Rain and sunshine make things really grow

Well, we're getting popup showers everyday now, but thankfully the sun gets to show itself for the majority of the time. As you can imagine, most of the plants really like it, but i'd rather not have the tomatoes and squash exposed to even a daily sprinkle. I know the pole beans sure don't mind, because one vine has reached the top of its' trellis extension. That's about 6 foot of growth before the month of June arrives - which is much sooner than last years'.

Photo below - here's one of the little stinkers climbing up a bamboo stick.

Photo below - I've gotta show the corn again, because some have even grown to at least 7 feet tall. After a close inspection of the plants, it looks like silks are forming on at least 4. That means that sometime between June 21st and 24th, the harvest will begin. Yeehaw! However, I still don't know what will be planted in it's place....Sheesh! It'll probably be melons, as I started some in small containers a couple of weeks ago. Don't know how they'll be trellised, though. I'll definitely put some thought into it.

Photo below - Here's the cucumbers growing in a swc constructed from a 34 gallon tote. The vines are running very well now, and I have to help them get attached to the makeshift trellis as they grow new tendrils. Cucumbers are just that way - requiring a little help from the gardener, of course. The problem of no bees to speak of has me kinda worried at this stage, because flowers are abundant and there's no fruitset yet.

Lastly, here's the congo watermelon being grown in an 18 gallon swc, which is much longer than the ones grown in the main raised bed. I expect they will do pretty good, but we'll just have to wait and see. My biggest concern is growing 2 of them in in there, as I haven't tried this before.

In other news, I have some herbicide damage to the tomatoes growing near the shed. Dangit....I was spraying roundup to kill the poison oak on the other side of the metal storage building, and it drifted about 30 feet...Sigh. Oh well, the plants will look really weird, but will still produce plenty of fruit. In the future I should be able to cover the toms with some plastic sheeting before spraying the same area, and maybe that will keep it from happening again.

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

The bugs have arrived for the year

Garden bugs absolutely fascinate me. I don't know why, but there's just something about them that makes me wanna find them and take lots of photos. Maybe it's because they only show up when you plant something that they are attracted to? I don't know....Yeah, i'm kinda weird I guess. Hehe...
Anyway, I was inspecting the plants the other evening, and saw the following damage to my jelly bean tomato plants.....

Photo below - just as I figured, it was caused by juvenile fall armyworms. I just squish each one with my fingers, as it's much more feasible to do instead of spraying some type of insecticide on the plants. Besides, it's supposed to rain for the next 7 days, and i'd rather not spend money on eradicating something that can be dealt with manually. EG enjoys squishing things. Hehe.

Photo below - I also found a juvenile assassin bug on the trellis wire for the cherokee purple tomatoes. Since they are non-selective in the other bugs that they kill, some question whether they are actually beneficial or not. Here's my take on them....
I like them in my garden, because the only other "good" bug that comes to mind that they might dispose of is a ladybug. I usually have tons of ladybugs, so there's no way an assassin bug could reduce the numbers by much.

In other news, it's good to have a long weekend break from work, because the previous week was very demanding due to some major equipment breakdowns. However, all days can't be easy ones....
The weekend is being spent cleaning up around the property, constructing swc's for a friend, pruning the grape vines a little, and attending my son's high school graduation. He and his friends are in Panama City Beach, Florida now - and I hope they don't get into any trouble. That would be bad, but you know how wild high school graduates can be. I know I was!!!

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

The newest addition to the tomato planting

Frazzled - welcome, and thanks for following the blog!

First of all, i'd like to apologize for the low quality photos of late. Since the digital camera is being used for other things right now, i've had to resort to using my cell phone for taking pictures. Anyway, these should be the last of the cell phone pics for a while...

There's alot that can be said about the picture below. At least 20 volunteer tomato plants appeared in a flowerbed at my workplace (don't look at me, I didn't plant anything there), and I just had to bring one home. It's a cherry tom of some kind, but where to plant it? So, after surveying the property for a few minutes, I just jammed it into the pile of shredded leaves that was left over from last fall. Oh...it likes this spot, and I expect it to thrive in its new home. I know...pretty crazy, but very effective!

