The Dawg Patch

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GoDawgs
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Re: The Dawg Patch

#821

Post: # 85211Unread post GoDawgs
Sun Dec 18, 2022 3:01 pm

Thanks for the kind words, Danny. That's why I moved out to the country 37 years ago, to get away from it all and for elbow room. The house is small but that's OK too. Less to maintain!

Good idea about the pea plants and if I do that I'll keep the taller one.

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Re: The Dawg Patch

#822

Post: # 85968Unread post GoDawgs
Fri Dec 30, 2022 6:32 am

The covers were taken off everything yesterday since we had the last 26 degree morning. The smell of dead brassica foliage is in the air. Survivors include the collards, kale, garlic, leeks and a few cabbages. The maybe-maybe nots are the scallions (not covered at all), kohlrabi, newer daikon and carrots. Gone are the turnips, the few beets I got to come up, the older daikon and for sure the broccoli plants that were giving side shoots. They weren't covered at all since they were about done anyway. They are now! Pics later.

All of the sheets and plastic covers had to be hung up to dry (dew and condensation) so it was quite a sight with stuff hanging everywhere; clipped to big trellises, over tomato cages, draped over grape vines, the table and the bench. Unfortunately I didn't get a pic of that. Too lazy to go back up to the house and get the camera. 

This morning will be spent in the garden digging up dead stuff and pruning damaged leaves off things that might make it. Pickles will be doing the last leaf vacuuming as they're all down now. The final addition to the big leaf pile. Then it's football time as the better games are starting, mostly this evening.

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Re: The Dawg Patch

#823

Post: # 85974Unread post pepperhead212
Fri Dec 30, 2022 7:47 am

Don't dig up too much of those dead brassicas - they might come back! Even if not now, in early spring, when they'll flower.

I was surprised that almost all of my scallion seedlings (I cut out all the large ones, and left the roots) had survived the 7° temp. And it doesn't look like any of the garlic has died back - it must take many days, but it does, eventually.
Woodbury, NJ zone 7a/7b

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Re: The Dawg Patch

#824

Post: # 85980Unread post GoDawgs
Fri Dec 30, 2022 8:30 am

I do need to get them out of there. For one, they literally stink. :lol: And those beds will be needed for other stuff before they can (if they ever will) revive and go through the bloom process. The broccoli is hybrid so no seed collection there. Yep, time to just clear the decks.

The scallions just need damaged foliage removed. Last year they took a bad hit and came back. Tough little buggers!

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Re: The Dawg Patch

#825

Post: # 86015Unread post GoDawgs
Fri Dec 30, 2022 6:52 pm

Well, the garden is a mixed bag of results, some expected and some surprising. Lessons here and there for sure. I spent almost three hours out there today trimming off damaged foliage or just digging out plants that were kaput.

The two main brassica beds got hit hard. They were both covered except for the broccoli plants (left side of back bed) which were on their last legs anyway, putting out fewer and smaller side shoots. The white looking plants were cauliflower with their heads already cut so no harm there. Lot

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The carrots got blasted despite protection. I had run out of hoops so I opened up and flattened a bit some tomato cages, arched them over the carrots, clipped on old bed sheets for cover and tied the cages to the bed sides so they wouldn't get blown away. However, there's hope. Pushing aside the frosted foliage I spied the tiny bright green of new coming up!

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The next batch of daikon got blitzed....

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...but didn't look too bad once the funky leaves were cut away.

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Speaking of daikon, there was one older one that should have been pulled before the storm but was forgotten. You can see a discolored band that goes about half way down the radish. That''s the part that was above ground. If this situation ever happens again I will pull soil up to bury the whole radish and pile leaves over the plants.

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The last pic for tonight is of the kale (front) and collards (back). Despite a bit of damage, they'll be fine. We have rain coming in tomorrow evening and I'm sure everything will love to have a nice long drink on New Year's Eve. :)

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Re: The Dawg Patch

#826

Post: # 86333Unread post GoDawgs
Fri Jan 06, 2023 9:09 am

I started my first spring plants yesterday! It was supposed to be the first four cauliflower plants but after filling the 4 pack with potting soil I realized those seeds aren't here yet. Duh! So I started the first four cabbage sets instead.

