Official Gardening/Homesteading thread: Our back yards are our grocery stores

Discussion in 'The Mainboard' started by lhprop1, Apr 9, 2015.

  1. Boar Skarloff

    Boar Skarloff Standin up fuckin in a hammock

    I've got a shitpile of lettuce, radishes, carrots, spinach and other greens right now. Planted all peppers and a couple more tomato plants this weekend.
     
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  2. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    Sorry, wrong thread
     
  3. lhprop1

    lhprop1 Fullsterkur
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    You can use a regular gas grill as a smoker if you don't want to drop the cash for an actual smoker. Just put down some tin foil and put the chips on there. Turn the grill on high until the chips start smoking, then turn down the heat and put the meat on the top rack.
     
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  4. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    Wrong type of smoker.
     
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  5. lhprop1

    lhprop1 Fullsterkur
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    facepalm
     
  6. CraigAnne Conway

    CraigAnne Conway Putting that ball into the basketball ring
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    Previous owners of my new house had one of those portable basketball hoops with the water-filled base, and had it sitting in the yard next to the driveway. Of course all the grass beneath it is toast.
    Can anyone recommend a good technique or products, other than just to throw grass seed and straw down, to get grass to grow back there?
     
  7. texasraider

    texasraider thanks
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    Put sod down
     
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  8. CraigAnne Conway

    CraigAnne Conway Putting that ball into the basketball ring
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    Please excuse me, as I am a first time homeowner and a gay fag

    Can I just buy a piece of sod that size at like Home Depot or something?
     
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  9. Gtr

    Gtr Guest

    what kind of lighting rig are you using?
     
  10. -Asshole-

    -Asshole- TMB OG Reject
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    Yes you can buy sod by the piece at home depot and lowes
     
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  11. Taques

    Taques sometimes maybe good sometimes maybe shit
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    600w HPS 14 on 10 off
     
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  12. CraigAnne Conway

    CraigAnne Conway Putting that ball into the basketball ring
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    Thanks, man. Appreciate it
     
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  13. texasraider

    texasraider thanks
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    You can buy it at the depot or even at local nurseries.
     
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  14. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    Running a little late this year but planted my first round of cantaloupe and watermelon yesterday.
     
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  15. Nug

    Nug MexicanNug
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    Peppers starting to come in as well. Should be able to pick some jalapenos this weekend.

    How long can I expect these plants to produce, assuming they're just starting to fruit now? Follow-up question---could I simply re-plant the same thing (or something different) in late June/early July? I feel like with my plants producing so early I can get another planting in, even prior to Fall. Or will they produce while the weather is good?

    My squash and zucchini look to be growing fine, but they flower, then the flower dies. All 4 plants (2 squash, 2 zucchini) have all had a few flowers that just wilt and die a few days later. Is this normal?

    My eggplant is probably the tallest plant in my garden, just as tall as my tomato plant, but hasn't really fruited anything yet.
     
  16. CUAngler

    CUAngler Royale with Cheese
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    My 4 eggplants look the same as when I planted them about 4 weeks ago. Kind of concerned about them, but not really sure what to expect since I've never done them before. Peppers and tomatoes have really taken off in the last week with the warmer weather. Okra is still pretty small but seems to be getting more leafy.
     
  17. lhprop1

    lhprop1 Fullsterkur
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    As long as they're producing flowers, they can produce more fruits as long as the flowers get pollenated. Around here, people don't typically put down a 2nd planting of things like peppers or tomatoes that have a 80-90 days to maturity because the growing season is too short. If you want some in the later season, it's best to plant them in the next few weeks so you have a staggered harvest.

    Completely normal. They produce way more male flowers than female flowers. The only ones who produce fruit are the female flowers, so once they've served their purpose, the male flowers just die.
     
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  18. gritzy

    gritzy I am a hurricane on the golf course

    Carrots, Brussels sprouts, radishes planted last Saturday.

    Tilled up and composted my garden beds last night.

    Everything is coming out of the greenhouses this weekend, gonna be a blitzkrieg at 8am this Saturday with everyone buying stuff up
     
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  19. High Cotton

    High Cotton Where does this fall in our Christian walk?
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    My weekend project.
     
