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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Heaven: The green blade re-riseth (gardening thread anew)
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LutheranChik
Shipmate
# 9826
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Posted
This year a couple of the open-pollinated-seed catalogs I've seen have been offering a container-friendly miniature sweet corn with a short season...I wish I could think of the variety.
Last year the nursery sections of the local big-box stores were selling artichoke starts...here too I think the most one can hope for with those is a visual novelty in the flower garden, not an actual crop.
I'm living on the gardening edge here in Zone 5 with my Jenny Lind melons, which I will have to baby in a container in the absolute hottest, sunniest part of the yard.
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Simul iustus et peccator
http://www.lutheranchiklworddiary.blogspot.com
Posts: 6462 | From: rural Michigan, USA | Registered: Jul 2005
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daisydaisy
Shipmate
# 12167
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Posted
In anticipation for warm weather soon while I am away for a few days I'm experimenting on relatively inepensive ways of keeping my thirsty seedlings / young plants happy (the neighbour who I could depend on for this is coming away with me - a bit of bad planning there!). Capilliary matting is so expensive and anyway my seed trays are re-used plastic food trays and don't have holes in the base (I realise I could put some in, but it's a hassle and I might drop the trays in the process).
At the moment I am trying sash-window cord going from a botle of water to the seed/plant trays - I wanted cotton cord but could only find the waxed sort, so with a choice between some man-made fibre and hemp I decided on the latter - as well as my gut feel telling me that was preferable it was also less than half the price! I think there will be enough water in those bottles to last the time I am away.
Any other suggestions? (next year I shall try to avoid going away in April and May!!)
Posts: 3184 | From: southern uk | Registered: Dec 2006
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Carex
Shipmate
# 9643
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Posted
We have kept our plants watered by using electronic garden hose timers. Usually these have internal batteries and are programmable, the biggest problem being the limited minimum watering time. One set of batteries should last for several months.
What you put on the other end will depend on the volume of plants: you can use a standard garden sprinkler or a drip irrigation system. Most garden supply or home improvement stores should carry individual small spray nozzles or misters that can be assembled as needed, or dripper tips for watering at the roots of larger plants.
You can also combine different approaches, such as a hose timer filling a basin from which you have cotton cloth strips for capillary watering. This allows you to vary the amount of water delivered by changing the number of minutes each day that the basin is filled from the hose.
If your plants require watering more than once a day this becomes more difficult, since most of the inexpensive systems don't support multiple on times.
Do test the system for a few days before you leave to make sure all the plants are getting the right amount of water, as sometimes there can be gaps in the coverage, especially with small sprayers.
Posts: 1425 | Registered: Jun 2005
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LutheranChik
Shipmate
# 9826
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Posted
A question for rhubarb experts: I live in Zone 5. Per directions, I planted five rhubarb crowns about one month ago. Two of them are up, but the other three are doing absolutely nothing. How patient should I be with the slackers?
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Simul iustus et peccator
http://www.lutheranchiklworddiary.blogspot.com
Posts: 6462 | From: rural Michigan, USA | Registered: Jul 2005
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Amos
Shipmate
# 44
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Posted
I'd give them a little more time. Then I'd go in with a trowel and sneak a peek at what's going on. You can always replant the damn things. Rhubarb is bone-hardy even in Zone 4 in my experience, and puts up with a lot.
If you've got your melons started nice and early, they should get a good start and rush into business once the hot part of the summer arrives. You're not so far up north that you don't have two hot months are you, LChik?
[ 01. May 2009, 13:25: Message edited by: Amos ]
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At the end of the day we face our Maker alongside Jesus--ken
Posts: 7667 | From: Summerisle | Registered: May 2001
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LutheranChik
Shipmate
# 9826
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Posted
Thank you for the rhubarb advice! And yes, I think the melons will be off to a good start.
New question: I have a bare oblong bed that's maybe two-and-a-half feet by two feet between the house and garage on the north side of the house. The soil is very shallow, maybe 5 inches deep at most, before one hits stones. The previous homeowners just threw some cypress mulch over this and called it good; I tried planting a fern there last year, but it's not thriving. My thought, this year, is to turn this small patch into a little moss garden. Our soil is very acidic, and our lawn and surrounds have healthy moss patches already; it would be quite easy to cut out some mounds of moss from the drier, shadier areas on the property (similar to the soil in this patch) and transplant it. I'm wondering if anyone here has had luck moss gardening; and I'm also wondering about the advice I was given to rake some dried milk powder into the soil before transplating the moss, to acidify the soil to mosses' liking.