Spring cauliflower. Yes, yes, I have sworn before to never again try to grow spring cauliflower because of the shifting spring temps here. BUT... (heavy sigh)... I'm trying again with the earliest start date ever with an early variety (Early Snowball, 55 days). Hope springs eternally. I will cover four tomato cages with plastic and use them as mini greenhouses for protection when necessary. Projected transplant time in 4 weeks. At least, that's the plan and there's not much else to do right now anyway except for seeds to arrive.

Spring garden planning was finished yesterday. Seed starting and projected transplanting dates have been determined, the garden map is finished and a double check has been done to make sure everything on the grow list has been assigned a spot in the garden beds. All subject to change, of course! It never fails Mother Nature delights in throwing weather curve balls at any gardener who tries to outwit her.

I stopped in at the feed & seed to see when they are expecting the arrival of their seed potatoes. The lady called their supplier and said they'll arrive in the next 2-3 weeks. She's going to call me when they come in. I like to get small ones and get them well chitted, one whole potato per planting hole. I figure if I don't have to cut them up, there's no chance of funk screwing them up. Shooting for a mid March planting time if they've chitted enough so I hope they'll arrive in two weeks.

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Re: The Dawg Patch

#827

Post: # 86507Unread post GoDawgs
Sun Jan 08, 2023 3:13 pm

Despite the recent arctic blast, the iris and self-sown blackeyed Susans insist on surviving and growing. Nothing seems to bother them.

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The carrots, whose foliage got totally blasted by 11 degrees even though they were covered, are regrowing.

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And the wild daffodils out in the yard are doing their thing right on time. Here they come! 

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I buried kitchen scraps in two more spring planting holes this afternoon and got the garlic bed weeded/remulched. The only weed coming up right now is henbit. They're pretty when they put out those tiny little purple blooms but they can't stay since they are powdery mildew magnets and they self-sow like the dickens. Out they go!

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Re: The Dawg Patch

#828

Post: # 86542Unread post PlainJane
Mon Jan 09, 2023 6:40 am

When will you be starting warm weather seeds?
“Never try to outstubborn a cat.”
- Robert A. Heinlein

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Re: The Dawg Patch

#829

Post: # 86543Unread post GoDawgs
Mon Jan 09, 2023 7:22 am

All of the times below are for seed starting, whether it's in packs or direct seeding, all of which (sowing packs or transplanting out) will be weather dependent. It's sooooo fickle around here in April! Last year we had a danged freeze at the end of April which is rare. But at least it's a plan which we all know is subject to change at Mother Nature's whims. :)

This month it will be staggered starts for broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, more scallions and daikon. The first 4-pack of cabbage poked up last night.

February: baby bok choy and lettuce for the porch, more broccoli-cabbage-kohlrabi-daikon, collards, kale, peas and turnips.

March: beets (yes, another effort!), carrots, eggplant, Jewels of Opar (a toy for this year), a different scallion, peppers, potatoes, sesame (another toy), sweet potatoes (indoors to make slips) and tomatoes.

Late April: bush beans, cucumber, corn, summer squash, watermelon. Maybe early May on there, weather depending.

May: more bush beans, pole beans, more corn, eggplant (for round #2 into fall), okra, sweet potatoes, more summer squash at intervals

June: tepary beans (an experiment), field peas

Somewhere in there will be zinnias, sunflowers, Indian Summer Rudbeckia, Milkweed Hello Yellow, Tithonia, Mammoth dill, more parsley in case the butterflies munch down the window box full I have now. But the veggies have priority for light shelf space. The others will be worked in. :)

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Re: The Dawg Patch

#830

Post: # 86962Unread post GoDawgs
Sun Jan 15, 2023 12:33 pm

So I'm back in the saddle again. The camera arrived about four days after I ordered it even though the Amazon order acknowledgement said delivery on Jan 17. A pleasant surprise!

They had forecasted a low of 23 for this morning so yesterday afternoon I cut off a small cabbage that was ready enough for lunch today and covered that new carrot foliage that has pushed out since it all got burned in the big December freeze. It only got down to 27 but there was heavy frost everywhere. The cover will stay on until tomorrow afternoon as tomorrow morning is to be about the same.

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But the usual early heralds of approaching spring are doing their thing. One of the early Camellia japonicas is blooming. I forget the name.

