Garden Chat

Ok but those tomatoes are WAY better than the grocery store. Also I’m definitely going to have several hundred tomatoes to deal with very soon.

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Does anyone know when it’s a good time to pick passion fruit?

All mine have turned purple but I think they are supposed to turn wrinkly? It’s been a few weeks.

I don’t want to leave them much longer because the possums will definitely eat them. Will they ripen fully off the vine? Some places say wait until they fall off but I that means I don’t get passion fruit.

No idea what variety they are. Maybe Panama? They grew from the compost.

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I’d wait til wrinkles start if you can’t wait til they fall.

Would little bags over the fruit protect from the possums?

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They are primarily aesthetic passion fruit (we trained the vine to screen the front verandah) so I’m reluctant to bag. I’ll risk waiting for the wrinkles.

The house nearby that did the same as had all theirs taken by cockatoos so hopefully they don’t spot ours :crossed_fingers:

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I know we all joke about gardening being the most expensive way to obtain food, but I’m harvesting my potatoes and feeling kind of depressed about my garden. I used more seed potatoes than I’m getting out in harvest, I left my fence askew and the rabbits ate my blueberry bushes, I replaced my raspberries this spring because 90% of my original plantings died last summer and they still look like crap, half my asparagus plants never came up at all last summer and the rest are healthy but not spreading. And I bought fruit trees two years ago but still haven’t decided where to plant them so they are languishing in pots.

Idk I know one of my problems is that I get super excited in the spring and buy a ton of stuff without a plan, then plant it all in a panic later than is really ideal, then lose steam and stop paying attention, but I watered everything pretty consistently this summer. Any words of encouragement or ideas?

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I garden like this too! Whoops. In my case a lot of my garden structure just wasn’t ready before I bought plants which delayed their planting even further. Could you spend winter making sure everything is rabbit proof and structurally sound and then picking a couple of perennials you want to focus on getting established next spring and just do some sort of annual easy cover crops from seed for the rest? So next year might be establishing blueberries, and the year after establishing the raspberries etc so you aren’t trying to learn the needs of many plants at once?

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Hi @darlingpants . I plan my garden starting September the year before (I’m in the Northern Hemisphere). It’s important to prepare beds and soil ahead of time. I also use wood raised beds. Can’t quite justify the metal ones. I’m not sure what their carbon footprint is, but I’m guessing it’s more than untreated 2x10s.

Layer lots of dry leaves and grass clippings or whatever you have on your beds. Alternate green and brown, and compost. Top with something that won’t blow away. Or grow a green manure crop such as alfalfa or whatever is a soil builder in your area. I’m thinking oftrying this this year.

I’ve heard it said it takes 3-5 years to get good enough soil to produce much. I agree. We’re on our third year here.

The best way to keep deer and rabbits out of our garden has been to build a cage around the raised beds (attached to them), about 8’ high. We’ve tried using plastic netting around it, but that doesn’t work well. We settle for combining it with a product you spray on the wood called Bobbex. It is a concoction of big cat pee that is collected at zoos, diluted and sold. At least, that’s my understanding. Next year, though, we’re replacing the plastic netting with chicken wire. It’s sturdier. Deer are our biggest problem.

One of the things I’ve done is keep a garden journal in a $1.25 Dollarama journal. I record:

  • what everything costs.
  • Weigh my harvest.
  • when I plant,
  • the results (ie. healthy plants or struggling),
  • my garden plan for the year.

I also look at fertilizer - where I live I need to fertilize every two weeks during the height of growing season. I record fertilizer times in my daytimer, so I don’t forget to do it!

I also don’t grow crops that are cheap at the grocery store. I grow expensive stuff, like herbs. I dry them, freeze them and use them fresh.

Food is getting expensive here in Canada. I find I can get most of our vegetables for July and August from our three raised bed garden boxes (2-3’x8’ and 1-18”x 8’). I don’t grow brassicas, though, because they take up too much space. So I do buy the odd bunch of broccoli or head of cauliflower.

I also grow specialty beets (Chioggia), the tiny eggplants, cucumbers, peas, beans, tomatoes of various types, carrots of various types, kale, Swiss chard, two types of spinach, and 2 types of lettuce. Of course radishes are planted anytime there’s free space.

I grow herbs in bags and whatever pots I can find! I have 3 types of mint, oregano, 2 types of thyme, 2 types of rosemary, chamomile, 2 types of parsley, lavender, stevia, and lemon balm. That’s what I remember off the top of my head.

As for raspberries and such. Is the weather killing them, or deer/rabbits? Surround them with chicken wire tied to a stake. We have yet to do this with our 2 year old canes, and the deer get them every year!

