[size=12] So who plants what , and when do you plant/ time of year?
I have about 1/2 of the veggies in , spinach, lettuce 3 or 4 kinds , radishs 2 types ,and walla walla sweet onions Planted before 12 April :)
Still to plant this month bush beans , peas, more strawberries plants , potatoes reds and white , maybe
a row of kohlrabis if theres room ::)
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So whats in your garden? 8-)
Nice garden and good topic, PEG.
Our conditions are pretty mild so lots of plants grow year round. Volunteers and year round are Carrots, Swiss chard, parsnips, broccoli, cauliflower, fennel.
I planted peas a month ago--they don't seem to be very happy. And the mustard greens and turnips may have had too much mulch on them--hey, it's been in th low twenties since then. We've had rain, which a friend in South Arkansas has not.
going to get tomato plants in the next few days. We had frost last week, so, better to leave them in the grower's greenhouse than have to buy them too early. Probably the last of the frost, though. Sun sugars and maybe Bradleys. They got blight last year. And I didn't water them enough.
Asparagus--I'm beginning to think the people are right who say it won't grow here--I think I'll put tomatoes in that bed too. The new plants are showing no signs whatsoever of coming up, the old ones still can't be harvested--they're three years old now.
Horseradish, in its own little bed, seems to be growing. As is one of the Rubarb plants.
I'm being told that the least awful way of dealing with the 5-acre field up the hill is going to be to bulldoze it. The last time it was plowed, it wan't disked afterwards so there are 12"-18" ditches all over it. Plenty of blackberries, not to mention an incipient privet thicket.
In any case the bush-hog people won't touch it.
I got some fancy daylilies, and one of the dogs ate them. And promptly threw up (the same dog that ate the chopped onion--seasoned with my blood--while I was at the doctor's office getting my finger stitched up).
I love my dogs. Especially that one, notorious for that kind of thing. ::)
I just can't resist joining in when anyone talks gardening!
We have a special area set aside behind our garage which will be Jonni's vegetable garden - the water tank is already up there waiting to be installed! Two slight problems:
1. Jonni has never grown a vegie in his life.
2. He says he's not going to grow anything he doesn't like to eat - so no use looking forward to beetroot, cauliflower and a few others.
3. We still have a heap of work to do on the house, so he doesn't like to take time off to make up the beds for the vegie garden.
Oh - that's three isn't it?
Anyway - in between holding up bits of timber and oiling walls and sticking tiles on walls, I sometimes manage to escape into the garden.
I've just planted about fifty 'things' on the north side of the house - all nectar providing flower which will bring the birds, and many silver leaf plants which are supposedly less combustible (high bushfire area here). The whole garden is planted with Australian plants which get no water once they are established.
I also sneak in a couple of plants from which I make paper - papyrus, flax, and a few others.
Well - that feels better!
cecilia
www.duckpond-design.com.au/theduckpond
That sounds like a nice garden--50 things in silver. No watering needed.
Is papyrus a relatively low-water plant?
Had to get in on the garden thread...
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One month ago
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today
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I think these might be narcisus - they all look like daffodils to me but these are smaller
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My $1.99 bare root rose rejects are leafing out real nicely, I had roses earlier in February but with the snow & rain, just starting to get buds on them; there are also calendula, poppies (red ones haven't bloomed), swiss chard, beets, turnips, fennel, broccoli, carrots, onions, allisium(sp?) - most everything are volunteers, they just keep reseeding every year
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a view of one of my rock gardens on the slope - used to be dirt & dead grass - it is very steep - I collected most of the rocks & set them in the hillside, then planted roses, some cedar trees, daisies, calendula, hollyhock, poppies & whatever else decides to pop up... (Glenn set the 3 biggest rocks with his bobcat & one of my sons helped me with some of the top part...you can see the shop in the background with the "Adirondak" siding
(https://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e44/kathykrn/housetopgarden009.jpg)
just a close-up...
I planted some cauliflower plants & more swiss chard the other day when it stopped raining long enough for me to get out on the rooftop. I ordered a large variety of heirloom & organic veggies - will have to start planting the seeds now that I think it might start warming up enough... have been weeding a lot - usually just grasses, but the actual flower beds are cleaned up pretty good now - we should have some asparagus popping up pretty soon, planted it 3 yrs ago & have been able to eat it the past couple years, tried some rhubbarb but no luck with that. I also have a pluot tree (think that is a cross between plum/aprocot) a couple blood orange trees & I think Glenn bought some lemon trees or they might be more orange trees. I also have 13 more bare root roses to plant (again the $1.99 special-they have done better than any of the more expensive roses I have bought :)
We have what looks like 1000's of red Iceland poppies growing - they keep reseeding, a few have bloomed now. With our micro-climate up here & the horse manure compost from Yosemite park... we don't have much difficulty getting things to grow.
Cecilia, I would like to plant a lot of drought tolerant plants - flax & papyrous sounds like it would be pretty & the silver plants.
(https://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e44/kathykrn/8b124a8e.jpg) some wild turkey hens passing through, the tom had already passed by (sometimes there will be 20 to 40 turkeys in a flock - are they called flocks?)
(https://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e44/kathykrn/rvgarage002.jpg)one more picture... Glenn got the siding on the other side of the RV garage, we have cactus planted, some wildflowers & a few daffodils that are just getting ready to bloom...
Gee, I've sure had to fight with photobucket to get these resized, but after calling Glenn several times, I think I've got it! :-/ :)
Nice sassy :) I could see turkey on the menu more than twice a year :o
Cecilia I'm like Jonni I don't plant very much I can't eat ;) My wife , thankfully, likes the flower thing . I do the grunt work , she does the color bowls / pots / flowering beds .
We'd both like a small pond , one day , maybe 8-)
PEG
Wow - I can see I don't have to worry about posting pictures anymore- got Kathy started now. :)
Cecilia - we live to serve you---- please carry on all the garden conversation you want. ::)
I like to expand the garden each year - then comes upgrading the solar power to match the increased water need---- but it works out if we go slow---. Year round garden is what I want - we don't want to be dependant on anybody.
I just love looking at the photos of all your gardens. Love the rocks Kathy! Most of the rocks in my garden are too big for me to shift, so it's just as well I'm happy with where they are!
The papyrus has been planted at the end of the pond, and is doing well. The sad thing is that I'm trying to drain the pond as I have to try to get rid of a weed that someone gave me (telling me it was a miniature water lily). It's taken over the whole pond in one summer, and choked out most of the proper water lilies.
A couple of years ago I spent a couple of days in the pond pulling out a mass of rushes, and now it looks as if I have to stage a repeat performance.
Will post a few photos tomorrow, when I remember how.
Have to go and hold up shelves or something right now - I hear the call!
cecilia
www.duckpond-design.com.au/theduckpond
(https://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j54/cecilia_000_99/)
I'm sure this isn't how I uploaded photos before, but this time I created a Photobucket account and put some pond photos into an album.
Perhaps I'll just cross my fingers and press the 'post' button!
cecilia
www.duckpond-design.com.au/theduckpond
No - that didn't seem to work.
I'll sleep on it and try again tomorrow.
cecilia
www.duckpond-design.com.au/theduckpond
Just another idea
If I've got this right it should show me in the pond a couple of years ago clearing out the last invasion.
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This should show the pond as it is now
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And this is the flower and leaf of the plant - anyone recognise it?
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If I manage this right then this photo will show you the pond after one weed infestation and before the second one!
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Hopefully third time lucky!
cecilia
www.duckpond-design.com.au/theduckpond
Cecilia, you'll have to have Glenn walk you through it several times, then you'll have it... ;) I think that today I had to repost the pictures so many times that hopefully I won't forget the process in the future... gets pretty frustrating! I really like the home you are building - too bad about the pond. We get a lot of algae in our pond in the valley, also leaves, so have to clean it out periodically. We have goldfish in it - used to have Koi but a bad freeze killed them. There's some pretty big fish in there - but they eat the roots off the lillys & stuff so haven't tried to put more in. We have a vine - pretty green leaves & blue flowers but it is so invasive it will take over everything. I'm always having to pull it up - I think I just remembered the name... :-/ periwinkle. If you just want ground cover & don't want anything else that & honeysuckle will absolutely take over. We have a lot of that too in the valley - always pulling that out too.
Yes, it is getting late, I better turn in too. Would love to see some more pictures. Have looked at everything you've posted so far on your website. An immense amount of work but looks so beautiful & I'm sure you are enjoying it.
Sassy
PS Just posted this & then I saw you got the pictures in! Looks like quite an ordeal... hopefully it was hot when you were cleaning the pond so you could cool off.
Great job with the photos, Cecilia--- nothing like getting into your work. :)
Cecilia's horrible "opportunistic" pond weed fortunately doesn't look like any of ours, at least with a quick search. it does look like it's about half-way between water hyacinth (wrong type of flowers) and something like "spatterdock" or cow lily (leaves look more like water lily leaves, flowers might be close on to right). If it's an exotic invasive it could be from anywhere.
The spatterdock may be native to the U.S. but the water hyacinth is not (South America, I think). It has been spread by humans, however, because it's quite good at purifying the water. Of course it takes over while it is at it--even up here where it might get winter-killed. If we hadn't had such mild winters lately.
There is something in SE Asia that is a nasty aquatic weed. I thought it was water hyacinth, but maybe it's your pride and joy. They are making rugs and furniture coverings out of it. (will yours make paper??)
Don't remember where I posted the link for posting picture info but here is another one to the section in Forum News.
http://www.countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1115032671
Cecilia, I'm going to make you lust after my new gardening tool -- I'm supposed to pick it up tomorrow if all goes well. I know you like machinery.
