# Garden 2017



## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

I began starting seeds the end of January.Here are pics of tomatoes-3 different kinds,Carnival,Green,Mild poblano and Anaheim peppers plus a black pearl and Bolivian rainbow ornamental peppers(they haven't germinated yet),tomatillas,Brussels sprouts and cat mint plants.There are the orange,tangerine,lemon,lime and 2 pomegranate trees.They don't look like much yet but they will.I also have several avocado seeds I'm trying to start.I'm still waiting on the eggplants to germinate but I'm beginning to think they are not going to sprout. I have a whole greenhouse full of peppermint to plant around the house and coop for rodent control and as soon as I get the other greenhouse empty,I'll fill it up with more peppermint.I hope it works because I can't stand rodents.Last,but not least,I have some mystery plants.A friend left these seeds/beans here a few years back.Well,I found them and stuck a couple in a house plant.No only did it sprout but it's growing like crazy.Yesterday morning I noticed it poking out of the dirt.This morning it's 4" tall and the leaves are bigger then a quarter.The seeds look like beans but it attached at the top of the seed to the fruit verses the side like a pinto bean.I don't think the friend would keep beans to plant but if they are beans,I'm going to plant them through the fence around the front porch.Does anybody recognize it?The best part of gardening this year will be training my new geese how to weed the garden and I'm really looking forward to it.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

CQ. You're going to have fun transplanting your seedlings . Well, I beat you to it lol.
I've got tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, cabbage and marigolds mixed in with the veggies, nothing fancy as I'm limited with space. I've been more busy tending my outdoor plants such as spider plants, pothos, wandering jew, confederate jasmine and a few others.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

No fair!!!I have to wait at least 2 more months before everything can go out.Alot of the Big Boy tomatoes and green pepper plants will be given away to family and friends.I need to separate some climbing tomatoes and tomatillas and put them in bigger cups.I bought a new bag of potting mix today but it was kept outside and it's too cold for the seedlings just yet.I'm keeping the climbing tomatoes and am going to see if I can grow them up the deck and grow out pen.What I need to be doing is figuring out where to put the asparagus.I can't make up my mind...


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I used to cover plants with milk cartons.

That's some nice garden, Dawg!


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

I saw where someone used 2 liter bottles.It looked alright.The rule of thumb around here is to wait until Mother's Day before setting plants out.I can put the Brussels sprouts out in a week or two.I need to do something,I ran out of room on the window sill today and also ran out of trays to put them on.This morning I had to use my muffin tins for the tomatillas.Now my special peppers are sprouting....


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

For those who like growing tomatoes, you gotta get a Juliet tomato plant. It grows fast and flowers fast. It is disease resistant and tomato crack resistant. Most importantly, it grows ALOT of nice bite sized tomatoes. By ALOT, I mean we have them coming out of our ears! A tall tomato cage is a must. It has grown over 6 feet tall and is bushy. I've never seen a tomato plant like this one, it's insane! 
I'm glad I bought only one of these plants. Next year I'm not buying other types of tomato plants, only ONE Juliet. 
https://bonnieplants.com/product/roma-grape-juliet-tomato/


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

I tthink that must be what I'm calling a "grape tomato", Dawg. I have been buying them at Sam's club all winter and decided to see if they would come up from seed true to the name. So far they have and u have 3 plants. I just squirted one of the tomato seeds on dirt in a pot and every blessed one sprouted!! I gave around 70 little seedlings away!


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

I put it on my list for next year.I like those little maters for me and the birds.I'm getting the peppers out today and just heard a cool front is coming and night temps are going down to the low 50's which means a few degrees cooler here.I hope it doesn't effect my maters.Dale being out of town for 3 wks put us so far behind in our duties,I don't know if we will ever catch up.Yesterday the mosquitoes were so bad I was getting ate up all day by these big black ones.Then last night I had the spotlight out looking for my dog who took off after something and the mosquitoes in the light were unbelievable,I saw at least 6 different kinds of mosquitoes.I try to stay away from chemicals but I'm getting the can of DeepWoods Off out today.The ticks are really,really bad this year,too.I reckon that's the result of 2 warm,wet winters.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

I will be putting a case of green beans up today!
CQ, Cutters makes a premise spray that lasts several weeks and kills fleas, mosquitoes, and ticks. We use it in our woods wherever we have our family get togethers around a campfire. It works great. We're getting ready to use it on our backyard.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

Sometimes you just have to get the "big guns " out !


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

I got 2 canner loads of green beans done. One before church and the 2nd on right now. 13 pints! Now, I need to go pick some more!


