I planted some Yukon Gold taters last summer , and they didn't do diddly -
maybe because I planted them kinda late . The rows are well defined , so I
can avoid that area when I till new ground for next year - the question is
should I leave them and hope for new growth and a crop next year or just
till 'em under and try again ? I did dig a little and found a few very small
potatoes , but nothing I felt was worth harvesting .
Also , is this the right time to get garlic in the ground for next year ?
As much as we like it I'd like to have some out in the garden , and try out
using the scapes . note to self , get some daffydills for the wife this
fall!!
I'll be expanding the garden space next year down hill some more . The
soil further from the edge of the woods seems much more fertile if this
year's results are any indication , and while I'll lose part of the
blackberry patch I feel the trade off is worth it - those berries grow wild
all over the place up here and they're a bi**h to pick .
--

Snag

"Snag" wrote:

Also , is this the right time to get garlic in the ground for next year ?
As much as we like it I'd like to have some out in the garden , and try out
using the scapes . note to self , get some daffydills for the wife this
fall!!

Where are you located? The rule of thumb for garlic is to plant 6-8 weeks
before ground frost. You want the cloves to make root growth to anchor
them, but little or no top growth to be winter damaged and cost them energy
better used next spring. For me (upstate NY) hardneck types do better and,
of course, make those scapes that SWMBO makes into pesto.

--
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/4 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

Snag wrote:

I planted some Yukon Gold taters last summer , and they didn't do diddly -
maybe because I planted them kinda late . The rows are well defined , so I
can avoid that area when I till new ground for next year - the question is
should I leave them and hope for new growth and a crop next year or just
till 'em under and try again ? I did dig a little and found a few very small
potatoes , but nothing I felt was worth harvesting .

tilling them under won't accomplish anything as the
plants for next season will come up from the mini-potatoes
so if you don't get all of those out of there you'll
have sprouts next season.


Also , is this the right time to get garlic in the ground for next year ?
As much as we like it I'd like to have some out in the garden , and try out
using the scapes . note to self , get some daffydills for the wife this
fall!!

planting time depends upon variety, but i have had
no problems planting the hard-necked garlic as early
as August and as late as November. plant the largest
cloves possible. if planting from scapes, you will
be waiting two years to harvest bulbs with cloves.
the single bulb from a one year scape is edible but
they are not easy to peel. instead i plant them a
few inches deeper and use them as a green onion substitute
through the winter and into spring (up until the plants
start forming hard stems and the papery tunics on the
cloves).


I'll be expanding the garden space next year down hill some more . The
soil further from the edge of the woods seems much more fertile if this
year's results are any indication , and while I'll lose part of the
blackberry patch I feel the trade off is worth it - those berries grow wild
all over the place up here and they're a bi**h to pick .

seedless variety is a great help and avoids much
bloodshed. i won't let the thorny kind even get
started around here, the red raspberries and wild
roses are bad enough (and the sumac and poison ivy).


songbird

songbird wrote:
Snag wrote:

I planted some Yukon Gold taters last summer , and they didn't do
diddly - maybe because I planted them kinda late . The rows are well
defined , so I can avoid that area when I till new ground for next
year - the question is should I leave them and hope for new growth
and a crop next year or just till 'em under and try again ? I did
dig a little and found a few very small potatoes , but nothing I
felt was worth harvesting .

tilling them under won't accomplish anything as the
plants for next season will come up from the mini-potatoes
so if you don't get all of those out of there you'll
have sprouts next season.


Eh , I was afraid of that . Mr Armadillo has been rooting for bugs in the
tater patch , and he uncovered a few taters . I'll get the rest out before
first frost . If they're gonna sprout , I want 'em to sprout where I want
them to grow .


Also , is this the right time to get garlic in the ground for next
year ? As much as we like it I'd like to have some out in the garden
, and try out using the scapes . note to self , get some daffydills
for the wife this fall!!

planting time depends upon variety, but i have had
no problems planting the hard-necked garlic as early
as August and as late as November. plant the largest
cloves possible. if planting from scapes, you will
be waiting two years to harvest bulbs with cloves.
the single bulb from a one year scape is edible but
they are not easy to peel. instead i plant them a
few inches deeper and use them as a green onion substitute
through the winter and into spring (up until the plants
start forming hard stems and the papery tunics on the
cloves).

I cheaped out and picked up some bulk garlic at the store today . Big
cloves will be going in the ground by week's end , time permitting we're
building , or should I say I'm building the first room of our new house .



