New raised beds under plastic..

[FourOaks]

Originally Posted by My Foot Smells

nice!! I like raised beds so you don't have to bend over so far - if at all.

That is one of many great pluses for raised beds. Im thinking I wouldnt mind one of those roller seats that I could just ride from end to end while taking care of planting, weeding, and harvesting.

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Nice work. It would be neat if you could just flood the center area with the beans in an inch or two of water, and irrigate them that way. I want all of my plants on flood tables at some point.

The beans in the bags will fizzle out about midway thru June? Or something like that. Or after about 3-4 good pickings I move on. They seem to get rather screwy looking. After that it will be time to put raised beds in place of the bags.


As far as irrigation, for the beds, either drip or soaker hoses. Which does bring up a discovery I made yesterday. The bed on the right, I planted out pepper plants. All though the beds are only about 6 inches deep, the soil in the bottom was very moist. These are filled with leaf mulch. On the top looks bone dry, but go down about 2 inches and is moist.

[GoDawgs]

Originally Posted by FourOaks

The beans in the bags will fizzle out about midway thru June? Or something like that. Or after about 3-4 good pickings I move on. They seem to get rather screwy looking. After that it will be time to put raised beds in place of the bags.

You're right about that. When the beans start looking short and curved like the letter C, they're about done. On to something new!

[FourOaks]

Originally Posted by GoDawgs

You're right about that. When the beans start looking short and curved like the letter C, they're about done. On to something new!

Or onto the next batch of beans that was successfully sown on time!

That actually reminds me that its about time to plant the next round of beans. Hopefully Friday I will have time to start a couple new raised beds, so that next week I can get the seeds planted.


Im still up in the air. Whether or not to stick with the Roma II or switch to something else. If I do switch I might go for Bush Ky Wonder.

[PureHarvest]

4-way dripper assembly is only $1.12 each. Just have to hook a 1/2 poly tube line to your water supply line. The dripper that comes with the manifold and spray stakes regulates the pressure and flow.

So each assembly will water 4 bags for $1.12 in parts. 1/2" tubing is cheap too.
You'll need to buy a punch tool to make the holes in the 1/2" tubing that the dripper snaps in to.

Something like this:

dripper.jpg dripper lines.jpg

I bet you would have complete saturation in 15-20 minutes of run time. And all you have to do is turn a valve and go onto other tasks while it runs...

Plus you can re-use again next year and beyond.

[GoDawgs]

Originally Posted by FourOaks

Im still up in the air. Whether or not to stick with the Roma II or switch to something else. If I do switch I might go for Bush Ky Wonder.

Have you ever done Contender? They're short time beans, like 40-50 days which might come in handy as a second crop in a house if the weather turns hot early. I use them as a fall crop. Get in, get out.

My bush beans will go in this weekend.

[FourOaks]

Originally Posted by PureHarvest

4-way dripper assembly is only $1.12 each. Just have to hook a 1/2 poly tube line to your water supply line. The dripper that comes with the manifold and spray stakes regulates the pressure and flow.

So each assembly will water 4 bags for $1.12 in parts. 1/2" tubing is cheap too.
You'll need to buy a punch tool to make the holes in the 1/2" tubing that the dripper snaps in to.

Something like this:

I bet you would have complete saturation in 15-20 minutes of run time. And all you have to do is turn a valve and go onto other tasks while it runs...

Plus you can re-use again next year and beyond.

I consider the 4 way setup for other stuff, such as mums. Never considered for the bean bags, that is a good idea.

Originally Posted by GoDawgs

Have you ever done Contender? They're short time beans, like 40-50 days which might come in handy as a second crop in a house if the weather turns hot early. I use them as a fall crop. Get in, get out.

My bush beans will go in this weekend.

I know I have the seed, but cant say for sure that I have grown them.


Im still working out a plan for my next several batches of beans this summer. If you recall my plight last year with horrible germ. and lack of flowers. I cant have that again, I want Beans all spring, summer and fall. I might have to invest into more shade cloth.

[Cole_Robbie]

My family always grew Strike as a bean variety. The beans are smaller, but much more tender. I think my mom grows Jade now, too.

[FourOaks]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

My family always grew Strike as a bean variety. The beans are smaller, but much more tender. I think my mom grows Jade now, too.

Funny you would mention Strike. I tried them last year with absolutely no luck. But, with that being said, we were also having a heat wave. So... that might have done them in before they had a chance.


