by Noel | Apr 22, 2020 | CobraHead, Gardening, Vegetable Growing
Here are Anneliese and Andy planting peas. Andy previously had set T- posts 36 inches apart across the width of the beds and 24 inches apart along the outside edges of the bed to give us 10 trellises spaced two feet apart to work with. Lacing in the Trellis. 24” landscape fencing cut to 5-foot lengths is laced in between the posts to create the 10 individual trellises. The peas are planted 2” apart and 1/2 inch deep along each side of the trellis. Yardsticks...
by Noel | Apr 7, 2020 | CobraHead, Gardening, Vegetable Growing
I plant 17 or 18 sweet potatoes plants every year. For the past quite a few years I’ve started my sweet potatoes using sprouts from 2-year-old roots purposely allowed to sprout in the basement. This year, I had a request from our son Geoff, who is in New Haven, Connecticut, for some starts for a community garden he works with, and I also started a few for a friend who lives close by. Under Plastic Normally, I start one box of 25, but this year, we’re going...
by Noel | Mar 26, 2020 | CobraHead, Gardening, Recipes, Vegetable Growing
Horseradish is easy to grow. It prefers northern climates and does not do well in areas without hard freezes. It is nearly impossible to grow in subtropical and warmer climates. Wisconsin is not tropical and horseradish loves it here. It is grown as a commercial crop. I dug out these two large roots from the herb bed, yesterday, where I have several clumps of horseradish always growing. These two were especially fat and clean, which made preparation quick and...
by Noel | Mar 20, 2020 | CobraHead, Gardening, Vegetable Growing
Starting seeds is critical to my vegetable garden. Buying live plants is cost-prohibitive and only by starting seeds can I grow exactly what I want. The flats above are bottom heated with a heat mat. A sheet of plywood between the mat and the flats mitigates and spreads the otherwise too intense heat of the mat. The mat is connected to a timer, 15 minutes heat on, 60 minutes off. The unit doesn’t have a thermostat so this works reasonably well. The lights...
by Noel | Dec 12, 2019 | CobraHead, Environmental Issues, Gardening, Vegetable Growing
Every garden year is different. Because I grow a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, I can usually be assured that I’ll get some good harvests of most things, even if occasional failures occur. Thirty-three years of growing in the same area also contribute a lot of knowledge of how things work and increase the chance of success. Peppers, Sweet and Hot This year we had a better than average and most bountiful harvest of peppers, both sweet and hot....
by Noel | Aug 16, 2019 | CobraHead, Environmental Issues, Gardening, Vegetable Growing
The year has brought us a lot more rain than we really need. The good news is that I’ve barely had to water. More good news is that water-loving plants like tomatoes, melons, and zucchini are putting out huge crops. Bad news is the tomatoes are splitting from too much water, and leaf blight, always a problem in Wisconsin is rampant again. More bad news is that the weeds love the rain every bit as much as the veggies. Even more bad news is that the mosquitos...