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Simul iustus et peccator
http://www.lutheranchiklworddiary.blogspot.com
Posts: 6462 | From: rural Michigan, USA | Registered: Jul 2005
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RadicalWhig
Shipmate
# 13190
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Posted
Ok. It has finally happened. Today I am going to a garden centre. I've tried to get out of it or put it off for another day, but there is no escape. I'm hoping this will be a short, inexpensive reconnaissance-only mission, for I fear that with our lack of knowledge money spent now would be largely wasted.
We are to plant and grow things in the patch of muddy weedy grass which currently passes for our "garden". The intention is to grow some of our own vegetables in the back garden and put some pretty flowers in the front. I wouldn't know a cabbage plant from a potato plant in their muddy condition - I've been largely brought up in a world where these things come in plastic bags. But the world moves on, and we must move with it. We must be more eco-friendly, more sustainable, get into the small-scale, local-is-good, way of life. So I'm happy - in principle - with this change. Not so sure about the practice.
I haven't got my hands dirty in the outdoors since I was about 12 years old. I've tried listening to gardeners' question time on R4, but it is all far above my level.
Can anyone recommend some simple books or web resources for complete beginners who want to "Dig for victory"? Where would you start in transforming a patch of neglected suburban wasteland into a kitchen garden full of tasty herbs, vegetables and salad stuff?
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Radical Whiggery for Beginners: "Trampling on the Common Prayer Book, talking against the Scriptures, commending Commonwealths, justifying the murder of King Charles I, railing against priests in general." (Sir Arthur Charlett on John Toland, 1695)
Posts: 3193 | From: Scotland | Registered: Nov 2007
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LutheranChik
Shipmate
# 9826
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Posted
Eliot Coleman's books on vegetable gardening are very good, especially if you live in Zone 5 or lower -- he's from Maine and runs an exceptional four-seasons veggie garden even in his challenging climate.
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Simul iustus et peccator
http://www.lutheranchiklworddiary.blogspot.com
Posts: 6462 | From: rural Michigan, USA | Registered: Jul 2005
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RadicalWhig
Shipmate
# 13190
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Posted
Zone 5?
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Radical Whiggery for Beginners: "Trampling on the Common Prayer Book, talking against the Scriptures, commending Commonwealths, justifying the murder of King Charles I, railing against priests in general." (Sir Arthur Charlett on John Toland, 1695)
Posts: 3193 | From: Scotland | Registered: Nov 2007
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RadicalWhig
Shipmate
# 13190
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Posted
Ah! Got it.
I'm in Zone 8.
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Radical Whiggery for Beginners: "Trampling on the Common Prayer Book, talking against the Scriptures, commending Commonwealths, justifying the murder of King Charles I, railing against priests in general." (Sir Arthur Charlett on John Toland, 1695)
Posts: 3193 | From: Scotland | Registered: Nov 2007
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daisymay
St Elmo's Fire
# 1480
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Posted
Totally different (and I have no knowledge about "Zone") here in London - it's now got not just sunny and warm, but dry - and I've had to water all my plants in their tubs today. It was surprising that so many were very dry.
The jasmine is flowering happily, pink opening up to white, thousands of flowers.
The lilies are growing, plenty of green plants getting high even now- suddenly!
And a few nice bulb flowers.
The yellow scented roses are producing their flowers and the lavinia pink are producing a few. I haven't done any cutting this spring ![[Hot and Hormonal]](icon_redface.gif) Can I just leave them for another year?
And I've had loads and loads of slugs, and so have scattered blue poison on the tubs...
ETA: why did I hit the "f" instead of the "d" for "dry"?
[ 03. May 2009, 13:07: Message edited by: daisymay ]
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London
Flickr fotos
Posts: 11224 | From: London - originally Dundee, Blairgowrie etc... | Registered: Oct 2001
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amber.
Ship's Aspiedestra
# 11142
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Posted
RadicalWhig, Grow Your Own Vegetables might be an idea? Highly recommended, lots of basic info.
Gardening is more simple than it looks. Plants need sun, food and water, and don't like being eaten down to their stalks by mischevious slugs or other bugs. So as long as your vegetables are somewhere sunny, with a nice bit of compost dug into the ground, and kept well watered. And as long as you keep a watchful eye for things eating them before you have a chance, you'll have great fun.
