SQWIBS Urban Gardening Adventure 2018

[SQWIBB]

Originally Posted by MissS

I agree with Nan. You get a months worth of yard work done in one week.

Here is a link that might help you with your asparagus problems.
http://msue.anr.msu.edu/uploads/reso...us_(E3219).pdf

You have a beautiful German Shepard. I once had Elsa who was marked just like yours. She was one of the best dogs that I ever had the pleasure of caring for. Thank you for showing yours and bringing back some fond memories.


Thankyou, the shepherd is Maggie and shes a bit nuts. They do find a place in your heart, that's for sure.




Do you have a waterfall in your Koi Pond?

Wow thanks for the link.


No waterfall, I try to keep the water as still as possible on the surface for watching the Koi.
I have an upper veggie filter that drains into a lower veggie filter. The lower veggie filter is filled from the bottom and drains into the main pond at the top.
I also have a wendy filter that drains into the pond.





I do have a waterfall in the back pond.



The Koi pond is all about the fish, plants and other critters, the backyard pond is all about the water feature.

[MissS]

That is a very nice pond setup. I had two ponds at my last home. I built them so that there was a waterfall between them. It looked great. I quit using the pumps when all of the little toad and frog tadpoles got sucked up. I enjoyed it more with all of the new life rather than the spilling water. The pumps were only used for fall cleaning.

My daughter would catch sow bugs and slugs and feed them to the frogs Green frogs like yours). Those frogs would wait for her to show up. Once she picked a dead stem from a black eyed susan and was waving it around the pond and one of the frogs jumped to eat it and got stuck on the end.......

Maggie was my next one but she was not marked like that. Your Maggie sure is a beauty and she makes an awesome centerpiece.

[JRinPA]

Seeing that frog just now made me remember the little tiny "tree?" frogs that are the community garden I joined last year. They were climbing all over my okra. Little thumbnail size frogs, smaller than the lantern flies. There is koi pond there...I guess someone introduced the frogs, or maybe they came by bird.

I just started seeing our mint coming up. Yours looks way further along. I need to stop our from running into the red rhubarb.

[JRinPA]

Temple of Doom theme waterfall?

[sdambr]

This thread really makes me wish for a like button

[mannalon]

Any update?

[SQWIBB]

Originally Posted by mannalon

Any update?

I'll try to get some pics up today

[SQWIBB]

May 25th 2018


Wow, its been a while since I updated this page.
Not much of anything has happened the last few weeks, it is sort of like watching paint dry.

• Anyhow, I spent the weekend doing a section of the AT with a buddy, scrambling rocks, dodging snakes, getting soaked, you know... the fun stuff.
  

• We finished up the trail a bit early and headed back to my trailer to reward ourselves a bit. We figured we burnt all those calories on the trail so we need to get them back.

• And we did and then some!
  

• OK...Back to the garden
  

• Oats are doing well

• I pretty much have given everything free reign to grow, I just chopped down all the cabbages and all but one of the Bok Choy and laid them out as mulch. I even let the weeds get to a decent size before pulling and placing back in the garden...nothing is removed!
  

• Sage, Horseradish, Chocolate mint and phlox are all doing well.

• There's always one knucklehead.

• Last years leeks, I may save for seeds

• The Cape Gooseberry in this planter is doing real well.

• Something has been munching on the Comfrey, this was a good call planting the comfrey here, the turtles love hanging here.
  

• Bad pic, but my first year getting Blueberries.

• Training the Reliance Grapes

• My only head of broccoli, about the size of a quarter, I will never try to grow cabbage, broccoli or Brussels Sprouts again.

• Yacon, the only survivor of 4 plants

• BeeBalm

No sign of my Jerusalem Artichokes.

• The Box Car Willie is doing great. Parsley is doing well too, not sure about the Beets.
  

• Snow Peas
  

• Jalapeno, Jimmy Nardello and Poblanos in the Aquaponics veggie filter are doing well.

• The pond plants are doing well.

• Artichoke

• Blackberries.

• Table Dainty

• Bok Choy for the pollinators

• Training the Concord Grapes

• Spaghetti Squash.

[SQWIBB]

• Artichoke.

• Purple Thai Yard Long Beans, can't wait to make "dilly beans" this year!
  

• Training the Hardy Kiwi's

• Mater plant

• Lovage

• Chives

• Pepper.

Yesterday when I got home I had a flooded yard, thank goodness the wife unit was home. I had a hose burst that feeds my irrigation, so that was the first thing on my to do list when I got home.


I planted a few more Table Dainty seeds and Cantaloupe seeds, all my cantaloupe plants died.
Started work on my trellis for the concord grapes.

[mannalon]

Great pictures! That was quick!

