Garden 2020

[AK47bp]

http://pubs.cahnrs.wsu.edu/publications/pubs/fs111e/

Thanks. I had no idea of this but it looks already too late to get something planted. Next year I’ll do this for sure. I did leave all the roots in the soil to help prevent erosion and will just add compost this spring.




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[Flyoverland Captive]

What’s a cover crop? Your in eastern WA right?


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Sorry, missed this. Yep, I’m near Bend. Cover crops help fix nitrogen into the soil, and don’t grow like weeds after you plant your main crops later. We prefer any sort of Legume, you can plant them after first frost, and even if they don’t take off right away due to freezing, they do actually grow on the occasional warm day. By spring you’ll have a green layer on your bed that you can till in, without worrying about it taking over he bed in spring.

[Flyoverland Captive]

Thanks. I had no idea of this but it looks already too late to get something planted. Next year I’ll do this for sure. I did leave all the roots in the soil to help prevent erosion and will just add compost this spring.

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Never too late; the whole point of cover crops is to plant something that is dormant when cold, but grows when it’s above freezing. You just seed it and ignore it. It’s about nitrogen fixation.

[pepperdawg]

Snow here in Northeast - will pull carrots this weekend....that will be it till spring...

[Boissal]

Here's where we stand.Attachment 345554

That's a massive haul of greens! I really need to figure out a better way to use the ones we get, I'm so uninspired I let all of them freeze on the vine this year, can't even feed them to the chickens.

I'm starting pepper fermentation this weekend. Chocolate habaneros, orange jalapenos, and serranos make up the bulk of the spice.
Any tips/good recipes to recommend? Mix with some sweet peppers to provide some taste variety? Buy a couple searingly hot peppers at the store to turn up the heat? Simple white vinegar or something fancier? Ferment a week or longer? I have no idea what I'm doing and my reading suggests it's all about experimenting but I'd prefer to start from a somewhat trusted recipe.

[gravitylover]

All of my greens looked good under a half inch of snow this morning. While it was snowing the birds had a little dessert party with what's left of the strawberries that was cool to watch. Since there's really no good way to save some of the stuff including the 4' tall tomato plants that have been flowering and setting fruit for the last two weeks I'm just gonna let them freeze tonight then turn them in next week. Hopefully the carrots make it through because they're doing really well as are the potatoes. Herbs usually last through a freeze or two so we'll see, no huge loss if they don't make it because we saved a bunch already and they're drying in the sunroom. I'll put the garlic in this weekend and put the rest of the stuff to bed and rearrange the layout for better production next year next week.

[climberevan]

Update: the wire shelving method is working very well for tomato ripening. We've only lost a few, compared with maybe 20% using the cardboard boxes in years past. We'll probably slow roast a bunch in the next few days.

[climberevan]

Finally dug up the carrots. A few cold nights made them delicious!

[gravitylover]

Not much left now just a couple of carrots and herbs. The hard freeze last night put anything else down that wasn't already dead. I really need to decide where to put the garlic for next year because it's probably 2-3 weeks late for getting it in the ground already. I know where I'd put it for best productivity but that's also my best bed for a few other things. Such a dilemma

[Norseman]

Sugar Rush Red is doing well inside. Asskickin little sweet/hot dudes.

[Boissal]

Damn, everyone's still crushing it! We've long abandoned the garden to the chickens.

I wrapped up my first batch of fermented hot sauce a couple days ago. Thai chilis + chocolate habaneros + orange jalapenos + red serranos. I threw in some onions a random sweet peppers to balance it out and fermented the first batch at the 3 weeks mark. It had some kham yeast so I suspect the water seal failed somehow. The other 2 batches are looking yeast-free, I'm letting them go a bit longer.
The sauce is great, a cross between sriracha & tabasco, and belligerently hot. Perfect in small doses for morning eggs. Gonna make a great Xmas present, no way I'm going through 3 quarts of it without installing commercial-grade plumbing at the house.

Tried it first with pickled lemon cucs, it was glorious!

[climberevan]

I made a quick sauce with only cherry tomatoes that we harvested green. Our basil looks kinda sad but was a nice addition.

We still have a ton of potatoes in the ground because we've found leaving them there to be the best storage method.

The melons, amazingly, are holding up on the shelf. Having watermelon and muskmelon in Nov is pretty neat.

[Mr. Mike]

I picked a perfect pepper.



Best year I have ever had for sweet peppers. They are normally very finicky, but had tons this year from only 3 plants. Tomatoes were average. For some reason cucumbers were weak this year. I noticed few at farmer's markets too. I still have tomatoes growing. Covered them up to get through a couple of light frosts, but still haven't had a hard freeze. They ripen at a glacial pace now, so will probably end up with most of them unripened and in the basement, but just leaving them on the vine as long as I can. Kale, chard and carrots going in the one bed I'll try to nurse through the winter with some plastic.

[skiballs]

Last of the peppers.


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[Thaleia]

Question for those that might know..

Would you bother propagating seeds from random grocery store tomatoes?

Sliced into an old tomato and the seeds inside had sprouted. Out of lockdown boredom I potted some and they're growing pretty fast. Should I keep them going to plant in the spring? I seem to recall reading somewhere that this might be a waste because they might be a hybrid or mutant and they won't produce fruit or something.

Space outside is limited.

Trash and just go with normal seeds or store bought plants?

[gravitylover]

Once I have a plant growing I like to see if I can keep it growing. If you won't have room outside try it as a houseplant and see how it goes.

[riser4]

Day of the Triffids.

[bagtagley]

Question for those that might know..

Would you bother propagating seeds from random grocery store tomatoes?

Sliced into an old tomato and the seeds inside had sprouted. Out of lockdown boredom I potted some and they're growing pretty fast. Should I keep them going to plant in the spring? I seem to recall reading somewhere that this might be a waste because they might be a hybrid or mutant and they won't produce fruit or something.

Space outside is limited.

Trash and just go with normal seeds or store bought plants?

I’m no expert but my understanding is that some (most?) hybrids are sterile and won’t bear fruit. I’ve had plants from fruit seeds bear fruit but they just popped up from tomatoes that rotted in the garden or uncomposted scraps so I’ve never been sure what they came from.

[AK47bp]

Question for those that might know..

Would you bother propagating seeds from random grocery store tomatoes?

Sliced into an old tomato and the seeds inside had sprouted. Out of lockdown boredom I potted some and they're growing pretty fast. Should I keep them going to plant in the spring? I seem to recall reading somewhere that this might be a waste because they might be a hybrid or mutant and they won't produce fruit or something.

Space outside is limited.

Trash and just go with normal seeds or store bought plants?

I’m generally pro life when it comes to sprouted plants. If it’s growing well why not keep the experiment going? Then come spring you’ll know if it’s worthy of the garden or maybe throw in a pot in the corner of your driveway or something. If not then abort the sumbitch.


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[Thaleia]

Yeah I agree with the sentiment here. If they were scraggly and fucked up looking it might be a different story, but these guys are growing really nicely. I've decided I'll fast track a couple into the weed closet to see if they'll produce fruit.

[riser4]

Lovely. Now we are going to end up with stoned Triffids. Don't say I didn't warn you.

[thedude2340]

[skifishbum]

still rockin the broc

tried sweet potatoes this year for t day dinner
plant grew great
harvest not so much

were gonna need to share