets too hot.  We are having a couple days of below average temps so maybe they will make it.  I used tulle to cover them and also put a shade cloth on the west side of the bed.


The peppers are growing slowly but have set a few peppers. Three regular bell peppers, three cherry bell peppers, one pimento, and one unknown.


My 3 x 8 pea bed.  Alaska English peas on the left flowering and just starting to set peas, Anna Sugar Snaps in the middle have been producing for a while, and my Tom Thumb English peas on the right are setting on.  It won't be long before a big harvest.


My 4 x 8 bed of potatoes.  They just started flowering and no sign of diseases yet.


A 3 x 8 bed of beans.  On the right are baby limas and on the left beside the trellis are Fortex Pole Beans planted 4/20/16.


Swiss Chard in a 2 x 2 between my Tomatoes


Kale in a 2 x 2 between my Tomatoes.


Strawberries in a 2 x 2 between my Tomatoes.


And my Daikon Radish pods I am saving for seed.  The plants are just covered with pods.  Just hundreds of pods.


Spinach is bolting and I will be cleaning the bed out this week and planting summer squash and Zuchinni.

Tomatoes are doing real well and setting on a few fruits.  No sign of diseases yet.

The winter squash and cucumbers are just now peeking out of the ground.

I planted a couple plants just outside the kitchen door in pots.  Two New Big Dwarf Tomatoes and two pots of Baby Persian Cucumbers with a Malibar Spinach plant to test out.

Wow, very nice photos yolos.  Everything looks strong and healthy.  Is that Dwarf Blue Kale?  It looks familiar to me. 

I had to immediately harvest some onions because they also began to bolt.  Nice haul on the beans too.

Gorgeous pics, Yolos. I know what I'll do for therapy next winter -- come back over here and look at pictures. 

Windmere wrote:Wow, very nice photos yolos.  Everything looks strong and healthy.  Is that Dwarf Blue Kale?  It looks familiar to me. 

Those are Bonnie transplants.  I think the label just said curly kale.

Amazing garden, Yolos!!!  I'd love to see an areal of your garden.
Do you use manure in your MM?  What kind?

Do you eat any of the daikon pods?  They are one of my fave snacking and salad fixin' foods.

CC

CapeCoddess wrote:Amazing garden, Yolos!!!  I'd love to see an areal of your garden.
Do you use manure in your MM?  What kind?

Do you eat any of the daikon pods?  They are one of my fave snacking and salad fixin' foods.

CC

I will see if I can get some type of over head shot of the garden.  I ate the daikon pods when they were very young.  They are a bit tough now but maybe if I stir fried them they would soften up.  I make my own compost.  Mostly leaves and grass or garden trimmings.  Then I buy a lot of different bagged composts (this year is black kow cow manure, chicken compost, mushroom compost, cotton compost, earthworm castings, and two other composts I cant remember right now) and mix it 50% with my homemade compost.

Yolos, Always a pleasure visiting your garden.

That is a sweet garden Yolos.

I grow daikon radishes for microgreens in the winter. I've got a ton of seeds. Can I sow those same seeds outside in the MM and let them mature? I've never seen the pods before.

Yes!

CapeCoddess wrote:Yes!

Okay I'm on it. Tks CC.

Hallelujah! Gorgeous, yolos!

I have found the most satisfying part of gardening is just sitting back and marveling at a raised bed that has just had compost added and is ready to plant.


It is also satisfying to eat the fruits or our labor.  Carrots planted last fall and harvested yesterday - Danvers


Here is one of 16 broccoli plants.  The head is about the size of a golf ball.  With this cool weather we are having, maybe they will have time to grow to full size.

I want a carrot.....

yolos wrote:I have found the most satisfying part of gardening is just sitting back and marveling at a raised bed that has just had compost added and is ready to plant.

+1

It is also satisfying to eat the fruits or our labor

+2

Scorpio Rising wrote:I want a carrot.....

I know, me too! And I already had one recently that was missed from last years harvest. It was delicious! A Danvers 126. I need to go plant some more of those. I think I will do that right now! Thanks for the motivating photo, yolos!
CC

yolos wrote:I have found the most satisfying part of gardening is just sitting back and marveling at a raised bed that has just had compost added and is ready to plant.


