Rocks expanded garden and renewed shed

[Rockporter]

Yardlong beans are sprouting, there are a few things I planted in the RKN zone that are coming up too, zuchinni, butternut squash, and swiss chard. Other things have come up but I can't tell if they are just weeds or something I planted, lol. I am amazed that weed seeds actually survived being in a container so dry that it took forever to get the mix to take in water so I could plant in it. So, the test for RKN resistance is on.

I got my Chinese Red Noodle Long Beans in the mail from Baker Creek today. I'm thinking of planting 2 seeds in each of three 8 gallon containers this weekend. I have no idea what the yield is on these beans nor do I know how big a container they need so I'm sorta guessing how to grow these.

I'm with you on that, I have no idea what I am going to get but my beans said to plant six inches apart so I think mine will be some pretty big vines. I have 5 in each oblong 3' containers that sit along my big trellis. I am going to plant other things with them like one container already has some catnip in it at the front left, the middle one has some lettuce on front right and some onions along the front of it. The third one has a french marigold I moved from the center of it to the right front so I could plant the bean seeds. I'm not sure what I will put in that one with the beans but I am tempted to add a cabbage in there to the front left. I hesitate because of the heat though, I need sun protection and I don't know how long it will take the beans to climb the trellis and give shade to a cabbage. Have I said mine are Asparagus Yard Long Beans? I am excited to see how they do.

@Wildcat82 Here is a great article on asparagus beans and also gives info on pot sizes, Yay! I also see there is one yardlong bean that can be grown in shadier areas which is perfect for my crop rotation plans, now I need to find seeds for Liana Yardlong Beans for the 4' trellis that gets a good amount of shade in the afternoon.

https://www.epicgardening.com/yardlong-bean/

[Rockporter]

We just added another project for the garden that really needs to be done. That section of sand in front of the garden entry wall is where the drainage is and we have been trying to decide what to plant there but have finally decided to use landscaping cloth and rock to keep the weeds out of there. I can't think of anything we can put there that won't interfere with the drainage pipe because it is higher than we would like it to be because of the available slope from the back to the front of the house. Now to find the right color rocks.

Found some great colored river rock for this project, have one side done, now to do the other side, we need 10 more bags of river rock. From weeds to something that looks nice and doesn't include the sticky dandelions and sticker burrs and stopping the weeds from interfering with the new drainage we put in there. Now I will be able to harvest from the backside of the trellis without having weeds and all manor of bugs, especially the ants crawling on me.


Left side of garden area with a stone for me to step without slipping on rocks. The garden hose hangs on the wall to the left so stepping into that area is needed since I wanted a 7' long outdoor kitchen and said kitchen is too close to the concrete edge, lol. The things we do for convenience.

Garden 2023-Left Side Brick Wall Drainage Area-Before Pic.jpg

Garden 2023-Left Side Brick Wall Drainage Area-After Pic.jpg

Right side of garden area with stepping stones so I can harvest without slipping on rocks here too.

Yuck, ugly weeds!

Garden 2023-Right Side Brick Wall Drainage Area-Before Pic.jpg

Garden 2023-Right Side Brick Wall Drainage Area-After Pic.jpg

[Rockporter]

We just added another project for the garden that really needs to be done. That section of sand in front of the garden entry wall is where the drainage is and we have been trying to decide what to plant there but have finally decided to use landscaping cloth and rock to keep the weeds out of there. I can't think of anything we can put there that won't interfere with the drainage pipe because it is higher than we would like it to be because of the available slope from the back to the front of the house. Now to find the right color rocks.

Found some great colored river rock for this project, have one side done, now to do the other side, we need 10 more bags of river rock. From weeds to something that looks nice and doesn't include the sticky dandelions and sticker burrs and stopping the weeds from interfering with the new drainage we put in there. Now I will be able to harvest from the backside of the trellis without having weeds and all manor of bugs, especially the ants crawling on me.


Left side of garden area with a stone for me to step without slipping on rocks. The garden hose hangs on the wall to the left so stepping into that area is needed since I wanted a 7' long outdoor kitchen and said kitchen is too close to the concrete edge, lol. The things we do for convenience.


