Sally Struthers

Hello fellow dudes and Dudettes! It's been a couple weeks since my last blog entry.  And a lot has happened since the last time! And the more I think about it I come to the conclusion there really wasn't a excuse not to blog last week. Yeah it was Easter  but I had good Friday off. So i had extra time to blog!

I started putting my plants into plastic red cups.  I made my own soil mixture.  It's so easy and it's a lot better then buying premixed stuff. And this way I really know what's in it. Also making sure I do not buy any Monsanto products! Monsanto is pretty much a four letter word in the heirloom gardening community.  They are directly responsible for the decline of the Bee population.  They also bully and terrorize small family farms because their crops become contaminated by Monsantos gmo seed. I really don't want to go into my hatred for Monsanto right now because I could go on and on.

Back to the plants going onto red cups and new soil. The soil mixture I used us pretty basic. I mixed a bag of manure with some peat moss. That's it! The plants get the nutrients from the compost manure and the peat moss helps keep the soil light and loose and it also holds water. This is the same mixture I also use for my raised beds.

Some tomato plants from last week. They totally loved the new pots.  I bet they doubled in size. Couple days ago I started putting them in clear cups.  You can really see the root systems stating to take off. This pic is from today. And the plant was only transferred about 3 days ago!

I'm absolutely loving the results I am getting from my setup. Everything is starting too boom!

                            cuore di bue tomato

                             Malaysian eggplant

                  Trinidad scorpion pepper

I think I want to get a small fan in my grow room. It will help strengthen the stems. Toughen it up a little bit.

Next month I'm going to start some melons and squash. I fell in love with the squash and melons last year. Was my first year doing melons and the results were outstanding!  I produced some beautiful orangeglo watermelon! 

                  The biggest watermelon I grew . He was a monster! Shared it with my coworkers

I haven't decided yet if I'm going to grow these again this year. I picked up a couple new watermelon and melon seeds this year. And I really don't think I'm going have the room I need. But maybe I can squeeze in one more raised bed!

This week I gave one of my coworkers a tomato plant.I adopted it out!! I was kind of little sad about it.  I gave him a rainbow tomato plant. One of my best plants at the time. I wanted to give him the best chance to succeed.  I want this experience to be a pleasurable one. He lives in an apartment so he will be in a container on his deck. I hope he cares for my little tomato plant. Feed and water make sure it gets plenty of sunshine everyday.  And after a couple months of love and care I hope my little tomato plant I started from seed will produce a bountiful harvest of tomatoes for him. 

Dude & His Garden

This & That

Hey Dudes and Dudettes! It's been about a week since my last blog post. Many ideas have come and gone since then.  I change my mind like I change my underwear. The first idea I got was when I was at homedepot last weekend.  They had start your own mushroom kits.

Homedepot had them in sale for 10 bucks.  Honestly I don't know how cost effective this kit would be. So i started looking at some youtube videos on DIY kits. There is a lot of effort into growing your own shrooms. And at every step something wrong can happen. And right now I have to my efforts into getting my Patch going.  But maybe this fall I might try to to start my own mushrooms.


Last week I started some seeds

Mammoth Sunflower: These things get insanely huge! They are suppose to be great for sunflower seed harvest. Also sunflower attract the bees. I planted 6. I have to find a good spot for these.

Jerusalem gold hybrid sunflower: I really like the look of these. Will bring some great color to the patch. These aren't known for their seeds.

Long Island Brussel Sprouts: I should have really started these a couple weeks ago. I forgot I wanted to plant these this year. I tried last year and it was a giant fail! I love brussel sprouts.

Broccoli Romanesco: These guys a so cool looking. They look like sort of alien plant

 I started one last year but with our short growing season last year it didn't make it.

Next I started a variety of basil. Lemon, lettuce and herb fine Verde basil.  Basil might be one of my favorite herbs. Brings so much flavor to any Italian dish. 

Bee balm: Bee balm is a wonderful plant for attracting butterflies and helpful bees. They also attract hummingbirds

Lavender: Many gardeners consider lavender a somewhat old-fashioned plant but its wonderful fragrance makes lavender truly a classic. Bees also are attracted

That's what I planted last weekend. And this is how they look now.

The sunflowers started to sprout 2 days after I planted them! The roots are starting to burst out!

I'm starting to think I could have started these directly outside.   But whatever we will see what happens. 

The tomatoes are starting to get their second leaves. The real tomato leaves.  I have a few double plants per the plant starter thingy.  I'm going to try and save some of them rather then thinning the herd. I might kill both plants but it's worth the risk. I would like to be able to give away lots of plants to friends and family.

In the next couple of weeks I plan on starting squash and melons. Last year's melon and squash crop was a real success.  And now I'm kind of hooked. I really liked watching the melons and squash grow.  So this year I bought a few more variety of melons and squash. Buy here is the dilemma.  I don't have the space.

But there is a solution to this!  If I don't have the space to grow out. I must grow up!  So that what I'm going to do.  I'm going to build a bunch of trellis out of conduit.

I built some of these about 3 years ago for cucumbers and beans. But I have never tried them for squash and melons. A watermelon weighs a lot more then a cucumber.  So how is this going to work you may ask? We just have to support the fruit!

This guy used potato sacks. It gives the fruit plenty of support! I have seen plenty of people not even using supports for smaller melons and squash. This is how I'm going to really expand my little urban farm! 

I went to homedepot this afternoon.  (Actually during the middle of writing this blog. I got the itch!  )They are having a black Friday week special. I believe it ends Sunday.  But all seeds are buy one get one free. So i loaded up on some seeds that I wanted. Mostly herbs. Because I really don't have much for herbs.

But I also picked up a pack of Pansy flowers. Yes that's what they are called.  They are a edible flower. I have never tried them. Like ever. So I'm going to give them a shot.

I was able to score a couple nice deals on a couple things that I need but I wasn't necessarily looking for. I scored 10 tomato cages for 10 bucks. Seems like a really nice deal. They are not the biggest cages. I might end up using them for my pepper plants. 

I also picked up some mesh weed guards. Normally 10 bucks on sale for 5!! I plan on lining my watermelon and tomato beds with them.  There are multiple reasons I'm doing this. One of course is weed control. The mesh will also help with warming the soil and watermelon will like that. Also this will help keep soil off my tomato leaves. Because that's were blight lives! That's the brown and yellow spots the tomato leaves get and it kills them.

Well that's about it. Next week is easter and I have to spend time with my In laws and family so I may or may not have a blog entry!

Dude & His Garden

Two Men Enter One Man Leaves.

It's been about a week since my last post.  Last week I started some tomatoes. Five different kinds. So 25 in total! I definitely will have to give some away if they all sprout and survive.  That's part of gardening I really like. The sharing. The sharing of the harvest. The smile on people's faces when I hand them over a basket of fresh veggies that I worked all summer growing. People recognized the work and time I put in. My fellow gardeners most definitely appreciate some new plants to put in their garden.

I believe my first tomato plants started to sprout on Wednesday.  That's about 4 days from when I planted! The little greenhouse seed starter along with a heat pad really stimulate the Seeds to sprout.  These are my tomato seedlings as of today.

At least 1 of the 5 different tomato plants are spouting!  And all 5 of the mortgage lifter tomato plants are spouting. I think I want dance!!

My seedlings are really coming along nicely.  Might be a couple of plants I'm going to reseed. But for the most part everything is rocking. Now it's about time for me to start thinning the heard a little. I always put in two seeds per little plant holder thingy.. And many of the plant holder thingys have two plants growing. So i have to choose which one to snip off :( I really don't like doing this.  But it has to be done.

How do I choose!?! They both look so healthy.  It's like picking which one of my sister-in-laws I like better! 

One "issue" I'm having is I don't have enough lighting up. I have a 2 bulb t5  48inch fluorescent shop light. The seedlings that are in the middle are doing just fine. But the ones on the end are bending to the side to reach the light.

Like I said the shop light is 48 inches long so it's plenty of long and I could spread the plants out. But right now I have them in the little green house and it keeps them in order. So i know the kind and type of each plant. Right now they don't have any sort of identification. I just made a grid graph were each plant is.

   But this really isn't a problem.  I have another shop light. Just need to pick up a couple hooks so I can hang it up.