Photo below - here's a shot of the brandywine plants at the south end of the main raised bed. Strips of cloth were used to tie them to the wire mesh of the trellis after making this photo, and i'm very pleased with the performance so far. The little watermelon plants on the backside of the trellis haven't began to "run" yet, but should start maybe over the upcoming weekend.

About the fruit orchard

In other news, more and more plums are falling to the ground before reaching maturity. I'll be lucky if even 75-100 make it. Oh well, even if there's not gonna be enough to make jelly with - it'll still be plenty for fresh eating. There's enough fruitset on the pear trees to possibly break a few limbs later too, but we'll just have to wait and see. The wire for the muscadine grape trellises will definitely have to be supported by more posts in the middle, because it is sure to snap from the weight of this years' crop. Oh boy.......this is gonna be a big'un, if of course I can keep the japanese beetles from eating them all. An aggressive spray program will be followed once they arrive, and maybe at least half of the fruit can be saved.

Other things in the garden

The pole beans have almost made it to the top of the trellises, and I expect them to do as good as last year. Man, that was alot of green beans to freeze! Thankfully though, we've eaten them all and are ready for more.
The squash is growing satisfactorily, but with rain forecast for the next 7 days - i'm sure they won't be too happy for long.
Well, it's been a long day, and i'm gonna turn in for the night.

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Corn and compost

There's no doubt that the corn growing in swc's is the celebrity of the garden right now. Shoot, i'm surprised that the really high gusts of wind didn't completely level it on Monday evening, because at least 1 was in the 60 mph range...However, all is intact, and is at least 5 ft tall at this point. At least half of the (30 total) plants in there show signs that more than 1 ear will form on each stalk. That's great, and 45 ears from such a small space would be fantastic!

Photo below - and it's tasseling, too! Yeehaw! We should easily have fresh corn for the 4th of July gathering, if not a week before....Now i'm wondering what'll be planted in the swc's when these are finished...hmmm.....I'll really have to put some thought into it, because there will still be at least 110 days left in the gardening season before first frost hits in the fall. That makes anything possible, and will likely end up as a late planting of melons or tomatoes.....

Photo below - Here's my second batch of corn that is growing in the main garden bed, and is looking much better after previously looking just awful. Some abundant sunshine and a side dressing of nitrate of soda sure helped things, and will become mature sometime in August....

Lastly, I wanted to show you the largest compost system that was recently consolidated into only 1/3 the space that was previously occupied. I just threw together a makeshift enclosure in the center part, then piled all of the (almost) completely decomposed material into it. A week later, the internal temperature of the new pile measured at 148, and should finish on it's own with no turning needed. The other 3 bins to the left of the photo will be done the same way, then an entirely new batch will be started. Thanks to the heat of summer and an abundance of fresh grass clippings, we should have about 120 cubic feet of finished compost by the time cold weather arrives. Heehee, looks like EG won't have to compost at all next year!

In other news, I gave an hour and a half long powerpoint presentation last night to 40 citizens at the Lauderdale County Extension Office on raised bed gardening, and it was really fun! Phillip Oliver over at Dirt Therapy was in attendance, and it was great to finally meet him. Also in attendance was Jerry and Lori over at soulcatchingphotography, and it was very good to see them there too! It was a packed house, and I was glad to be a part of it.

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Things to let you know that "you just might be a redneck"

Ed, Joe, and Magdalena - welcome, and thanks for following the blog!

Well, i'm back from the wedding that took place in beautiful Beaufort, South Carolina. Chris and Kim are now in Orlando having fun at the amusement parks, and i'm very happy for them. :-) It was a nice ceremony.....

As can be expected, the week was filled with exciting moments that will be told in stories for years to come. Anytime you mix alcohol and rednecks - you've got problems..hehe. The following things actually happened, and would certainly fit right in with some of Jeff Foxworthy's past routines....

