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Offline bill

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update
« on: May 25, 2005, 06:06:44 pm »
well I thought I might update you guys on my truck farming activities. The garlic is started to turn brown on the top of the leaves which means i need to harvest it and let it lay on the ground till it is ready to be clipped. It got too hot too quick for the spinach and the other greens. I got them in too late I guess . I will try again in the fall. My cantelopes are blooming but I havent seen any bees on them yet. I do see the bees getting water from the ends of the drip lines where it comes out real slow. the yellow jackets get theirs there too. I never realized how many yellow jackets there are here.  The tomatoes are about three feet high and have set fruit the long green chilis are small but healthy. I still have a lot of stuff to plant. I should have ripe tomatoes about the last two weeks of june. that will be when the farmers market opens. if there aare not tomaatoes there is no use to open it. this is my first year of planting through black plastic so I will be updating about how it works. I already found that the thin stuff bermuda grass will punch through it. so I will go for thicker stuff next year.The sweet onions are not great this year. I will write more another day. by
billiet

Offline Miss Chick-a-BEE

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« Reply #1 on: May 26, 2005, 09:46:52 pm »
Sounds like mostly your growing is going good at this point. We're at about the same point.... flowering, and just a little fruit starting. Although our thornless blackberries are doing fantastic. Most of the fruit has started, just needs to grow and ripen. Here's some pics..... they tell more.

Cantalope


Cucumber


Tomatoes

The tomatoes look sorta pitiful in this picture, but I think that's because I took them at dusk, so the light was bad. I think they're doing really well for having only started them about 3 weeks ago. Also, they had a fungus we had to treat. I feel they've grown in leaps and bounds.

Beth

Offline Phoenix

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update
« Reply #2 on: May 27, 2005, 10:32:37 am »
Hey Bill, this is my first time growing garlic and I'm not sure when to harvest, do you have any suggestions for this rookie?  I planted Spanish Roja's, German Whites, and a third variety which name escapes me.  The three varieties were to give me mild, medium and hot types.  These were all grown locally so I'm pretty sure they are well suited for my climate, but I'd be happy to recieve any advice as to others that might do well here in Mid Michigan.

Offline bill

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« Reply #3 on: May 27, 2005, 01:01:08 pm »
well garlic I put in in the fall and it grows through the winter here. and It is now getting ready to harvest,  the leaves start turning brown and I think it that is just about as big as it will get. I usually can just pull it and let it lay on the ground, but I think mich is probably a lot wetter than it is here. so when you harvest it you might want to put it under a roof or in a barn, cause it gets ugly if it is too damp and the skin may turn dark, of course it is still good but if it is for sale it will look better. some people braid it to hang like chili ristras but I just clip it like onions. I have saved bulbs to plant for a long time so I don't really know what variety it is. I have seen a lot of sites selling seed stock on the web.  let me know how it goes and what you think of the varieties you are going I might order some and try it.
And miss chickaby, That hydro ponic stuff looks really good especially the cantelopes they look a lot more delicate and leggy compared to mine but they are beautiful I bet that vine will be heavy soon I am growing over
 plastic instead of under.  what kind of nutrients do you use for it ? I wish I was set up to send pic's  but maybe I will get rich this year lol.  O yeah, My black berry drip lines got chewed by rabits and ground squirrils and  did not do well this year we still have enough to make jam and eat we sold quite a bit last year but they are hard to pick anyway lol
billiet

Offline Miss Chick-a-BEE

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« Reply #4 on: May 27, 2005, 02:46:00 pm »
Bill-

The hydroponic nutrient is somewhat like miracle grow. We bought it online, as a two part mix, for about $25. We only used less than half for 2 full seasons - now this is our third season. It just has to be something that's water soluble. If you want the real specifics, I can get them from my husband, cause I don't know the name of it or anything. :)

The cantalope is an experiment for this year. Not sure how it's going to work. I do wonder if the vine will be strong enough to hold the fruit up in the air as it is. Well see.

You should try the thornless variety of black berries. They're slightly expensive, but will divide up and turn into MANY plants in no time. We bought only a few little twigs a couple years ago, and it's turned into about 20 large bushes now. The berries are very big and juicy too. We also bought raspberries (not thornless). One difference between the two, is that the blackberries make new plants with cuttings (or if a long branch touches the ground, it'll grow from that). But the raspberries grow like the wild blackberries - by the root system, starting new plants one to two feet from the parent plant. I sort of DON'T like for them to grow by the roots, because you can't exactly control where they go. So the raspberries don't stay in the bed where we planted them, but want to spread out. The thornless blackberries are easier to control.

Beth

Offline amymcg

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« Reply #5 on: May 27, 2005, 05:08:22 pm »
Phoenix,

I grow garlic in MA, similar climate to you in Michigan.  I usually harvest mine in August. (I also plant in November)  They will throw up a curly stem that starts to get a bulb on it. Cut that off. then the garlic will grow a bigger bulb instead of trying to flower.  Once the leaves are 3/4 brown, then you can harvest.

Also, try gardenweb.com forums on Alliums. Lots of tips there on growing garlic,

Offline Phoenix

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« Reply #6 on: May 29, 2005, 09:01:06 pm »
Thanks Bill, you too Amy.

The third variety I planted are Persian Star and they don't seem to be doing as well.  I had 100% of both the others come up, but only about 85% of the Persian Stars.

The German Whites seem to be the first ones to come up last fall and the fastest growing this spring.

Offline bill

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« Reply #7 on: June 14, 2005, 07:18:49 pm »
you guys know a lot more about garlic  than I do, but I know where to ask now. I have them all out of the ground now I need to clip them in the next couple of days. we are picking our apricot tree now it is loaded. we lill make jam out of most of them.  The blackberry I grow is a very good one especially for this area it is the water system that I haven't got figured out. without irrigation nothing will grow her. rasberries have only one variet that will grow here and it doesnt yield much. I will have them straightened out for next year, oh and the thornless ones the agent said would not yield enough for selling.
billiet

Offline Miss Chick-a-BEE

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« Reply #8 on: June 14, 2005, 09:24:38 pm »
Our thornless blackberries are GREAT. They've really fruited out this second season. Huge (end of thumb size) berries, and sweet.

Beth

Offline bill

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« Reply #9 on: June 25, 2005, 07:31:02 pm »
I have a lot of melons looking mature but not ripe yetI can't wait I sold at the farmers mkt today and I could have sold a lot of them. I sold about 140 lbs of tomatoes though.
billiet

Offline Miss Chick-a-BEE

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« Reply #10 on: June 25, 2005, 09:37:25 pm »
Good Job! I love going to a farmer's market. I wish we had one around here. I've talked with the cooperative extension office and another office that deals with community affairs. But neither is that interested in trying to start one. We do finally have a super walmart in our community though, so maybe in a couple years they'll feel growth is high enough to warrent having one.

Beth