Grow stuff that wants to grow: Potatoes, runner beans, radishes, etc. Marrows, if you like them. Or plant a few fruit bushes like blackcurrants or gooseberries, or a couple of small apple trees etc if space permits (you can get dwarf ones). Improvise by planting things in pots rather than in beds.
Good luck! Best start thinking about my second plantings this year - the first ones are coming on well now ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Posts: 5102 | From: Central South of England | Registered: Mar 2006
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Roseofsharon
Shipmate
# 9657
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Posted
quote:
Can anyone recommend some simple books
Radical Whig, I used to grow my own veg years ago, but in order to start veg growing seriously again I needed my memory refreshing.
Over the years I have collected loads of gardening books of one sort or another, but was having trouble finding the information I wanted quickly, and preferably in one book - so yesterday I treated myself to The Vegetable And Herb Expert from the 'Expert' series by David Hessayon.
Like the rest of the series it gives a simple, clearly set out 'how to' guide to each plant, in alphabetical order.
I can't think of a better book for a beginner, and you can always go to more detailed or specialised publications as you gain experience.
[ 03. May 2009, 14:07: Message edited by: Roseofsharon ]
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Talk about books -any books- on our rejuvenatedforum http://www.bookgrouponline.com/index.php?
Posts: 3060 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Jun 2005
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Carex
Shipmate
# 9643
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by LutheranChik:
I have a bare oblong bed that's maybe two-and-a-half feet by two feet between the house and garage on the north side of the house. The soil is very shallow, maybe 5 inches deep at most, before one hits stones.
Is there concrete on one or more sides of the plot? Concrete will leach out lime, which makes the soil less acidic. We have highly alkaline water and use a lot of mushroom compost, which also contains lime, so we add finely powdered sulfur to increase the acidity in the shade beds.
A general note on planting zones: there are several different types. Most commonly used are the US Department of Agriculture zone numbers which are related to the lowest expected winter temperature. Zone 8 has a minimum of 10F / -12C,
zone 7 goes down to 0F / -18C, etc. There has been considerable debate about changing the zone maps to account for climate change over the last decade or so. You can see the map here.
The Sunset Garden Book also has a zone map (at least for the western US) that takes more conditions into account, and the numbers don't correspond at all to the USDA numbers. So make sure you know what zone numbers you are using.
Posts: 1425 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Leaf
Shipmate
# 14169
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Posted
Radical Whig, good for you!
I'd second the idea of pot gardening, especially with herbs. It's almost idiot-proof (to which I can testify, as a gardening idiot). Selection depends on your culinary usage, of course, but you might consider rosemary, sweet basil, curly or flat-leaf parsley, and tarragon. You get fresh herbs all summer, and people never mind when you give them a bunch.
For your muddy patch, you probably know to prepare the soil: Define the garden patch, dig it up, pull out the most atrocious weeds, maybe mix in something helpful like potting soil and/or compost. If it is in a sunny place, you can grow damn near anything that will grow in your zone. amber. had some good suggestions.
Posts: 2786 | From: the electrical field | Registered: Oct 2008
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daisydaisy
Shipmate
# 12167
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by RadicalWhig:
Ok. It has finally happened. .... Can anyone recommend some simple books or web resources for complete beginners who want to "Dig for victory"? Where would you start in transforming a patch of neglected suburban wasteland into a kitchen garden full of tasty herbs, vegetables and salad stuff?
Fantastic move, RadicalWhig ![[Cool]](cool.gif)
The Royal Horticultural Society has a web area for Grow Your Own - anyone can use it, not just members. I rely mainly on John Seymour's "The self sufficient gardener" combined with The River Cottage Cookbook, as well as RHS resources and the wisdom of my neighbouring allotment holders.
Posts: 3184 | From: southern uk | Registered: Dec 2006
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
News from The Patch.
I got my veggies in two weeks ago - since when it has been cold, wet and windy. Moreover, the ground was not really dug over all that thoroughly, nor did I add any compost. And it's in partial shade (were there any sun) for the greater part of the day.
Nevertheless, nothing has died: peas, beans, artichokes, courgettes and sweetcorn all seem to be making modest progress. The rosemary bush which I moved from a pot into the ground, is now flowering. The lavender and mint and regenerating. No sign of the potatoes in the ground, but one of the ones sown in a patio tub a week earlier, has leaves.