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And the first in the patch of wild daffies out in the yard is blooming.

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This week also saw the first stuff being started for the garden. On Thursday I started a 4-pack each of two different kohlrabi (Blauer Speck and Kolibri) and some Guardsman scallions. Today I started a 4-pack of Green Magic broccoli and one of Early Snowball cauliflower. Yeah, I had sworn to do cauli only in the fall but this one is 55 days and I'm starting it earlier than I've ever done, hoping to avoid the worst of the spring temp swings. The urge to do this was also due in part to me seeing real small heads of cauliflower in the grocery for $3 each. Grrrrrr!! Gotta try again to do my own.

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Re: The Dawg Patch

#831

Post: # 87250Unread post GoDawgs
Fri Jan 20, 2023 7:11 am

Not too much has been happening around as we've had several misty days in a row here but I did get a few more things started. The first Green Magic broccoli pack is up as is the first Early Snowball cauliflower. Today I'm going to sow the first five daikon radish seeds out in the garden. I think two later five plant sowings each two or three weeks apart should still result in sweet and not hot tasting radishes. I've learned to spread them out because yes, one can have too many daikons at one time!

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I've had to add support and somewhat tie the Maglia Rosa tomato branches as it sure does have a weepy habit. It has set a lot of fruit too.

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Here are the two oldest clusters. It's taking them a long time to ripen but that's probably due to the lower light level. But I can see the beginnings of stripes on the tomatoes.

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We will finally see the sun today but rain will move back in tomorrow night.

My Baker Creek order, shipped from them on Dec 29, is still wandering around somewhere in Georgia as the last tracked sighting was on Dec 31 in Duluth GA, up in the NW corner of the state. My guess is that it went to die in Atlanta. I have e-mailed BC and see what they have to say.

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Re: The Dawg Patch

#832

Post: # 87264Unread post Seven Bends
Fri Jan 20, 2023 10:42 am

GoDawgs wrote: Fri Jan 20, 2023 7:11 am My Baker Creek order, shipped from them on Dec 29, is still wandering around somewhere in Georgia as the last tracked sighting was on Dec 31 in Duluth GA, up in the NW corner of the state. My guess is that it went to die in Atlanta. I have e-mailed BC and see what they have to say.
Thanks for the smile this morning; nicely written!

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Re: The Dawg Patch

#833

Post: # 87265Unread post GoDawgs
Fri Jan 20, 2023 10:52 am

Thanks, @Seven Bends . LOL! Actually, what's worse is that I misspoke about Duluth's location. It's only about 22 miles outside of Atlanta! last seen Dec 31st.... maybe too much early New Year's Eve partying among the postal folks? :lol:

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Re: The Dawg Patch

#834

Post: # 87657Unread post GoDawgs
Thu Jan 26, 2023 8:48 am

Wet, wet, wet! We got another 2.2" of rain yesterday after Sunday's 2.3" so any drought status we had is most likely gone. After Sunday's rain the lower part on the near side of the garden had standing water and now the other side does as well.

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In the second photo there's a small stretch of rutabagas planted on the near end of the trellis and they're doing the backstroke right now. The first round of broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower plants will be set out in those two beds just above the near trellis in about three weeks.

This happens every year and fortunately early enough that it won't interfere with planting anything. That area on the near side will have corn but not until late April. Rather than bring in a lot of soil to level it out I've been toying with the idea of building some long hugulkultur beds across that near side. Heaven knows there's a ton of dead wood from log sections to branches back on Mt. Brushmore to do the job. I need to do a small prototype this spring.

And finally, the wild daffie patch is doing its thing. If I think about it, I need to dig up a few of those clumps later, bust them up and replant them in more places.