1. If the father of the groom comes barreling into the church parking lot in his 4 wheel drive truck with one of the large orange road construction barrels jammed underneath the front of it - you just might be at a redneck wedding.
2. If the same person walks up to the front door of the church, smacks his wife's rear end with his hand - then lights a cigarette - you just might be a redneck.
3. If on your way to the wedding reception you pull up to the checkpoint at Paris Island military base (marines) and see your brother in law undergoing a field sobriety test in the next lane - you just might be a redneck.
4. If one of the groomsman's wives see some flowers being delivered to the front desk at the hotel that were intended for another wedding party, then takes them up to her room - which causes that bride to not have any flowers for her wedding - you just might be a redneck.
5. If you take along a Cherokee Purple tomato transplant and carry it to the pool everyday so it can get some sun too - you just might be a redneck.
6. If the wife of the groom's father gets into a bar fight with a girl because she broke in line waiting for the restroom - you just might be a redneck.
7. If most members of the reception party resort to seeing how many bottles they can break by throwing them up against the wall of the bar - you might be a redneck.
8. If you have a 14 year old come up to you and ask "are you finished with that bottle?" - then run with it to the area previously mentioned in #7 - you just might be a redneck.
9. If you have someone introduce themself to you 5 times over a period of two days - you might be a redneck.

Yeah, it was truly a redneck event. Hehe........

Anyway, it's good to be home. Whew.....

After arriving home, I checked on the garden - of course. A storm came thru toward the end of last week, and broke a few tomato plant stems. Even the main stem of the largest Giant Oxheart was snapped off, but luckily had another stem that will do just fine.
As can be expected, lots of new growth has emerged - and the corn in the large swc's is tasseling. Man...that's fabulous, and the other planting of corn in the main raised bed is coming along nicely too.

Every tomato plant in the garden has tons of suckers on it, and I must have around 20 that have already been put into individual pots for new plants later. EG likes rooting suckers.....

The rain barrels are completely filled from all the rainfall from last week, and that gives me about 220 gallons in storage for later. Now to get a good water hose for the system....

There's just so much to talk about right now, i'm sure a few things are being left out. Oh well....i'll get caught up in a day or 2, and will have pictures to share as soon as I can get the camera out.

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Onions out - sweet potatoes in

Lanelou and Laura - welcome, and thanks for following the blog!

I didn't get a picture of these uploaded in time to take part in Daphne's harvest Monday, but removed the onions that had been growing since last October. These pics were made from my phone, so sorry for the quality issue...Although not as big as I had hoped for, they still weighed in at 10 lbs., 5 oz. I don't know why I decided to weigh them - as I really don't intend to keep up with the harvest total this year, but just felt like doing it. Maybe i'll just keep up with the weight for my own purposes, but really don't intend to make it publicly available. Anyway, here is one of my famous "garbage can harvest pics" - as only a true redneck would do. Ha!

Photo below - Sweet potatoes are finally planted, and are "beauregard" variety. I feel that planting 3 per container will amount to larger tubers at harvest time, and if you'll remember I went with 5 in each last year. This of course, led to some pretty skinny tubers - which is less than ideal for baking. Some unfinished compost was mixed in at planting time - as it was all that was on hand. However, I expect it to do pretty well for them, because the same was done last year.

Photo below - here's the largest "Neves Azorean Red" tomato plant that is being grown in the main garden bed, which is really coming on now. One sucker has been rooted from it already - with others to come in the very near future. Free "backup" plants are good insurance against unforseen problems with diseases and such, and I try to have some spares ready to go if needed.

Photo below - Brandywine plant located at the other end of the 25 ft long box. This distance is necessary to isolate each against cross-pollination, because seeds will be saved from the NAR, BW, and also CP tomatoes this year. In all likelihood, these 3 will remain as a staple for my garden each and every year.

In other news, the cucumbers growing in the cat litter bucket swp's bit the dust. Reason? I fertilized them too much...Hehe...I should really learn to leave things alone, as my continuous pampering got the best of them. New ones have been started from seed, and will be up in a few days. I spend entirely too much time with my plants.....Sheesh!
Also, i've planted some sugar baby watermelons in the swp that formerly held the Stupice tomato plant. Since melons have never been tried in one (at least by me ) - it was the perfect opportunity to try it.
I also planted more cucumbers in several locations throughout the entire garden area, hoping to increase my production for the year. It takes alot for pickle-making, and I intend to make my fair share of them - as usual.

