Ducks4you for 2022

[ducks4you]

Harvested 21? 25? more beans, including 3 aspargus beans. I am now walking the beans every day. I never had a bed so weedfree before!!
VERY humid today, so this is my first inside the AC break. Bad timing, but I think I will water the beds next. The sweet potato bed has turnips and pumpkins up. REMEMBER, they are planted there to fill in the spaces, and many are old seeds, so that is their purpose. Wherever I leave bare spots the crabgrass, sawgrass, quackgrass (NOT a favorite of This Ducks!!) and purslane want to sprout.
2022 has been my year to throw seeds everywhere, and I have seen success, like my African daisies.
Going into town on Wednesday and the 2023 seed buying commences then.
Rural King still has seeds, and surprisingly Lowe's will keep some seeds through the winter, although the selection is Very low there.
5 tomatoes are blushing.
My big bed Cherokee Purple volunteer tomato has big and beautiful green tomatoes all over it, at least a dozen. Can't wait to harvest from it.
It has made me consider that I should stagger my tomatoes and sweet peppers next year bc the volunteer has a LOT of airflow.
Maybe?

Can You Grow Tomatoes and Peppers Together?

Companion planting is always tricky. There are many plants that compliment each other well when grown together. But there are also plants that will cause problems for other plants grown nearby, if planted too close together. So what about Tomatoes and Peppers? Can you grow them next to one...

www.allaboutgardening.com

OR...

 

[ducks4you]

Tomato Companion Planting: What to Plant With Tomatoes - 2022 - MasterClass

In a vegetable garden, companion planting is all about attracting beneficial insects (the natural predators of those not-so-beneficial garden pests, like aphids and caterpillars), encouraging growth, and optimizing overall output. It’s a balancing act between providing the right setting for...

www.masterclass.com

Companion Plants to Grow With Tomatoes

• Basil. Basil and tomatoes are soulmates on and off the plate. ...
• Parsley. ...
• Garlic. ...
• Borage and squash. ...
• French marigolds and nasturtiums. ...
• Asparagus. ...
• Chives.

OR

12 Evidence-Based Companion Plants for Tomatoes

Companion plants can improve tomato plant health and yields in several ways. Learn more about companion plants for tomatoes and why they work here.

growfully.com

• Borage.
• Calendula. A great plant for attracting beneficial insects—which can help reduce pests and increase pollination.
• Chives.
• Lemon balm. ...
• Mint. ...
• Nasturtium.
• Sage, oregano, parsley, and thyme.

The jury is still out on my 2022 tomato growing, but I look at my beds and analyze how I can do better.
DH is still not satisfied with my late tomato planting. We both would like to put out 6 early tomatoes that are covered for cold protection, just to see if we can get tomatoes earlier, primarily for eating.
This morning I considered that I don't NEED to build a structure for early 2023 growing bc I already Have 5 semi permanent fences that can support covers. Youngest DD keeps a Christmas List on her phone. I have asked for a small greenhouse from Harbor Freight.

6 ft. x 8 ft. Greenhouse

Amazing deals on this 6Ft X 8Ft Greenhouse at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

Maybe this one:

6 Ft. x 6 Ft. Greenhouse

Amazing deals on this 6Ft X 6Ft Greenhouse at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

I thought long and hard about building one, but I am no builder, so that's kindof a pipe dream.
I am concerned about wind damage, so my PLAN is to ask for this in October. I want to put this on the south side of my garage, on the east side of my 2022 tomato bed. I will need to pound in fencepost stakes and put two 4' x 8' wood to protect from our periodic severe winds, to the West and to the East. I know that this will limit the sunshine to only the south facing wall/doors, but I think that will be enough. I also want some plastic adjustable shelving, kind of like this:

Robot or human?

I will look for the shelving I put in my garden shed, where I can make it one or two shelves high. It really holds weight.
I KNOW that I risk post viewing with just text!
Next text will have some pictures, I PROMISE!

