Bob how's your garden?

aualum06 wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:Yeah I know greenway. That’s why I’m clearing out brush. Fuck man.

This year I just sort of planted vegetables where there was space. Probably is supposed to be flowers where I planted them. Whatever. But it’s a tomato here and a pumpkin over there, so I have the fattest animals in the neighborhood and little produce that survives their attacks. I have a nice patch of ground now for next year, just need to build some fencing around it. There’s some shade, which might cause issues, but I planted some lettuce seeds just now as a trial run to see what happens in the next month. (The rabbits are going to eat it, that’s fine.) there’s a section that gets solid sun, so the tomatoes will go there. Gonna cover the whole thing in horse shit in October, till it all in come April then watch the sad starving animals stare at the crops from outside my fence.

If those animals are deer remember they can jump 6-8 foot fences

Truth. A neighbor has a 6-ft privacy fence, including a small area on the side where canoes and kayaks are stored. A deer jumped over the fence into this small enclosed area during a time when the family was out of town for an extended period of time. Poor thing died in that small space. Wasn’t noticed until a neighbor heard a loud buzzing sound, which turned out to be flies, and the closer to the sound, the more foul the stench got.

Anybody grow anything throughout the Michigan winter? Apparently, there are some vegetables that tolerate snow.

tGreenWay wrote:Anybody grow anything throughout the Michigan winter? Apparently, there are some vegetables that tolerate snow.

This is going to be my first attempt at it but I have more beets in the ground. I think you can grow some of the roughage greens in the winter too, like mustard greens, kale, cabbage, etc. As well as carrots and radishes if my memory serves me correctly. We will see how she does. I did put in a few garlics for next summer, need to plant them now and then cover them a bit once the frost comes in

tGreenWay wrote:Anybody grow anything throughout the Michigan winter? Apparently, there are some vegetables that tolerate snow.

Trump's pretty much a vegetable and he's been tolerating the "snow" in all seasons for a long time, if you get my drift.

Floyd Robertson wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:Anybody grow anything throughout the Michigan winter? Apparently, there are some vegetables that tolerate snow.

Trump's pretty much a vegetable and he's been tolerating the "snow" in all seasons for a long time, if you get my drift.

wow. You seem very irate, claiming to be a moderate.

MattyFresh wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:Anybody grow anything throughout the Michigan winter? Apparently, there are some vegetables that tolerate snow.

This is going to be my first attempt at it but I have more beets in the ground. I think you can grow some of the roughage greens in the winter too, like mustard greens, kale, cabbage, etc. As well as carrots and radishes if my memory serves me correctly. We will see how she does. I did put in a few garlics for next summer, need to plant them now and then cover them a bit once the frost comes in

Thanks, Matty. I’m kind of excited to see how carrots do. And I’m planting garlic this weekend. Actually, I’m a little late as I was shooting for 10/1. Good luck, and let’s compare notes.

Floyd Robertson wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:Anybody grow anything throughout the Michigan winter? Apparently, there are some vegetables that tolerate snow.

Trump's pretty much a vegetable and he's been tolerating the "snow" in all seasons for a long time, if you get my drift.

I was going to say IB4Pantry, but he already beet me to it.

Proper LP Michigan gardeners be prepping to harvest stalks of brussel sprouts right now.

The Pantry wrote:Proper LP Michigan gardeners be prepping to harvest stalks of brussel sprouts right now.

Ugh wish I was, got the seeds for next year though

Digging post holes for next years garden. This is a pain in the ass and I’m taking a break. Got a bunch of cool cedar logs to use as posts, gonna build a 7 foot high fence (6 if the city asks. It’s only 6 feet. I measured.) to keep these goddamn deer out. 2 posts down and 6 or 7 more to go.

The Pantry wrote:Proper LP Michigan gardeners be prepping to harvest stalks of brussel sprouts right now.

Good suggestion for next year.

Flash forward 6 months from the post hole digging and it’s the day to dig out a trench around the garden to bury chicken wire to keep the goddamn fuckin digging asshole rodents out. About halfway there. Tomorrow, maybe, I’ll put up the chicken wire then the garden fence, then finally it’ll be time to grow some shit

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:Flash forward 6 months from the post hole digging and it’s the day to dig out a trench around the garden to bury chicken wire to keep the goddamn fuckin digging asshole rodents out. About halfway there. Tomorrow, maybe, I’ll put up the chicken wire then the garden fence, then finally it’ll be time to grow some shit

Chicken wire will deter squirrels and woodchucks, but if the hole is standard size, you’ll still have a problem with chipmunks.

