# Who doesnâ€™t like seeing plants sprout?



## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

One joy of gardening Iâ€™m finding out about is having seeds you plant sprout. My speckled Lima beans are all coming up right where I put them in the garden. Cucumber seeds are in the ground and should be up in the next couple of days. Put in â€œEmeriteâ€ French green pole bean seeds in yesterday. Some spaghetti squash seeds will go in this week. 

I donâ€™t grow everything from seed, but thereâ€™s something wonderful to watching a group or line of seeds sprout. I grew my spinach, bloomsdale long standing, from seed planted early last December and itâ€™s just been a wonderful crop still going strong. 

Iâ€™m still way into learning what works and doesnâ€™t work with gardens and gardening and a lot of bad can happen after good germination, but do all you old hands at gardens and gardening ever get tired or hoe hum of watching plants spring up?


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

I agree it never gets old....but I get bigger thrills out of digging up that first new potato, pulling a huge onion, shucking that first ear of corn, seeing whats on the other end of a carrot plant, etc. etc. 

I've been growing potatoes all my life and it just never gets old seeing those beautiful spuds come out of the ground. Germination is great and sprouts are always encouraging but the real thrills for me are in the results.


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## Mattsfishin (Aug 23, 2009)

I enjoy seeing what comes up but my favorite is my orange tree blooming. About 6 feet from the front porch and it is loaded with blooms. They are not full yet. Going to be a good year for the orange tree, maybe 400 oranges this year. Second to the orange tree is digging new potatoes from the ground. Planted bush beans a few days back. Love me some beans and new potatoes. Will plant pole beans wednesday when they get here.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Those orange trees smell so good when they bloom. My dad has several Moro blood oranges that mostly take off a year then go nuts. This is the nuts year coming up. 

Planted a hill of spaghetti squash seeds, 3 seeds, today, had to take out a little of my still productive spinach to make enough room. Always hard to remove a sure thing, but Iâ€™m out of garden space. Going to do one or two more spaghetti squash hills and a sugar baby watermelon in the spinach space. The spinach is bound to crater as the heat increases, but it still seems very healthy. Everything is growing so nicely now, good time of year. 

Might add on to my garden come fall, then Iâ€™ll put in a little potato patch.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Tomatoes growing nicely, all about a foot tall. I think Iâ€™ve got 15 plants. 3 Carmelo, 2 Celebrity, 1 Mortgage Lifter, 1 Pineapple, 1 Old German, a Hillbilly, one Super Fantastic, a Sugary, a Top Gun, Roma, and two Cherokee Purple. 5 or 6 plants would likely be more than enough, but I like variety and maybe there will be extras to share. Reifels has a nice variety in 4â€ pots that are less than half the cost of the big box stores. I could eat caprese salad about every day when good garden tomatoes are available so I should have more than enough for that. Got to get some sweet basil and purple basil in the ground soon to complete the salad.

Same with peppers on variety, 16 of those, mix of heat and sweet, more than I need, but maybe Iâ€™ll dry some and make my own chili powder, fresh pico de Gallo, and salsa. So many ways to mix in peppers into different dishes, great on burgers, grilled, stuffed.


















Carrots finally getting some size. Pulled some baby ones a couple of weeks ago and now the rest are about all grown. Pulled a few onions for using as a green onion type for a recipe, very nice flavor. The butter crunch lettuce has been good for salads and BLT sandwiches, going to harvest most of that soon to make room for a melon spot. Melon vines can grow along the pavers and not crowd the other plants. Spinach has gone nuts and is getting hauled out almost daily. Been giving tons of spinach to my folks as we canâ€™t eat enough. Iâ€™m taking out some of the plants in increments and that will give room there for 2 sugar baby watermelons and two spaghetti squash. Going to stagger the plantings over a couple of weeks. Got one spaghetti squash Hill in, once that sprouts, Iâ€™ll put in a watermelon, then another squash, then finally one last watermelon.

All the butterbeans are up. Waiting on the green beans to come up, should be in a day or two. Cucumbers just now coming up. Yellow and zucchini from six pack sets and those seem to be getting adjusted to the garden.

Too many good things to grow and not enough space. Already thinking about another addition to the raised bed, but I think Iâ€™ll wait until fall.


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## fy0834 (Jan 18, 2011)

That would be my wife... 
I have until 4/1 to vacate the kitchen...


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## Mattsfishin (Aug 23, 2009)

Karstopo your garden looks good. I have everything planted except my squash and eggplant. The bed is full of multiplying onions and been trying to give them away. I guess tomorrow or the next day I will need to pull them and plant my squash and eggplant. Also their is a place in Willis ( Growers Outlet ) that has some really good looking plants. They don't sell 6 packs but the individual plants are $1.99 each. They usually sell out really quick and they grow most of these from their own nursery on site. Family owned business.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Reifels in Brazoria was selling 4â€ plants for $1.65, now $1.75. Not sure where they get their plants, it isnâ€™t the same stock as the Bonnie plants that Lowes or Home Depot gets. Lots of good variety on well known tomatoes plus plenty of odd ball heirlooms. They have the Carmello tomato variety and Loweâ€™s never has that one. Years ago, I grew Carmello and it was great, but I couldnâ€™t find it again until I saw them at Reifels. Good selection on peppers, too. Reifels has 6 packs, seems like those are about $3.15/pack 

Obsessing about a melon patch. Wife will be away for the weekend, perfect time to build a frame for a raised bed for watermelon and cantaloupe (muskmelon)! Have the sunny spot already picked out. Was going to wait until fall to build a new bed, but why wait?


