I gotta show you the garden now because after a week in the 100s, who knows how it will look after. Kalua Pork Recipe: heygrillhey.co... Get my book! amzn.to/3MwzDPM
On the shade cloth, I’m up in Sonoma County and have had the 50% cloth on my tomatoes for most of the season. They are doing great. Also covered other beds that get intense sun and now that I’m started to plant Fall crops (purple cauliflower, broccoli, etc), am using the cloth there as well. It’s made a huge difference.
Have fun in Carlsbad ❤ We sold our home there 3 years ago and bought 26 + acres in the mountains of Virginia. I miss home , but I love our little farm here, too.
It's been the worst year ever for my garden! It's so frustrating. Presently, we're 20* above normal and getting hotter the next 10 days. One tomatoe plant has produced, and 11 plants just had to be pulled. Not one zucchini plant produced, and lastly, I've had to plant beans 3 times and just now gettting blossoms on the ones that made it through deer tasting!!! Next garden will take many adjustments? I'm not giving up! So for this year, it's beets, onions, and carrots. 😊 Thanks, Brian, for sharing all knowledge and experiences.
I had no luck with my spring summer garden. So little produced. Everything is coming back to life if the newest heatwave doesn't fry everything again! Yes it IS GETTING HOTTER EACH YEAR here also in the AZ low desert, zone 9b. Plant many seeds indoors now!
I 'accidentally' learned a new trick on my phone to get 20⁰... To get the '⁰' , just hold down the 0 briefly! 😊 It works to make all the numbers smaller. 😁 Have a great day! 🥰🙏🌱💗
My fall/winter seedlings all sprouted unexpectedly early! So all those sproutbabies moved indoors for the duration until the heat passes. Hope these babies survive!
Root crops are the most fun to harvest. They need to be 'unwrapped' from the soil like a gift. It's usually a great surprise but just as a gift can be be, sometimes not.
I learn the weather pattern, when Texas weather is cooling down, you guys will have heat, when you are cooling down, Texas will have heat❤ I follow this pattern, It works❤
Good idea on the shade cloth for your peppers. We kept our peppers under 40% shade cloth (zone 7b) the entire summer and we've had the best harvests ever!
Your new orchard seems like a perfect location for swales built on contour to conserve rainwater and encourage any water to soak deep into the hill rather than running off. That makes the trees much more drought resistant. Check out Geoff Lawton's videos on the use of swales in permaculture...they are brilliant! 💚
Here in Alabama, it was 100F in the shade a few days ago. A cold front has moved into the area. Today's high was 87F, tomorrow's high is forecasted for 74F, and there is rain in the forecast, then the low 80s for the next nine days. I took advantage of it and planted seedlings for Dutch Cabbage, red cabbage, and Rainbow Swiss chard this morning. Then I sowed seeds for Columbine, English Daises, broccoli, cauliflower, Pak Choi, Komatsuna, Yellow Heart Winter Choy, tatsoi, Nappa Cabbage, Danvers carrots, Purple Top turnips, Detroit Red beets, and parsnips. I have my fingers crossed, hoping the parsnips germinate, if not, I'll resow next month. Last year, we had a hard freeze on Nov 2nd (24F), so not a lot of time to get the garden going. I'll deal with the freezing temperatures when I have to. I'd rather deal with the cold, than the heat. Happy Gardening!
Ollie and Otis: "Nothing to see here, dad. We're being good" Love seeing Bella, can't wait for Daisy to come home. Garden is looking so good. I've had a horrible tomato year, too. Getting a few now but not enough to can like I wanted to. Hope you like the habanada peppers; we really like the flavor without the heat. Your property looks so much larger with that middle fence gone.
Yes, here in Manteca, Ca.... we agree that Summer heat has been terrible for most vegetables : tomatoes and eggplants and peppers ...everything drops blossoms, peppers get sun-burned and zucchini and winter squash plants droop to conserve moisture. Summer heat is back ! Your garden still looks lively even in this hot weather. I need to use shade cloth to protect vegetables more often. I love and enjoy your bountiful garden during this harsh season. This is the 3rd of 5 days over 100 degrees ( 103 average ) . Good job, stay cool.
OK (so if I understand this right) you are going to have a sloped or (semi-)terraced orchard, with a northern falling slope. No problem - I quess. Just make sure when you plant the trees, plant them with adult spacing, and plant the (what will be highest adult trees) highest trees near your walkway, while the smaller elevation adult trees planted upslope. So true cherry trees (some getting in adult age 40-60 feet tall) would be near the walkway, alongside tall and bushy figs, and avocados. We have seen some ancient avocado trees in San Jose that are unbelievable high at 70 feet tall (I almost laid an avocado in my pants, when I realized what these tall trees were !). Next higher would be the apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, and plums. At the highest of the slope would be dwarf-rootstock trees or those specially pruned to be dwarf trees. Then everybody gets their piece of the unlight, UVs, and heat, and there won't be fighting for height supremacy, or competition of roots and drip lines with outward branches of the trees fighting with each other for space and sunlight. If you are going to plant nut trees, then keep them far away from the fruit trees. Especially walnut trees (juglone compound and iodine-rich leaves and acorn husks) will kill off fruit trees up to 60 feet distance (!)
