2014 - Mr Yan

[Mr_Yan]

Beautiful! All of you guys have given me the urge to up my efforts to start plants from seed. I've been fairly successful at it but not on the level I'd like.

This is by far the best year I've had with seedlings. I think two big factors in this are keeping the seedlings in a warmer part of my house and adopting majorcatfish's idea of foil reflectors. I used common painters tape to hold aluminum foil to cardboard and this seems to help increase the amount of light bouncing around over my plants. The recurring cost of buying plants is a big part of what got me. I can get a pepper seedling for $1 to $2 each at a box store but I only have two or three varieties to choose from. Or I can buy a pack of seeds for $2.50 which will grow about 30 plants.

This year I will still buy a few seedlings
1 tomatillo
1 rosemary

 

[Mr_Yan]

thats a really smart idea using totes to move the seedlings around.

As simple as it sounds it is only the first year I've done this too. I was thinking that I would cut the sidewalls down to allow the florescent light to hang closer to the plants when inside but I like how the standard sides are working. This will also allow me to snap a lid on the tote with a light bulb in it to make a seed incubator for next year.

I acquired a bunch of small pots for seedlings only to find most of them don't fit nicely in the standard flats I have.

 

[Mr_Yan]

So things got a little busy.

Week 20 photos

Some broccoli and a ground cherry type tomatillo in the pallet garden bed. I'm afraid I put the tomatillo in the wrong place and won't be able to walk down the path this year.

Peach tree. When we went to the local Japenese garden I saw they were training trees by pulling the branches down with cords tied to stakes in the ground. I tried tying back two branches last year and they seemed to hold shape when I released them this year so I have now tied back several branches. I'd like to tie them down to ground stakes but that would be a trap for toddlers and terriers running around. We'll see how it goes in a year or two.

Main bed at home. The peas now have a trellis net to climb. The spinach has taken hold. Beets, carrots, and some peppers are in. I'm trying leeks for the first time and at least have something growing.

So about that spinach. I'm growing Spinach Monstrueux de Viroflay that I bought from Botanical Interests in Colorado and this stuff is huge. Two leafs gave me a lot of spinach on a sandwich this weekend. I've got to harvest more of this soon.

As for the leeks. I read that you want them really burried such that 8 or so inches of leaf is underground to blanch it so you get more edible leek. I tried excavating the planting area and filling it as the plants grow which was tedious and, more or less, failed. For my second attempt I teased the soil off the roots of each plant (works best under water) then slid the 10 to 12" long plant into a hole I just formed in the soil with a broom stick. I brushed soil into the hole and watered them in. After 5 days in the ground they at least look to be holding on to life.

==========

So that is what I did over the weekend. In the last few days I've:

• Planted some of my in-ground bed at my church community garden - three pumpkins and seeded the pole bean teepee
• Put in basil, three tomatoes, and some eggplants
• Covered and uncovered plants several times to protect from either frost or hail which we never got either

 

[Mr_Yan]

Week 21 photos - taken May 21

main bed

garden patio

 

[Mr_Yan]

Week 22 photos - taken May 25

To date I have spent $70.81 on the garden and harvested 407 grams from the garden (almost all spinach). This results in a functional cost of $78.99 a pound of produce.

Pallets - planted with ground cherry, broccoli, and greens

Main garden patio

4x7 raised bed - spinach starting to bolt, peas filling in, tomatoes and egg plants transplanted

Fence side of the 4x7 raised bed. I have the peas splitting the bed in half along the long north-to-south axis. Shallots, beets, spinach, carrots, egg plant, parsnips, leeks on this side

Peppers in the box to the north of the 4x7 raised bed

Big spinach in the 4x7 raised bed. This is after we already harvested about a pound from the 2 square feet this season

 

[Rahab222]

You make great use of your space Gardening isn't cheap, but the flavor makes up the difference.

 

[Mr_Yan]

You make great use of your space Gardening isn't cheap, but the flavor makes up the difference.

