Cohutt builds a garden, Chapter 2

[Sweethearts Mom]

Last year I had collard greens and broccoli growing in the same bed..that was when N TX got 12 inches of snow...when the snow melted they took off and grew like crazy. I filled a laundry basket full of greens and cooked them and it wasn't until a few days later I realized I had cooked both broccoli leaves and collard greens. It was good though.

[cohutt]

Mutant pimentos, double peppers basically. The little ones were inside the big ones, basically sitting in the bottom center.  The green one in the bottom 2 pics was visible where it was plugging the hole you can see in the larger one.  Go figure, these are the 2nd and 3rd ones like this out of maybe 40 harvested.

[Roswell]

I knew you were making your own GMOs. Those tomatoes were way too productive. 

Seriously, that is weird.  Is it common? 3 out of 40 sounds pretty common. 

[cohutt]

Yeah seems odd.  These are the "Sheepnose" pimentos from seed savers.

[TwoBluesMama]

Maybe the pig scarecrow is freaking them out so bad that they little ones jumped inside in fear. 

[Greywolf27]

Something outa TX chainsaw.....

[fritz_monroe]

I've bought bell peppers that had little bells inside.  I have no idea what would cause that.

[cohutt]

Sidebar:

Avatar is ju-ju vs the return of the wild hogs at my bol- sample evidence below:

[fritz_monroe]

I've been seeing lots of shows about wild pigs and GA is one of the areas that have been hit really hard.  Have you gone out and harvested any for protein?

[cohutt]

I've been seeing lots of shows about wild pigs and GA is one of the areas that have been hit really hard.  Have you gone out and harvested any for protein?

Not recently.  we beat them back a few years ago after they did some real damage (hunting, trapping and also using a local who hunts with dogs, very well I might add).
I built a portable trap that caught a couple last year (donated to the dog guy live) although the activity wasn't "epic" like we'd seen prior. 
Sample damage dec 2006:





Sample source of this damage from early 2007.  (60g 223 behind left ear, dropped him like a turd in a puddle)



LOL, everyone understand the need for avatar ju-ju hex help now?   All tools available must be used

[“Mark”]

I've bought bell peppers that had little bells inside.  I have no idea what would cause that.

Likewise. I see it a lot.. probably in about half the bell peppers I eat.

[TwoBluesMama]

Cohutt - my dh says to tell you he'd love to come help you with your pig problem - he says he smells bacon. 

[cohutt]

yeah I have LOTS of volunteers lol.   remember that roswell has already been there with his Mosin and practiced on some mini-kegs



In the meantime, back at cohutt's garden, cohutt is going to spend this afternoon maybe cleaning up a bit and planting some garlic if he doesn't get too lazy

[Roswell]

Yeah, lol. I try to remind Cohutt at least once a month that I'd be happy to help. Lol.

I finished planting my garlic the other day as well. I'm still debating ordering some elephant garlic. Question about garlic in general.  It's a lot of bed space. Do you just tear the cloves off the bulb and put them straight in the ground? That's what I did. Or did you soak yours or anything?

[cohutt]

don't soak.  you don't want the clove to rot before it germinates


So build more beds.

[fritz_monroe]

How moist does the soil need to be for it to grow properly?

[cohutt]

How moist does the soil need to be for it to grow properly?

The only things I have seen about moisture:
1. Soil should be of a consistency and location right to promote good drainage, especially in the fall / winter right after planting.
2. Late in the spring/early summer, when the plants bulb up or the head swell or whatever, you need to make sure it gets adequate water if rain is light. 

[cohutt]

I busted up about 7 or 8 heads of garlic and picked out the biggest cloves for planting this afternoon.
These are the same generic "California Early" that Roswell ordered; I was impressed with how large the cloves were.    There were maybe 100 or so cloves total, these are the biggest 75:



I decided the ground cherry bed would be a dedicated garlic bed for the next 8 or 9 months   I planted  half the bed this afternoon, 4 rows 6" apart plus a couple of squares in other beds.   

I only have another 20 or so heads of this stuff.  uh oh...

While I was in the area with the camera I noticed the single artichoke is developing nicely

[Sweethearts Mom]

You can send your extras my way!

[Roswell]

Lol. Now you know how I ran out of room for the leeks. Those early whites produce hella cloves.

[cohutt]

Still Garlic planting time here in N GA.

I'm down to my last 8-10 heads or so including the hardneck I saved from this year's "crop".   

As far as the softneck, the "California Early" I've been planting really does have some nice sized primary cloves in each head.  I realize that there are a lot of hardnecks that are supposed tp have huge cloves (like "Music") but these heads have been a pleasant surprise. 







With scissors for  scale point of reference:

[Sweethearts Mom]

I am planting mine this weekend too. I have a black thumb lately. I hope they do well!

[fritz_monroe]

Nice cloves.  I guess the California Early are supposed to be harvested earlier?

Sweethearts Mom, just put them in the ground and basically ignore them.  Yes, water and mulch if needed, but not a lot to do with them.  Good luck with them.

[cohutt]

Nice cloves.  I guess the California Early are supposed to be harvested earlier?

Sweethearts Mom, just put them in the ground and basically ignore them.  Yes, water and mulch if needed, but not a lot to do with them.  Good luck with them.

I'm really not sure.  There was also an offering called "California Late" so I suppose this early is earlier.

The main reason I bought it?   It was under $5/lb.   

I was looking for a large quantity of a softneck to develop over the seasons as my own best backyard garlic strain.   It stores well and has big cloves to start, so I figured this would be a good as any (and cheaper as noted).  I'll have potentially 250-300 heads to choose my best seed cloves from next year. 

[fritz_monroe]

See, I was of the other mind set.  I got a batch with multiple varieties so I can pick which I like best.  That will become my variety to develop over time.

[cohutt]

Habanero heist

(coming inside for the winter)






This Napoleon sweet bell is next:

[Sweethearts Mom]

Holy lord!!! Radiocative bunny poo?

[cohutt]

lol- with heirlooms you get lucky sometimes and get the one on the good side of the bell curve.  (pun not intended)

This one is head and shoulders above the others I planted.  It is almost 5 feet tall and has been loaded- good enough to be carefully transplanted into a 16" pot and saved for the winter.

[cohutt]

The broccoli forest from a worm's eye view:



From above several have small heads forming.



One of the lettuce sections is coming along enough to get snipped a little every other night



And the arugula bed is finally getting some competition from lettuce (but still winning, in background).

[Roswell]

nice growth Cohutt.  How far did you space your broccoli apart? It looks close, but obviously it ain't suffering.