Spring Garden-It's time for show and tell

cover2

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Yep...allegedly...Potassium Nitrate
One of my old coaching buddies swore they fed it to all the recruits to keep them from going over the wall. He said he did his basic in Oklahoma and that the DI’s kept them so shook up that he was 6 weeks in before he realized he hadn’t gotten “aroused” since he got there!
 

cover2

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Here's another guy I follow, more conventional both in raised beds and in pots. He has a lot of good info in a lot of videos. Problem is all the BS thats on the internet, these two offer really good info. His site is called The Rusted Garden
Gary Pilarchik (The Rusted Garden)
I got around to watching a bit of the Rusted Garden today. It was amazing what all he had planted and growing and how his garden was organized with very little wasted space. He had some $$ tied up in treated lumber, corrugated tin, and what not, but I don’t think it was something he did all at once. It was neat how he had a growing and propagation room and how he had something growing all throughout the year. That’ll be something to shoot for when I retire from the schools.

I’ve seen you mention composting and Pilarchik does as well. It’s something I’ve wanted to get around to but just haven’t. Seems like a good way to increase your soil density and viability. Do you have a barrel or something to turn the heap?
 

crosscreekcooter

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I got around to watching a bit of the Rusted Garden today. It was amazing what all he had planted and growing and how his garden was organized with very little wasted space. He had some $$ tied up in treated lumber, corrugated tin, and what not, but I don’t think it was something he did all at once. It was neat how he had a growing and propagation room and how he had something growing all throughout the year. That’ll be something to shoot for when I retire from the schools.

I’ve seen you mention composting and Pilarchik does as well. It’s something I’ve wanted to get around to but just haven’t. Seems like a good way to increase your soil density and viability. Do you have a barrel or something to turn the heap?

Compost is a great soil conditioner. The earthworms seem to enjoy it so theres that. I also like to brew some compost tea, great for a plant drench but my aquarium pump is broken. The microbes are more beneficial to the plants growing medium than as a food. I have been using a couple of old recycling bins for composting basically dumping the contents of one into the other to turn the pile but really need to build a small enclosure. I also limit what goes in due to using weed killers on the grass. Finding the right ratio of nitrogen to carbon in the pile is key to rapid conversion.
ENH1065/EP323: Compost Tips for the Home Gardener
 

Albert

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Here’s a few shots of mine. Dozen different tomato plants: Early Girl, Creole, Beefsteak and Arkansas Travelers. Cayenne, Bell, cherry hots, Jalapeños. Also, 1 Carolina reaper plant that my son is nursing for some 14 year old prank I’m sure, plus some squash and eggplant. 8x16 framed by railroad cross ties, used a mixture of bedding soil and cotton gin moat for a soil medium. I worked in the Ag-Chem industry for 20 years, farm cotton as a side hustle, got a few tricks up my sleeve as a gardener.
 

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cover2

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Here’s a few shots of mine. Dozen different tomato plants: Early Girl, Creole, Beefsteak and Arkansas Travelers. Cayenne, Bell, cherry hots, Jalapeños. Also, 1 Carolina reaper plant that my son is nursing for some 14 year old prank I’m sure, plus some squash and eggplant. 8x16 framed by railroad cross ties, used a mixture of bedding soil and cotton gin moat for a soil medium. I worked in the Ag-Chem industry for 20 years, farm cotton as a side hustle, got a few tricks up my sleeve as a gardener.
That’s a fine looking plant bed. What is expected of a guy who’s an actual farmer :). I never thought of using cotton seed meal in the beds. I know some folks that buy it as a feed supplement.
 

crosscreekcooter

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@Albert -healthy looking garden you got goin there. Where do you live? Never heard of the Creole tomato so I looked it up-thrives in heat, 70 days after transplant-an heirloom that "has roots back to the 1700s" - interested in hearing how you feed, leave nothing out- also give more information on what you're doing with King Cotton- thanks for posting and keep us updated with progress
 

LagoonGator68

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I bet the creosote and arsenic out of those cross ties keeps the bugs and such pretty much under control
 

Albert

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That’s a fine looking plant bed. What is expected of a guy who’s an actual farmer :). I never thought of using cotton seed meal in the beds. I know some folks that buy it as a feed supplement.
Thanks C2. Actually the gin moat is the stalks, leaves etc that are separated from the lint and seed during the ginning process. It is blown out of the gin in a large pile and goes through an internal heating process via sunlight, so you could call it compost I guess. Extremely high in Potassium and Phosphorus.
 

