GLP Gardeners Update

Few flowers on fruits trees, bushes and plants but no fruit. Early crop failed. :-( Mid & late crop will get much attention :-)

Im in oz - winter here! Broad beans, snow and sugarsnap peas, brocoli radish , rocket and beetroot all happening. The stonefruit and cane berries are setting buds and we are eating our first mandarins. Today i am preparing the soil for a shipment of roses due early july. We havent used chemicals or pesticides for 3 years and the garden is now teeming with insect life, native reptiles and birds.

1st year of peaches, planted the tree two years ago, about 30, tons of apples, the blueberries are unbelievable this year, i mulched heavy with woodchips as recomended by oldtimer, he was right, tomatoes,peppers,garlic, potatoes, butternut, peas, all doing well. started mulching with seaweed last year and am very happy, massachusetts

I've heard seaweed is one of the best mulches. I'm sure it provides trace elements and minerals missing in other mulches.

About as close I come to seaweed is in the dried kelp I order from Gardens Alive. I make a "sea tea" with 1 tablespoon to a gallon of water, and pour it around the base of the tomato plants.

Thanks for your update. Lucky you with the blueberries.

Maybe a much better crop mid season. You're Irish, and you have the luck of everything, including gardens. I say this from the heart.

Sounds lovely. What is stonefruit?

We had a late cold snap in CT so we lost some kohlrabi and red brussel sprouts. The remainder is doing fine. Kale, broccoli,lettuces are growing well. So are peas and beans. I was given some Regina Beans passed down three generations and they are beginning to climb the sticks. Potatoes have been hilled and need it again. And no wildlife has gotten in thanks to 14 gauge, five foot fencing.

Plums are coming along nicely, Tayberry, blueberry, gooseberry not flowering yet, shallots, garlic, strawberries are forming nicely, and tomatoes are only just flowering now.

School is out for summer.

I just recently wrote a few articles and ideas about gardening for kids at my blog.

Pictures to see and easy things for them to do. Better for them than video games and television.

You're welcome to visit and pick up ideas for summer.

[link to mysticalmagicalherbs.wordpress.com]

Has any one tried making compost tea? It's all the rage on Youtube.

My tomato plants are doing wonderful

I have made manure tea before when I had rabbits. Sadly, the rabbits are no longer around. They were great little manure makers. I'd let the manure age for about 3 weeks under the cages. I'd fill an old burlap bag or a worn out pillow case with about a shoveful of manure. Tie up the bundle with twine, and add the bundle to a five gallon bucket.

Fill the bucket with water and place a lid over the top of the bucket. You may want to pick a shady spot away from the house.

Allow the tea to age a full seven days, and begin using the tea. Pour a quart or two around tomato and pepper plants, herbs and flowers. It really greens them up. You can keep adding water to the bucket for a week, then dump the manure in the compost heap, and start brewing the tea again using fresh manure.

You can do the same with a shoveful of finished compost.

Also, don't over-look coffee grounds and tea leaves as a source of nitrogen for garden plants. Add used grounds or tea bags to a five gallon bucket, add water and let it "brew" for a few days. Pour this nitrogen rich liquid around the base of plants. 17% nitrogen, plus trace elements. Just keep adding the grounds and water. You can feed and water all at the same time. Especially good for container gardens.

Good info, Meadow. I haven't tried making compost tea yet, in that way, will keep in mind for the future.

I have flowers and small fruits on my tomatoes, beans, peas, cucumbers and peppers. carrots, beets and onions are rocking too, same with potatoes.

I extended my season in the early spring by starting seeds indoors and using row covers,

Yum, sounds like you're going to have a good harvest there, to me. Good stuff!

Thank you :)! I am very excited. This is the first time I have been able to have a raised garden bed. All the years before I tried to grow veggies in containers without much success.

Ahh, raised garden, cool. I tried a raised garden years ago, I never got very far with it, though. Kudos!

We have a few tomatoes, not nearly what should be there. Our fig tree is producing massive amounts of figs, but our watermelons are barely growing.

Is it chilly or damp where you are? Perhaps the tomatoes and watermelon will grow some more with warmer weather? Just a thought.

I like fresh figs a lot, are you thinking of canning or preserving any? They are so nice in the summer weather, watermelon, too.

July 1st ! Summer is here.

I was in the garden about an hour this morning feeding and watering the plants.

If your tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables are "so-so" it might be time for a supplemental feeding to give them a boost. Most of us added compost to the planting holes or tilled in organic materials in the spring. That was weeks ago.

I bought 2 jars of instant coffee from the Dollar Tree along with 2 cartons of Epsom salts, and 2 rolls of generic Tums. A little over six dollars. Money well spent.

I added 2 tablespoons of Epsom salts, 1 tablespoon of instant coffee to a 5 gallon bucket, added water, gave it a stir. I walked among the tomatoes and peppers and applied a gallon of the water to each plant. You can do this with cucumbers, squash, beans, lettuce, okra, etc.

The Epsom salts provides magnesium and trace elements, and the coffee provides nitrogen. A quick pick-me-up for the plants.

The Tums? In about a week, I'll insert 2 or 3 tablets just under the soil near the base of each tomato plant. I'll water them in later. Tums is a great source of calcium, and will help prevent blossom end rot and cat facing. Give each plant 2 Tums about every ten days.

Water the plants 3 times a month with the Epsom salts/coffee mixture, and you'll see a big difference in vegetable production.

What happens if you start seeds this time of year? (really late)
Does the plant catch up and produce?
probably depends what one is growing.
I have a bunch of seeds that I didnt use this year and considering putting some time into it.
Let me know if it'd be a waste of time please.

nice advice!

I wanna put in a raised bed garden. A tiny one - about 4 ft by 8 ft.
This will be placed on ground that has grass on it. Do I have to till or shovel the grass up in order to put the raised bed up?
Or can I just cover the grass with soil and let the grass decompose?
I don't want to shovel - too much work.

Hi Charlie,

Not a waste of time. It's a little late to start tomato and pepper plants from seed, and of course watermelons and pumpkins. But, you still have plenty of time to plant bush green beans, squash, cucumbers, Swiss chard, some Asian greens like bok choy, turnips, collards, mustard greens, and you can start onions from seeds and they'll produce a nice fall harvest. More than four months left of warm weather before frost. Same for flowers seeds and herb seeds, you can still plant and harvest them as well. Never a waste of time to grow something.

Happy growing.

Last Edited by Meadow1 on 07/01/2013 06:00 PM

Kill the grass first, or it might sprout up through the soil. This is what I would do. I would cover the area with black plastic, or you can use black plastic trash bags. Lay the bags on the grass and weigh them down with something. The heat generated by the bags and the sun will kill the grass in about 5 days. Check to make sure the grass is really brown and dead before you cover it with soil. That's all it takes to kill grass.

Thank you.

You're supposed to dig up the turf. That would give you another 4-5 inches of much needed soil depth. It will be worth it.

Also, where are you going to get the soil to fill the bed?

Just an FYI. If anyone decides to try square foot gardening, I suggest you follow the directions perfectly. I didn't because I couldn't find the exact three components anywhere for the mix. Make sure all three are available in you area before you start spending the money which is fairly substantial. My gardens look good but nothing is really growing (After three months my tomato plants are only anywhere from 4" to around 1').

Please tell me you didn't use bagged "Top Soil" to fill your bed.