It is also satisfying to eat the fruits or our labor.  Carrots planted last fall and harvested yesterday - Danvers


Here is one of 16 broccoli plants.  The head is about the size of a golf ball.  With this cool weather we are having, maybe they will have time to grow to full size.

Amen.  I feel the same way about a freshly prepared box.  Wow, those are some gorgeous carrots.   I hope the weather stays nice for your broccoli.  It looks good too.

Garden Update – 05/10/16
 
Finally all my beds are now planted.  Some were planted last fall, some planted early spring, and some planted in the last week or two.  Here is what I have growing now,
 
AquaDolce Fava Beans – 2 x 8 and 2 whiskey barrels, planted late last fall
Kennebec and Russet Norkotah Potatoes – 4 x 8, planted early spring
Lady Cowpeas – 4 x 4, planted 4/24
White Acre Cowpeas – 4 x 4, planted 5/4
Garlic – 4 x 8, planted last Oct 30
Daikon Radish and a few Leeks – 4 x 4, planted last fall (radish bolted waiting on seed)
Tromboncino Squash - (not germinated yet), Large Pot
Butterbush Winter Squash - Large Pot
Butternut Winter Squash, Large Pot
Muncher Cucumber -  Large Pot
Little Leaf Cucumber - (pickling), Large Pot
County Fair Cucumber - (pickling) , Large Pot
Persian Baby Cucumber – Large Pot
Silver Queen Corn – 4 x 8, planted 5/09
Tomatoes – 2 plants each, 8 different varieties
Swiss Chard – 2 x 2
Curly Kale – 2 x 2
Strawberries – 2 x 2
Alaska English Pea, Anna Sugar Snap pea, Tom Thumb English Pea – 3 x 8, planted early spring
Fortex Pole Bean and Thorogreen Bush Lima – 3 x 8, planted 4/20
Emerite Pole Bean and Dragon Tongue Bush Bean – 3 x 8 , planted 5/5
Broccoli – 4 x4 , planted early spring
Bell Peppers (red, yellow, green, baby bells, pimento) – 4 x 4
Bosnian Pole Bean – 4 squares planted 5/9
 

The Fava Beans, English Sweet Peas and Broccoli will be finished up in the next few weeks, Potatoes and Garlic a little later.  To be replaced by Pink Eye Purple Hull Cowpeas, Summer Squash and Zucchini, Okra, Edamame, Rattlesnake Pole Beans, Henderson Lima Beans, Flamingo Pole Beans, maybe Lazy Housewife Pole Beans.  Two many pole beans I think.?? Sweet Potatoes maybe.

I like your variety of cucumbers.  I have that soon to be vacant box of garlic to figure out and I'd like to plant some cukes.  I'm also thinking about squash and Tromboncino might be the way to go.

I have your beat by one in the number of tomatoes I have going. 

Is it very hard to grow edamame?  We all like it, but my daughter especially likes it.

Windmere wrote:I like your variety of cucumbers.  I have that soon to be vacant box of garlic to figure out and I'd like to plant some cukes.  I'm also thinking about squash and Tromboncino might be the way to go.

I have your beat by one in the number of tomatoes I have going. 

Is it very hard to grow edamame?  We all like it, but my daughter especially likes it.

My Tromboncino did not germinate.  I have now planted 4 pots indoors trying to get them to germinate.  I only want two plants so if they all germinate I could give you a couple.  But don't hold your breath on mine germinating. They require a trellis or a lot of room to grow.

I found the Edamame easy to grow except the variety Disoy.  I tried two years to get it to germinate and it just wouldn't germinate.  I have grown Envy and Butterbean Edamame from seed from Botanical Interests sold at Pike's.  What I liked about the Edamame is that they all became ripe at the same time.  So you just cut it off at ground level and then pick up the whole plant and it is then easy to harvest.