Also, I will be out of pocket for a few days so that I can attend a wedding. Feel free to leave me comments in my absence, as i'll try to address them at the first of next week. Wearing the new suit for an entire day is probably gonna require me to carry a barf bag with me the whole time, because it just feels so wrong....Blech! When trying it on, the store clerk asked me "so, how does it feel?" I just looked at him and stated "words can't explain how wrong this feels....I feel so dirty right now". Hehe....I'm about to chunder just thinking about it. Ewwwww!

*By the way.... the "air conditioning with EG" link at the right side of the page is active, which will let you see 10 videos I shot while inspecting our home ac units the other day. Let me know what ya think!

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Tomato failures - and successes

Growing heirloom tomatoes can have it's ups and downs - especially when trying new varieties in a climate other than where they originated from. This year's first problem is from the Stupice plant growing in a swp, as shown in the photo below. It's looked kinda rough ever since being transplanted in there, but not limp as you see it now. Rather than try to nurse it back to health, I opted to give it the axe. I have another seedling that's currently in my "hospital for neglected tomato seedlings", and maybe it can take it's place in a couple of weeks. We'll see...

Photo below - here's the 2 largest Cherokee Purple plants in the garden, and they're doing really good at this point. Blooms are beginning to form on the one on the left, but i'll pluck those off so it can focus on growing healthy roots for now. That's what makes for a good, strong plant, and there's plenty of time for fruit later.

Photo below - Most plants are even producing suckers at this point - which is the little branch that is growing at a 45 degree angle from the main stem. All a person has to do is to pinch it off at the base - then plant it in a container of well-draining soil that is kept moist and out of direct sunlight. It will produce it's own roots, and will become a new transplant in about 3 weeks. I love rooting suckers, and do several each year as backup for the plants currently in the garden. As I told my "neighbor" Justin in a comment the other day, i'll have several extras if anyone would like to drop by and get one.

Photo below - here's my only remaining Amana Orange seedling that is being nursed back to health. It had been planted in one of the large swc's, but quickly experienced problems from the excessive rainfall of late. As soon as it recovers, i'll place it in the swp that recently held the cucumber plant that was lost the other day.

In other news, a couple of the many different fertilizers that are being trialed in the swc's/swp's are really showing great results, and surprised me - to say the least. Time will tell if the pattern continues, and i'll keep up with the growth progress.
I also pulled the onions and added about 4" of unfinished compost to the containers that they were grown in so the sweet potatoes could take their place. Hopefully, they'll do even better than last year, especially since only planting 3 sets per container. For reference, last year's were planted with 5, and the results were some skinny tubers. Maybe this will be better. Who knows?

Oh, and Jude came face-to-face with her first snake on Sunday. I was examining the tomatoes by the shed and saw her curiously looking at something underneath the playhouse. It was a 5 foot long chicken snake that had got tangled in some of my netting, and I had to take care of it....hehe...it was funny.

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

A few highlights from the SWC's

I sure am glad that warm temperatures have finally arrived. After weeks of the plants not doing much at all, they are finally beginning to take off - especially those that are planted in swp's/swc's. Anyway, I wanted to show you some of the best performers, and share a little info about each.

Photo below - here's a congo watermelon in an 18 gal. swc. I've got a total of 2 in there, but the other one is just a little bit smaller. Of course the container has my 6:3:1 mix in it, and also a liberal amount of Osmocote for fertilization. So far it's doing pretty well, but there's still a long way to go, yet.

Photo below - Here's the Atkinson? Rutgers? plant that was aquired from the county extension office a while back. Although kinda difficult to see, it's doing quite well in the swp constructed from a single 5 gallon bucket. Hopefully, i'll be able to tell what kind it is when fruit forms, but for now am still guessing...

Photo below - Look at this little stinker in a swp constructed from 2 cat litter buckets. It's a jelly bean tomato, and has "Bio-tone" inside as it's fertilizer. Austin and I love eating these little tomatoes, and I hope they will still be in season during the fall, when the lettuce starts to come in. That would certainly make for a very fulfilling harvest.