Albert

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@Albert -healthy looking garden you got goin there. Where do you live? Never heard of the Creole tomato so I looked it up-thrives in heat, 70 days after transplant-an heirloom that "has roots back to the 1700s" - interested in hearing how you feed, leave nothing out- also give more information on what you're doing with King Cotton- thanks for posting and keep us updated with progress
Thanks CCC. I live in NE LA, (think duck dynasty country). Real simple, you can buy Taurus(fipronil) at your local feed and seed store. Put 2 ounces in 5 gal of water, mix. Pour into the hole when you transplant and you will have no bugs. A light dose of spinosad and no worms. I put out 15-15-15 granular lightly weekly, seems to work well. I’ll get some pics of my “other” garden a bit later today.
 

cover2

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Thanks C2. Actually the gin moat is the stalks, leaves etc that are separated from the lint and seed during the ginning process. It is blown out of the gin in a large pile and goes through an internal heating process via sunlight, so you could call it compost I guess. Extremely high in Potassium and Phosphorus.
Thanks Albert. Glad to learn something new! Sounds a lot like compost from what you describe, especially going through the heat. Way back when, I worked at the Mushroom farm in Gadsden County and the mulch they grew the mushrooms on would be changed every so often with the discard sold as mushroom compost. It was good underneath the garden soil as you describe the moat. Glad to see what you are doing and look forward to your updates!
 

cover2

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Our other garden is the wife’s specialty...

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Her mother used to keep a large rose bed (75+ bushes) and we put in a couple of beds when we first got married in our old house. We’ve got 20 bushes that started bare root. Bought from Jackson-Perkins. Initial quality was ok, not as good as what we used to buy from the old Test Gardens in Thomasville GA from the Hjort’s, an old Dutch couple that ran it. They specialized in roses and camellias. They had about every variety of tea, grandiflora, etc. that you could imagine. When they retired, the Test Gardens were sold and a business of some sort went up. Don’t find places like that anymore.

The Hjort’s always suggested planting on a bed of mushroom compost and garden soil and fertilize with “Tobacco Special,” which is hard to find nowadays (the particular assay escapes me). Then follow up monthly with “Rose Special” through the growing season. It’s a lot of fun and the missus always has a bouquet for church and birthdays.
 

crosscreekcooter

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Fipronil is a broad-spectrum insecticide that belongs to the phenylpyrazole chemical family. Fipronil disrupts the insect central nervous system by blocking GABA-gated chloride channels and glutamate-gated chloride channels. This causes hyperexcitation of contaminated insects' nerves and muscles.

Sounds kinda like me at times.
 

cover2

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Fipronil is a broad-spectrum insecticide that belongs to the phenylpyrazole chemical family. Fipronil disrupts the insect central nervous system by blocking GABA-gated chloride channels and glutamate-gated chloride channels. This causes hyperexcitation of contaminated insects' nerves and muscles.

Sounds kinda like me at times.
I was thinking the triggered reflex when certain Libs hear something hurtful.
 

crosscreekcooter

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Thats a nice rose garden momma's got there. I have one lonely bush that I've been able to cut blooms off regularly this year. Amazing what happens with plants when you feed and water them.
I'd like to add 3 or 4 more but I have some other work planned on the house for the next couple of months.
 

grengadgy

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Our other garden is the wife’s specialty...

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Her mother used to keep a large rose bed (75+ bushes) and we put in a couple of beds when we first got married in our old house. We’ve got 20 bushes that started bare root. Bought from Jackson-Perkins. Initial quality was ok, not as good as what we used to buy from the old Test Gardens in Thomasville GA from the Hjort’s, an old Dutch couple that ran it. They specialized in roses and camellias. They had about every variety of tea, grandiflora, etc. that you could imagine. When they retired, the Test Gardens were sold and a business of some sort went up. Don’t find places like that anymore.

The Hjort’s always suggested planting on a bed of mushroom compost and garden soil and fertilize with “Tobacco Special,” which is hard to find nowadays (the particular assay escapes me). Then follow up monthly with “Rose Special” through the growing season. It’s a lot of fun and the missus always has a bouquet for church and birthdays.
http://www.bellsseedstore.us/8-0-24
8-0-24
 

cover2

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Thats a nice rose garden momma's got there. I have one lonely bush that I've been able to cut blooms off regularly this year. Amazing what happens with plants when you feed and water them.
I'd like to add 3 or 4 more but I have some other work planned on the house for the next couple of months.
She and my daughter pretty much manage it. Got a drip system under the straw that helps keep the black spot down some. Nut grass is a problem. She does like her mother and puts newspaper down before the pine straw and that helps some, but eventually the grass pokes through. I saw the Rust Gardener talking about using cardboard under his mulch. Wonder how that would work in the rose bed?
 

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