Yolos, Nice variety of veggies. Do you also put some up? Can, dry, blanch/freeze?

sanderson wrote:Yolos, Nice variety of veggies.  Do you also put some up?  Can, dry, blanch/freeze?

I fill a freezer full (blanch and then freeze).  Last year I tried canning (carrots) and dehydrating a few other things just to try to see how well it goes.  My goal this year is to can some things (beans, corn, and cowpeas) so all I have to do is open the jar and reheat.  Don't know if everything will be mushy or not but I am going to experiment.

Guess what I will be doing the rest of the evening.  Shelling English Sweet Peas and Fava Beans.  Then Blanching and Freezing.


Top picture is Fava Beans and bottom picture is English Peas.

yolos wrote:

Windmere wrote:I like your variety of cucumbers.  I have that soon to be vacant box of garlic to figure out and I'd like to plant some cukes.  I'm also thinking about squash and Tromboncino might be the way to go.

I have your beat by one in the number of tomatoes I have going. 

Is it very hard to grow edamame?  We all like it, but my daughter especially likes it.

My Tromboncino did not germinate.  I have now planted 4 pots indoors trying to get them to germinate.  I only want two plants so if they all germinate I could give you a couple.  But don't hold your breath on mine germinating. They require a trellis or a lot of room to grow.

I found the Edamame easy to grow except the variety Disoy.  I tried two years to get it to germinate and it just wouldn't germinate.  I have grown Envy and Butterbean Edamame from seed from Botanical Interests sold at Pike's.  What I liked about the Edamame is that they all became ripe at the same time.  So you just cut it off at ground level and then pick up the whole plant and it is then easy to harvest.

Thank you very much for the offer yolos.  Now that I've researched Tromboncino a little more (size), I'm going to not accept.  Wow, they are quite huge! 

I think I'm going to focus on the edamame for that extra space I have.  I'm going to try a variety called "Sayamusume."  It's supposed to be exceptionally prolific.  I've noticed, on several websites, that germination of edamame can be tricky.  Did you ever have any difficulties germinating yours?

PS:  How did it go with the Fava Beans and peas?

I finally harvested some of my fall and early spring planted veggies and replanted with summer veggies. 

I had to harvest my 4' x 4' of broccoli planted in early spring because the beads were starting to separate.  They were not big, largest was baseball size.  But they are delicious.  I replanted that bed with 12 squares of Okra and 4 squares of Lazy Housewife Pole beans.

My 2' x 8' filled with Fava Beans planted late last fall finally all were harvested.  They turned out to be something I will plant again next fall.   I just planted Beauregard Sweet Potatoes in that bed.

I am still waiting on the Potatoes in a 4 ' x 8' area to be ready to harvest sometime in June.  I will replace them with Pinkeye Purple Hull cowpeas.

Also, still waiting on my final harvest of English Shell Peas in my 3' x 8' bed.  The Tom Thumb peas didn't last long and I won't be planting them again.  Not enough production for the space required.  The Alaska Peas are now at the top of the 8 foot trellis.  I have harvested a lot of peas and still have hundreds of peas almost ready to harvest.  Flowers have all gone so it won't be long before I fill that bed with Rattlesnake Pole Beans and Henderson Lima Beans.

Still waiting for the Daikon Radish Pods to dry up so I can save the seed.  They are starting to turn yellow so they are almost ready to be harvested.  I will replace them with Edamame.

My 4' x 8' bed of Garlic that were planted last fall are just about ready to harvest.  Leaves are starting to turn brown.  I will replace them with Silver King Corn.

I have two Whiskey Barrels that were planted with Fava Beans late last fall.  They have stopped producing and I just need to find the time to cut down the plants and put them in the compost pile.  The Fava beans have a lot of green material to add to the compost pile and the beans were delicious.  I will replant the two whiskey barrels with Parthenocarpic (sp) zuchinni.  I will have to cover them with tulle or the SVB's will get them.

I still have to finish building my HD Block Bed so I have somewhere to plant my Flamingo Pole Beans and maybe some Amaranth.  I have been slowed down because I am in the process or fertilizing, cutting off infected leaves and spraying my Downy Mildew infected Tomatoes and Cucumbers.