SUGA 2018

countrynaturals wrote:Wow, Sqwib. How many of you are there?   

• When I got home, my Yacon replacements have arrived, I tossed them in the raised bed immediately then a little later the Asparagus came in. I dipped the asparagus bag in water and tossed in the peat moss bag for Saturdays planting. Then I worked on my Asparagus bed, Amanda had just finished cleaning out the rabbits cages, beds were amended with bunny poo, coffee grounds, then another thin layer of sphagnum peat moss.
  
  

• Cleaning out an area for the Hardy Kiwi's, I original wanted to plant three but a few looked as if they had died so I contacted Rare seeds and they sent out a replacement set, anyhow after a few weeks they started to bud so now I need to get 6 in the ground, they're planted pretty tight.
  

Saturday was very productive and I knocked a few things off of my list.

• Saturday morning it was time to hit the recycle center, my main goal this trip was to pick up the double ground mulch and remulch the two front gardens.
  

• It was pretty busy today at the recycle center.
  
  

• Loaded up and headed home.
  

• Todays haul!
  

• Mixed up the amendments and dug a trench and hilled up the center and tossed in the asparagus. Topped with some compost and the earlier removed top soil.
  
  

• I got all my leeks planted, those 2 larger leeks overwintered.
  

• Planted my peppers in the Aquaponics, veggie filter.
  

• Trying Perpetual Spinach this year.
  

• Finished the Kiwi Trellis
  

• Planted my Hardy Kiwi
  

• I seeded half of my yard with some Oats in an effort to try and break up my rock hard soil a bit to allow for better ground absorption. Hopefully the neighbors wont call CLIP on me! I guess I should explain this a little better. The ground is so hard that hardly any water gets absorbed and it fills the yard up like a pond and sits there creating a mess, so I seeded half the yard with oats to hopefully loosen the soil, I'll be adding some sunflowers and alfalfa this weekend
  
• The other half of the yard is grass but I have been seeding in white clover. For the last 16 years or so we have had a dog(s) and their urine wreaks havoc on the yard, I'm hoping both of these ideas work. I also had a pool that was put up in the summer and taken down each fall, this helped compact the soil even more. Grass has been the bane of my existence, planting seed year after year, watching it grow beautifully then be killed. In the front of my house and side, I removed all the grass and put in pavers and gardens.
  
  

2014

• Dinner
  

April 30th

After work I stopped at Lowes and picked up some Mulch for Moms Flower beds, she wanted the Black bagged stuff so it's not for me. lol. I grabbed a couple 10 foot 2x4's to finish the fence and Koi Pond Patio Hugelkultur Bed.

While I was there I was looking for a decent hose, one of those springy ones, the one I have now is a "beotch", its about as flexible as black pipe!
Anyhow, when in Lowes, I came across this Zero G hose that I figured I would give a shot.






May 1st - May 5th

May 5th - May 6th

I got a few small things done this weekend;

• Saturday morning I got a little more work done on the Koi Pond Hugelkultur bed, this is mostly for Aesthetics, I didn't want a plain simple box out front so I tweaked it a bit.
  

• We stopped at Lecks Nursery and Feeney's Nursery and picked up our flowers. I usually get my pond plants from Feeney's but the plants were horrible. My better half and I got the flowers in, we always get the bright red sunpatients, they really pop.
  

• The Spaghetti squash has made an appearance
  

Laura was talking to our neighbor and she was saying that they were gonna hire someone to remove her shrubs, I said you go back over there and thell her well take care of it!!

• This of course meant...
  

• Planted some Swiss Chard.
  

• Tied in the front planters and the planter on the deck to the irrigation line.
  

• I put a valve on every line to give me better control of the watering.
  

• My other project I am working on is trying to restore my yard, half the yard is planted with oats, clover and sunflowers, the other half has been seeded with white clover. Once the dogs kill a spot, I drop down some compost, seed with clover then top with compost.
  

• This week is cleanup week, I'm just trying to get everything back to normal, I decided to remove the small vertical garden.
  

• Cleaned the Koi pond a bit, when we start getting some really hot days, I'll get in the pond and really do a thorough cleanup.
  

• Plants are coming in nicely. Spearmint
  

• Chives
  

• Looks like its time for another chive omelet, pic was from 2016
  

• Sage, Phlox, Horseradish, and Chocolate mint . The sage died back completely this year but last year it held onto its leaves all winter, very odd.
  

• Oats are doing well
  

• There's always one knucklehead.
  

• Last years leeks, I may save for seeds
  

• The Cape Gooseberry in this planter is doing real well.
  

• Something has been munching on the Comfrey, this was a good call planting the comfrey here, the turtles love hanging here.
  
