2023 our new gardening adventure

[jjannie]

Did the weekly maintenance yesterday. Also trimmed another big bowl worth of the lettuces/spinach (pic) as they were shading the plants next to them too badly. Many of roots were so long (1-1.5 feet long) just after a week from trimming them last week. Having long roots interferes the plant below it from getting water trickled onto it. 

ph was still holding before maintenance at 5.75. The goal was to get it slightly lower this week. Also, will check on Farmstand#2's ph after setting it up on Saturday. I had it close on Sun, so gave it a dose of phDown. I'll check both now that they've had a day to stabilize and update this post with their numbers.

Wow, that's amazing the roots, grow that long in one week, how far do you cut them back every week? Good to hear the PH is holding so good.

I cut the roots back to a couple inches of the little grow basket, which is about 3-4 inches total left. Then the roots will get really branched out and full. 

ph yesterday:

Farmstand 1 - I've got good handle on it - it needed a little bit more. I did add so much more water and that maybe threw it off a little more than I planned for. Gave it little more treatment. 
Farmstand 2 - still a work in progress as it was still bad (ph was an 8) so gave it big dose more. 

then rechecked after 24 hours....Today the ph was:

Farmstand 1 - dead center of target range at 5.75
Farmstand 2 - I got it to the top end of the range at a 6.

I'll take these readings for this week for sure. 

Moved the wintered-over bell peppers upstairs. They seem really happy and green with just a few leaves starting to grow. Hopefully being a little warmer they will like better. Still a ways to go of course but its all a good sign this just might work out. Fun experiment for sure.

[jjannie]

2 Apr - was maintenance day once again. After harvesting all this lettuce/arugula/spinach (3 bowls worth) and inserting a few more trellises to help support the broccoli, cauliflower and tomatoes, the Farmstand pic shows we could have harvested even more. ph was still holding good. 

Trimmed a lot of roots once again. I also needed to add about 5 gallons of water to it. Once it's so full of plants they really suck out the water. It must be through evaporating off the plants. So, I added 3 Tablespoons of ph down along with the nutrients. 

Farmstand 2 - is also holding good ph. Seedings are still pretty small or not yet sprouted. Also planted more seeds into the unplanted yet plant cups some were for eventual transplanting into the greenhouse once we get done with all this winter and others will get moved as we harvest and empty out space in Farmstand 1.

3 Apr - after 24 hours I checked the ph to see where it had stabilized at - and low and behold both were at 5.5! Right where I'd hope they'd be. 

[wiperhunter2]

Wow, that is amazing how much produce you got in such a short amount of time, what a great Winter time project. Do you pull the whole pod out to trim the roots? With so much growth, I bet some of that water is going to the new leafage, because most of it is composed of water.

[jjannie]

Wow, that is amazing how much produce you got in such a short amount of time, what a great Winter time project. Do you pull the whole pod out to trim the roots? With so much growth, I bet some of that water is going to the new leafage, because most of it is composed of water.

Yes, the grow basket just pops out so you can pull them out, trim the roots then pop them back in. We'll give our son one of bowls today. Good thing we use a lot lettuce for just the 2 of us!  

Didn't get much snow overnight, may an inch or 2 (not complaining at all)- Jeff is using the tractor's rear blade to move what we did get all to one side then he can blow it over top of the side banks. Predictions say, 3-5 for us tonight so we'll just see how much more of it we actually get. This maybe the last ones of the season with the upcoming warmer temps finally arriving. this pic shows the back blade as well as the front blower taken earlier this winter. The heated cab means no blow back of snow when windy and you won't even need gloves or coat to do snow removal, pretty nice that's for sure. We often get too warm and have to turn off the heater for a time. 

[wiperhunter2]

We didn't get much snow overnight either but once I cleared the snow off our driveway, sidewalk and solar panels, it warmed up enough that nothing is sticking, even though it is still lightly snowing. That is a nice setup on your cab covered tractor blower. What kind of heater does it have, does the heat come off the engine or does it have one of those add on heaters?

[jjannie]

We didn't get much snow overnight either but once I cleared the snow off our driveway, sidewalk and solar panels, it warmed up enough that nothing is sticking, even though it is still lightly snowing. That is a nice setup on your cab covered tractor blower. What kind of heater does it have, does the heat come off the engine or does it have one of those add on heaters?

