Time to start the garden...

[Yander]

Depending on your location, some elevators do, and some will sell you the amount you want, not just by a certain sized bag full. One of the best places I've bought seed was the Seed Center Welcome to The Seed Center - The Seed Center He's located on S.R. 36 West of Delaware at Ostrander. He can make suggestions to what you want as an end result you're looking for and can custom blend about anything you want.

I bought seed from him for my hayfield. I got several different types, some was as much as a 50 lb. bag, 20-25 of another, and one as little as 5lb. Heck of nice guy to deal with. He has a huge amount on hand, as he sells to many contractors, and farmers alike.

It was an hours drive for me to get there, but I'd ordered it over the phone, and order was ready when I got there. It was worth it to me and will be my go to place for hard to find forage seeds, and had exactly what I wanted, not just what everyone else uses. And prices were actually a little less than other places I looked, probably because of his bulk buying. Don't know that I've ever seen that much grass/forage/haylage/ cover crop seed in one spot.

That's what I'm looking for thank you

 

[DJ54]

That's what I'm looking for thank you

Welcome...

 

[masseyrider]

Here I sit on the back deck listening to the steady patter of rain on the steel roof FOR THE ENTIRE DAY.
Give it a rest Ma Nature.

 

[DJ54]

Here too, but supposed to be sunny tomorrow, through Sunday. It'll be nice to get some sunshine to warm the ground temps. Right now it's bouncing right between 48º and 51º over 24 hrs. Some direct seeds may germinate but going to grow slow. I planted peas 2 weeks ago tomorrow, and about 1/3 of them are breaking the surface. Beets planted the same day and seeing nothing yet.

2 weeks ago I found a pretty handy page that shows ground temperatures at more than several Ohio State University farms across the State. I was looking yesterday and was telling a buddy about it. He took temps at his place, and pretty well inline with OSU's. I need to take it here, and see if it too is near what they show. Ought to be a pretty handy tool to use as to when to plant according to the ground temps, just not what the calendar says. I normally wait until mid-May to plant, but thought I'd try and get a jump on things this year. Probably a good year to try it, and knowing things start a little better when the temps are up around 60º. They may say they will germinate at around 45º to 50º, but they sure don't grow very fast.

Here's a link to the page if anyone is interested. https://weather.cfaes.osu.edu/stationinfo.asp?id=14 I'm sure there are others in many other areas if you want to check yours. Ought to be a great tool for me.

 

[masseyrider]

Got up and... no rain?
Chance of all day.
But it's supposed to be sunny and warmer (60s) this weekend and after.
Maybe get the taters in the ground about 2 weeks later than I had hoped for.
Still waiting for the usual 40s to 80s smack in the head.

 

[DJ54]

Ground temps are finally raising here with the air temps getting warmer. For giggles I got my ground thermometer out, and compared to the OSU site 35 or so miles away. I was quite surprised it was 20º warmer than what their site said, and had just been updated within 15 minutes. With the sun on the bare dirt temp read 72º. An hour later when it clouded back over ground temp dropped 4º to 68º. Checked in the grass in the yard, and was down to 62º, this was at around 2" deep in what I would consider the root zone.

I do know the peas have grown more in the last 36-40 hrs. than they have for the last 4-5 days. With the coming warming spell hopefully, it will get better.

 

[masseyrider]

Finally a week of average temps and sunshine. Going to disc up the garden and 2 acre sunflower field today to open it up and help it warm up.
End of the week I'll plow it and rototill.
The guys (Arnie and Oliva, my MF563s) will be glad to stretch their axles and do a bit of work.

 

[DJ54]

I put 180 Cabbage plants out Sat. evening. Would have been 192 if they would have all germinated. Had to go to plan B setting them out. Too damp to disk, and use my homemade transplanter, so used a 2" bulb auger to make holes. Used my David Bradley 2-wheeler to mark out rows, then added fertilizer then ran back through the rows to mix it in. Drilled the holes, dropped plants in then carefully pulled dirt in around them. Didn't bother watering them in, as I'd watered them good a couple hours before setting out and weather service were calling for rain by the early morning hours. They did say there would be some heavy T-storms possible, just hoping they would miss us, and not beat the plants in the ground. Luckily the heavy rain stayed South and all of the plants were standing up nice & pretty by 10:00am with what little sun was shining in between showers.

