mskitty38583

i planted two strings of pearls, another croton, a margarita ee, a batwing begonia, and re- planted a hibiscus. i helped my youngest daughter plant a string of pearls and a sweedish ivy. and still have 40 bulbs to plant outside when the wheather gets a little nicer.

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"kokomo" beach boys:

Richard

Good going!

I'm still trudging along on my Pecan planter. Maybe by wednesday I can start pouring cement.

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mskitty38583

when your done you can come pour cement for me. the guy was suppossed to come out a week ago to tell me how much, now hes suppossed to be here thursday. if he doesnt get here thur. i just might have to do it myself. yeah. not!

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"kokomo" beach boys:

billabong

100 blood red fuscia, a dozen of each Sarracenia species and hybrids (flava, leucophyla, Dana's Delight, Tarnok, Judith Hindle, and purpurea x leucophylla) and a handful of passionflowers.

51st state

ABIES Spectabilis seeds, hundreds of them. would be lovely to see this rarely grown tree gracing many more gardens. fingers crossed.

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bencelest

Page mandarin with fruit
Dancy with fruit
to my plat.

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Banana Nut

microfarmer

Broccoli, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, beans, radishes, carrots, beets, butterhead lettuce, spinach, cilantro, basil, parsley, lemongrass, artichokes, onions, garlic, asparagus.

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My new hero...

Richard

Here's a Hydrofarm dome seed starting tray with 36 "Jiffy" peat pots and seed starting mix.



In the pots I planted these seeds, some in multiple pots --

Tomatoes: Striped Roman, Big Girl, Better Boy, Momotaro, Persimmon, Azoychka, Cherokee Purple, Palla di Fuoco, Green Grape, and Sun Gold.

Eggplants: Ichiban, Rosa, Florida High Bush.

Peppers: Pimento Elite, Long Red Cayenne, Bulgarian Carrot.

Squash: 8-ball, Acorn Butter Boy.

Buds: Snowball Cauliflower, Flash Broccoli.

Beans: Fordhook Lima, Tavera Bush, California Blackeye, Blue Lake Bush.

Pumpkins: Sugar Pie, Connecticut Field.

Now they're being serenaded by Borodin's String Quartet #1.

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bencelest

Wow Richard, I know you have a big backyard but what are you going to do with the extra harvest? You have a lot of plants to plant.

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Banana Nut

Richard

Let's see now ...
The tomatoes end up sliced on sandwiches, pizza, in salads; also in sauce (for freezing) and sorbet. The few remaining go to my immediate neighbors so they are encouraged not to feed the wild rabbits. Up until a few years ago, I was growing 50 tomato plants (10 varieties) at a time in trials, so from my perspective I've cut back quite a bit!

The eggplants are grilled, parmesianed, go into a sauce or two, and some wind up in hummus. By the way, the hand-pump olive-oil sprayers are great for grilling or frying vegetables and cut way back on your oil consumption.

The pimentos get stuffed with ground turkey and tomato, then baked. The chili peppers I cook with fresh or dried and send some fresh ones off to a few affectionados. My wife has a colleague at work from Romania and she says that the Bulgarian Carrot are "the kind".

Last year I had about 3 times as much 8-ball squash than I could use, so this year I'm growing only two plants. My daughters like the Acorn squash, but the plants are not heavy producers -- I'll be lucky to get a dozen total.

The cauliflower gets steamed or goes into cauliflower chili soup, and the broccoli is sometimes eaten on the way to the house ...

I've found it takes about 8 bush bean plants to produce enough for two meals a week, so with 10 plants there is also enough to make and freeze some soup or chili with beans (sorry to those in Texas).

I grow the sugar pie pumpkins for cooking and the connecticut field for decorating. I keep the vines from getting over 6 foot in length so each plant produces about a dozen.

O.K., now that covers what I've planted for the first round!

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bencelest

YOU HAVE A SECOND ROUND!!!!
Yikes!
It sure nice to have an acre of a backyard.
Thanks Richard.
Right now my grass backyard is gone. And also the flower plats. I've got bananas and citrus and fruiting trees instead.

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Banana Nut

microfarmer

Red Lasoda, All Blue, CA white russet, Yukon Gold, and Norkota russet potatoes.

45 primroses.

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My new hero...

Richard

Actually it's just 0.4 acre, but I'm not complaining. In the foreground of the picture below, you see 0.1 acre of switchbacks leading up to a 4' chainlink separating the backyard from the orchard. The orchard is about 130' by 60' at a slope of 12 degrees uphill. There are many deciduous trees which you see are dormant. At the rear of my property is a 30' wide deck, followed by my rear neighbor's Philipino bananas and a macadamia nut orchard. The photo is taken from the second story rear window of the house.

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Richard

This is the finished version of my seed starting environment. The photo flash makes it look very humid on the inside -- in reality I can see right in.

There is a Hydrofarm "Hot House w/ Heat Mat and 6 inch dome" ( Hydrofarm - Hydrofarm CK64060 Hot House w/ Heat Mat, tray, 72 cell pack, 6" dome ) which you can find online for $25-$30. The heat mat does not have a thermostat, so I purchased a Taylor digital cooking thermometer at Target for $12. I put the heat mat on an ordinary light timer. After trial and error, I found that if the heat mat comes on for 1 hour at 11pm, then off for 2 hours, then on for 1 hour, etc. until 9am the soil will stay in the 70 F temperature range.

The light fixture is an inexpensive 2 foot dual bulb unit with a diffuser from Fernie's favorite store for $20. It is a direct-wire kind, so I made a cord by beheading an old extension cord. The frame for the light was constructed from a scrap wood and bolts. The light is also plugged into a timer, set to come on a 7am and off at 7pm. The two bulbs are F20-T12 "Ott-Lite" florescents also purchased from Fernie's favorite store for $6 each.

Tonight they are getting serenaded by The Frank Capp Juggernaut recording "In a Hefti Bag".

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mskitty38583

richard the pic of your property is amazing! do you use a go cart to get around? LOL IM JOKING. you have done your property very well. thanks for sharing the picture.

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"kokomo" beach boys:

Richard

Why ride in a go cart when you can drive a wheelbarrow !

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bencelest

Richard:
Oh, Wow, I've never seen a motorized wheel barrow before.
Is that your own invention?
Knowing you, nothing is impossible.

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Banana Nut

Richard

There are many brands of motorized utility carts and wheelbarrows on the market. In Europe there are varieties that climb stairs, esp. in cities with ancient infrastructure.

The one shown in the photo below is a 6-year old DR Powerwagon which at the time beat the competition by a long shot in every aspect imaginable. It is still going strong and the only repair so far has been to adjust the tension on the brake cable last year. It is a workhorse - consider nearly all the work in photo of my yard below was done entirely by me and the wheelbarrow. Of course, I store it in the garage during rain or fog and this makes a big difference.

The wheelbarrow is made by Country Home Products ( DR® Power Equipment ). They also make an impressive chipper/shredder.

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microfarmer