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

I got the Ball Blue book and was intimidated by page 2.LOL I've never been around anybody who cans but my son and DIL came yesterday to get a 10 lb spiral sliced ham I had in the freezer since Easter(they were on sale for $0.97 lb,I couldn't resist)and I didn't want it.While Hannah was here I mentioned my canning wants and needs and she said she would come help if I needed it,even tho she will be really pregnant and I have no ac.I'm looking for a canner set now and a pressure cooker for canning meats this winter if I find I mastered canning tomatoes.I really loved all the recipes they had that did not pertain to canning,I wasn't expecting that.Thanks for telling me about that book,Nanny!!!I've been talking about this for a few years and this year I'm gonna do it.With the world going crazy,I want to be self sufficient and learn now while I can.We got the asparagus bed done and they are growing.Got my sweet peppers in the ground yesterday,still have to do the chiles and melons,squash and corn.And plant the paw-paw trees and kiwi vines.PS- don't tell Dale but next year we're getting milk goats and learn how to make cheese....


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

The Ball Blue Book is what I learned with. Green beans are the easiest veggie to learn pressure canning with and tomatoes are the easiest "fruit" 
to learn the water bath method. Jams and preserves are so easy. When you learn the "book" methods then I'll share some short cuts. If you're using the pressure canner you don't need to sterilize the jars and lids. The whole process does that and the dishwasher will make the jars safe for the water bath method.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

Don't get a cheap pressure canner and make sure it says "for canning " on the label.


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## Nobody (Apr 13, 2017)

chickenqueen said:


> I put it on my list for next year.I like those little maters for me and the birds.I'm getting the peppers out today and just heard a cool front is coming and night temps are going down to the low 50's which means a few degrees cooler here.I hope it doesn't effect my maters.Dale being out of town for 3 wks put us so far behind in our duties,I don't know if we will ever catch up.Yesterday the mosquitoes were so bad I was getting ate up all day by these big black ones.Then last night I had the spotlight out looking for my dog who took off after something and the mosquitoes in the light were unbelievable,I saw at least 6 different kinds of mosquitoes.I try to stay away from chemicals but I'm getting the can of DeepWoods Off out today.The ticks are really,really bad this year,too.I reckon that's the result of 2 warm,wet winters.


 My mom always had marigolds planted around the house to keep the mosquitoes down. Don't know if it would help with the ticks though.

I also recently read where catnip is a good insect repellent but it draws cats. Might be something to think about.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

Citronella plants and candles for the patio or deck.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Nobody, I've heard of marigolds being good for repelling bugs. Easy to grow too.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

I'm nursing a citronella cutting now a friend gave me but it isn't looking good.He also gave me a fig clipping which is doing really well.I put it in dirt and it looks like a little tree with really big leaves.Dale hasn't cut most of the grass yet and I think the mosquitoes are hiding in the grass.Cutting all of the grass is next on his list if he can get his mower started.He painted a whole house for his father for an X Mark walk/ride behind mower 5 years ago.I bet that was $3-4,000 job.When he brought it home he had to jury rig it to make it start and to work the blades.It's a POS and he's dumped hundreds of dollars in it and it stays broken down more than not.I refuse to operate it.I begged him last year to buy a riding mower and found a nice one that could handle a 3 acre yard because that's about how big of an area we cut(the pond is an acre and between the developed part and woods part another acre).On top of the mower staying broken down,Dale suffers from severe narcolepsy and sometimes he just can't stay awake and alert enough to operate it.He slept most of the weekend and yesterday after work.If we don't buy a mower I can operate this year,I'm putting my foot down and getting goats.They'll keep the grass down...


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

Lol! We have a zero turn John Deer for our 8 acres of which Jim mows 5 or 6. We'd wouldn't be able to keep that big of ares w/out that.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

I went to introduce couple of geese to the garden but they all followed me back there.I wanted to see if they would weed it.They did a little but it was hot and they found a tree to sit under instead.I didn't have water back there for them so today I'm taking their little itty bitty baby pool back there and see if that helps.They ate some Brussel's sprout leaves and I scolded them.They ate around the asparagus but left the asparagus alone.I had some corn started on the front porch but they ate every one down to the ground so they ain't allowed in the corn patch.Still gotta plant the squash and melons but the ground is tilled and the mounds are ready.I was just too lazy last night to drag 200' of hose from the front to the back just to have to bring it back this morning to clean the goose pool.Tonight I'll clean the pool and fill it for tomorrow then drag it back to the garden and finish it.The farmers are just now planting their crops so I'm still good to go.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

I got my first harvest-2 Anaheim chile peppers!!!Also took a picture of the tomatilla I have in a pot.It's doing so good and is loaded with fruits.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

Very nice looking peppers and tomatillos!


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Very nice CQ. I'm done gardening until fall comes (if it comes.) The heat and humidity is wearing me out.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

Us ,too Dawg.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Awesome !!so far I got 4 zucchini. And some blueberries. Nothing else yet


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

I had zucchini and yellow squash more than enough for us and gave a bunch away. The okra is just now getting revved up. Green beans are done. Getting ready to pull them down. Cantalopes didn't make well. I probably had them too crowded. Hatch peppers and jalepenos are starting to make, but the tomatoes are frying...


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

I've got lots of blooms and a couple of small tomatoes so far.Mine's just starting to get going.The geese are trying to weed the garden and are failing miserably but they are doing a good job replacing the nitrogen in the soil


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