Yesterday I set out 44 tomato plants. DH dug the holes with a post
hole digger and I set out the plants. Later we went back out and put
cages around all of them.

Thankfully the ground is moist. and today it is cool and misting. Hope
to get some grass clippings on them soon and then on the whole area.

As soon as I have recovered I will start on the squashes, melons,
cukes and zukes. I need to make sure that the area I choose for the
watermelons, cantaloupe and pumpkins have plenty of room to expand. My
okra is about ready to be set out and as soon as it is warm enough I
will plant some beans. I will plant a limited number of Roma 2 and
French green beans for eating fresh. We already have plenty canned. I
am thinking about soy beans and some lentils. The last time I tried
lentils it got so wet that I could not even get into the plot to weed.
This year they will probably die from lack of water.

I guess all any of us can do is sow the seed and hope for good
gardening weather.
--
USA
North Carolina Foothills
USDA Zone 7a
To find your extension office
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/index.html

On Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:44:00 -0400, The Cook
wrote:

Yesterday I set out 44 tomato plants. DH dug the holes with a post
hole digger and I set out the plants.

That'd be "Dumb Husband" ?


watermelons, cantaloupe and pumpkins have plenty of room to expand. My
okra is about ready to be set out and as soon as it is warm enough I
will plant some beans.

I've got my beans started, but my Okra didn't germ.

On Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:01:00 -0700, Sean Straw
wrote:

On Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:44:00 -0400, The Cook
wrote:

Yesterday I set out 44 tomato plants. DH dug the holes with a post
hole digger and I set out the plants.

That'd be "Dumb Husband" ?

No, that is my Dear Husband. He also likes tomatoes and know that if
he doesn't help me get them in, he won't have any.

watermelons, cantaloupe and pumpkins have plenty of room to expand. My
okra is about ready to be set out and as soon as it is warm enough I
will plant some beans.

I've got my beans started, but my Okra didn't germ.

Looks like I have about 10 out or 12 okra plants now.

I start almost everything except beans in the greenhouse.

--
USA
North Carolina Foothills
USDA Zone 7a
To find your extension office
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/index.html

The Cook wrote:
On Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:01:00 -0700, Sean Straw
wrote:

On Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:44:00 -0400, The Cook
wrote:

Yesterday I set out 44 tomato plants. DH dug the holes with a post
hole digger and I set out the plants.

That'd be "Dumb Husband" ?

No, that is my Dear Husband. He also likes tomatoes and know that if
he doesn't help me get them in, he won't have any.

watermelons, cantaloupe and pumpkins have plenty of room to expand.
My okra is about ready to be set out and as soon as it is warm
enough I will plant some beans.

I've got my beans started, but my Okra didn't germ.

Looks like I have about 10 out or 12 okra plants now.

I start almost everything except beans in the greenhouse.

I currently have giant sunflowers , 3 kinds of 'maters , lettuce , spinach
, cayenne peppers , punkins , acorn squash , zucchinis , and cantalopes -
and last years onions makin' seed - up and growing in my little garden . The
carrots haven't come up yet , but I'm thinkin' any day now . And I have a
space about 6' square 2 metres/sq to you metrics that I haven't decided
yet . Luckily we have a long growing season here .
--
Snag
Learning keeps
you young !

The Cook wrote:

Yesterday I set out 44 tomato plants. DH dug the holes with a post
hole digger and I set out the plants. Later we went back out and put
cages around all of them.

wow, that's a long day.

we aren't planning as much tomato gardening this
season. i would like to get a few roma in a smaller
patch to try them this year.


Thankfully the ground is moist. and today it is cool and misting. Hope
to get some grass clippings on them soon and then on the whole area.

As soon as I have recovered I will start on the squashes, melons,
cukes and zukes. I need to make sure that the area I choose for the
watermelons, cantaloupe and pumpkins have plenty of room to expand. My
okra is about ready to be set out and as soon as it is warm enough I
will plant some beans. I will plant a limited number of Roma 2 and
French green beans for eating fresh. We already have plenty canned. I
am thinking about soy beans and some lentils.

edamame soybeans?


The last time I tried
lentils it got so wet that I could not even get into the plot to weed.
This year they will probably die from lack of water.

i planted lentils late when i tried them last year, they
didn't do much until the cooler weather returned in the
fall and they were big enough to get more light. this
year i've decided to let them go and plant adzuki beans
instead (which have a similar texture and flavor to me).
we'll see how they do.