 

[ducks4you]

Filler plants are up in the Sweet potato bed. Can't really identify pumpkins from other squash, although one looks like a big pumpkin sprout (not pictured here.) Obviously, there needs to be a little bit more grass weeding.

 

[ducks4you]

You can see turnips, more squash and the bed, as a whole.

 

[ducks4you]

THIS is why I like to keep volunteers. This is a Cherokee Purple from some fruit that dropped of the vine in 2021. These green fruit are much bigger than on the purchased Big Boys that I have growing in my tomato bed. One fruit had some damage so I tossed it.

 

[ducks4you]

Got okra growing with my tomatoes this year, the row is against the south side of the garage fencing.

 

[ducks4you]

Demand for Garden Seeds is Still High—Here's What You Need to Know to Shop Smarter

Experts anticipate seed shortages in 2022 because of high demand and supply chain issues. Use these tips to shop smarter and find the varieties you want to grow.

www.bhg.com

"You can also order seeds throughout the year, rather than only in the early spring. Blazek says seed companies were swamped in 2021, when COVID left them short-staffed, and orders rose a whopping 400%. "Most of those orders hit in March and April, but now people seem to realize seeds that sold out in early spring may be available later, so shop year-round,"

 

[ducks4you]

The great 2022 seed scramble - Grainews

To say 2021 wasn’t a very good year for seed growers in Western Canada is putting it lightly. The combination of drought conditions and unrelenting summer

www.grainews.ca

Farmers, TOO. At least in Canada.
In the US...

For the Farmer: Current Events and Your Farm in 2023 | The Dakotan | Charlie Adams

Yes, that’s right. That’s not a typo. 2023. Farmers have a lot of questions about what will happen to commodity prices and crop input prices for 2023 given that 2020-2022 has been such a roller coaster ride. The following is some very early speculation about what to expect for 2023. The bottom l ...

mydakotan.com

 

[ducks4you]

When Sharing Seeds Grows More Than Just Food

In Washington, DC, a program seeks to foster abundance through seed-sharing.

modernfarmer.com

New "Inflation" bill is to pay farmers to not grow.
If you buy flour, it may last over a year if stored correctly.
IF you hot water bath can, I URGE you to come up with the $ and buy a pressure canner.
Although it took me awhile to get up the nerve to use mine, I just opened a pint of beef stock that I pressure canned in January, 2023. ALL good.
Freezing is great, but if you have blackouts you could lose your meat.
We had one of those, when we lived in town. It was the 1989?1990?1991?
Can't remember WHICH year, but it was called the Valentine's Day Ice Storm blackout here.
For some reason everybody on the north side of our city street had power. Everybody on the south side of the st had no power for about 5 days. A neighbor lost all of her meat bc it was Just warm enough to rot it, as often happens here. In the country some people lost all power for 2 weeks.
Well sealed Ball/Kerr jars keep a long time.
I bring it up bc I have had pork broth cooking on my counter in a crock pot since Friday, and today it will become 8 pints of pork broth.
I made an awesome roast yesterday by cooking the carrots and onions and some garlic in beef broth first in my small crock pot.
I seared a chuck roast all sides, in olive oil, then cooked all of it together. Even the grisly part of the roast tasted good. Only DH ate it with ketchup, but I think that is force of habit. The other 3 of us didn't put anything on it.
Plus, the carrots were cooked through and had soaked up the broth.
I also made yorkshire pudding.
AND, DD fried up my 2 day harvest of beans, as an additional side dish.
I had the small bit of meat leftover this morning for breakfast. I fed the fat to the dogs.
God is very good to us.

 

[heirloomgal]

If you'd like an early tomato (that actually tastes GREAT, because most earlies are terrible!) Moskvich is excellent. It's the best red beefsteak I've ever grown that was productive, early and delicious AND done by about August 1st. Fabulous tomato.

Haha, be careful ducks greenhouses are an addiction!!! Once you get one and see what power they have you can never live without one!