"SQWIBS Urban Garden Adventure 2019"

[SQWIBB]

March 18th, 2019



Back yard cleanup, I'll be making some Bio-char within the next few weeks, but this burn will be tossed in the trash, there are some undesirables in the pit.

[SQWIBB]

March 21st, 2019

The pepper seedlings were hit hard by Aphids, especially the poblanos. The plants look fine except the poblanos which are a bit stunted. I have been treating with a 1/3rd hydrogen peroxide to 2/3rd water spray. I soak the plants and the soil at least once a day.
I have slowly been getting some outdoor work done, I started up the back pond and the Koi pond, One pump was shot so I replaced that.

There is rain in the forecast so I hooked up the rain barrels. I collected about 15 gallons of rainwater in 5 gallon buckets to top off my back yard pond.




Winter drain bypassed





March 22nd - 25th, 2019

Yesterday (Thursday) at work I had an uh-oh moment and realized that the valves on the main rain barrel may still be open from being winterized so I called my daughter and had her close the valves. It is still raining as I write this at 7am (Friday), anyhow it was perfect timing to setup the rain barrels last weekend prior to the rain this week because the ponds were significantly low.

The back pond filled up no problem using the 10 gallons of rainwater I had in buckets from he rain last week and the run off of the playhouse from the rain this week. The Koi pond is still low, it's always low at the startup because a lot of the water is pumped up out of the pond into a Wendy filter and two veggie filters.

The Aphid battle continues. I have been spraying the plants and soil every 12 hours, I increased my Mix to 50-50. I have also been spraying the trays, I have seen some in the trays, I have also been spraying the other seedlings and the soil, I don't see Aphids on any of the plants other than the peppers but they may be in the soil.






The Aphids are loving this Jimmy Nardello. I noticed a couple on the tomato plant clones and the eggplant but so far they have left the cantaloupe alone.






I picked up two new planter 22" planters from Home depot for the deck, one of my planters busted over the winter, probably did not drain properly.




Up Potted my starts




Most of the pepper plants were loaded with Aphids, I had to hand wash each one, I even rinsed off the first 1/2" of soil.




After everything was potted up I washed out the trays real good.




Wiped down all the pots and placed them back in the tray and on the grow table.



Attempting a couple grafts this year, Cherokee purple grafted to Beefmaster

[SQWIBB]

Sunday was a nice day, hardly no wind and the yard had dried out a bit, so I decided to start my Bio-Char and do a little yard cleanup.




I like the char very coarse.






Covered with potting soil that was from my Aphid Pepper plants. I'll check this in a few days.




The Rain Barrel was completely full, so I topped off the backyard pond. I'll be posting about the Rain Barrels soon.













I finished off my day with some composting, transplanting a dwarf Azalea plant and planted some Okra inside.

[Lasairfion]

Could you grow something to attract them away as a sacrifice? I tried growing Wizard Field Beans and they had a really bad aphid problem and never really produced any beans. But it did seem to keep them away from everything else, so I've carried on planting a few each year.

[SQWIBB]

Originally Posted by Lasairfion

Could you grow something to attract them away as a sacrifice? I tried growing Wizard Field Beans and they had a really bad aphid problem and never really produced any beans. But it did seem to keep them away from everything else, so I've carried on planting a few each year.

I think its beyond that.
I put the plants outside and the problem has gotten worse, now I have ants farming the aphids. I'm going to continue spraying and hope they aren't stunted too much. I still have at least two weeks before the peppers can go into the ground.
I'm hoping with spraying and getting into the beds will help and I'll probably load up on terro baits again for the ants.

[SQWIBB]

March 26th - 31st, 2019

Picked up some Pine Bark Fines for my potted plants.


7 of my nine fig starts are growing, thanks Rajun Gardener (Tomatoville)

I got some gardening done this weekend but not as much as I would have of liked to.
My brother and I stopped at the Recycle center and picked up some Compost and mulch. Headed over to my moms and topped off her hugelkultur bed.
I wanted to get wood chips for the front gardens but there were no wood chips to be had so I used a bit of double ground mulch.


I worked on the Leek bed, making it a tad larger, I need to dig it up and amend the soil, I'm going to use some leftover Pine Bark Fines, Peat and potting mix.
I setup the new pots for the Cherry Tree and figs.


