What Are Some Tips for Successful Gardening?

In summary, we put in a huge garden and had a green thumb from the get-go. We still have a garden, although it's a little smaller now. We mainly grow vegetables, fruits, and flowers. I've been a pretty avid gardener at times but not for eating, just for looking.
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Insanity said:
Our tomatoes have exploded this year and have almost overtaken the garden and an additional two feet surrounding the garden. A few have toppled the tomato cages.

I can hope to have the same luck next year, might have to expand the garden garden to allow for it.
That's great! My Marianas are loaded with fruit (even the smallest plants) though they are slow to ripen, I think due to the drought.
 
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I think canning will be in order. I am planning on separate areas for the hops and tobacco next year. Won't need as much square footage for the hops, but definitely will need vertical space. The tobacco might need some space, I have no idea yet as the harvest/space.
 
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turbo-1 said:
Only about 75 feet or so. It's the last few feet to the pond that are difficult to navigate. It's not a natural pond, though it is supplied only with ground-water. It was dug out with a large excavator, and has very steep sides.

I'm thinking that I might invest in a pump and a filtered suction-line to transport water to the garden. Never needed it before, but this drought is a killer. Some dairy farmers are certain to go under this winter with the low price of milk and the high price of grain, because their hay, alfalfa, and corn crops are burnt.
I was going to say a small portable pump with a 100 foot hose will work nicely. I bought one for around $100 at Home depot a few years ago when the basement floaded. That thing had to pump the water up the stairs across the house, out a window and around the side. It was awesome. You'll just need an electric supply.

I sure do hope that you get a decent rain soon.
 
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I'm probably going to have to bite the bullet and got to Tractor Supply tomorrow to see what I can find for a trash-pump/sprinkler-pump. I can't afford to lose all that produce or to burn up one of my well-pumps trying to save it.
 
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turbo-1 said:
I NEED rain! Can anybody push some this way? We haven't had significant rainfall since early June. I have had to switch from my dug well for watering to the drilled well, and I'm in the twilight zone as to the drought-capacity of my drilled well. I don't want to run short of water, but I don't want to lose my garden either.

Wow, that is a normal summer here. Well, actually, we usually get little or no rain from 4Jul to perhaps mid Sept.

Question for you Turbo, we planted a pepper plant this year and we actually have some peppers growing, perhaps not surprising for you or Borek but this is a real shock for me! Now, when do I pick them? I'll have to post a pic of my Topsy Turvy, it has more tomatoes then I have ever seen on a plant of mine. To be fair the plant I but in the ground has the 2nd most tomatoes I have ever had. It even looks like some of them will get ripe!
 
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Integral said:
Wow, that is a normal summer here. Well, actually, we usually get little or no rain from 4Jul to perhaps mid Sept.
Well, we have had no significant rain since early June and ground-water levels are dropping like a rock. I don't ever recall having such a hot dry summer here. Of course, I am a young 58, so perhaps my sample-size is insufficient. :-p

Integral said:
Question for you Turbo, we planted a pepper plant this year and we actually have some peppers growing, perhaps not surprising for you or Borek but this is a real shock for me! Now, when do I pick them? I'll have to post a pic of my Topsy Turvy, it has more tomatoes then I have ever seen on a plant of mine. To be fair the plant I but in the ground has the 2nd most tomatoes I have ever had. It even looks like some of them will get ripe!
If you have planted bell peppers or another sweet variety, you can pick them at any time, though they will be more pungent when they are smaller, in general. If you planted chili peppers, they may need to be nurtured and tended until they are worthy of picking and processing. Unlike Astro, I don't dry my chilies. I pick them and can them in batches, either in tomato-based salsas or in very hot chili relishes.

If I ever get my act together (after all these years) I should make sure to get at least 1/2 row of Hungarian wax chilies to maturity (nice ripe red), dehydrate them, and grind them for home-made paprika. I have a really nice smoker now, so I can smoke the chilies before I dehydrate them, and make smoked paprika better than the stuff I can buy.
 
  • #2,422
I bought the pump today, and am planning what I'll need to establish a decent suction line with filter and foot-valve. I'll also have to buy reciprocating sprinklers with large nozzles, because the water coming out of the pond will almost certainly have enough fine materials to plug a conventional rotary sprinkler.

