Devv's Dirt Grow-Almost done..

Weekend March 2-3:
I’ve been working on the garden for years; it was dormant for a few years (like 10) while I changed careers. The base soil if you want to call it that is sand. I added heavy black dirt to the upper 2/3 years ago; I’ve since added heavy red dirt (clay ) to half of the lower 1/3. For two years straight I’ve added 4”s of compost to the upper 2/3 and this year 4”s to the bottom 1/3. I clean horse pens for the free manure; kitchen waste is added to the compost. Our property is on a slope and heavy rains cause erosion problems. Above the garden the land is heavily terraced to divert water runoff.
Finished concreting the base of the fence, used 22 80lb bags, the Waskily Wabbits should be done, until they find another way in. They have been a real menace! I tried a hot wire system, it was not too effective and killed birds and squirrels; I didn’t like that.

Planted the Onions January 15th, Garlic was planted September 15th. They took a beating with the 30mph winds, 55 mph gusts last Monday.

Tilled and my wife planted corn, cukes, watermelons, bush beans and cantelope.

Bush Beans above

Cukes, and Melons behind the Rosemary above.

Corn below.

I started these the first week of January; I think I got carried away.

The Potatoes, planted February 15th are coming up. I planted then 8”s deep and I keep covering them up, and will do so until the ground is level where planted.

Never ending mulch pile.

Hmmm.. too many images...

 

[DocNrock]

Lookin' great, Scott.
 
Glad it got there.  I would recommend starting at no more than 1/16 of a tsp. on a plate of food.  You can always add more.  Tell your wife I am sorry for burning her face.    Enjoy.

 

[Devv]

Oh yeah, going to start slow
 
LB's laughing at your comment hahaha
 
Thanks again!

 

[stc3248]

Haha...a little does go a long way! Great stuff happening at Scotts place! Look at Doc spreadin the pepper love!!! Otis...perfect!

 

[WalkGood]

Scott, Doc’s powder looks awesome, what a score! I’ll bet you’ll have fun coming up with 50 different ways to eat dat powder \o/
 
The girls look great and I’m sure they’ll be in good hands, treat dem well and they’ll keep ya hot at night Always fun to read how others do it, mine are born outside and stay in da sun at least 3 or 4 hours a day. I’ve got 7 more currently growing not much further along than yours and already in need of potting up, guess I better take some pics soon.
 
The corn looks awesome and the bees look wonderful, now if they could be trained to eat predators they’d command twice da price, hehe. Bet you can’t wait to get some butter and Doc’s powder on some of that corn ... Have a great day mon!
 
 

 

[Devv]

Okies I tried it, just a simple bacon and egg taco with some sausage mixed in. I used about a 1/16th of a tsp as recommended.
 
It was good!
 

 
Now I have a reference point and can add more next time.
 
Thanks Doc!

 

[Jamison]

Looks great Devv!  Your whole setup is purely awesome!   Gonna have to do that when I move down to TN.  What kind of corn you growing?  Peaches and Cream?

 

[Devv]

Looks great Devv!  Your whole setup is purely awesome!   Gonna have to do that when I move down to TN.  What kind of corn you growing?  Peaches and Cream?

 
Thanks!
 
This year we went to a feed store versus ordering it through a catalog, they recommended G90.
 
So far I'm impressed, nice thick stalks. They really held up well to the wind.
 
The ears look they will be nice and big.

 

[stickman]

Hi Scott
   Heat sucks, but glad to see your garden growing so well. Leetle packets of powder and foodie shots are a great bonus. Ka-Ching!

 

[Devv]

Haha...a little does go a long way! Great stuff happening at Scotts place! Look at Doc spreadin the pepper love!!! Otis...perfect!

 
Thanks! And the powder was great!
 
 

Scott, Doc’s powder looks awesome, what a score! I’ll bet you’ll have fun coming up with 50 different ways to eat dat powder \o/
 
The girls look great and I’m sure they’ll be in good hands, treat dem well and they’ll keep ya hot at night Always fun to read how others do it, mine are born outside and stay in da sun at least 3 or 4 hours a day. I’ve got 7 more currently growing not much further along than yours and already in need of potting up, guess I better take some pics soon.
 