So my advice to Radical Whig is get tore in about it.
If the temperature ever rises into double figures, I may put in some tomatoes.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
We have a garden in Hell! - just what Hell's always needed.
"A linnet who had lost her way
Sang on a blackened bough in Hell,
Till all the ghosts remembered well
The trees, the wind, the golden day."
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Miffy
Ship's elephant
# 1438
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Posted
I have a question for all you gardeners: Do snails buzz when you pick them up? Or am I sickening for something?
(Miffy, who lacking an outlet for her creative talents after Heaven's closure, was forced to spend her afternoon out in the garden).
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"I don't feel like smiling." "You're English dear; fake it!" (Colin Firth "Easy Virtue")
Growing Greenpatches
Posts: 4739 | From: The Kitchen | Registered: Oct 2001
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Miffy
Ship's elephant
# 1438
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by lady in red:
My parents' neighbour claims that if you go out in the evening, you can hear the slugs munching on the plants...
Wouldn't put it past them... ![[Devil]](graemlins/devil.gif)
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"I don't feel like smiling." "You're English dear; fake it!" (Colin Firth "Easy Virtue")
Growing Greenpatches
Posts: 4739 | From: The Kitchen | Registered: Oct 2001
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
It might have been a Lesser British Buzzing Snail. It's the noise they make when they're enraged. The idea is to disconcert predators, but it also alerts other snails in the vicinity to a threat. Apparently there are ultrasonic frequencies we can't hear so the sound travels further than you think - so once one snail starts buzzing, you probably won't see any others in the area for a while.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Ann
Curious
# 94
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Miffy:
I have a question for all you gardeners: Do snails buzz when you pick them up? Or am I sickening for something?
(Miffy, who lacking an outlet for her creative talents after Heaven's closure, was forced to spend her afternoon out in the garden).
It's either singing:
A snail was crossing the lawn to the flowerbed, full of the joys of spring. It's little heart could not contain itself and it broke out into song, "♪Cha-a-a-nson d'A-moo-oo-oor ...♫"
Or worse:
And the lawnmower joined in, "♫Rat-ta-tat-ta-tat♪"
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Ann
Posts: 3271 | From: IO 91 PI | Registered: May 2001
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Campbellite
Ut unum sint
# 1202
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Posted
Poison ivy.
I have discovered it growing along the the side of my house. Out in the woods I know how to avoid it, but now it is invading MY turf. ![[Mad]](angryfire.gif)
Any ideas other than donning long sleeves, rubber gloves and other protective gear and manually yanking it out?
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I upped mine. Up yours.
Suffering for Jesus since 1966.
WTFWED?
Posts: 12001 | From: between keyboard and chair | Registered: Aug 2001
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Josephine
Orthodox Belle
# 3899
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Posted
I think that's the only way to take care of it, Campbellite. If you use poisons to kill it, the dead bits will still have plenty of oils -- enough to cause a rash if you cut them, mow them, burn them, compost them, or do anything else with them.
If you use a burn pile for garden debris, you must NOT put any part of the poison ivy plant (living or dead) on the burn pile. The volatile oils will get in the smoke. Your lungs and your eyes will not be happy with you.
Just put on long slacks, a long-sleeved shirt, gloves, and a headband or something else to keep sweat from dripping down your face. (If you don't use a headband, you will most certainly brush the sweat off your face with your hand, with unpleasant results.)
When you're done pulling poison ivy, wash any tools you used in hot, soapy water.
Then go inside, and disrobe next to the washing machine, dropping the clothes directly into the machine as you remove them. You don't want to drop them in a laundry basket or on the floor or anywhere else. If you do, you will inevitably keep breaking out in poison ivy for weeks, even if you don't look at another poison ivy plant. Their oils will linger and the plants you destroyed will get their revenge.
Then go take a hot, soapy shower.
If you do all that, you should be able to get rid of the poison ivy without any harm to yourself.
Good luck!
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I've written a book! Catherine's Pascha: A celebration of Easter in the Orthodox Church. It's a lovely book for children. Take a look!
Posts: 10273 | From: Pacific Northwest, USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Campbellite
Ut unum sint
# 1202
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Posted
yeah, that's what I was afraid if. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
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I upped mine. Up yours.
Suffering for Jesus since 1966.
WTFWED?
Posts: 12001 | From: between keyboard and chair | Registered: Aug 2001
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Otter
Shipmate
# 12020
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Posted
Josephine pretty much covered it. Poison Ivy in the garden is hellish indeed!
