Garden time...Oh boy!

[jinman]

I'm in shock. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif I came home last night and every row of blackeye peas had hundreds of plants coming up. They were over 1" tall. My wife and I both swear there were no plants there on Thursday night. Also I have 12 hills of watermelons sprouting and some canteloupes, okra, and corn starting to break the surface. All this in less than one week. I can't believe it. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Cliff and Mike: Both your methods will work, but I don't think I want to buy landscape cloth for a 150' x 100' garden. There's something about putting down that many old shingles and picking them up that seems like more work than weeding too. For a small garden, either method would work, but this is enough for 150 squares of new shingles and I can't imagine digging through that many old shingles. I already have everything I need to make loads of chips and I can till that in to make the garden better each year. Only where I put the sand do I think weeds will be a real problem. We'll see.

Gotta go move the soaker hoses and build fence. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[RonR]

OK Jinman--posts some pics of this garden.

I envy your garden space!

Have fun,
ron

 

[txdon]

<font color="blue"> "I also have three watermelon hills with plants emerging." </font>

Mmmmm, sounds like the Fourth of July watermelons will be home grown. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[gsganzer]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I'm in shock. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif I came home last night and every row of blackeye peas had hundreds of plants coming up. They were over 1" tall. My wife and I both swear there were no plants there on Thursday night. )</font>

Jim,
You better keep a close eye on what you planted, women can be kind of sneeky.

My father-in-law planted a garden one time that had a few rows of carrots and radishes. He only had the seeds in the ground for a few weeks. He got home from work one night and strolled out to the garden to inspect his crops.

What a surpise. When he checked the carrots, the tops were HUGE. So he pulled one up and discovered he had the most perfect carrots he had ever seen. Astonished, he walked over to the radishes and discovered the same thing. In the course of a few weeks, he had grown the most beautiful carrots and radishes. He called for his wife and kids so he could show off his bounty. That's when he realized the joke was on him. My mother-in-law had gone to the grocery store and bought the carrots and radishes that still had the tops. They stuck them in the ground and made him believe he'd grown them in mere weeks. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( You better keep a close eye on what you planted, women can be kind of sneeky. )</font>

Naw!... They wouldn't do anything behind your back would they? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

That was both a funny and cruel story about your FIL, but I don't think my wife would go to all this trouble. Here's a picture of my blackeye peas at 7-1/2 days since planting. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[jinman]

...and corn.

 

[jinman]

...and watermelons.

 

[jinman]

The only things not up are the onions I planted from seed and bell peppers also from seed. My squash and okra are popping out of the ground too.

The last picture for today is the tomatoes I replanted only about 4 days ago. I dug a hole as deep as the shovel is long (10") and buried the tomato plants. As you can see from this picture, they have jumped up 3 or 4 inches in 3 or 4 days. I'm amazed. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif I know the ground was prepared right and we've watered religiously, but I'm shocked at what all my plants are doing. Heck, I already thinned my radishes this weekend. Turnips are next. I've got my fingers crossed that things continue. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[MarkV]

Jim, looks like things are coming along real well. We planted our garden last Thursday and I noticed the first black eyed pea sprout popping through the ground last night. Hopefully they will all come up as well as your have. Our lettuce has been in for a month and I think we will have our first salad later this week.

It sure is fun when the garden starts to come up and then when the weeds become a chore you start to wonder how much fun it really is. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

MarkV

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( It sure is fun when the garden starts to come up and then when the weeds become a chore you start to wonder how much fun it really is.
)</font>

I'm worried about heat stress for the young plants. It's supposed to be 98° here today and also in the 90s tomorrow. Yesterday, I think it was 95°. Plants without a well-established root system really wilt during the heat of the day. So far, my tomatoes seem to love the heat, but the peppers and squash plants I set out seem to enjoy a little drink mid-afternoon. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif