Otto

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Just saw this, prayers going your way!

I believe the directions on the bag so not to. If it s a small area, you can hand pull some of the weeds, or hit individual ones with a light solution of roundup.

Yes, definitely cage or stake the ‘maters.

Tomatoes, eggplants and peppers are all upright plants, each need about 2’ spacing between them to thrive. There will be spacing requirements on the back of the plant label. I would say you could do 6 tomatoes in that circle area on the left, 12 peppers plants in two rows in the slim section in the middle and 6 eggplants in the right section. You might have a little room to add an herb plant or two. Can’t have tomatoes without basil! If you want more tomatoes or eggplants, subtract peppers. 6 tomato plants will produce a lot, so unless you are making jars of sauce or freezing a lot, it should be enough. You will find the tomatoes in 6 packs or as individual plants, the peppers will be 6 or 12 plants, unless you get a hot variety. Eggplants probably 6 plants. Find a good local nursery and they will be most helpful. And like Jeremy said, full sun is the best. If it is shady for more than a few hours it will not do so well. Fertilize and weed too!

It is heartening to read about the misses and close calls because I had had three days in a row of misses and close calls. That and bourbon make me feel much better! The first two days were just birds that I saw for a split second and they were gone kind of thing. BUT Today was the Mother of all misses. My buddy and I set up in two different fields with a section of woods that we knew held roosted birds. Being in two different fields, I knew one of us would get a shot at something at fly down. My buddy did have a chance and shot at a bird from 60 yards. So by 6am we were already kicking ourselves for not being patient and working the bird properly. We decide to change gears and we move to a different section of the farm, him in an old apple orchard, and I was on a field edge about 100 yards away but with lots of thick brush in between. I had two decoys out in the field and while I was fiddling around with the stick that goes inside the decoy I hear wings flapping behind me. I turn around to watch a Tom fly off! BUSTED. I figured might as well sit and see what happens. Within 45 minutes I hear a gobble pretty close. A minute later, it sounds like it is moving off. I call a few time on my slate and it gobbles again, but further away. I figure he is gone now. I wait a few minutes and picked up my slate to call again, but then I remembered the advice I have seen here several times - he knows where you are, let him come find you - don’t call. I set the slate down and within 5 minutes he is strutting 50 yards away from me. Big Tom with a beautiful fan and a thick beard. Plus his feathers were shining in the sunshine. Such an incredible sight!! I thought “Have patience” and waited. Some patience I have! He walked 10 more yards closer to me and I send it. STUPID. He jumps and moves away a few feet and stops. I pump in another round and shoot again. Nothing. He moves another 10 feet away. Stops again! Shoot with my last shell, and then he takes off flying. I get up to look for feathers, blood anything. I find nothing. I look in the brush in the direction he was headed and find nothing. THREE HUGE MISSES IN A ROW! Such a great and lousy day at the same time! I am going to let these birds rest a couple of days while I consider the next move. I know they are there, but now they know I am here too.

Corn and green beans are usually planted directly into the soil. If you you put them in, just look out for potential overnight frost, you can cover with an old sheet to protect them. (Not plastic) Or if they get damaged from frost, just replant right into the ground.

Congratulations to all the successful hunters! I hunted the first three and a half hours today. Had a hen hanging around for over an hour, at one point she was 6’ from the blind. Talking the whole time. My buddy stayed right until noon and danced with a gobbler late in the day, but did not seal the deal. Back out tomorrow! Good luck everyone!

Sure, come on over!

It depends on what you are planning to put out. But better to wait at leas a week and determine if it is safe after that.

HD and Lowes, their plants are ok, not #1 quality. For me the main issue is the local economic impact is not the same as if you purchase from a local grower. I think your local grower should have what you are looking for, and it will helpful to be open to their suggestions as the what varieties will work best. Also, without a doubt, they will have someone on site that will know what the different types are and how they grow, etc. Try finding that at Home Depot. Example, you said you wanted cucumbers - do you want Chinese cucumbers, cucumbers for pickles, a climbing variety, or just a regular slicer?? They may have 10 choices, or they may have one. If you want a very particular type of cucumber there is still time to get seeds and choose one of hundreds of types and plant those in the ground, but if you want a plant that is started already, you may only get to choose from 3,4 , 5 or so selections.

