2015 Garden Thread

[adventure_advocate]

I started a garden by accident this year... just put a bunch of old grass clippings and a little bit of compost in my empty 4x8 box to get it out of my way and then this thing exploded out of it over the course of about 2 weeks... I don't even know what it is!!! Plants look like squash, but whatever it's growing looks like a melon! Any ideas?!

 

[Oklahomabassin]

Pumpkin.
Gently stand some of those up if you want a flat bottom. (Jack o lantern display)

 

[adventure_advocate]

Pumpkin.
Gently stand some of those up if you want a flat bottom. (Jack o lantern display)

That's a pumpkin?!?! When will it turn orange?!

 

[Oklahomabassin]

That's a pumpkin?!?! When will it turn orange?!

Can't give you a date, but when mature it will turn orange. It should be orange before Halloween.

 

[dennishoddy]

Can't give you a date, but when mature it will turn orange. It should be orange before Halloween.

When its ripe to pick, the "curl" stem on top of the pumpkin will turn to a dull green and look really dry. Same with melons.

 

[Old Timer]

Walked out to the garden to watch the planets come together. That doe I've been talking about was bedded down 50' or so from the garden. Guess I'll see what/if she got into anything in the morning.

We are having problems again with the deer getting into the garden again. They love okra.
We have used a motion sensor attached to a sprinkler that worked well, until the third motion detector quit.

Using a mixture of egg and pepper sauce mixed and sprayed on the leaves. It works well, until it rains, or you water.

Tried a electric fence, and they would rub against it, never feel it. We added small pieces of aluminum foil folded
over the wire with peanut butter inside sticking it together. That worked well. They smelled it, and got shocked.

 

[Oklahomabassin]

Keep deer out!
A double row electric fence using the wire tape like they use for horses will work. You put the one up and then about 30" out, put up the other wire. The deer get to the first one and won't jump it because they see the second one, but aren't sure how far away it is.

Oklahomabassin is absolutely right about this. I use this method to fence of my young food plots so the deer won't plunder them before they get established.

We are having problems again with the deer getting into the garden again. They love okra.
We have used a motion sensor attached to a sprinkler that worked well, until the third motion detector quit.

Using a mixture of egg and pepper sauce mixed and sprayed on the leaves. It works well, until it rains, or you water.

Tried a electric fence, and they would rub against it, never feel it. We added small pieces of aluminum foil folded
over the wire with peanut butter inside sticking it together. That worked well. They smelled it, and got shocked.

A proper hot wire fence will work great! Even after rains or watering. See above quoted posts.

 

[Yourshoesareuntied]

my garden is going through a revival... I will have a good harvest this week. I'm thinking about getting some fall crops going.. any of you grow fall vegetables if so what do you like?

 

[dennishoddy]

My garden is like yours. It's getting ready to overload us with veggi's.
Just planted some bush beans for a fall crop.
Amazing summer. Only had to water twice so far. [emoji106]

 

[SingleStack45]

Then last week my neighbor talked me into taking his 26ft flat bed trailer to pick up a load of mushroom compost. I put about 6 inches of that compost on and re-tilled a couple of times mixing about 6 inches of my original soil in with it. Letting it simmer, and will re-till before planting. Hope it will loosen it up without burning the plants. Mushroom compost is not supposed to be too hot and will help reduce my phorhorus and potassium that we are still a little high on.

New to the area...can someone tell me where to obtain mushroom compost and the approximate costs? I used to get this stuff in Florida for anywhere from free to $10 a truckload....