Oh no! Zucchini bread! Not the sheep! I've lived in nothere Florida five years now without any tomato harvest. I will try the shade cloth next year, maybe the solution to my dead tomato plants.
Another homsteader that I watch lives in South Carolina. As far as I can determine, they get more rain and humidity than you do. They do get high heat. She is using 50% shade cloth, both in her open air and high tunnel structures. Another is in BC and uses 50% shade cloth on her high tunnels and green house.
I use them here in Central Texas too. We have high humidity until "winter" gets here. So the humidity helps the plants during the heat. If I didn't have high humidity, I would be putting bowls of water underneath plants to help them out.
Brian YOU have accomplished so much. A guy moved to San Diego California and planted his garden and the moles are eating the roots killing his plants. Now He's got to go back and mole proof the ground. WOW POOR THING.😮
We tried a new way to cook corn on the cob and in the husk and it was great. Cook 1 ear for 4 minutes or 2 ears for 6 minutes on high in microwave. When done cut end off on wide end and squeeze corn out in one piece. Easy, no mess and tastes great
Catching up on some videos of yours (my own life has been ery busy/chaotic/stressful over the last couple months) and just wanted to say... I am blown away by all you have done and continue to do with your Homestead! I appreciate that you share all the highs and lows because it gives a more honest view of what it's like to manage a smaller homestead. We currently live in the SF Bay Area and are doing what we can to prepare ourselves to hopefully buy our own small homestead.
Wow Brian, you inspired us. It's supposed to be 105f here today. We're going to the Oceanside Farmer's Market to escape the heat and pick up some nice veggies and meat. Next week we'll hit the Carlsbad market.
Regarding tomatoes, peppers and eggplants (and other nightshades). I googled "why are night shades called nightshades?" and to my delight: The origin of the name “nightshade” is not clear, but some suggest the name describes how these plants prefer to grow and flower in the night and shade. Do me a favor and do an experiment - plant some tomatoes, peppers and eggplants IN THE SHADE next season...I betcha they'll be the best ever! Mine are :)
Beautiful squash, peppers all look great. The fence looks really good too. You’re always are so busy working and improving y’alls homestead. Thank you for sharing Brian.❤️✝️🙏🇺🇸
It was 106 here today in San Diego East County. I just ordered some 50% shade cloth from Amazon to be delivered tomorrow. I do have some shade over my tomatoes, but I need something bigger. My tomatoes did okay this year till the rats discovered them. I was mostly picking them just as they started to turn color, but I missed a few. My peppers did well this year, so that’s been a win. Cucumbers have been meh! I have gotten one really nice one. I have one orange sugar pie pumpkin on the vine, which I’ve covered in netting. 🤞There’s another golf ball size one that I’m keeping an eye on. Have gotten 1 zucchini! It seems like on both the pumpkin and zucchini plants, there have been plenty of bees, but mostly male flowers. I got a decent amount of onions. I planted some green beans a couple of weeks ago, they came up and looked lovely (you know that feeling), then one morning as I was doing my daily hand watering, all that was left were stubs! 😡 This is the first year I’ve had anything still growing in September, so I call that a win! But I keep at it. I have broccoli and cabbage starts in a sunny window inside and carrot, radish, onion and garlic seeds all waiting patiently for cool fall weather. It will get here eventually, right? 😅
Shade cloth - we can get into triple digits in my area - and have multiple times this summer. I would definitely go up to at least 50%. I have also used 70% with success ... but I made sure it was taut.
Everything looks good in the garden. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for your habanadoes! My plants are still about 4 inches tall. They keep flowering, but then...nothing.
We had seeds this year (and last year) that weren't right, too. But! Those summer squash that aren't yellow zucchini are really good. And, the larger zucchini are great for shredding and freezing for cakes and breads, or chopping for relish. Or you can feed them to the livestock. 😊 Everything looks so good; lots of good eating in that garden! Yay you!!
Those bicolor zucchinis are called Zepher. They are my favorite! They have a wonderful flavor. If you like them, save the seeds. I have found them to be hard to find sometimes.
