SQWIBS Urban Garden Adventure 2017

[sqwib]

Spent several hours picking slugs off my plants last night, I go out, pluck them for a twenty minutes or so, go back inside for an hour then go back outside and repeat the process, the damage they are doing is pretty much unbelievable.

Tried wrapping plants in copper tape and I have to call bullshit on the copper, Tried human hair too but they seemed to like that as well.

Going to keep handpicking in the evenings and mornings until the weather dries out a bit. Beer traps are working but there's just too many, most are about the size of a "Jimmies" ice cream topping and are hard to grab, Ive gotten to the point where I'm just mashing them with my fingers, little freaking bastages!

I refill the traps every evening and I ordered some "Sluggo". Talked with an exterminator and he said what I pretty much thought, IT NEEDS TO STOP RAINING!

I've never seen it so wet here and its supposed to keep up until Tuesday!

 

[sqwib]

The sluggo worked.

May 26th, 2017
 

• Walkthrough

 


 

 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 



 

 


 

 

 



 June 13th - 17th, 2017
 

My brother and I stopped at the "Fairmount Park Organic Recycling Center" to check it out and was quite impressed, we pickup up some compost to try in our gardens and Moms garden.

• Walkthrough

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

• Every year I let the tomato plants on the hill get out of control. Next year I'm going to purchase some Texas Tomato Cages.

 


 

I have been using the "chop and drop" method with the oregano and letting some flower to attract more beneficial insects, so far it seems to be working pretty good.
 


 

• Getting plenty of "Buzz Pollinators"

 

June 22nd, 2017

• Walkthrough

I got tired of looking at the broccoli, nothing was happening so I tore them out and tossed in the compost heap. Pulled and composted the Snow Peas, but left the roots in the soil.

Cut back all the lettuces, I wanted to leave a few flower but they got so heavy that they couldn't support themselves. I thinned out the Bush Melons, when I planted them I thought the package said Bush Beans, wrong, they were watermelons.

Moved a couple of the plants around, weeded then planted some Crimson Clover.
 


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June 27th- 29th, 2017
 



 

 

 

 

 


 

 


 

• Loving my new Hori Hori Garden Knife.

 

 

[cornman]

Well done and a project to be proud of...I can't see on my device, where are you located? We in south central PA could use a little rain. No crazy storms, wind, downpours, just a nice evening of rain. Great job!

 

[ws dave]

Outstanding work Squibs! I love the walk throughs like that. Your place is fantastic. Well done.

 

[ab canuck]

Wow that looks great Sqwib..... Truly a satisfying yard.... 

 

[sqwib]

Thanks guys, quick update.

June 30th, 2017 - July 13th, 2017
I fertilized the beds with some 10-10-10 and some lime. In the future I am hoping to use cover crops and compost to build the soil without the use of any fertilizers. The reason I am using fertz this year is because it is the 2nd year with a few of my Hugel beds and the first year with the newest bed. I'm figuring they should stop pulling nitrogen around the third season.


 

A few weeks ago I picked up some compost from the recycle center and tossed in Moms garden and my garden. The compost looks good and 0 weeds so I picked up some more compost Saturday.
 


 

 





July 2nd, 2017
 

• "Birdproofing" the Bar Roof.

• Last week I repainted the bar stools, today my better half and I reupholstered the outdoor bar stools adding some additional foam.

• I installed some RGB lights a few weeks ago, a few more tweaks and the bar area is done then I need to re-stain the deck and do some minor repairs.

 




 

• Laura picked up some new seat cushions, a new patio umbrella and was gifted the blue hurricane lamp. All the deck lights were swapped out with new LED bulbs.

 

• Not much going on in the garden, picked another zucchini, a few Box Car willies and a couple Corno Di Toro Gallo peppers for some skewers and tossed some Blood Meal in the gardens.

 

• The frog in the Back pond is getting bigger, must be all those skeeters.

 

July 12th.
 

• The back pond plants are doing well, I just planted some Quuen Annes Lace in the back corner to fill in a void, I get this weird type grass that grows there. The QAL is struggling a bit from transplant shock, hopefully it will come back next year.

• Indigo Blueberries Tomato, the two on the left are ripe the other one is not ripe but was picked for comparison. These are OK but was more of a novelty for me, the flavor is OK, however with my limited space I am sure I can find something more to my liking to fit this area. The plant appears to be struggling but still producing. If it continue to struggle it will be terminated.

