Gardening Thread - Show me your gardens!

Wife moved all the strawberries, letting the chickens pick weeds on the sweet potatoes bed, and fertilize it

 

We are falling behind! The garden ornamental portion is on going and the greenhouses are flourishing but nothing planted in the ground other than 8 fruit trees. Where does the time go?

 

70ft pillow.

 

I planted an Apple Tree last week and then found out today the trees on the side of the house are Red Cedar, sure hope that doesnt turn into a bad combination.

 

Seedlings are coming along. Should be ready for mid to late May planting. Onions and potatoes got planted about 2 weeks ago. Fall planted garlic is looking good. Got a little leaf lettuce and carrots in the ground today. Also planted a second wave of sugar snap peas. Always struggle with the peas but plant them most years anyway. Tilled the rest of the garden up yesterday and will hit it again before the main planting in n May.

 

Garden beds planted.

 

I remember this place! Been a while, but I am going to try again.
Well, I put in a little mini-orchard last week. Should be fun!

 

And now for something completely different! I've been threatening the family with this for years, and now that the pond is moved to the fence, it's time. So, I ordered up a kit, and got some fence pieces and stained it to match, and off (my rocker) I go!

Got to make the stand, and get it in place.




And here it is! my very own Hydroponics kit, but because I will be using the pond water, and gold fish to provide nutrient, it is an AQUAPONICS system! I chose a kit because all the weird little fittings were included, and the normal ones are still in short supply down here after February (still!) With everything pre-done for me, I probably saved a few bucks.



Piped and plumbed up, with a little decorative covering....




Flow control will allow me to compensate for what is needed. It's on one of the big pumps, with a 16" x 9" multi-stage filter.



Now, off to get some seeds and such sprouting. Has little baskets with sponge starters, have rockwool squares for growing. Going to start with some lettuces and simple herbs to start. K.I.S.S. Soon, I hope to amaze everyone, including me!

 

Very nice. Keep an eye on it though, I used 6" PVC previously and even it would get plugged up from the roots.

 

Thanks. I looked into doing it myself, and with bigger tubing. This year, thanks to February's Blizza-Covid, all the little PVC goodies are just plain hard to find. Easier to start small, and see how it goes. I'm not even likely to fill every hole getting going.

 

4" not 6". Everything will grow fast in it.

 

That's VERY nice. Since I'm using the fish pond, the most space I have is roughly double my current kit. So, if this works well at all, I'm not out much to do it over larger scale. And the wife won't look at me like I'm nuts (at least for this anyway...).

 

I hope it’s not cold outside...

 

We could easily have snow the first Saturday in May.

 

Well, why not. This is my second year with a little Palram Hybrid 6x8 greenhouse. They are much prettier than I used to have, but boy they can get HOT, and COLD. I'm in a FB group, and have found you really have to work to insulate against either. I just set mine up last summer, so it was already 100* out, and I just worked real hard to keep things watered in there with my fabulous "Free Solar Water System" (another story). Winter didn't go so well for it's main intended use - over winter the pool Hibiscus, so that will be another project in the fall!

But, back to work. I cleaned everything out, consolidated the remnants of the Hibiscus cuttings, and fixed up the shelves and pumping. Things didn't look so bad when I first started working, but about 60% of the plants on the floor had dropped all their leaves when I unloaded. This part of February is probably why. Before Snovid Apocolypse 21, it was 90* in there!






First on the agenda this Spring, was a sunblock cover. I had to settle on a 30% tan without getting ridiculous in price. It works a lot better than nothing - the first day noted on the chart was the day before it went up. I was afraid the automatic vents in the roof would rip it, so I found baby corners and put them on! And vastly improved the fan capability.





Plumbing wise, I needed to move the inside reservoir tank down, and shield it from the sun. So, some blue bubble wrap to that location. Then, might as well insulate for winter, so a Styrofoam panel over that. The pump needs flooded suction, so that's why there's a tank in there. There's another tank, and two more little pumps in the shed! The drips and runs all got redone during this process. I also added two more layers of bubble wrap up in the top West, because the afternoon sun is brutal. Seems to help.





So at last, as last! Shopping for veggies and getting them potted and in there! Eight tomato plants, and nine peppers to start, plus some left over herbs that survived. A couple trays for seedings that will go into the Aquaponic set up!





And a week later, tomatoes have grown 6", and I have seedlings to play with next week!

 

Not much gardening happening here today. Took this photo this morning.

 

You really over watered!

 

I started my seeds this weekend. Most of them, at least.

 

I know it's not legal yet here in Texas, but it's worth a shot.