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Kathy, according to the info here:
http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10370_12145_12202-52511--,00.html
it's a flock of pigeons, a gaggle of geese (my personal favorite group term), and
a rafter of turkeys! Who'd a thunk it? Fits right in on this site!
hmmm, a rafter of turkey, :-? like you said, "who would a thunk?! I'd heard gaggle of geese before, how do they come up with these terms? I didn't realize the male was called a gobbler, thought it was a "tom" - guess that's what they put on the frozen turkeys in the store... they certainly do have that distinctive "gobbler" sound... that's what drew my attention the other day when I was out taking pictures... then our little one eyed cat (the other stray who was shot by the neighbor & showed up at our door starving & scared of everything) chased them all away. They seem to like it by the "RV grarage" - maybe they'll make that their new home... ;)
PS Without CountryPlans, how would I keep up on my education?
PSPS Our other stray cat that almost got its head bit off is doing fine, looks kinda homely now, but is out "cattin" around again... & he's not spraying around our cabin anymore...
Quotehmmm, a rafter of turkey, :-? like you said, "who would a thunk?! I'd heard gaggle of geese before, how do they come up with these terms?
[size=12] The powers that be get in a smoke filled room and they think and think , and think ::)
Now if we just could find that room and bar the door from the outside , like they did when Ross Peroit(sp) when into that bunker back in 2000 . We'd be able to fix this country.
Anyone seen Ross since 2000 ;) [/size]
I think I am going to have to make a trip up north for a nice turkey dinner.....
Bring Dessert. :)
Note -- after a long day of fixing trailer parts and travel the little garden tool above - the 963 Bobcat is sitting in the driveway. I have to get up early. :)
That thing is a monster (but a friendly monster). I just want to hop on it and go tear something up. :)
[size=12] Update:: things are showing / growing :)
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[size=12] BTW Glenn; stay out of my garden with your new toy, tear up something else ;) [/size]
Your garden is looking great, PEG. I could use ny little Bobcat to rototill more for you. :)
I'd love to have someone come bulldoze or bobcat or whatever the "field" up at the top of the hill. Blackberries, fire ants, privet all on top of a terrible plowing job many years ago that left eighteen inch furrows basically all over, in spots holding water for days.
Nobody has posted anything current on their gardens... since I was in the valley last week for a few days, I took some pictures. I missed taking them when the wisteria & yellow Lady Bank's roses were blooming all over. They've grown up into the trees & drape all over everything, so really pretty when in bloom. I took these pictures one morning before going to work. There was a thread about pole barns & building - the carports you see are a good example... with the corrugated iron roofing. The beams are from a winery. You can see one of the ponds & the brick walkways, too.
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this is what I see looking out from the kitchen
PS - took the pictures before mowing the lawn & sweeping the leaves off the walkways, I've also had to place rocks & misc barriers around because one of the dogs likes to dig up my plants, chew up the yard lights & my lawn ornaments so I put rocks, logs, pots, what-have-you to try & keep her out.. :-/
Here is my veggie patch. We have winter stuff in right now, broccoli, cabbage silverbeet (spinach). A few late beans, tomatoes and swedes. No rain yet so the lawn is struggling.
(http://users.tpg.com.au/jonsey/garden/beans2small.jpg)
Oh yeah carrots, leeks and onions
I planted Lithuanians many years ago, Jonesy - they're all grown up with kids of their own now. :)
Wrong type of Swedes, huh? ;D perhaps another eeeeeeee?
Sassy, that looks incredibly lush!
Wisteria in the south is considered almost up there with Kudzu for invasiveness. Although I remember it as not that unreasonable when I was a kid in North Carolina--made a nice screen on the west side of the house in the summer, let in sun in the winter. But we didn't do the yard maintenance there except for my mother's vegetable garden.
Quote
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this is what I see looking out from the kitchen
I've also had to place rocks & misc barriers around because one of the dogs likes to dig up my plants, chew up the yard lights & my lawn ornaments so I put rocks, logs, pots, what-have-you to try & keep her out.. :-/
How do you keep the crockie from eatin ya ;D Is it semi domestacted like Glenn?
Nice gardens BTW :)
Looks like lots of work , for something ya can't eat, but then again rattler is the norm around your place ::) Maybe it attracts barn swallows / starlings and such ;D
PEG, I haven't domesticated Glenn yet! ;D When the house in the valley was bought, it was totally barren, except for a couple trees. Glenn put in all the brick work, ponds, carports, railroad tie planting beds etc. There are a lot of grapevines out front & growing around by the trellis over the pond & have even grown over the carports & into the eucalyptus etc. So you see bunches of grapes all over the place. Yeh, it is a lot of work - more than my old bones can do, but I try to take care of it as best as I can. We planted several nice veggie gardens, everything would be looking really nice, the next morning you look & the gophers had pulled the plants down into a hole & eaten them! >:( It's kinda an oasis in the desert, cuz it gets so doggone hot down there... same weather as Jonsey gets across the pond.
Amanda, I would say that the wisteria is very invasive. It looks really pretty, especially when it blooms, but I have to keep cutting it back because it wants to grow into everything. I have to pull up runners in the yard, & everywhere.
Jonsey, your veggie garden looks good enough to eat!
Quotelooking really nice, the next morning you look & the gophers had pulled the plants down into a hole & eaten them! >:(
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Another job for Carl , eh ;D
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Jonsey, your veggie garden looks good enough to eat!
Crokie Jonsey "Now that's a garden!" :)
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For a small patch it is productive. I have been trying out the Terra Preta method, which seems to be working well. http://www.philipcoppens.com/terrapreta.html.
We only grow a few of any one veg and as it is harvested it is replaced with seedlings that I start in trays. The onions are grown between and under the rows of cabbages and broccoli so there is very little wasted space in the garden. I also grow spuds and pumpkins in tires outside the main bed.
Jonsey, I read the article you cited. I think we are pretty much using the same method with our soil & gardening as the article explains. We 1st mixed our clay soil 1/2 & 1/2 with composted horse manure, then spread it on our roof 12"-18" deep (I should know cm/meters, I have to use it at work, but still have problems with it... :-/). We then planted seedlings & seeds. We've applied some fertilizer & also spread the ashes from our woodstove. We read somewhere, possibly in Mother Earth News, to not disturb the soil by turning it over as that kills the beneficial bacteria & also exposes the weed spores/seeds to sunlight & helps them grow. We let the plants we don't eat go to seed so almost have a self-propagating garden. I bought a bunch of seeds from a garden catalog - they featured heirloom & organic seeds... haven't planted any of it yet - no room. I did spend several hours yesterday weeding a couple places so now they are clear to plant. Lots of work in that way :-/ that I don't especially enjoy.
Your method sounds a lot easier, just a small plot & keep replacing as you eat the produce. I should say that the few flower seeds we planted have been exceptional reproducers & they are interspersed between the veggies, but looks pretty :) & my $1.99 roses are just gorgeous right now. The ones I planted a couple
weeks ago are doing great too. I like flowers!
Terra Preta is a slash and char method. If you take a look at sugar cane production you will see that the soils are remarkably fertile. The burning off of the cane is the secret behind that. I have simply added charcoal to my soil along with compost and worm castings. It all makes the plants simply leap out of the ground. My neighbour is gardening an area about 3 times the size of my plot with about half the production. He is forever looking over the fence to see what I'm up to. One of these days I'll let him in on the secret. ;D
On a soils and gardening list there was a thread featuring the things listed in the Terra Preta site--a couple of people were following that and learning to make charcoal from brush piles.
Sounds awfully nice and scientific and esoteric and....
I decided to do this the easy way, bought some out-of-season charcoal at one of the very country grocery stores nearby, mentioned what I was doing, guy stocking the shelves said that he'd heard people say it was a god idea, he thought he might try it this spring. So it also qualifies as an old wives' tale. The asparagus seems to like it. But it just got planted.
I've been enjoying Jeff Gillman's book Garden Remedies, What Works What Doesn't and Why because he's got the facilities (greenhouse, gardens, and students looking for projects and good grades!) and the interest (he did his own slug tests) to check out some of this kind of thing. Doesn't mention charcoal, though. Some he likes, some he thinks are totally worthless.
Enjoying it, that is, until he stepped on something both my parents taught me to do! (What he said makes sense, though).
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0881927481/102-0546009-6592130?v=glance&n=283155
That's pretty much what I did. I just got a couple of buckets of charcoal from one of the local charcoal makers and dumped it in the garden. The rest is just compost and horse manure from the neighbour's stable. The worms take care of the digging and what the bugs don't eat is mine. So far there is no disease problems so everything is hunky dory. :D
Amanda is that book worth buying.
Updated garden photos , starting to pick lettuce , onions and radishs.
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Peas and beans are growing , rabbits clear cut the spinach one night the garden sentry is now up and ready ::)
PEG
I gave it 5 stars. Really enjoyed his attitude, and descriptions of how they tested ideas, that is, the whole book. Not quite sure if it's a "must have."
I do know people who ought to borrow it from me.
I'll put it on the wish list. May get it for my birthday ;D
Up in Oregon, they burn huge fields of grass straw after harvesting the seed, adds nutrients back into the ground. I was kinda wondering how you burned your garden, Jonsey :o.. I just read the cover article on the link you posted, didn't get into the particulars...
PEG, your garden is looking really good! We got one of those motion sensor sprinklers to keep the deer out of our garden the 1st year... didn't help much, they just ate it all up anyway... :(
After we put our garden on the roof, everything was growing great... Glenn & I are sitting in our recliners talking & I said "I wonder when those deer will be up in our garden?" The next morning we get up & look at the garden, about a third of the garden was eaten... the rest of the day we built fences around it. So far, so good, except for the gophers >:( & the raccoons that like to run around on top of the house... in fact last night they came in through the cat door & there was an old bag of hard Christmas candy they had gotten into on the ground. And right now it sounds like they are fighting outside... Glenn just went to check.
