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

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

  1. BayouMafia

    BayouMafia Thought Leader in Posting
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    we have to get started early in this suckass north Texas weather. I'm harvesting tomatoes, squash and zucchini this week and will have canteloupes and eggplant in a couple of weeks as well.
     
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  2. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    Two golden sex links
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    All pullets
     
  3. comrade static

    comrade static i love french fries
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    After 3 years, finally some edible blueberries. I’ve 3 other bushes that I’m hoping will start producing as well.


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  4. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    My big blueberry bush is loaded down. My wife let the sheep and goats graze in the yard and the ate the leaves off of the other ones and broke some of the main stalks, so nothing from the rest. Have an electric fence up around them now.
     
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  5. bigred77

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    I planted a grape vine a few years ago but have never gotten any grapes
    I'm guessing I'm not pruning it enough (cause I've barely pruned it), but what am I doing wrong?
     
  6. Funshot Residue

    Funshot Residue Mammoth Stabber
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    Our blueberries are about to collapse under their own weight. We planted 2 more, some strawberries, and thornless blackberries this year.
     
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  7. gritzy

    gritzy I am a hurricane on the golf course

    thought about putting a plant in this year and found out it takes 3 years for the varieties around me to fruit
     
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  8. AIP

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    Birds?
     
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  9. AIP

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    I have 4 bushes, they are blooming now and it’s cool to just watch the hummingbirds work
     
  10. bigred77

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    Its been like 6 years

    Maybe? But I don't think so since I have never seen even a trace of a grape
     
  11. Funshot Residue

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    Do grapes need pairs (more than one plant) to pollinate? Asking, i don't have a clue.
     
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  12. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    Per Clemson's extension:

    Purchasing Plants: Bunch and French hybrid grapes, unlike muscadines, do not require cross-pollination. Therefore, it is not necessary to buy two or more cultivars for pollination. However, several cultivars can extend the harvest season.
     
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  13. AIP

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    bigred77 looks like you have a sausage party for grapes
     
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  14. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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  15. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    Okra has started coming up and have my first zucchini growing. Picked some oregano and basil and dried half in the oven to use in pizza sauce. Put the rest on top of the pizza when it came out.
     
  16. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    Honey production slowed this week due to all of the rain, but they've started capping the honey over. I now have about 8 supers full, which is probably around 20 gallons of honey. Also had a swarm move into an empty hive this week so added more free bees. Sold 2 quarts today to bring us in the black overall for bees, and put us over 100 gallons sold total.

    After I got done I took the girls down to our stream where our livestock guardian dog and horses came to visit.

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    #2016 billdozer, May 23, 2020
    Last edited: May 23, 2020
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  17. bigred77

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    I've wondered that, but since I just bought the random grape vine at sams, I have no idea what variety it is
     
  18. Beachy Toast

    Beachy Toast He wants you too, Malachi.
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    Pupper looks so happy.
     
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  19. comrade static

    comrade static i love french fries
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    I think birds are picking off my blueberries. What is the best way to protect them?
     
  20. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    Plastic or cloth netting draped over the bushes or supported on a framework is the only practical control.
     
  21. One Two

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    How much sunlight does it get?
     
  22. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    Bout half a day of full sun
     
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  23. One Two

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    Dam. That should be plenty. Do grapes need chill hours? I wonder if you inadvertently bout a variety that won’t fruit in high heat
     
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  24. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    The garden is slowly coming along. Should be able to pick the fist zucchini in a couple days. Since most of the major flowering plants the bees go to are done blooming, they're mobbing the garden. We'll have the most pollinated cucumbers, zucchini and sweet peppers ever. The bees have a waiting line to get to each flower.

    [​IMG]
     
  25. Funshot Residue

    Funshot Residue Mammoth Stabber
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    20200601_161957.jpg

    16 total, Wyandottes, Ameracaunas, Marans, Olive Eggers
    House sounds like an aviary. Cute little buggers though.
    Learned how important humidity is to incubation, and that some breeds need drier air relative to others.
     
  26. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    This bee was loving the zucchini pollen

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  27. Coach Prison Mike

    Coach Prison Mike >>—;;—;—>
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    Owsley was that you posting in the RTT thread a little while back about getting a bonsai tree? Ever go through with it?