Lots of Leeks, my Lord! I have a bunch of smaller patches in one section of woods and none in other sections not far away. That is the only place I see trilliums too. Now if I could find the usual place for morels....

I am going off of commercial plants we use on our farm. I’m sure there are varieties that produce in year one. Main issues for biz are he won’t have room for strawberries unless he drops something like the squash and the cukes, and he said the garden might be a one time thing for him being home more often instead of at an office working in NYC. No sense putting in a perennial plant if it will be lawn again in 2021.

Happy Birthday!

Support your local greenhouses and nurseries! Plants at Home Depot and Lowes are usually from Canada where the greenhouses get free heat from the government.

No, they will take 3 years to establish and can be a lot of work.Plus, per your plan you don't have enough room unless you drop something. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Buy them now then and put them in your garage for an extra week. Check your forecast and decide based on that. If there are no cuke or squash plants, those are very easy to plant from seed right into the ground. Buy a small packet of each and you will have a 5 year supply. The lawn fertilizer is mostly nitrogen. It won't hurt your garden, but you will want something with a higher middle number to encourage fruiting and flowering in the vegetables.

If you use weed killer etc. on your lawn, I would not use grass clippings for garden mulch. The residual chemicals will leech right into your food source. If you never apply anything to your lawn, it would be ok. Personally, I never have done that. I just weed. Actually now, I just use containers for a few herbs and tomato plants. Everything else, I get from my our farm. Almost all my gardening now is for flowers.

In southern NY you are probably ok. If it does get really cold and you lose a couple of plants, they are easy to replace. Go for it!

How about hitting the edges with a propane torch? Maybe even let the edges burn a little and then douse it.

Biz, weeds will grow on any open ground eventually. Just turning over the soil brings up all the dormant weed seeds, waiting for the right conditions to sprout and grow. Or they will blow in from your neighbors yard who is not as meticulous as you on lawn care. Can be from miles away too! You can use black plastic (or like Cynthia cardboard and plastic) or other mulch like straw to keep the weeds from getting sunlight. Don’t use mulch like pine bark or grass clippings though. When they breakdown, they rob the soil of nutrients that your plants need. That is not a big problem around your landscaping, but around your vegetables it is. Also, grass clippings will leach all the chemicals into your vegetable garden, also not good. Or you can weed once a week for like 10 minutes and stay on top of it. It is a part of gardening! It is a good idea to cultivate the top 4 or 5” of soil a little too, it helps your plants get water and nutrients down to their roots. That’s why I suggest you plastic mulch a vine plant like your squash and cukes, it’s hard to hoe around the plant and not damage it. But it is easy around your tomato plants. So, get a hoe! You picked very easy vegetables to grow. Just keep the weeds down, keep them watered and feed them once a week and you will be very happy with the results!

Happy Birthday you Slayer you!

Potatoes are good to go now Cynthia! PS I have not heard good things about the towers, bu it looks like it would be fun to try!

Biz, I would get: 2 cukes, (6’ x 6’) Leave on ground, not on trellis. Good place to use a plastic mulch as a weed barrier. 4 tomatoes: 1 grape, 1 beefsteak, 2 regular like Jet Star or Superstar - if they sell single plants. Early Boy is a good one too. If they have any heirloom tomatoes, get those, much better flavor. If not sold in single plants, get 6 of your favorite variety. (6’ x 6’) The grape tomatoes are delicious and prolific growers. Use one wire tomato cage for each plant. 1 green squash (zucchini) (6’ x 4’) One plant will produce a bunch! Unless you REALLY like green squash and lots of it! Leave on ground, no trellis. It is a good idea to hill the plant if you can. 6 peppers - If you can get 1 or 2 hot peppers that would be fun too. I would also get a can of Bonide “Tomato-Potato Dust”, it is a good all purpose garden insecticide and fungicide. If you want to go organic, you’ll have to do some research, it is not my forte. Ask at the garden center, they will have something they will want to push. Also, 10 pounds of 5-10-5 fertilizer, or a box of Miracle Grow. If you want organic fertilizer “Neptune’s Harvest” is highly regarded. If you want to add a pumpkin, 1 plant will produce enough pumpkins for decoration around the house, but it doesn’t look like you have enough room. It is better not to squeeze in too much, so you can walk in there and weed and cultivate. Good Luck! It will be a nice “Covid19 Victory Garden”!

@Bionic, did you get my PM? I want one of each too!