DWags wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:Flash forward 6 months from the post hole digging and it’s the day to dig out a trench around the garden to bury chicken wire to keep the goddamn fuckin digging asshole rodents out. About halfway there. Tomorrow, maybe, I’ll put up the chicken wire then the garden fence, then finally it’ll be time to grow some shit

I’ve never had a store bought vegetable that tasted better than one from my back yard. It’s worth it Travis.

So much truth in this.

tGreenWay wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:Flash forward 6 months from the post hole digging and it’s the day to dig out a trench around the garden to bury chicken wire to keep the goddamn fuckin digging asshole rodents out. About halfway there. Tomorrow, maybe, I’ll put up the chicken wire then the garden fence, then finally it’ll be time to grow some shit

Chicken wire will deter squirrels and woodchucks, but if the hole is standard size, you’ll still have a problem with chipmunks.

Probably a pvc mesh is a better way to go I think. I’m burying it about a foot deep, I don’t know if that’s sufficient or not, but at least I’m making the bastards work for it

tGreenWay wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:Flash forward 6 months from the post hole digging and it’s the day to dig out a trench around the garden to bury chicken wire to keep the goddamn fuckin digging asshole rodents out. About halfway there. Tomorrow, maybe, I’ll put up the chicken wire then the garden fence, then finally it’ll be time to grow some shit

Chicken wire will deter squirrels and woodchucks, but if the hole is standard size, you’ll still have a problem with chipmunks.

My grandfather had a garden at the cottage. Had it surrounded by chicken wire. Kept a .22 Marlin on the porch for the chipmunks. There were shitloads of them.

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:




Chicken wire will deter squirrels and woodchucks, but if the hole is standard size, you’ll still have a problem with chipmunks.

Probably a pvc mesh is a better way to go I think. I’m burying it about a foot deep, I don’t know if that’s sufficient or not, but at least I’m making the bastards work for it

It might work better, but if it were me, I’d check to make sure that stuff doesn’t leech into the soil.

The Pantry wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:




Chicken wire will deter squirrels and woodchucks, but if the hole is standard size, you’ll still have a problem with chipmunks.

My grandfather had a garden at the cottage. Had it surrounded by chicken wire. Kept a .22 Marlin on the porch for the chipmunks. There were shitloads of them.

I’d be in divorce court if I tried that at our place.

tGreenWay wrote:

The Pantry wrote:My grandfather had a garden at the cottage. Had it surrounded by chicken wire. Kept a .22 Marlin on the porch for the chipmunks. There were shitloads of them.

I’d be in divorce court if I tried that at our place.

.22 pellet guns are much quieter.

My strawberries are a mess, damn grass taking off already in them

The Pantry wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:



I’d be in divorce court if I tried that at our place.

.22 pellet guns are much quieter.

And travel further. Not the best idea in a neighborhood setting. Maybe I’ll build a mini-trebuchet and bombard the spot where they eat the birdseed.

aualum06 wrote:My strawberries are a mess, damn grass taking off already in them

Always wanted to grow strawberries but always think about it too late to do anything.

What do you ladies and gents grow? 

Built a garden box last year and dabbled in lettuce, spinach, jalapeños/peppers, basil/stevia/other spices, broccoli, tomatoes, shallots, and some peppermint/spearmint

Broccoli was a waste of time/space. I eat a lot of spinach, but I wasted more than I harvested (timing/water/etc). Tomatoes are fugging water hogs, but I'm running a drip line this year, so that should make it easier. I got the most out of the lettuce, so I'm going to double up on that. Peppers and spices were easy.

aualum06 wrote:

What's your broccoli trick?

tGreenWay wrote:

The Pantry wrote:.22 pellet guns are much quieter.

And travel further. Not the best idea in a neighborhood setting. Maybe I’ll build a mini-trebuchet and bombard the spot where they eat the birdseed.

No way an air pellet travels farther than a bullet. Beside, shooting at chipmunks you're aiming toward the ground. Much safer.

On a side note: a Q-Tip fits perfectly in the barrel of a .22 air rifle. Hurt like hell but won't break the skin.

The Pantry wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:



And travel further. Not the best idea in a neighborhood setting. Maybe I’ll build a mini-trebuchet and bombard the spot where they eat the birdseed.

No way an air pellet travels farther than a bullet. Beside, shooting at chipmunks you're aiming toward the ground. Much safer.

On a side note: a Q-Tip fits perfectly in the barrel of a .22 air rifle. Hurt like hell but won't break the skin.

You’re right. I saw .22 and just skipped ahead. Missed the part about it being a pellet gun.

The Pantry wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:


And travel further. Not the best idea in a neighborhood setting. Maybe I’ll build a mini-trebuchet and bombard the spot where they eat the birdseed.

