TOPIC: opening day...

Woodsrunner...

My Corn is harvested and stalks composting... my cukes are done, and vines pulled... I don't compost them, they were showing signs of disease near the end... yellowing.. so I just drag them off into the woods away from the garden.

But now that does not mean it's over for the year...

The same day that I pulled my cuke vines... I completely reworked the bed, added about 100 lbs compost, and organic fertilizer... and planted a double row of green beans... one row bush beans, and the other half runners.. 7 days after planting the seeds this is what they looked like. The half runners are on the left, and i have a half cattle panel for them to climb.

Where my corn was... I got that worked up too and refertilized and going to plant Okra here in a few days and some black eyed peas.

I counted 18 cantaloupe in my cantaloupe patch today... and they will be getting ripe soon... when I pull them, I will rework that bed and plant a bed of beets, spinach and lettuce... and if I have ground left may cover that with collards for the fall.

Check out those beans below... 7 days, they bolted out of the ground.

TNHunter

On what my finished compost looks like... it looks and smells great... and is loaded with worms, some red, but also some night crawlers...

Below is a pic of my big beef tomatoes as I was planting them.

I put something like 24 shovels of compost around those tomato while planting... you can see where I shoveled some in around those root balls.
I load my tomatoes up with compost while planting them... also bone meal, blood meal, epson salt, green sand and some gypsum. They have produced very well this year and while pruned to 2 stems, have reached near 9' tall now. Still loaded with tomatoes... they always slow down some when it gets really hot, but as it start to cool off, will start producing agian.

TNHunter

TN, your compost looks great, I watched a video quite some time ago about a composting business and yours looks the same.

I'm really in year one of having a garden though the past two years I planted on a smaller scale. You reminded me that there are veggies one can plant later in the year. I have lettuce seeds remaining and will plant them this weekend, this time I'll fence them off from the rabbits.

Woodsrunner.... find out what your average first frost date is...

Here in southern Middle TN... we usually get our first frost near the end of October... occasionally more like Oct 15, but usually more like 25-30.

Today is Aug 1.. 31 days in August, 30 Days in Sept, and if I count 15 days in October... that is a total of 76 days until expected first frost. Could be more like 80-85 days..

I have been watching youbube vids from the HossTools guys this year, and even though I have been gardening for 40+ years, I learned a few tricks from them, grew the best crop of sweet corn this year (ever)... using a couple tips they provided on fertilizing and hilling.. If you search for Hoss Tools on youtube ... they do a weekly row by row garden show... and lots of other videos on gardening tips. It is a Father and Son that does the video's and are owners of the business (they make wheel hoes, and sell lots of garden related tools and goods including seeds on their website - quality american made stuff). Anyone could learn a little or a lot from watching those guys... they grow huge gardens, and put up a lot of their own food, but also sell at local farmers markets.

You should check them out... website.. hosstools.com/

Youtube... www.youtube.com/user/HossGardeningTools

great for learning all things gardening. Now these guys are Southern Guys... I think from Georgia. They have a much longer growing season that I do... and it gets very hot and dry there during the summer months, so they do a lot with drip irrigation systems.... which I don't usually need that... but they do.

I ordered some seed from them recently - wanted to try some of the okra varieties that (were trial test winners for them, year after year).. and some other seed too... They do trials each year, planting 3-4-5 varieties of various veggies, and at then end, give details on which one produced the most, which tasted the best, had best disease resistence, etc... now of course that is for their Location, and results could vary for you.

The seed I got from them for my late summer, fall plantings.. were these...

Early Wonder Beet (50 days to maturity).
Jambalya Okra (50 days to maturity).
Red Burgundy Okra (50 days to maturity)
Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce (50 days to maturity) -- I have grown this variety for years, and love it, it is a cut and come again leaf type.
Crocodile Spinach - (45 days to maturity) - known for producing well, even with higher temps, without bolting,.
Queen Anne BlackEye Pea (60 days to maturity)...

I know that Okra does well in HOT weather... it actually does not do much at all until it gets HOT, then it takes off. I expect it will bolt out of the ground too, and in 50 days be producing... and hopefully with a few weeks of production from these two varieties (which per Hoss tools are the top producers in their trials every year)... I hope to get to harvest and can a pretty good late season crop of okra this fall.

Going to Can some Black Eyed Peas, Beats, and other stuff too..

I recently purchased a 23 qt Presto Pressure Canner... it holds 20 Pints (double stacked), or 7 Quarts.

I have a freezer near full of meat and veggies and berries now (this years harvest)... lots of pints and quarts of home made tomato soup.
I have some more room in there for deer meat and fish... which plan to fill this fall.

Past that... going to Can many more veggies and some meat soups, and stews... for the fall and winter months... once pressure canned they will last a couple years on the shelf (no electricity required)..

Are there food shortages coming ??? I don't know - a lot of folks seem to think so.

Who would have thought a year ago, we would have shortages of toilet paper, and food for at least part of this year... not me.

My plan is to be prepared - by putting up a bunch of my own food - much more than usual anyway.

IF there are no food shortages.. I will still have a bunch of my own canned and frozen goods to eat (high quality, organic, good stuff).

I will be canning some meats too... beef, deer, may even try canning some fish.

Part of my retirement plan includes becoming MUCH more self sufficient, as I move into retirement. So this is really just part of my long term plan anyway...

Good Luck to you all.

TNHunter

Woodsrunner
have you joined togetherweserved.com
good site to get back in touch with other prior military

Planted 2 rows of Okra yesterday, and 2 of black eyed peas (where my corn was).

Picked the first ripe melon of 16 cantaloupe in my path there...



Have 9 nice sized watermelons on that one watermelon vine... should be ripe soon, that tendril nearest where the vine enters the melon is about half green, half brown. When brown, supposed to be ripe. Will see soon.

Unusually cooler today, feels sort of fall like, low humidity... very welcome on a August day in TN.

TNHunter

with a real hot july ,the first few days of Aug. have been really cool,50 degrees this mornings low temp.little less than a month till digg'en season I thought a scouting trip was in order,things look good in the timber...

,,,,,,

posted the same pic. twice,heres another one.

Looking good Chief. Nice 3's.

My seed bed plants and wild sim close to home here is looking good. Think it will be a good year for seng.

I wonder what the price might be like this year... with all this Covid stuff going on ?

I think Ginseng might just be the cure for Covid... that would be nice for the price for us anyway

TNHunter

Took a day off work yesterday... hit the river in my kayak.. beautiful morning !!!

Had a nice fish dinner tonight.

TNHunter