 

• Box Car Willie in the first year hugelkultur bed. I really like these tomatoes, they are a good looking tomato, they ripen to a bright red, very hardy and prolific, great flavor, fairly thin skin, perfect for slicing for sandwiches.

 

• this is the same cluster of tomatoes as above 12 days earlier.

 

Black Beauty Eggplants, these plants are doing well again this year, especially in the raised beds om the hill the one in the 2 year Hugelkultur bed has a few fruits also, the 2 in the 1 year Hugelkultur bed has blossoms but no fruit yet. Its hard to believe that I struggled with these plants quite a few years ago. The fruit to the right will be left for seeds and picked at the end of the season.
 


These are the same two as above a week earlier.
 


 

• Corno Di Toro Giallo, this one is in the 2nd year Hugel bed and is doing fairly well this pepper is earmarked for seeds.

Here is another plant in my Aquaponics veggie garden, they seem to like it here.
 

• This is my 2nd time growing Poblanos in the veggie filter and they seem to like it here as well. I usually stick a tomato spike in the planter earlyin the season and drop a small handful of 10-10-10 or Osmocote on top of the soil three times in the season. I am very careful about the fertz due to the Koi, frogs and Mosquito fish in the pond

• The California Wonder in the Raised bed is producing.

• Patio Princess.

 

• Sprite

• Celebrities.

• Sunflowers are happy

• Vertical gardens are doing well.

 

• The marigolds have exploded everywhere.

• this is a few days earlier

 

• Brandywine Reds.

• Black Vernissage

• Brandywine red.

There's no signs of anything near ripening on the Abe Lincolns, Cherokee purples and Brandywine reds. We have been enjoying the Box Car Willies, Celebrities, Patio Princess and Sprite tomatoes for a few weeks.

 

[gary s]

Looks Fantastic, you can tell you put a lot of work into it.

All of my stuff is done except for Okra and a second round of beans

Gary

 

[dcarch]

I have two identical tomato plots, each about 4' x 24'. On one I used lots of compost free from the town recycling center. On the other I used kitchen scraps I had collected during winter. The scraps included veggies, meat, fat and bones.

I planted essentially identical tomatoes on both, and the spacing of plants are also the same.

I am really amazed that the plot using kitchen scraps are about 1/3 taller, 2x more dense. As a matter of fact, the plants are so dense that the bees can't find the blossoms to pollinate, and I can't find the tomatoes behind the leaves.

dcarch

 

[sqwib]

 
I have two identical tomato plots, each about 4' x 24'. On one I used lots of compost free from the town recycling center. On the other I used kitchen scraps I had collected during winter. The scraps included veggies, meat, fat and bones.

I planted essentially identical tomatoes on both, and the spacing of plants are also the same.

I am really amazed that the plot using kitchen scraps are about 1/3 taller, 2x more dense. As a matter of fact, the plants are so dense that the bees can't find the blossoms to pollinate, and I can't find the tomatoes behind the leaves.

dcarch

That makes total sense and is no surprise, the compost is not a replacement for nutrients, you will get a wider variety of nutrients from the kitchen scraps. people don't realize they're tossing out gold.

How did you compost your Meat, fat and bones, direct bury in the garden? Anaerobic composting?

I have been saving my bones for bonemeal I will be making this fall.

 

[sqwib]

 
Looks Fantastic, you can tell you put a lot of work into it.

All of my stuff is done except for Okra and a second round of beans

Gary

Zone 8 and all your stuff is done already, this blows my mind.

I'll be direct sowing some Broccoli this week and maybe some Snow Peas.

 

[sqwib]

Check out my new Notekeeping, I usually use evernote but I'm being strongarmed to buy a premium membership.

Google Keep.jpg

• sqwib
• Jul 13, 2017

 

[dcarch]

 
That makes total sense and is no surprise, the compost is not a replacement for nutrients, you will get a wider variety of nutrients from the kitchen scraps. people don't realize they're tossing out gold.

How did you compost your Meat, fat and bones, direct bury in the garden? Anaerobic composting?

I have been saving my bones for bonemeal I will be making this fall.

Well, it's a pain for a lazy guy like me to have to bag and take out kitchen garbage to be picked up. Instead, all kitchen scraps, veggies, fat, meat, bones, etc. go into a covered bucket on the kitchen counter. When it's full, the bucket empties out in a big covered garbage can in the yard. Because it's cold outside, the stuff does not really compost. Smells, but no flies. 