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  20. je ne suis pas ici

    je ne suis pas ici Well-Known Member
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    not really gardening, but,

    with all the rain we had my fig tree is already coming in, first year in my house i picked in june and august

    last year was middle july and maybe a handful in early september

    with rain climate in the south lookin good this summer i will be eating goat cheese/honey/bacon figs all fucking day
     
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  21. Marbles

    Marbles Trudging the road to happy destiny
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    Planted some lettuce, beans, and okra in a little box garden. I started with the seeds but my soil is fertile. Can't wait for it to come up next month.
     
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  22. Nug

    Nug MexicanNug
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    Anybody IIT do inside herb gardens?
     
  23. Parab00n

    Parab00n Well-Known Member
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    Planted these a month ago, lost about half on each plant during that late frost a couple weeks ago but now they are looking good. Got 5 around the bucket of different varieties, Better Boy, Beefsteak, Cherry. Can't remember the other 2. Planted 5 Roma's today with the same set-up.
    [​IMG]


    Potatoes are looking better than anything in the garden right now. I thought I had lost all of them with the frost, but a week later I couldn't even tell they took any damage. Used a mix of Top Soil and fully composted Cow and Chicken Manure. In another week I'll finish filling in the container with soil.



    [​IMG]
     
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  24. Open Carry

    Open Carry TMB Rib Master
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    Why is there a bucket in the middle of your plants?
     
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  25. Parab00n

    Parab00n Well-Known Member
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    It's a mix of composted Cow & Chicken manure, it has 8 x 1/4" holes around the bucket. I can put 1-2 gallons of water in the bucket and it slowly drains out, basically a tomato plant IV. Keeps me from having to spray water directly on the plants.
     
  26. AIP

    AIP Team bush
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    Grass growing is pretty simple really, get some of the patch stuff. Rough up the ground, put it down and water. I throw burlap over it
     
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  27. -Asshole-

    -Asshole- TMB OG Reject
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    My bees are doing the "happy" dance too.
    [​IMG]
     
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  28. Parab00n

    Parab00n Well-Known Member
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    Put 4 Honey Supers on about 6 weeks ago, 1 hive has 1 filled up and working on the 2nd. 2nd hive is slacking and haven't even started on the 1st.

    [​IMG]
     
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  29. AIP

    AIP Team bush
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    Got in the beans, squash, water Mellon (1st time)

    In another week the tomatoes

    Also planted a herb garden for the old lady
     
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  30. kslim

    kslim Guest

    Hail has set me back 6 weeks
     
  31. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    Checked on some of my hives today to see if I needed to add some supers. Added supers to 3 of the hives and moved one from a small box to a normal size one, so good progress. Also, here's the data from my scale hive, gained over 30 lbs in 2 weeks and probably get 4 lbs today. Packing in the honey. For reference, a pint jar hold a little less that 1.5 lbs of honey.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
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  32. Parab00n

    Parab00n Well-Known Member
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    What are the bee's gathering from that is making the honey that dark?
     
  33. gritzy

    gritzy I am a hurricane on the golf course

    Blackberries?
     
  34. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    And Black Locust. Blackberries and Tulip Poplars are my main flow here. Tulip Poplar gives a light colored honey like clover. I've got tons of wild blackberry around me and I have at least 30 massive tulip poplar trees on my property alone, so I'm doing good right now. Plus I have at least 6 acres worth of dutch clover in my pastures.

    It also looks darker because that is on a black plastic foundation.

    These are the colors of honey I usually get:

    [​IMG]
     
  35. gritzy

    gritzy I am a hurricane on the golf course

    any blueberry growing tips, its like the only thing thats not taken off for me yet, planted last year
     
  36. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    If you don't already have it, put pine straw around the bushes. Blueberries like acidic soil.

    Here's Clemson's information on them: http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/pdf/hgic1401.pdf
     
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  37. Parab00n

    Parab00n Well-Known Member
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    That would explain why I lost half my Blueberry bushes last year, my soil is around 6.5-7.0 normally. I'm going to throw some Pine straw on them today but think I'll have to do something a little more drastic to lower mine down to 5.5.
     
