2019 garden plans.

[Daron1965 644]

Hello all. 

 

 It's a balmy 13 degrees here. I'm drinking my coffee looking outside and day dreaming about the garden. 

 

I have a few questions for all the gardeners.

 

Do you start from seed,  or buy plants?

 

When do you plant into the garden?

 

What all do you grow? (or attempt to in my case)

 

Lastly,  any special gardening secrets? 

[Ed Kennell 35,484]

Hey Daron,    I just picked up some bush bean, bell pepper, and squash seeds.   I usually start them inside in my sun room.   The radishes and lettuce I sow directly outside.  I don't move the plants out or plant seeds outside until the ground has warmed up.    On warm days, I do set the plants outside to toughen them to the air and direct sun, but bring them in at night.

I usually buy a couple tomato plants.   I like Brandywine and Rutgers.   The cherry and Italian tomato plants  always germinate from old seeds left in the soil from last years  garden.  I just weed out the ones I don't need.     I use wood ashes and horse manure for fertilizer and till it in after frost.   

Tips   , maybe the green thumb pros will chime in.

 

Edited March 5, 2019 by Ed Kennell

[JAinVA 4,619]

Garden gets chicken manure,sulfer and shredded leaves well tilled in over the winter.We get the soil tested by the local extention agents each year.We grow bush beans,potatoes,lima beans,bell peppers and trellised Japanese cucumbers.We grow different varieties of tomatoes in a pvc enclosure wrapped in chicken wire.We don't lose tomatoes to the squirrels anymore.We also have a 5' high wire fabric fence around the entire garden to keep deer out.The tiller attached to the WH is the best thing I ever got for the garden.Here is the garden

cat,Salem, resting in the bush bean area.She is surrounded by shredded leaf mulch.The leaf mulch keeps the weeds at bay and helps retain moisture.

Edited March 5, 2019 by JAinVA

[ebinmaine 62,891]

5 hours ago, Daron1965 said:

 

I have a few questions for all the gardeners.

 

Do you start from seed,  or buy plants?

 

When do you plant into the garden?

 

What all do you grow? (or attempt to in my case)

 

Lastly,  any special gardening secrets? 

Good thread Daron.

 

I am mostly just trying in to say that I'm going to follow along because I'd like to see what the other people are doing. Trina and I really don't take the time to do much of any gardening at all. Her mom will likely plant or box some stuff here in the yard because she rents and doesn't have the real estate to do it.

 

I will answer the above asked questions though, in order.

 

Here in Maine the growing season is substantially shorter than it is in much of the rest of the country. There is even a realistic three or four week difference between here and Southern Connecticut.

Hence, plant from seed or buy plants? Totally depends on what you're growing. Tomatoes and peppers for instance. Most people in my area do not grow them from seed because we just don't have the facilities to do so.

 

Planting into the garden here, for most plants, really can't happen until June 1st. That's the date of 99% guaranteed No frost. You can plant peas as early as you can break the soil and there are plants that are obviously resistant to frost but for the most part. June, July, August, that's all you get here.

 

What her mom will grow is likely to be two or three varieties each of tomatoes and peppers and then also quite frankly whatever suits her fancy.

She does can or jar some stuff every year.

 

My secrets? I'm probably not a good one to give gardening advice. My best advice is to let somebody other than me manage the garden.

Green Thumb? No. Not exactly.

[SPINJIM 1,978]

My secret with vegetables is, I live near three Amish farms, and they all have vegetable stands.  I buy the pick of their crop, and I don't have to lean over to pick it.   I'm an amateur arborist, and have three peach trees and three apple trees.  That's enough to keep me busy, along with cutting grass.  Usually, by this time of March, I'm out pruning the trees, but this snow has slowed me down.

   Jim

[Ed Kennell 35,484]

26 minutes ago, SPINJIM said:

 have three peach trees and three apple trees. 

   Jim

 

Hey Jim, what apples do you have?    Having just cut down all my dying spruce trees, I started planting fruit trees. Late last fall I planted two plums and two pears.  I am looking for a couple apples.  Mrs K wants a honey crisp and of course I'll need a pollinator.

[SPINJIM 1,978]

1 hour ago, Ed Kennell said:

Hey Jim, what apples do you have?   