I was going through my little container of plant seeds. I was hoping to still have some sunflower seeds. And I do. YES!!!! My son picked them out last year.  He tried to start some last year. But it was a fail. 

I also did a inventory on the herbs I have.  I think I should be pretty good on herbs.  One thing I did notice is that I have brussel sprout seeds and Romanesco seeds I need to start!

Should have started theses couple weeks ago. No worries though I will get some supplies when I go out to homedepot today. 

Until next time!

A Dude & His Garden

Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.” ― Miles Kington.

IT'S ALIVE!!

Been a week since my last post. And a very exciting week it has been! Last week I planted my peppers and eggplants. I can't remember if I posted a pic my setup or not. So here it is

These little mini greenhouses are fantastic.  When used with a heating pad.  Keeps perfect humidity for starting plants. 

When I came home from work I decided to check on my grow room. And I was pleasantly surprised.  I have created LIFE !!

My first seedling is a Malaysian eggplant!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

The next couple of days seedlings started to pop up. Very exciting weekend!

The egg plants and jalapeños are really taking off. Sweet peppers not so much yet. But it's only the first week. Should see some action this week with the peppers.

This weekend I decided to plant my tomato seeds. Tomato plant are one of my favorites veggies to grow. Such a huge selection of different tomatoes to grow. Reds, purple, orange, yellow and stripped. 

Well this year I have decided to go with 5 different varieties of tomato plants 

X5 Mortgages lifter tomato: This tomato has a cool story on how it received it's name.  In 1940s Logan, West Virginia, a radiator repairman crossed four of the biggest tomatoes he could find to produce this beauty. He sold seedlings of it, using the proceeds to pay off his $6,000 mortgage in six years t's name.

(Not my fancy shirt)

X5 Big Rainbow: I needed to add some color to my tomato crop. I grew these last year. And they were huge! Very beautiful tomato. They are fantastic for slicing.

X5 Cuore di bue: my absolute favorite tomato. Cuore di Bue is one of the tastiest saucing types with dense flesh and lustrous, orangey-red skin.

A beautiful heirloom tomato from Italy.  I grow these every year.

X5 Rutgers tomato: I have wanted to grow these for some time now. Rutgers is proven to be highly productive. The large, red fruits have a thick flesh with superior flavor. Strong determinate vines yield. Very beautiful tomato plant. These are the tomatoes that put jersey on the map for superior tomatoes.

X5 Gypsy Tomato: I got these as freebie with my purchase at Baker's Creek . These are a Russian heirloom tomato. My patriotic side says cover the bag of seeds with gasoline and light a match!

These are a very dark purple tomato.  They are actually named for Russian Gypsy.

Here are a couple shots of the plants under my new lights.  Everything is looking fantastic! So excited! 

In a couple of weeks I'm going to start my melons and squash. I also need to get started on herbs. Maybe I'll put in a order next week.

We'll that's about it peeps. Until next time!

Dude & His Garden

Gardening on a budget

Back for some more I see.  Glad you're back I'm surprised I  even came back. I always get these grand ideas and then I quickly lose interest.  Like the time I got married. Oh I keed!

You can spend as much as you want on your garden. You can buy some fancy premixed soil from the local big box stores. Maybe put in a beautiful pond with a elegant waterfall.  Have a carpenter build some cedar raised beds. And finish it off with a fabulous cedar fence surrounding your garden.

And you know what I wish I could afford to create something like that. But I can't.  But you know what, it still doesn't stop me from enjoying my little patch.

                             (Watermelon patch)

So how do I save money but still grow healthy beautiful fruits and veggies for my family?  Networking!!! It's a great way to help you garden on a budget.   I was just talking to one of my coworkers about gardening last year. We just moved to our new house so I had to build a new garden.  I was hoping he knew of a place I could score some soil/compost. One of our coworkers over heard us talking. He just happen to have a brother in law who had a whole bunch of composted horse manure. He said I could have as much as I wanted.  He would even load it up with the bobcat! I call that WINNING!!!!   