  38. Open Carry

    Open Carry TMB Rib Master
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    Hydrangea fertilizer is good for blueberries as well. Make sure they have plenty of sun and water. I got a few pounds from my bushes in their first year. Not looking so good this year. One of them looks ok, but the other two appear to have gotten damaged by the cold when we had an extremely late cold snap after the leaves and buds were beginning to open. It sucks, but if they don't produce I was planning on moving them anyways so I don't have much to lose.
     
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  39. -Asshole-

    -Asshole- TMB OG Reject
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    This frame was empty on april 23rd. and now they have it almost totally built out with comb a little over a week later.
    [​IMG]
     
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  40. texasraider

    texasraider thanks
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    I've seen yogi the bear eat honey comb and the cereal is delicious... Is real life honeycomb edible and is it delicious?

    Thanks in advance.
     
  41. gritzy

    gritzy I am a hurricane on the golf course

    Got the garden in this past weekend:
    1 sunsugar cherry tomato
    1 super sweet 100 cherry tomato - new for me this year
    1 san marzano tomato - new for me this year
    1 yellow pear cherry tomato
    1 pineapple tomato - new for me this year
    1 early girl tomato
    1 golden jubilee tomato
    1 brandywine tomato - new for me this year

    1 godfather pepper - new for me this year
    2 bell pepper
    4 Sweet banana pepper
    2 jalapenos

    1 cucumber (not pickling)
    1 Zuchini
    4 Broccoli
    2 yellow squash
    1 egg plant - new for me this year
    4 cauliflower - new for me this year
    4 stringless bush beans
    4 Utah Celery - new for me this year

    9 strawberries - from last year really getting big
    2 bunches of asparagas - in year 2
    1 3' row of brussel sprouts
    1 3' row of carrots
    2 3' rows of radishes
    3 3' rows of white onions

    Have space set aside for 2 nappa cabbage plants and a few other stir fry items. Also need to decide between another cucumber plant or some sugar snap peas for a 2nd open spot

    Any recommendations?
     
  42. PJP3

    PJP3 Well-Known Member
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    Anyone have any recommendations on Green Bean varieties? I planted Derby and Tenderloin improved back in February and just harvested some of each yesterday. Both taste very starchy and thick skinned to me. I'm looking for something thin skinned thats a bit more like what you would buy at the grocery store.
     
  43. lhprop1

    lhprop1 Fullsterkur
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    Cantare is the way to go. Great taste with great yields.
     
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  44. gritzy

    gritzy I am a hurricane on the golf course

    I get blue lake bush beans
     
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  45. lhprop1

    lhprop1 Fullsterkur
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    Blue Lake Bush are good and I still put a row of them in my garden, but they can get too big and really seedy if you don't pick them frequently enough. Cantare beans, on the other hand, seem to have a maximum size of about 4-5" with a thickness similar to a pencil.

    Despite the size difference, the Cantare produced the same number of pounds per foot as my Blue Lake Bush did last year, mainly because they continued to blossom and produce fruit for two months straight.
     
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  46. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    Checked on my fruit trees, things are looking pretty good so far, except for the pears, they aren't busting out like the others. No pictures, but my apple trees and blackberries are doing good too. Also, my cantaloupe, watermelon, and zucchini have popped up. Planted them through black plastic for weed control this year.

    Plums
    [​IMG]

    Pears
    [​IMG]

    Peach
    [​IMG]

    Strawberries
    [​IMG]

    Blueberries
    [​IMG]
     
  47. gritzy

    gritzy I am a hurricane on the golf course

    Put some acidifier in the soil around my blue berries, couldn't get pine straw up here, and over the last 5 days they really took off, going to keep them well watered and see if it continues
     
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  48. Open Carry

    Open Carry TMB Rib Master
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    My tomatoes, tomatillos, and pepper plants came in today. One of the plants had a broken stem, but the rest look pretty good.
     
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  49. Parab00n

    Parab00n Well-Known Member
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    ~10 days later

    [​IMG]