I guess all any of us can do is sow the seed and hope for good
gardening weather.

so many factors can influence the results. i think
a lot of people set their sights a little too high
and then suffer from disappointment. to me a good part
of gardening is learning -- listening to the soil,
plants, bugs, critters...

a few years ago i took a bunch of seeds from
some plants out front and scattered them in the
back to cover an area of bare ground i'd cleared
of things i didn't want. nothing happened for two
years. last year a few showed up and i laughed.
this spring they are flowering in a nice patch off
to the side in a more sunny location. which is
good as that tells me they needed more sun than
where i put the seeds down. rain splash, critters,
weeding, or random brownian motion got them where
they needed to be and it worked out in the end.
the patch out front only has one remaining plant.


songbird

On Tue, 1 May 2012 10:29:29 -0400, songbird
wrote:

We already have plenty canned. I
am thinking about soy beans and some lentils.

edamame soybeans?

edamame being the Japanese word for 'green soybean'. g

I'd love pointers on how to improve the yeild from mine. I only grew
half a dozen plants of them last year, and when all was said and done,
I got perhaps four cups of dried beans (actual beans, not the pods)
out of the lot.

I have some mung beans growing, but I've never grown them before
(outside of for sprouts). They're all remaining awfully small -
basically not much larger than a sprout.

On Tue, 1 May 2012 10:29:29 -0400, songbird
wrote:

The Cook wrote:

Yesterday I set out 44 tomato plants. DH dug the holes with a post
hole digger and I set out the plants. Later we went back out and put
cages around all of them.

wow, that's a long day.

we aren't planning as much tomato gardening this
season. i would like to get a few roma in a smaller
patch to try them this year.


Thankfully the ground is moist. and today it is cool and misting. Hope
to get some grass clippings on them soon and then on the whole area.

As soon as I have recovered I will start on the squashes, melons,
cukes and zukes. I need to make sure that the area I choose for the
watermelons, cantaloupe and pumpkins have plenty of room to expand. My
okra is about ready to be set out and as soon as it is warm enough I
will plant some beans. I will plant a limited number of Roma 2 and
French green beans for eating fresh. We already have plenty canned. I
am thinking about soy beans and some lentils.

edamame soybeans?


The last time I tried
lentils it got so wet that I could not even get into the plot to weed.
This year they will probably die from lack of water.

i planted lentils late when i tried them last year, they
didn't do much until the cooler weather returned in the
fall and they were big enough to get more light. this
year i've decided to let them go and plant adzuki beans
instead (which have a similar texture and flavor to me).
we'll see how they do.


I guess all any of us can do is sow the seed and hope for good
gardening weather.

so many factors can influence the results. i think
a lot of people set their sights a little too high
and then suffer from disappointment. to me a good part
of gardening is learning -- listening to the soil,
plants, bugs, critters...

a few years ago i took a bunch of seeds from
some plants out front and scattered them in the
back to cover an area of bare ground i'd cleared
of things i didn't want. nothing happened for two
years. last year a few showed up and i laughed.
this spring they are flowering in a nice patch off
to the side in a more sunny location. which is
good as that tells me they needed more sun than
where i put the seeds down. rain splash, critters,
weeding, or random brownian motion got them where
they needed to be and it worked out in the end.
the patch out front only has one remaining plant.


songbird


I"I've got seeds for green and black soy beans so I will see what
happens. I'm now thinking that it may be too late to plant lentils
this year. Maybe I can get them going earlier next year.
--
USA
North Carolina Foothills
USDA Zone 7a
To find your extension office
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/index.html

Sean Straw wrote:
On Tue, 1 May 2012 10:29:29 -0400, songbird
wrote:

We already have plenty canned. I
am thinking about soy beans and some lentils.

edamame soybeans?

edamame being the Japanese word for 'green soybean'. g

I'd love pointers on how to improve the yeild from mine. I only grew
half a dozen plants of them last year, and when all was said and done,
I got perhaps four cups of dried beans (actual beans, not the pods)
out of the lot.

soybeans or edamame? (they are different varieties)

the regular soybeans i've grown here have done well.
i suspect you might be keeping them too dry and perhaps
they could use an innoculant. from what you've written
before i think you have open skies and plenty of space.
are you in the foggy zone?

the patches i've grown here have yeilded about 5lbs
per 40-60sq ft. full sun, if it doesn't rain enough
i give them some water from the hose. in comparison
to the farm fields around us (that do not get irrigation
but do grow soybeans most alternate years) my soybeans
are twice to three times as tall.

i'm growing an edamame variety this year and doubt
they will yield the same.