Garden 2023-Left Side Brick Wall Drainage Area-Before Pic.jpg



Garden 2023-Left Side Brick Wall Drainage Area-After Pic.jpg



Right side of garden area with stepping stones so I can harvest without slipping on rocks here too.

Yuck, ugly weeds!

Garden 2023-Right Side Brick Wall Drainage Area-Before Pic.jpg



Garden 2023-Right Side Brick Wall Drainage Area-After Pic.jpg

Hubby went back down to get the rest of the river rock we needed and he said there was only three bags left after he picked ours up. So, somebody was in there buying up all the river rock because there were three huge pallets full this morning. Whew, glad we got what we needed and they match, lol.

[Rockporter]

Have a thought.....

So, I have been paying attention to how the wind moves in the covered trellis and have decided the ends with the doors will be all screen instead of having plastic on it. I just need to figure out how to cover the ends for freezes.

I also thought that instead of securing the screen to the sides of the trellis which would leave the trellis open for use by whatever I am growing that vines, such as the alaska peas that are climbing it right now, or tomatoes and such that I would make some sort of a curtain on both sides of the trellis. In fact it wouldn't cost any more to do this but I thought what if I could just pull the curtains on each side in the evening I could keep all flying moths off of my crops, then open them back up in the morning for the pollinators to do their jobs. I don't think it would be too hard to do something like that but I would have to figure out how to secure for the wind at night. It could easily be rolled up in the morning and secured out of the way. Maybe I should go ahead and secure it horizontally and just unroll it in the evening, and roll it back up in the morning. I think I just answered my own question, lol.


Thoughts?

[PlainJane]

Just me, but I like the idea of a side closing curtain vs. an up-n-down curtain.

[Wildcat82]

Have a thought.....

So, I have been paying attention to how the wind moves in the covered trellis and have decided the ends with the doors will be all screen instead of having plastic on it. I just need to figure out how to cover the ends for freezes.

I also thought that instead of securing the screen to the sides of the trellis which would leave the trellis open for use by whatever I am growing that vines, such as the alaska peas that are climbing it right now, or tomatoes and such that I would make some sort of a curtain on both sides of the trellis. In fact it wouldn't cost any more to do this but I thought what if I could just pull the curtains on each side in the evening I could keep all flying moths off of my crops, then open them back up in the morning for the pollinators to do their jobs. I don't think it would be too hard to do something like that but I would have to figure out how to secure for the wind at night. It could easily be rolled up in the morning and secured out of the way. Maybe I should go ahead and secure it horizontally and just unroll it in the evening, and roll it back up in the morning. I think I just answered my own question, lol.


Thoughts?

It's hard for me to protect anything in my backyard from wind since the wind direction varies so much. Winds generally come from the southeast but the wind rose chart shows high winds are just as likely to come from the North.

FYI - Here's a website that shows the wind rose for Corpus Christi.

https://www.meteoblue.com/en/weather/hi ... es_4683416

[Rockporter]

Have a thought.....

So, I have been paying attention to how the wind moves in the covered trellis and have decided the ends with the doors will be all screen instead of having plastic on it. I just need to figure out how to cover the ends for freezes.

I also thought that instead of securing the screen to the sides of the trellis which would leave the trellis open for use by whatever I am growing that vines, such as the alaska peas that are climbing it right now, or tomatoes and such that I would make some sort of a curtain on both sides of the trellis. In fact it wouldn't cost any more to do this but I thought what if I could just pull the curtains on each side in the evening I could keep all flying moths off of my crops, then open them back up in the morning for the pollinators to do their jobs. I don't think it would be too hard to do something like that but I would have to figure out how to secure for the wind at night. It could easily be rolled up in the morning and secured out of the way. Maybe I should go ahead and secure it horizontally and just unroll it in the evening, and roll it back up in the morning. I think I just answered my own question, lol.


Thoughts?

It's hard for me to protect anything in my backyard from wind since the wind direction varies so much. Winds generally come from the southeast but the wind rose chart shows high winds are just as likely to come from the North.

FYI - Here's a website that shows the wind rose for Corpus Christi.

https://www.meteoblue.com/en/weather/hi ... es_4683416

Yes, my wind comes in the same directions as yours does. Thanks for the link.