Run little racoons :o :oGlenn L kill ya's :o
The sprayer works for the bunnies , bet your deer where nice and clean ;D
We have something eatin the bunnies. Our yards is fenced but a coyote could be jumping in/ over or it could be a owl . Night time kills, just a bit of fur left , twice now , not sure a owl would clean up so nice , cat either. I'd think more rabbit would be left.
I go out with the dog , she's small but thinks she's big and she'd just go try and play with a coyote , thinking it was a dog , I think . So I go out with her at bed time , to be safe .
Sort of a defencive plan , just in case ;)
It's getting close to time I'll have to do something about the racoons or I will have to restrict my cats freedom and that would defeat the purpose of having him. He has the job of harassing the vermin. I guess I could close the borders. They are cute, but mean little devils.
The story on the automatic sensor sprinkler was that I put it in-- left the house --came back home --the sensor sensed the car --turned on the sprinkler --- the deer jumped up from the garden as they were sleeping under the sprinkler - probably scared off by the car. :-/
People = food to racoons . Easy pickins , remove the free food they'll go away like welfare bums at a closed food bank. Quickly with a bad attitude ;D
We're not here all the time so have to leave food out for our cat. The raccoons aren't supposed to go into the house... kinda like the illegal alien situation ::)
Humm lets see they(coons) got in thru the cat door , your leaving food out for the cat, who stays at the bunker / undergnd house while your in the valley, the cat can't take on one racoon let alone a few or more . I see a potental issue here, like
[size=20]Racoon party at Glenn and Sassy's place next week :o :o [/size]
Better get a bigger cat , this guy or gal :-/might do,
(http://www.wildlifephotos.com/images/large/im1636w.jpg)
Of course that's just another problem isn't it :-/
that kitty is soooo cute! :)
When I lived in Nashville I just put up with a couple of groundhogs and possums and a neighborhood rooster eating the outside cats' food. It did make for a big food bill. An acquaintance here has skunks as well coming into his kitchen via the cat door--so far, they haven't reacted defensively--and they've been doing this for years.
But the time I got two young, possibly once "pet" raccoons walking up to me to say "feed us, feed us", it scared me. I asked them to leave, never saw them again. Don't think that would have been as likely to have worked with the groundhogs and possums. It didn't work with the neighbor's dog, at least partly because they encouraged it.
I also lived there full time with at least one dog, got pet-sitters to care for the outside cats if I left town. Which means that the idea won't translate to Glenn and Sassy's situation.
Pet bobcat might work!
They fought with Sassy's cat last night - she attacked them - she's a rather aggressive indoor Persian cat with few teeth - gets out once in awhile- she got scratched a bit but is OK.
I thought about feeding them - the neighbor used to but said they even fought between each other rather viciously.
Transfer cats when you go from one house to the other--keep them inside with a litter box at night (sawdust, pellet litter or possibly pellet fuel work pretty well, all compost nicely)?
The groundhogs and the possums got along fine with my cats, never heard them at each other. There was plenty of food for them all. But, for instance, the coyote that we saw walking along the railroad tracks pretty frequently never came over--or was scared off by my guys or the neighborhood wolf hybrid making a fuss.
Persians are deceptively passive looking.
I checked out my cat, Sheba (I didn't name her) this am again - she has 2 teeth marks on her rib cage... still growling when you pick her up - I can't see that they are punctured very deeply, but evidently she must be hurting a lot. She won't hardly let me check her out - hisses at me, even growled & hissed at Glenn & he's her favorite ;)
Can't remember if I mentioned it before... I used to have a pet possum I rescued after the mother was hit by a car. All the babies were killed except this one... His name was "Algernon" (I had a grandfather & uncle named Lafayette Algernon & my dad is named Thurber Lewellyn - what names! :-/ ) Anyway, the possum was real tiny, fit in my hand - first day when I held it, it would hiss - what rows of teeth it had! But by the next day it would go to sleep in my hand when I petted it. I had it for several months. It was the cutest thing, real sweet - you'd give it a strawberry & it would hold it in its hand like a human & eat it. It took off one day when it was out in the back yard.
Thought I'd post a few more rooftop garden pics... Glenn took the 1st 3 pics
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I took this one looking down from the bridge that goes from one section of roof to another, this part of the garden is outside the bedroom window
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That's along the side of a steep bank (our $1000 motorhome!)
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Lovely Sassy! My roof looks rather drab in comparison! :D
Nice, nice, nice.
Nonsense, John. I've always enjoyed the look of asphalt (or other) roofing shingles. :-/
Only reason I can think of for wanting something other than a living roof is wanting rainwater more.
Money and time considerations might make someone do differently.
You sound thirsty, Amanda. How about a nice fresh cold glass of rainwater. :)
Nah, I'll just go down to the spring and get some water from there.
Tomorrow is a big plant swap--last year three part-time greenhouse people came with all their dregs--at least one is not coming this year--she went home with too many new plants. She's right local, but there were people from 85 or 100 miles away as well.
I forgot to dig up some iris up the hill for it, might not get it done by tomorrow at ten.
But there are lots of black raspberries in my way, so they're going.
The plant swap really is a BIG DEAL. Big write-up in a popular Tennesseean column brought half again as many people as last year--sometimes from quite a long ways away.
Over a hundred of us had tables this year--maybe a few too many, but....people's tables tended to be empty by lunch--which they weren't last year, and I came home without anything I'd taken.
They have a speaker after lunch each year--this year it was a gal who works for a native plants nursery talking about dry shade. What reasonably spectacular plants grow happily there, and so on. I wish I'd taken better notes. The nursery's big clients seem to be commercial and industrial companies and landlords who would rather have native plants in the woods than spend big bucks on a lawn service.
I don't know if other states do this or not.
It seems to have grown out of gardenweb, which a friend of mine is addicted to.
Going with native plants is a great idea to save energy and water -most gro without irrigation so less pumping water. I used to have a nice cactus garden in the valley - started one here -- also edible- nopales and cactus apples eventually. I also raise poison oak. Not intentionally but I did eat a leaf or two. Oaks grow all over here and you can eat acorn.
Quote
Oaks grow all over here and you can eat acorn.
Such discipline to eat just one :o They're so small yet so , ah , bland ;D
PEG - giving me a bad time I see. ;D
Actually the local Native Americans refer to it that way. When they speak of eating acorn they are speaking usually of a kind of mush made of the stone pounded (or chopped in a blender if you are modern) water leached acorns. Skin is first removed from them. I have a recipe but have not been industrious enough to make it my self. I have eaten it a couple of times at the Indian Villige in the park. It was a main staple of the Native Americans around here. They actually farmed the trees naturally and burned off the brush and grass to insure good crops. Years with few or no acorns caused famine for the people and it happened every so often - at least once in the 4 years I've been here.
Anybody for some good fresh cooked cattails? Great fresh from the water garden. I haven't eaten them either but hope to some day.
The woman who gave the talk on native plants in dry shade, said that one often needed to baby--e.g., water--even drought-resistant native plants for the first year or so.
Well, we eat tomatoes, ears of corn if we want for some reason to say how many or to indicate that it hadn't been cut off the cob, but corn and spinach.
So I guess it works both ways.
Well --- I went up on the roof of my shop tonight because I saw some nice ripe strawberries -- so I picked them. Strawberries taste great
I dropped one --picked it up and ate it- a little dirt won't hurt me.
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I dropped another one -- 30 second rule--- no problem -- a little more dirt won't hurt me. :)
Then I remembered that my dirt is about 2/3 horse manure compost. ----- Oh well --- it still tastes good. :-/
As it sits , lettuce doing good first crop going to seed , radishs look good not much fruit , bad seed ? anyway they don't/ haven't made many radishs :(
Spinish also was a bust , rabbits clear cut the first crop 2nd planting is coming but the weather is getting to warm it will go to seed quickly .
Peas the snails got most of, where the slugs ?( I think the snails have wiped them out , anyone know if that is possible ??) , green beans will be ready soon :), wlla walla onions doing great .
We've had and used a lot of lettuce , given away a bunch to neighbors , Folks at church etc. So all in all a great harvest season / summer. :)
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Stawberrys are also winding down , the ever bearings will go most of the summer but it's a small berry , ok for on cereal .
PEG
Quote
I dropped one --picked it up and ate it- a little dirt won't hurt me.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/ScreenShot018.jpg)
I dropped another one -- 30 second rule--- no problem -- a little more dirt won't hurt me. :)
Then I remembered that my dirt is about 2/3 horse manure compost. ----- Oh well --- it still tastes good. :-/
Jeesh they grow in the dirt , and at work I eat more dirt in a week of remo,ing than a bit on a strawberry ::)
You'll be fine ;D Just don't "spoon in " the dirt ;)
You might check into what kind of nutrients each plant needs, PEG. High nitrogen will lots of times make lots of green - little fruit-- maybe a vegetable fertilizer. I used to use chicken manure for really great results years ago - careful - it can burn things--- also high nitrogen.
I wonder what it tastes like with strawberries? :-/
This fall I'll be visting my local dairy for some poop ;D Should have went last fall :-[, I do till in lots of leaves every year and some composed grass clipping. :)
I've heard to be careful with chicken poop , ;D so cow poop it will be ;D
My grandfather used cow manure on his garden as a liquid. He used to hang the dry pats in an old sack, in a 44gal drum of water and use that to water the plants. This to avoid the undigested weed seeds in the mix. Fowl manure needs to be mellowed a bit before use, as it will burn the plants if it's too fresh.
Beer in a small container is good for getting rid of snails, They go for the yeast, fall in the bowl and drown trying to get a taste, works well if you don't have millions of them. The plus is it's not dangerous for pets and small children.
My garden page has been updated
http://users.tpg.com.au/jonsey/wintergarden.htm
Your gardens are looking good guys. I have been neglecting mine a bit as I have been working away a lot- Sassy does quite a bit in it. Our plants volunteer as we let them go to seed and being on the roof we go for non tillage. It still always looks full.