Photo below - I saved the best for last - as the corn continues to have excellent growth. Although other swc gardeners have very similar setups on the internet - these are being grown with my soil mixture, wicking basket arrangement, and also fertilizer of choice. I am very pleased with the results so far.

In other news, i've lost one cucumber plant growing in a swp, because I disturbed it's roots too much while mixing a little bit of fertilizer in the soil around it. Oh well....it wasn't doing that good anyway.

Also, I have created a link on the right side of the page that is a shortcut to an entire page of videos on understanding and caring for your home air conditioning unit. A total of 8 videos are on there so far, and will become active sometime later in the week. I hope you enjoy them, and feel free to ask any questions that you might have.

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Expanding the rainwater storage capacity, part 2

brandysbotanybay - welcome, and thanks for following the blog!

To attach fittings, piping, and spigots to my rain barrels, I always use a 3/4" conduit hub sold at big box stores and electrical hardware supply companies. They are commonly referred to as "Myers hubs", and also "T and B hubs". The reasons for this are that they are a water-tight connection, and also don't require a locknut on the inside of the plastic barrel either. That's because the threads are so sharp, they easily cut their own threads into the plastic. This, of course, is possible when the correct sized hole is drilled into the plastic barrel before installation. All it takes is a 1" hole saw, as shown in the picture below....

Photo below - because I chose to link a total of 4 barrels together as one, a pvc adapter was screwed into the conduit hub with teflon tape on the threads. As stated before in my rain barrel construction post, teflon tape has the advantage of sealing the threads, and also makes it easier to screw the male plastic threads into the female aluminum threads of the conduit hub. Without it, the threads of the pvc fitting will gall.......

Photo below - An 8 ft. long piece of gutter was then attached to one side of the shed, which was sloped ever so slightly toward the rear for adequate drainage. With about 40 total square feet of roof on this side, i'm hoping it will do ok.
For every 1" of rainfall on a square foot area of roof surface, .62 gallons of water can be collected. So, that means every time we get 1" of rain, 25 gallons of water should be diverted into the containment.
If the frequency of rain and amount of roof surface isn't enough to keep the system filled to a reasonable level, i'll simply install a second gutter on the other side of the shed, and divert it in there too...Also, the flexible downspout was a no-brainer, which easily allows me to direct the water into the collection system.

Photo below - Here's the point of entry for the rain to get into the barrels. Since the removable top is in 2 separate pieces, I simply cut a large portion of the actual lid out, laid a piece of window screen material on top - then screwed the top ring on. This holds the screen material into place, and easily lets water (but not mosquitoes) enter the barrel. The screen also keeps debris from entering as well, which could certainly clog the connecting piping and spigots up. I'll remove any debris that occasionally builds up (leaves, sticks, etc.), so it doesn't become restricted....

Photo below - here's all 4 barrels in their new home, awaiting the interconnecting fittings at the bottom of each. Even though I don't have a photo of the connections yet, they have been installed already - which completes the project.

The spigot in front will be the point of exit, and is high enough in elevation that a 5 gallon bucket can be placed underneath for filling. However, my intention is to set a hose reel of some kind in front of the system with at least 150 feet of garden hose on it, which will allow me to water everything in the vegetable garden with ease. No more hauling 50-60 gallons of water out to the garden for me! Yeehaw! Last year almost killed me - no wonder I have back spasms....Sheesh......

Take care, and happy building!

EG

Dealing with problems in the garden

Welcome, Michelle and remeyers - and thanks for following the blog!

Any gardener will have more than their share of gardening problems to deal with, at least that's my experience. Leaving it be won't help matters, and i'm always proactive when faced with a bad situation. Take for instance, the fireblight on the pear tree below. Last week I just removed the infected foliage to keep from losing a couple of fruit that had set already. But, a week later came new foliage that had wilted on the limb - so I said to heck with it. Aggressive pruning was in order, and I removed almost all of the limb in question. Fireblight isn't something to mess around with.....