My cost tends to be front loaded where my harvest tends to be late in the season. I won't spend much more on the garden this year - probably will spend less than $100. Last year I harvested 168 pounds and spent $148 which worked out to $0.88 a pound. I'm off to a better start for the year but we all know things can change fast. I also have much more space this year with a 20'x26' in-ground bed at my community garden.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Gardening has always been a very cost effective means to feed our families. We know exactly what goes into it (regardless of our 'leanings'). Not to mention the therapeutic value that is needed by ALL of us....

 

[Mr_Yan]

Well we all know both of you @Rahab222 and @w_r_ranch are right. Gardening can be a very cost effective means to supplement your food or a major drain on your wallet. It's all in your choices and how you do it.

My stepdad is a retired ag-chemist and thinks my tracking of expenses and yield is a joke. He keeps pointing to the time I spend out there and what does my time cost me. I don't fully understand that argument as I would be in the yard anyway and no one would pay me for that time either way.

I use many of the organic techniques but have no problem with synthetic fertilizers when needed. The main reason I don't use many insecticides or fertilizers is the cost. I do compost all our kitchen scraps and yard waste. The kitchen scraps are vermicomposted (worms) and I am able to make an effective compost tea from that which acts as a fertilizer though it usually has proven low in nitrogen.

Last year one of my big expenses was replacing many of the random trellis supports I have with 1/2" EMT conduit. Now all the parts are a standard size and one 10' stick should last me several seasons.

 

[Rahab222]

There's definitely a therapeutic value to gardening. Being on the bayou, the backyard is so quiet. It's usually just me; my garden dog, Lily; the birds and the squirrels. I was on the canning supplies aisle of the grocery store this week, watching all the people with carts placing groceries from the shelves in their baskets. All I could think was, "Thank goodness for the grocery store." It's funny, because growing up we always had a very large garden - 30 acres at least. But that was run mostly with the tractor. Most everything we ate was canned or frozen - led by Mom. Now I find myself having to "relearn" my roots. I really appreciate this website because it gives me quick answers from experienced gardeners. It's like being in a close knit community where everybody is encouraging and looking out for each other. Quite a difference from other forums where your post can get overlooked or lost. I really appreciate everybody posting their pictures.

 

[Mr_Yan]

I came here to post weekly updates and it looks like many of my photos have been either broken or dumped by photobucket. Hmm

 

[Mr_Yan]

These are the photos from week 23


Pallets - planted with broccoli, kale, chard, beets, dill, tomatillo


4x7 Raised bed with troughs planted behind it - cucumbers, watermelon, and summer squash starting to come up. Peas starting to set flowers. Spinach bolting.

 

[Rahab222]

Looks like you're starting to get some gardening weather. Houston his 98 degrees today. Summer is here.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Again things got busy - family went away for a few days so I got to do some projects like refinishing a kitchen floor and installing crown molding.

This is the week 24 photo gallery taken on June 11 2014

The snap peas have really gotten tall

The west side of the 4x7 raised bed

A wide shot of the garden patio

My grape vine

And some peppers

 

[Mr_Yan]

Week 25 was A LOT of rain and a lot of drive time plus some home improvement

These were both taken from inside while it was raining.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Week 26 - photos taken 6/26/2014

A week of hot and humid weather with a lot of rain made things jump around here.

The pallet garden - ground cherries and husks are covering the plant, greens starting to come in, and broccoli is starting to form heads

Cucumbers have more than doubled in size in a week

My grape tomatoes - two plants of 8 total tomato plants I'm growing at home this year. My typical first tomato is the week of July 18.

I'm trying a new summer squash variety. This one has solid vines to reduce vine borrer trouble, and climbs.

This is the west side of my 4x7 bed. I didn't harvest some of the peas before I left for five days so they went too far for snap peas. I'll let these go for next years seed.

I have also harvested 7 pounds of greens from my community garden. Some of my pole beans are about 4' tall. At least one cinderella pumpkin should be pollinated.

I have bought some more T posts which brings my garden expense this year to $101.06 but we have now harvested 4.97 kg of produce at a cost of $9.24 a pound.

 

[Rahab222]

Your garden has come a long way since the last time you posted photos. Looks really good and productive. Congrats!

