Garden progress Pics

[alx]

Thanks Steve.Hopefully one time your up visiting i can share some of the bounty.

Definetly would like a few of you guys to try some of my dehydrated peppers etc...

I grow alot for KCBS and CASI cooks- my sister- and she does awesome making rubs with my spices.

This is my smallest garden in years,but i think that will change with the exchange program- always next year.....

 

[fire it up]

Yeah, thanks for the reply.
Have been using some of the Anaheims but am letting some go to red. The first of my cayenne peppers are starting to turn. Thai chilis are just recently starting to set fruit and my serrano peppers, they took forever but now they have exploded.
Don't have any real japs this year, someone was supposed to buy them and never did so all I have is one plant of no heat jalapenos, which literally have no heat in them at all.
Also have 2 scotch bonnet and 2 white habanero plants but with this cold weather they are really, really behind.
I still need to get (or build) a dehydrator before the fruit gets out of hand and I have so many I have to can 'em or lose 'em.

That storm hitting you will be here in a few more hours but hopefully it won't do much damage, though it did ruin my smoke plans for the day.
Keep up the great work with the garden, it looks really good.

 

[alx]

Thanks man.Storm dropped about a inch and let up.Going to pick stuffing peppers and a watermelon for dinner in a few minutes.

My peppers are just turning red.Remember to let red peppers get mature.

My biggest mistake used to be picking after they had been red only few days.

My paprika stay on for 2 weeks to get a real deep color and flavor...

Good Luck.We will do some swapping eventualy...

 

[beer-b-q]

ALX, those peppers are awesome, I wish mine were that big.

 

[carpetride]

You should really be proud of that garden, like others I've been fighting the weeds this year. Got behind about a month ago and haven't caught up yet. Lots of maters though.

 

[alx]

It rained first 16 days of june so i was fortunate to get out with the tiller and action hoe before that.The tomatoes in particular grew so quick the plants shaded out the light for weeds.I Cover-Crop heavy since garden is on a 3-5% grade and this does help crowd out early spring weeds,but a battle none the less ....







Before the rain in june

 

[alx]

1 month 7 day update...

Started peppers in feb. from seed and most are just getting the color i want






Tomatoes are done basicaly.Canned 200 quarts for extended family.....do not need mor and i like em when its hot-brings sugar out





Have filled sunroom 4 times with 1000 plus tomatoes






left side of 120x100 plot is vine plants.Picked about 70 pounds butternut.Gourds pumpkins doing fine











My big pumpkins are both 6 foot horizontal circumference






Front 120x30 feet is spring/fall area



Leeks planted in may






Need to cultivate






I let my genovese basil and dill -seed out for good creatures to grow


7 inch plus preying mantis finishing off bumble bee






Swallowtail butterflies lay larvae in seeded dill





Fall Peas planted july 26th







Need to cultivate-Dang crabgrass







Long purple eggplant







Broccoli on left.brussel sprout right









cabbage





Beets and Turnips









Some sunflowers that grew heads out of main flower stock










Time to get trenches ready for onion sets,shallots and garlic.

 

[alx]

1 month and 10 days update.


Rained steady since thursday morning







110 peppers doing fine.Getting some yellow.Did not lose a single pepper this year!









This is what tomato patch looked like.Lost 1 of 76.







Today.Cover-crop liked the rain...








Squash,bean,pumpkin etc. area







60 foot trench for garlic and shallots to be planted early november






Snow peas have been producing heavy for weeks













Planted triple row- forty feet long onion sets last week in front of peas
Will use first ones in thanksgiving stuffing-as usual..








Leeks doing great.Will pick all winter and spring










Broccoli and brussels sprout doing awesome again







Eating 3rd one pound head tonite








brussels few weeks away from first picking.Plants 4 feet plus






turnips and beets are producing nicely











ground hog enjoyed a bit of cabbage







Cover-crop coming nicely






2 piles of double shredded leaf compost ready for next year







Astro the formerly ferrel garden patrol cat








Pumpkin that lived and a bunch of gourds i grew








Been another great year-knock on wood!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[fire it up]

Great end of season pics Alex, going out right now to take the last of the peppers off and throw them into the smoker, did away with all my tomatoes a few weeks ago, had a terrible season. Maybe you need to ship me some of that dirt you are using cause you have a great looking steady garden.
What are you growing for a cover crop?
Got about 30 cloves of garlic in the ground a few days ago so first time growing garlic I hope it all works out.

 

[beer-b-q]

Wow, how are you still growing things this time of year?

 

[alx]

I just use annual rye.It sprouts quick its cheap and holds my soil well.Hard to tell from pics,but garden is on a incline.


Everything gets a good amount of my leaf compost and foliar fed.Basicaly started out with a sand box.Garden is very close to water.

 

[alx]

I will have onions and leeks all winter.My brussel sprouts produce untill february.Peas will die after first hard freeze.I keep logs of temps-what i grow and apply that to my growing.Does help to have been doing this most of my life and mom grew up on a succesful veggie/meat/dairy farm....EVERYTHING i grow is from seed and chosen for its production/taste!!! Lowest temp has been 40 degrees.May help that i am surrounded by water which is still warmer then night time lows...

 

[chefrob]

great pics alex! i wish i had the time, space and climate to do that......great job! ever thought about opening a bed and breakfast?

 

[erain]

alex, holy crap that is one heck of a garden you had this year!!!!!

simply awesome. that takes alot of work i know. by the way, we dont call them monarchs up here... its some kinda swallowtail, i think its a black swallowtail to be exact.

anyway, great garden, great pix, thanks for sharing!!!

 

[alx]

Thanks erain and chefrob.


I edited post.That is definetly swallowtail butterfly.Monarch got stuck in my mind!!!!!

 

[beer-b-q]

Here we have already had temps in the low 30s at night.

Do you plant your onions from seed? If so what happens after it gets really cold? Do they continue growing into the spring and summer?

 

[alx]

Yes Paul i plant storage onions from seed indoors in february.I put them out april1st-14th on average.I grow short/intermediate day lenght onions.
Just like garlic they begin to bulb when day length is over 12 hours.They begin to brown in july and die.
Long day varities are grown in north and short in south!


I plant onion sets in spring and winter for scallions.The spring 'sets' bulb after day length goes above 12 hours.If planted in march they will die here by july-sets after second year do not store well.You are buying the first year bulb as a set in store.they only live 2 years-bieannuals.The 'sets' go to seed second year and this makes storage poor.

I also plant sets sept-early oct and they grow all winter like my leeks.

They sort of stop in dead of winter,but i have the earliest large scallions in town come march!!!!

 

[doo dah]

Beautiful garden. How many strands of electric fence do you have to keep out the critters?

 

[beer-b-q]

Thanks Alex...

 

[alx]

I only have fencing for peas and cuccumbers.Had a deer pay a visit and eat tops of 4 peppers,but they never came back.

This area does not have much open space left and the deer stay down near river-thankfully.

Took out a few groundhogs again this year and i trap the voles and moles.