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The plural of "anecdote" is not "data", YMMV, limited-time offer, IANAL, no purchase required, and the state of CA has found this substance to cause cancer in laboratory aminals
Posts: 1429 | From: Chicago, IL 'burbs | Registered: Nov 2006
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Miffy
Ship's elephant
# 1438
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ann:
quote:
Originally posted by Miffy:
I have a question for all you gardeners: Do snails buzz when you pick them up? Or am I sickening for something?
(Miffy, who lacking an outlet for her creative talents after Heaven's closure, was forced to spend her afternoon out in the garden).
It's either singing:
A snail was crossing the lawn to the flowerbed, full of the joys of spring. It's little heart could not contain itself and it broke out into song, "♪Cha-a-a-nson d'A-moo-oo-oor ...♫"
Or worse:
And the lawnmower joined in, "♫Rat-ta-tat-ta-tat♪"
You do realise we're in
Hell don't you, Ann? ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
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"I don't feel like smiling." "You're English dear; fake it!" (Colin Firth "Easy Virtue")
Growing Greenpatches
Posts: 4739 | From: The Kitchen | Registered: Oct 2001
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Mechtilde
Shipmate
# 12563
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ann:
And the lawnmower joined in, "♫Rat-ta-tat-ta-tat♪"
Reminds me of the poor guy somewhere in the American West, who got bubonic plague by running over an infected squirrel with a lawnmower. Now, that's a gardening image worthy of hell.
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"Once one has seen God, what is the remedy?"
Sylvia Plath, "Mystic"
Posts: 517 | From: The cloud of unknowing | Registered: Apr 2007
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
Revenge of the squirrels. Now there's a horror movie I might even watch. Especially if the squirrels win.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Marvin the Martian
Interplanetary
# 4360
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Posted
I hope each and every one of you on this thread is visited by plagues of every known garden pest in the world. At the same time.
Concrete is proof that God loves us and, like every normal person on the planet, fucking hates gardening.
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Hail Gallaxhar
Posts: 30100 | From: Adrift on a sea of surreality | Registered: Apr 2003
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lily pad
Shipmate
# 11456
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
Revenge of the squirrels. Now there's a horror movie I might even watch. Especially if the squirrels win.
The squirrels always win.
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Sloppiness is not caring. Fussiness is caring about the wrong things. With thanks to Adeodatus!
Posts: 2468 | From: Truly Canadian | Registered: May 2006
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Mechtilde
Shipmate
# 12563
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by lily pad:
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
Revenge of the squirrels. Now there's a horror movie I might even watch. Especially if the squirrels win.
The squirrels always win.
Though possibly not the one that went under the lawnmower.
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"Once one has seen God, what is the remedy?"
Sylvia Plath, "Mystic"
Posts: 517 | From: The cloud of unknowing | Registered: Apr 2007
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:
I hope each and every one of you on this thread is visited by plagues of every known garden pest in the world. At the same time.
Concrete is proof that God loves us and, like every normal person on the planet, fucking hates gardening.
First thing God did when he was done playing with stars and stuff was create a garden. You heathen.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Campbellite
Ut unum sint
# 1202
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
First thing God did when he was done playing with stars and stuff was create a garden. You heathen.
I once visited a lady in the c****h I was serving at the time who had a magnificent flower garden. I told her what a beautiful part of God's creation it was.
She said, "You should have seen it when God had it by himself." ![[Paranoid]](graemlins/paranoid.gif)
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I upped mine. Up yours.
Suffering for Jesus since 1966.
WTFWED?
Posts: 12001 | From: between keyboard and chair | Registered: Aug 2001
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Marvin the Martian
Interplanetary
# 4360
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
First thing God did when he was done playing with stars and stuff was create a garden.
Yeah, and what was the second thing He did? Created some poor schmuck to look after it so He wouldn't have to.
Gardens? Cool. Gardening? Sod that.
Ad with that, the H&A Day fun draws to a close and this thread returns to its usual abode
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Hail Gallaxhar
Posts: 30100 | From: Adrift on a sea of surreality | Registered: Apr 2003
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
First thing God did when he was done playing with stars and stuff was create a garden.
Yeah, and what was the second thing He did? Created some poor schmuck to look after it so He wouldn't have to.