 

[whistech]

Mr. Yan, everything looks great.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Well I missed a week.

These pics were taken on July 10th - week 28.

Pallet garden - first broccoli has been harvested, ground cherries coming in, and the flamingo is keeping an eye on everything

Three tomatoes under planted with lima beans. These will grow but not especially well as they're partially shaded by the young white birch.

Grape tomatoes tied up next to the back door. Lots of flowers and green fruit. Still two weeks until I typically harvest the first grape toms.

Pepper trough - three Yolo Wonder, three California Wonder. There are some peppers a little over three inches long.

4x7 raised bed. I cut out the peas this week to let the other things grow in. All the Leeks are now in the ground, egg plants are flowering, two tomatoes are climbing in back, basil and beets need harvesting.

Along the west fence - I have planted from near to far: sugar baby watermelons, summer squash (first two harvested this week), and cucumbers

This is the outside of the fence with the summer squash vine and one fruit easily visible

I harvested a bunch of garden peas that went too far on the vine then sat for a week in the fridge. These things germinated. I planted 10 feet of gutters with these germinated peas yesterday in hopes of some fall peas.

My community garden has several cinderella pumpkins pollinated and growing, 60 running feet of green beans both bush and pole types, greens, carrots, beets, tomatoes... I keep forgetting to take photos up there.

To date I have harvested 23.08 pounds of produce.
To date I have spent $101.06 dollars on the veg garden and tools
This results in $4.38 a pound

 

[whistech]

Your garden is looking good Mr. Yan!

 

[w_r_ranch]

Outstanding Mr Yan!!! You utilize your available space very well! Kudos to you!

 

[Mr_Yan]

Well it's been a while and I haven't kept up with posting. Oh well. This week we had the kid's grandparents in town for the combined birthday party on top of normal working.

At this time of year it gets really hard to take pics because my yard is so small I can't get far enough away.

There are pallets under there.

As far away as I can get...

Peppers and cucumber against the house

This is the west edge of my raised bed and some of the fence. Egg plant in the foreground with peppers and cucumber in the far back. Beets, carrots, summer squash, tomatoes are intermixed.

Anyway this is what I pulled from my garden today.

So far this year I have pulled 62.8 pounds of produce (includes a LOT of beans from my community garden) and have spent $106.06. This works to $1.69 a pound for garden produce to date.

The bulk of what I bought was either heavy T posts or new seeds. With my seed collection in the fridge I may not have to buy much new next year.

 

[Mr_Yan]

I had the crazy idea to hang out of my upstairs window and take an aerial shot of my garden.

 

[Mr_Yan]

I finally pulled some pics off my phone of my community garden too. These photos are about 2 weeks old.

These are the in ground bed. I have cinderella pumpkins, failed tomatoes, butternut squash, and beans growing up here. I've had some OK bean harvests out of it but my share of bad luck. My 6 big indeterminate tomatoes (Wisconsin 55, Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, Steakhouse hydrid, and roma) are about knee high. I think it was mostly because of some weird fungus early in the season but it has been a terrible year for tomatoes - cold and wet. I mixed two bags of pole bean seeds together - one green one yellow wax - only the yellow POLE beans are bush beans. So when half the beans you plant for a pole bean tepee are bush beans your tepee looks anemic.

This is my raised bed. I wanted easy and low maintenance so I have bush beans, beets, carrots, collards, mustard, and ground cherry tomatillo. The mustard is long since harvested and replaced with seedling collards. The ground cherry was a failed experiment and has since been removed and beets seeded. The beets / carrots / beans were planted too close in rows and the beans and beets over grew the carrots. Last Sunday I worked in 2.5 gallons of worm castings and planted leek seedlings where the beets were and seeded the beets where the ground cherry was.

 

[Rahab222]

WOW! Your garden looks GREAT! Houston is in our Dog Days of Summer with no rain. I've had to start watering this week and only have peppers, a few tomato plants and purple hull peas left that are producing. My strawberry beds look fabulous, but I won't get anything else off of them until next spring.