Devv's 2015 - 16, Life is good!

Peter S · Apr 25, 2016

Your garden setup looks awesome! I lose those pepper shots too.

bpiela · Apr 25, 2016

You tomatos are insane. I hope mine look like that someday.

jedisushi06 · Apr 25, 2016

forest of tomatoes i love it. Next year i will have the same just gotta put in a few raised beds.

Trident chilli · Apr 26, 2016

Beautiful garden and plants so many tomatoes ... I envy you with all that space and lovely weather ... I can see you put a lot of care into it

Devv · Apr 26, 2016

tsurrie said:
Great gardening as usual. Love the photos.

You inspire me to try harder and make a nicer garden next season.

Thanks!

I just love to be outside after being cooped up in my IT room all day. I feel like the Wizard of OZ behind the curtains...LOL So it's good for the brain to get out there and get dirty

It's nice to finally see some pepper growth!

Sawyer said:
Looking good, Scott. Great photos, as always. No possum in the trap(s) yet? I haven't baited my box trap yet, but there's a road kill carcass out by the mailbox. I'm afraid I waited too long to bury it and it's turned stinky and juicy now. Guess I'll let nature take its course.

What are you going to do with all the tomatoes those plants will produce?

Nope nothing in the trap yet. And it's still steeling Peaches. Although it went in the trap and stole the bait just in front of the trigger. I stopped by the local supply store and they have dog proof coon traps, but they recommended using a fly bait poison mixed with cola. I'm leery of that. I did research on the traps. That's my next thing to try as they seem effective and I can still release them. I have to look at the laws though to make sure I'm legal.

The tomatoes will be canned. We use a ton for the Italian red sauce. When the 4 older G-kids come over they devour it. After this season we should be able to back down to 4 dozen plants. Last year with me not taking care of them, we had very few survive the birds and the BER. I treat 2 times a week with calmag foilar applications to combat BER. So we've been on bland store bought maties since last fall...can't wait for the fresh ones.

Devv · Apr 26, 2016

Peter S said:
Your garden setup looks awesome! I lose those pepper shots too.

Thanks Peter!

I'm hoping the peppers continue to grow versus being ate!

This is the first year where they're being eaten like this. I'm guessing almost half so far. I feel like putting up chain link fence and razor wire...LOL

bpiela said:
You tomatos are insane. I hope mine look like that someday.

Thanks!

I just wish the peppers would do as well. The trick I use is to plant the seeds around January 15th, dirt day is March 1st. So by then they're in the #1 pots (about 1/2 gallon if I'm correct). When I plant they are 12 to 15"s tall, I cut all the leaves but the top 2 and the crown, lay them down at about 40° and bury the rest. All that's buried roots, and they go nuts.

This is how far off I'm pepper wise from mid Feb on a normal year:

They just didn't germ

jedisushi06 said:
forest of tomatoes i love it. Next year i will have the same just gotta put in a few raised beds.

They are a great mix with peppers for cooking!

Thanks Mikey!

Trident chilli said:
Beautiful garden and plants so many tomatoes ... I envy you with all that space and lovely weather ... I can see you put a lot of care into it

Thanks!

I have to give credit to LB, my wife for getting out there and giving me a few hours every weekend. I do the planting, care of plants, and the mulching. She weeds, picks, and cans. If she didn't help I would be in a world of hurt...LOL

Still working on the bird netting, yesterday I watered. I was really hot, thinking "what a wuss I'm becoming, it's not even hot yet". I was called back into work and passed the High School marquee, and the temp was 97°! The forecast was for mid 80's. I felt better after that. Thanks guys for the accurate forecast!

tsurrie · Apr 27, 2016

Do you later cut back (prune) tomatoes or just let them be..? They look so free, I love those pics.
I have to prune most of the extra tops to make the room for air and to be able to harvest regulary... Have them mostly covered with pvc so they dont get wet by the rain. We get blight to fast at times.