There are 4 different varieties, 1 red cabbage, 3 green. A supposed smaller green for a more personal size for slaw or frying, another large for making 'Kraut. We'll see how it compares to the "Greenboy" from Holmes Seed. It made some dandy8.5 - 10.5 lb. heads last year. Rows are 5' apart, I sowed Daikon Radishes in between to attract the white butterflies that lay Cabbage Worm eggs, when the radishes bolt. Here's a short video of how well they attract the butterflies I took a couple years ago.

That and BT sprayed per directions I had totally clean worm free cabbage.

I plan to make a lot more 'Kraut now that I know I can water bath can it, and make it shelf stable. Freezer Cabbage rolls will be on the list to make too. Some I will give to friends who also make sauerkraut, donate some to a local food kitchen, and may try some bulk cabbage sales for other who want to make whatever. I'm thinking if I beat grocery store prices a bit, it may fly. It makes me ill the prices they get a local Farmer's Markets, getting $3 - $4 a lb., and no breaks for bulk buyer's. I won't cut until buyer's are here to pick up. Don't want no-shows wanting 6-8 heads, then not show up. BTDT... Hoping it will offset some of the cost or even cover the cost of what I put out. I figure just breaking even after getting what I put up and selling surplus would be
great. We shall see.

 

[jyoutz]

I put 180 Cabbage plants out Sat. evening. Would have been 192 if they would have all germinated. Had to go to plan B setting them out. Too damp to disk, and use my homemade transplanter, so used a 2" bulb auger to make holes. Used my David Bradley 2-wheeler to mark out rows, then added fertilizer then ran back through the rows to mix it in. Drilled the holes, dropped plants in then carefully pulled dirt in around them. Didn't bother watering them in, as I'd watered them good a couple hours before setting out and weather service were calling for rain by the early morning hours. They did say there would be some heavy T-storms possible, just hoping they would miss us, and not beat the plants in the ground. Luckily the heavy rain stayed South and all of the plants were standing up nice & pretty by 10:00am with what little sun was shining in between showers.

There are 4 different varieties, 1 red cabbage, 3 green. A supposed smaller green for a more personal size for slaw or frying, another large for making 'Kraut. We'll see how it compares to the "Greenboy" from Holmes Seed. It made some dandy8.5 - 10.5 lb. heads last year. Rows are 5' apart, I sowed Daikon Radishes in between to attract the white butterflies that lay Cabbage Worm eggs, when the radishes bolt. Here's a short video of how well they attract the butterflies I took a couple years ago.

That and BT sprayed per directions I had totally clean worm free cabbage.

I plan to make a lot more 'Kraut now that I know I can water bath can it, and make it shelf stable. Freezer Cabbage rolls will be on the list to make too. Some I will give to friends who also make sauerkraut, donate some to a local food kitchen, and may try some bulk cabbage sales for other who want to make whatever. I'm thinking if I beat grocery store prices a bit, it may fly. It makes me ill the prices they get a local Farmer's Markets, getting $3 - $4 a lb., and no breaks for bulk buyer's. I won't cut until buyer's are here to pick up. Don't want no-shows wanting 6-8 heads, then not show up. BTDT... Hoping it will offset some of the cost or even cover the cost of what I put out. I figure just breaking even after getting what I put up and selling surplus would be
great. We shall see.

View attachment 799433View attachment 799434

That’s a whole lot of cabbage.

 

[masseyrider]

You stole my kiddie wagon. I was wondering where it had gotten to

 

[DJ54]

That’s a whole lot of cabbage.

I'm going to start another 50 here soon for a Fall crop.

 

[DJ54]

You stole my kiddie wagon. I was wondering where it had gotten to

LOL..., it may look like yours but I got this one for my Mom for Mother's Day back in the mid 70's, per her request. Something to set baskets from the garden for canning whatever she was picking that day. Found it in the barn when I moved back to the homeplace here. Handy little sucker...