No way an air pellet travels farther than a bullet.  Beside, shooting at chipmunks you're aiming toward the ground.  Much safer.  

On a side note: a Q-Tip fits perfectly in the barrel of a .22 air rifle.  Hurt like hell but won't break the skin.  

Air not-so-soft...

Nordic wrote:What do you ladies and gents grow? 

Built a garden box last year and dabbled in lettuce, spinach, jalapeños/peppers, basil/stevia/other spices, broccoli, tomatoes, shallots, and some peppermint/spearmint

Broccoli was a waste of time/space. I eat a lot of spinach, but I wasted more than I harvested (timing/water/etc). Tomatoes are fugging water hogs, but I'm running a drip line this year, so that should make it easier. I got the most out of the lettuce, so I'm going to double up on that. Peppers and spices were easy.

Im gonna have tomatoes, beans, zucchini, cucumber, various peppers, romaine lettuce, and one single solitary eggplant. I might fuck around with pumpkin but I’m kind of second guessing it as it takes up so much space. It’s going to be last on my list after I plant everything else and see where we’re at. And in pots I’ll have a few basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, etc. I did cilantro last year but honestly it’s tough to grow enough of it to make it worth it (given that you don’t just use a few leaves at a time like basil) when I can just go get a bunch for a dollar.

For the most part, last year without a fenced in garden our vegetables were fine. Sure we lost a few tomatoes here and there but there were still plenty. Except the eggplant. Every single time it flowered, something ate it within a day. It’s practically the whole reason I have spent all this time on this project. Now, I’ve heard that growing your own eggplant is pretty difficult and won’t yield too much, which is fine, if I get one then I’m going to eat it in the backyard right in front of the rodents.

Nordic wrote:What do you ladies and gents grow? 

Built a garden box last year and dabbled in lettuce, spinach, jalapeños/peppers, basil/stevia/other spices, broccoli, tomatoes, shallots, and some peppermint/spearmint

Broccoli was a waste of time/space. I eat a lot of spinach, but I wasted more than I harvested (timing/water/etc). Tomatoes are fugging water hogs, but I'm running a drip line this year, so that should make it easier. I got the most out of the lettuce, so I'm going to double up on that. Peppers and spices were easy.

Basic garden for me. Lettuces, carrots, peppers, tomatoes. Adding some herbs this year b/c my wife has gotten into cooking. Might add something else. We’ll see. BTW, I’m pretty much only doing grape-size tomato varieties anymore. It’s something we eat several nights a week, and it’s easier to grow than other types of full size tomatoes, and the yield is insane as long as blight doesn’t float into town. I don’t do this to save money, because I don’t. I do it because I like to, I know how they’re grown because I grew them, and like DWags said, they taste better than anything you’ll find anywhere else.

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:

Nordic wrote:What do you ladies and gents grow? 

Built a garden box last year and dabbled in lettuce, spinach, jalapeños/peppers, basil/stevia/other spices, broccoli, tomatoes, shallots, and some peppermint/spearmint

Broccoli was a waste of time/space. I eat a lot of spinach, but I wasted more than I harvested (timing/water/etc). Tomatoes are fugging water hogs, but I'm running a drip line this year, so that should make it easier. I got the most out of the lettuce, so I'm going to double up on that. Peppers and spices were easy.

Im gonna have tomatoes, beans, zucchini, cucumber, various peppers, romaine lettuce, and one single solitary eggplant. I might fuck around with pumpkin but I’m kind of second guessing it as it takes up so much space. It’s going to be last on my list after I plant everything else and see where we’re at. And in pots I’ll have a few basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, etc. I did cilantro last year but honestly it’s tough to grow enough of it to make it worth it (given that you don’t just use a few leaves at a time like basil) when I can just go get a bunch for a dollar.

For the most part, last year without a fenced in garden our vegetables were fine. Sure we lost a few tomatoes here and there but there were still plenty. Except the eggplant. Every single time it flowered, something ate it within a day. It’s practically the whole reason I have spent all this time on this project. Now, I’ve heard that growing your own eggplant is pretty difficult and won’t yield too much, which is fine, if I get one then I’m going to eat it in the backyard right in front of the rodents.

The rodents eating the blooms is what finally drove me away from growing eggplant. Then some varmint would eat the squash blossoms, too, but zucchini grows like weeds so it wasn’t really a problem. Pretty sure it was a woodchuck, but could’ve been a rabbit. Once it was done with the blossoms, it moved on to eating the black eyed Susan greens.

Motown Spartan wrote:

The Pantry wrote:
No way an air pellet travels farther than a bullet.  Beside, shooting at chipmunks you're aiming toward the ground.  Much safer.  