Devv · Apr 27, 2016

tsurrie said:
Do you later cut back (prune) tomatoes or just let them be..? They look so free, I love those pics.
I have to prune most of the extra tops to make the room for air and to be able to harvest regulary... Have them mostly covered with pvc so they dont get wet by the rain. We get blight to fast at times.

We just let them go. right now they're at the tipping point, where they're so heavy the cages just bend. So I use 4' pieces of 3/8" rebar to stake the cages.We're approaching the time of the year where fruit setting is going to be affected by the higher temps. Some of them will grow all the way back down to the ground, we just plow through and look..LOL

We have been blessed with no disease so far. Being this is a catch up year, because I fell ill last season and had very few for harvest, we went all out. Next year half the amount in the areas where we did not plant tom's this year.

The good thing is the peppers are flowering now too!

Jeff H · Apr 28, 2016

Looking great as always Scott.

bpiela · Apr 28, 2016

Devv said:
I just wish the peppers would do as well. The trick I use is to plant the seeds around January 15th, dirt day is March 1st. So by then they're in the #1 pots (about 1/2 gallon if I'm correct). When I plant they are 12 to 15"s tall, I cut all the leaves but the top 2 and the crown, lay them down at about 40° and bury the rest. All that's buried roots, and they go nuts.

Just trying to make sure I understand this method. So the plant is 12-15" tall. When you plant it, you are practically laying it flat, exposing just the top couple of leaves with close to 10-13" of stem plus the original root ball in the dirt. Is that right? The remainder of the stem becomes more area for roots... Sounds cool. I will try this on a few this year!

Devv · Apr 29, 2016

Jeff H said:
Looking great as always Scott.

Thanks Jeff!

Still working on the guitar skills, but still suck LOL . LB says I'm getting better, just not fast enough for me!

bpiela said:
Just trying to make sure I understand this method. So the plant is 12-15" tall. When you plant it, you are practically laying it flat, exposing just the top couple of leaves with close to 10-13" of stem plus the original root ball in the dirt. Is that right? The remainder of the stem becomes more area for roots... Sounds cool. I will try this on a few this year!

You got it!

I bought a book in 1982 that had this information in it, and it just flat works!

If you do this and compare it to a store bought 6" plant, even though at dirt day both have about the same amount of top growth above the soil the larger plant (buried) will out perform the smaller one. It's all in the roots. That and the older, larger plant is just raring to explode it's growth. It really works well for me. My deal is a really short time between dirt day, and a too hot situation happening regarding the plants ability to set fruit due to high temps.

I run into the same problem with the peppers, which really has me worried this year as they're not where I would like them to be.

On a positive note I trapped a coon this morning :dance:

, and reset the trap. It hit yet more peppers, and so far 30+ peaches off the garden peach tree. I hope this is the end of this crap!

D3monic · Apr 29, 2016

Very impressive garden, like a mini jungle over there. Plants look extremely healthy

Devv · Apr 29, 2016

D3monic said:
Very impressive garden, like a mini jungle over there. Plants look extremely healthy

Thanks!

Just years of soil work, started with sand. I hate to steal Guru's saying "feed the soil", but I've been doing that since the early 80's

randyp · May 1, 2016

Looks great Scott.I will be making a major move in replenishing my seed supply for 2017.My germs were a big,BIG challenge this year.

Devv · May 1, 2016

randyp said:
Looks great Scott.I will be making a major move in replenishing my seed supply for 2017.My germs were a big,BIG challenge this year.

Same here Randy, especially since a mouse chewed through the dryer vent system, got in the back room and ate all my 2015 seeds :violin:

But we got it :flamethrower:

So Thursday one more coon left our planet, but still the carnage continues.

This tree had probably 60-80 Peaches, 5 were left and I picked them. I hope they ripen. So evidently 3 or more coons are partying in the garden.

