2024 gardens

[SONNY]

Time to think about this years gardens ! Are you going to go bigger? smaller? same? What varieties do you want to try this year?
We will be a bit smaller this year, ----- getting to the point of not being able to do 4.5 acres anymore.

[Eugene]

Placed an order for two varieties of pecan and two varieties of hazel nuts last fall. This will expand the nut and fruit orchard a bit.

Past two years I've been hauling water for newly planted nut and fruit trees because of the severe/extreme drought. Also had to water in town small garden plots.

Not ordering vegetable seed for 2024 or expanding garden plots for 2024.

Just waiting to see what 2024 offers.

[SONNY]

I am thinking our 4.5 acres is going to shrink down to just a couple rows of onions and 20 rows of sweetcorn, a few greenbeans, and a few tomato plants. Not going to have time to tend much this year.

[Peter Person]

Replanted the strawberry bed last spring after the overhaul of the bed we did, so we should have a good crop of berries this year.
Corn in the old chicken yard did not do well, thinking too much rain and not enough sun. Going to try again this year. If it works out, then we will keep going with it in 2025.
We have a new variety of blackberries coming this spring from Nourse Farms to try.
Garlic got planted in late November, hopefully the cloves didn't rot with all the rain we had in December - 9" total.

[Don McCombs]

I’ve noticed that a lot of the people who started vegetable gardening during Covid have abandoned their new hobby.

[SONNY]

Don, ---- I think they found out just how much work is involved in growing your own! I still think its worth it cause then you know what went into it or on it!
Cant buy the home grown taste at Waaaamart! LOL!

[Barebones]

"...who started vegetable gardening..."
One can substitute the word hunting for vegetable gardening, as well. People are too used to having others fetch their food and have lost touch with reality, as a result of exercising only their fingers.

I abandoned my remote melon garden last year, because I allowed a killdeer to have her nest unmolested. I had planted the seed for about 12 hills but never watered them until the birds left, which was the end of June. An early drought saw to it that anything that germinated perished - all but 2 Jubilee watermelon plants; I ended up with 4 melons over 30 pounds and that was it. Didn't plant any pumpkins in and adjacent patch for the same reason, also. Garlic was fine with the usual harvest in July.

I'm hoping for better results this year but am pessimistic because of the bird's probable reappearance; I understand they return to successful sites. They love it when soil is turned over for nesting purposes, but this one blended in with some rocks and surrounding black, weed-barrier plastic. Incredibly camouflaged in plain sight!

I may have to move the garden but I'd hate to lose the spot because it has the best soil and a self-installed water pump.

Any other (humane) ideas? BTW I was there when the birds hatched and ran off and it was somewhat rewarding.

[Don McCombs]

We have killdeer nest every summer in the limestone gravel driveway to the barn. Fortunately, there are alternates routes. Create a gravel area about four feet square, close enough that they will find it. But, far enough that you won’t disturb them during nesting.

[SONNY]

Got the birds here BUT I ignore them and tend the garden anyway! They go bananas when I cultivate past them but come back. I go around the nests and all is well with them. They hatch out and run off into the weeds.

[Barebones]

Sounds like I can ignore them but I'll keep disturbance to a minimum. Mostly watering anyway and that goes pretty fast. Thanks for the options.

[ajhbike]

I plan to put in a couple of more 4x8x2' tall raised beds. Salt river flooding is more frequent nowadays and it has rendered an 8x20 almost unusable because of the soil impact. I was able to get some onions and zucchini off it last year but cabbage, beans, peas, broccoli no good. Asparagus like it.

Probably do what worked and move on. 2 foot tall beds are nice for us old folks

[Don McCombs]

Consider this approach to getting up out of the flooding and bad soil…

[ajhbike]

That's an idea for sure...You would have to water that style a lot...soaker hose of course which I really like

[SONNY]

The off ground beds work good if you can install an automatic watering system on them.
On the ground raised beds 2 or 3 feet deep give a decent height and eliminate a LOT of bending, but require more watering. We used 3 out here til we got the 4.5 acres farmable.
I am working on the 12 x 24x 7 greenhouse now. Have enough used materials to make it.
2 more projects are 20 x 40 concrete block shop and a root cellar. Wanted to make a 2 story root cellar with garden shed on the top,--- not sure on it yet. Kinda thinking about an 8 x 12 with bottom level being 12 to 14 feet down, then second story 6 or 7 feet up then the top.

[SONNY]

gaining on the greenhouse, --- got about half of it up. Its made from used stuff and leftover pieces from a commercial greenhouse.