On a side note: a Q-Tip fits perfectly in the barrel of a .22 air rifle.  Hurt like hell but won't break the skin.  

Air not-so-soft...

Yeah. Kids now don't know what they're missing.

Nordic wrote:

aualum06 wrote:

What's your broccoli trick?

Buy plant, plant plant, half a gallon of water mixed with 2 scoops of miracle grow a week, keep well watered.

aualum06 wrote:

Nordic wrote:

What's your broccoli trick?

Buy plant, plant plant, half a gallon of water mixed with 2 scoops of miracle grow a week, keep well watered.

And don’t wait too long to pick them, otherwise, you’ll have a super ugly flower with tiny yellow leaves that last about a day before blowing around the rest of the garden.

tGreenWay wrote:

Nordic wrote:What do you ladies and gents grow? 

Built a garden box last year and dabbled in lettuce, spinach, jalapeños/peppers, basil/stevia/other spices, broccoli, tomatoes, shallots, and some peppermint/spearmint

Broccoli was a waste of time/space. I eat a lot of spinach, but I wasted more than I harvested (timing/water/etc). Tomatoes are fugging water hogs, but I'm running a drip line this year, so that should make it easier. I got the most out of the lettuce, so I'm going to double up on that. Peppers and spices were easy.

Basic garden for me. Lettuces, carrots, peppers, tomatoes. Adding some herbs this year b/c my wife has gotten into cooking. Might add something else.  We’ll see. BTW, I’m pretty much only doing grape-size tomato varieties anymore. It’s something we eat several nights a week, and it’s easier to grow than other types of full size tomatoes, and the yield is insane as long as blight doesn’t float into town.  I don’t do this to save money, because I don’t. I do it because I like to, I know how they’re grown because I grew them, and like DWags said, they taste better than anything you’ll find anywhere else.

Will try the mini-matoes. Good tip.

Mini tomatoes almost end up like an annual, come up year after year. But they is good

aualum06 wrote:Mini tomatoes almost end up like an annual, come up year after year. But they is good

Love tomatoes but never been a fan of the cherry or grape versions.

aualum06 wrote:Mini tomatoes almost end up like an annual, come up year after year. But they is good

You mean like a perennial, right?. Annuals generally die off after one year, perennials return yearly. I did have some impatiens survive the winter last year in a couple areas that had its own protection. That was a real surprise, because impatiens hate cold temps.
And yep, at the end of the season, let the tomatoes that didn’t get picked or hadn’t fully ripened overwinter right on the ground, or bury them a couple inches down. Some of the seeds will sprout the next year. I’ve never had that not happen.

Nordic wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:



Basic garden for me. Lettuces, carrots, peppers, tomatoes. Adding some herbs this year b/c my wife has gotten into cooking. Might add something else.  We’ll see. BTW, I’m pretty much only doing grape-size tomato varieties anymore. It’s something we eat several nights a week, and it’s easier to grow than other types of full size tomatoes, and the yield is insane as long as blight doesn’t float into town.  I don’t do this to save money, because I don’t. I do it because I like to, I know how they’re grown because I grew them, and like DWags said, they taste better than anything you’ll find anywhere else.

Will try the mini-matoes. Good tip.

It drove me nuts trying to grow large tomatoes. I failed miserably at getting the water amount just right. Usually ended up over watering and they’d all split open. The ones I got to grow perfectly usually died by its own hand if I didn’t pick them at just the right time. They’d be so heavy they’d completely pinch off the vine, so it got no water or nutrients. I do grow a mean Roma tomato, though.

BTW, unless you already know what you’ll use to fertilize your maters, I recommend this:
https://www.amazon.com/Tomato-tone-Organic-Fertilizer-YOUR-TOMATOES/dp/B0011UEKKE/ref=asc_df_B0011UEKKE/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=193139379506&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8848283755751903894&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1019264&hvtargid=pla-312930845475&psc=1

It’s a widely used and effective fertilizer. The company also has other products for other vegetables and plants/flowers such as roses.

tGreenWay wrote:

aualum06 wrote:Mini tomatoes almost end up like an annual, come up year after year. But they is good

You mean like a perennial, right?. Annuals generally die off after one year, perennials return yearly. I did have some impatiens survive the winter last year in a couple areas that had its own protection. That was a real surprise, because impatiens hate cold temps.
And yep, at the end of the season, let the tomatoes that didn’t get picked or hadn’t fully ripened overwinter right on the ground, or bury them a couple inches down. Some of the seeds will sprout the next year. I’ve never had that not happen.

Yeah that is what I meant. It's probably why I don't plant flowers lol