And finally, a decent rain-fall. It started around 11:30 and built slowly, but it's now a nice drenching rain creating puddles on the lawn and in the garden. Oddly, my Mariana tomatoes have decided to start ripening, and I now have 10-12 or so that are red enough to pick and make into sauce. Marianas are nice fleshy firm tomatoes that de-water easily when simmered. I like them even better than Romas for sauces.
 
  • #2,423
Practical witchcraft: to cause rain, buy a pump.
 
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Borek said:
Practical witchcraft: to cause rain, buy a pump.
Perhaps I need to throw away my canning jars to encourage my habanero chiles to grow and ripen.
 
  • #2,425
I gave my father some Mariana plants this spring. I think he was a bit skeptical because the plants were small (late start in the greenhouse), but he's happy as a clam, now. He just ate the first couple of ripe ones today, and he's pretty pumped because he thinks they are less acidic than the tomatoes that he usually grows (Big Boys and Early Girls). He loves fresh garden tomatoes, but when he over-consumes them, he starts getting canker-sores, cold sores, etc. To be fair, he can eat a LOT of tomatoes when they are in season. We have been giving him cherry tomatoes and he eats them like grapes - now he has large ripe Marianas coming in.

Marianas are great for sandwiches because they are quite fleshy and not as juicy as most garden tomatoes, so they won't soak the bread when you make BLTs. Good type for home-gardeners to try. You won't be disappointed.
 
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turbo-1 said:
I gave my father some Mariana plants this spring. I think he was a bit skeptical because the plants were small (late start in the greenhouse), but he's happy as a clam, now. He just ate the first couple of ripe ones today, and he's pretty pumped because he thinks they are less acidic than the tomatoes that he usually grows (Big Boys and Early Girls). He loves fresh garden tomatoes, but when he over-consumes them, he starts getting canker-sore, cold sores, etc. To be fair, he can eat a LOT of tomatoes when they are in season. We have been giving him cherry tomatoes and he eats them like grapes - now he has large ripe Marianas coming in.

Marianas are great for sandwiches because they are quite fleshy and not as juicy as most garden tomatoes, so they won't soak the bread when you make BLTs. Good type for home-gardeners to try. You won't be disappointed.

Interesting. I've never heard of the mariana plant, so I googled it. Google asked me, "Do you mean marijuana plants?" I answered, well, I don't know :confused:, that's why I'm asking you, google. Sheesh.
 
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lisab said:
Interesting. I've never heard of the mariana plant, so I googled it. Google asked me, "Do you mean marijuana plants?" I answered, well, I don't know :confused:, that's why I'm asking you, google. Sheesh.
Look up Johnny's Selected Seeds on the 'web. I got my Mariana seeds, and Moskvich seeds from them. Marianas are determinant bushes with a burst of production, and Moskviches are heirloom indeterminant vining plants that need to be pruned, tied up, etc, but can produce until killing frosts. I think I'll stay with those next year too. It seems like a nice mix.
 
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Andre said:
Looks like the popular roma's those Mariana's.

They are most likely derived from Romas. Mariana tomatoes are very pale when they set on, then turn red very quickly as they ripen. Unlike many varieties, Marianas turn red quite evenly and don't end up with green flesh at the stem-end. Here are a couple that I just picked. BTW, I have had poor luck with Romas in the past. The fruit tends to fall off the vine easily, and the plants are not very hardy in this climate. Marianas do very well here.

marianas.jpg
 
  • #2,430
I have a 1 hp pump that can suck water out of my backyard pond. I have some 100psi flexible piping and fittings, and a $9.99 reciprocating sprinkler that can cover the entire garden. At least my two wells and well-pumps are safe from cavitation due to watering. It has cost me close to $200 for the project, but that is far cheaper than the potential loss of the produce or the replacement cost of burnt-out well pumps.. The pump and reciprocating sprinkler can cover a LOT more area than my garden, so I'm pretty happy with the result.

sprinkler.jpg
 
  • #2,431
Fantastic! Hope you keep getting enough rain to keep the pond level up.
 
