Random Vegetable Questions

1- Will deer eat Rhubarb plants?
2- Does anyone have or know where I can find hard neck garlic?
3- How many years do you get out of a strawberry plant?
4- Will any potato from the store sprout? Sprayed to stop?
5- Small (plant size) black raspberry variety?

1 - No foliage is poisonous
2 - Garlic is usually a fall planted crop. Many seed companies will have it. Territorial has a good selection.
3 - 2-5 years
4 - in theory, any will grow.

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Potatoes just need light to sprout. It is just generally not worth growing potatoes because they are so cheap at the grocery store. It is one of those things you cannot beat with production or price. Strawberry last 3 years but will produce what people call runners. The runners will be a entire new plant. The runners basically be it a never buy again plant as long as you water them

I am seeing more and more hardneck in grocery stores, esp. their organic sections and/or asian grocers.

It is true that garlic is usually planted in the fall and will give you a better crop that way But you can absolutely plant some the spring ASAP and you will be able to get green garlic, scapes, and some fairly runty/small heads by fall

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I myself like to grow potatoes. So easy to grow. I love the purple colored ones. The skin is thick and has an interesting flavor. Also I found that Yukon Golds grown in my garden are way better than store bought. Actually there is a cross the potato lady sells that is better than golds. I forget the name? Yukon ____?
So this hybrid and large purples are not sold where I live and both are my favorite potatoes so I grow them myself.
Plus they are so easy to grow. I got about 50 pounds last year.

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#1 Deer will still browse things they haven’t had before including deer resistant plants. My newly planted rhubarb got munched on. Hoping the deer will leave it alone after getting a bad taste.

I’ve had something eat my rhubarb. Not sure if it was deer, but I suspect so.

I agree. I like the reds and golds that are a little more expensive. I’m trying the above ground hay method.

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How small do you want the black raspberry plant to be?
Do you want a row of them, or just one clump?
How much black raspberry fruit do you want per year?
You can keep any variety pruned to the size you want, pruning it way back
will reduce the harvest potential.

2-4 foot at most. I’ve got some golds and reds that are topping 10 foot every year. I’m tired of them always grabbing at me. Want to replace them with some small easy to manage versions.

You’re right, I should check. Just assumed all they had was soft.

Dwarfing brambles will get 3-4 feet. Arctic raspberries will get 5 inches. Not sure if there is any dwarf black raspberries yet though.

I use 30 gallon grow bags. I fill them 1/3 of the way and plant. As the plants grow I cover to the top of the bag. Potatoes from top to bottom.

Even the smallest black raspberry plant will grab at you.
You can top them at 4 feet and then prune the laterals to 2 feet each.
You might get a pint of berries per cane+laterals at those dimensions.

Deer here eat lots of things people say are resistant. I have a bay laurel growing with my rhubarb. In 10 years they’ve never eaten the rhubarb. They’ve tasted the bay laurel, but just once.

Never touch rosemary either.

They’ve walked onto our covered wood deck to eat American Persimmon, pawpaw, and in the field have eaten olive - things I’ve heard claims of deer resistance regarding.

Apple seems to be their favorite thing to eat here.

Likwise here, and anything sorbus. My Arkansas Black has gotten shorter every year, and this may be the first year that my S. Aria and Shipova get to grow because I caged them.
General echo on deer resistant. When they are hungry, anything goes. Best defense is to plant something sacrificial somewhere easier for them to get to.

Keene’s has a sale on garlic and potatoes at present. I’m not sure if any hard necks were left. I’m new to garlic, but mine are about a foot tall in 6B having planted them last fall. Scapes aren’t noticeable yet, but I’m thinking I’ll be cutting them in about six weeks to fatten the bulbs. Definitely don’t wait much longer if you’re going to try a spring crop. If you find what you want, get enough to be able to turn around and replant just before your first frost dates.

I grew Jewel black raspberries and the canes got really long. I don’t think any black raspberry will stay the size you want without a lot of pruning. I removed my plants after two years since I liked the berries, but the thorns were vicious.

You could espalier black raspberries… if you really wanted to keep them under control.

Just keep each cane tied to espaliar wire… and force to go horizontal. Perhaps one wire at 2 ft another at 3ft. One crown should produce 4 nice canes yearly… tie them down… remove any others. Give them 6 or 8 ft to run along espaliar wire.

A lot of store potatoes are sprayed so they won’t sprout.

I like to grow potatoes - new potatoes right out of the ground are a superior item you can’t buy in stores. One of the real reasons for gardening.

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I’m pretty sure the little buggers are bio-magnetic somehow. If you get close enough they can reach you, as soon as you look at something else… whip and snag.

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