Y'all have native persimmons?
I know we do (very astringent, very small, good for things like persimmon bread and my dad used to make "locust and persimmon beer." "Locust" in this case is a bean family tree with sticky sweet stuff inside its pods, kind of like tamarind) and the Japanese do, both kinds for them--we share a lot of native plants with Japan--maples and pines and trilliums for instance.
The gardens do look good, guys. I can't wait to have one again.
The yard here at the temporary rent is full of potted native plants, awaiting installation in a couple of gardens/ restoration projects. It's my housemate's bag, and she's been doing it for a bunch of years. In addition to being energy efficient, etc., they provide the proper habitat for native species of wildlife. They are also quite attractive, I think. I recall reading a letter by an eighteenth century European botanist to his confreres in America in whch he complained bitterly that all they seemed interested in were European plants, when they had an incredible variety of beautiful and interesting "new" plants right here in their backyard. This is how a number of our invasive species got a foothold.
Glenn, you are spot on about many of the nitrogen heavy commercial fertilizers. Not only do they encourage foliar growth at the expense of the rest of plants, they are also harmful to the biotic environment of the soil. There are a number of microbial elements, particularly some mycelium, that are important to the nitrogen uptake process in plant roots. Plants will absorb nitrogen without them, but at a far reduced rate. These microbial populations thrive on nitrogen, but if you give them too much they have a population explosion and use up all that's available and die off. Then the plants need ever increasing amounts of nitrogen, becoming sort of fertilizer junkies. There are some products out there that will re-inoculate the soil with the correct microbes if you suspect you have that scenario. Denise also uses various fish and kelp emulsion products from a company called Organica that work very well.
My great uncle was a terrific vegetable gardener, and did as jonesy describes. He would mix a batch of well aged horse manure,( aged so the weed seeds had composted in), in a drum of water, and would apply it with a watering can. He also espoused companion planting, and mechanical methods of pest control, like little collars around the stems of plants below surface level to keep cutworms away.
The strawberries look real good..... too good to not apply the "seven second rule". [smiley=wink.gif]
Oh oh -- only seven seconds --- I was giving my self 30 --- I may eat over my quota of dirt, bugs and manure. :(
Shoot, Glenn, it's only seven seconds if anybody else is watching.... if you're by yourself, the seven seconds begins when you want it to. [smiley=rolleyes.gif]
Amanda,
The persimmons are not an Australian native. China or Japan, I think.
Do you have any persimmons recipes you could share? We have been looking for something to do with them apart from using them as a fresh fruit.
I'll see what I can turn up. Pudding or bread recipes should be pretty widely available (for the latter, try zucchini bread with less sugar, or banana bread with persimmon pulp as a straight substitution). Saw a mention of preserves, which should be fairly easy to invent--run ripe fruit through a food mill (or especially with the bigger Japanese ones, just cutting them taking the seeds out, running through the food processor or grating or...., add sugar, cook on very low heat stirring constantly just like making apple butter, or you could add some kind of neutral tasting juice and some pectin.
I've thought the breads I've tasted have been over-spiced, couldn't tell what fruit was in there.
The beer is mentioned a bunch of places. As an all-local beer during the Civil War (presumably by white people) or as something that only "negroes" would drink. Got a couple of the more promising ones opening now, none very useful unless you've done a fair amount of brewing.
My dad had a hard time getting the recipe out of whoever had mentioned it to him, he made it for a couple of years. It was definitely alcoholic. And maybe better the 2nd year.
Here's one description. I'm wondering if the "pone" part of the description referred to the locust pods. I don't remember any liquid falling out--and I took some apart from a tree I have last fall.
Apparently I was wrong there, I found another description in which the pone is described as a mixture of persimmon and wheat bran (2nd link--it's essentially unreadable--try highlighting the words you want).
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1996/vp960214/02130111.htm
http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ga/clarke/bios/bs126waller.txt
QuoteThe kids would gather persimmons and locust pods in the fall as they fell off the tree, Crawford said. She described the dark brown locust pods as shaped like a banana with a sweet vein along the edge.
``My father would mash up the persimmons like a pone and put them in a big bread pan, bake them,'' she said, ``and when it got cold, he'd break up the pone.''
He would cut off the top of the locust pod which would release the sweet syrup from the vein. Then he would layer the persimmons, the locusts and a little sugar and water in a big wooden keg, topping off the layers with more water, Crawford said.
Then her father put the keg under the house and let it brew a couple of months. When the brewing was over, he would strain off the liquid and the result was persimmon-locust beer.
``It tasted like lemonade, but it was not intoxicating,'' Crawford said. ``It couldn't have been, because my father was a Presbyterian minister!
``I thought it was better than lemonade,'' she went on. ``We had beer and molasses cookies on cold, snowy days!''
And for a whole page of recipes--try this:
http://www.reeseorchard.com/recipes.html
Well I just harvested garlic, I get a hand full of strawberries every day, a hand full of rasberries a couple of times a week. There are two bell peppers on the plants right now, jalapenos seems to be having problems with the humidity here this year, and I just planted more squash than anyone can use if it all produces.
Sounds great, Texan. Especially the raspberries! [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
I raised garlic just one year, intending to go commercial. My shoes got tossed, per usual, and that ended the venture. Fortunately we "madeup" sufficient to harvest and divide the crop. Best garlic I ever had, if not the best relationship. [smiley=rolleyes.gif]
Can one really have too much squash? I love the stuff, though it's too hot lately to cook much of anything. Did you know some folks make beer from squash? Probably only crtain kinds, but maybe worth looking in to if ya have a surplus crop. [smiley=wink.gif]
Well the problem is that I have been seed saving so I thought I would try one of everything, and planted three seeds just incase a couple failed. Now I have atleast five kinds of squash growing and if they are like zucchinni I need to find a way to market them quick!
Back to the persimmons - my mom used to make a wonderful persimmon jello. She also gave me a recipe for persimmon cookies which I used to make when I could get all the persimmons I could use. You can freeze the pulp & use it for baking. Don't have the recipes, though... they're somewhere around but haven't had time to look :-/
Persimmon pulp and kanten (sort of like jello) sounds almost traditionally Japanese.
I found a macrobiotic recipe for something with apples, if anybody wants to try adapting it--or just making the apple.
A thanks for the links Amanda. I tried the griddle pancakes with some icecream last night while watching the cycling, tasted great. Might have a go at the rice custard tonight. ;D
Cecilia: I think what you are growing in your pond is hydrocleys nymphoides; water poppy. Listed in NZ as an invasive water weed.
How about some update pics on the veggie gardens? I didn't plant spring or summer and sure missing the fresh produce now. Trying to get the beds ready now to plant for fall/winter.
Deana
Wow! Haven't visited this thread before, lots of good stuff.
Have a question. We are moving to 4 acres on Dow Mountain in the Olympics, Washington State. There are only six homesteads on the mountain, some summer only. The mountain is full of edibles and medicinals--every kind of berry (mmm-wine), mushrooms galore, self-heal, horsetail, etc., etc. Intend to harvest whatever I can from the mountain and also plant mostly stuff to eat, fruit trees and some veggies, but am kind of concerned about some of these plants spreading into the woods where they don't belong. Our sunny flat area is about 100' by 150', surrounded by forest and streams. Any thoughts?
We commonly let our vegetables go to seed and they only seem to go around the area we take care of --- as long as you aren't growing frankenfood -- Monsanto -- Genetically modified -etc I wouldn't worry about it.
The greatest service
which can be rendered
any country
is to add
a useful plant
to its culture.
THOMAS JEFFERSON
QuoteWow! Haven't visited this thread before, lots of good stuff.
#1: We are moving to 4 acres on Dow Mountain in the Olympics, Washington State.
#2: but am kind of concerned about some of these plants spreading into the woods where they don't belong.
#3: Our sunny flat area is about 100' by 150', surrounded by forest and streams.
Any thoughts?
#1: Plant stuff that like lots of rain most of the year :o
#2: MTL others have planted stuff that spread , I wouldn't be to concerned unless your planning on really wierd / exotic type plants / shrubs etc .
Heck the state used to plant scotch broom beside the hwys nothing much more invasive and stinkie / bad for folfs with allergys than scotch broom >:(
#3: Plan on using that stream water for the crops if you can , summers have been dry / dryer the past few years .
So a few thoughts :-[
Garden update , fall soon to be here, front tomatoes & strawberries ,
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Pretty dry
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Better shot of front lots of fruit :)
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Lots of watering this summer :o Just onions , tomatoes and various lettuce left, looks funkie , taste great ;)
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PEG, your garden is still looking nice :) - have you had much rain this summer? I just pulled a bunch of parsnips out of our garden & fixed them today - Glenn likes them fried in butter. We are finally getting some tomatoes & green peppers ( deer got on the roof & ate the pepper plants way down) we have a lot of swiss chard & beets & turnips, carrots & finally getting some squash but they are taking forever this year - & mostly getting male blooms which don't make squashes. Anybody know how to remedy that?
Buy straight squash plants next year???? :-/
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#1: PEG, your garden is still looking nice :)
#2: - have you had much rain this summer?
#3: I just pulled a bunch of parsnips out of our garden & fixed them today - Glenn likes them fried in butter. We are finally getting some tomatoes & green peppers ( deer got on the roof & ate the pepper plants way down) we have a lot of swiss chard & beets & turnips, carrots & finally getting some squash but they are taking forever this year -
#4: & mostly getting male blooms which don't make squashes. Anybody know how to remedy that?