I never said God wasn't clever.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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daisymay
St Elmo's Fire
# 1480
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Posted
I've just had a lot of these horrible black spots on the leaves of my Lavinia rose bush; I've cut off the flowers and chopped the long remainder slim branches off. I've had to leave a few as I couldn't get at them and they had tiny roses getting ready to turn into flowers.
How much can I cut off roses to make sure they grow again?
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London
Flickr fotos
Posts: 11224 | From: London - originally Dundee, Blairgowrie etc... | Registered: Oct 2001
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LutheranChik
Shipmate
# 9826
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Posted
I know that those of you across the pond are far ahead of us in the upper Midwest U.S. anyway, but I'm beside myself because Yard Guys have not yet returned to rototill my garden. We've had below-freezing temps through this past weekend, so I know I'm still pushing the season here, but it's still anxiety provoking...there are plenty of things I could be planting.
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Simul iustus et peccator
http://www.lutheranchiklworddiary.blogspot.com
Posts: 6462 | From: rural Michigan, USA | Registered: Jul 2005
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cattyish
Wuss in Boots
# 7829
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Posted
If I'm the one who mows and plants and waters and fends the dog off the important bit but it's his Mum who gave us the plants, whose plants are they?
Cat
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...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Posts: 1794 | From: Scotland | Registered: Jul 2004
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
I don't usually read this thread, but I have a question I hope someone can answer.
I have a deck about a foot above the ground, and over the years I've had opossums living under there. We co-existed quite happily. Now I've got a groundhog. I know they eat vegetable plants with great enthusiasm. Do they eat flowers--specifically impatiens? I have two planters on the deck that I want to plant with impatiens. Do I need to have the groundhog evicted?
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
Well, OUR grandhog ate most of the garden. But I don't think he went after the flowers.
You could try planting them and mixing up some pepper and garlic spray, just in case. Or just scatter the garlic around.
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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amber.
Ship's Aspiedestra
# 11142
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by cattyish:
If I'm the one who mows and plants and waters and fends the dog off the important bit but it's his Mum who gave us the plants, whose plants are they?
Cat
I say yours. Possession and control being nine tenths of the law.
My tomato plants are already nearly a foot high. And the rhubarb's ready for picking. Some signs of salad leaves and radishes growing, the potatoes are definitely growing, and the sweet peas are doing well. Wish I could remember what I planted in the first raised bed, though - something's dug up the labels on two rows. It'll have to be a surprise.
Posts: 5102 | From: Central South of England | Registered: Mar 2006
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Roseofsharon
Shipmate
# 9657
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by amber.:
Wish I could remember what I planted in the first raised bed, though - something's dug up the labels on two rows. It'll have to be a surprise.
I make a plan of each bed - mainly so that I can avoid planting the same crop in the same place the following year, but it does help me to remember what seeds have gone where (although I raise as much as possible in plugs or pots, and plant out when they are recognisable )
Must go and do that now, and make some room for the next lot in the cold frame.
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Talk about books -any books- on our rejuvenatedforum http://www.bookgrouponline.com/index.php?
Posts: 3060 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Jun 2005
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LutheranChik
Shipmate
# 9826
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Posted
Finally -- FINALLY -- our hired rototiller and favorable weather converged and we were able to begin our garden, on a "virgin" patch of lawn (after spending several hours yanking tree roots out of the soil and cultivate/amend it). In addition, I claimed a patch of ground behind the house between the new rhubarb patch and my herb garden for some edible landscaping -- veg plants interplanted with herbs and flowers.
This week it's been warm enough to put in the nightshade-family plants. I'd started several varieties of tomatoes indoors in April, but they weren't thriving...two weeks ago I set them out on a warm/protected part of the patio with a "fare thee well" and left them to the elements...to my amazement and pleasure, the mortality rate wasn't as horrible as I'd thought. So now I'm having to find space for the following varieties: "Paul Robeson"; "Silvery Fir Tree"; "Purple Russian"; "Nepal"; a wild Mexican species tomato that is supposed to produce sprays of multicolored cherry tomatoes; and a mysterious row of mixed heirloom tomato seeds, all with different leaf patterns.
Also planted: Jalapeno peppers (which we use frequently -- we just freeze them as is and pull them out of the freezer bag as needed) and -- new for us -- poblano peppers, which we bought because we love chiles rellenos and wanted to see if we could create a reasonable non-deep-fried facsimile at home. I have two heirloom eggplants/aubergines -- one white, one purple -- gotten from a big-box store and maybe three puny little eggplants that survived my attempting to start them indoors.