A heat exchanger from right off the engine - heats it up really nice and quick

Our son in Cache Valley has been clobbered with snow today, he was over 6 inches before heading into work this afternoon. We watched 2 different stations weather reports even the Weather Channel and all said our valley was going to get more than Cache Valley - maybe Eden/Huntsville/Snowbasin got hit harder - our roads and driveway are all dry. Layton was getting hammered when we were in town earlier.

[wiperhunter2]

We didn't get much snow overnight either but once I cleared the snow off our driveway, sidewalk and solar panels, it warmed up enough that nothing is sticking, even though it is still lightly snowing. That is a nice setup on your cab covered tractor blower. What kind of heater does it have, does the heat come off the engine or does it have one of those add on heaters?

A heat exchanger from right off the engine - heats it up really nice and quick

Our son in Cache Valley has been clobbered with snow today, he was over 6 inches before heading into work this afternoon. We watched 2 different stations weather reports even the Weather Channel and all said our valley was going to get more than Cache Valley - maybe Eden/Huntsville/Snowbasin got hit harder - our roads and driveway are all dry. Layton was getting hammered when we were in town earlier.

It's been snowing here all day, sometimes hard but it's so warm it's not sticking except for where it's already got snow.

[jjannie]

We didn't get much snow overnight either but once I cleared the snow off our driveway, sidewalk and solar panels, it warmed up enough that nothing is sticking, even though it is still lightly snowing. That is a nice setup on your cab covered tractor blower. What kind of heater does it have, does the heat come off the engine or does it have one of those add on heaters?

A heat exchanger from right off the engine - heats it up really nice and quick

Our son in Cache Valley has been clobbered with snow today, he was over 6 inches before heading into work this afternoon. We watched 2 different stations weather reports even the Weather Channel and all said our valley was going to get more than Cache Valley - maybe Eden/Huntsville/Snowbasin got hit harder - our roads and driveway are all dry. Layton was getting hammered when we were in town earlier.

It's been snowing here all day, sometimes hard but it's so warm it's not sticking except for where it's already got snow.

Hopefully one last hurrah in today's snowfall.  We did order a sidestep for our tractor just to make a little easier for entering. It has now arrived, so that'll make it nicer as it is a high step that as we age will only get little harder to negotiate.  

Got our 3 inches removed so anything else that falls should just melt away. Hopefully our night temps will help keep the melting from being too quick.

[jjannie]

Got our first cucumber bloom today. But they require a pollinator. Don't have any male flowers just yet though so its likely this one may not bear a good cuke to maturity. oh well, maybe tomorrow there will be a male in bloom as well and save it as I do see other blooms almost ready to blossom - so fingers crossed. 

[wiperhunter2]

Got our first cucumber bloom today. But they require a pollinator. Don't have any male flowers just yet though so its likely this one may not bear a good cuke to maturity. oh well, maybe tomorrow there will be a male in bloom as well and save it as I do see other blooms almost ready to blossom - so fingers crossed. 

That is awesome, I wonder if you can buy pollin to do it without having other blooms? Likely would not be worth the cost but I'm curious if they even sell pollin.

[jjannie]

Got our first cucumber bloom today. But they require a pollinator. Don't have any male flowers just yet though so its likely this one may not bear a good cuke to maturity. oh well, maybe tomorrow there will be a male in bloom as well and save it as I do see other blooms almost ready to blossom - so fingers crossed. 

That is awesome, I wonder if you can buy pollin to do it without having other blooms? Likely would not be worth the cost but I'm curious if they even sell pollin.

Hadn't thought about that. But we have always done it ourselves to encourage our squash and pumpkins just never knew this about cukes needing it. I'll look for any next time I'm at the nursery.

[jjannie]

Well tomorrow will be Maintenance Day once again!  Ph has been holding stable all week. I'll post the update statuses tomorrow. 
Harvested another bowlful of lettuces today as we've used our 2 bowls. Our son hasn't used up the one we gave to him yet. Can't hardly tell I harvested any, LOL.   But some things were getting so close to the grow lights it'll make burn spots where they touch. 

Hope you'll have a nice Easter tomorrow!!

[jjannie]

Got the maintenance all done before our family members arrived. They stayed later than I thought they would still it was so nice to have them over. 