Photo below - One of the honeydew melon plants died - which I attribute to the "pooling" effect that was experienced once the soil in the swc had settled. The reason I say this, is because the plant was doing just fine until it came a monsoon about a week ago, and the leaves turned yellow afterward. So, I did what should've been done in the first place - which is adding enough soil to the container so that any rainfall would run off as it fell, instead of allowing it to experience a bathtub effect. It's a good thing I had more seeds, and also plenty of time left in the planting season. I was glad to get this corrected, because it's gonna rain at least 4 days in a row starting this weekend. This is bad for the garden, but great for the rain barrels....

On a brighter note, the Cherokee Purple tomatoes are doing well. The ones in the front are a little bit ahead of the ones in the back, but only because they were bigger when transplanted. My biggest challenge is keeping Jude from walking into the bed from the left side - especially since the top of the box is at ground level and no protective fencing is in place. These plants receive alot of attention, because afterall - they're Cherokee Purple! I'm sure you understand....

In other news, I went ahead and purchased a 9-pack of beauregard sweet potato plants the other day from Lowes, and will try to get them planted into three of the containers that have onions in them now. The lone self-grown slip has been transplanted into the 4th container, and will be split up as it gets bigger. At least that's the plan.....
These containers will be amended with any finished compost that can be obtained from the bins, and i'll definitely be able to get enough after some strenuous sifting takes place. Speaking of sifting....i'll have to construct something that'll do it for me this fall, because sifting takes alot of time and energy to do. Several ideas have already popped into my head, but will be thought over for months - as all projects usually do. A successful design always comes from lots of thought. That's why i'm always thinking about something......

Also, the rain barrel project is complete, and and i'll blog about it in a couple of days. Because of all the rainfall expected over the weekend, i'm hoping they'll be completely filled up. That would be nice!

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

The garden on Mother's Day

Agrobio Solutions and Deborah - welcome, and thanks for following the blog!

After performing a sons' duties that take place on Mother's Day (hugs, gifts, a card, and an " I love you Mom"), I went out and inspected everything in the garden. It was pretty much the same as it was the evening before, but of course there were a few changes - as can be expected. The only bad things that were found were 1 tomato seedling that was being kept on my work table had died, and one of the honeydew melons in a swc, too. However, everything else looked great - as i'd hoped it would be.

Photo below - here's my one and only sweet potato slip from the storebought potato that's been suspended in water for about 45 days. Before it could produce anymore sprouts, the potato began to rot.....Oh well, I hope this little fella will grow pretty quick, because i'll need to clip at least 11 more slips from it later.

Photo below - I wanted to show you one of the plantings of pole beans that is doing excellent, with no apparent problems so far. The corn in the bottom of the picture is stressed from too much rainfall as of late, and I certainly hope they begin to perk up within the next week or so. Okra is at the top of the pic, and in all there are around 40 plants. Boy, that's gonna produce alot, I bet.....

Photo below - Although bent over from the high winds the other night, the corn in the 31 gallon swc's is by far the best thing out there right now. Man, this is the only way to grow corn.....Also, you can see that the cucumbers to the right are getting pretty tall too, and should begin their upward climb on the trellis in a few days.

Photo below - I also wanted to show the carrots in the deck rail planter box that are doing "ok" too. These were pulled later in the day, because the wife needed the planter for flowers on the deck. As you can imagine from the size of the plants, nothing was hardly harvested, and needed another few weeks before good sized carrots would form. Oh well....i'll grow some in the coldframes during the cold months, which should do much better.

In other news, I turned all of the compost bins with my manure fork, and added about 20 lbs. of used coffee grounds to them in the process. Overall i'm pretty pleased with the status of it, and figure it'll be completely finished sometime in June. That's when a new batch will be started, and it should easily be complete in September. Once that's done, i'll take at least a year off from composting, because i'll have enough on hand to last for quite a while. Whew.....

I'm also shooting a series of videos pertaining to the maintenance and care of home air conditioning systems, and will dedicate an entire blog page to them. I hope you find the information useful - even if it does come from a redneck from the deep south. Ha! It'll be around 10 videos when complete, and i'll provide a link to them when finished.

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Expanding the rainwater storage capacity, part 1

EzeSpiderWeb and so215 - welcome, and thanks for following the blog!