[Rockporter]

Today is the day that temps are very important to watch. There is only 1mph wind and it is 94 degrees out there with a heat index of 95 degrees, this is according to my personal weather station we have mounted out there. Now, if I tell you what my computer tells me and have been using from the start, that says it is only 87 degrees out there with a feels like of 97 degrees. So, from here on out you all are going to get what my personal weather station tells me because I went out there to take a look at the tomato and the dill that I separated the other day, and did notice both are doing far better, nothing like personal space, Eh?

Anyway, I noticed the little tiny french marigold I planted in place of the dill was wilting so I thought well I just replanted it, it just needs more water so took care of that. Then hubby pointed out that I had four pots with bell peppers in them wilting from the heat and sun at the 4 foot trellis. They were definitely stressed, so on went the shade cloth on the 4 foot trellis to shade them and I moved the carrots to the back as well because they didn't look like they were too happy either, then I watered it all. I went ahead and put a shade cloth on the 8 foot trellis as well and when I was finished with that the bell peppers were showing improvement already. Then noticed I had fire ants all over one of my earth boxes so I spread some spinosad ant bait around it. They are happily taking it home with them.

So the battle of needing shade is surely one I will win this year, no more struggles for shade if I can help it, and summer isn't here yet

[Rockporter]

All the yardlong beans have sprouted now, that means 100% germination They are most about 6 inches tall but that very last one is about 3 inches tall, it was a bit slower to germinate. It will be interesting to see if it catches up to the rest of them.

[Wildcat82]

All the yardlong beans have sprouted now, that means 00% germination They are most about 6 inches tall but that very last one is about 3 inches tall, it was a bit slower to germinate. It will be interesting to see if it catches up to the rest of them.

I was going to plant my long beans 2 days ago. I had moved my pots to the cattle panels,filled them with soil mix, then paused to go get a drink. Came back 5 minutes later to find the seed packet was gone. Wind must have taken it. So my seed packet is probably somewhere over the gulf of Mexico by now. If you find A seed packet in your back yard, you'll know where it came from.

[Rockporter]

All the yardlong beans have sprouted now, that means 00% germination They are most about 6 inches tall but that very last one is about 3 inches tall, it was a bit slower to germinate. It will be interesting to see if it catches up to the rest of them.

I was going to plant my long beans 2 days ago. I had moved my pots to the cattle panels,filled them with soil mix, then paused to go get a drink. Came back 5 minutes later to find the seed packet was gone. Wind must have taken it. So my seed packet is probably somewhere over the gulf of Mexico by now. If you find A seed packet in your back yard, you'll know where it came from.

Did you go out and get a new seed packet yet? I hope you get some yard long beans this year.

[Wildcat82]

All the yardlong beans have sprouted now, that means 00% germination They are most about 6 inches tall but that very last one is about 3 inches tall, it was a bit slower to germinate. It will be interesting to see if it catches up to the rest of them.

I was going to plant my long beans 2 days ago. I had moved my pots to the cattle panels,filled them with soil mix, then paused to go get a drink. Came back 5 minutes later to find the seed packet was gone. Wind must have taken it. So my seed packet is probably somewhere over the gulf of Mexico by now. If you find A seed packet in your back yard, you'll know where it came from.

Did you go out and get a new seed packet yet? I hope you get some yard long beans this year.

I ordered a new packet a few days ago. You'll be a week or two ahead of me but these things supposedly grow pretty fast so I can catch up.

[Rockporter]

I set some yellow and coral canna lily bulbs in my front garden bed last week and I have two of the three yellow coming up. The yellow are dwarf and get about 36" tall so they are in the front of the bed and the coral get to be about 6 feet or more tall so they are in the back of the garden bed. I also have the yellow ones planted in the boxes that flank each side of the garage door. We made the planters for them about 4 years ago and the canna lily plants we bought already growing for them. This is the first year I had to dig them up and separate the bulbs. I had 35 bulbs total out of the two plants and have given many away. I can't wait to see the coral ones behind the yellow ones, I bet it will be striking against my brick facade.

[Rockporter]

All the yardlong beans have sprouted now, that means 00% germination They are most about 6 inches tall but that very last one is about 3 inches tall, it was a bit slower to germinate. It will be interesting to see if it catches up to the rest of them.