I have some mung beans growing, but I've never grown them before
(outside of for sprouts). They're all remaining awfully small -
basically not much larger than a sprout.

how much moisture are they getting?


songbird

On Tue, 1 May 2012 19:46:59 -0400, songbird
wrote:

soybeans or edamame? (they are different varieties)

The varieies I have a

Tokio Verte (from Baker Creek), Green Butterbeans (from Johnny's).
These were grown last year, and the year prior (respectively).

Also have Fledderjohn (Baker Creek), and Fiskeby Edamame (High Mowing)
to try this year.

ALL of them are described as "edamame type".

I'd let them to to dry beans as it seemed that the pods never got all
that plump until they just started going dry, as if the seeds were
doing a last grab for moisture after the shell passed its prime.

perhaps they could use an innoculant.

Tons of N in the soil here, though I do use a legume innoculant as
well.

from what you've written before i think you have open skies
and plenty of space. are you in the foggy zone?

No, north of SF and the gate. We get cooling night fog on some summer
nights and have a longer than average growing season for the region.

the patches i've grown here have yeilded about 5lbs
per 40-60sq ft.

5 lbs green or let to dry? Yes, I realize that most bean plants stop
flowering if the beans are left on the plant too long (i.e. to dry),
so dry harvest is less than green harvest (besides the difference in
moisture content).

How densely planted? I had 6 or 8 plants last year. They were very
green, but never got more than about 12-18 inches tall. they weren't
vining, so didn't seem like the sort to be on a trellis. The pole
beans were adjacent and were producing like nuts.

i give them some water from the hose.

Mine were part of a timed irrigation with my pole beans on a soaker
hose.

my soybeans are twice to three times as tall.

Free standing or supported? How tall?

I have some mung beans growing, but I've never grown them before
(outside of for sprouts). They're all remaining awfully small -
basically not much larger than a sprout.

how much moisture are they getting?

Moist soil, but not soaking. I just transplanted them out this
morning. Not anything near being root bound or anything in the
containers they were in. I half expect the birds will clear them out
soon enough.

As April starts to come to an end, our little vegetable garden is beginning to get ready for May. And we’re giving it a hand. The radishes need a little thinning, but neither of us can bare to let these darlings go to waste. And the sugar peas are beginning to climb their trellis. They have a few more weeks before they’re in full climb, but we’ll be giving them a hand. Shallots and garlic are busy underground, getting ready to become something lovely on the grill.

Sean Straw wrote:
songbird wrote:

soybeans or edamame? (they are different varieties)

The varieies I have a

Tokio Verte (from Baker Creek), Green Butterbeans (from Johnny's).
These were grown last year, and the year prior (respectively).

Also have Fledderjohn (Baker Creek), and Fiskeby Edamame (High Mowing)
to try this year.

ALL of them are described as "edamame type".

I'd let them to to dry beans as it seemed that the pods never got all
that plump until they just started going dry, as if the seeds were
doing a last grab for moisture after the shell passed its prime.

ok, edamame type are not what i have grown
here. so that could be the entire difference.
after this season i'll know a little more about
growing one variety of edamame and see if they
are of similar size plant to the "regular"
soybeans i have been growing.

however, below you mention growing them with
pole beans and if that is the case they might
not be getting enough sun to produce well.

try a regular organic soybean variety instead.
that will give you a direct comparison planting
them side by side for your conditions.


perhaps they could use an innoculant.

Tons of N in the soil here, though I do use a legume innoculant as
well.

when you pull the plants out of the ground do
they have nodules on the roots?

grr, i wish i can remember exactly, i think
soybeans take a different species of bacteria
than a regular bean plant. i've not needed to
innoculate here as there are soybean growers
all over the place. when i dig up plants there
are always plenty of nodules on the roots.


from what you've written before i think you have open skies
and plenty of space. are you in the foggy zone?

No, north of SF and the gate. We get cooling night fog on some summer
nights and have a longer than average growing season for the region.

ok,


the patches i've grown here have yeilded about 5lbs
per 40-60sq ft.

5 lbs green or let to dry? Yes, I realize that most bean plants stop
flowering if the beans are left on the plant too long (i.e. to dry),
so dry harvest is less than green harvest (besides the difference in
moisture content).

soybeans will keep flowering. i have some plants
where i've seen 15 pods per node. i've never seen
anything other than a bush type of soybean. 4-5ft
tall.