Ph before Maintenace was still stable at 5.5 in both. 

Farmstand 1 - lots of roots to trim back, Took a little over 10gals of water to be added to it.  Full sized plants really do use it up faster. Put 3 TBSP of ph down in it, along with its weekly dose of nutrients. will check later today to see where it stabilizes this week. 

Farmstand 2 - of course no huge root growth yet. Some of new seeds are beginning to sprout though so as we empty out place for them on Farmstand 1 I'll move them. Put 2 TBSP in it, along with its weekly dose of nutrients. Only took 1.5qts of water to fill it back to full. 

Plan to start some seeds (in soil) for gardens/greenhouse today. I'll start a new thread for our outside gardening progresses.

[wiperhunter2]

10 gal of water vs 1.5 qts wow what a difference it makes when those plants get big. Sounds like you really have that PH balance figured out now.

[jjannie]

Checked the PH yesterday after 24hrs to stabilize. 

Farmstand 1 - with 3 Tbsp of phdown  is spot on 5.5. 
Farmstand 2 - with 2 Tbsp of ph down is actually a little too low at a 5.  

Deduction - maybe the difference is all the tap water I added to #1 and only a little to #2. I tried to estimate amount to add so next week I won't add phDown to #2until it stabilizes after adding its nutrients and go from there if any is needed. 

Tomatoes are beginning to bloom now. There are several cucumber blooms now so will check them for any pollination I can maybe do.

[jjannie]

Week 9

 17 Apr Sunday - maintenance day. Both ph readings were at 5.75.

#1 pics are after harvesting = from the 2 viewing angles, trimmed roots and gave it nutrients and 2.5T ph down. It took just over 7.5 gallons of water to fill it back to full. Cukes and tomatoes are both blooming heavily. And the lunchbox mini peppers are about to join them as well. Harvested out the spinach because it’s only been producing small leaves and it keeps trying bloom. So, I moved a pot from # 2 that hadn't sprouted yet into its place. 

#2 didn't need much water yet, just 1.5qts and the roots were not needing trimmed yet gave it some nutrients and 1T of ph down.

Will check ph levels on Tues to see where they stabilize. 


Yes we eat a ton of salads!!! LOL

[wiperhunter2]

Looks great, very impressive.

[jjannie]

Well, the good news of the day, I checked the ph now that its had a day to stabilize. Both were at 5.5 which is right where I'd hoped it would be. Whew, a good guesstimate about how much to use has paid off. 

I did move one of the cucumbers from #1 over into #2 as on #1 it was starting to inter-twine with another cucumber that was right above it. This was they can both just keep growing with that being a problem. Once the vines fruits get bigger the little trellises that I put in aren't going to be able to hold them as it wants to pull the grow basket a little out of the hole, meaning it will not get as much water trickling onto its roots. Next time I'll be sure not to have them above one another. Lesson learned. 

I do have a baby bell pepper plant that has a tiny little pepper on it.

Cukes and tomatoes are now blooming like crazy. I do what I can to be sure things are getting pollinated. 

Some of #2 lettuces will get moved out to #1 as the plants in #1 finish their life cycles. It's nice I can get seeds started in #2 so there won't be big lull in the harvesting of #1. Kind of a rotational planting sort of concept.

[wiperhunter2]

Sounds like you have that PH really figured out, there is always that learning curb when doing something new but you have a good handle on it from what you are saying with the plant locations.
Are you pollinating the baby bell pepper plants?
Sounds like the life cycle of the lettuce plants are pretty short, not more than a couple months or so?

[jjannie]

Sounds like you have that PH really figured out, there is always that learning curb when doing something new but you have a good handle on it from what you are saying with the plant locations.
Are you pollinating the baby bell pepper plants?
Sounds like the life cycle of the lettuce plants are pretty short, not more than a couple months or so?

Hopefully we've got it figured out. Did the weekly maintenance yesterday so I'll take the ph readings later today.

I've pollinated the cukes, the peppers in farmstand which are baby bell peppers have set some tiny fruits but I never have seen a flower on them to pollinate anything. 

We've been harvesting lettuces now for about month now and they are still producing well. I started some replacement lettuce plants in FS #2 to eventually replace them, and they are doing really well already so we shouldn't have a time we are not able to harvest any lettuce.