Gardening Plans For the Summer

Discussion in 'The Green Patch' started by Yard Dart, Mar 11, 2014.


Tags:
  1. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    Curious what everyone's plan's are for the year with their gardens? Are you expanding your growing area, adding to you variety or doing anything fun with alternative crops such as hydroponics?

    I am doubling the space I used last year with the raised garden beds and most planters now have veggies, peppers and such vs flowers as the wife used to do. Suburbia has its challenges but we are working through it. I have learned what I grow well and what dies on the vine... What lessons can you share that you are doing?
    YD
     
    Last edited: Mar 11, 2014
    oldman11 likes this.
  2. kckndrgn

    kckndrgn Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I've "expanded" a bit. by that I made some new raised bed area's and will not be doing "row planting", too many weeds, not enough time. I've also added a tower garden. If I can sneak it in, the flower beds in the front of the house will get some edible items in it them too ;)
    Additionally I will be adding some plants to our hunting property (nut & fruit trees).
     
    oldman11, tulianr and Yard Dart like this.
  3. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    For hunting, you might want to add percimmons, or honeysuckle, apples, and oranges (deer love oranges), grapes, with morels and ginsing as cash crops until things fall apart. Many plants with medical properties could be added with seedlings or cuttings.
     
    oldman11 and Motomom34 like this.
  4. kckndrgn

    kckndrgn Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    @kellory , our property has wild persimmon and honeysuckle. When we bought it there was a single pear tree. We have added 3 apples and will be adding some more fruit trees (apples & pears) this spring. I don't think oranges (citrus in general) will survive our winters, just enough freezing temps that it kills the citrus.

    We also have LOTS of muscadine vines on the property. Oh, I'm trying to root some mulberry cuttings right now to add to the property. My in-laws also have some pecan seedlings that I will transplant to the property.
     
    oldman11 and kellory like this.
  5. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    There is a saying " a deer will walk 7 miles for acorns from a white oak." I have added @30 red oaks to my land, and hope to add whites this year. In addition. Acorns are edible for you and me as well.
     
    oldman11 likes this.
  6. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    Have you ever ate an acorn?

    i will do my boxes, plus my pots that I have here & there. I want to add more fruit. There was a thread on here about bale gardening and i would like to try that also. I plan to really change up what I am going to plant. no corn this year, IMO it is a waste of space.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 14, 2014
    stg58 and Yard Dart like this.
  7. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    Not yet, but others on here have, and even bake with the crushed nuts. They are bitter due to tannin, but that can be leached out. I would suggest a search box quest, for they have been discussed here.
     
    oldman11 and Motomom34 like this.
  8. tulianr

    tulianr Don Quixote de la Monkey

    We eat some just about every year, mainly as part of a program to teach my youngest one what wild foods are edible, and how to prepare them. Our White Oak acorns seem to have the least tannic acid, and require less processing. The Red Oak family seem to fairly heavy in tannic acid, and at one time I thought it was in some way connected to the size of the acorn (our White Oak acorns are three times the size of our Red Oak acorns); but that doesn't seem to be the case. We prepared some Chestnut Oak acorns last year, and they are huge - easily half the size of a golf ball. They were the hardest yet to get to an edible state. We generally just put them in a pot of water, and bring it to a boil, dumping the water and repeating several times. The White Oaks are good to go after a couple of water changes. The Red Oaks take two or three more. Those Chestnut Oaks took eight, and probably could have benefited from more. They were still a bit bitter.

    We slice, roast and salt them, like peanuts. They also work well on a salad after being roasted. A couple of years ago, we browned some, and ground them down to make coffee. The resulting beverage didn't taste exactly like coffee but, with some sugar, it wasn't half bad.
     
  9. tulianr

    tulianr Don Quixote de la Monkey

    As far as gardening goes, we're putting in a few more raised beds this year. I'm not going back to tilling and weeding until I have to. We're putting a little more emphasis this year on planting wild edibles. We keep an herb garden for most of the year, and dry the herbs for use later in the year. We're doing a few more medicinal herbs this year.

    I've planted amaranth for the last couple of years, and this year I planted some Montana Popping Amaranth, for the first time. I did Golden Giant, and Hopi Red Amaranth last year. I have some chickweed and purslane coming up in containers. They're both good for adding to salads. We have some Red Russian Kale coming up well. This is the first year that we've planted it. I'm keeping most of my salad greens in containers this year. I'm tired of feeding the bugs.

    Other than that, we've got some root veggies on the way up - turnips, radishes, onions, leeks, and a few carrots. We've sprouted a few other things in window greenhouse boxes, but we can't put them out for a couple of weeks.

    And Motomom, I also don't know about planting corn this year. Last year's results were not inspiring. I have to get on top of it eventually though. I'd like to be able to produce a decent crop of corn. We were covered up in tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes last year, but if we'd been relying on the corn crop, we'd have been in trouble.
     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2014
    oldman11, Yard Dart and Motomom34 like this.
  10. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    So you are already planting? I have about 2 months till I can put things in the ground. I keep want to start my seedlings but it is still too soon. I would like to try Amaranth, I read someone journal on here about the growth etc... it looked low maintenance and it was pretty. I am hoping we have a nice summer so the elk will leave it alone. I am planning on planting more outside of the fence to see what the wild life eat and what they don't.

