Carrots, Onions and Garden Update

[GoDawgs]

It's hot and getting more dry so it's time to break out the sprinkler and ladder. I've been using this combo for a long time now as the ladder height lets the sprinkler cover a lot larger area. One bungi cord holds the sprinkler atop the ladder and another secures the hose to the side of the ladder so the weight of the hose doesn't pull on the sprinkler.

Sometimes the hose is a pain to screw onto the sprinkler without taking the sprinkler down so last year I got smart and put a quick-connect on the sprinkler. Problem solved. This is the area that the sprinkler covers. I can get the whole garden in three sections if the wind isn't blowing.



The leaf mulch pile is going down. It used to extend as far as the hose in the pic. There will be enough this spring, especially since there's another pile behind the house. With the sciatica problem I discovered that setting the mulch buckets on top of overturned buckets puts the height of the filled buckets at a handy height so I don't have to bend down to pick them up.



This is the onion bed with kale growing in the middle. On the far side is 'Australian Brown' which has done well the past two years since I started growing onions. On the near side is 'Yellow Granex', the variety used for Vidalia onions. They've never grown well for me.



This morning a few were falling over so I pulled them out. Small, but I'll take 'em! Interesting that they're not sort of flat like Vidalias.



Finally, last evening I pulled three test carrots just to see how they were coming along. We had a carrot tasting and to me they all taste pretty similar. Left to right: Yaya, Romance, Tendersweet.



These are 55-60 day carrots, sown Feb 28 and now at Day 81. The Yaya and Romance (both new to me) are about there. The Tendersweets, which are a long type, still have a tad of growing to do. After the carrots were started we had extended periods of rain so I'm amazed they grew at all and didn't just rot!

[Whwoz]

Looking good GoDawgs.

[Hensaplenty]

Nice, GoDawgs! Love your beds! So fun!

[MrsJustice]

I am so Impressed with your Garden Layout.

Just Angelly Beautiful. Amen!!!!!!!

Your garden is looking so good!

Did you use regular carrot seed or pelleted?

- Joyce

[GoDawgs]

Thanks, folks. You are kind. The garden keeps this retired soul busy year round. If it's not planting, monitoring, harvesting and putting up, it's planning. You can eat the whole elephant, one bite at a time.

PJ, I use non-pelleted seed. Pre-plant, it's usually soaked overnight in a shot glass. Then I dump it in a little fine mesh strainer, then onto a paper towel and carry it to the garden that way. The soaking makes the seeds swell enough that they are a lot easier to handle. And being slightly damp, they don't slip through the fingertips in globs, thus making spacing (and later, thinning) a whole lot easier.

This is the left side of the garden above the corn and potatoes.



Beds from the bottom: scallions on edges with Japanese Hulless popcorn just coming up (one of this year's toys), onions/kale, experimental squash/collards, empty bed (just removed peas), tomatoes/tomatillos in buckets (what wouldn't fit in the area up at the house). Above the tomatoes and too hard to see are beds with cabbage, earlier corn, broccoli (garlic along the edges already pulled), and another empty former pea bed.

It keeps me out of trouble.

Ah, good info on carrot seed handling. I love them but hate sowing and thinning such tiny buggers.