Well, I do have an unlimited source of compost!

tveguy3 said:Well, I do have an unlimited source of compost!

I have to buy my compost each spring!

And I am thrilled to get ~5 5-gallon pails of compost each year from my compost bins. Veggie scraps can only go so far

Not much to report here as far as the tomatoes go (although they ARE looking good, inside their plastic-wrapped cages...)



but I do finally have blossoms on my snow peas (Carouby du Maussane)



Gardening in the north!!

I have a few tomatoes on a couple of plants now that are about the size of a marble! Last time I looked at them they were the size of a pea. I guess that's progress!

Hi All,

I just posted this in the Garden Deals Forum, but thought you guys might like a heads-up on this. Free Shipping at Johnny's Seeds until this Sunday with code. It's a good opportunity to get seeds for fall and winter crops.

Johnny's Seeds
http://www.johnnyseeds.com

"FREE STANDARD SHIPPING: Use Offer Code: 15-3232. U.S. addresses only. Offer does not apply to expedited or additional shipping charges. Offer may be used only once per customer and may not be combined with any other offers or discounts. EXPIRES: Midnight 6/28/2015."

I got a notice about that too.

Do any of you other northern gardeners ever try to grow "fall" crops? I have considered putting in more sugar snaps in the ground in late August, but I have never tried it.

@weedwhacker My peas are starting to bloom now too - but my blossoms aren't as pretty as yours. Those hot boxes for the tomatoes look good - how big are they? Does the UP never really get hot in the late summer? We are only getting to the mid 80's here so far, but I think my tomatoes would fry in those.

mandolls said:

Do any of you other northern gardeners ever try to grow "fall" crops? I have considered putting in more sugar snaps in the ground in late August, but I have never tried it.

For years I tried it by figuring weeks to maturity, but without much success. Now that I have plenty of reseeders in the gardens I'm trying to learn by observing natural sprouting times instead, but basically I just keep muttering my mantra of, "it looks like good weather for sprouting, so just keep on planting them!".

Try to stay away from over-thinking it. That was my biggest issue in the past.

Just keep on planting. They'll finish when they're good and ready to, and any that aren't yummy are still good for building the soil through composting or tilling under.

@mandolls -- Geof, about the fall planting, I totally agree with Chelle; the timing is tricky and although I keep trying it hasn't (to date) worked out all that well for me. As Chelle said, though, by continuing to plant throughout the growing season you will have earlier -- and later -- harvests.

As far as the UP never getting really hot in the summer... we sometimes have summers that are very hot and humid (or at least they seem "very hot" to me, maybe not so much to a lot of people), but the last 2 summers were unusually cool (very, very rare to have any nighttime temps over 70) and this summer is looking like more of that same trend. I always put the plastic around the tomato cages when I first put them out, to give them some extra early warmth and protection from the wind, but generally remove it around the beginning of July. Last summer I planted the tomatoes fairly late and June was a pretty warm month, so I never put the plastic up -- which I regretted the entire remainder of the summer because it never really did warm up like it should have and our tomatoes ripened really, really late. So this year, although I again didn't get the plants out of the GH until mid June, I decided to use the plastic even if I have to take it down after just a few weeks. So far it looks like it will be staying up for a while, at least... and actually, even when the weather has been pretty hot the plants have never seemed to have any problems from being in their little "hot houses." The top is fully open, and the ground is mulched, and they tend to grow like crazy with the protection. (I originally started covering my tomatoes this way when I was using round cages made of fencing; at that time I used some big semi-clear plastic bags that I partially cut on the closed end so they would be ventilated on top, then just slipped them down over the cages and used twine to hold them on. Now with the wooden cages it's pretty easy to wrap the plastic around and just staple it on.)

Still waiting to win the lottery so I can get a greenhouse that will cover the entire garden... or maybe the entire garden, yard and house!!

The wooden cages are 2 feet by 2 feet square (approximately), and about 5 feet tall; I've had them in different arrangements over the years, but this year have them in rows of 4 together, with the plastic wrapped around the group. (I use plastic that was used to cover the GH for the winter.)

@weedwacker How do you 'tend' to the plants if they are wrapped all around or do they not need tending. I can tell my little 'greenhouse' attempt will need upgrading as the tomato really likes it but as it grows it will be too confining. I do have a place I could put one of your style GH's. An asparagus bed that I dug up when they all died this year. It is just about 2x2. Hmmm. But then it would block a peony and an oriental poppy from sun. Guess not there. But I think your idea would work well here since I am not likely to win a lottery either. Course I don't buy tickets so that may be the major cause of my failure in that direction.

@weedwhacker and @Chelle - thanks

Thats about what I thought - trial and error.

With the sugarsnaps. I am pretty sure they would germinate and grow later in the season, and while I know they don't mind some cold, I don't know if they would flower and fruit in the colds of October.

Mary Stella, you gave me a really big laugh with your statement about the lottery tickets. We always say the same thing!!!

That thing about not buying tickets could possibly be why I haven't won, as well...

Mary, the plastic only goes partway up the cages (about 4 feet), and I usually take it off by the time the plants need much in the way of tending; I do have some tall stakes in the middle of each cage that I tie the plants to as they grow, but I can do that even with the plastic in place. The biggest problem I normally have is getting a lot of weeds growing around the plants, but this year I have a nice mulch of grass clippings on them already. Depending on how cool the weather stays, I might just cut the top foot or so of plastic off so I can reach inside better.

First cucumber for the year from the garden. And the basil looks pretty ratty this year.

Both of those are looking good to me. My cucumber plants are just now 3" tall, and I haven't even sown basil yet!

My cukes are starting to set but this was the only one eating size.

I cheated and bought Basil plants. Tried to grow from seed last year, got nothing and had to buy plants anyway. So this year skipped directed to step B, just buy plants ha-ha.

I don't know why but the basil looks beaten up. Maybe all the rain we have been having.

Did the same thing with basil last year, Rita. I also have to be careful and not buy it too early. A few nights that are too cold and the stuff doesn't do well either.

My basil has been very unhappy because of all of the rain we've had. We got at least another 1" today. We are supposed to only have highs in the 70s and lows in the mid 50's over the next several days. That is just wrong for this time of year. We actually have a moat in our yard (and no, we don't live in a castle LOL).

chelle said: Both of those are looking good to me. My cucumber plants are just now 3" tall, and I haven't even sown basil yet!

I could have written the exact same words!!

I've found that when I start basil plants earlier they're already grown and pretty much done by the time I actually have tomatoes, so now I wait to start them... our nights have still been so cool that I think I'll just start them in a planter in the GH and put them outside if it ever actually does warm up.

mom2goldens said:My basil has been very unhappy because of all of the rain we've had. We got at least another 1" today. We are supposed to only have highs in the 70s and lows in the mid 50's over the next several days. That is just wrong for this time of year. We actually have a moat in our yard (and no, we don't live in a castle LOL).

Moat here, too. I haven't even been able to mow some areas for about a month now...and it's raining again. I'll thoroughly enjoy a few cooler days though.

We're hosting a lakeside (the real lakeside, not the moat! ) wedding here tomorrow evening, so I hope it stops before then. They want to apply Listerine to the area to chase off the mosquitoes...has anyone here ever heard of that?