Yeah, peppers, tomatoes, carrots and even squash are all showing a hatred of these temps. Even in pots under the patio, it's too much, so next year I'm putting up shade cloth too - hopefully it will reduce water need as well. I haven't let my basil flower but do have extra - the bees deserve a treat. Thanks. By the way basil and sprigs of rosemary in with almost everything helped with predators. Even hornworm. Yay. I'm putting your book on my wish list right now. Thanks for the reminder.
When I did my research for shade cloth for a very hot area in Northern California, I found out that local nurseries used 40% shade cloth. So, that is what I got. My area could get up to 115 degrees, but that not did not happen often. I read somewhere that tomatoes don't like it over 85 degrees.
I love watching you harvest. So rewarding. Those yellow and green squash are zephr. I grew them one year. I think they are very unique. Guess seed mixup.
I live in south-central TX (zone 9a) and I use 70% shade cloth over my garden. It gets 100+ degrees regularly here in the summer and the 70% works well.
We are growing our shade because this is a high UV/heat area and the plants can't take it getting worse (it's getting worse) so I'm growing vines and Bamboo (I know how to handle it) and using these little trees that are popping up everywhere as living trellises. The only tomatoes that survived had shade from the tree trellises they were attached to. They put out shade that grows vigorously so I'm able to cut the growth back to the desired amount and area of shade that I want and they were a lifesaver this year for sure. I don't know what kind of trees they are but I did a couple of videos on them at the beginning of growing season this year.
My zucchini, even the really big ones, have been insanely tastey this year! The seeds haven't been as developed/hard like they usually are in bigger zucchini.... Not sure why but everyone that weve given them to have also commented on this. Btw... Cube of Butter zucchini are freaking AMAZING!!!
I hope you do discussions about making a 3km to 6km inflatable mountain so we can spray the top with water and make it snow on top of the mountain and if we make enough we can drop the temperature anywhere and we can even remake the arctic, and if we put them in the water it will drop the global temperature because the waters temperature is what is making the outside temperature and we can make endless freshwater with them, making artificial mountains is the only way we can stop floods by freezing the water on top and for us to drop the outside temperature and make endless freshwater
I'm in Perth, Australia and we get extremely hot and dry summers also (rarely a day that's not near the 100f range or over. I use 30% white shade cloth. White is the go as it doesn't mess with the incoming spectrum of light so won't slow down plant growth. 30% is enough as long as you have good quality soil in my experience even when we get 4+ days of 40c and very strong hot winds. If you have dry sandy native soil think about adding kaolin clay aswell as organic matter to it. It turns the soil into a nice loam as the kaolin clay retains moisture and stops the organic matter just leaching through and washing away.
I hate to tell you this Brian, but I live in the Central valley and I use 40% shade cloth on my tomatoes. They don't burn but the plants stay stagnant without buds until the fall or this time of the year they are coming back. Very slowly since it is still over a hundred in the daytime but now a little cooler in the evening.
I live in NW Louisiana where we start getting 100° temps in June. I'm hoping to build a trellis system similar to yours next year and put shade cloth over it as well. I've been looking at the 50% shade cloth because even though my little patch of raised beds gets partial shade, I only got 3 big tomatoes this year because it was so incredibly hot. We had like 3 weeks straight of 100 plus temps (plus more 100plus days scattered around) and all of my blooms kept falling off. We average about 96°-98° daily throughout the summer. I normally get a ton of tomatoes regardless but I experimented with changing my crops around this year trying to find the "perfect" spot for each plant and got it wrong this year 😂 the temps didn't help for sure but I think I'll keep the tomatoes in the most shaded portion next year lol Can't wait for a Daisy update! I also love watching your ideas unfold for your property. I didn't think moving that fence would make that big of a difference esthetically but it sure did! Thanks for all of the great tips and advice. I am loving your book!! Wish I would have asked you to sign it when I bought it lol
I grow a tomato called Jolene. It's a determinate plant but does not drop its flowers in real hot temperatures. I know your not a fan of red tomatoes but these are good size tomatoes. Just thought you might like to try one day or maybe your friend from Texas that you did the tomato challenge with.
The habanada peppers are really good. They take forever to ripen but in northeast PA if you start them early enough you get peppers. I have harvested over 100 off of plants in 10inch pots.
Your garden is flourishing! My coworker gave me some corn seeds. I wasn't going to use them, but after watching this video, you are making me want to try my hand at growing some next year. Wow, the habanada pepper plant looks amazing. I tried to grow one this year but the aphids destroyed it while it was still a seedling. I'll try again next year, God-willing. I hope you filmed the pepper pickling process. I would love to see some of that type of content on your channel. Looking forward to Sunday's video! Take care, Brian. 👋🏾
Hi Brian my sister brought home some shade cloth from Canada for me it’s the white one and I hope it work I’m not ready to use it as yet because I’m trying to get rid of the plants in the raise bed to plant more seedlings, I hope you all were safe in the heatwave and also the animals.❤
I am so jealous of that bell pepper. My biggest so far is about half the size of a fist. Very disappointing. I am trying to increase my fertilization process to see if that helps.