Last year my early crop of Roma IIs paid off. If I recall I was the first vendor with any beans, by about 2 weeks. I didnt have endless supplies of them, but I sold all that I took to the market. Then, nothing. Nada. I tried 2 more times only to have epic failure. It was just to dang hot, and then the critters came along. Finally in the fall I had a nice mess of Ky Wonder Pole beans. Not a lot, but enough to enjoy.


All of this makes me consider growing them under shade cloth. Im thinking a 30 to 40 percent cloth.

[Cole_Robbie]

I bet if you could flood the grow bags in shallow water when it was very hot, then they wouldn't overheat. I don't use grow bags, but that trick seems to work well for container plants in general in the heat.

[FourOaks]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

I bet if you could flood the grow bags in shallow water when it was very hot, then they wouldn't overheat. I don't use grow bags, but that trick seems to work well for container plants in general in the heat.

Perhaps. But this will most likely be the last batch of bean bags that I will do. I would rather do them in raised beds. This was more a matter of making do with what I had. Now that money is rolling in from my weekly market sales, I am reinvesting in my infrastructure. And now that I can sell year round, im hoping to really keep things moving forward. Little by little.


On a side note, my plan is to keep building raised beds, each week, as I can. Im planning to plant out 2, 4x24 beds next. Those beds should bring in around 100-150 pounds of beans, or something similar. I havent settled on a price per pound for my beans, yet. I need to see what the new market will tolerate.

[BigVanVader]

Originally Posted by PureHarvest

4-way dripper assembly is only $1.12 each. Just have to hook a 1/2 poly tube line to your water supply line. The dripper that comes with the manifold and spray stakes regulates the pressure and flow.

So each assembly will water 4 bags for $1.12 in parts. 1/2" tubing is cheap too.
You'll need to buy a punch tool to make the holes in the 1/2" tubing that the dripper snaps in to.

Something like this:

Attachment 80703 Attachment 80704

I bet you would have complete saturation in 15-20 minutes of run time. And all you have to do is turn a valve and go onto other tasks while it runs...

Plus you can re-use again next year and beyond.

That is legit. If I do mums again I gotta set this up.

[GoDawgs]

Originally Posted by FourOaks

Im still working out a plan for my next several batches of beans this summer. If you recall my plight last year with horrible germ. and lack of flowers. I cant have that again, I want Beans all spring, summer and fall. I might have to invest into more shade cloth.

Have you thought about growing some pole beans along with your bush beans? They usually take longer to make so when that first round of bushies is done you'll have the pole beans coming on. Just a thought.

As you and I both sadly know, our heat will kill that bean pollen and I don't know if shade will help with ambient temp and thus successive summer crops that unless you have some good ventilation. That's where swamp coolers help in green houses.

[FourOaks]

Originally Posted by GoDawgs

Have you thought about growing some pole beans along with your bush beans? They usually take longer to make so when that first round of bushies is done you'll have the pole beans coming on. Just a thought.

As you and I both sadly know, our heat will kill that bean pollen and I don't know if shade will help with ambient temp and thus successive summer crops that unless you have some good ventilation. That's where swamp coolers help in green houses.

I have grown pole's in the past, specifically "white half runners" and "Ky Wonder", I have 2 reasons not to grow these now days.


1. I hate trellising, and then the clean up of said trellis.


2. Bush plants afford me the opportunity to set up either shade cloth OR some kind of protective barrier such as deer netting.


Last Sunday we set up trellis for 60ft worth of Sugar Snap Peas. Its just a bother in my opinon to fool with. Then the clean up. On the other hand, bush plants you can just rip out, amend the soil, replant, and have a cool refreshing drink!


Next the issue of the wildlife that likes to come along. For the most part they wont venture into either GH. But the raised beds out in the open are like a buffet. I can set up some hoops, throw some kind of barrier over it, and im done. I had thought about setting up an electric fence, but decided that there should be something simpler.


Last year I shot 2 groundhogs. About 2 weeks ago I spotted their cousin. Seems he has moved in. Grrrr...

[Nan_PA_6b]

Ground hogs always have another cousin. And that cousin always has a cousin.

Nan

[FourOaks]

Originally Posted by Nan_PA_6b

Ground hogs always have another cousin. And that cousin always has a cousin.

Nan

You got that right!