  

After work today, I had the joy of replacing a bad pond pump in the back yard pond, thankfully I had a spare pump. I also tore out all of my periwinkle in the front garden and will reseed with crimson clover.

• Finally getting some flowers on my cucurbits.
  

• I guess its time to stat spraying with some Bt.
  

• I think I'm going to thin out the Spaghetti Squash next year.
  

June 12th, 2018

• Testing out the "Perpetual Spinach" again. I gotta say I'm really liking this stuff, I may dedicate more space to this plant next year.
  

• Awesome dinner.
  

• Helping mother nature with the spaghetti squash.
  

• The only female so far.
  

• Aquaponics, veggie filter
  

• Front Planter
  

• Hugelkultur bed #2 Section #3
  

• Hugelkultur bed #2 Section #4 [L-R  Cherokee Purple -  Jalapeno - Rutgers - Box Car Willie - Jalapeno]
  

June 13th - 15th, 2018

I have been following my Gardening Strategy as outlined in the beginning of this post and it seems to be working out rather well, the only thing I haven't done is side dress with compost after the plants had flowered, but it wasn't needed.

• This Artichoke is jammed up in between the Spaghetti Squash and Bee Balm. Bee Balm is just starting to flower.
  

• This imperial star Artichoke is on the retaining wall in front of the fence.
  

• Artichoke with Rosemary, Blackberry, Marigolds and some unidentified plant I'm letting grow.
  

• Hugelkultur bed #2 Section #4
  

• Left Raised bed on hill
  

• Blueberries, Comfrey, Maypops, Hollyhock.
  

• Some random pictures of how I have been managing my new strategy, "nothing is removed" and "Interplanting". This would drive my Mom nuts! If there's a bare spot, I put something there like crimson clover, trimmed plants, bark, onions that sprouted etc...
  

Every now and then I'll dig in an old bagel, bread, some paper etc... I also add kraft packing paper, thin cardboard and tuck them in the back of the beds.

BlackjackWidow wrote:So many things to admire!   I'm especially enjoying watching the progress of your Hugelkultur beds. I would really like to try this, once my "life beyond gardening" settles down enough.

I really wish I had enough land to do this on a yearly basis.

• Hoping this is my Sunchoke.
  

• I was going nuts trying to figure out what this was, I'm pretty sure its Crimson Clover that dropped its petals.
  

• I was going to remove this vertical tower next year but the Jalapenos do so dam good here. I think I may leave it be. Maybe it's all the beer I pour in it? Quick explanation... I have a beer meister and the first pour is always foam, this foam gets dumped in this vertical tower. Looks like I'm making Poppers next week!
  
  

CapeCoddess wrote:Amazing!  So much going on in your yard!

• This is my neighbors yard, this is where I removed all of his hemlock shrubs? Anyhow I was afraid he would spray poison everywhere so I planted him a garden (per request from his wife), Basil, Eggplants, Tomatoes, marigolds, sunflowers and White clover. I go over there once a week and clean out the weeds and pinch the basil. I love my neighbors and have no problem taking care of a garden for them, plus it keeps the poison bottle use at a minimum.
  

• Not a whole lot going on in SQWIBS garden, I planted quite a few Okra seeds in various spots, trimming some plants here and there, trench composting quite a bit, working on my Rainwater Catchment/Diverting system. Things are going pretty good, I am battling some kind of Fungus on my Box Car willie plant, removed my Cape Gooseberry from the front Hugelkultur bed and am having some Issue with my Matts Wild Cherry.
  
  

• I'm a novice with Bee Balm, it go real leggy then flopped, I now know I need to cut it back in early spring. I'm leaving it be for now because its been bringing in humming birds.
  

• I'm real happy with my "Mini Guilds, this one has Maypops, Blueberries, Comfrey, Hollyhocks (that I haven't seen yet) and I just planted some Okra seeds, but I dont expect them to do anything, let alone sprout. When I trim around the yard a bit I toss it in this guild, this is two of the turtles favorite spot.
  
  

• This guild wasn't really planned, it just happened, there s a rosemary in there that needs to be moved to the front, also Blackberry, Artichoke, marigolds, some weed that I've been using as a chop and drop. I like to leave all this fill in because its perfect relaxation spots for the turtles.
  

• Here is a video of a poor attempt at capturing a hummingbird on video, however the video does give you an idea of how things are doing in my garden. I was out playing with my Rainwater harvesting/diverting setup and trying to film that.
  

Roseinarosecity wrote:Your garden looks great; I especially enjoyed hearing the rain in your video, because in Southern California it is so dry and hot today.
R

• I got a little done this weekend, Friday after work I started digging out the pathway stones and a few inches of soil, we decided to put in a mini rain garden here. When it rains the water runs down this path and onto the patio towards the drain, I'm trying to catch some water and channel the water to the drain a little better.
  

