Backyard Gardeners

[PackMan97]

My blackberry bushes are going gangbusters right now. Going to get a nice harvest in their second year. My blueberries aren't doing as well. Just not enough production yet to overwhelm the birds in our yard :/

[House G]

I feel like I’m overdoing it, but it’s fun to share these garden pics:

Basil:

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Purple hull peas:

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Muscadines (grapes):

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Attachment 9470

Sweet corn:

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Cucumber:

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Snow peas:

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[House G]

Garlic:

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Purple hull peas:

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Early squash:

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Strawberries:

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Cantaloupe:

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[bundabergdevil]

Garlic:

81E9C106-525B-4609-9504-9DD570F3361C.jpg

Purple hull peas:

3D381C65-CA93-483C-AABC-C677326AE173.jpg

Early squash:

53DA4001-D791-401D-8CC3-1934C22BC453.jpg

Strawberries:

65DD7D72-0E6D-41BF-AE5B-18F497F6D988.jpg

Cantaloupe:

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Whoa, that all looks great! Is this all for personal consumption? It seems like quite a bit. Except for the garlic, I could eat all that garlic!

My wife and I moved into our first home last year and we're thinking through a phased build out of personal gardens. This season we're just doing some herbs and - because we're chili heads - some habaneros, jalapenos, and New Mexico Big Jims. Next year I'd like to scale up and build a proper, dedicated veggie garden.

[Bob Green]

I saved my green beans by driving a couple of support stakes in the ground and nailing the trellis to the stakes. One of the secrets to being a successful backyard gardener is to plant stuff that is easy to grow. My garden contains six Ichiban eggplants four in the ground and two in pots. All six are already producing fruit.

Ichiban 2.jpg

Ichiban 1.jpg

[jacone21]

All these pictures are great! I think House G is Roger Swain.

[House G]

All these pictures are great! I think House G is Roger Swain.

Lol. I had to look up Roger Swain. I’m happy to post pictures but I don’t want to come across as arrogant or boastful. My wife and I just love to garden and we grow everything organically. We end up giving a lot of our food away. She actually is the one with the green thumb (her mother was a master gardener) and she has taught me the importance of eating food grown in nutrient-rich soil. I took this picture earlier today of her next to a squash plant growing in a container on our patio:

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[Bob Green]

That's a nice photo. Thanks for sharing. How do you and your wife counter the squash vine borer? I've two zucchini plants that have already produced three nice zucchini between them but one of the plants is starting to look droopy. I suspect a SVB has gotten to it.

[House G]

That's a nice photo. Thanks for sharing. How do you and your wife counter the squash vine borer? I've two zucchini plants that have already produced three nice zucchini between them but one of the plants is starting to look droopy. I suspect a SVB has gotten to it.

My wife says she has had a problem with borers in the past. This year, she has planted all of her squash in rubber tubs that are designed for animal (livestock) feeding/watering. She drills large holes in the bottom for drainage and then puts a screen in the bottom before adding the soil. They are elevated off of the ground on bricks or rollers. She is hoping this will prevent the borer problem but isn’t sure. Here is one of these in her garden (it is hard to tell but it is sitting on bricks):

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[OldPhiKap]

I put marble stones in all my bases this year, to elevate the pot from being flush with the base and trapping drainage. Then worries that it would impact my pH. Looking god for now . . . . .

[budwom]

I put marble stones in all my bases this year, to elevate the pot from being flush with the base and trapping drainage. Then worries that it would impact my pH. Looking god for now . . . . .

ah yes, gotta have some stones on the bottom, and pots with those nice drainage holes on the sides adjacent to the bottoms...when you have a three month growing season, details matter...

[OldPhiKap]

ah yes, gotta have some stones on the bottom, and pots with those nice drainage holes on the sides adjacent to the bottoms...when you have a three month growing season, details matter...

I had a few bad root rot problems last year, so did a massive soil replace and drainage upgrade to everything.

[PackMan97]

She is hoping this will prevent the borer problem but isn’t sure.

Aren't vine borers a flying wasp looking insect? So I don't know that elevating it from the soil would help.

