What’s growing - 2025 Garden Thread
- Thread starter ISUCyclones2015
- Start date
Kid is attempting to grow pumpkins from the seeds of their halloween pumkin. No idea where we are going to plant them once they are ready for outside.
I don't remember what type last year, except that they were bare root. This year I bought more established plants that we can just simply stick in the tilled ground, fertilize, water, and be up and running. Not sure on the exact variety I bought this year, and am not home to check, but I can tell you they are red (helpful, I know).
I am willing to concede that our bare root plants won't be coming up ever, considering no growth on them either last year or so far this year. We planted them pretty late in the spring I want to say, it was very late May or possibly even June. I'm not sure if this is a real thing, but I almost wondered if they were dead on arrival given we bought them just a few days before we planted them, so again, pretty late spring, and maybe they had dried out. My wife didn't want to get burned on the bare roots again so that's why we opted for the potted ones at Lowe's this year.
You'll eventually want to know variety because that impacts whether they fruit on the cane the 1st year, 2nd year, or both.
Saw some vegetable farmers/Extension talking about using sheep wool as a organic mulch for the garden. Anyone try that?
Everybody has their own ideas, but why would you even try it? In my experience, I have never used anything but chemical free grass clippings. I also don’t know how long it would take for the wool to break down and what it would add to your soil composition? I can envision balls of wool blowing across the yard. Evidently it has some pros or extension wouldn’t even suggest it, but I can’t imagine what they’d be.
I've tried alpaca fleece. It takes forever to break down. I won't do it again.
Don’t know about that but best organic mulch for me has been leaves (I use oak) that was chopped up from the previous fall. They usually attract more worms, I have discovered, and I don’t have to water as much. I put down organic fertilizer and it seeps through and helps compost the leaves.
Neighbor put out his tomato plants this morning. Seems a tad early in my book yet for the Ames area.
Seems like it but it’s not supposed to be that close to freezing at least for the next 10 days.
Honestly debated getting this years today but decided I’d better wait a week or two
I started my Amish Paste tomatoes from seed on 3/10. Got the seed from Seed Savers out of Decorah. I got like 50+ seeds and have like 34 plants with a bunch of small ones starting. Paid for 25 seeds so was impressed with what they gave me. Maybe they thought the germ was poor on them. Probably plant around 5/10. I put a bunch of mulched leaves on my garden last fall and ground is pretty cool yet, but it is really keeping the moisture in!
Had the day off today so got more straw and cardboard down. Jonesing for tomatoes and peppers at this points. Onions, carrots, lettuce, spinach, herbs, haskaps, and potatoes are already planted. Liking the fact that we won’t get much colder than 40 over the next several days
I’ve been planting Amish paste tomatoes, and only Amish paste for 10 or 12 years now. My original source was the same as yours, but since mine don’t get a chance to cross pollinate, I have been saving my own seed since. Google “ how to ferment tomato seeds” and you will greatly increase your germination rate. Mine are just getting a good start in six packs and will be planted when they start to get leggy.. I have no data to back this up, but I think tomatoes are somewhat phototropic (?) as I have had volunteers in the garden produce fruit at the same time started Plants did, so I don’t get to concerned about starting date. Keep in mind that the Amish paste are a later maturing variety.
Yesterday I planted three peach trees that I started from seed over the winter and today I found three of 16 that I planted last fall in pots and buried in my raised bed to let mother nature take its course have emerged. Should be rewarding since my winter experiment mostly failed and I have many friends that were hoping for a plant from me which I will gladly share.
Amish have strawberries already bloomed and little strawberries set on. Could be a little early this year and a good crop.
We’ve got a few blooming already as well. Hoping they do okay with the potential frost this weekend