I was going to plant my long beans 2 days ago. I had moved my pots to the cattle panels,filled them with soil mix, then paused to go get a drink. Came back 5 minutes later to find the seed packet was gone. Wind must have taken it. So my seed packet is probably somewhere over the gulf of Mexico by now. If you find A seed packet in your back yard, you'll know where it came from.

Did you go out and get a new seed packet yet? I hope you get some yard long beans this year.

I ordered a new packet a few days ago. You'll be a week or two ahead of me but these things supposedly grow pretty fast so I can catch up.

Yay, good luck. So we have three I know so far that are at different growth stages, us and @karstopography. I started second and mine are about 6 inches tall now. So we can see how different areas of Texas do with them. I am excited to find out. We are all starting our first time growing them too.

[karstopography]

@Rockporter good luck with your long beans. By the way, I’m not growing the yard long beans at the moment, the asparagus bean, red noodle or the chinese, long thai type. Maybe I’ll plant some of the various Vigna unguiculata later, but for now, I’m growing Phaseolus vulgaris the ordinary common pole beans in cultivars such as Trionfo Violetto, a.k.a. Purple triumph, Emerite, Marvel of Venice, and Algarve. I also planted bush beans recently, Tavera, Rolande, and Maxibel.

Your long beans should produce long after my pole beans are burned up in the heat. Aren’t long beans really a climbing the pole version of cowpeas. Cowpeas seem to endure the worst of the heat our summers can dish out.

I’ve grown red noodle and asparagus beans in past summers. In my experience, those do well in our summers.

[Rockporter]

@Rockporter good luck with your long beans. By the way, I’m not growing the yard long beans at the moment, the asparagus bean, red noodle or the chinese, long thai type. Maybe I’ll plant some of the various Vigna unguiculata later, but for now, I’m growing Phaseolus vulgaris the ordinary common pole beans in cultivars such as Trionfo Violetto, a.k.a. Purple triumph, Emerite, Marvel of Venice, and Algarve. I also planted bush beans recently, Tavera, Rolande, and Maxibel.

Your long beans should produce long after my pole beans are burned up in the heat. Aren’t long beans really a climbing the pole version of cowpeas. Cowpeas seem to endure the worst of the heat our summers can dish out.

I’ve grown red noodle and asparagus beans in past summers. In my experience, those do well in our summers.
[/quotLOL, okay but your beans are growing up the poles, right? Just making sure I am recalling the right person. I did think it was long beans you had planted though, lol. I don't know much about beans, I never have any luck with them in the bush kinds. I will find out now with more protection in the garden if I get some satisfaction out of growing them though. I still would like to use us three and any others who are growing pole beans of any kind here in Texas to see how they all do for us.

[karstopography]

@Rockporter for sure. I’m glad to see some others growing vegetables not so far away in a similar climate. I’ll be watching these threads for tips of what might work or what possibly to avoid.

I’ve grown bush beans for a few seasons now. This past year, I grew Rolande, Maxibel in the spring and then a whole new planting of Rolande in the late summer into the fall. I was really impressed with the quantity and quality of the fall bunch. It’s good when there’s plenty of green beans to pick in the garden.

[Rockporter]

Hubby made the second screen door today, so next would be to build the frame for it on the other end of the trellis. It was just too windy and cold to be out there working on that yesterday. It warmed up enough and the wind died down enough this afternoon that he whipped out the new screen door from start to finish. This one went much faster than the first one because he just used the same pattern from the first one. Next is to figure out how to secure the plastic from the top section, and make the screen ability to lower and raise when I want to do that. The sides will be open without plastic and I also need to figure out how to raise and lower that too. Eventually (hopefully soon) before the heat and humidity kick in this will be done. If we get it done I can secure the shade cloth to the top for the summer heat and let it come down the side that gets hit so hard by the sun.

[GoDawgs]

One of my favorite garden phrases is "You make it up as you go along." Problems and challenges arise and one way or another they get solved!

[Rockporter]

One of my favorite garden phrases is "You make it up as you go along." Problems and challenges arise and one way or another they get solved!

Hahahaha, I wish you could have seen hubby's face when I told him I wanted to figure out how to add some rain gutters to each side of the trellis and collect the rain, then add some low pressure watering system to each container inside the trellis. I will figure it out, lol.