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Re: The Dawg Patch

#835

Post: # 87663Unread post PlainJane
Thu Jan 26, 2023 9:19 am

Love daffodils. I’m still experimenting with types that will be reliably perennial in my conditions as the first batch pooped out after 2 years.
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Re: The Dawg Patch

#836

Post: # 87669Unread post GoDawgs
Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:43 am

I haven't bought any daffodils in years. But when I was going through my "plant bulbs" phase I would buy only fragrant daffs. By golly, if I was going to go to the trouble of planting them, the least they could do was smell nice! :lol:

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Re: The Dawg Patch

#837

Post: # 87751Unread post bower
Fri Jan 27, 2023 6:12 pm

Hugulkultur sounds like a great idea for those areas that flood. At least from reading about it - I have no experience myself. But for a place that tends to get dry weather, the soaked logs that are underground would also be a great reservoir holding moisture into dryer days.
AgCan Zone 5a/USDA zone 4
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Re: The Dawg Patch

#838

Post: # 87978Unread post GoDawgs
Mon Jan 30, 2023 8:19 am

So far the first two rounds of spring brassicas are coming along. Again I'm playing with staggering starts to make a steady stream of harvest rather than a huge all-at-once dump of any one veg. Since I garden by the moon, the planning involves choosing planting dates far enough apart but also falling within the appropriate periods of "above ground" and root veg planting days. If two varieties of any veg are started on the same day it's because they have different dtms like the kohlrabi. Kolibri is a 43 day variety and the Blauer Spec is 60 days, a natural stagger.

These are the first rounders with start dates. On the right, front to back: 4pk Early Jersey Wakefield cabbage (1/5), a 4pk each of Kolibri and Blauer Spec kohlrabi (1/12), Guardsman scallions (1/12) and Warrior scallions (Dec 16). On the left: a 4pk each of Green Magic broc and Early Snowball cauliflower (both 1/15).

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The second rounders on the right, front to back: 3 Stonehead cabbage and another 4pk of Early Snowball cauliflower (both 1/23). On the left there's a sage started from cuttings and a fernleaf dill started from seed.

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The old sage and thyme pots that came indoors during that arctic air spell went on a seed starting shelf. I've had them for several years. They're still indoors but have had to move to the Maglia Rosa table, joining the basil which has been inside since it was seeded in early November.

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The start date for the next round of seeding is Feb 3 when four more each of Green Magic and Packman brocs will be started along with three more Wakefield cabbage.

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Re: The Dawg Patch

#839

Post: # 88275Unread post GoDawgs
Fri Feb 03, 2023 10:44 am

Today is another seed starting day. I did a 4-pack each of Green Magic and Packman broccoli, three Early Jersey Wakefield cabbages and a 6-pack each of Heat Winner bok choy and Arugula.

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The bok choy and arugula will eventually go into window boxes out on the porch. I should have started more arugula sooner since what's out there now is in full flower so leaves are thin and getting more scarce as I take them for salads. The bok choy was in this year's MMMM package and is supposed to withstand heat better than others but we'll see. I can only find one reference to it online on an Asian seed company's site.

The first stuff I seeded is almost ready to harden off. The cabbage on the left end was started Jan 5. The broc and cauli to the right of it were started on the 15th and the two kohlrabis on the right end were seeded Jan 12. They sure grow fast.

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Between yesterday afternoon and this morning we had another inch of rain but the sun's out for the rest of the day. The next rain isn't expected until late next week so maybe the garden can dry out a little. LOL! Who am I kidding? I did manage to swap out one of the two brassica beds to a more dry area but the other bed will have to stay where it is. My bad for scheduling those beds for early plants!

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Re: The Dawg Patch

#840

Post: # 88321Unread post GoDawgs
Sat Feb 04, 2023 6:14 am

The Heshiko bunching scallions are starting to bolt. I think that's the earliest I've ever had any kind of scallion start to go to seed. But that's OK. I'll just collect the seed, leave the scallions there and let them start bunching. By the time the other kind starts to flower (assuming there are any left; probably not) there won't be any cross pollination. There will be peppers down the middle later so the scallions won't be in the way.

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Meanwhile, I'm still pulling some for kitchen duty. That's one of the young bunchers on the far left amid mostly Shimonita scallions. A lot of the scallions in the grocery have just an inch or two of the white portion, a waste of money!

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There were some kale plants in buckets up by the house on the tomato pallets and they weren't thriving. I found out there's little sun on that spot which I wasn't aware of, not having had anything growing there this time of year. So now they've moved the tomato pallets in the garden. The deer have started coming around again so the tomato cages are now keeping the kale safe. Off season duty!

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The above photo was taken a couple of days ago with a lot of the standing water gone. Well, thanks to that latest inch of rain it's a big pond again.

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