    I am also going to try that pallet planting that I saw on another thread.
     
    oldman11 and tulianr like this.
  11. kckndrgn

    kckndrgn Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Yes, I have plants in the ground right now, frost tolerant items (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and spinach). I also planted some strawberries, but know that we will more than likely be going to a "pick your own" place to replenish my stores of strawberry jam.

    My tomatoes are doing well, some of them are ready to go into the ground, but I nervous. Seems that our last frost date has typically been the middle/end of March, but this year it's the first part of April.

    I'll also have an indoor crop of greens thanks to my tower garden.

    I did amaranth a few years ago, easy crop to grow. I think there are some threads on SM about amaranth as well.
     
    oldman11 and tulianr like this.
  12. STANGF150

    STANGF150 Knowledge Seeker

    As of this past Monday I put 20 pounds Kennebec & 5 pounds Yukon Gold taters in the ground. Two lil rows of yellow onions. Sum Detroit Dark Red Beets & Radishes as well. Be a lil while until no chance of frost before I plant rest of garden.
     
    oldman11 and tulianr like this.
  13. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    This weekend I will pull out the old root systems and whatever is left in the planter beds and add some new top soil to the mix. I have expanded into most every container we have in lieu of flowers that the wife likes. We have also added two raised planter beds and should be able to grow a nice crop this year. I am even planting some of @Mindgrinder's Kale he so loves... it is a good NW plant to grow. Working on my gorilla gardening this year as well. Thinking some of those spaghetti squashes would be fun to see climbing the trees... in the greenbelt off my property... ;)
     
  14. Mindgrinder

    Mindgrinder Karma Pirate Ninja|RIP 12-25-2017

    I had big plans to expand but have been distracted....not that the weather has been good enough to give me a headstart. I put out some carrot and kale seeds yesterday and should have all my tobacco started inside by the end of the week.
     
    Yard Dart likes this.
  15. fedorthedog

    fedorthedog Monkey+++

    I plan to increase my garden area by using potato boxes outside of the existing garden. Some starts in the green house. Heavy on green beans tomato's, lettec, chad. The prices at the store will be going up due to the lack of water in ca.
     
    tulianr and Yard Dart like this.
  16. STANGF150

    STANGF150 Knowledge Seeker

    I've come to the conclusion that next year I'll prolly expand my garden by 1/2 at least if not a lil more. Feel an urge for a lil attepmt to grow Corn!! I just hope & pray this week is not a sign of it repeating last year. The two months of rain last year sucked arse!!! Hmmm....maybe I oughta try growing a lil rice just in case it does repeat last year...
     
    tulianr and Yard Dart like this.
  17. Recon24

    Recon24 Monkey

    Just rototilled the garden using the tractor, then dumped on several tons of composted horse manure; will rototill it all in again before planting. Here in eastern Colorado, it's still way too early to put in much. We no longer plant what I call frivolous vegetables (such as lettuce) in our survival garden. Almost a third will be planted in potatoes--it's only the end of March. We've still got a couple hundred pounds of spuds in our storehouse along with a hundred pounds of carrots and a few onions. Our goal is always to grow a full year's worth of the veggies we eat and then to store them, either in the storehouse/cellar or by canning, freezing, or drying. A full year means twelve months worth and nothing less. Keeps us away from the grocery store and with increasing prices, that's no small thing.

    Cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprout seedlings are growing nicely so as to be ready when the weather gives us permission to plant. Turnips will go in the ground as soon as the rorotilling is finished.

    I have to chuckle when I read about what some folks plant when I compare their selections to ours. I guess it's all in one's perspective. My perspective is to treat the garden as our most important survival strategy even though I have a secure job--30 years as a classroom teacher, and yes, there are a few conservative, liberty-minded teachers out there. Even though my job seems secure, if it were to end tomorrow, my garden would still get us through. I would be interested in hearing from other survival gardeners. Trying anything new?
     
  18. kckndrgn

    kckndrgn Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Well, I'll be brave and get the tomatoes and peppers planted this weekend. I have several tomato plants that are about 2' tall already. We're supposed to have rain today and tomorrow but clearing on Saturday so the ground will be good and wet.
    Start soaking the been seeds tomorrow night and work on the trellises for those plants that need them.

    @Recon24, yes, it's all perspective. My family does not eat potatoes, should I plant them? Nope. We do eat lettuce several times a week so I grow it to offset the cost of buying it. In addition to my garden, I have an indoor aquaponics setup growing lettuces, spinach, kale and a few peppers, things we eat regularly.
     
    tulianr and Dunerunner like this.
  19. Dunerunner

    Dunerunner Brewery Monkey Moderator

    @kckndrgn I'd love to see some pics of your indoor hydroponics set up!! I've planted Broccoli, Romaine and Spring Mix lettuces, Sugar Peas and Swiss Chard. Green beans are in starter pots. My garden this year is in 11 - 20" plastic pots to help keep the slugs out and the weeds down.
     
    tulianr likes this.
  20. kckndrgn

    kckndrgn Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    @Dunerunner , i miss spoke a little, it's really aeroponics (minor difference). I'm using the TowerGarden
     
    Dunerunner likes this.
  1. Elessar
  2. tacmotusn
  3. tulianr
  4. CATO
  5. CANDY fISHER
  6. DebfromAZ1
  7. tacmotusn
  8. Mountainman
  9. ChemicalGal
survivalmonkey SSL seal        survivalmonkey.com warrant canary
17282WuJHksJ9798f34razfKbPATqTq9E7