re: The 2021 Garden Thread

So the dude I got all my heirlooms from recommends starting seeds and/or potting suckers around the June timeframe, then pull the old plants that stopped producing and put in the starts in July. By the time they're read to produce it will have cooled off enough, and you get second crop up until the first frost. He maintains that you don't get near the amount of tomatoes when it cools off if you just leave the original plant in.

He's been growing nothing but heirloom tomatoes (by the hundreds) for twenty years now, was written up in various magazines, etc. so going to give his method a shot this year. Keep in mind this is specific to the temps we have here in the midlands of South Carolina.

Wanted to share for the beeks in this thread. First time I used a push in cage to introduce a new queen. Worked really well. Installed on Sunday and released today. The cage covers honey and emerging brood. Next time I’ll incorporate pollen because some brood had been canibalized. Like how it worked well with the bees accepting her.

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Wanted to share for the beeks in this thread. First time I used a push in cage to introduce a new queen. Worked really well. Installed on Sunday and released today. The cage covers honey and emerging brood. Next time I’ll incorporate pollen because some brood had been canibalized. Like how it worked well with the bees accepting her.

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I still have so much to learn.

This past Sunday I did my first inspection (two weeks after installation). My main goal was to either find the queen or make sure there was brood. If I found the queen I would mark her. We found her right away and she’s been busy.




Also, they seem to love my onions. I believe they’re after the water on them. But I always seem to have about a dozen of them in my onion patch.



Noticed my first eggplant flower earlier this week.



Also my Roma’s are blowing up. They’re full of tomatoes. Beefmasters have quite a few on each plant. Peppers are doing great. Beans look like crap but I’m hoping they start growing with some warmer weather. Same with the cucumbers. They’re getting some size, but no flowers yet.

My eggplants are looking pretty wimpy/droopy. How often should I water them?

My eggplant looks like crap from all the rain. My cucumbers are finally running up the trellis. Tomatoes look good especially Celebrity and Roma.

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Hit 30.5 just after sunrise.

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Damn. I’m sorry to hear that. The weather has been weird so far this year. It’s like we’re having an argument with winter and she keeps storming off only to keep poking her head back in the door and saying “AND ANOTHER THING!”

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Beans look like crap but I’m hoping they start growing with some warmer weather. Same with the cucumbers

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I'm glad I'm not the only one. I was poking in to talk about my issues with beans and cucumbers

I'm down to one cucumber transplant that made it. It has been in purgatory for a week/ week and a half not really growing much but it is here to stay thankfully. It has a couple flowers and cucumbers starting. The seeds I planted started sprouting last week but haven't done much since.

The beans sprouted but I keep losing some here and there. I'm hoping in the next week with some warmer weather they start taking off. I'll fill in the gaps this weekend with another round of seeds.

The tomatoes are finally recovered from their nitrogen deficiency when I failed to fertilize before I transplanted. The main stems are completely gone and I had to let suckers grow up and take over. I won't make that mistake again. Flowers have started and they are a decent height so I'll start cutting back on the nitrogen and start feeding with a more rounded fertilizer.

One of the chickens got loose into the garden and ripped up a handful of okra sprouts. Luckily okra grows like a weed and they weren't far along.

I think as soon as we get some consistent heat, the peppers will blow up. They have that look like they are waiting to explode.

I've been mostly pessimistic up to this point so I'll throw in that the blueberries have dramatically improved since potting them and fertilizing. Also my blackberry bush is growing at an incredible rate. I've thinned it out twice. This was the one that got stripped to a few leafless canes during Laura and I thought it was a goner so I ran over it with the mower and was going to replant. Just before the cold weather started it shot up a 6inch nub and stayed that way until the beginning of March. Now it is about 5 feet tall on multiple canes, 4 feet wide, and covered in green berries and still flowering.

Update: Still jealous of the bees.

They are looking great!

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Wanted to come by and show off a little!!!

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Take a bow. Looks great!

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I'm glad I'm not the only one. I was poking in to talk about my issues with beans and cucumbers

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So here’s what my beans are looking like at the moment. A little rough, but there’s some continued growth. Its snail speed growth, but it’s still pushing forward. Hopefully they’ll push through with some consistent warmer weather.


My cucumbers have probably doubled in size in about a week. Still kinda small, but they’re on the move. Gave them a little nitrogen yesterday.


And here’s a snapshot of how my tomatoes are doing. Plants are really starting to load up.

Roma



Beefmasters


Strawberries are still coming in a handful at a time. Some of the blackberries are starting to ripen, so I’m hoping to be able to eat a few soon. I better get the netting up over them, too. I’d hate to lose my first few to the birds.

Also, I just kinda wanted to brag on this rose bush. I bought this for my wife about 3 years ago. It was just listed as a “mini rose bush” at our local Super 1. We have slowly moved it into bigger pots. And that thing has turned into a full blown flower producing beauty.

Dang, Pillage. Your garden always looks great. But that is some sad arse looking beans. Better lay off those bees.