#1: Thanks :)
#2: Less than 1"in the past 2 1/2 months :o
#3: All that sounds good :)Except the deer eatin your stuff, they're pretty tasty cooked right ;D
#4:Eat the blossums batter them with a egg flour batter then fry them, sort of taste like Morrell mushrooms , not good for ya ;) , but good tasting :)
PEG, I guess I'm going to have to try cooking those squash blossoms (almost sounds like Bush's endearing name for Karl Rove - lol) but it seems like too much work & mess! :-/
Quote from: Sassy lin =1144892741/80#93 date=1157384767PEG, I guess I'm going to have to try cooking those squash blossoms (almost sounds like Bush's endearing name for Karl Rove - lol) but it seems like too much work & mess! :-/
You are way to interested in politics if you know the shrub's endearing names for staff members or is Rove some Democrat :-/
Anyway you should try the blossoms , it's not all that messy and cooking , they say , is fun . They are really good , almost worth planting squash just for the blossom , but then what do you do with all the squash that frows :-/People in the past have avoided me cuz they though I'd try to giveum squash ;D ;DAt least that what I think they avoided me for :o
Well PEG, I hate to break it to you, but Karl Rove is the "brains behind the man" - he's the "Deputy Chief of Staff" heading the Office of Political Affairs. GW Bush's pet name for him is "Turd Blossom" (ya made me haveta tell ya!)
"GWB has referred to Karl Rove as the 'boy genius', the 'architect' & 'turd blossom' a Texan term for a flower which grows from a pile of cow dung... he has also been referred to as Bush's brain...
The documentary "Bush's Brain" depicts Rove as the most powerful political consultant in America today, in essence
a co-president, according to USA Today." from Wikipedia
(Woodrow Wilson referred to Col. House as his brain... Col House was one of the brains behind the Federal Reserve & also a strong influence on Wilson to enter WWI although Wilson ran on the platform that the USA would not enter the war - plans were in the making months before he was re-elected...)
Is that enough history for you, PEG? ;D :-/ Hope I didn't soil the "garden thread" for you... :-/
Quote
# 1: Well PEG, I hate to break it to you, but Karl Rove is the "brains behind the man" - he's the "Deputy Chief of Staff" heading the Office of Political Affairs. GW Bush's pet name for him is "Turd Blossom" (ya made me haveta tell ya!)
#2: Is that enough history for you, PEG? ;D :-/
#3: Hope I didn't soil the "garden thread" for you... :-/
#1: Ya so what ::)Just another politican / advisor , taken my money, I'd heard the name but who cares , can I change it ? N0 , does it matter, MTL no! Every pres. has advisors , James Carville comes to mind a a real beauty ;D
#2:Mo than enought ::)
#3:Well it smells a bit here now and I don't remember spreading any cow poop :-/
I was on a list once where somebody thought about planting Kudzu in the south because it was a nice pleasant plant.
I think we discouraged him or her. But every once in a while somebody runs across that very old book that proclaims that the stuff would be the most wonderful thing possible for the South.
Right here I fight Japanese Honeysuckle, (exotic) multiflora roses, Japanese and Chinese privet, and possibly native blackberries, ragweed (regular and giant), poison ivy. Other horrors include Canadian thistle, some horrid exotic polygonum--I've got lots of that, tap roots can go down 6 feet, I understand, and the only serious cure is black plastic for a month as it tries to reach the light.
The local bamboo guru swears (true from my experience) that if you can and do bring a mower in every spring even the worst of the running bamboo is fairly easily controlled.
But the same is probably true of the ##$@!!&&&**\\!! privet. When this place was surveyed there were two spots the surveyors didn't go through at all--privet thickets. Back in the 1820's they would have been cane-brakes (native bamboo), nearly impassable as well.
But I have friends who say they have no trouble multiflora rose or privet, just keep the ground mowed. (Can't get a mower down in the stream, the privet got beyond the mowing stage before I bought the property--bulldozers have been suggested--a bush-hog got airborne trying to cut the stuff)
Where Creative1 has her place the list of mostly exotic horrors will probably be different--the Siberian blackberries may be overrunning the native which are bad enough.
Her neighbors--or the county extension agent--can probably tell her what to avoid if she wants to remain on speaking terms with her neighbors--at least the greener ones.
We have plenty of poisen oak & star thistle in our neck of the woods... there's also a lot of blackberries & wild grapes along the streams & rivers in a lot of places around here.
I think I need to post a picture of a privet thicket (the blackberries can be just as evil) ;) .
We cut a lot, though to use as supports for the clay/straw wall at the barn.
Hi all. I'm working on learning how to garden with some small raised beds and few fruit trees in Florida. Right now I'm fighting an infestation of little green worms that are chewing their way through my cucumber leaves. Does anyone have a better way of fighting them other than picking them off one by one?
I thought I had heard about pepper spray - found this
Garlic & Pepper Spray
Protect your garden plants from cabbageworms, caterpillars, hornworms, aphids, flea beetles and other chewing/sucking insects by routinely using a natural spray that you can make at home. The spray must be applied regularly, especially after a rainfall. Brew up a batch as follows:
6 cloves of garlic
1 Tbsp dried hot pepper
1 minced onion
tsp pure soap (not detergent)
1 gallon hot water
Blend & let sit for 1 - 2 days. Strain & use as spray. Ground cayenne or red hot pepper can also be sprinkled on the leaves of plants (apply when leaves are slightly damp) to repel chewing insects or added to the planting hole with bone meal or fertilizer to keep squirrels, chipmunks, dogs and other mammals away from your gardens. Be sure to reapply after rain.
http://www.cdcg.org/pests.html
That's a neat site, thanks! I'm going to make up a batch of the pepper spray today.
Let us know how it works - I never really tried it -just heard it worked - we have enough frogs in the pond on the roof to keep most of the major pests out of the garden. :)
Might even keep Raccoons out --although they are kind of fun to chase around the garden at night with a flashlight - did that at 4 this morning
I tested the garlic/pepper spray on one of my cucumber plants, and after 1 day there was no burning or bugs. I sprayed the rest of the affected plants today, so we'll see how they do.
Great news Peak Engineer-- I'm ready to try some of this on the raccoons ---they have been digging potatoes and vegetables.
Yeh, I've worked several hours in the garden the past couple days. Cleared out a bunch of stuff yesterday to leave room for all the new stuff growing (parsnips, spinach, potatoes, beets, turnips, swiss chard, carrots, tomatoes, flowers) & wouldn't you know it, the raccoons tore up all the new stuff as well as dug up a lot of the potatoes, chewed on them & left them sitting there. :( >:( :'( Don't know what to do with the critters... :-/ Maybe if they bit into some hot peppers they wouldn't come back ;D . They're cute but so pesky...
Buy ya a nice blue tick hound better yet a pack/ pair of Black and Tans most lovely sound at night 2 or 3 B&T's runnin a long legged coon deep into the night :) Reminds me of my youth, some of which was misspent :o but not the hound hunting part ;)
The dogs are a good idea - I've always had them untill the last few years - on the road too much - they get impatient - go looking around and get into trouble - -- everything is down hill from here and they always seem to head down to a neighbors place below.
Ya know when ya wanta hunt coon, it's a hunt ta find one to run , but if ya just don't wantum around there ever where ;D
So with that thought who needs money, think I'll just stay home from work , I'm not wantin any ::)
Let me know if it works, PEG -- that's like me carrying a spare and a jack for my trailer so I won't have a flat tire. :-/
Well, I guess the garlic/pepper spray doesn't do much to ward off the green worms on the cucumbers. I'll just keep picking them off for now... The good news is the spray doesn't seem to damage the plants, so it might be effective against other bugs.
Good experiment - We were worried it would run off our frogs and preying mantis' so are still thinking about it. Thanks for the update.
Traveling through the mountains today we came across a swarm of Ladybugs. They are great for the garden - I guess we should have grabbed a handful but the little rascals do bite.
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(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010070.jpg)
QuoteTraveling through the mountains today we came across a swarm of Ladybugs. They are great for the garden - I guess we should have grabbed a handful but the little rascals do bite.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010066.jpg)
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010070.jpg)
Man ya should got some for me to :o They're great aphid killers :)
I know -- now I'm kicking myself because it is one heck of a drive back up there and they may be gone anyway. Near 4 wheel drive road in places. :-/
Question is, are those the real thing, or the Asian Lady Beetles?
Some friends here concreted over their cordwood masonry house because zillions of the little things came in through the cracks in the fall and winter. And they don't smell nice when you crush them. And they pinch a bit. My friends have christened them "Bitch Bugs" which I've always thought a bit unfair, but, but maybe I've never gotten that many of them. They do love the bottom of the door panels on the passenger side of my truck. Passenger side faces south as it's parked.
These guys are imports, a bunch of different kinds, some may have been imported deliberately, some appear not to have been.
http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/entfacts/trees/ef416.htm
QuoteLarge numbers of lady beetles (ladybugs) infesting homes and buildings in the United States were first reported in the early 1990s. Ladybugs normally are considered beneficial since they live outdoors and feed on plant pests.
One species of lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis, can be a nuisance however, when they fly to buildings in search of overwintering sites and end up indoors. Once inside they crawl about on windows, walls, attics, etc., often emitting a noxious odor and yellowish staining fluid before dying.
In many areas of the U.S., these autumn invasions are such a nuisance that they affect quality of life.
(weird, in live preview the picture shows up, not in the final post. OK, I'll do it this way!)
(http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/entfacts/images/2harmonia.jpg)
Asian lady beetles vary in color. Note the whitish area with M-shaped marking
behind the head (M. Potter, Univ. of Kentucky)
Here's another link, with specific suggestions on how to vacuum the little beasts up:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/housingandclothing/M1176.html
Now you are confusing me, Amanda. I don't know if I want these things or not. :-/
We checked it over and didn't see the M, but reading the article you linked, it still looks like even the asian ones were brought in to eat aphids. The close up above is the actual ones we saw.
We haven't gotten bit yet and haven't noticed any smell from them.