[Old School]

Wow, just wow You have a bit of everything going on there. The beer can towers Rocked

[ddsack]

Geez, I hope the boxie didn't lay there too long before you found him! No way for him to flip back with his head hanging over the edge! Hope he stays away from those steps!


Lovely hiking views, thanks for sharing.

[SQWIBB]

May 29th 2018

• Friday my trellis supplies came in so I started work on my trellis for the concord grapes.

I was sick most of the weekend but I did get to try some stuff from the garden

• Lovage, Chives including florets, perpetual spinach, eggs, american cheese, grilled chicken, topped with Feta. I would have added the Feta to the inside of the omelet but I was splitting the omelet wit my daughter and she cant stand feta, so I topped with feta for the photo then scraped it off for her. lol.

• The omelet was dam tasty and the Lovage was really good, I was actually impressed, it was like a cross between celery and parsley (peppery celery) the perpetual spinach didn't taste too good raw but once cooked it was really good, it doesn't wilt quite like baby spinach so I added a tablespoon of water, wilted it down then added some olive oil and salt. A pinch of pepper flakes on the PS would have been nice but my breakfast guest doesn't like red pepper... yeah I know!
  

Cant wait to try some Frittatas like this.

• Better shot of the Blueberries and Comfrey flowers.

• Picked the broccoli to eat tonight, just starting to bolt.

This morning I was out in the yard at 4:30 am half naked due to the water line blowing again, this afternoon I ordered a pressure regulator, hopefully this will fix the problem for good!

[SQWIBB]

June 6th, 2018

• Just finished up a small section of the AT with my brother and daughter.

I have been experimenting with cooking up some perpetual spinach for dinner and its pretty good. Its not so good raw.

• I rinse the spinach place in a pan with a tablespoon of water or so, cover with a pot lid and steam a bit, I then add a bit of olive oil, a pinch of salt and a pinch of crushed red pepper, sometimes garlic.

• The pond is looking good, I really need to get in the pond and clean it up a bit.

• Jimmy Nardello in the Pond veggie filter

Planted some hollyhock a friend had given me. I had no where to put these so I crammed them in with the Maypops.

• My sugar snap peas have been coming in, the plants are half the size of the Swenson Swedish Snow Peas but are producing like crazy, I like to pick these when they're young for stir fry's and such.

• Planted some crimson clover in the hugel beds. The worms in the Hugelkultur beds are going absolutely nuts, these are worm castings. They're mostly on the top 2 inches of the beds.

• I tucked in some Kraft paper that was headed to the recycle bin for them to munch on.
  

I pretty much have been in the garden after work most days just tweaking everything munching on strawberries every day and some mornings.



I have my irrigation set for 20 minutes every 48 hours, so far it has been OK.
Before an expected rain I soak the hugelkultur beds with my collected rain water. This frees up the barrels for fresh rain water.


I'm hoping by next year I can turn off the individual water lines to the hugelkultur beds and supplement with just rain water, I'll probably have to water the first several weeks until the roots are established, this is my game plan anyhow.


Been weeding a bit, cutting back the oregano and cabbage, and trying to stick to my strategy... everything is tossed back on the beds nothing is removed

Sowed a bunch of crimson clover in the hugelkultur beds, I figured most of the plants are established so they shouldnt be bothered by the clover.

• The oats are doing well, these were planted too densely and some are dying off.

• The turtles love it in here.

• Strawberries have been doing well. I eat some and share with the turtles when I'm out doing yard work.
  

• Cape Gooseberry

• Most of the pepper plants are doing well, plants are small but producing.

• I have this spot marked as a Corno Di Tor Rosso, but the closest thing it resembles is a Jimmy Nardello

• Grow dammit!!

• This is my first year with Marconi peppers.

• I may need to add some trellis to this area next year, I'll see how the squash performs and decide if I want to make it wider or not.
  

• First year with Blueberries

• Last year my first tomato on and last one off was from a Box Car Willie, this year the first on is a Rutgers.

• Time to play, my better half took the dog to the vets so I recycled some leftovers for dinner.

• Sugar Snap peas roasted with olive oil, garlic, soy, sesame oil, some sriracha sauce, and chives.

• Dinner is served, I call this my, "Poor Mans Lasagna", leftover Cheese Raviolis, Caramelized onions, Green peppers, some breakfast sausage from breakfast burritos I made Saturday, in a tortilla topped with three blend cheese and a bit of Sriracha Sauce. Garden Strawberries and Sugar Snap Peas. AWESOME DINNER!
  

[Nan_PA_6b]

WOW! You've been enjoying the fruits (& vegetables) of your labor!

What is that river of rock in pic #2? Looks like it would be an impassible barrier to deer & humans!
Nan