Having used stored rain water over the past couple of years in the garden, I certainly know the advantage it has over municipal water. The difference in growth is pretty amazing, but the physical demands to collect it were kinda rough, as you might imagine. With about ten 5 gallon buckets carefully placed under the drip line of the roof of our house before every rainfall, I was constantly tending to them. Usually they were emptied into the rain barrels that were scattered around the property, which meant it had to be handled twice ( to the barrels, and again to get it from them and into the garden ). Yeah....no wonder my body hurts all the time.

Anyway, an improved system has been planned for at least 2 years now, but certain things had to take place before it would become possible. Most notably, the shed had to be built, which would provide me with a roof away from the house suitable for setting up a collection system. Since it was completed last fall, this spring would be the time to finally set things up.

The spot chosen was between the new shed and the metal storage building, which would conceal the fairly large system because let's face it - I've already scattered enough things around the perimeter of the property!

The first thing to do was to make some concrete piers for the large wooden beams to rest on, and I chose to use the 8" cardboard tubes from Lowes because they can be cut to any length, and also make a nice end product. The 6x6 in the picture below was cut at a local sawmill for me, and is an actual 6" - not the usual 5-1/2" that you get at the home improvement stores.

Photo below - here's a barrel in place for reference only, just to make sure that my figuring and measurements had came out right. Perfect.....that's exactly the way I wanted it.

Photo below - here's a closer view that shows the amount of open space underneath the barrel, where the plumbing will be ran to connect the barrels together.

The 8ft long space will allow enough room for a total of 4 barrels, which will give me a total capacity of 220 gallons of rainwater. At a combined weight of 1800 lbs. when filled, the barrels require a very strong support structure - which this construction definitely provides. You know me - always building things stronger than they have to be. Oh well, at least nothing's collapsed yet. Ha!

Anyway, i'll post about the rest of the project in a few days, because a few more pvc fittings will need to be picked up from Lowes.

Take care, and happy building!

EG

New things to talk about

Manjula and Stephanie - welcome, and thanks for following the blog!

It's good to actually write a post again. Don't get me wrong - I like showing videos of stuff, but feel that there's just something better about writing about what happens around here.

Anyway, i'll give you an update of what's currently going on in the garden.

First of all, everything looks great. The butternut squash in the 4' x 9' box have even germinated, which completes the entire germination process for everything. Probably the greatest success comes from the corn being grown in the 31 gallon swc's. It's at least 18" tall with robust stalks, to boot. However, the corn in the main garden box isn't doing as well - apparently stressed from the abundant rainfall. Hopefully it'll perk up soon, though.

Second, all tomatoes are growing nicely, except for the Amana Orange. It's been removed from the swc that houses it, and is drying out for a bit in a 4" pot with dry potting mix. Once growth increases significantly, it'll be placed back in there (if it recovers). Small transplants just can't take alot of water - and that's exactly what the situation was after the storms last weekend. All other tomato plants are much larger, and can take a little over-watering by Mother Nature. I've also done some experimenting with one of the 31 gal. swc's. Since there are still plenty of Giant Oxheart seedlings left, I decided to stick a third plant in one that already was dedicated to 2. It'll grow 3 - I just know it, because the root mass from last year's plants had about twice as much soil as what was actually needed.

Third, now that the rain has finally stopped, the fruit trees and vegetables in the garden have all been sprayed with insecticides/fungicides. It was past due - because leaf miners were doing a number on the largest planting of cucumbers. Since no blooms have formed yet, a very aggressive insecticide was used. Of course when the flowers begin to form, i'll resort to hand-picking only. I have to take care of my bee friends, ya know....

Fourth, I've started building the support structure for 4 rain barrels to rest on between the shed and metal storage building. They will be completely out of the way, and also will be high enough in elevation that a long garden hose from them will be used to water everything now. Whew...that'll be good, and means no more hauling 5 gallon buckets of water out to the garden. Since the filled barrels will weigh over 1,800 lbs., you can bet that the construction of it is very strong. This is a project that has been on my mind for a couple of years now, and i'm sure 220 gallons of rainwater storage capacity will be more than enough to satisfy the garden. I'll do a post on it when finished.....

