Bestofour 2013

[BestoFour]

I thought I had already started a 2013 but I can't find it anywhere.

Today Colby, my 10 year old grandson, came over and we planted a row of carrots, a row of radishes, and put out some lettuce sets. I couldn't find lettuce seeds at Lowe's today so I just bought plants. We also put up 2 trellis's and planted green peas. He's a hard working little man.

[w8in4dave]

Hmmm seems I thought I seen one .. But hmmm

I love grand kids! So sweet they help us out !!

[BestoFour]

The radishes are already coming up and the squash we planted and put in the greenhouse is up too. Colby and I just planted this stuff on the 29th. Good grief. Hope it's a good sign.

[Pharmer Phil]

Apr 8, 2013 17:59:17 GMT -6 BestoFour said:

The radishes are already coming up and the squash we planted and put in the greenhouse is up too. Colby and I just planted this stuff on the 29th. Good grief. Hope it's a good sign.

groan

[BestoFour]

Maybe you're spring exchange gift should be an umbrella

[Laura]

Wish we had something coming up in the Garden.

[BestoFour]

Well well, the squash has sprouted in 6 of the 14 straw bales. I don't know how long they'll live in that straw but I'm going to water them and give them a good chance.

We started out with 2 garden spots, then went to 3 but this year I'm only doing one. If all 14 straw bales sprout I'll have to figure out where to plant the squash I've got started in the green house and might do a raised bed. Time will tell.

I put out a row of tomato plants, bought and put out 4 egg plants, planted a row and 1/2 and a flower pot of beet seeds and saw that the carrots have indeed broken ground. It's only been 11 days since we planted those carrots, radishes, and squash seeds and that seems way fast for them to have already come up to me. Seems in the past it's taken 2 weeks or more.

I've decided that this year I'm planting pots with stuff we can eat rather than with flowers. I'll stick in a few flowers but it's going to be mostly food stuff. I bought a big pot and am going to put a patio tomato plant in it.

Life is good.

[BestoFour]

Tonight I planted dill, basil, sunflowers, and marigolds.

[BestoFour]

Squash in the straw bales are looking great. Radishes, carrots, green peas, and lettuce are doing well.

Planted a row of bush beans and a row of cucumbers.

[w8in4dave]

Yea I am still !!! W8in to complain about the hot weather!!! Good 4 you bestofour for all your hard work!!!

[BestoFour]

The straw bale squash is growing great but I don't have 1 bloom on any plant. Do you think it's because of the cool weather and rain and not much sun?

One bale does have ants on it, someone mentioned a problem with that in another thread, so I put Neem Oil on it. Hope it works. At least I haven't seen the dreaded squash bug.

[BestoFour]

So the 2 rows of beets had so much grass I couldn't tell what was what that I hoed them up. Maybe I'll plant a row of corn. Wonder if it's too late.

[BestoFour]

The Neem Oil worked on the ants and not only do I have blooms but I also have squash. I'll take a picture later.

[BestoFour]

2 of the squash rotted on the vine so I think I need to add calcium.

I pulled up the rest of the lettuce because it was bitter. The radishes are done for the year too. I didn't replant, as usual, because it's too hot already.

[spuds]

May 22, 2013 8:58:52 GMT -6 BestoFour said:

2 of the squash rotted on the vine so I think I need to add calcium.

I pulled up the rest of the lettuce because it was bitter. The radishes are done for the year too. I didn't replant, as usual, because it's too hot already.

Interesting.

[BestoFour]

I've been hand pollinating and harvested some lovely squash today. There isn't a bug in sight out there and as you can see it's right up against our field which you'd think would be fill of bugs. Oh well.

The tomatoes and cukes are doing just fine too and the green beans are coming along. I've never had much luck with green beans at this house. At our other place I canned and canned and canned green beans but for some reason they just don't do well here. I've planted them in 3 different spots now and the results are never good.

I have a question about egg plant though. This is the first year I've planted egg plant and the plants are giant but there are no blooms. Is this normal?

[Christy]

Your squash looks awesome!Your doing a great job!Glad your finially having luck withthe green beans
I herd of neem oil before but couldnt find it in the store.

I never grew eggplant either.

[BestoFour]

Today there are purple blooms on the egg plant so hoping things work out for that and I got more squash. A few of the squash leaves have yellowed but I've looked closely and don't see squash bugs or evidence of bores.

[BestoFour]

Got 3 tomatoes yesterday, lots of cucumbers, and green peas. I think the heat is going to burn up the green peas. I'm not sure when to plant them here. They never do well for me.

[BestoFour]

We've harvested tons of squash and it's still going strong. The squash bugs and I meet up every morning and they get murdered. I've found a total of 6 adult bugs on all the plants so far but I've seen lots of eggs and have been removing those leaves. Strange thing is that 3 plants have died over the last 2 weeks and it hasn't been from squash bugs that I can tell. I checked them for bores and didn't find that either so I just don't know. Do the plants get to a point where they just can't produce anymore and then die? Anyway, I've planted more seeds in their straw bale and 2 of the seeds have already come up so we'll see how the rest of the summer goes.

Still no fruit on the egg plant. Big blooms but no fruit. Lots of cucumbers and the tomatoes are beginning to ripen.

So far it's been a good garden year.

[BestoFour]

My garden companion

[Penny]

Holy crap Sheri....I'd be slipping in my shite trying to get away from that!!

[spuds]

Jun 27, 2013 18:26:16 GMT -6 BestoFour said:

My garden companion

[Penny]

What kind of snake is that?

[BestoFour]

it's a black snake. A good snake.

[BestoFour]

Finally the egg plant fruits are forming. Since it's supposed to pour down rain all week I sure hope they don't get too big before I can get out there and pick them.

The newest squash seeds are coming up nicely and the tomato plants are loaded with big green tomatoes. I've gotten a hand full of green beans. I need to work on the green beans. They never do really well around here.

[BestoFour]

I feel very fortunate to have such a harvest this year. I was reading an email from a local farmers market where the produce is grown locally and it said that many of the regulars have been rained out until mid July. Then they will have only corn and potatoes. We've had days and days of rain but for some reason my garden has been able to drain enough to allow things to grow. I'm glad I put the squash in straw bales.

My one squash that I have in a container is pitiful looking. The leaves are pale green. I used vegetable potting soil and watered with Miracle Grown when first planted. What to do?

[BestoFour]

I know the rain has hurt a lot of farmers and I'm sorry about that but my garden has been out of control. I was in my little garden for almost 2 hours this morning and still didn't get everything cut or pulled that was ready to be brought in. I hope one more day on the vine won't hurt anything. I should have set me up a roadside stand and sold some of this stuff.

[BestoFour]

I guess all this rain has been keeping the squash bugs away cuz I've only seen 1 lately and it was the other day. He was sent to squash bug heaven I'm happy to report. We do love squash but I think we've had our fill for a few days. We've given it to everyone we know and it was raining to hard to check the plants today and I'm sure more it out there.

[Pharmer Phil]

Excess squash fit well into neighbor's mailboxes