Another way to score free or cheap compost is to check your local city compost site. I don't think I have ever lived in a town that didn't have a compost site. The use of the compost is free or is a small fee for all residents.  These sites will normally also take your yard waste as well and during Christmas they will also take your Xmas trees

For those that live in the rural areas. Just ask around. I'm 100% sure you know somebody that has a farm or has a friend or relative that has a farm. They will have plenty of compost for you.  This is actually how I filled my raised beds with the first garden I built. And it only cost me a bottle of Christian brother brandy!!

For my raised beds I would absolutely love something likes these.

               But building 12 of these would be just way too much $$$$  And I'm gardening on a budget. My first garden I just used untreated rough cut boards from homedepot.  They worked pretty well. The beds were only about 6 inches deep.  Only noticed some rot near the butt ends of the boards after about 3 years. And this was very minimal damage.  The raised beds still held dirt.      
 Last year I was able to to score some free wood for my beds. One of my coworkers was tearing down some walls in his barn and said I could have the lumber. He even delivered the lumber to my house. Only thing he ask in return was some fresh heirloom tomatoes.  And I definitely don't have a problem sharing from my patch.

I have also seen people use cinder blocks for raised beds. I see cheap or even free cinder blocks on Craigslist all the time. Cinder block raised beds would pretty much last For-EV-ER

Today I scored a great deal. I just started using an app called slickdeals they have all kinds of stuff. Electronics, jewelry, clothing, power tools et ect. Yesterday they had a deal for 50ft soaker hose at sears. Normally 11.99 on sale for 5.00! That's over 50% savings! It looks like that deal is now over :(   Fortunately I was able to get 2 of them!

It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor. You can build a garden with any budget. It just takes a little time and some work in the dirt. If I can do it anyone can. The only thing I like more then working in my garden is  sharing my bounty with the people I love.

Dude & His Garden

Day one

So I have decided to create a gardening blog. I was thinking that some of my Facebook friends really didn't give a rip about the "male" and "female" flowers of my watermelon plants..
But for those that do care you can check out this link! Plant baby making parts!

Being my first blog, I had to decide where to start. Should I start on how I got into gardening.  Maybe I would have 100s of new readers and they would want to know where this all started!
More then likely it's just going to be just my Sexy Wife and maybe her sister Sarah and  Swaz reading this.
But if for some reason you have never met me and you just happen to stumble across this blog.. I planted my first real garden in the summer of 2009. Here are a few pics of my little backyard garden.

The white picket fence was put in to keep out my 100 lb american bulldog Ozzy out. It didn't work out so well. He only wanted to get back there when he wanted to "relieve" himself.  And unfortunately dog poop isn't something you want to add to the compost pile.

I like gardening because since I am a man and can't give birth I can't create life. So gardening is the next best thing!
The only thing better than gardening, is heirloom gardening!  I just love the idea of growing something that is pure and that has a real history. And when it comes to tomatoes there is nothing better tasting then a heirloom tomato.

Enough of the past we need to talk about the now and the future!!! Today was the day I started to plant my seeds!!!  This is going to be the first year I grow 100% of all my plants from seed. I'm actually only planting some of my seeds. According to U of M it is now the time to start Eggplant and Peppers.  So that's what I did.

X5 Craig ' s grande jalapeño:This is not my step dad craig. Just some other dude name Craig.  They are the biggest jalapeños Baker Creek seed catalog offers. Maybe the perfect pepper.

X5 Jimmy nardello Italian pepper: These are a sweet pepper. Apparently they were brought over from Italy by the Nardello family. They named the pepper after their 4th son Jimmy.

X5 Topepo rosso pepper: Are another sweet pepper. They are small and compact. Hopefully my grandmother likes them.

X4 Trinidad Scorpion pepper: These bad boys are the hottest peppers in the galaxy!! They just look like hell!

I also planted some eggplants. This is my first year growing them. I don't know what to expect. I only grew 3 of each
Eggplant Malaysian dark red and New York Improved eggplant.
Hopefully they turn out because I absolutely love eggplant parm sandwich!

Tomorrow I have to search for my heat pad. Heated soil helps stimulate root growth. This will help the plant get have a nice foundation.
Tomorrow I will start moving everything to the grow room.

Until next time peeps!

Dude & His Garden