Started hardening off my tomato plant clones.
Still fighting the Aphids on the pepper plants.

Started some cilantro, parsley and perpetual spinach.



April 8th, 2019



Most of the seedlings were moved outside last week. Finished the leek bed. Up potted some Marigolds and planted some Marigolds and Bok Choy in the raised beds.

I'm a bit worried about my pear tree, there is no new growth on the trunk but I keep getting growth on the root stock.

The Redhaven Peach Trees seem to be OK.

I planted my Red Cherry and performed the heading cut, just above two branches.

The figs are doing well.

Installed the Texas Tomato Cages and a few regular cages

Cleaned up the front a bit and cut the grass. Planted



April 10th, 2019



All the plant seem to be doing OK outside with the exception of the Aphids on the pepper plants, so far the lowest has been 45°F, but there is a low of 40° in the forecast.


My Okra seedlings have sprouted and are doing nicely, nothing from my last batch of Bunching Onions have sprouted. Cilantro, Parsley Perpetual spinach have sprouted, both of my Indoor parsley and cilantro died. My two tomato Grafts died. Transplanted the few bunching onions outside that did survive, I dont have much hope for these guys.
Took out a Jetstar tomato plant from the Grow room and placed on the bed still in the pot, it has several tomatoes on it but I don't expect them to mature properly.


My brothers Meyer Lemon Tree came in so I up potted that and put it under the grow lights for a few days.

A few strawberry plants survived the heavy winter mulching, but only on the edges, I didn't expect them to come back

[SQWIBB]

April 15th, 2019



I decided to put my tomato plants in after checking the 10 day.
For my tomatoes, I decided to grow some hybrids this season, Big Beef, Beef Master and Jetstar, my heirlooms this year are, Abe Lincoln, Gardener's Delight and Kosova. After looking at my devastated pepper plants, I decided to toss them in hoping they would do better in the garden than the cups. The aphids are destroying theses guys and the pepper plants are severely stunted. I don't expect a good pepper crop this year.



I ripped out one of my Jetstar tomato plants from the grow tent and tossed that in with the other tomato plants. It got busted up pretty bad trying to untangle it from the other tomato plants in the grow tent. I ended up cutting the entire plant back to see what happens.

Big Beef and Beef Master hybrids in Texas Tomato Cages

I am crowding my peppers this year to see what happens.


I have three different varieties of eggplant this year, Listada di Gandia, Rosa Bianco and my go to, Black Beauty.

My asparagus never came back so I said to hell with it and planted peppers in the Asparagus bed.
It looks like something is nibbling on my Marigolds so I put some Sluggo in the beds.



I am extremely happy with the soil this year, I dug down about 10" and it looks great, I'll continue in-situ composting as much as possible.

Everything is planted with the exception of some Marigolds, the turtles are out cruising the yard, the Koi are more active, so I started feeding them.



Finally came up with a Plant Marker that I like. I added some more re-mesh to the trellis on the left side of the fence. The fruit trees are growing nicely.

RES rescue in the pond.

Turtle waiting for the Guild to grow in, lol.













Comfrey is coming in but the dog keeps eating it.




Mushrooms everywhere but they're not the ones I inoculated the wood chips with.

I had a few asparagus spears show up after I had planted the area with peppers, but to be honest I gave up on Asparagus and whatever grows, grows. I contacted Gurney and they gave me a credit so I ordered some Strawberry plants.

[SQWIBB]

April 21st, 2019


Finished up my Leeks that wintered over for some Leek Potato soup. Got 2.25 pounds of leeks so I had a hefty pot of soup for Easter Dinner. Replanted some leeks.
Planted the Strawberry plants, mainly as a ground cover.

I'm battling ants again, they are everywhere. Put out some Outdoor Terro Baits.






May, 4th - 8th 2019



We have been getting a good amount of rain, my Rain Barrels are staying full. I have yet to hook up the city water, everything has been watered from the Rain Barrel setup.
Planted some of my Celeste Figs on the hill and one in a pot on the deck.
Still planting stuff here and there, Parsley, Eggplants, Peppers, Dill.
I lost all but one of my squash and melon plants. I direct sowed a bunch of seeds.
My peppers are struggling as well as my Okra, I think next year I'll put these out on Mothers day.

Dug out all of the horseradish root and planted in pots, I was afraid it would take over the neighborhood.
I have a few tomatoes ripening on the plants that were moved from the indoor garden to the outdoor garden.

