What Did You Do In The Garden?

[Trish Stretton]

I spent alot of time over the last few days in between rain, weeding. Had to carefully transplant a couple of red cabbage seedlings from a clump over to where the Starlings had dug things up.
Found a couple of different types of fungi and took pics so I could post them for ID.

Found the packet of Egyptian Walking Onion sets that I had forgotten about so tomorrow, they need a new home in the garden.

 

[flowerbug]

I have been rebuilding some garden beds. I have yet to get my Greenhouse put up. But I have lots of seeds growing.

someone has been busy!

 

[flowerbug]

After tilling garden again, Planted my tomatoes, peppers, green beans, okra, spinach, beets, sweet corn, radishes and yellow summer squash.

Should have planted more peas and egg plants. Forgot.

that's like two or three weeks too early IMO. warm weather crops like tomatoes, peppers squash especially. radishes early is ok. green beans i won't put out this early either.

 

[seedcorn]

As far as seed crops, they die, they die. My long range weather forecast missed this 28 degree night. Otherwise I’d be good.

 

[ducks4you]

WHERE will zone 7b get frost this week?!?!?

 

[flowerbug]

@ducks4youi think you have your zones reversed in your profile?

 

[ducks4you]

Nope. Weather fluctuations. If you look at the zoning chart I live right on the line between 5b and 6a. One site says that we Are 6a, the other says:
Your Zip: 618xx

• Zone: 6a (According to the new 2012 map)
• Zone: 5b (According to the older 1990 map)

Look at this map. Find E Central IL, where the N/S Interstate, I-57 crosses the E/W Interstate, I-74, also one branch Interstate SW, I-72. We live in Champaign County, county seat is Urbana, twin city (merged) with Champaign, and recently Champaign merged south with Savoy. Find URBANA on the map. I live in SSE Champaign County, NOT the furthest town east, but our town's border is on the county line with the next county south, Douglas County.
See the dark green? It runs right through my property. If I drive north to Sidney (next town north) I am in zone 5b. If I walk out my door I am in zone 6a.
We have had some wicked cold winters in the last 2 decades, so I kinda wonder if the zoning is really correct.

 

[digitS']

The rototiller had a good workout of almost 4 hours, yesterday. I guess, I did too.

There was also an early morning MD visit where I had two shots. I didn't know that the flu/pneumonia vaccine required a 6 month pneumonia booster! The other was a long-overdue tetanus shot.

No apparent problem from those but I sure had trouble sleeping last night. General discomfort was all that I could attribute it to. Walking the Indoor Mile today (because it's windy and rainy out) wasn't difficult. Should've dozed off after lunch but didn't.

This is the second time that I've run the tiller. There is quite a bit more to do but there is ground available for the broccoli and cabbage. The property owner may not have the tractor guy in for his garden for a spring "booster." I tilled more than half of ours last spring and don't plan on doing as much or having a sunflower cover crop in 2020.

No sunflower cover crop, anyway! The 12 year old rototiller isn't up to turning under sunflowers. In fact, it's developed a new trick. Always, from the first, it has been difficult to get in gear. Now, the tines running in reverse may come out of gear if I hit a rock. The wheels continue pulling but my job keeping things straight suddenly gets real easy. Then, I realize that I'm just poopsie doodling over the ground without doing any work ...

I'd be happy to replace the rototiller with the spading fork but that machine and the tractor are a team ... even if I'm just the flunky operating one of them trying to fix the problem created by the other.

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

How about a virtual tour. It's hard for me to get good photos but I'll show what I can.

First shot is an overview of my 8 raised beds. Between the beds is cardboard covered with "pine straw", just long pie needles. I need to work on that more.

Next up is the corn. It's getting closer to ready, probably the first of next week. I plant it in groups about two weeks apart so we can be eating corn a good part of summer.

Then my Bluejay bush green beans. It's the only thing we've been eating fresh since my winter greens quit. We're typically eating green beans five nights a week right now. Good as they are we're ready for a little variety.

Then my Purple Hull black eyed peas. If you look closely you can see some yellow blooms. These will probably start next week too. And once they start they don't stop for a long time.

Then a shot of some pole beans I'm growing for the bean network. I can't get a good shot to show it but my pole and bush beans for the network are pretty much covered with pods. As long as it doesn't blow up in my face I anticipate really high productivity.

 

[flowerbug]

Nope. Weather fluctuations. If you look at the zoning chart I live right on the line between 5b and 6a. One site says that we Are 6a, the other says:
Your Zip: 618xx

• Zone: 6a (According to the new 2012 map)
• Zone: 5b (According to the older 1990 map)

Look at this map. Find E Central IL, where the N/S Interstate, I-57 crosses the E/W Interstate, I-74, also one branch Interstate SW, I-72. We live in Champaign County, county seat is Urbana, twin city (merged) with Champaign, and recently Champaign merged south with Savoy. Find URBANA on the map. I live in SSE Champaign County, NOT the furthest town east, but our town's border is on the county line with the next county south, Douglas County.
See the dark green? It runs right through my property. If I drive north to Sidney (next town north) I am in zone 5b. If I walk out my door I am in zone 6a.
We have had some wicked cold winters in the last 2 decades, so I kinda wonder if the zoning is really correct.
View attachment 35449

" East Central IL, Was Zone 6, Now...maybe Zone 5"
to me that reads like you've shifted north when the temperatures have gone the other direction (gotten warmer). our zones have slightly changed, but due to our microclimate being down in a low spot i still treat it like i did before.