Garden time !

[WFO Speedracer]

Gardening can get expensive , if you let it, but as the old saying goes , if you are going to be stupid you better be tough, I will add or have deep pockets.

This cucumber trellis popped up on my screen this morning and yes looks cool but the price is ridiculous and it's only 48 x 42' , for $34.99 you can buy a 16tf by 34' wire fence panel from Tractor supply, make a U out of it and spread it out as far as you like and have tons more growing area .. this is exactly the way I am doing it next year.

https://www.gurneys.com/product/cucumber_support?p=0579716&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping (Product Listing Ads Original) - SHOP&msclkid=3658e8a45ad21666a5fd8e4369c0778b&utm_term=4581802401881407&utm_content=All Product Groups

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/search/hog%20wire%20fence%20panels?

I like gardening this time of year because it's not scorching hot, the weeds don't pop up as much and you can do fun stuff , since the freezer is now stuffed I can let remaining peppers and tomatoes grow and see just how big they will get.

I also do fun stuff like rooting tomatoes from cuttings and replanting them, I have three new ones in the ground now and three more about ready to plant , they are about a foot high when they go in the ground.

I also have the same with Potatoe plants , the peppers are still putting out like crazy and the okra is still producing some, the tomatoes at my other place have now started kicking out tomatoes and the second crop of cucumbers has been planted in both places so I will have more cucumbers in about a month to 6 weeks , cucumbers grow and produce really fast.

I made vertical cucumber towers by stacking two tomato cages together with zip ties, they are about 7 ft tall, we will see how it goes. I also learned this year that pepper plants are perennials, that means like trees they go dormant and produce year after year if you dig them up , repot them and put them indoors for the Winter, I am going to try it out and see what happens.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

The garden has slowed down a lot because of the shorter days but I pulled these huge Cooliano peppers this morning , the tomatoes were pulled during different times this week , I also have a bunch of bell peppers growing nicely , the cucumber towers are really taking off now , I have one watermelon that might actually mature and a few more cantaloupes .

This month it is time to plant lettuce , brocilli, caluflower , kale , spinach ,radishes and Swiss chard , the lettuce if you harvest it correctly and just snip it off leaving about an inch grows right back just like grass last all Winter long.

The peppers get cut in half , gutted and put in freezer bags , later you can stuff them or cut them up like bell pepper , the Bell peppers if they are large enough get gutted and left whole and frozen, if they are too small they get cut up diced and put in a freezer bag for later use cooking. I have a ton of both put up in the freezer already this year .

 

[WFO Speedracer]

All these were picked this morning , I let them get really big and picked them at the last minute , we are having a family reunion tomorrow and I am bringing stuffed Coolianos , fully loaded mac and cheese and a Sundrop cake .

I still have tomatoes here and there but they are not very big , okra is done but I have about four bags full in the freezer and at least four bags each of cored bell peppers and cored and halved Collianos , there are a ton of bell peppers still growing I am also going to let them ger as big as they can get before harvesting , it is supposed to hit 89 degrees here today.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

I picked these beauties this morning.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

It's that time again , this year I am doing gardens in three different locations and planting mostly from seed , ALDI has a limited variety of seeds but the seeds they do have are 59 cents per pack, so far I have planted watermelon , cantaloupe and bell peppers from last years saved seeds , beefsteak tomatoes, Kentucky blue wonder beans, snow peas , cucumbers , squash, okra , romaine lettuce and zuchinni .

I preach this a lot but getting started in gardening is really easy , inexpensive and can save you a lot of money , as high as food prices are right now it's something you might want to look into .

I hear the excuses all the time, I don't have time, I don't have the land, space or gardening tools , I am doing no till gardening this year in some plots , no gardening tools needed , also you can plant in anything , dixie cups , butter and sour cream containers , boxes berries come in , take out food plastic containers and egg cartons make excellent seed starters and it's from something that is either dirt cheap or you are throwing in the trash anyway .

A lot of plants like carrots, onions , tomatoes and potatoes will grow just fine in 5 gallon buckets , cucumbers , pole beans and peas will grow just fine along side of a fence or in five gallon buckets , they just need something they can climb on .

Don't fall into the garden trap of thinking you need expensive seed starters , peat pellets or the like to start growing your own food, you don't , you need a container that will hold dirt and some potting soil , remember you have to be able to gather way more in produce than the money you would shell out for plants and supplies.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

This is my no till plot it's about 12 x 40 and I am opening up another 10 x 10 plot next week , the compost pile was in the 10 x 10 spot.

You start by removing any weeds, then you lay down cardboard and cover it with compost .

Today I finished up the compost and planted watermelons and cantaloupes, I will post some pics when the plants are big enough to actually see.

All the compost in the 10 x 10 plot in that first pic had to come out and be sifted through a milk crate onto the plot , you are looking at a 1 inch coverage of compost on the whole plot , the leaves and larger materials went into the new compost pile .

The old compost pile becomes a new plot , ready to plant , you start the compost pile in a different spot and next year it all starts over .

This plot is next level , not for beginners and a poop ton of work !

 

[WFO Speedracer]

So far I have watermelons and cantaloupes in their own plot , I have Tomatoes and Kentucky blue wonder beans planted in a Florida weave trellis , I have
Zucchini and squash planted , bell peppers and eggplant planted and cucumbers and snow peas planted in two different places.

I still have more Kentucky beans, tomatoes, okra . lettuce and corn in containers that I planted from seed , as soon as they are ready they too will be planted.
Today I mulched in everything I have planted already with leaves I have collected. It has been drizzling rain here for two days straight so I timed getting plants in the ground and mulched in just right.

I probably way overplanted this year , probably something like 30 Tomato and okra plants , a stand of corn, I don't even know how many Zucchini and squash plants , but I can always give the produce away to family or sell it at the local farmers market , all you need to sell there is an Alabama growers permit, (free from the local county extension office ) and you do not have to pay tax on what you sell here.

It's about to get popping !