• Saturday, Laura and I stopped at HD to Look at some flowers and once there decided to grab these. Our game plan was to look at what HD had then go to a nursery,  but I was actually more impressed with HD's choices, thats pretty sad!
  
  

• I had Sam help me out, after all the rocks and soil were dug out I cut the lawn and had Sam rake the grass clippings in the rain garden, I then topped with a few small bags of peat moss and 5 gallon bucket of my compost and about a 1/4 cup of Blood Meal. I then mixed everything up with a few inches of the clay soil. Sam planted the new plants for me then mulched the top. The marigolds got beat up a bit when I separated them, I had quite a few up on the hill all growing in a clump. My only concern is this area gets 5 hours of sun from afternoon till evening, I'm hopping its enough. I tested the garden out with a 55 gallon drum of water 90 percent full. I pumped the water out in about 10 minutes and it caught at least half of the water before it went towards the drain.
  

• I also wanted to try setting up another trellis from the deck. I want to grow Honeydew here next year, as a test I set it up and tossed in a few Cantaloupe plants from HD, This trellis is removable.
  

• I had these stakes left over from when I purchased some landscape edging for diverting the rain water on the patio, these stake the bottom of the trellis nicely.
  

• The pepper plant bounced back. To be honest, I'm a bit confused as to what it is, I had it labeled as a Tabasco but I think it was replaced with a Corno di Toro Rosso?
  
  

• Turtle Guild (that's what I call it now, they love it here!)
  

• Artichoke, you really got to watch these guys, they start to open very quickly, I just got this guy in time.
  

• I am really impressed with the Spaghetti Squash plants, I think there are at least 6 Squash so far.
  

• This is what happens when the pepper is bigger than the plant, sunscald.
  

• These Poblanos are earmarked for some Chili Rellenos, woohoo!
  
  

• It's pretty awesome when you are having a discussion with your spouse on where to go out for lunch and you both agree you would rather eat at home knowing there's some home grown veggies waiting.
  

• This morning I got a little surprise, my Koi pond was half drained, looks like I'm gonna be late for work today! The veggie filter outlets got plugged and the water was running out of the veggie filter underneath the pond, I usually have the pump that feeds the veggie filter higher up in the main pond just for this reason, somehow it had dropped to the bottom of the main pond. I fixed the problem and added half the water back, I'll top it off tonight and tomorrow so I don't shock the fish.
  

AtlantaMarie wrote:Goodness, you've been busy!  And it looks great!  Even with the aphids...

• Me learning how to use the camera incorrectly!!!
  

• Heres the pic I was trying to take.
  

• Weeds serving another purpose.
  

• 2nd artichoke from this plant
  

• First flower on the Purple Thai Yard Long Beans
  

• One of my pollinators hard at work on the comfrey.
  

• Sunflower for the birds.
  

• I learned last year to pull the Cherokee purples before they are ripe or they split like a 17 yr old married couple.
  

• Minor split on top
  

• What the hell is wrong with my Rutgers? The plant and fruit look OK, I'm wondering if it was a seed mix up or some funky cross or something, it looks like a Tigerella or Red Zebra. I ordered these seeds from Bakers Creek.
  
  

• Red Zebra (image from internet)
  

[url=http://croatianseeds-store.com/images/stories/virtuemart/product/red zebra.jpg][/url]

• Yay, a viable zucchini.
  

• Eggplants are doing nicely, the Listada di Gandia set fruit much quicker than the Black Beauties and the plants are 25% larger. This one needs to be picked soon
  

• The spaghetti squash took over the neighborhood, I think my neighbor is going to have a good harvest this year, lol. This is the first Squash that was green, the rest all started out tannish/white.
  

• Everything looks great from a distance.
  

• Anyhow here's a few pics of the tomato and plant.
  

• There is also rain in the forecast, thank goodness.
  

• Found this guy, not happy. I smacked him around a bit and said, "go tell your friends they'll get the same if they show their faces around here"
  

• Some random garden pics.
  

• Chicken, Feta, Egg, Red Onion, Chopped popper and Perpetual spinach wrap.
  

• Popper burger - Burger, popper, Am. cheese, red onion, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mustard (finishing up my poppers, lol)
  
  

• Turkey club, (shoulda' toasted it)
  

• A Sulcata that we are fostering until we can find her a home. Strawberry all over her face lol.
  

• Apparently I'm not the only one that likes a good butt scratch.
  
  
  

• There's also a volunteer pumpkin plant that appeared on his side with an itty, bitty pumpkin.