I didn't get any pics taken cuz I had both kids with the 5 G-kids over. Can you say tornado? The 3 year old: "I want car" meaning drag racing youtube..."I want motorcycle", yeah crashes...LOL
I hit the garden at sun-up Saturday and finished the sunscreen application, so 1,200 sq' are covered and got half covered with the bird netting. Of course the coon ate a hole in one side instead of moving 8' over and walking around. Then it wanted out and ripped out another 2x3' section. I stayed up way late last night and snuck out several times with the 22 and saw nothing. Coons are way smart!

Today I did another side and just have 20' to do to close it in. I've already decided that the whole 3,200 square feet will be done in chicken wire, including the top for next season. I bought the bird netting for the bird issues, way before the coons moved in. I have "coon crack" lure ordered along with 2 more DP traps. Hoping I can get this problem to go away. And yeah, now they're topping the peppers that grew over the lower protection I added. Been gardening out here off and on for 27 years, never had these issues before. But I guess it's where we live.

OK, done venting :shh:

stickman · May 1, 2016

Eep! Sorry to hear about all the garden damage at your place Scott. :doh:

For some reason, we've been feeling like critter central this spring too... but in our case we've been trying to chase off the House Sparrows that have been trying to hog the Bluebird nesting box. I was removing the nesting material twice a day, and leaving the side of the nesting box open for a couple of days at a time, but that didn't work, so I took matters to the extreme and broke out my pellet rifle. No more problem... I don't think that would work with Raccoons, but I'll tell you how my Grandfather used to trap them. He'd drill a 2-inch hole in a log next to a place he knew them to frequent. He'd put a shiny piece of tin can in the bottom of the hole and pound in some horseshoe nails around the edges of the hole, then bend them down inside the hole, leaving an opening wide enough for them to get their forepaws down in the hole, but small enough that when they grabbed the shiny piece of tin, they couldn't get their balled-up fist back out. I understand that in indonesia they trap monkeys doing something similar with coconuts and use cooked rice as the bait. It sounds screwy enough that I was never sure if he was just pulling my leg, but it would be interesting (and cheap) to see if he was right.

On to more pleasant subjects... Wow, your Tomatoes and Garlic look fantastic! Those Garlic stalks look like Leeks! Did you give them any amendments besides the free compost?

Keep on truckin'!

tsurrie · May 2, 2016

Peaches look nice. Too bad the coons are making so much damage. Hope you soon get 'em!

tctenten · May 2, 2016

Good luck catching the racoons, they are doing too much damage after all the hard work you are putting in to your garden.

Sawyer · May 2, 2016

Great trapping story, Rick. I've heard a variation of it in relation to baboons. I'd never heard of the DP traps before, but they appear to work on just that principle, reach in, get caught. I use a box trap and drive a couple miles away across a river to release. I should probably tag them someway to see if they're coming back. Hopefully the river and multiple roadways discourage that.

Scott, you know a young racoon cooks up pretty tasty if done right, slow smoked and barbecued. Yours will be peach-flavored, too.

randyp said:
Looks great Scott.I will be making a major move in replenishing my seed supply for 2017.My germs were a big,BIG challenge this year.

Germination seemed to be a big problem for a lot of us this year. In my case, I didn't get enough production last year to replenish my stock and didn't store the 2013 and 2014 seeds properly. I'll be refrigerating all my seeds from now on.

Devv · May 6, 2016

stickman said:
Eep! Sorry to hear about all the garden damage at your place Scott. For some reason, we've been feeling like critter central this spring too... but in our case we've been trying to chase off the House Sparrows that have been trying to hog the Bluebird nesting box. I was removing the nesting material twice a day, and leaving the side of the nesting box open for a couple of days at a time, but that didn't work, so I took matters to the extreme and broke out my pellet rifle. No more problem... I don't think that would work with Raccoons, but I'll tell you how my Grandfather used to trap them. He'd drill a 2-inch hole in a log next to a place he knew them to frequent. He'd put a shiny piece of tin can in the bottom of the hole and pound in some horseshoe nails around the edges of the hole, then bend them down inside the hole, leaving an opening wide enough for them to get their forepaws down in the hole, but small enough that when they grabbed the shiny piece of tin, they couldn't get their balled-up fist back out. I understand that in indonesia they trap monkeys doing something similar with coconuts and use cooked rice as the bait. It sounds screwy enough that I was never sure if he was just pulling my leg, but it would be interesting (and cheap) to see if he was right.