May, 8th - 11th 2019

It's been raining for three days straight, My Rain barrels are always at full capacity. I still haven't turned on the drip lines yet.

We had a sad day today, one of the rehab RES turtles didn't make it.

Tomato plants are growing nicely but the peppers are still struggling with the exception of the pepper plants in the veggie filter... go figure!







This is the Jetstar that I trimmed back to almost nothing.




I called it quits on the indoor garden as I was getting ripe tomatoes on a few of the outdoor plants already. I couldn't bear to terminate these plants so I tossed them on the deck, I can't see them doing too well and they will probably succumb to a fungus or early blight due to the density of the foliage, but I'm not going to worry about it.

My leek garden finally perked up, I was getting worried about these guys, I was babying them since they were planted. I only lost a few

The pond plants are growing nicely

[SQWIBB]

May, 12th - 20th 2019





I got a few apples on my Columnar apple trees. The aphids destroyed the top 4" of this branch so I just cut it off.

Worked on the lighting, added a few more pathway lights and installed 20 watt (2.4 watt) Led bulbs on all the pathway lights and one of the hugelkultur beds.



Since all my cantaloupe and all but one of my Butternut squash died, I planted some seeds a few weeks ago, still nothing. So I picked up some more seeds and planted again...heavily!


Planted the rest of my Marigolds all over the place.



The peppers finally started growing a bit, the tomato plants are doing great and eggplants are holding their own.
I installed my Bug Hotel on the back fence it was a Christmas Gift from Amanda and had to laugh because there was already a mason bee visiting the hotel.

Changed up a few things this weekend, Laura and Amanda really wanted some Hydrangeas they saw at Sams club, three to be exact, so I compromised on two, However there were none to be found, then I remember seeing hydrangeas in Lowes earlier in the morning, so we headed to Lowes and picked up two hydrangeas. I moved my leeks out of the leek pot, replaced the planter then I removed the peppers and okra out of the other planter. Whats sad is these plants are sterile and not good for beneficial insects.

Chopped down my Kale tree in the Hugelkultur bed by the pond.

We stopped at Lecks nursery and picked up our usual sunpatients some Gerber Daisies and I grabbed some Lemon Thyme for the herb garden and a few cucumber plants for my mom, we also picked up a few sunpatients for the next door neighbor and we got them all in Saturday.

We put a sunpatient in the upper veggie filter, I usually put in three sunpatients in clay pots, this year I decided on Cali lilies that I pulled from out front, some marigolds and the one sunpatient, I'm also testing out Grow Bags as opposed to the clay pots, they're easier to store and don't break, lol. All of the potted plants in the veggie filters have a heavy mix of Bi-char mixed in them.

After all the flowers were in I added a bit of Osmocote to the flowers and planters.

I was preparing to spray some of the plants with an insecticidal soap because the Aphids are out of control.
After closer inspection I noticed a lot of Hover flies, a parisitized aphid and a lady bug so I opted for a manual removal and will try to wait it out.

My King Stropharia spawn exploded.

Of course I had to eat one!

My choke berry, Pomegranate and Gogi berry plants arrived, I potted them up and will give them a week or two before planting.

The red maple to the left is about 3 years old, it was a start from my now gone red maple out front. I have been keeping it for my neighbor, but I don't think he will ever pick it up.

May, 21st, 2019

Cleaned the pond filter and skimmer and replaced a pump that feeds the upper veggie filter.


I finally turned on the drip lines, I have them on for 3 hours every 3 days, I'll be bumping that up to 4 days once my pepper plants take hold. The drip lines are 1/2 GPH @ 12" spacing.
The watering needs of the the entire garden using just the rain barrel got to be too time consuming, I'll still supplement the watering with the rain barrel, I have a few areas that dry out quicker than my beds.



I was going a bit nuts trying to figure out why most of the drip lines weren't working, I forgot that I had installed a union in the center low point of the main line for winterizing and neglected to reconnect it, also the feed for the planters on the deck weren't working, I must have plugged that line up last year, DOH!



I have the front yard drip lines on for 30 minutes each day and will bump that up to an hour every other day once the flowers get established, then hopefully an hour every third day.

