23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
I think the OP was asking about how long it too to ripen, which is how long to harvest. But that's a good point that they grow to full size well before that. I too am a little surprised that in a week they haven't seemed to grow at all, but in my experience it could take a week for the transition from fertilized ova to growing squash to be very conspicuous. I mean, it takes a couple of days for the flower to fall off.
I do keep a small piece of flesh attached. It acts as a moisture reservoir/wick for the shoot during the first day or two before roots develop, especially if you plant the slip into soil that is not quite warm enough (75+). As an intermediate step, I pot up my slips in 3" pots until the pot is colonized, and then I transplant out like I would any other vegetable transplant.
Before the spread of endemic SP diseases they were commonly planted in the spring in the same way as Irish potatoes, cut seed put directly in the ground. There is a fascinating photo in the LOC online collections taken just pre-war in coastal SC showing the people cutting the piles of tubers on the edge of the field and getting ready to plant them out.
I will second the pea suggestion, in my case edible podded peas. I plant twice a couple of weeks apart and end up eating them for about two months. Most of them I eat raw out of hand, but they are great steamed, sautéed, and in salads. I plant in a band about three inches wide with the individual seeds about an inch apart and get as many peas as we can eat in perhaps 10 feet of row space. You could plant along a north edge of a bed that also has something like tomatoes or peppers that need more space as they grow since peas are an early crop that are finishing up as the peppers and tomatoes start to get more size.
In general I find cherry sized indeterminate tomatoes are great use of space since they produce prolifically and use vertical space well.
I grow regular broccoli, but leave it after cutting the first head and continue to cut the smaller succeeding crops. I am still eating broccoli from the plants I planted in early summer. I agree that the plants aren't small, however.
I choose plants based on flavor and types of veggies we like, but space isn't currently an issue for me. I imagine that some of the root crops which tend to be shorter, such as carrots, onions, shallots, garlic or radishes, could be planted along the south edge of beds with larger plants as long as water and fertility is sufficient.
Like Sunnibel, I choose plants based on flavor and types of veggies we like, but space isn't currently an issue for me.
prairiemoon2, yes, I have a "big" garden) (LOL) Whole my property including house, lawn with 6 fruit trees, shed, huge compost pile and and some berry bushes is just 6000 sq feet). All together 700 sg feet for veggies. But not as a single lot, to make things more interesting, I have a hill at my property, steep one. And I have 4 planting levels all together on terraces.
Yacon doesn't sprout from the tubers but from the rhizomes at the base of the plant which are easily contained. Unlike sunchokes, they rarely (likely never) become invasive even here in the mild PNW.
Again, I highly recommend them as they're easy to grow, taste delicious and are rarely found at the store or markets.
When I left for camp this summer my pole beans were tiny and not ripe at all, but when I came back they were over ripe. I decided to let them ripen all the way and pick then when they were all dried up and ripe, but I don't know how to cook them. Suggestions?
I'd wait until they were a little more dormant before moving them. And even if you transplant them in the fall this year it would be best if you didn't harvest any next spring. Even though the plants might be mature, when you move them you are essentially starting them over again. The plants will need to get established in their new bed.
Rodney
This post was edited by theforgottenone1013 on Sat, Oct 25, 14 at 12:37
I plan on growing all indoors, so it doesnt matter the time of the year. The tomatoes were a random grab, I had all ready been considering tossing them and reusing the pot. Im keeping my peppers though, thats what I want to be my main yield. I plan on letting them get a bit bigger, then taking and transplanting to bigger pots.
Im growing parsley and cilantro, they look similar to young celery in the pic. Now I know it was just crab grass I took it out, that frees up one more pot for something else. It is quite a fine specimen of crab grass lol.
Thanks again for answering my questions, I will come back here if I have anymore.
This post was edited by Sparksman on Sat, Oct 25, 14 at 4:37
I am not going to do garlic this year but have done it in the past.
I never ordered seed cloves. Just used store bought and did fine.
About planting time: Anytime from now before the ground freezes is fine. But I plant a bit early so the seeds develop root system and possibly some green top before frost. This way they'll be ready to take off in the spring.
seysonn
The first year I grew garlic I picked up a multi-pack in a mesh tube at Aldi's (a discount grocery store) and planted those....lots of cloves for very little money and available when I made a spur of the moment decision to include garlic in the garden. It was planted in October and grew fine and produced good sized bulbs the following July. Several inches of mixed grass and leaf mulch was put on soon after planting. The garlic sent up scapes which surprised me since I thought most grocery store garlic, and especially cheap multi-pack kinds were softneck varieities. If yours scapes, cut them when they are soft and tender. It will help with producing larger bulbs.
I've selected the larger cloves from the larger bulbs to plant each year and get great bulbs every year. I've also added some named varieties from other sources with varied flavors and looks. But none of them grow any better than my original.
I know others report poor growth from grocery store garlic, but that has not been my experience.
Good luck with yours. Garlic is fun to grow!
