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Better Be Planting This Year. 2022+ And Up MEGATHREAD

I ran gutters along two sides of my building. 48 feet for each run. This I ran into a 250 gallon IBC tote. I put hardware cloth over the opening to keep debris out. I supplemented the rain water with water I could pump out of my pond. I used 12v RV water pumps to feed drip tape to the raised beds. The total area of the raised beds was 1150 square feet. I put the pumps on timers so they came on 3 times a day for 1 hour each time. I powered the pumps of a 12v marine battery which I kept charged with a 3x2 solar panel. Not exactly rain barrels, but thought it might give some of you some useful ideas.
 
42 plants in the ground. Not sure how many seeds though I'm sure at least that many (task was delegated, instructions given, instructions promptly ignored).

Supposed to be a hot weekend, still need to drop the peppers and 'filler' roma 'maters. Figuring out what to put in with the peppers. Need to finish running initial string lines for the 'maters as well as trellising for the vining greens.

Dang hose is leaking at the nozzle end. Seriously debating drip lines to avoid the soaked feet while watering.
 

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flippinfleck said:
I was going to ask about rain barrels, who has them and how they work out for gardening. Figured I didn't share any pictures today and didn't want to push my luck ;-)

What do you use for capturing the water that fills the barrels?

Do you have piping from the barrels to the garden?

How many barrels do you have?
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I have 4 barrels. Screen over the top held in place with bungee cords. I fill them from a gutter and downspout off the back of the barn/garage. I have a flexible down spout attachment that I move from barrel to barrel as they get full. Then there is a spigot on the barrels to attach a garden hose.
 
A little over half the garden planted. Long range forecast looks good so I’m just hoping we don’t have a surprise cold snap. Pretty much all that is left is cucumbers and squashes and I will wait another week or two for those. I do still need to add support for my peas, beans, and tomatoes.

I have taken a few years off from gardening. But this year I have a pretty big plot, a dozen laying hens, 30 meat birds with 50 more coming, and two bee nucs coming tonight. So something is going to have to work out. 7CD62ECC-22B3-4FE5-B807-F9FBAE215EC3.jpeg
 
enbloc said:
Having my first bowl of 2022 spinach and green leaf lettuce tonight...
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Yum!!

We've had some big rains here in the past week.....my Romaine lettuce is growing great. We've been picking off them for a few days for salads and sandwiches. Kale and collards are doing well and we've used a bunch of it already.
 
Tons of sprouts now! The tall ones are leeks (I think?) my neighbor was nice enough to give me. She says the help keep rabbits out of the garden, which is good cause there are plenty of them in my yard. I'm going on a tomato plant hunt this afternoon for the containers.
 

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looks more like garlic... maybe onion. Leeks have wider, flat scapes that fan out like palm leaves. I'm wrong more often than not though... [devil]
 
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APFSDS said:
They smell super onion-ey, so that's probably what it is. I planted the ones I had left over all over the periphery of the yard.
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Win-Win either way...

are the scape leaves flat like grass or, round & hollow?
 
Observation: Cold crop germination outside kinda sucked this year. -Carrots, beets - had to plant them twice. Peas took forever but they're a couple feet high now - planted ~ all of them around month+ ago. My carrots are usually well established by now.
:(
-all else fails, fill with pole beans
:)
 
Just ordered 25#'s of Organic Hard Red Winter Wheat... Just in case. 🤪

Edit: And 25#'s of Organic Hard Red Spring Wheat... 🤪 🤪

Eating sprouts is nutritious too, if the seed never makes it into soil...

1653326895554.png
 
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This morning, retilled part of one garden and put in 2 MORE rows of Roma beans, 2 rows of okra, 2 rows of beets. The beets were planted in velvety fine, 10 inch deep soil so they should bulb out nicely. Also raked in 6x6 radish patch. I don't particularly care for radishes but a family member likes them so they'll make a nice gift when they mature.

The rabbits are already attacking my young bean plants. I'm noticing about 8 or 10 of them chewed to the stalk each morning, that's why I'm planting so many in different places trying to stay ahead of those little hungry robbers. [smile] ;).

23 tomato transplants are doing very well and I tarped the ground under them so they're not overtaken by weeds like last year. We still got lots of tomatoes but it was a nightmare with the weeds.

Waiting for the secondary leaves to enlarge on the cuke starts to transplant them, probably this weekend. Those are getting tarped too under the cages, the stinging nettle weeds were brutal last season but we still picked a bushel of cukes from them every morning.
 
Does anyone have a favorite potatoe for growing in N MA/S NH? I planted random varieties last time and did ok but I'm sure there are specific breeds for better yields.
 
xtry51 said:
Does anyone have a favorite potatoe for growing in N MA/S NH? I planted random varieties last time and did ok but I'm sure there are specific breeds for better yields.
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Sorry, I can't help you there, I think potatoes are too cheap on the market to bother planting them, so I've never had any inclination to do so.
 
@xtry51,

I've always done well with Yukon Gold and Norland Reds. (Both are early-determinate varieties and do well in buckets/bags/raised beds and tilled & mounded rows.)
I buy my seed potatoes and chit them out till they are about 1-2 inch chits.

Potatoe Lady of Maine has always been tops in organic seed stock...

Yukon Gold is still IN STOCK...
Yukon Gold - Early Potatoes - The Maine Potato Lady

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Reds are for potato salads and roasting. Yuk Gold is great for mashed, but will bake nicely with a thin, very edible skin...
 
enbloc said:
@xtry51,

I've always done well with Yukon Gold and Norland Reds. (Both are early-determinate varieties and do well in buckets/bags/raised beds and tilled & mounded rows.)
I buy my seed potatoes and chit them out till they are about 1-2 inch chits.

Potatoe Lady of Maine has always been tops in organic seed stock...

Yukon Gold is still IN STOCK...
Yukon Gold - Early Potatoes - The Maine Potato Lady

View attachment 619890View attachment 619891

Reds are for potato salads and roasting. Yuk Gold is great for mashed, but will bake nicely with a thin, very edible skin...
Click to expand...
Whats the advantage vs planting potatoes from Markey Basket?
 
headednorth said:
Whats the advantage vs planting potatoes from Markey Basket?
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Most of MB potatoes are sprayed to inhibit growth of "chits" sometimes called "eyes" You have your best bet buying the organic section spuds if you are going with that as a source.

But, the seed stock is incredible. They will produce chits nearly 100% of the time, MB you may get 20-30% chits.

The spud seed stock has also been the best growing, highest producing I have ever used. If this is a first time crop for you and you are not in an emergency-food producing situation, start with a bag of MB organics. These are good "learning" potatoes.

Go straight to the Potato Lady and never look back if you want a maximum number of tubers, with exceptional quality plants.

Save a few of last year's little spud seeds for the following season and you will only have to buy once... [party2]
 

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