I also have in the ground some "Dwarf Bees" bush runner beans (an oxymoron, I know), four different squashes, cucumbers, scallions, carrots and salad greens of various kinds planted. Because we were so late getting the garden dug we missed the optimal planting times for several kinds of veg, but I'm going to try anyway, or if possible plant for fall harvest.
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Simul iustus et peccator
http://www.lutheranchiklworddiary.blogspot.com
Posts: 6462 | From: rural Michigan, USA | Registered: Jul 2005
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Roseofsharon
Shipmate
# 9657
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Posted
We've had unusually hot dry weather for the past few weeks, and I have had very poor germination of outdoor planted seeds in my very free draining raised bed.
A second sowing and a soaking every morning before the sun hits it has given better results but the seedlings are still very tiny so I will have to keep a careful eye on them.
Indoor sown veg have done much better, and most are now out in the beds.
I have two kinds of tomato, tiny Gardeners Delight, and the big Black Russian - which I sowed very early in the hope of getting a few ripe before the dreaded Blight arrives. They germinated very quickly on the windowsill, and were planted out over a fortnight ago (normally much too early for this area). They are now on the verge of flowering.
I'm also trying my luck with sweet peppers, which normally don't do well here in the open.
There are some assorted salad leaves (just reaching picking size ![[Razz]](tongue.gif) ) and celeriac sharing the same bed as the toms & peppers.
I grow red and yellow chard, to beautify the veg plot as much as for eating, and this year's crop is coming along nicely - but not quite quickly enough for a continuous cropping, as last year's plants have bolted in the heat. I pulled them out, and took a final picking, at the start of the week. They share a bed with leeks, as they both stand over the winter.
This year's leeks are still in pots, and are a bit weak looking. I can't decide whether to put them out as they are, or give them a couple of weeks in bigger pots and fresh compost.
Yesterday I planted out some courgettes and winter squash, and a bed of Romanesco (broccoli? cauliflower?), and today I need to make a couple of new beds - one for vegetable spaghetti and Giant Pink Banana squash, and one for runner and purple climbing french beans. All the plants are desperate to be out of their pots and to stretch their roots into open ground.
I'd better get on with it!
[ 04. June 2009, 08:01: Message edited by: Roseofsharon ]
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Talk about books -any books- on our rejuvenatedforum http://www.bookgrouponline.com/index.php?
Posts: 3060 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Jun 2005
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LutheranChik
Shipmate
# 9826
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Posted
I debated about celeriac -- we like it at our house but the closest supermarket that carries it is 30 miles away, so growing our own sounded like a good alternative...but I didn't think I'd have enough time to mature a crop. I did plant something called cutting celery...at our house it's very difficult for us to get through an entire head of standard celery before it starts going bad, so this seemed like an interesting way to add flavor to our soups and stews without waste.
Despite my having read up on companion planting, I committed a gardening faux pas, I found out, by finishing off a partial row of carrots with dill seeds; evidently these are incompatible, according to folk wisdom. Oops. It will be an interesting science experiment. And my other crops, according to the chart, will be happy with their neighbors.
We are also going to attempt an electric fence to keep out the deer -- even though we live on the edge of a city limit we have a local herd of 15-20 who regularly make the circuit around the neighborhood. The electric fence was DP's idea, and she says she'll put it up; it's a relatively uncomplicated project (at least that's what the guy at the farm store told us), and can be put on a timer so that it's only on at night when the deer are active. DP thinks my hesitation to choose this over traditional fencing is because I have a soft spot for the deer; actually, I'm just afraid that a small but equally garden-damaging critter like a rabbit can easily slip under the wire. They say that animals have a heightened sense of electrical activity, so I'm hoping the fence will give off enough "stay away" vibes to keep even the smaller creatures out of the garden.
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Simul iustus et peccator
http://www.lutheranchiklworddiary.blogspot.com
Posts: 6462 | From: rural Michigan, USA | Registered: Jul 2005
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jackanapes
Shipmate
# 12374
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Posted
Having just harvested some new potatoes, grown in a container, I found the seed potatoes to be firm, unshrivelled and in good health. I've replanted them in the same container, with a vague hope of getting a second crop, and they are already growing like billy-o once more. Anyone tried this?
Posts: 468 | From: The bottom of my heart | Registered: Feb 2007
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