You can try anything but there are a few things to bear in mind. Obviously there is the toxicity issue. It won't make your vegetables poisonous to grow Delphiniums near them but there is always the risk of some leaves getting into your basket when you harvest or a child thinking that if it's in the veggie garden it must be food.
Secondly, Delphiniums are tall and could shade your crops. Thirdly, Delphiniums are perennials so the cultivations and amendments that go on in a vegetable garden would disturb them, unless of course you put them in with perennial vegetables.
I was concerned mostly with the toxicity being in the soil as well! We are all grown-ups now and I most likely will be the only ones tending the gardens or harvesting them!
As far as sun, how our veggie beds face, they should get sun most of the day till around the afternoon sometime without shading out any crops! I read to keep eyes on how the sun changes from season to season and during times of the day in a book last year so I try to pay attention! lol and since they aren't big veggie raised beds, i was planning on fertilizing ( miracle gro but a friend also recommended garden tone) and perhaps working manure compost in the Spring of the following year. I am very new so forgive me if this sounds wrong or not enough! I plan on doing some reading up on veggies before I officially plan all the raised beds out.
~Michael
heavenlyfarm
my "sweet 100 "tomato plants are hardy volunteers. they traveled here to this house via compost... when we moved.... so many of them. so sturdy and reliable. but of course they come up later than transplants I buy....
also this year some not dug from last year some potato.. not sure of the variety.
Oh my mustard greens came back from" went to seed" in my mini hoop houses, raised beds.
I wish I had ground cherries... a lady gave me a few dried .. They got lost in the move....
Oh also my lime basil came too. of course gobs of purple basil everywhere. they were mostly volunteers from previous owner( I guess, cant ask as she died a year or so before we bought this money pit all consuming property and house. LOL)
just chiming in. wish I had so of yall voiunteers, sounds great......Im jealous, LOL
Oh how do yall identify what is a volunteer from 'weeds" I mistked a weed for rubarhb, and another for okra
Look into square foot gardening and/or EarthBoxes if you are just starting out. These are easy entry points into veggie gardening that are well documented and will get you hooked.
Here is one of my 4'x4' SFG beds that I planted out in early September. Bringing in excellent greens from it right now:
just keep this in mind ...
rototilling sand into clay.. is just about making cement ... or adobe bricks ...
when it rains like heck.. where does the water go.. IN the soil ... or runs away???
dont foget.. for vining type plants like you note ... you can make a small bed of good soil ... and use the sand area for the vines .... if you get my drift
your cheapest alternative.. might be to get a yard or two of good soil delivered.. and move it back there... and make a raised bed of about 12 inches after it settles....which might mean putting 15 to 18 inches to allow settling ...
many of the things listed above.. can nickle and dime you into spending much more.. than you ever intend.. by the time you collect it all ...
but.. if you can find it for free.. and have a truck.. and add you own free labor.. many good suggestions above . ..
but all that said... just plant some seeds in spring... who knows ... maybe this is much to do about nothing.. since we can see.. smell.. feel your soil ... and you might be making a mountain out of a mole hill .. it gets tricky when we rely on the words of a neophyte ... when making presumptions ...
but it all starts with that perk test...
ken
ps: yes.. many of us.. can smell a good or bad soil .... go figure ... a soil that does not drain well... will have a rotting smell... swamp like ....
PPS: btw... while you are perking.. make a snowball of the soil ... it should hold together for a moment or two.. and then start decompressing.. and fall apart... i call that.. a friable soil ... crumbly .... and what follows.. is that water flows thru it .... and that will confirm the perk test ... why havent you done it yet ....???
Here is a link that might be useful: link
Thanks ib is the perk test today is about an hour for the water to drain from about a 12 inch hole good? I think I'm gonna scrape some of the sand off and add organic matter then add more in the spring and till. Thanks for all the help. Also I heard that planting hot peppers along with other veggies will help deter rabbits. There aren't too many rabbits around here but I see them every now and then. I don't want to have to put o'l thumper on the dinner table if u get what I'm sayin. I have a dog too which helps keep them away, but that brings me to my next point. The past couple years we've had moles in our yard and our dog goes crazy trying to get them so he digs a lot. How can I deter him and the moles from the garden as well especially since I am planting some root veggies like carrots and onions. I'm more worried about the dog getting in there but getting the moles away would be good too
No idea, Shuffles, except that maybe it is just more evidence that you selected the best plants!
But i am glad to hear of this variety of okra! I will look for it...i have not hesrd of it before.
I am growing okra for the first time, just one plant, Burgundy variety. I grew it from seed and it got off to a slow start, shaded by the quicker squash. Okra is not common here in California, but I love it in soup. Have somr simmering eith yellow squash, okra, grren beans, and roma tomatoes right now.
No idea, Shuffles, except that maybe it is just more evidence that you selected the best plants!
But i am glad to hear of this variety of okra! I will look for it...i have not hesrd of it before.
I am growing okra for the first time, just one plant, Burgundy variety. I grew it from seed and it got off to a slow start, shaded by the quicker squash. Okra is not common here in California, but I love it in soup. Have somr simmering eith yellow squash, okra, grren beans, and roma tomatoes right now.