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

What kind of acorns are those? Looks like a Chinquapin or swamp chestnut?


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## Mattsfishin (Aug 23, 2009)

I grow the carmello's also. Growers outlet has them and as you mentioned you can not get them everywhere. Been wanting a melon patch but not enough room. Read a post on here about a guy growing cantaloupes on his fence. Already got this setup and planting seeds this weekend. Forgot the guys name or I would give him a plug for a good idea.


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## fy0834 (Jan 18, 2011)

karstopo said:


> What kind of acorns are those? Looks like a Chinquapin or swamp chestnut?


Bur Oak

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_macrocarpa


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Got the new bed done today, certainly a good work out building it and moving that soil. Now have around 300 square feet of garden or a bit more.










Cucumbers up, French filet beans just coming up. New raised bed getting corn, sweet G90, got the seed already. New spot has best light of the three, full sun for about 7 hours, lightly filtered the rest of the time. Hopefully, thatâ€™s enough for corn.


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## Mattsfishin (Aug 23, 2009)

Looks good. I now have most of my beans coming up. Yes I am excited. Should have beens in time for new potatoes .


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Got my cucumber fence built, it is sturdier than it might look.

Grew short and sweet carrots and they did well enough , but I might grow a different variety next time, something longer. Soil seems plenty loose and deep in the raised beds.


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## jm423 (Sep 18, 2011)

Karstopo--Might give Danvers Half Long a try. They're my old standby. Not stubby as yours shown but still pretty husky, really good taste-to me. Just suggesting, JM


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Jm423, Iâ€™ll try those next season. Short and sweet was billed as easy to grow and it was. Now I want a bigger carrot. 

Planted my G90 sweet corn seeds today, along with heart of gold cantaloupe seeds and crimson sweet watermelon seeds. Took out my butter crunch and red sails lettuce and got two huge bags of that, but the butter crunch was on the path to bolting. No sense hanging on to plants on the way out. 

Put in 3 different varieties of basil, Italian, cardinal and pesto perpetuo in the lettuce spot, plus a black beauty and Shikoku eggplant set and a San Marzano tomato set.

Need some rain and some is supposed to be on the way. Enjoying the heck out of all this planting, hopefully, Iâ€™ll get some enjoyment later from some harvests.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Staying home more than usual isnâ€™t so bad when thereâ€™s a garden growing.

Getting a very little bit of moisture here today, first in a long time, and looks like more is inbound and we need all thatâ€™s coming and more. 









Lemongrass, to my tastes, makes a pretty ornamental plant thatâ€™s also useful in the kitchen. Mine got through winter very nicely and is even blooming. The stalks and leaves make a delicious tea and the inner stalks are good with fish dishes.










Speckled Lima beans grow some every day and are now climbing up the bamboo trellis I made. The French green beans wonâ€™t be far behind.

No signs of trouble at the moment in the garden, a worm or two nibbling on a pepper or the spinach, nothing serious. Picked two big bags of spinach this morning, one for my folks and one for us. I donâ€™t know when it will quit, but Iâ€™ll leave it in as long as itâ€™s productive.


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## Mattsfishin (Aug 23, 2009)

I dug up my multiplying onions this week and planted egg plant and yellow squash. I turned the bed over with a shovel and you should have seen the worms. Ain't gonna be any worms now. Had over 4 1/2 inches of rain since yesterday morning and it is pouring down now. Should be over 5 inches by the time I check it in the morning. Some of my potatoes were laying over and my beans are still standing so far.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Got about a 1/10 inch here, if that. Missed it all by just a few miles.


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## Mattsfishin (Aug 23, 2009)

checked gage this morning and had another 1 3/4 inches of rain. It has to stop sometime.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Crazy, nothing but another 1/10 inch here.


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

karstopo said:


> Crazy, nothing but another 1/10 inch here.


We got about 5 inches last night....gauge overflowed. I was afraid the new bridge I just built would wash out but thankfully it held


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Nice bridge.


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## Mattsfishin (Aug 23, 2009)

Yes watching everything grow is fun. You had mentioned potatoes. Here is a picture of one of my beds. I use micro life and some cottonseed meal. I usually grow something in the holes in the blocks. That has been fun to see what does good there. Mustard greens did really good and radishes. Onions ok. I get a yard of garden soil and add micro life and some cottonseed meal and let it sit for awhile before I use it. I am growing a radish that is supposed to do ok into the summer. We will see. I just enjoy seeing this stuff grow but onions and radishes are hard to give away around here.


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