I'll be expanding the garden space next year down hill some more .
The soil further from the edge of the woods seems much more fertile
if this year's results are any indication , and while I'll lose part
of the blackberry patch I feel the trade off is worth it - those
berries grow wild all over the place up here and they're a bi**h to
pick .

seedless variety is a great help and avoids much
bloodshed. i won't let the thorny kind even get
started around here, the red raspberries and wild
roses are bad enough (and the sumac and poison ivy).


songbird

These are apparently native blackberries , and they do have vicious thorns
.. This year was kinda exploratory , first summer I've been here full more
or less time . Next year I expect to provide a significant contribution to
our food supply . If the deer cooperate I'll be supplying some of the
protein too ...
--
Snag
out in
the shop

Derald wrote:
"Snag's Shop" wrote:

If the deer cooperate I'll be supplying some of the protein too ...
Remember that the girls -- the younger the better -- are the best
eating and reducing their number is the _only_ reasonable way, aside
from starvation or poisoning, to reduce the deer population. Some
authorities estimate that east of the Rockies that population now
exceeds what it was when Europeans arrived on the continent because
"development" has eliminated their predators while providing habitat
in which the deer thrive and current misguided hunting laws, promoted
by hunting interests in the first half of the 20th Century, simply
compound the problem. In several Southeastern states (Texas, for
example), the whitetail population is now in the millions. Don't be
"sporting" and waste your time and bullets on Bambi or his daddy;
shoot his mamma at night when the gettin's good! Same goes for feral
hogs: Shoot Petunia and don't waste your time on tough, greasy,
gamey Porky Pig. That "sportsman" bullshit is for city folks who go
to the woods to drink, tear them up with their pick'em-up trucks and
to get away from their wives. In my view, their time would be better
spent planting trees, a task easily accomplished while tipsey and at
far less risk....

http://wildlifecontrol.info/pubs/Doc..._factsheet.pdf

https://web.duke.edu/nicholas/bio217/ekc7/deer.htm

I'm not a horn hunter , I'm in it for the meat . If a big buck walks in
front of my sights , I'll pop him - if nothing else he'll make good jerky .
But as you say , the younger the better , and I have no qualms at all about
shooting does . Feral pigs are in our general area , but none close to our
place . I'm trying to find a place to hunt them too ... we like pork .
Oh , and we already have about 12 million trees on our place , only place
left to plant any is the space cleared for our house , garden , etc .
--
Snag
But night hunting
can get me
jail time ...

Derald wrote:
"Snag" wrote:

Oh , and we already have about 12 million trees on our place , only
place left to plant any is the space cleared for our house , garden
, etc .
Oh, I was specifically referencing those "sportsmen" who'll don
their Walmart camo, flood the woods in their shiny new Jeeps, get
"likkered up", and commence shooting one another on the second Sunday
of November -- too bad they're all such lousy shots. There's a world
of difference between those folks and the serious "take only what you
need and leave the rest" hunters among whom I was reared.

But night hunting
can get me
jail time ...
Indeed; and that is as it "should" be, IMO. ...but still, if
you're in your own "back yard" and protecting your garden from vermin
(Bambi-mamma), while the game warden is up at the Dunkin' Donuts,
well....

Kinda hard to hear an arrow from the DD ... I had a conversation once with
a game warden about "defending" my garden from deer . Bottom line is there
better be a good fence . One of my neighbors has built an 8 foot fence
around his garden because they kept jumping over the 7 foot one . I was
kinda surprised I didn't have a problem last summer . Must have been because
I didn't grow any of the stuff they really like .
--
Snag

"Snag" wrote:

I was
kinda surprised I didn't have a problem last summer . Must have been because
I didn't grow any of the stuff they really like .

I was told by a commercial farmer that you need to get the fencing up
early, because if the deer ever find out there's something good in there,
all bets are off.
/me/ who loves Bambi au vin.


--
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/4 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

Gary Woods wrote:
"Snag" wrote:

I was
kinda surprised I didn't have a problem last summer . Must have been
because I didn't grow any of the stuff they really like .

I was told by a commercial farmer that you need to get the fencing up
early, because if the deer ever find out there's something good in
there, all bets are off.
/me/ who loves Bambi au vin.

Au vin is also a great way to tenderize . I make a marinade based on red
or sherry and olive oil with spices for the tougher cuts of beef , makes a
world of difference .
--
Snag
out in
the shop

Derald wrote:
"Snag" wrote:

Bottom line is there better be a good fence .
No doubt, he's correct; the proverbial word to the wise, I'd guess.

One of my neighbors has built an 8 foot fence
around his garden because they kept jumping over the 7 foot one .
That's funny. I'd always heard that a 9-foot fence is required to
keep deer out but that's probably apocryphal. Not a problem he
Although we occasionally see deer sign in the driveway and along the
fenceline adjacent the "hard road", I've never had a problem with deer
in the garden in the 30-some years I've been coming to this location
or in the 18 (included in the 30) that we've actually lived here full
time. Of course, now that I've jinxed myself, that'll probably change.
Bunnies, though, occasionally will nibble the terminal buds out of
a few young pea vines but nothing serious (yard cats). I'm
philosophical about that sort of thing, though, and just accept the
nibbles as a tax I pay for invading their stomping grounds. I have a
hard time with that "dominion over all things" stuff. But, then, I've
never had a garden devastated by invaders, which might change my
attitude somewhat.


The deer here in North central Arkansas breed like rats ... and will eat
everything they can get to especially in a dry year when their natural
forage is skimpy . Last year was wet , might be part of the reason they
stayed away . Our half-coyote dog might also be part of the reason , though
they don't seem put off by her scent around the corn I put out by my game
camera legal to hunt over bait here .
--
Snag
out in
the shop