Gardens

 

 We wish we had more sun so we could do more gardening!  Living in a redwood forest kinda puts a hamper on that!  We have had some success with tomatoes in a large pot on our deck.  Wife just brought home some "Tasty 100's"? (Small cherry tomatoes) the plant is loaded with blossoms and small tomatoes already.  Hopefully it'll thrive for the season!
  We also have some cilantro, going, those really tiny thin onion's  (For potatoes? Brain fart, cannot think of the name right now! ) had some basil going, but some recent past cold temps I think did it in?  Cat-nip plant is THRIVING on our deck!  My cat Orion, is a stoner now!
We can do small stuff, but definitely lack the all day sun to do more.

MolBasser!! Havent heard a peep from you in a coons age! Still at Sierra Nevada brewing? Nice gardens.

What the hell is A coons age?

Just got a new rear tine tiller so hopefully we can "break ground" & start prepping for next season or possibly a short winter run of squash.  Ground is hard as concrete right now.  Gophers are on a rampage this year so I may have to contend with them first.  The hawks look fat & happy so maybe they are doing their part.  Been tooooo many years since we had a descent garden.  Years back we were almost self-sufficient for most of the year with various gardens.  Ahhh .... the old'en days.

 We wish we had more sun so we could do more gardening!  Living in a redwood forest kinda puts a hamper on that!  We have had some success with tomatoes in a large pot on our deck.  Wife just brought home some "Tasty 100's"? (Small cherry tomatoes) the plant is loaded with blossoms and small tomatoes already.  Hopefully it'll thrive for the season!
  We also have some cilantro, going, those really tiny thin onion's  (For potatoes? Brain fart, cannot think of the name right now! ) had some basil going, but some recent past cold temps I think did it in?  Cat-nip plant is THRIVING on our deck!  My cat Orion, is a stoner now!
We can do small stuff, but definitely lack the all day sun to do more.

chives?

Coons age... 6yrs +-  We grow enough in our garden to feed the Neighborhood... Look out for Flying zucchini and summer squash! So many we often toss them to the chickens. They give us back eggs so a win win there... We are in above ground boxes this year due to rodentia problems (they ate the entire garden last year!!!) Seems to be working so far... Learn to garden before you NEED to garden folks "cause one day you may NEED that produce and ability to grow stuff...

 

  Brain fart adverted! YES Chives!  Thank you!  I get to go out and cut a few each time we have baked spuds!  So far, there doing ok.  Cilantro seems to be holding it own as well.  Now that the sun is higher in the sky, for the 2 to 3 hrs the deck is exposed, hopefully the greenery will continue to do well.  (EDIT)Wife said we have oregano, thyme, basil and dill also among all the greenery on our deck, basil isn't doing too well though.

My winter project is to build some large, quality, above ground planter boxes for this next season & start cultivating some soil.  Need to start a compost pile.  Would live to get a composter to aide in speeding up the process.  I have a hunch we will be in for a wet, wet winter this year so it will be all about prep. for next season.

Made a small box 2' x 4' with vertical trellis from cedar, redwood & copper pipe as a tester.  Came out pretty nice.  Waiting for the wood to dry out a bit more & then I will apply some boiled linseed oil to the outside to help preserve it.

~Bill

Pic of it

Just got a new rear tine tiller so hopefully we can "break ground" & start prepping for next season or possibly a short winter run of squash.  Ground is hard as concrete right now.  Gophers are on a rampage this year so I may have to contend with them first.  The hawks look fat & happy so maybe they are doing their part.  Been tooooo many years since we had a descent garden.  Years back we were almost self-sufficient for most of the year with various gardens.  Ahhh .... the old'en days.

As with MolBasser,  I want to run your soil!   Best thing to do with concrete soils is to add truckloads of organic compost.  My wife added about 4" on top of her garden soil and we incorporated it in.  The soil is now soft and very easy to dig in.  The compost will supply all the phosphorus you will ever need,  decrease the concrete consistency, aid in water and nutrient retention, and slowly release nitrogen over the duration of crop's growth.   Using real sol test results will mean you can grow a great crop.  If you get your garden ready,  fall is the time to plant all the cole crops like broccoli and cauliflower.  Garlic is best planted in November.  Onions planted in the fall are ready this time of year too. 

I also have gopher trapping down to a science and can dial you in if you don't already know.  My wife just texted me complaining that she had to stomp one to death after the trap only got an arm.

I'll throw this out I guess as a PIF thing,  make a $20donation at PIF and I will run your soil for Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, pH, Buffered pH, Magnesium, Calcium, Sodium, Organic Matter, and Cation Exchange Capacity.  I can also aid in fertilizer recommendations to enhance the soil conditions.  Just bring you soil sample to PIF or PM me for an address to mail it too. I run the nitrate in house and will send the rest of it out.

To collect a soil sample,  pick 12 random areas in the garden that are not impacted by recent fertilizer applications.  Use your small garden trowel and remove the soil in a manner that makes a small hole that goes down 12 inches.  Mix the soil you removed in a bucket (soil from the 12 holes mixed up) and put a representative sample in a 1qt plastic bag.

I put in a couple raised beds for the girls this year. They picked out the plants to grow. I pack them in tight and I've had 5sq' lettuce and 2ft' radishes, 1sq' carrots already harvested along with parsley, dill, cilantro. 

I have 4 snow pea plants, a summer squash, a winter squash, lettuce, 2 kinds of basil, oregano, 2 kinda of parsley, dill, cilantro, 1 eggplant, 1 lemon cuke and some flowers.



Lots of peas every day.



Squash blossoms coming.



More lettuce,  some herbs.

This makes me regret that I was too lazy to get out there and work on the garden this year.  Last year I planted a few tomato, cucumber, and chills.  It wasn't much but it was fun to be able to finally grow my won stuff.

I pretty much just pick what I need and let everyone else have the rest.
"This is MY garden!!!!!"    (Chadrock)

My entire front yard is a garden
I only but staples during the summer...
Peach trees x 2
apricots x 2
plum
pluot
cherry x 2
almond

squash
tomatoes
cucumber
herbs
oakra
peppers
eggplants
and more flowers than I care to list (to bring in the bees)

the back yard has
2 olives
apple
fig
orange
tangerine
lemon
lime
winter squash
and more flowers 

Nice front yard!

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Future fish taco fixins.