 

[masseyrider]

LOL..., it may look like yours but I got this one for my Mom for Mother's Day back in the mid 70's, per her request. Something to set baskets from the garden for canning whatever she was picking that day. Found it in the barn when I moved back to the homeplace here. Handy little sucker...

You sure? looks awfully familiar.

 

[DJ54]

You sure? looks awfully familiar.

 

[masseyrider]

Wouldn't you know it. After waiting impatiently it's now mid 70s and sunny and I'm sick.
Friend of mine popped in last weekend with a cough. I picked it up from there.
Last 3 days I've hardly opened the door, spending my day on my recliner under a blanket.
The worst is the cough. My ribs hurt from it and there are times it feels like I may blackout when it starts.
Not COVID but nasty non the less.
Hopefully playing in the dirt by Monday.

 

[masseyrider]

Planted those questionable potatoes. Dug up a few today. No movement.
I don't know what the issue is.
From last years harvest, not some purchased treated stuff.
They showed buds about the size of cherry pits and that's all she wrote.

 

[masseyrider]

Garden looks sad this year.
Plants have hardly moved.
It has been dry but we received a solid rain in the last 24 hrs and more could be on the way.
Either heat wave or cool, very little average/normal temps.
stuff doing the best is 6 tomatoes and garlic and onions I planted in planters. The tomatoes are more than double in height and look that dark green vigorous.

 

[DJ54]

I just got tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and spaghetti squash set out last week. It had been pretty hot and dry for 2 weeks. Great hay making weather, not so much for setting out garden plants. I've been watering the cabbage plants every 3rd evening just to keep them going. They don't look too bad considering.

We did get 1" of rain over a 16 hour period. Came down slow, and the soil soaked up every drop. Cooler temps are helping with stress for plants. More rain predicted for later today and tomorrow. Another 1" - 1-1/2" expected through Wed. night.

I'm pretty convinced spraying plants with peppermint extract mixed with water ( 2 TBS. per gallon of water) is keeping Deer from eating plants. I noticed Deer had eaten the tender tops off of the peas, and right beside it left the beet tops alone. Last time I planted beets, deer ate them clear to the ground, and they never recovered. Looks like deer pulled one tomato plant clear out of the ground, so mixed up 2 gallons of peppermint spray, and sprayed practically everything out there, including 4' inside the area of the Rye mulch, and pinto bean cover crop. The marigolds I set out are slowly growing and saw some blooms starting Sunday morning. Some sunflowers have been growing too in this dry weather, not sure where they got enough moisture to germinate, let alone grow. Some of the very first I planted to set the planter are over a foot tall, while later planted ones haven't come up yet.

Sunday morning I planted more than several different types of pollinator flowers including several types of smaller sunflowers. Should make a nice looking border along the road, and hopefully also act as a deterrent for deer.

Got the Rye mulch rolled last week and seems to be staying down probably due to fracturing the stem base and being so dry. Soil was extremely dry in that mulch as the Rye sapped all of the moisture out. Drove those T-posts with a light hand driver from TSC. It's become a habit to count how many licks it takes to drive a post. In other years in normal soil it takes 8-10 licks to drive a post. Minimum was 18 on these, and 42 was the most. I keep telling myself, I'll bet people pay good money for a cardio workout like this...

 

[TxSteveS]

Owari Satsuma mandarin oranges . Cold resistant enough for the south.. becoming very popular again across southern part of most southern states View attachment 793422

Wish we could plant citrus but north Texas just gets too cold unless I put them in containers and bring them in and out in the middle of winter...

Still might do that. - We're in zone 7 and most citrus are good for zone 8 and higher.. Even the new hybrids...

This what I'd try Texas Superstar®

 

[masseyrider]

My watermelon plants are suffering from George Costanza syndrome.
It's been cool and rainy. I swear the plants are smaller now than when I put them in.
Potatoes might be ready by Christmas.
Everything is on hold except the baby weeds.