Wow, your garden is really amazing. Sorry about the aphid battle.
I’ve had the best season for low aphid and whitefly population, and I believe the yellow sticky traps made the difference.
How often do you redo your guilds? I’m considering what to replant once the borage, cilantro, nasturtiums and arugula melt away from the heat. The chives and daffodils are just fine all year but I need a strategy for June-September.

[SQWIBB]

Originally Posted by PlainJane

Wow, your garden is really amazing. Sorry about the aphid battle.
I’ve had the best season for low aphid and whitefly population, and I believe the yellow sticky traps made the difference.
How often do you redo your guilds? I’m considering what to replant once the borage, cilantro, nasturtiums and arugula melt away from the heat. The chives and daffodils are just fine all year but I need a strategy for June-September.

I dont redo my guilds I just toss in whatever I have, the perennials stay of course, sometimes, chard, basil, marigolds, dill, mushroom, whatever I have.

[SQWIBB]

May, 27th, 2019

I got a lot done this weekend, although, considering I had three full days, I should have got more done.


I had asked the wife to sit out to chat while I done some yard work, so I was taking a break sharing a lemonade with her and she swats her knee, I said, "What was that" she said, "some bug", so I said, "what kind of bug", her reply of course was, "I don't know, just some bug". I read her the riot act and told her not to swat my bugs anymore!



I potted up some plants, redone the walkway in front of the raised beds.
Ran some irrigation lines, cleaned up a bit.
Trimmed some plants, hung a few things up, buried another turtle, had him for 10 years and he drowned in the pond, very sad.


Recycled some old dog crates into trellises, put in a few more perennials and marigolds.


Moved my Butterfly bush to make room for the Apricot tree I planted in the fall.



The rain barrels are low, actually my 90 gallon is empty so I made some modifications to the 90 gallon tank, the timer kept clogging so I had to come up with a better screen setup. I also tweaked the overflow, I put in an elbow, increased the hose diameter and used a section of clear tubing for a sight window. We are supposed to get a lot of Rain this week so I turned off the drip lines.



Still debating on using an insecticidal soap on the plants, I see a lady bug every so often and other beneficials but the Aphids may be winning. I have seen a few birds picking at the bottoms of the leaves, so I don't know if they are picking the aphids, the lady bugs or both?
The plants don't look stressed so I'll give it another week.



I swapped out some of the fabric planters in the small veggie filter so they are all the same size now, my symmetrical obsessed wife is happy.



I have been training my grapes and Hardy Kiwi plants, trimmed the grape vines and Laura made some Dolmathes from the grape leaves this weekend, she has also been making mint tea from the spearmint, this has become a family favorite.



There are a few Jetstars that are ripening. I trimmed the lower leaves from the tomato plants.



Cleaned up the Mini Azalea in the hell strip, fixed my Pond Skimmer net.

I also threw in a bunch of pictures from around the garden.

[SQWIBB]

May 27th, continued

[SQWIBB]

June, 3rd, 2019


It was a fairly productive weekend in the yard. I started cleaning up under the deck, still got a bit to go.

I had some leftover peat moss and some perlite that got wet in the storm so I spread them on top of the beds.

Amanda had this little bird feeder laying around so I set that up.

I picked some Hungarian wax peppers, sliced and tossed in a pickle jar.

I picked up some flowers for the front yards and back yard, most of the plants weren't native but I'm a bit annoyed that all my native plants I purchased last season did not come back with the exception of my milkweeds. Most of the plants I picked up at Lowes are Herbaceous perennials.

Sowed some Nasturtium seeds, fingers crossed.

Cleaned out the pantry and found these so I figured I would give it a shot.

I also picked up a hummingbird feeder.

When I was poking around in the outdoor lighting section in Lowes, I came across some Led Deck Lights that I thought would be awesome for the back yard retaining wall. I had round ones that got beat up over the years that weren't working and looked like crap.

I figure I would grab them since I seem to have money to burn!

I removed all the capstones and wired the new lights in, then using an angle grinder and diamond bit, I cut the lights in a bit then siliconed with some 832 Dow coring silicone.

Installed another set of Vintage Led String lights under the deck.

I still haven't decided on the use of insecticidal soap yet, I saw quite a few sparrows under the tomato plants cleaning the leaves. I'll try to get a closer look this week and see whats going on.

Random pics from the garden.

[ginger2778]

Wonderful photos, love the monopoly money!