Maybe they're the good guys.
Yesterday we took Glenn's mom & dad up to the mine - Glenn was determined to actually find the mine shaft - which he did finally. We also stopped by the area where all the ladybugs were at & got us a few... hundred or more. I let them out in the garden today. They don't really look like the ones that Amanda posted about - we even examined them under a magnifying glass. Anyway, there's a bunch in the garden so hopefully they get all the aphids & other bugs they like - just killed a big tomato worm :P - we don't have too much problem with the aphids but they do like the broccoli & cabbage plants - & forget about growing the plants with the little cabbages on them (can't remember the name :-[ ... keep thinking if I keep writing the name will come to me... :-/ ... oh, yes, brussel sprouts! :)
Y'all may have a climate where they don't go looking for white places to over-winter (between the door and the cab of my truck, the outdoor storage locker on the trailer, for instance. I get them inside, too, but not enough to cause rage on my part)
Nobody would hate them if they didn't mob houses in the fall and winter.
Although they are imported. The USDA brought one species in, but apparently it didn't survive. What we've got now is a handful of different species--no one's quite sure how they got here (in a white box on a container ship?).
Fred drove my truck today -- when I got to the little town near the jobsite he goes, "Your truck is full of ladybugs -hundreds of them."
I punched holes in the bags we put them in so they could breath. Guess I made them a little too big, eh? They are finding their way out of the truck though. :)
So far I have only seen them swarm in the woods around here. This bunch and a bunch about 20 years ago.
Pillowcases are great for moving living things in.
Cats, for instance. I've had a couple that clawed their way out of them, but most thought that a pillowcase was a lot better than having to stand on the vet's exam table while we talked. One got out of hers while we were on the way to the vet because of a badly tied knot. After I got the car into a nearby parking lot, I asked her if she'd rather be bouncing around the car or inside the pillowcase, holding it open to show her what I meant, she voted for inside without any more urging, came from the back seat to the front and hopped in.
They can breathe. It's washable. The best ones are the cheapest possible polyester-cotton--the Dollar Store ones are very nice. Stronger than pure cotton, none of this nonsense about high thread counts.
I'd prefer to have a cat in a carrier for a 200 mile trip, but I'm not sure the cats did.
Expect it would work for ladybugs too.
Since you saw them behaving like that 25 years ago, they probably are the native guys. As far as I know they don't tend to mob house or white trucks.
As you may already know, Amanda, I tend to lose pillows with pillowcases off of the truck. :-/
That is true, isn't it.
:)
Winter vegetables are coming right along in the RV Garage planter -- now that I have stopped the giant rodents from devouring them.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010152_edited.jpg)
That chard looks great... our garden is pretty limp and soggy. (It does help to have sunlight!)
Does eating the "giant rodents" teach them not to nibble the chard?
(I recently heard that there are more deer alive now that at any time before the European conquest of the continent.)
John wrote:
Quote(I recently heard that there are more deer alive now that at any time before the European conquest of the continent.)
Something on that order is my understanding. That the suburbs are a perfect combination of grazing land (lawn!) and trees.
On the other hand, the Cherokees (I think) thought that deer were a gift to humankind. You could kill one any time you wanted one (or you weren't no kind of hunter), and in addition to meat there were bone tools and the skin.
And those greens are gorgeous!
There probably are more deer now. :-/
They are slow learners and you couldn't possibly eat all the giant rodents we have running around here. I have a bit of hay left at the corner of the garage and have seen 10 to 12 there two afternoons in a row.
I think we may eat some of that chard soon. It doesn't get much fresher than that and in reality, it doesn't take much care after you get it started either as long as the 75 lb rodents stay away from it. We have small deer but lots of them. I think the're redneck deer. :)
Well the last of the lettuce got picked Sunday . Last two nights we've had frost so what little bit I left standing is toast/ no longer good :( Pulled up those tomaoe plants as well , time to gather the potted plants and bury them in leaves.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Oct29th.jpg%20)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Oct29th1.jpg)
I talked to my farmer friend and will be hauling in a load of cow poop and rotilling that in this fall as well.
You folks down under enjoy your summer :) Jonesy, Ciellia & Johnny , and the mob. Gad day mates 8-)
Sassy is still picking tomatoes from the garden -- we had a bunch tonight. I guess I should post pictures of our meals from the garden this winter so you PNW'ers will know what it's like. ::)
(https://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e44/kathykrn/AngelinaS4THBDamya010.jpg)
picture of a few tomatoes - Glenn picked a small bowl full - we still have more in the greenhouse - haven't checked to see how the rest of the tomatoes are doing on top of the house since the weather turned so cold... there's some leaves from a parsnip - we have hundreds in the garden - steam & then fry in butter - yum! I had the vine hooked up on a parsnip plant on the left that had gone to seed. The last time I pulled out a lot of the tall plants that had died, the raccoons went through the garden & trashed it... so gotta keep some of them there so they don't think that the garden is their playground :-/
Yum. I've had tomatoes as late as Thanksgiving.
Not this year.
We just finished adding a couple of inches of well-rotted bark mulch to the raised beds.
My helper is a hard worker, but emptying the truck and toting bark mulch down the hill and then peeling more bark off a log got to her the other day. I think she's going to be glad for an extra day off.
(I've got plenty of creaky places,--and she may have done more of it than I did--but this time it didn't bother me)
Sounds like You and Alma are a team to be reckoned with, Amanda.
Our winter garden is growing quite well. Chard is charding and cabbages are cabbaging as they should. Fresno is currently reporting 35 degrees at the air terminal. Outside it is currently 56.1 degrees. Nice living in the banana belt except for summer nights.
Hey -- there goes one now. :)
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010287_edited.jpg)
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010285_edited.jpg)
Seriously cool pic, Glen & Sassy......almost surreal.
Thanks, Harry. I wish the plants were in a bit better shape, but they are growing.
A few aphids but not bad. Sassy rinses them off once in a while. The light was from the Western afternoon sun so gave a nice side and back lighting to the leaves.
What's SUN ? ::) Only 14 days to the shortest one of the year. Then the slow lenghting of the daylight starts :)
No much growning up here, but moss :(
Currently 56.8 degrees outside now --- from all the sun we had today. :)
--No sun, PEG, but look at it this way -- at least you're not in California. :)
I think it's
[size=36]COLD[/size]
here. 26 degrees F. out. Barometric pressure up around 30.6, so nothing to prevent the heat from leaving tonight.
Nice vegetable pictures.
Did get some parsley from the garden yesterday. Went into some Spaghetti sauce and a peanut butter/lemon juice/garlic dip
We went out to the garden to have a look around today.
The cabbage is growing - I gave it some fertilizer a couple weeks ago and the extra grow power split one cabbage - guess we'll eat it tomorrow. we pulled two of the heirloom carrots today - I don't remember the type but they are red or maroon outside.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010406_edited.jpg)
They are still carroty color inside. These two carrots are both about 2" in diameter.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010415_edited.jpg)
It was hot when the seed was planted so many didn't germinate and survive but we got a few.
Winter vegetables and volunteers still doing pretty well also.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010409_edited.jpg)
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010408_edited.jpg)
Yer killin me here >:( :( :'( Bracing for another 50 to 60 MPH wind storm , raining like a cow peeing on a flat rock , snow is in the extended forecast for Mon. / Tues., so temps are going to be dropping from the mid forties to the mid to high 20's :(
The garden is just wet ,black, cold, dirt with leaves piled up for early spring tiling.
But still it better than Ca. ;)
PEG, my friend. I hate to say it but I told Sassy we needed to post to the garden thread just for your benefit. Would you like a picture of our ripe tomatoes? :)
Sorry about your weather. Sounds cold and nasty. As you can see we've been having sunshine today. Soon we have to get ready to start planting.
Actually we have a bit of weather on the way in a week. Maybe even some snow.
PEG, that's a little bit of the passive-agressive coming out of him but I have to admit I kinda encouraged it ::)
BTW, the carrots were really good - I think Glenn will finally let us eat one of the cabbages now! ;)
thanks for the warning, gonna go check which direction those winds are blowing from now....
;)
OK Daddymem - wind is blowing toward Mass. We are going to eat the second one tonight. I just killed it. :'(
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010485_edited-1.jpg)
Note that it was 56 degrees here last night and this morning but 4 miles from here it was 30 to 32 with frozen ponds . Such is life in the banana belt. :)
Nice cabbage :) How ya gonna cook it? Fried with bacon grease , served with vinegar and salt & pepper :) Or boiled in a New England boiled dinner(corn beef & cabbage ) :)
Steamed with ham & onions & a little Real salt... (salt mined from Redmond, Utah ) didn't have any corned beef this time or bacon... but it should be good anyway! :)
I really like corned beef and cabbage - but - Sassy has to work tomorrow and 4 miles to the store so I sent her digging through the freezer for something else to go with it. ::)
Make some Kraut! mmmmm :)
That sounds good. My mom used to make it once in a while. Seems I remember large crocks and fermenting time involved. I have a few more heads of cabbage out there. They didn't germinate real well as it was a bit hot in the fall. -- Dried the planter surface a couple times.
Looks like the makings of cabbage rolls to me.
Brown hamburger and onions in a pan. Add cabbage and cook until soft. Salt and pepper to taste.
Roll out bread dough (we use frozen roll dough). Cut into 4" x 4" squares. Place a tablespoon of filling in the middle and fold from all sides. Place folded side down on a cookie sheet and cook at 350F until lightly brown on top.
Rub with butter while still warm.
A favorite of our family!
That really sounds good - There was a bakery here that made them. Now I'm really hungry.
My grandmother sautes cabbage and sliced apples (NOT Red Delicious :P ) in bacon grease and adds a bit of brown sugar -- yum!
Kathleen
What--you don't think that red delicious apples are DELICIOUS.