Lastly, the irish potatoes in containers are a bust. I'll not try it again, and just accept that growing these kinds of taters is not one of my abilities. My sweet potato that has been suspended in a glass of water since mid-March has produced 1 slip before beginning to rot. I'm hoping that this 1 slip will turn into others later - as cuttings from sweet potato vines are pretty easy to root. I only need 12, and that should be pretty easy to do.

Anyway, that's pretty much what's going on around here.

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Identifying fireblight on pear trees

Holly - welcome, and thanks for following my blog!

Ok, here's the last video for a while.....

As with most years, the pear trees have fireblight again. I'll show you what it looks like in the early stages, and talk about how to remove the infected area. Enjoy!

How to deal with grass clumps in compost

Hi Justin and debiclegg - welcome, and thanks for following my blog!

It's been a while since i've shown the compost bins, and wanted to address my method of dealing with clumps of grass in the piles. As usual, Jude pretty much takes the show. Heh.

The tomatoes in 31 gallon swc's

Patrice - welcome, and thanks for following the blog!

Here's a pretty good video of the tomatoes in swc's, and what kind of storebought fertilizer is being used in each one. I also address the tomato seedlings that were potted up the other day, and how they are coming along. Enjoy!

Self watering planters on 4/30

Robin and Kathy - welcome, and thanks for following my blog!

I'll be showing several videos over the next week, and if you have trouble loading them - just hit play then pause, allowing each to fully load before attempting to play them. That's what I always do, because otherwise - it will be choppy....

Here's a video of the things growing in self watering planters on the property. It's been a wild weekend for weather around here, and tornado warnings have really been plentiful. Today will be the worst day of all, and I know Jude is pretty scared. Anytime a rotation is in our area, I bring her in the house - just in case you wondered.......

At a snail's pace.......

Sheila and crissyworkman - welcome, and thanks for following my blog!

I know people in my area that plant their tomatoes around the end of March/first of April, and decided to try it myself this year, as well. You know what? It's a waste of time, 'cause they just won't grow very much in the cool weather. These things need consistent nightly temps above 60 degrees to do any good, and those have been few and far between over the last 3 weeks. Sheesh.....In all likelihood, i'll resort back to a planting date of May 1st from now on.

Photo below - One of my Brandywine plants that is looking pretty good - but has yellow leaves from the excessive rainfall of late. A liberal application of GardenTone fertilizer surrounds the plant, and should be all the plant needs until fruit set. Once the first fruit is at least 1-1/2" in diameter, they will receive a side dressing of 13-0-13 fertilizer. Two of these plants have been segregated for seed-saving later on.....

Photo below - here's one of the ( 8 total ) Cherokee Purple plants in the 4x8 box at the end of the property. Although yellow as well - it appears to have no real problems that can be seen.

Photo below - here's one of the plantings of sweet corn in the 31 gallon swc's, which is getting pretty big already! Yeehaw....i've got the farmers in the area beat by at least 2 weeks - as theirs are only half this size. Hehe.....

Lastly, I wanted to show you the tomatoes being grown in 31 gallon swc's by the shed, of which include several different varieties. In this section are : Kellogg's Breakfast, Dagma's Perfection, Paul Robeson, Giant Oxheart, Black Cherry, Carol Chyko's Big Paste, and Amana Orange. Without plastic mulch on them, these swc's are greatly affected by any rainfall - as can be seen by the color of the leaves. Still, they are doing ok, but I wish that plastic mulch had been applied at the time of assembly.

I'll try to get some pics of the smaller swc's/swp's that are being used to grow other things in a few days, but they're not growing too fast either. Oh well....live and learn, I guess.
On Thursday, I had the honor of swapping tomato plants with a fellow heirloom tomato grower in the area, and picked up 2 new varieties - Bottle rocket and German red strawberry. Karen sure was a nice lady, and i'm sure we'll be swapping for years to come. Since there's no available room in my garden for these plants, I asked a good friend of mine if he'll grow them in his garden - then let me have a few fruit from each as they mature. I wouldn't let just anybody grow these plants, but know that they'll be well taken care of.

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG