2019 Garden

[RWS]

Last year was a bad year for me and tomatoes.  It started off with the fact that the type of tomatoes I always grow were not available at the store.  All they had were new "Hybrid" verities.  So this year I ordered the seed of my choice online and am starting my own plants.  I figured 18 plants would be all that I would need.  We plan to can tomatoes, make salsa, tomato soup and spaghetti sauce.  Then I plan to save some seed for next year or two.  I planted seed Jan 29 and today is Feb 6, so 8 days and they are starting to come up.

[RWS]

Mid January I planted two rows of English Peas.  Today they are up and about to start climbing the chicken wire fence.  Potatoes were planted Feb 12 and have not come up yet.  Corn was planted 7 days ago so I should see some up on Sunday 3-3.  I was shooting for 3-1 and it may happen with soil temp of 57 Deg F. 
I planted tomato seeds "Beefsteak" on 1-29.  Today I transplanted to peat pots to grow some more roots and get temperature used to the outdoor temps.  Squash plants got bigger pots as I will have to hold them out longer than the tomatoes. 

[HogJowlHomestead]

Dang chickens just cleared out all of the carrots, i guess it made a good place to find worms because they went to town.

RWS i hope to grow enough this year to restock the canning pantry two, last years tomatoes were rough.

[RWS]

Well I had to do something with the garlic I dug up the other day.  I found some small bamboo poles, washed the garlic and laid it between two poles.  I tied them together and started looking for a place to hang them.  I found an unused wall in the utility room with a pair of inverters mounted on the opposite wall.   Next I installed some eye bolts into the 2x4 studs in the wall on 16" centers.  The garlis will now hang there and dry for a while.

[RWS]

The English peas are about knee high.  I am looking for buds any day.  The potatoes are up.  The corn is up and I planted 18 Summer squash plants in a row.  Don't know what I will do with all the anticipated squash, but I planted them anyway.  I am waiting for some Blue Lake green beans to sprout in the Biodome so I can plant them in the garden.  I need the seed starting space for cucumbers. 
The corn is so small it does not show up in the picture well, but I do have 4ea 50ft rows of Silver King that made it thru the cold spell.
Strawberries are ready here.  Wife & I went and picked strawberries today.

[RWS]

Since Spring is March 20th, it is appropriate for the first bloom on the English peas to appear.
We also have camellias and azaleas in bloom.

[RWS]

Time to update with new pictures.  This is the time of year when the garden looks so goood.   Before the Summer heat and weeds take over.  The English peas are still blooming and looks like they have several weeks more to go judging by last years performance.  All depends on having cool temps and lots of rain.

The potatoes are also looking good.  Last year we canned potatoes for the first time.  We like them  so we will can some more this year.  If  There always is an if as Murphy regularly intervenes.

The yellow squash are so small it is hard to tell what they are in between the onion rows.  Also I have a row of Blue Lake green beans comin up.  I even planted green beans between the multiplying onion bunches of the far right.

Yesterday  I put fertilizer between the corn rows and tilled it in.  Then I hoed out each row.  Then I planted two more rows of corn.  Silver King of course.

[RWS]

Well it has started getting a little warmer and dryer.  I went to water the English peas and potatoes a few days ago, but the wife said no.  She said the potatoes would rot if they got too much water when they are trying to put on tubors.  So I did not water.  My English peas have started turning yellow and have stopped blooming.  The potatoes were dark green, now they are light green with a hint of yellow.  The ground around the potatoes is getting big cracks and starting to bulge up & out.
The corn is in another garden spot and I watered it with a sprinkler a couple days ago.  I plan to water the corn again today.  Corn needs lots of water.
My tomatoes are blooming and have been but no tomatoes.  I think the mornings have been too cold for the blooms to set.  Also the honey bees don't come out in the cold mornings.
I am getting yellow squash but they are SMALL due to the cold weather.  I just plant stuff too early!  I like to get the garden done with and then take off and go camping.

[RWS]

I got home from the campout and got a look at my garden.  We had a good rain and I have silk.  In fact I see 2 ears on that stalk of corn.  I should be getting corn the first week in June.  That's about when the blueberries will be ripening.

5-7-19  I got my first NEW potatoes today and the green beans are ready to be picked for the first time.

[RWS]

May 7th my wife finished picking the English peas.  She put 21 packs in the freezer.  Today I finished taking the fence down, tilling and spreading lime.  Lime because I have decaying leaves and pine straw.  In a few weeks I will also put out nitrogen and till again in preparation of planting butternut squash.  The squash will mature out in the Fall so I will have winter squash all Winter long.  We may have enough to put some in the freezer.

[nj_m715]

impressive, I was happy to have a zucchini ready to pick

[RWS]

impressive, I was happy to have a zucchini ready to pick

I start early so I can finish mid Summer.  Then we can go to N. Ga. camping.  I especially like to camp in Standing Indian, NC as that campground is naturally air conditioned.  There are 5 access trails to the AT and many day hike opportunities.

[RWS]

I think we will be canning tomatoes this year.  Last year we froze most of the tomatoes as soup.  We had canned tomatoes two years ago and still had lots in stock but now only about 3 quarts left.

We don't have many green tomatoes yet as it was too cold to set the blooms.  That has changed and the tomato plants are now loading up.

Right now it looks like we will have plenty to can this year.  I planted all beefsteak as they are an heirloom plant and I can save seed.
It looks like tomatoes will go up in price later this Summer.  https://www.dcclothesline.com/2019/05/10/projection-u-s-consumers-will-pay-40-to-85-more-for-vine-ripe-and-other-fresh-tomatoes-by-the-end-of-2019/

[RWS]

We have rain.  It has rained two days in a row and we may get more tomorrow.  At least my corn is getting watered.  I am going to have to put on rubber boots just to pick my squash.  The onions all I will need to do is pull them up.  The wife will pick the green beans.  We should have enough to start canning next week.

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/rain-flooding-gulfcoast/2019/05/11/id/915578/

[RWS]

Not raining this morning so I ran out to pollinate the squash.  I heard a bee and located a honey bee working hard.  That means I can quit my morning pollination and start picking.  The wife said we will have fried squash for dinner today.