On to more pleasant subjects... Wow, your Tomatoes and Garlic look fantastic! Those Garlic stalks look like Leeks! Did you give them any amendments besides the free compost?

Keep on truckin'!

Hi Rick!

I bought some Freedom DP traps and a live trap, score one critter for each

Nice story about how they did it "back in the day". Well I'm thinking now that the Peaches are gone I'm good. I caught a wood rat in the live trap and took it out to a wooded area near water, not sure if relocating is legal :shh:

They too like young plants. We had one other tree loaded and picked them all this evening. It was within 3' of the fence (outside) and the dogs have been going nuts the last 2 nights. I'd wager it was coons trying to come in and they kept them at bay. Tomorrow I finish the bird netting and remove the plant protection on the larger plants. AND some pics are in order!

tsurrie said:
Peaches look nice. Too bad the coons are making so much damage. Hope you soon get 'em!

I got 2, but I know at least one got away. It got 8 the last time I had Peaches on the tree. We did get about 30 off the second tree that set. But 60+ went to the coons off the one in the garden. Never again! I now have the tools to work them year round. You know living in the country is great, and I don't mind sharing some of the goods we grow, but they take everything!

tctenten said:
Good luck catching the racoons, they are doing too much damage after all the hard work you are putting in to your garden.

Hi Terry!

You got that right! They just fire me up and then I adjust. I will say, most worthy adversaries! They are dang smart!

Sawyer said:
Great trapping story, Rick. I've heard a variation of it in relation to baboons. I'd never heard of the DP traps before, but they appear to work on just that principle, reach in, get caught. I use a box trap and drive a couple miles away across a river to release. I should probably tag them someway to see if they're coming back. Hopefully the river and multiple roadways discourage that.

Scott, you know a young racoon cooks up pretty tasty if done right, slow smoked and barbecued. Yours will be peach-flavored, too.

Germination seemed to be a big problem for a lot of us this year. In my case, I didn't get enough production last year to replenish my stock and didn't store the 2013 and 2014 seeds properly. I'll be refrigerating all my seeds from now on.

Yeah the DP pretty nasty, but very effective. I didn't want to go that route, but the live trap wasn't working. And that's no wonder, they had all those Peaches to eat, really easy meals.

I did quite a bit of reading on trapping, and they say coons come back even after a 10 mile drop. They said to spray paint them while in the trap to ID them if they return.

So I've been scarce here this week. I complained to my Internet provider about performance, our connectivity has been 50-50 and slow. They replaced the wireless radio, upped the connection speed and gave us 4 free months. I was floored!

This is so way off topic, but if you have Windows 10 click and read. My new PC, 3 weeks old was sucking all the bandwidth over 3.5 mb. The old unit got hit by lightning and was upgraded from win8 and didn't do this. I spent 2 hours last night nailing all this down. I won't get into how I did it but here's the links to stop win10 from killing your connection, you may or may not have this issue:

#1) Windows 10 makes YOUR computer into an update server that offers up your PC to the whole Internet I found this after finding out the issue, easy to follow directions.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2955491/windows/how-to-stop-windows-10-from-using-your-pcs-bandwidth-to-update-strangers-systems.html

#2) This link is how you can stop Windows from getting updates while your using it, and choking your speed way down. After following it your PC will let you know when updates are needed and you can choose when to update. I will say update when needed as this is important, if your not prompted go and tell the PC to check. This can be done before you retire for the night. I give LB credit for finding this information.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2953132/windows/set-windows-10s-wi-fi-connections-as-metered-to-download-forced-updates-at-your-own-pace.html

Can't help it, IT is what I do