That the fact that they don't cook worth a flip, and get mealy and soft and starchy tasting the minute they are the least bit over-ripe disqualifies them from the use of their name??
Yorks would be better, not always wonderful flavor, but both sweet and crisp even when their skins get a bit wrinkled? Is that it?
::)
I make the best corned beef ever...Well only because it is the easiest thing to make ever... boil it for 15 minutes and throw it in the stew pot ..after an hour throw in the vegetables and when the veggies are done you are ready to eat...
My wife and I absolutely love corned beef...We eat it whenever we can
Glenn those cabbage are awesome dude!...I mean it...I think you had it all doctored up watered down under special lighting...It looked flawless....You should be proud!
You guys are really making me hungry -- remember the building extreme hunger thread? I have it. :-/
That picture was taken under the kitchen compact fluorescent light with no flash and the Lumix Camera on either close or macro - I think macro - 5 mega pixel with image stabilization, then uploaded to Photobucket on 640 x 480 res if I remember right - nothing special - about 5 minutes total time. Still looks good enough to eat. I guess taking pictures of your food before you eat it must be a special kind of perversion. :-?
depends where your hands are....did I just type that? :-X
Dude
Your mind works differently than mine... I mean my habds have er.. umm been busy in the past....Cabbage was NOT involved ;)
Do you have issues daddymem?
Glenn
I hear the part about hunger...I am eating leftover pizza that was cardboard crap last night...What are you going to do when you work all the time and your wife is 300 miles away >:(
I miss eating good in my neighborhood....Thankfully this is the last week-end away from my wife....I am all done at the old place one day this week...And then living full time at the new place... I am going to make a special oatmeal bread and baked beans to celebrate next week-end... I have some nut brown newcastle style beer that should be ready....
I am eager to get back at the new place and work on it....Plus I miss meals with other people....Food is so very good when it is enjoyed with the people you love :'(
Make sure you do something yummy with the cabbage...I hope that was not ambiguous for perversion...Food... with Sassy.... why did we have to go down this path ;D
Alright guys -- I think I am going to get up close and personal with the rest of the cabbage. Those cabbage rolls are overpowering my senses. I have to go get some frozen bread dough and make them. :-/
never made cabbage rolls...
Let us know how they turn out...Might be I will look into making them for the wife...
hehe only 5 days until I get to taste homemade bread and beer....Yes I am counting thedays until I am moved for good.... A couple of old car buddies showed up yesterday in the afternoon and we fenced until it was dark and then went to eat.....Good to have company....Not the same as my wife...
We just wont tell her I miss her ;)
It is 16 degrees here I have been outside fencing the property again this morning and gee whiz it is frosty.....holding the nails is freezing my fingers...*LOL*...Have to get it done today before the county comes and sees any mess...$1100 fine
Have a great week guys...
Enjoy the cabbage rolls
Made them and ate some -- see the Food for thought-Building extreme hunger thread. :)
I went by the feed store the other day and to my surprise they had a few winter vegetables. I always look but usually they don't have any. So I bought a six pack of spinach, one of broccoli and one of strawberries - think I forgot to plant the strawberries, but anyway -- getting a head start on the garden this year. :)
Note - we have now eaten nearly 100 cabbage rolls and hope to eat may more before cabbage season is over. :)
Check the wind.
So that's why these storms have been blowing in lately...
Something bad is in the air.... :-/
Hey, gets me a day off..I ain't sitting in that parking lot called 128.
I guess a little good can come from even the worst situation. I wouldn't suggest lighting a match though...
Getting excited about gardening..
We have started peppers....they are up through the soil in the laundry room off the back of the house (which is the makeshift greenhouse until the larger one is done.
Bought Some fruit trees today....
Australian and Ruby Red Grapefruit
Persian Lime
Eureka Lemon
Couple different types of orange
Japanese plum
Blueberry plants
the blueberry and japanese plum will go outside...Everything else is headed inside for the greenhouse.
The guy had an amazing yard....I spent a lot of money there...His prices were fair...I need to go back for another load...My wife wants an eucalyptus tree...and she wants a peach tree to go with the pear and plum we already have
Anyone here growing a lot of citrus/fruit trees....Would love some tips...
Been tempting to start the garden.. It has been in the 70's by day and only getting down to the mid 40's at night...Need to wait a little longer to plant...Going to start carrots and potatoes early... they are pretty hardy plants and can take a touch of frost.
Go get em, Peter.
We have some fruit trees and citrus - I'm no pro. They don't like to freeze and a drip system on a small timer - even a single hose one insures they get watered as needed. That's probably about the best tip I have.
Glenn
I am nothing of a expert on anything...I see it in my mind and try to make it work... I figure that in winter I need to keep the house 10 12 degrees warmer inside than it is on the outside...
The coldest it got here so far this winter is 22 degrees and it got to 18 degrees here 2-3 years ago...I have been checking with local greenhouse and citrus growers... I can keep it above 32 degrees in the greenhouse without hardly ever turning on any sort of heat...and if I use reflective black plastic I should be able to do it without any source of heat...
As for the warm season....I thought I would install a thermostat which would go to a couple small fans...Got to keep air moving in the greenhouse....
I have not in my mind worked out the sprinkler watering system yet....I thought about just having a watering system where pipe would run ground level and deposit water at the base of the trees... and every night you turn on the tap and let the trees drink
I am sure that a sophisticated timer system that had sprinkers spraying mist in the air would be more effective... I am not sure I want water everywhere in the greenhouse...and I am not much of a plumber....
I cook better than most people I know...Not that I cook fancy dishes...I make cooking simple...Take good food and let their natural flavours come out...
well simplicity is what I want to achieve in the greenhouse... I am sure that there is no limit to the advancement of water and temp control .... I plan to open all the windows in the greenhouse in the spring once there is no frost warning...(March) and to have a couple fans hooked to a thermostat
I am sure I am heading for pitfalls...But seriously...I cannot see it not working...I mean there is a fantastic climate for growing here... As long as I feed the plants with rich soil and keep them watered I cannot see them struggling.
It stinks because there is a year long wait for fruit when you plant the trees.... the citrus trees are three years old and a good size...
We really lucked out meeting the guy with the greenhouse he has a dozen varieties of grapes he grows outside so we can get his exact knowleadge on what grows best here...
With the Oranges we mixed it up....One tree bears fruit over the winter and the other in the summer...there is a small overlap...But we should have Oranges mostly year round....
We looked at some mature trees on his land that he had outside...Small manageable trees outside without any protection that he had were producing 3 bushels of oranges per tree....and they were only 10-12 feet high...
I love marmalade...And fresh orange juice...I hope that with care we can get 4-5 bushels per tree...
I keep telling my wife that we need a juicer....I am a firm believer that if we seriously eat all natural preserves...And drink as much juice as we can stand...That in 25 years there will be not a hint of high blood pressure....or blocked arteries....
Anyone ever see that 88 year old guy.. banana skin george the guy that waterekis on his bare feet and is pushing 90....He swims pulling tug boats or something?...the only thing he says that keeps his joints pain free and his circulation going is the pure juice that he drinks.....
Now if only we could grow enough sorghum to provide us with enough natural sugar...
I have been reading a lot on how our bodies absorb and digest food....white sugar is a stimulant... It actaully makes the body crave more sugar....which is why after eating some cookies we need to raid the cookie jar in 30 minutes or an hour later...
This summer I am taking my bride to Canada to meet my Grandmother...She is going to learn how to make Jams and jellies from the Master......I figure that we can make our own preserves...We will have several types of plum and pear trees......Only one peach...But I planted Pear and apple at the other house that is 4 hours away...And they will be bearing fruit this year
The best part of the green house is that my wife absolutely loves to garden and she loves plants...She gets so much enjoyment from seeing seeds sprout and plants grow... I do not have as much enthusiasm for her herb garden...She wants us to make a lot of our own spices from herbs... I told her she could plant what she wanted and we would try to grind it up and dry it or whatever they do to make the spices... ;)
I just wish I had more land here so I could make the greenhouse twice as large... My old car buddies think I have lost my mind spending time on the greenhouse and gardening....
The quality of the food you grow will be way better than the commercial fertilizer blown up, nutrient free veggies etc. that they sell in the store.
The reason I recommend a drip system and timer is that I am gone for a week at a time some times. With it on a hot day things stay alive - without it they die in a few days. Our soil is clay and massive amounts of water don't soak in - they run off. The best soil you can get is that which you create with composted horse manure - leaves etc. Horse manure is perfect to compost as is. Other manures need other things. More straw bedding etc in the horse manure requires more nitrogen - add chicken manure. All chicken manure - add straw - leaves etc -it needs more carbon. Water every few days and aerate to maximize its turning to soil. Done properly it takes only about a month. Done by leaving it lie takes about a year. Water only until it is damp.
I have been digging all morning out in the yard....Well that and raking... Stickerball trees are the bane of my existence! I hate stickerballs!!!!!
AnywaysThe soil here is mostly sandy...Black with a lot of sand in it... Looks like potting soil sort of naturally....
I will bring another truck down here next week and go get a load of cow/horse chicken manure...whatever I can get....
I brought a truck down here and I was loving it...worked it daily hauling off brush bringing in loads of clay and sand for my blocks....
A neighbor liked my truck more than me and offered me $800 profit for it....I only had it a week or two....I am a sucker for making easy money like that.... so when I go back up to the mountains I will transfer a plate and start driving my dodge pickup
I agree that it is good to keep things alive... Maybe I could have a watering system based on a simplistic lawn sprinkler... it comes on every night so that way the trees never get completely dried out.
I also went under the house again this morning...I noticed the drains were working funny again....Found another section of rotten black iron pipe... In a 2-3 foot crawl space you know I am just absolutely loving the thought of going in for another pipe repair...