I think it’s really helpful to do the price comparison with the grocery store.

Also consider how you’re acquiring seed and storing it. I keep mine close to 0 degrees Celsius year round, if it’s not in the garden. That is, in the fridge or a cold basement room we have. Most seed is only good for 2-3 years. Some are good forever and some only for one year. It’s a good idea to check gardening books at your local library…or google them.

This is way to long an answer! Hang in there! Sit down with a planner and a journal. Make notes and plans. Eventually you’ll see patterns and will be able to correct them. If you haven’t already, I’d suggest you research companion planting for next year.

Good luck!

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How long have you been gardening? A lot of it is trial and error to find out what you use and what works well in your garden/climate. So it’s not a failure, it’s a learning experience :wink: For example, I’ve completely given up on brassicas and squash here. They just get decimated by cabbage whites and squash vine borers. I also look at gardening as a hobby, not a homestead. It’s fun and helps me connect to my environment, even if I don’t break even on costs.

All of that being said, this has been a rough year for me production-wise, even growing things that I know work well here. My tomato and eggplant crops in particular were sub-par… We had a drought, and I just don’t water enough to keep up. I do make a big effort to water trees and shrubs though because those are expensive. Same for caging them while they get established to protect from deer and bunnies.

Herbs are definitely something that I have great luck with and that save us money at the grocery store. And for big things like trees and shrubs, I do recommend making sure you have a spot for them before purchasing. My husband would laugh if he saw that I said that though.

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Well I whole-assed one thing instead of half-assing a bunch of things

And in doing so realized that everything is so dry it’s like powder, and maybe that’s why my raspberries look so bad. So I’m watering, which I wouldn’t have done if we hadnt done all the yard work this weekend

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Last year the rabbits nibbled on all the green bits and killed a bunch. This year I put a better fence up and half the canes I planted just… didn’t sprout ever. And we had a good spring/summer weather wise! It stopped raining in September, but the most established raspberry doesn’t care at all.

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How close together do you plant things? My raised bed space is probably about that size overall (but in a different configuration) and (maybe I’m planting all the wrong things) but I don’t get more than snacks out.

I am also almost definitely not fertilizing enough. I read like 3 blogs about mulching and did that instead but I don’t think it’s adequate (or I’m doing it wrong)

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If the rabbits/deer browsed them down below the first leaf node they won’t come from the top, but might sprout from the bottom (rootstock). If they are continually browsed low, they will die. Definitely cage them and see what happens next year.

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I overplant to start with, and thin as the season goes on and things grow. I also plant spring crops (April/May), summer crops (May/June) and fall crops (August/September). I mulch too, and add lots of compost.

Here are some current photos of our garden…

In the above photo the short stuff is my fall planting. We don’t freeze until the end of October. The tall stuff is summer plabnting.

Peppers are a summer planting and mostly finished. I stagger the plants in the bed. The eggplants were a summer planting in front of them. They’re done and pulled out. Carrots behind won’t be pulled until after the first frost, when they’ll develop sweetness.

My tomatoes did poorly this year. This is all that’s left.

My deck herb garden Part 1 full sun

Deck herb garden part 2 part shade

More herbs and tomatoes in pots, and nasturtium outgrowing the garden netting.

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@darlingpants , I think providing most of our vegetable needs in summer is highly dependent on how a person eats. We are two seniors and basically eat what grows in our garden. That might not appeal to some people.

For example, radishes grow in under a month to edible size. We eat radish sandwiches with homegrown sprouts (or without), mayo, marg. Hubby adds salt and pepper. I don’t. We don’t put radish greens in stir fry, as some people do.

Peas are another early crop that failed for me this year. I’m thinking either I planted them too late (they don’t like heat), or the seed is too old (4 years). Greens like kale and chard, love cool weather. Lettuce too.

The big problem we have is it’s usually too wet in April to plant. It’s a race to get seed in after snow melt and before spring rains. This year I didn’t do a spring garden as a result.

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Your greens are gorgeous!

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Thank-you!

I managed to grow some fruit!
Plum, nectarine and strawberry!

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Yesssss

The nectarine was delicious after I let it ripen on the counter for a day. I tried the plum slightly unripe and now am very excited about next year.

We managed to get a few strawberries before half the plants died in a heatwave this week :sob: next year they will be better protected as my trees grow but right now its still just too intense. And I really need to water every day.

We got the first mini tomato, though! Ripening on the bench now. Rats and mice are too active for me to leave it out.

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The first tomatoes are the best! FYI if they have blushed at all they can be picked and ripen inside. It won’t affect the flavor as long as it has blushed in the vine.

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