  • #2,432
Evo said:
Fantastic! Hope you keep getting enough rain to keep the pond level up.
It's a pretty big pond. Even at this low level there are many thousands of gallons of water in there, so that should be OK. Today I installed 1" aluminum tubes on two T-posts each about 1/4 way in from their respective ends of the garden, so I could move the sprinkler back and forth between them, and adjusted the sprinkler to water a smaller radius, so that I can spot-water more efficiently. Then I built a "roof" over the pump. It's sitting under the deck, but rain-water can drip between the decking boards and hit the motor if its not protected. I think this project is complete. How many more in the works?
 
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BTW, we are gearing tomorrow's family get-together around the produce from the garden, instead of doing the normal grilling/smoking routine. My father and my younger brother and his little girl are all coming over for the afternoon. My wife is going to stop and buy some nice deli-meats on her way home tonight and we'll bake some fresh bread - French loaves and beer-barrel rye bread (a hearty sandwich bread). We'll have mayo, various mustards, fresh sauerkraut, and lots of fresh garden vegetables to make sandwiches out of. Plus my niece loves raw vegetables as snacks, so there will be fresh green beans, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, cucumber spears, etc for her. Need spicy fresh salsa and corn chips too (for me!).
 
  • #2,434
Where is summer? I have loads of apple-sized green tomatoes in my garden, and it's 60F outside. Forecast calls for temps to *cool* this week, for goodness sake!

Yeah, yeah...fried green tomatoes, I know. Just goes to show you, you can garlic-cheese-and-fry-up just about anything, and it can be sort of edible.

I want fresh, home-grown, ripe, juicy, sweet, *red* tomatoes :cry:!
 
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lisab said:
I want fresh, home-grown, ripe, juicy, sweet, *red* tomatoes :cry:!
I'm eating one right now in a BLT made with still-warm French bread. Marianas are wonderful in sandwiches, though I should have used the home-made rye bread - it's better for sandwiches.
 
  • #2,436
Everything except onions did well this summer, they just didn't stand up to the brutal heat. Tomatoes and peppers are bountiful, and potatoes are ready to dig.

Barley, ready to harvest next week in Michigan's upper.

DSCF0048.jpg
 
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mmm...barley, matled, then mashed, then fermented.
 
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Insanity said:
mmm...barley, matled, then mashed, then fermented.
John barleycorn must die!
 
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hypatia said:
Everything except onions did well this summer, they just didn't stand up to the brutal heat. Tomatoes and peppers are bountiful, and potatoes are ready to dig.

Barley, ready to harvest next week in Michigan's upper.

DSCF0048.jpg

Beautiful pic :smile:!
 
  • #2,440
Borek said:
Practical witchcraft: to cause rain, buy a pump.
Turbo did more than cause rain, now he has a hurricane headed his way. "Earl".

http://www.weather.com/maps/news/atlstorm7/projectedpath_large.html
 
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Evo said:
Turbo did more than cause rain, now he has a hurricane headed his way.

He probably overdid with tubes and sprinklers.
 
  • #2,442
Borek said:
He probably overdid with tubes and sprinklers.
Old northeast maritime superstition about "buying the wind"... Ah, well...
 
  • #2,443
Borek said:
He probably overdid with tubes and sprinklers.
:smile:
 
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Evo said:
:smile:
My neighbor wants the heavy rains because he is anxious about his dug well (more reliable than mine!), but heavy winds could knock out power out for a week. People who live in rural areas need to have stored gas, diesel, generators to power their homes, and other resources. I don't think I can efficiently cool this house AND provide water from the drilled well if there is an extended outage. My generator is not industrial-grade.
 
  • #2,445
Hopefully with the rain you might get some relief from the heat.

We got a bit of rain this morning, and depending on the mood of the weather forecaster at weather.com we may be getting more rain tonight and tomorrow, they've been changing the forecast every 30 minutes.

We're supposed to get another break from the heat Friday & Saturday.
 
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Hope the rain brings relief. We are due for ~95 deg weather for the rest of the week.
 
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50 deg F and raining

Well, it is just past midnight, during a day temperature goes up. A little bit. Perhaps even to 60 deg F.
 
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had an absolutely awful season, as did most people around here. weather didn't cooperate, and bugs were a plague. still trying to get some late-planted butternut squash to mature before frost (which is late here near birmingham). first batch only yielded one decent mature fruit. i think if i get half a dozen, it'll be a "success".
 
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