Unless you are going to do some massive watering, (even SanFran here is hitting 90s again - **&*&^%( ). you either have to "properly" over-water them, or you need a darker quality sunshade. The sun will wilt them, with less-dark sunshade, and no watering will have dried tomato plants. If you get darker cloth, then you can pull back on lesser-properly watered plants.
We’re out in San Pasqual Valley. Not too far from you. But hotter if you can believe itWatering the container garden twice a day with the triple digit heat. No shade cloth this year. We have come to accept the tomatoes are going to stop producing till it cools down. Everything else seems to be okay… for now. They say it will be another 107 degree day on Sunday. 🥵
Swales are good. Looking to create mini ones in our trellis area. Looks like you got yourself some zephyr zucchinis. They're good! Saved seeds two years ago that had cross pollinated all of the different types of melons and squashes and zucchinis. Wow last year I grew the strangest plants, some were edible like the Zephyr but some were disgusting!
Cool corn crop - gave up - raccoons and skunks usually got to them the night before it looked like they were ready. Can't believe your temperatures - just checked on line! We think it's too much when it hits 80F!! How can anybody work in that - what do you do - get caught up on your administrative/editing, etc. :O) Guess the sheep just stay in the shade - does their coat insulate them from the heat at all? Take care and everybody keep cool 🇨🇦
Love seeing the landscape coming together. For your fruit tree orchard, do you have an idea of how you will space out the trees? We’re also putting in an orchard, some this fall and more in the spring. I’m nervous about the spacing, most will be on semi dwarf rootstock…would love your thoughts!
Lookin good so far! It is very green despite the heat. Congratulations for all your hard work! Love that Bella. She is a cute beast. I hope you play frisbees, etc. to release the inner zoomies. Are you going to plant roses in the English garden?
I use 50 percent on my tomatoes and cucumbers and peppers.....im in south central Washington State..... this is a bad year for tomatoes.... we had 100 degrees days in July and that hurt them.... suppose to be 100 tomorrow here!
The Sun and heat was over 115 most of the summer here so everything burned up I just ordered a 70% shade cloth to hopefully get that up soon and avoid everything getting scorched next year
You must live near me in the low AZ zone 9b desert? Those are the temp's and drastic results I have experienced all summer! Looking forward to cooling weather and so are my plants.
i have a decor suggestion. I've been thinking about it a while. i think the garage topiary could be moved somewhere else, as it highlights the garage instead of the very lovely entrance porch. i think the garage should fall away from the eyes, and the front door area should pop. the plants are distracting to me. unless there's a reason you need the plants there, the garage looks like the focal point with the plants framing them. it might just be me, sorry. anywhoo...love you, your family, and your content.
I use 40% shade cloth over my tomatoes and I’m in New Jersey which is not as hot as where you are. I’m guessing you’re going to need a higher percentage with those temps.
I see that you have allowed your fig trees to grow into a bush structure rather than a primary leader structure. I've been trying to prune mine into the primary leader structure, but as soon as I prune out the shoots at the base of the trunk, another round of them start growing. Are fig trees naturally inclined to be bushes? Your thoughts, please. Thank you Brian! And opening up your property like that with the new fence looks amazing!
He is working on guiding them like you do grapes in a way, horizontally. Not single leader tree form. My figs are being kept short and wide so I can cover them to keep the birds from getting them even before they are ripe. I don't think I watered them enough because the figs stayed small and dried up on the tree. You will probably have to keep them trimmed until the tree gets bigger.
Morning ..I have a dumb question the mountains don't look like they have ant trees ? Have they been burnt ? I love watching what you do to you place. I never knew grasshoppers did a shed. Have a great day
The hills (not really mountains) don’t have trees because for 5-6 months of the year there’s usually zero rain. Last rain is usually April/May & won’t start again until end of September or October. If you’re close enough to the coast, the marine layer (like a fog), will provide some moisture for the native plants
Nope, gophers will take the bananas & you won't know it until it's too late. They'll eat everything underneath and the banana topside will look o.k., until it doesn't. I lost 2 large and 2 pups today. There's no roots/rootball to even try a replant. Wire them.
Omg don't get rid of the extra "big" zucchini make zucchini bread or zucchini relish from them! That "big" one you showed is small compared to the ones I grow for bread and relish!!!
Honestly, were you not aware of how hot it gets in Texas....each time I tune into a video -- seems like you are just shocked....I could never live there because it is just TOO hot.
Saw that bald spot on the black sheep and wondered if that was some "tonsured" special religious sheep, or the buck had an itch and scratched off all his hair, ... not he just has some b*tt hurt.
