What's Growing in the Garden

djg said:
We been getting enough rain lately so I haven't had to water the last week or so. We've also had a couple of hot 90+ days and I noticed one of my sugar pod peas is drying up already. Got a few pods off of it, but it seems too soon to be dying. I always have had problems germinating bean/peas so my harvest is delayed by 2-3 weeks. Although this year, it only took 2 plantings to get full rows.

So, to get a head start for next year, I'm considering starting the peas indoors and then transplanting when they get about 6" tall. Anyone do this? That way I could plant sooner even though the soil temps may not be warm enough for germination. That way, I'd get a longer harvest season.
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I have the same problems with legume germ. Impossible to get treated seed anymore for small amounts.

The last two years I have germinated lima beans inside to transplant and it worked very well. Of course, limas are only planted on an 8-10" spacing and beans/peas 2-3" spacing. If you can plant enough inside to fill your row, shouldn't be any problem.

What I have done this year is do an in furrow fungicide application immediately before planting. Not recommending doing this as it can be expensive if you don't regularly use these fungicides, but it does work. Used myclobutanil and azoxystrobin. Myclobutanil is relatively inexpensive, but azoxystrobin isn't. Best stand of peas I've ever had and snap/lima beans look good too.
 
Storms separated and missed us tonight, so 4 day total stands at 6.75". Front moved through and sun came out about 7:30 tonight. Went out to pick black raspberries, but went to look at cherry tree first. After chasing bluejays out of the cherry, figured I better get the ladders and netting out and get it covered. Had to use two 15x45' nets, but the tree is now completely protected. Will be a pain to pick with all the netting, but will at least have something to pick.

Tomorrow will start with picking raspberries and cherries.

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trc65 said:
I have the same problems with legume germ. Impossible to get treated seed anymore for small amounts.

The last two years I have germinated lima beans inside to transplant and it worked very well. Of course, limas are only planted on an 8-10" spacing and beans/peas 2-3" spacing. If you can plant enough inside to fill your row, shouldn't be any problem.

What I have done this year is do an in furrow fungicide application immediately before planting. Not recommending doing this as it can be expensive if you don't regularly use these fungicides, but it does work. Used myclobutanil and azoxystrobin. Myclobutanil is relatively inexpensive, but azoxystrobin isn't. Best stand of peas I've ever had and snap/lima beans look good too.
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Just did a quick search, and man that is expensive. I just plant two 16' rows, so those 96? cell trays should work. I did try Little Marvel peas indoors years ago but the root system was poor. No fertilizer until transplanted. Now I use liquid while in the trays.

Are those sweet cherries?
 
djg said:
Just did a quick search, and man that is expensive. I just plant two 16' rows, so those 96? cell trays should work. I did try Little Marvel peas indoors years ago but the root system was poor. No fertilizer until transplanted. Now I use liquid while in the trays.

Are those sweet cherries?
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Sour. Montmorency.
 
djg said:
We been getting enough rain lately so I haven't had to water the last week or so. We've also had a couple of hot 90+ days and I noticed one of my sugar pod peas is drying up already. Got a few pods off of it, but it seems too soon to be dying. I always have had problems germinating bean/peas so my harvest is delayed by 2-3 weeks. Although this year, it only took 2 plantings to get full rows.

So, to get a head start for next year, I'm considering starting the peas indoors and then transplanting when they get about 6" tall. Anyone do this? That way I could plant sooner even though the soil temps may not be warm enough for germination. That way, I'd get a longer harvest season.
Click to expand...
I've never had problems getting peas to germinate, I just plant them early when there's plenty of moisture. Ninety degree weather is hard on peas and will do them in prematurely. Beans are another story I've had years that I barely got any because of poor germination a bird damage. The past several years I have put floating row covers on after I plant them and it's helped a lot. They retain a little warmth and moisture and prevent the birds from pulling them. The beans push the cover up as they grow and when they get too big for the birds to pull I remove the cover. I don't see why that would not work on your peas. The covers last 3 or 4 seasons and when they get ragged my wife uses them a couple more year to keep birds as Japanese Beatles off her blue berries.
 
sprucegum said:
I've never had problems getting peas to germinate, I just plant them early when there's plenty of moisture. Ninety degree weather is hard on peas and will do them in prematurely. Beans are another story I've had years that I barely got any because of poor germination a bird damage. The past several years I have put floating row covers on after I plant them and it's helped a lot. They retain a little warmth and moisture and prevent the birds from pulling them. The beans push the cover up as they grow and when they get too big for the birds to pull I remove the cover. I don't see why that would not work on your peas. The covers last 3 or 4 seasons and when they get ragged my wife uses them a couple more year to keep birds as Japanese Beatles off her blue berries.
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Never thought of that. Mini green house. Then I could plant earlier. Thanks, it'd be a lot easier than transplanting individual plants.
 
djg said:
Never thought of that. Mini green house. Then I could plant earlier. Thanks, it'd be a lot easier than transplanting individual plants.
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It won't give you but just a degree or so of frost protection. It definitely helps with germination and pests. You can leave it on until the blossoms start but I like to remove it to cultivate and perhaps fertilize.
 
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Got the first B. raspberries picked. Wild ones are kind of small, but still taste good. Can't believe the size of the varietal.

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trc65 said:
Variety is Jewel. This is first year of production for these.
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What do they taste like? Always the most important with fruit.

Also, my cherry tree and my red and black currants are ripe. The Yield wasn't so good but there are more on the bushes/tree.
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I also made jam from the cherries and the black currants. They balance each other well considering the acidity of the currants and the sweetness of the cherries.
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I got just over 2.5 kg of jam. That's about five pounds.
 
The wild blackberries are blooming in good shape this year. I really enjoy picking and eating them, last year they were looking good but we had a drought and they dried up before they were ripe. I managed to pick a few but they were so small and seedy that it was hardly worth the effort.

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sprucegum said:
The wild blackberries are blooming in good shape this year. I really enjoy picking and eating them, last year they were looking good but we had a drought and they dried up before they were ripe. I managed to pick a few but they were so small and seedy that it was hardly worth the effort.

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My thornless and wild black berries are pinking up. I'm going to have a ton of thornless again. Thawed some of last years out and cooked them down. Normally I concentrate the juice down on the stove so I don't have to use a lot of sugar to thicken. Normally it scorches a little before I get to the point I wanted to be at. This year I used a double boiler on the juice from 2 gallon of berries and got down to half the volume of what liquid I started with. Some scum stuck to the sides but the juice is good. Batch of syrup/jelly (what ever happens) pending.

My wild berries are another story. When I first built here, the 100' or so row produce gallons of big berries over the years. One year, 12-16 gallons. They have blooms this year, but the berries will be small like last few years. Only less than a quarter of the plants that I once had and they got choked out by the weeds. Currently I'm trying to re-establish them by mowing a strip, spraying and transplanting some new plant I dug up elsewhere. I like wild much better than thornless.
 
daniscool said:
What do they taste like? Always the most important with fruit.

Also, my cherry tree and my red and black currants are ripe. The Yield wasn't so good but there are more on the bushes/tree.
View attachment 289807View attachment 289808View attachment 289809

I also made jam from the cherries and the black currants. They balance each other well considering the acidity of the currants and the sweetness of the cherries.
View attachment 289810
I got just over 2.5 kg of jam. That's about five pounds.
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My sweet cherry tree as well as my peach trees got frozen out this year, despite wrapping the trees. Blooms after, but no fruit.
 
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