 

I have one Honey Crisp, but it hasn't yielded much fruit.   I have a Granny Smith because my wife likes them for apple sauce and baking.  Loads of apples on that.   The third is a Jonathan (I think), and the apples have been kind of sour.  That one may come down this year.

I think results depend on the soil nutrients and pH, as well as the individual tree.   My goal this year is to fertilize the Honey Crisp to try to get some better yield out of it.  The bugs seem to like the Honey Crisp too.  Good luck with yours.

   Jim

[Pullstart 59,433]

13 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

 

Hey Jim, what apples do you have?    Having just cut down all my dying spruce trees, I started planting fruit trees. Late last fall I planted two plums and two pears.  I am looking for a couple apples.  Mrs K wants a honey crisp and of course I'll need a pollinator.

 

11 hours ago, SPINJIM said:

 

I have one Honey Crisp, but it hasn't yielded much fruit.   I have a Granny Smith because my wife likes them for apple sauce and baking.  Loads of apples on that.   The third is a Jonathan (I think), and the apples have been kind of sour.  That one may come down this year.

I think results depend on the soil nutrients and pH, as well as the individual tree.   My goal this year is to fertilize the Honey Crisp to try to get some better yield out of it.  The bugs seem to like the Honey Crisp too.  Good luck with yours.

   Jim

 

You guys ever see those fancy apple trees that someone built, where every branch is a different variety?  My old neighbor was a green thumb and had a couple of them in his yard garden...

[ebinmaine 62,891]

13 minutes ago, pullstart said:

 

 

You guys ever see those fancy apple trees that someone built, where every branch is a different variety?  My old neighbor was a green thumb and had a couple of them in his yard garden...

Trina and her mom and I were just talking about those the other day. her grandfather had two of those trees. Three varieties of Apple on each tree. Done by grafting.

 

Funny you should bring that up now. I don't think I had ever heard of that being done to a domesticated apple tree until just last week.

[Ed Kennell 35,484]

As a youngster, I remember watching my Grandfather graft  different variety  cherry trees to each other. He was also a beekeeper, so we had good pollination.

 

[SPINJIM 1,978]

SPEAKING OF BEES,  fruit trees require spraying for bugs, but you have to be very careful to not spray just before or during the blossom bloom.  It will kill the bees.  I'm lucky that my Amish neighbors have bee hives to pollinate their crops, so I'm careful to not spray until after all of the blossoms are gone.  Then I have to spray two or three times as the fruit develops, especially the peaches or plums.   I use an 'orchard spray', but not glycophosphate (Roundup) that is dangerous for people as well as the bugs.  

 

Happy gardening.  I hear that spring starts soon.

     Jim

[Ed Kennell 35,484]

Hey Jim @SPINJIM,  It's time to get serious with my apple tree plantings.      I'm going to plant one for baking (braburn,fuji, or stayman/Winesap) and one for eating(gala or honeycrisp).

They all cross pollinate, but my question is , how close  must they be and can or should there be other fruit trees (plums and pears) in between the apples.   I no longer have any bees close by.so Will they pollinate with the wind.

 

All advice and comments appreciated.

 

 

 

[SPINJIM 1,978]

Hi Ed,

I don't know if I would depend on the wind to pollinate a fruit tree.  A down-wind tree might get pollinated if the up-wind tree is compatible, but the up-wind tree will probably not get any pollen.   If you can find trees that are labeled as 'self pollinating', that's your best bet.  Some fruit trees will 'cross-pollinate', some won't.   My peach trees are all self pollinating, and I have to thin the fruit so that I get good size peaches, and not thousands of small peaches.  Same with my Granny Smith apple tree.  Thinning the fruit is important.   I suspect that my Honey Crisp is not self pollinating, because I get loads of blossoms, but very little fruit.   Check the website of Stark Brothers for more details on self-pollinating trees.  My trees are planted about 14 ft. apart, but I have to prune them a lot to keep them from merging together.   Air circulation is very important to prevent mildew and mold.  After the trees mature, I prune the tree to open up the center for air circulation.   Good luck.  There's nothing better than fresh peaches in summer and apples in the fall.

   Jim