Your 2024 Garden

[LTAY1946]

We managed to get somewhere between 250-300 sweet onion plants in the ground today. Burgers on the grill with sweet onion and a slab of a big fresh tomato is on the horizon.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Never had pickled red onions before but I bet they are good and am anxious to try some.

They are delicious! Hubby knows I love them (and he's not a pickles guy) so they always end up on my plate.

 

[fuzzi]

I just found a big package of beet seed I didn't know I had.

I hard-boiled a dozen eggs last night, and then discovered several unopened jars of pickled beets.

I'm going to eat beets and then pickle eggs in their brine.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Started planting some hot peppers yesterday. Got 12 pots of Sugar Rush Peaches and 12 pots of Bannana Peppers. I only had one empty tote though, so I could only fit 24 pots in there and have to wait a bit longer while I find somewhere safe in the house to finish setting up shop so the cat can't lay on them like she kept trying to do last year

 

[LTAY1946]

I'm putting out my first small planting of tomatoes today. Not so many I can't cover them. If I hold up long enough I'll have beets finally in the ground, some sweet corns, and some sugar snap peas. It's going to be a busy day. Rain by 3 possibly. I'll soon be to the point I'll need the rain.

 

[Smokerbill]

I like some critter fencing that @Smokerbill built and posted pictures. Here is a sample...

View attachment 3758692

IIRC, @Smokerbill had problems with deer getting into his gardens, he had considered fencing the entire garden, but settled on individual fencing for the raised beds to protect them. It can be very expensive to deer proof an entire garden, but putting fencing on top of a raised bed for only the plants that need protection can save a person a lot of money.

Thanks @gtaus . The fence still keeps the deer out.

I expanded the fenced-in area last month so the last two raised beds are protected. I have one more improvement to make. I'm going to take the fencing off of the east side of one of the beds and move it 4 feet beyond the bed. That way I can plant my winter squash in the bed and let it spread out of the bed and into the lawn.

Sorry about the poor picture quality. It was pretty dark out when I took them.

 

[gtaus]

The fence still keeps the deer out.

Yep, I would say you have a deer problem. Good to hear your fencing on the raised beds is working for you.

 

[Smokerbill]

Yep, I would say you have a deer problem. Good to hear your fencing on the raised beds is working for you.

One of those deer in the picture is a doe that's been getting fatter and fatter from the fawn(s) she's carrying. Two years ago she had a single one, and last spring she had twins. I'm looking forward to finding out how many she'll drop this year.

I'm getting close to starting my garden seeds indoors. The shelves in the laundry room are cleaned off and ready, and I've decided how many of each veggie I'm going to plant.

I might plant a LOT of tomatoes this year (36). A few of them will be in a raised bed, and for the others I'll have to make a new gardening area in the lawn. I have a few rolls of chicken wire that I can use to protect the tomatoes from the deer.

I'll spread some chicken compost onto the grass, then cover it with a layer of cardboard, then add layer of woodchips over of the cardboard. When it's time to plant I'll dig through the cardboard into the soil, amend it, then plant the tomatoes. Should work. We'll see.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

In a perfect world, does anyone know how many peppers I should get from each of my plants, roughly? Like is it generally 2-3? Or 10+? I'm just debating if 12(maybe more, depending on if I decide to only do 1 per spot this year or do all that look strong like I did last year) of each will be enough.

 

[LTAY1946]

In a perfect world, does anyone know how many peppers I should get from each of my plants, roughly? Like is it generally 2-3? Or 10+? I'm just debating if 12(maybe more, depending on if I decide to only do 1 per spot this year or do all that look strong like I did last year) of each will be enough.

What kind of pepper? I'm assuming Bell pepper? It depends on how long your season is. 3-12 is a good guess. If they had an indoor home by a sunny window and a grow lamp may 15-20.