Spring comes, all stuff in the garbage can gets tilled into the soil. Larger bones get chopped like this:

Me pulverizing big bones.



dcarch

 

[sqwib]

 
Well, it's a pain for a lazy guy like me to have to bag and take out kitchen garbage to be picked up. Instead, all kitchen scraps, veggies, fat, meat, bones, etc. go into a covered bucket on the kitchen counter. When it's full, the bucket empties out in a big covered garbage can in the yard. Because it's cold outside, the stuff does not really compost. Smells, but no flies. 

Spring comes, all stuff in the garbage can gets tilled into the soil. Larger bones get chopped like this:

Me pulverizing big bones.



dcarch

LOL! That dam thing looked possessed

I keep a container for scraps in the kitchen then dump in a 5 gallon bucket on the deck, then when I'm not feeling lazy, I dump it in the composter on the back hill.

I'm gonna cook my bones in the fall with the schwenker then bust up and add to the compost heap. Gives me a reason to build a fire and drink some shine.

My daughter has two rabbits and a chinchilla, and I gave her hell the other day because she kept cleaning the cages and dumping in the trash, can you believe it? Free fertilizer in the trash.

 

[gary s]

 
Zone 8 and all your stuff is done already, this blows my mind.

I'll be direct sowing some Broccoli this week and maybe some Snow Peas.

I fibbed a little, we are still getting Tomatoes and Cucumbers every day But they are winding down.

I also rolled the dice and planted early this year and It payed off.

We will get plenty of veggies from the neighbors who planted way after I did.

Gary

 

[ws dave]

Thanks for the tour Squibs, I love that kind of stuff! Man your bar is gorgeous with the matching trim and bar stools. That looks really sharp with the lighting you have. Speaking of lights I love the new patio lights. They are perfect for the space and I love the pattern they throw. Nicely done!I won't even comment on the veggies because those are obviously amazing. I'm struggling to grow a couple lousy tomatoes here.

 

[sqwib]

Stuffed Poblanos, Corno Di Toro Giallo and Jalapeno for dinner.

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• sqwib
• Jul 14, 2017

2170713807.jpg

• sqwib
• Jul 14, 2017

I definitely wont be growing the Black Vernissage next year, I really do not like these at all.

I may try making a sauce or sun-dried tomatoes out of them.

2170713790.jpg

• sqwib
• Jul 14, 2017

2170713791.jpg

• sqwib
• Jul 14, 2017

 

[ab canuck]

Mmmmm Mmmmm that sounds great....

 

[sqwib]

---

Garden Frittata​

​

• Chives
• Eggs
• Teaspoon Seasoned salt
• Three Cheeses
• Broccoli
• Tomatoes
• Lactaid Milk
• Basil

• Butter (for pan)

I eyeball this recipe but average 5-6 eggs to 1/2 cup of milk. This easily serves my family of 5. Veggies are usually leftovers that I try to recycle at the end of the week.

• Whisk the eggs and milk, add all of your ingredients but the Basil, stir real good.

 

• Heat skillet on low heat and butter real well, make sure to get up the sides on the skillet a bit. Dump the mix into the skillet, stirring to distribute ingredients evenly.

• Once sides start to firm up, 7-9 minutes, turn broiler on low and place under broiler till browned 7-9 minutes. finely chop basil/Parsley and sprinkle on top, serve.

 

[ab canuck]

That looks wonderful... Makes me hungry.... Point

 

[sqwib]

July 15th - 18th, 2017
 


 

• My sunpatients have never grown this big. The drip irrigation I put in seems to be working well.

• I have the entire front lower yard on a drip line with the exception of the tree.

• I picked my first Brandywine Red of the season, (Box Car Willie on the left)

I also got my first Abraham Lincoln picked, It seems that the AL are prone to splitting, sorry the photo I took was too blurry to post.
 

The most exciting and rewarding feeling I get from gardening is when I pick my first Eggplant, well other than seeing everything in my garden doing so well knowing it was all planted from seed!

This will be dinner tonight. I do have another that was ready a week ago but that will stay on the plant so the seeds can mature for harvesting. I will now be driving Laura nuts with all of the eggplant recipes I will be asking her to make, thank goodness she likes eggplant too!
 

• Sitting by the back pond i realized the lights by the back fence weren't working.

 

• Now how did he get a tomato

• Leopard slug, This guy was huge, thats not a dime next to him its a quarter. and I'm a bit pissed that I offed 2 of them and found them to be beneficial.

Anyhow there were few up on the hill that big, I got the lighting working and learned a few valuable things... Don't off anything without researching it and DON'T wear socks ONLY on that hill!!!