Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Anybody at the fire that likes to garden?

Heavy clay in Idaho also. First year I have gone with raised bed. Will be doing another one next spring. Don't grow too much other than herbs and necessary to make fresh salsa. Have been commposting for five years, but somebody at my house steals it all to put on her flower beds, so had to go buy a yard for my raised bed. Stuck a black heirloom tomato in that my sis started. Thing is about 4ft tall and just starting to set tomatos on. 100+ temps for the next three days and we will be in Oregon at the cabin. Thank god for good neighbors.

Don't you let me catch you in my pecan hull stash.....

I'm picking between 2 and 3 gallons of produce a night,more than I can get given away. Mostly cukes, zukes, yellow squash. Grew a cuke this year that is a 'lemon cucumber', about the size and color of a lemon, but tastes just like a cucumber. Picked enough green beans for a couple meals, as well as okra night before last. Have 30 tomato plants, but all are green, only had one ripe one, when they start turning my neighbors are going to get sick of me asking if they want any. Same way with peppers, 30 plants of all different varieties, habanero, jalapeno, serrano, poblano, anaheim, cayenne, cascabella, hungarian hot wax, and more.

I get as much enjoyment from picking the stuff as I do from eating it, I think I just like to see it all sitting on the counter.

Oh, you bet! I'm waiting for the first ripe one though! Bear

I planted 3 hills of squash and couldn't give it all away. I have four tomato plants and can't eat them all. I have had bacon and tomato sandwiches for lunch four days in a row at times. Love them.

German Johnson's are coming in strong - I planted 55 plants and they are coming out my ears!

October beans and half runners are really producing. I have canned 28 quarts and 10 pints of the green beans and have vacuum sealed 24 quarts of October beans. We put up 40 dozen ears of Silver King over the July 4th holiday, most of it cut off.

Taters and onions are playing out, but I will plant some more onions in September for a late crop.

It has been a good year so far, cooler than usual and decent amounts of rain when needed.

To make a good bacon and tomato sandwich, try cooking the bacon on the grill. Thick cut works best, and you have to baby it to keep the flare ups down, but its good stuff. I too could eat them for every meal.

I've got a 400 sq. ft. garden that's just now giving up cukes, zucchini, peppers-both bell and jalapeno, and tomatoes. My corn is tasseling, and I expect a large crop. I tried bush beans this year instead of pole, and so far the results have been less than impressive. Still waiting on carrots and taters, but I planted both very late because of rain.

I plan on expanding the garden next year to include more varieties of vegetables, and more of what we like. We can alot of the excess and keep it in the pantry for wintertime treats.

I tried blueberry bushes, but the rabbits had other ideas. I'll try those again next year with protection this time, and I want to put in about 30 grape vines on 5 rows of trellis, but I haven't prepped the beds or constructed the trellises yet. I plan on doing that this fall for planting in spring.

Between the plantings and the apiary, I have my hands full on my days off.

Had green fried tomatoes for dinner last night.

I know about the horse manure, that's why we will put it on this fall and till it in hopefully before the ground freezes. We cleaned out my uncles barn one time and had the best garden we have ever had the following year. Neighbors didn't appreciate it much though. Now we don't have any close neighbors so that shouldn't be a big problem.

I have great soil here - one of the things I'll be giving up when in SD..

Sweet corn, potatos, broccoli, cabbage, peppers (green, sweet yellow and hot) tomatos, asparagus, beans and sugar pod peas. Oh, plus chives and rhubarb..

I'm gettin' too old for this big a garden.. (about 75X50)

First year gardening here in Colorado at 7600' (raised bed). Peppers and strawberries are doing great. The tomatoes are doing well, but they'll be racing the frost to ripen I'm afraid. The raspberries are coming slow, but I think will be producers next season. Also have a couple of bee hives that are doing well.

All the herbs have been growing like weeds. This was a good year to start gardening in Colorado--non-stop rain!

How are your bee's doing that high? Have they overwintered yet, or is this the first year? I'm getting ready to extract from my first super in about half an hour. From what everyone else in this area has said, it's been a poor year for honey, but the clover is still blooming, and we may get some fall nectar. Fingers crossed.

You gotta a good brain Mike and you wash a good amount of dirt off your hands each week, as well.

I have to respect that!

As for produce,all I need is a wallet and a Farmer's Market! I'll leave the toil and trouble to you folks.

I have a big fence. Any deer that get past that I'll shoot.

Mike

The bees seem to be doing pretty well. I started with two five frame nuc's and just added another super on each hive two weeks ago. We've had a lot of rain, which I think has been slowing them down, but have supplemented with syrup and pollen patties. Lots of wildflowers blooming now, so I think the rest of the month should be productive for them.

This is my first year, so I'm not sure what to expect with winter. I think they'll do okay though. Even at 7600' the winters here are pretty mild--lots of sunshine. I'm also running the polystyrene hives which should help insulate them from the cold.

Good luck with the extraction. I don't expect to see surplus honey until next season. How many hives do you have? Have you had any issues with CCD, mites, beetles, etc.?

Right now running two. There were three, but one absconded and joined with the other. Too close I guess. That's the one from which I'm getting honey. The other is an experiment with Russians. They started late, and I had to requeen, and am still feeding them. I will more than likely have to feed through the winter, as they've only filled out 6 frames in the first brood box. Still getting capped brood in all filled frames, so hopefully the population will start increasing, and I might be able to get the first brood box completely full before first frost.

I'm adding four more hives next year. I have another piece of property close by that has a 9 ac pasture in it, and would make a perfect apiary. I've decided to plant buckwheat next year on that piece. One of my compatriots at yesterdays beekeeper's meeting had some buckwheat honey, and MAN, if you like sorghum molasses, as I do, it's top notch. Eventually I'd like to run 15 or 20 hives on two pieces of property.

I have had a small problem with hive beetles, but they seem to have died down as the Russian colony gets stronger. No Nosema, tracheal mites or Varroa (fingers crossed). Hopefully I won't have any problems, but everyone usually does eventually, so I'm prepping for it.

Thanks Bob. Since my real job has become part time with the reduction in hours, I get to spend more time working outside. Besides, my Papa was a farmer and a carpenter, so I guess it kind of runs in the family.

My experience is to get stuff in the ground early and use lots of compost...Mulch is a must too....
I've got four Celebrity tomato plants that are still producing when my neighbors plants are burned up.

BB how ya say garden? Are you country, do ya say gard*en or gar*den?

I guess...