Baymule's 2017 Garden Thread

[Nenebynature]

I can't believe I haven't started a garden thread yet! So here goes! This will be our 3rd garden since we moved. The first year was a total bust, second year was much better, expect this year to be even better!

https://www.theeasygarden.com/threads/baymules-2015-garden-from-raw-land.16897/

https://www.theeasygarden.com/threads/baymules-2016-garden.18914/

Our soil is pure sand. In August 2016, a friend of my husband's gave us all the 5 year old wood chip mulch we wanted-if he would haul some to his house and some to his father-in-law's house. He jumped on that offer and got our neighbor, Robert, to help. They hooked up the dump trailer and started making loads. I pushed the mulch up in a big pile while they went after another load.

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They made 4 or 5 loads a day until it was gone. Robert got mulch too and spread it in his front yard and in his garden. The mulch was black, crumbly and rich.

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The mulch sat piled up all winter. The grand daughters liked the mulch mountain and played on it.

View attachment 19049

We started getting wood chips from a crew cleaning power line right of way and they parked their trucks here at night and on weekends. I decided to move the old mulch to the garden and got all of it moved and dumped in one day. I put the tractor in low gear, dug into the pile with the front end loader, scooped, and turned toward the garden. I put it in high gear and bounced across the yard to the garden, dumped and raced back to the mulch pile. I was so sore the next day! I had a tractor hangover!

Then we had the crew start dumping wood chips in the spot formerly occupied by the old mulch. DH has kept up with the loads and there is 22 loads of wood chips there now! There is 15 loads on the pipeline now, we already spread 22 loads around the barn yard to keep the sand dust down. In places it is over a foot deep.

I raked the 5 year old mulch out on the garden, and rowed some up. I planted squash, zucchini, yellow crookneck, lemon, and white Lebanese marrow squash. It is up now and has 3-4 leaves. I planted a row of green onions, dill, turnips, pak choy, and mustard. Today I planted 30 Sleeping Lady tomato plants and okra. I planted a double row of Jing Orange okra (should be interesting LOL) and a double row of Jimmy T okra.

My husband and I opened up paper feed sacks and laid under the cow panel trellis we made last year. Then we covered them up with the black mulch. They are ready to plant now!

Wow!!!!

 

[baymule]

It is end of the garden season, actually it ended in the heat of the summer. It gets so hot that everything gives up, including me. But I had some volunteer squash come up and produce and the kajari melons reseeded. The butter beans never quit and the tomatoes regrouped for a last fling. This is what I picked yesterday. I even got a couple of eggs from my molting hens. Not a bad haul for a give up on garden!

 

[baymule]

I picked a volunteer squash today. It has survived several frosts that took out the zucchini plants. This one is a Lebanese White Marrow squash. @seedcorn have you rolled up your first snowman yet?

 

[seedcorn]

No, but thank you for asking. Just killing frost and off of truck wind shield.

 

[Nyboy]

The other day I had to wait while wind shield deiced, not fun on a cold dark morning

 

[majorcatfish]

No, but thank you for asking. Just killing frost and off of truck wind shield.

now @baymule that was mean about his snowman making, we know better ......love it

nice fall harvest....

 

[baymule]

Tomorrow night it will get down to 25 degrees, so I picked what was left in the garden.

The tomato vines are loaded with little green tomatoes. I picked the bigger ones.

I picked mustard greens. I'll finish picking tomorrow.

The collard greens are looking good.
I let the sheep in to clean up in September and they chomped off the collards, but they have sprouted back out. Time to pick them too!

 

[thistlebloom]

Oh my, those tomato plants are gorgeous Bay!
You're going to be a busy gal processing all your harvest. In December!
Having a hard time wrapping my mind around that.

 

[ninnymary]

Wow Bay, you always make it sound like your garden is struggling. Sure doesn't look like it! Those tomatoes are hugh!

Mary

 

[baymule]

The tomato plants went dormant in the heat of the summer. When it cooled off, they put on new growth and started blooming. They have survived several frosts, but I don't think they'll make it past tomorrow night.