The corn looks awesome and the bees look wonderful, now if they could be trained to eat predators they’d command twice da price, hehe. Bet you can’t wait to get some butter and Doc’s powder on some of that corn ... Have a great day mon!
 
 

 
Today was the first time I ever used any type of powder, you're right, now to think of all the ways to use it!
 
Once it warmed up I started moving seedlings outside as soon as they finished hooking. I germ them inside so I can keep an eye on them..
 
We almost picked an ear today but decided to wait. So far they look clean as far as the worms go, haven't seen any damage.
 
 

Hi Scott
   Heat sucks, but glad to see your garden growing so well. Leetle packets of powder and foodie shots are a great bonus. Ka-Ching!

 
Once it gets this hot things really slow down on everything but the peppers, they may or not produce much more until fall, we''ll see, but they still grow. The tomatoes are suffering big time. And they just changed the forecast...summer weather is here. Better than last year when it got in the 90's in March and never let up. I may try the hoops next year to push the early start even earlier.
 
Here's some tomatoes and a few cayenne's
 

 
Pots and A few white Onions
 

 
Enjoy what's left of the weekend!

 

[GA Growhead]

Took me a minute to find your glog, and then even longer to go thru it. Looking good. Awesome harvest there. Plenty of goodies!
And glad you got the chili powder hook up. You can't buy anything with heat & flavor like some good homemade superhot at your local grocery stores.

 

[stc3248]

Nice dig on the Potatoes and Onions...Cayennes to boot! Hope you can keep thing rockin in that south Texas heat. Those high temps will mean some scorching pods on the bright side!

 

[annie57]

Scott, beautiful harvests!!! Glad you dodged that hail/wind bullet, "long time--no glog catch up," as been busy getting in garden--getting over pain, lol.
 
On that mite issue, last year, early on--end of June--my Chinense got WHACKED, eaten alive nearly with mites. I tried everything organic. So, I bit a bullet and got 16 oz. concentrated SNS 217 . That makes almost 3/4 gallon BUT it completely eradicated the mite problem. Others go with Avid, Abamectin; I thought about it but with a GOOD sprayer, 3/4 gal will kill the eggs too. It was a little less last year but totally organic from rosemary oil. Maybe the ladybug pop will explode for you! After I hit them with that--dude, I had WEBS--just used compost teas after that and not another problem. It is damned expensive but nothing else worked. Hope the wettable sulfur has worked for you. If not--I tried that too--if not . . . I don't know why they went only for Chinense but knowing that it got the eggs too, piece of mind. Really, shocked me that 3/4 spread over THAT many plants completely killed mite pop, plants came back like gang busters.

 

 

[StupidJerk]

You're killing it! That garden is so awesome. Very impressed.

 

[Devv]

Took me a minute to find your glog, and then even longer to go thru it. Looking good. Awesome harvest there. Plenty of goodies!
And glad you got the chili powder hook up. You can't buy anything with heat & flavor like some good homemade superhot at your local grocery stores.

 
Thanks!
 
Things are really starting to come together. I just wish the hot weather would hold off for two more weeks, but there's next year and new plans
 

Nice dig on the Potatoes and Onions...Cayennes to boot! Hope you can keep thing rockin in that south Texas heat. Those high temps will mean some scorching pods on the bright side!

 
Thanks Shane!
 
I'm really hoping for a few pods to set on the hots before it's a wait until fall. I know everything else should hang, although the tomatoes are hurting with the heat and wind. I still have a bunch of red Onions, like 200 to pick, but they're aren't ready. Oh, and I need to post a foodie of the stuffed peppers LB made today, most everything's from the garden except the rice...and the meat is home ground venison/brisket..
 
 

 
Scott, beautiful harvests!!! Glad you dodged that hail/wind bullet, "long time--no glog catch up," as been busy getting in garden--getting over pain, lol.
 
