The zucchini are planted into the base of the crater rim. The crater rim gets quite warm in the sun. It also however tends to dry out quick, so Ill keep a 2 gallon watering can full in the sun warming up. Once the little plants send some roots down further into the soil I'll mulch the rim to keep the moisture in and worry less about warmth. I haven't done a side-by-side to prove it helps/doesn't help. Part faith, part eccentric maybe. I get squash to eat/ put up .
Almost everything I do in the garden here is for warming the soil. I used to do the volcanoes like you have, raised soil is warmer, easy to water too. Now I use inverted tires, I get a few degrees warmer & helps keep the weeds down. Help hold in moisture too. Research tires, very stable rubber, no UV break down, no leeching anything into the soil. (Better than plastic soil pots & buckets )
Old garden was raised soil beds New style is various types of wooden raised beds & inverted tires, filled with a soil mix; 80% compost 20% garden soil. 2008 Garden: 2012 Garden:
The %$#%&&**&% crows got my peas while I was gone this week. They were tall enough when I left last Sunday that I was sure I would get them onto the fence this weekend. Crows took every last one of them.
OUCH ! Scare crow or 12 gauge . Some say these work : http://www.target.com/p/scare-eye-b...9#prodSlot=medium_1_1&term=garden+scare+crows My peas are just sprouting. No crows here + I have an eagle that watches over the garden now & then. As a kid in PA & WV , I used to pop one & help Mom hang it on a tall pole by the garden for the others to see, Seemed to work. In a few weeks & had some good fish bait too.
Got started planting the mators and peppers today. Got a bit more to go. But the garden is finely getting to take shape.
I tried inverting a tire once and just couldn't get it inverted. Maybe it was a stiff truck tire and/or steel cords. Tried not inverted and it filled with quack grass. Nasty weed. Will have to try slicing a sidewall off like that pictured. Another advantage to hilling up is we can have really wet Springs sometimes. With cold to boot I've lost tenderish stuff to root rot. Not much pooled water in hills /raised beds I guess too. Where my tomatoes are planted is my front yard. ( I've had inquisitives stop wanting to know why I have VHF antennas stuck in the ground like that. When they see the tomatoes they laugh. )I guess it could be "art". My great grandfather had a garden there until about 1956 so all the big rocks were removed and it is fair soil. Was plowed with a horse. ( 4 legs ) Why grow lawn grass ? I have no cows or goats.
Yall are making me jealous with all these garden pictures. I havent had time to think about getting a garden started since Ive been working seven days a week for the last couple months. I did get some volunteer tomatoes come back from last year but thats looking like all Ill get this year
Peas , beets, lettuce seeds in the garden sprouting. planted 2 tires with zucs, see how they do & stagger in a few more in a couple days. Got tomatoes hanging, cucs growing fast Some pics
I like the sun baked water. The barrels can handle constant 50 PSI or gravity drain ? I have rain water barrels but keeping skeeters out (or killing the larvae) takes a little vigilance.
Solar heated plant water. My well water is about 40°, if I watered the plants, they'd go into "shock". I fill the drums, let the water warm up then use it to water the garden & GH. Have had 80° water , noticeable difference in plant growth. I use black buckets in the GH to warm the water & they release the heat thru the night into the GH to keep it a few degrees warmer when the sun is down. Add a few ounces mild dish soap to the barrel water, reduced the surface tension of the water , good for the plants & bad for bugs.
Trying 2 cucumbers and 1 eggplant with straw bale gardening. I am crossing my fingers that the plants make it overnight since there is a grazer in the garden. I didn't want to try any larger sized plants because of the location and wind.
Straw is wicked expensive here, sold in little half and quarter bales. I'd like to try it on the strawberries but use pine needles which I have quite a few of, just have to collect them. Never have time to get enough. I'm trying to get everything in by weekend. Even with a couple cold nights and really warm ones still a ways off - can't stress the plants in pots any longer. May as well stress them in the cold and hope they stretch their feet even just a little. Plus I'll have to water them less. Pumpkins, melons, watermelons, half the cukes are in. A dozen of the big bell peppers . 15 italian frying /cubanelles tomorrow afternoon, maybe with 2 dozen late starts in another week or so. Tomatoes are starting to flower, probably still to cold to set.
Everything is up except the beans. Checked them, the seed is rooting but nothing above ground yet. Might be good since we have a cold weekend forecast. (Possible Rain/snow mix)
I am so envious of your garden this year. I haven't been able to do much at all. Hope to if I can get one of the kids to come and till a bit of the garden.
