Gardens for 2021 season

[SONNY]

YA!! I am having germination problems this year too! --- Got stuck with UN-TREATED seed and didnt find out til it was too late! MOST of my garden is hit and miss this year. Weather is not helping much either!
Next year I gotta get some seed treat and put on myself! Crackpot crazies have put pressure on seed growers to NOT treat seed anymore so we end up with soil insects attacking the seed!

[SamsFarm]

Say yes to untreated seed!



I am one of those crackpot crazies!

[Mht]

We had about 5 inches of rain last week at my garden in Raleigh and about the same at my farm. I chopped weeds in my tomatoes today and thinned my okra. I picked a 2 gallon bucket full of yellow and zucchini squash. My tomato plants are loaded with fist size tomatoes but no ripe ones yet. I’m headed to my farm tomorrow to cultivate and side dress my corn and to cultivate my peas and beans. I hope the electric fence I put up has kept the deer out. It has 6 strands of wire and is 7 feet tall. My fence tester showed 7000 volts when I checked it. I don’t think the deer will like that but I’ll see tomorrow

[Don McCombs]

I’ve found that the electric fence doesn’t do much to exclude raccoons, rabbits and squirrels. The raccoons and squirrels go after the corn and the rabbits go after the peas and beans. I replaced the lower two wires with 24 inch tall rabbit fencing. The squirrels I live trap and relocate.

[SamsFarm]

I’ve found that the electric fence doesn’t do much to exclude raccoons, rabbits and squirrels. The raccoons and squirrels go after the corn and the rabbits go after the peas and beans. I replaced the lower two wires with 24 inch tall rabbit fencing. The squirrels I live trap and relocate.

I hope you relocate them to the stew pot, the dog dish or to the garbage can!

Live catch then dispatch!!!!

[SONNY]

Electric wires need to be 4" above the ground for the first line and 8" for line 2 and I usually go the third line at 12". --- A lot of work but smaller vermin USUALLY stays out! --- Ever se a rabbit or squirrel touch a electric wire??? Makes your day at their reaction! Had one rabbit here that got kicked on his azz 3 times before he finally gave up on the idea of lunch!

[Eugene]

4 apples on the delicious apple tree. Few apples on the crab apple tree. No visible black walnuts.
Hard frosts 3rd week of April wiped out blossoms.

Elephant garlic dug and drying.

Starting to water the garden.

Edit. Pepper plants are wilting.

101 deg F., north facing porch, interior wall, digital thermostat. Other digital thermostat 99 deg F., same porch, different interior wall

Wimped out, didn't go to the acreage today and clear brush from the fence line.

[Mht]

Picked my first two tomatoes today. Both German Johnson’s.

[outdoors4evr]

WOW! That's incredible! That must be a pretty early February started seed!

[Mht]

I started my seeds the third week of February so I would have 6-7 week old plants to set out the first or second week of April. Then I start more every two weeks until the middle of May for a final planting around the end of June. I’m going to plant my last 75 or 80 plants this weekend. I’ll be picking from all of my tomato varieties next week. I sure did enjoy that first tomato sandwich of the year last night

[SONNY]

Transplanted the last of our tomato plants a couple days ago.
Last night planted a row of home grown sweet potato plants, -----kinda late but we see! Might make a few small ones.
second sweetcorn is a couple inches tall, first planting is a foot tall, got it in late also.
A lot of our bought seed did not grow this year, guess they sent "old seed" to everybody ! Will have a lot of bare gardens this year.
Hauling water every day now.

[SamsFarm]

I was just outside trying to transplant some plants, but got chased inside by the rain!

[Mht]

The garden is looking good here in Raleigh. I spent most of the day yesterday getting some weeding done. The grass is easy enough to keep out with herbicides but the broad leaf weeds are a much bigger chore. 6 hours with a hoe and wet ground and things are in good shape. I should have a fair number of tomatoes to pick by the weekend. I’m picking yellow and zucchini squash every other day now. My okra is doing great and I’ll need to start picking it tomorrow or Thursday. My garden at my farm is coming along good. I cultivated and side dressed corn and cultivated peas and beans. I’ll probably have some beans to pick in a week or two. My corn may not do to well this year as I’m fighting a severe Johnson grass infestation in it. The garden at the farm is a new spot converted from pasture that had been mowed regularly and plowing and discing really fired up the Johnson grass. I don’t think I will plant any more corn until I get rid of the Johnson grass. I hate it more than any other weed

[Eugene]

Rock hard clay in area on aceage where I'm planning a garden plot next year. Soil test, good soil for garden, lacks humus,

The area had been dozed over and compacted years ago. Used a back hoe to dig holes to plant pecan trees.

Past weekend, skid steer with rock bucket. Thinking the rock bucket would break up the clay. Nope.

2/10ths inch of rain Monday. Thought the rain would soften up the clay. Spade and potato fork. Nope, not a chance.

Next time I have the backhoe out, dig the area down about 12", add humus and top soil.

This fall; herbicide the area, add gypsum, sow forage radish.

[Mht]

I’ve planted forage radish in some food plot mixes. They have roots like jack hammers. I’ve plowed them up and seen roots grow through nasty hard clay and plow pans. They will be great for establishing a new garden. They will probably grow through your added soil mix and right on into the clay under it.