On that mite issue, last year, early on--end of June--my Chinense got WHACKED, eaten alive nearly with mites. I tried everything organic. So, I bit a bullet and got 16 oz. concentrated SNS 217 . That makes almost 3/4 gallon BUT it completely eradicated the mite problem. Others go with Avid, Abamectin; I thought about it but with a GOOD sprayer, 3/4 gal will kill the eggs too. It was a little less last year but totally organic from rosemary oil. Maybe the ladybug pop will explode for you! After I hit them with that--dude, I had WEBS--just used compost teas after that and not another problem. It is damned expensive but nothing else worked. Hope the wettable sulfur has worked for you. If not--I tried that too--if not . . . I don't know why they went only for Chinense but knowing that it got the eggs too, piece of mind. Really, shocked me that 3/4 spread over THAT many plants completely killed mite pop, plants came back like gang busters.
 
 

 
Thanks Annie!
 
So glad you got your planting done!
 
Yeah the Chinense are targets, Greg mentioned maybe it's the thin fragile leaves. The ones in the dirt are doing well, the potted ones are hammered, I gave them a second spray this AM. They look better but the damn mites literally topped them. Thanks for the input on the 217!

 

[Stefan_W]

I'm going to have to go through your glog later on when the kidlet is in bed, but for now I checked out this page and loved the mini-harvest pics. 
 
I'm surprised the tomatoes dont do well in that type of heat. How far down do you set them when you plant? I usually try to put them down about 15-18 inches, which lets them establish a great root system and pull in moisture even when the weather isnt cooperating much. 

 

[Devv]

You're killing it! That garden is so awesome. Very impressed.

 
Thanks!
 
I can't wait until next year to add all I've learned here at THP!
 
 

I'm going to have to go through your glog later on when the kidlet is in bed, but for now I checked out this page and loved the mini-harvest pics. 
 
I'm surprised the tomatoes dont do well in that type of heat. How far down do you set them when you plant? I usually try to put them down about 15-18 inches, which lets them establish a great root system and pull in moisture even when the weather isnt cooperating much. 

 
I have been putting them in about 7 or 8"s, I'll give that a whirl next year! The biggest thing is the lack of rain we get, it's hard to keep the ground wet enough and not introduce disease when I do keep it wet. And the drying wind is the real issue..
 
Thanks for stopping by!

 

[Stefan_W]

I would go as deep as you possibly can, and put in a thick layer of mulch that will preserve what little water does get into the ground. Another trick if you are digging out a garden space is to put a log on the bottom a couple of feet down. The log will soak up the moisture and hold it for ages, so you can get away without rain or watering as often.

 

[WalkGood]

Awesome harvest Scott and that foodie is to die for, I love making loads of stuff with tortillas, even tried making them a few times. While the home made ones are great tasting, they just don't last here, so we have to buy dem, hehehe. Have an awesome week brethren ^_^

 

[koskorgul]

Looking good scott. Love the shot of the arrow as your stake

 

[Devv]

You're killing it! That garden is so awesome. Very impressed.

 
 
Thanks!
 
It sure keeps me busy!
 

I would go as deep as you possibly can, and put in a thick layer of mulch that will preserve what little water does get into the ground. Another trick if you are digging out a garden space is to put a log on the bottom a couple of feet down. The log will soak up the moisture and hold it for ages, so you can get away without rain or watering as often.

 
Hmmmm too many square feet for the logs, but I can see how as they get pithy they would hold moisture. I may try the mulch way down low. I do have access to some, even worth driving the tractor to town for. Geese that will be a ton of work to dig in..I think what's happening these last few days is going from 75-82 to 93-100 in one day, the plants haven't acclimated. I got home today and everything but the corn and Chinense were hurting. I spent 2 hours soaking things.
 
 

Awesome harvest Scott and that foodie is to die for, I love making loads of stuff with tortillas, even tried making them a few times. While the home made ones are great tasting, they just don't last here, so we have to buy dem, hehehe. Have an awesome week brethren ^_^

 
Thanks Ramon!
 
Just got in and am cooling down, having a cold one. We get them at the local hole in the wall Mexican restaurant, they're perfect! LB made them, but they resembled the shape of Tejas...real hard to get the round shape down...they were very good though
 
 

Looking good scott. Love the shot of the arrow as your stake

  Thanks!
 
The arrow work great but I'm kinda sort of afraid of wearing one if you know what I mean...I just used what I had, they have been sitting in the shop for ages.
 
Did some picking today, the Maties are kicking, picked about 3/4 of a 5 gal bucket...dang Mocking birds are hitting them hard. If it wasn't so hot I'd sit outside with a 12 gauge
 
Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.