re: The 2021 Garden Thread

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Pull those wood chips away from the beans and fertilize them. The wood steals the nitrogen.

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I don't think that's the case as a mulch. Only when mixed into the soil

"I agree with pulling the wood chips away a little, but for disease prevention reasons. Beans are nitrogen fixing plants and a very light feeders. Usually what is in the soil is enough. Also, if wood chips are used as a topdressing and not worked into the soil they will not tie up nitrogen down in the root zone. This is a common myth that I see parroted all the time. Wood chips on the surface will use nitrogen from the air to break down."

This is good to know. Just from personal experience I had some growing in fresh mulch that looked like the ones in the picture. I finally decided to rake the mulch away and gave them a shot of fertilizer and they turned out fine. Not sure what it is but they don't like mulch.

Picked our first 2 yellow squash from the garden. Need some rain to really perk things up and get them going.

My go to bean mix—-13/13/13 and epsom salt at planting. Bone meal and epsom when they get about a foot tall. That’s it. Works for me every year. First planting yields two crops. In a 100 sq ft box I average 35-40 lbs of beans. Second crop is planted in late May. Less yield, closer to 20-25 lbs. Fall crop goes in around 8/1 and yields 35-40 lbs, but is freeze dependent. 2019 was amazing bc we didn’t have the first frost until late Nov/early Dec.

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Louisiana Pink,

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Didn't know Louisiana had it's own heirloom's!

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At the local feed store they had some Louisiana Reds, and when a gentleman looking next to me, had to be in his 80's, saw them he couldn't believe it. We had a good conversation about how that's all they used to grow when he was a kid. Louisiana Pinks and Red's. He couldn't wait to tell his brothers and sisters that he saw some.

I'm thinking next season those will be in my garden.

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epsom salt

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speaking of this, is there such a thing as putting too much?

Thanks Pillage. So hypothetically if I were to lean the epsom salt bag against my tomato bed and the wind blew it over and spilled. And I hypothetically wasn't able to get a good bit of it out... am I screwed with the plants in that immediate vicinity?

Has anyone ever used Langbenite for tomatoes? It is a natural mineral that contains potassium, magnesium and sulfur which are all important nutrients g do or tomato growth. I just ordered some and want to try it on my tomatoes.

Mouth is watering for the first bite of a fresh tomato.









In other news, I’m done with celebrity, ive never had a plant this large with not a single fruit on it, first 3 clusters never fruited.




Potatoes are starting to flower, so there should be some action going on below the soil soon.



I really messed up the soil in my containers this year, after trying to correct soil that was too acidic, i added too much lime and now too alkaline, they’ve looking really rough ever since planted (I don’t recommend ever using hydrated lime and also it’s very easy to over lime with pelletized lime).



Cucumbers are starting to kick into gear after the cold months we had. 3rd attempt at sowing seeds in the back half of beds finally successful.

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I’m done with celebrity

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I find that's the easiest variety to grow