GREAT Pic's Barry!! BEAUTIFUL!!!
Merry Christmas to you !!!

Kylie

WOW Barry, you aren't kidding about those huge leaves on Meadow Princess! Tiara is truly amazing, Xena has some fantastic coloring, and those Teddy Bear Sunflowers are beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing your garden with us. Wishing you a glorious Christmas and a fantastic 2010!

Thanks for sharing with us the pictures of your beautiful garden. I enjoyed it.
Merry Christmas to you!
Ingrid

Berry,
wishing you a

also

Better late then never. Especially when we are waiting for our angels to bloom all season long
RIGHT? :-)

Lucy

Merry Christmas Barry. Your plants look great!

Barry, its so good to hear from you. I hope you have a Merry Christmas. Your pictures are beautiful. I just bought another Meadow Princess cutting from Eddie, I hope this one makes it. This is my 4th try, but this time I have a shop light helping me. Its so nice to hear from you. I hope life is treating you well. Barbra,

Hi Barry!
Thank you for sharing your garden with us, it is beautiful!
Merry Christmas and a happy-healthy-prosperous New year!

Karen

THANKS!!! I am overwhelmed at the response.

Even though I had another devastating hail storm (worse than last year),it was earlier in the season so things recovered. I must say I did ok. Most of my garden was Vegetables, to save money. I had an 8 lb. cabbage!

Work is sparse but I am still managing, and my temperament is allot better. Seems Abilify is a godsend for me.
Cheers, Barry

Beautiful
Dorothy

Barry
your Pics are Georgeous,I love your Brugs, it's really good to see you posting again, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas & a very Happy New Year, I haven't posted much lately, I have been busy
Elizabeth

Great looking flowers!!!

What veggies besides cabbage did your grow Barry? I am looking forward to next season to grow more veggies. I read on another thread about growing chayote squash, and am considering that if I can find the right place to grow this very vigorous vine. Right now I just have some lettuces growing in a tub, but noticed where tomato seedlings came up on the lawn most likely from the cherry tomatoes.

Most everything, Eloise.
Even Liam Beans.
Turnips, Parsnips chard, brussel sprouts
kohlrabi beets, brocoli, chard, onions,
carrots, green beans, eggplant, peppers,
squash, cucumbers and melons.
I got 14 great melons!

Now see Barry, now you wanna make me have veggies growing next season ;-)

There is NOTHING better then your own home grown veggies and fruits

Lucy

forgot tomatoes :) and..... for sure I was spoiled all summer, and even now I still have produce.

That's amazing Barry! I assume you froze some of that produce for future needs. A couple of times, I've tried growing watermelon and cantaloupe, but each time the vine dries up. One time, I grew watermelon by the driveway and I had a few melons, but they weren't sweet at all. I will try more things next season. Usually, I just plant tomatoes, Japanese cucumbers, a couple of chili plants, and mix lettuces and Italian parsley.

Barry, I really believe you have a gift for growing plants. I think you could grow a tree from a tooth pick. Barbra

Thanks Barbra, yes my toothpicks are growing fine. I particularly love the red ones with frilly green tops.

Eloise, Melons are hard to grow but with the right technique you can suceed each year; in Cal it is idea!
Let me know if you want my method.

Barry

Barry did you grow your veggies from seed or transplants.. I ask becoz if you would like a chance to get a jump on the season you can get seeds for SASE.. It is always nice to send a couple of $$ just to help the effort and keep the place running but not mandatory..What Melons did you grow??

Kylie

Here is a link that might be useful: WinterSown

thanks for the offer Chena but I have ordered the 22,000 all vegetable survival - open pollinated heirloom type.

Except for a few plants, I will grow everything by seed.

Ok Barry, whats the secret for growing mellons? I will retire in May, my husband is putting in a veg. garden for our renter at the coast. She is really neat, she does canning and stuff like that, she is only 28 yrs old. I know he will make the garden really big, so I can have a few rows. I love mellons!!! Barbra,

ok I will try to tackle this for your area; it is different up here. First off the roots are very sensitive to too much water, low temperatures and disturbance. That being said, give the roots the utmost care; that meens
well drainded sandy soil, and do not disturb the roots in anyway if you transplant. In Texas you would put seed in the ground.
Durring the growing season (pre-fruiting, they like ample water, and as the fruits mature it is better for them to have less water, even to the point of drying out at fruit maturity.
I accomplish the above by using black plastic. porus for very sandy soil and nonporus for heavier soil. I don't suppose Barbra, that you have trouble with heat which is esential, hence the black plastic.
Make the soil very rich; add compost and granular fertilizer, especially under the "hills" (plant 6 to 8 feet apart). Bugs love them so keep an eye out for pests. Spray as necesary because they cary disease.

AND most importantly feed them at the begining until they take off, growing rampantly........and give them the most sun and room to grow, that you can.

Good summary, I hope, but I bet you already read that info somewhere.

As far as I know Texas is ideal for melons because of the good spring rain and dry hot summer. Good luck

oh sorry Chena I didn't answer your question... this year I simply got the ones best suited for the Northeast. I had to buy plants called Cantalopes. This coming year, I will do a giant one, sugar baby watermelons and Crenshaw.

Thank You Barry, I can't wait to plant them. Will coffee ground do for feeding, or do I need to buy something? Barbra

Barb, You need to feed them like a brug, until they are growing like wildfire and then stop. During setting fruit all the nourishment they need will be in the compost you give them and the 5-10-10 granular fertilizer you mixed in the soil prior to planting.

By the way, are we will still having problems with e-mail? Did you get the last Thanksgiving reply I sent to you?

Thanks Barry for all the info on growing melons. Hopefully next season I will succeed as I really love watermelon and cantaloupe.

Looks like a happy garden.