    Thinking about making a drive to Cottondale, Fl this weekend to get my first one.

    I want something a little bigger that I can keep out doors in FL. Seems like a Bald Cypress would fit that description but at open to suggestions.
     
  28. AIP

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    Anyone do rain barrels? Wife bought me one a few years back and now I have 3

    also fill 2 30 gallon trash cans up, have not had to water from the hose in a few years

    585F61CE-C477-4635-AFD2-F2EC4D8DED86.jpeg
     
  29. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    We keep planning on doing one, but never get around to it. Easy to put in?
     
  30. AIP

    AIP Team bush
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    Simple
     
  31. BayouMafia

    BayouMafia Thought Leader in Posting
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    Today’s harvest. Getting a ton of tomatoes every day, and going to pick a couple of nice sized brandywines tomorrow. I think that Lemon Boy is happy to see me

    0FC0E60C-E8D2-4B03-9961-B22CA06FC7C0.jpeg
     
  32. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    Picked our first zucchini this morning. Have a bunch of cucumbers growing now. And planted sweet potatoes today. We plan on planting pumpkins this weekend as well. Are going to build a trellis for it to follow.
     
  33. Beachy Toast

    Beachy Toast He wants you too, Malachi.
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    How's the honey production?
     
  34. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    The flow around me is done, I'd say I have about 8 boxes full, so 24-30 gallons, plus some others partially full. I need to get them off and extract so I can take the hives to the mountains for sourwood honey.
     
  35. AIP

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  36. AIP

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    A few days of hot weather with some storms and everything is popping up real nice
     
  37. Emma

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    Hello everyone, I planted a couple climbing roses and noticed 1 has minor blackspot on it. Does anyone have experience combating blackspot?
     
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  38. One Two

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    You’ll need to clip off any leaves/stems showing spot or yellowing. Do not use the clippers to trim any healthy part of the roses until you’ve cleaned them with bleach and rinsed. It usually begins towards the base so take a look there.

    Then I’d treat it with this. Note it also fertilizes


    Treating your roses regularly with neam oil also helps. While it does have some anti fungal properties it mainly serves to keep aphids and other insects at bay that can spread and accelerate black spot. Basically bugs feeding on the plant can open it up to be more vulnerable to infection.
     
    #2038 One Two, Jun 8, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 8, 2020
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  39. One Two

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    Also forgot to say be mindful about discarding any infected leaves and stems you clip. Don’t leave them on the ground around your plants
     
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  40. Emma

    Emma
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    You're the best
     
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  41. One Two

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  42. Emma

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  43. One Two

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    Yeah that looks like it could be the early stages of it, any yellowing in any parts of the plant? Also do you see aphids anywhere or other insects?
     
  44. Emma

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    My crimson sky has a small sawfly problem. That one is in the ground.

    The one with black spot is a highwire flyer and is just bought. Didn't inspect it that well upon purchase. There are yellow leaves that look to be from burn out and I don't see insects on this one.

    I can take it back and get a different one.
     
  45. One Two

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    if it’s just a small part of the plant you can just prune and treat like I mentioned above. I’d treat the yellow leaves as though they were black spot too. A lot of time the yellowing goes hand in hand with black spot disease
     
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  46. Emma

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    Done deal thank you
     
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  47. One Two

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    No problem. Much easier to manage if caught early (unlike me last year lol)
     
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  48. BayouMafia

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    on the subject of blight, any squash plants I have start to rot from the base of the vine in early June. This is the third year in a row. First two years were heirloom varieties I grew from seed, but since I messed up my seedlings this year I planted plain old Bonnie zucchini and straight necked squash from Lowe's. They didn't produce much, but like clockwork the vines are deteriorating
    89AB2963-D37C-4B6E-BCB8-9985021A5305.jpeg
     
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  49. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    Looks like squash vine borers. I get them too. They usually show up early summer, so I just get as much from the zucchini as I can.
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  50. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    The main things that can be done are plant later after their life cycle is done, rotate crops, and wrap the stems with aluminum foil. That last one is too much work to me.
     
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