The best advice I've heard to combat vine borers is to start indoor and plant them outdoor as early as possible. Basically, you need to have a late spring crop...and then maybe try for more again late summer/early fall after the vine borers mating is done. It's the eggs that get lain on the squash and then bore down to the roots and kill the plant.

Of course, your containers would solve the problem I'm having with our squash this year. The darned rabbits are eating our flowers and baby squash!

[Bob Green]

I've never tried to grow squash or zucchini in a pot but the photo of Ms. House G's plant certainly inspires me to give it a go. I've had a lot of luck with cherry tomato plants in pots. Here is a photo of a cherry tomato plant that is overflowing its faux whiskey barrel pot:

Cherry Tomato Plant in Pot.jpg

Cherry Tomato Cluster.jpg

[CameronBornAndBred]

Thankfully we finally got some rain, and my barrels are filled back up with water. Also, thankfully, the rain came while I was gone to Ocracoke for the weekend. I was way worried about coming back to a very wilted garden.
Instead, I've got literally dozens of new cucumbers in action, and a few ripe ones. Same with everything else, including the squash, peppers, and tomatoes.

A shot for size reference of my Wall of Green. (I'm 6'4"...and that cuke is a little over 18". ps...I did not use the "man's ruler")

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[Bob Green]

A side effect of backyard gardening is cooking. This afternoon I made Spicy Meatball Soup. The meatballs are made from venison sausage from a deer shot by my dad. The soup contains yellow squash, okra and red chili pepper that came from my garden. The onion, garlic and tomatoes came from the grocery store.

Side note: I made the meatballs with the last package of venison sausage in my freezer. There will be no more as my dad passed last month at 88 years young. This pot of soup will be savored.

Spicy Meatball Soup.jpg

[OldPhiKap]

A side effect of backyard gardening is cooking. This afternoon I made Spicy Meatball Soup. The meatballs are made from venison sausage from a deer shot by my dad. The soup contains yellow squash, okra and red chili pepper that came from my garden. The onion, garlic and tomatoes came from the grocery store.

Side note: I made the meatballs with the last package of venison sausage in my freezer. There will be no more as my dad passed last month at 88 years young. This pot of soup will be savored.

Spicy Meatball Soup.jpg

Condolences on the passing of your father; it sounds like a life well-spent.

Soup looks great!

[CameronBornAndBred]

A side effect of backyard gardening is cooking. This afternoon I made Spicy Meatball Soup. The meatballs are made from venison sausage from a deer shot by my dad. The soup contains yellow squash, okra and red chili pepper that came from my garden. The onion, garlic and tomatoes came from the grocery store.

Side note: I made the meatballs with the last package of venison sausage in my freezer. There will be no more as my dad passed last month at 88 years young. This pot of soup will be savored.

I'm going to miss your dad joining us at tailgates, he was always a welcome smile.

I made a spicy meatball meal last night, too, with my first harvested eggplant in marinara and mozzarella. Mostly an eggplant parmesan. My girlfriend almost melted, she doesn't do spicy so well.

[CameronBornAndBred]

My squash finally got hit by borers (took way longer than usual and I got a dinner out of them before their demise), and my lettuce was done, so I cleared out the containers they were in. In each one, I found a small egg. The first was so tiny I thought it was a bit of fertilizer. The second one is twice as big.

I think both are lizards, and at least one is likely to be an anole. I doubt they are snakes, since they were in pots that a small snake would have a tough time climbing up into. Gonna find out; I'm incubating them.

Eggs.jpg

[CameronBornAndBred]

My squash finally got hit by borers (took way longer than usual and I got a dinner out of them before their demise), and my lettuce was done, so I cleared out the containers they were in. In each one, I found a small egg. The first was so tiny I thought it was a bit of fertilizer. The second one is twice as big.

I think both are lizards, and at least one is likely to be an anole. I doubt they are snakes, since they were in pots that a small snake would have a tough time climbing up into. Gonna find out; I'm incubating them.

Well, that was good timing. The larger egg hatched this morning, and as expected, turned out to be an anole.

BabyAnole.jpg

BabyAnole2.jpg

Growing your own lizard in your squash is still gardening, right?