Garden 2017

[Shadowrider]

All I have this year are the blackberry bushes and fruit trees I put out last year. Blackberries are going gangbusters. I picked all the blooms off the fruit trees so they would focus on growth this year.

A few asparagus plants out of a dozen I planted came back up, but letting them grow out this year too.

Too many health issues I knew were coming to a head this spring. Next year's gonna be a whole different deal but I'm happy with the blackberries. They are gonna keep me busy for a while.

Takes a year or two for asparagus to get going anyway so you were probably saved some disappointment. My grandpa was a gardener and he grew it. Every year it came back and he had more than he could eat.

With slightly higher temps the garden has taken off. Corns well over knee high, beans are starting to form. Maters are a little bigger than a golf ball, and the bell peppers ain't far behind. Newly planted asparagus is over a foot tall...can't wait for that, but I guess it'll be a few years.

Actually got to harvest and eat the first things from my first garden. Buttered squash and zucchini! Oh man, I could live on that for a while. Can't wait for some sweet corn and maters.

The only thing not doing well is the okra. About a third of the plants are puny and a few have died. Can't figure it out.

Still very happy overall. I'll post some pics when the laptop is handy.

That Hoss Tools wheel hoe is the best money I've spent in a while. I can clear the whole garden of Bermuda sprigs and edge it in a few hours. It's good exercise and beats the crap out of fighting the tiller.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It ain't hot enough for okra. Been to cold and too wet. The hotter it gets the better it likes it. I can't remember for sure but I don't think my grandpa even planted until mid may (could be wrong on that but it was late). July is where it really comes on and you have to pick every day.

 

[dennishoddy]

In one of my catalogs earlier in the year, I bought a peach borer pheromone trap. It's a little cardboard glue trap that has a little piece of rubber in it that's impregnated with peach borer pheromones. It draws one of the sexes(can't remember which, probably male) into the trap, they get stuck and can't breed. I bet I caught 3-4 dozen borers (6 different targeted species) in a few weeks. It worked so well, I got to looking into it for other species.

Found this place and bought this little trap and some sticky sheet inserts.


They also sell the pheromone lures as well. They're pretty cheap compared to pesticides.

The bugs that were giving me the most problem last year were the Southwest Corn Borer and the Corn Earworm. So I picked up both of those pheromones. They last for 3-4 weeks, so I bought enough to last for a fall crop. That will be the real test, if I can grow a fall crop. The earworms decimated my fall crop last year, only got a few ears.

The trap has been up a week or so and I've caught 8-10 moths of the variety I'm after, I won't know till I pick the corn if it was successful or not. If it saves me from spraying chemicals every 2-3 days and I get some decent corn, I'll call it a success.

I'll take some pics tomorrow when the suns up..

Heck that's a spider trap with the right bait! One on each plant, or do your scatter a few of them about?

 

[dennishoddy]

Takes a year or two for asparagus to get going anyway so you were probably saved some disappointment. My grandpa was a gardener and he grew it. Every year it came back and he had more than he could eat.

Our Asparagus bed is 28 years old on one end. The new stuff is only 20 years old give or take a year or three, lol.
But, planting the Jersey Giants out produce all the others hands down. Some of the stalks are bigger in diameter than a nickle. Almost a quarter.
I bought three year crowns from a place in Michigan that could be picked the first year, but I let them go to two years.
During peak season, we have to pick twice a day, morning and evening. If I remember right, we have picked 14 or 15 gallon bags of it. Took four to the senior citizen feeding center and wife gave away a bunch at work.
We have one gallon left in the fridge and quit picking on June 1, letting the bed go to fern now. Add a little fertilizer once a year at the start of the growing season, water deep, and they always come back bigger and better each year.

 

[lasher]

In one of my catalogs earlier in the year, I bought a peach borer pheromone trap. It's a little cardboard glue trap that has a little piece of rubber in it that's impregnated with peach borer pheromones. It draws one of the sexes(can't remember which, probably male) into the trap, they get stuck and can't breed. I bet I caught 3-4 dozen borers (6 different targeted species) in a few weeks. It worked so well, I got to looking into it for other species.

Found this place and bought this little trap and some sticky sheet inserts.

They also sell the pheromone lures as well. They're pretty cheap compared to pesticides.

The bugs that were giving me the most problem last year were the Southwest Corn Borer and the Corn Earworm. So I picked up both of those pheromones. They last for 3-4 weeks, so I bought enough to last for a fall crop. That will be the real test, if I can grow a fall crop. The earworms decimated my fall crop last year, only got a few ears.

The trap has been up a week or so and I've caught 8-10 moths of the variety I'm after, I won't know till I pick the corn if it was successful or not. If it saves me from spraying chemicals every 2-3 days and I get some decent corn, I'll call it a success.

I'll take some pics tomorrow when the suns up..

wonder if they have anything for asparagus beetles, malathion is the only thing that will kill them, and i loathe using that stuff

 

[lasher]

Our Asparagus bed is 28 years old on one end. The new stuff is only 20 years old give or take a year or three, lol.
But, planting the Jersey Giants out produce all the others hands down. Some of the stalks are bigger in diameter than a nickle. Almost a quarter.
I bought three year crowns from a place in Michigan that could be picked the first year, but I let them go to two years.
During peak season, we have to pick twice a day, morning and evening. If I remember right, we have picked 14 or 15 gallon bags of it. Took four to the senior citizen feeding center and wife gave away a bunch at work.
We have one gallon left in the fridge and quit picking on June 1, letting the bed go to fern now. Add a little fertilizer once a year at the start of the growing season, water deep, and they always come back bigger and better each year.

i add a little super phosphate, supposed to induce more crowns

 

[dennishoddy]

i add a little super phosphate, supposed to induce more crowns

Thats interesting. We had a plant that put off the berry's (seeds) last fall and they have sprouted some small plants/ferns. Wondered if they will produce crowns or what. Left that plant alone to see what mother nature will do. We may have some new crowns developing.
I typically mow that patch to the ground in late january, and put a foot of straw mulch on top of the beds to keep weeds out, but this year didn't. Got lazy, and the spears started popping up with the warm late winter. Lots of weeds in there now, but its done for the season. Frankly I'm getting tired of eating it too.

 

[lasher]

Thats interesting. We had a plant that put off the berry's (seeds) last fall and they have sprouted some small plants/ferns. Wondered if they will produce crowns or what. Left that plant alone to see what mother nature will do. We may have some new crowns developing.
I typically mow that patch to the ground in late january, and put a foot of straw mulch on top of the beds to keep weeds out, but this year didn't. Got lazy, and the spears started popping up with the warm late winter. Lots of weeds in there now, but its done for the season. Frankly I'm getting tired of eating it too.

mine have been making the berries for years, yes, the little ferns will be full grown plants you can harvest in 3 years or so

 

[Pokem807]

I'll have to check out those pheromones. I just ordered some spinosad and BT spray. Are there some good all purpose pesticides that y'all use?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[deerwhacker444]

Heck that's a spider trap with the right bait! One on each plant, or do your scatter a few of them about?

I just have 1 on my little corn patch till I work out the particulars of growing corn. Placed on the S. side, let the wind take the pheromone to the bugs and draw them in.

Peach borer trap..

wonder if they have anything for asparagus beetles, malathion is the only thing that will kill them, and i loathe using that stuff

I didn't see one from that particular outfit, but that doesn't mean somebody doesn't make one. If there's a need, someone will fill it.

 

[dennishoddy]

Interesting. I'll be following this to see how your corn comes out.