5lbs dry.

planted 1lb of seeds last year and ended up
with 44lbs harvested/sorted. i wasn't particularly
careful in how i planted them, so easily i could
improve that by half or more again if i spaced
them out more and didn't plant two seeds per space.
i didn't have that much room.

this year i'll have a thousand more sq ft of
room for bean varieties, but i'm not going to be
planting as many soybeans as i did last year.
i'd rather grow the kinds of beans i can store
and cook for food and it will take me a few years
to use up the soybeans i've already got on hand
if i can't sell them.


How densely planted? I had 6 or 8 plants last year. They were very
green, but never got more than about 12-18 inches tall. they weren't
vining, so didn't seem like the sort to be on a trellis. The pole
beans were adjacent and were producing like nuts.

i plant densely enough so that the plants will
support each other against the winds we get. most
of my patches are about 50sqft. 4-6 inch spacing.
the plants on the edge are larger than the plants
in the middle. they self crowd and regulate so that
if i planted thinner they would probably produce
about as well. some plants will have hundreds of
seeds and others will have one pod. i plant thickly
as i use them for weed control, and controlling
runners for strawberries.

if you recall the pictures from the roof i put up
a bit ago and the one that i called the jungle, the
biggest clumps of beans in there were soybeans about
4ft tall.


i give them some water from the hose.

Mine were part of a timed irrigation with my pole beans on a soaker
hose.

hmm, ok,


my soybeans are twice to three times as tall.

Free standing or supported? How tall?

free standing, supporting each other, 4-5ft max,
un-irrigated fields right next to us normally reach
1-2ft plants. same exact seeds the first season i
tried them (then i switched to an organic non-roundup-
ready source). i use them to make soymilk and as
a green manure, ground cover, worm food, shade
provider, strawberry runner control, soil improver,
etc.


I have some mung beans growing, but I've never grown them before
(outside of for sprouts). They're all remaining awfully small -
basically not much larger than a sprout.

how much moisture are they getting?

Moist soil, but not soaking. I just transplanted them out this
morning. Not anything near being root bound or anything in the
containers they were in. I half expect the birds will clear them out
soon enough.

they'll do much better when they get some good
strong light for a several full days.

beans sprout quickly enough and are planted deeply
enough that i've never done the sprout indoors before
planting thing. i don't get much bird damage, more
often the damage here is grasshoppers, japanese beetles,
mice, voles, and chipmunks. none of them enough to
worry about.


songbird

On Wed, 2 May 2012 09:45:32 -0400, songbird
wrote:

however, below you mention growing them with
pole beans and if that is the case they might
not be getting enough sun to produce well.

No, in an area adjacent to pole beans. Not intercropped with them.
They were to the southeast of the pole bean suppport structure, so no
shadow. I'm particular about where I let tall things grow in the
garden - mostly limit it to the North side of things.

perhaps they could use an innoculant.

Tons of N in the soil here, though I do use a legume innoculant as
well.

when you pull the plants out of the ground do
they have nodules on the roots?

Yea, all the beans end up having white rice/barley looking things on
the roots. First year I pulled up a bean plant, I thought it had a
bug infestation or disease.

Sean Straw wrote:
songbird wrote:

however, below you mention growing them with
pole beans and if that is the case they might
not be getting enough sun to produce well.

No, in an area adjacent to pole beans. Not intercropped with them.
They were to the southeast of the pole bean suppport structure, so no
shadow. I'm particular about where I let tall things grow in the
garden - mostly limit it to the North side of things.

ok. the mystery will be interesting to
solve...


perhaps they could use an innoculant.

Tons of N in the soil here, though I do use a legume innoculant as
well.

when you pull the plants out of the ground do
they have nodules on the roots?

Yea, all the beans end up having white rice/barley looking things on
the roots. First year I pulled up a bean plant, I thought it had a
bug infestation or disease.

hehe

hm, well if your regular beans and pole beans
are doing fine then it seems to come down to
variety differences or perhaps they like less
moisture than what they are getting. couldn't
say for sure without doing a test plot this
season with regular soybeans side by side with
the edamame. i'll be doing that here this season,
but no timed irrigation will be happening for
these gardens.

let me know how it goes or if you figure
something else out. i'm always curious...


songbird