I spent a little extra time down there.....(Which sucks because it is cramped no lights...Musty etc...) and inspected the rest of the pipe...a couple pieces need to be removed and some of the piping is redundant...So it needs to be removed....I figure I better go ahead and do it while the weather is pleasant....
So one day next week I get to spend a day pretending to be a snake on my belly removing pipe and installing new pvc...
The black iron looks so freaky I am just going to remove with grinder.....and replace with PVC or whatever the plasric white pipe is....I think the black plastic pipe is illegal to use now?
Black waste pipe - drain pipe has never had any problems that I know of -- ABS is pretty standard. Black drinking water pipe on the other hand - soft plastic -- is only legaloutside of the house I think.
If you are talking about taking out old cast iron pipe, you may be able to break it by striking it with a good sized hammer. Don't get a good one. :-/
Glenn
I do not want to smack it with the hammer...I do not want to mess with other 60 year old pipe at the present time...Cutting it with the grinder exposing the threads... relief cutting it in the joint will allow me to turn it off by hand without disturbing anything else..
I am sort of mad at myself...Just bent the bar on the chainsaw....cutting a massive tree down and it got caught up in the branch of another tree came back jammed the saw... bent the bar.... Really ticked me off...
Well when I say massive....I mean for the hobby saw I bought at walmart...*LOL* 42 cc..... tree was about 2 foot in diameter...
Now I have to go buy another bar.....
..
I am throwing out the safety chain that the saw came with..They are junk and cut nothing....gotta find the positive here...
Have to try to bring the grinder back down to the new place later this week...Until then bathroom sink is out of commision
Nothing ever goes according to plan....
Have a water hose handy as grinders can throw sparks that can set old dry wood and tinder in the darndest out of the way places on fire. Sometimes stuff will smolder for hours unseen then flare up in the middle of the night, then it's --dang it--- where'd my house go?
Glenn
Good tip man..A couple years ago we have this killer frost up in the mountains and the pipes froze...I was under the house cutting insulation off the pipes so I could thaw them with the propane torch....The torch in one hand and the fire extinguisher in the other...
Sort of going to be the same thing here....
But very good tip....
way down my to do list...If it was not impossible due to the pieces being built on my house I would love to raise it up 2-3 feet to make the crawl space aceesable....I guess as I replace more of the columns I will dig down further and then shovel out the excess dirt....Creating more space down there the hard way
You would think I had accidentally set a thing or two on fire in the past wouldn't you. :-?
BOUT 5 YEARS AGO i NEARLY BURNED down my dads shop....welding a patch in my 69 dart... wanted to do a frame off...well they have uniframe but you know what I mean...
Somehow a spark from the grinder made it's way onto the gasline which is rubber from factory about 8 inches and it was dry rotted from being 33 years old and living in the california desert it's whole life... poof up it went...
The car has the factory undercoating on it and grease from years of a leaky transmission...the whole underside of the car was going pretty good...
Emptied a few extinguishers on it...almost had it out...Then I went nuts with wet rags....Just sort of got in there..
Never hurt the car a bit...Scared me half to death....I just yelled at my dad...get the truck and a chain...I was going to pull it outside off the jack stands if I did not get it out....Was not going to lose the shop....
We have no fire insurance...But there is usually 5-6 extinguishers hanging in various parts of the shop...a couple of the extinguishers were empty old and leaky....really sucks when you need it and it is not there to save the garage...
Tip of the day....Go check your extinguishers and have one at every corner of the shop...At the work bench and at the welder...
I would even like to put one under the house so if you were down there and something happened you have one ready to go to save your life
Speaking of burning...
Hehe...Remember I was having trouble with the neighbor burning leaves.... I waited until they went to bed...and Lit half a dozen small piles... and dumped wheel barrow loads on them all night.... Waited for a night with no wind at all.... It has been hot and dry here the last 4 days so the leaves were dry which means almost no smoke...
It sucks that I have to do it in the middle of the night...6 hours I should have been canoodling with the wife...
One more night and everything will be cleaned up.... Hardly wait to see the yard when the sun comes up...
Well gotta log off and make my wife's lunch....
Be back in a bit...
Wife took a picture of me planting some nectarine trees today...I need to try to figure out photobucket...
Nothing to it- start an account there - Log in - hit the browse button and show it where the file is on your computer - hit upload - the file goes to photobucket - takes a minute or two. When done your pic shows up in photo bucket. Copy the IMG tag by clickink on it then paste it into your next Post Reply box here. The picture will show up when you post.
Glen
wow that is pretty complicated for me...I am the worst at techno babble...
Ask me how to rebuild an engine...no prob...or bolt a car back together from a pile of nothing and I can do it......Email gives me trouble sometimes... ;)
I will go try it out man
(https://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t189/etrius24/Nectarine1.jpg)
(https://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t189/etrius24/nectarine2.jpg)
(https://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t189/etrius24/orchard1.jpg)
(https://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t189/etrius24/lemontree1.jpg)
been painting all day...I dunnp glenn if I figured this out...the pictures did not show up... just the links to the pics...Maybe you know what I did wrong?
You have to copy the one at the bottom of the links tags that starts with IMG - you can usually just click it and it will copy but if that doesn't work highlight it then right click - copy- paste it here.
The only thing you were missing were the brackets and the IMG tags. You can add them by clicking modify, highlighting the address -(url) that you posted above then clicking the third icon in - the one that looks like a little photo in a white frame on the post reply screen.
What I am trying to explain is that to get them to show they need to look like this.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/ScreenShot012.jpg)
Note - copy the line that says IMG code on photobucket and paste it here. Being in caps in photobucket is fine - it works here that way . You are well on your way to being a computer pro.
Nice pix and trees by the way.
...and I see that you are a handsome brute just like me. :)
Glenn way too much onfo for me to process right now...My wife says I look like a mountain man with the beard I shaved for her on the week end...So that is me chean shaven in action....A few times a year I break down and submit to my wife's constant nagging to shave
we are messing with every aspect of the house and yard....so much to do...For example today I painted all afternoon and this morning I was digging for the garden... So it is all over the place and nothing is really finished...I need to get busy because the wife's dad is coming to stay on the week-end and I have to finish painting the room where he will be staying....
Nothing is ever easy.....
Try the "Live Preview" between "Post Reply" and the collection of stuff including the subject, smileys, message icons, etc.
Then you also see what you put in bold in bold instead of having the funny parentheses with a (b]b[/b) in front and a (b]/b[/b) behind.
I had to put in typos so you could see this!
:)
Well - we got the pictures posted anyway so no problem. :)
I shave a couple times a year too - but only to the longest rake on the hair clippers. Gotta have at least an inch and a half of beard. Sassy usually starts thinking I need a trim when it gets about 4" long. :-/
hehe
My wife hates facial hair...Which makes having it all the sweeter...
I'm lucky in that area -- Sassy doesn't have any. :)
what?
Did I miss something man....Hehe
She doesn't have facial hair - that one was probably too far out there- - I've been up too many hours and am losing it. :-?
yes you are losing it...Is it all sleep related though.. that is the question :o
QuoteI'm lucky in that area -- Sassy doesn't have any. :)
I got that! :o OMG
Ok you guys... such simple things entertain you ::) ...
Nice nectarine tree, Peter - our's in the valley is blooming, so is the cherry tree & all the almond trees. I'd planted a pluot tree last year up here - it bloomed during all the snows - I got a few fruits; this year it was covered with blooms again & it's been good weather so hopefully will have more fruit. I don't know if any of the fruit trees in our little orchard have made it, tho :(
I just got back up to the cabin tonight after working for the past several days in the valley - worked in the yard yesterday before work & most of today down there & now I'll have plenty of stuff to keep me busy uphere... never ends - I guess that keeps life interesting? :o
Hey Sassy
Well I will be back at the ranch again on friday and I will try to get some pictures of the other trees...I planted a few more after that picture was taken...
Something so Wonderfully fufilling about planting trees and gardening...So rewarding to see something you planted grow... Getting fresh fruit off the trees each year is not going to be bad either... ;)
I will try to get some more pics of the other trees.
Yes, it is nice to grow your own fruits & veggies - & they taste so much better! That's a pretty nice lemon tree you have - & we finally got to see a picture of you - I'm always curious what people look like - you're kinda a younger Glenn :o ! ;)
Please do post more pictures :)
We picked our Brussel sprouts tonight and ate them - after I spent 10 minutes cleaning the aphids off of them. Boy, were they good. The sprouts - not the aphids. :)
So you're saving the aphids for dessert?
I love brussel sprouts tho' I the last time I bought them the cashier looked at 'em and then me kinda funny. Same clerk queried me about the white carrots too . (parsnips for those who only eat Bird's Eye or C&W.)
A special treat, Don. Our garden is full of parsnips. We let them re-seed themselves. They make lots of seed. We like to eat them French fried like... well ... French Fries.
We also like them roasted alongside a good beef roast. Roast the potatoes too. Toss in an onion. MMmmmm Good! :) :)
Once you have had parsnips cut as french fries instead of potatoes you will never want potatoes again...
Did not know about them re-seeding themselves...what do you do just leave some in the ground to spread their seeds around?
we always took an iron bar...you know the kind you drive in the ground for fencing...and get it a foot deep or so and go around with the bar to make a cone shaped hole...Drop a few seeds in there and leave it alone...Let the parsnip grow to fill the hole
Parsnips - kinda like carrots - about the second season make seed and take care of the seeding work for you. I pulled a whole pan full of carrots out of the garden last week - yummy - sweet - seems all store bought veggies are bitter.
Never heard of the digging bar trick - but then again - just as well - I'd just put a hole in my ceiling. :-/
What a non adminstration to do :o
Off topic posts have been removed.
Right PEG - while it wasn't meant seriously it is now back to the garden. Sorry about that. :-/
Glenn
I hate it when you edit out all the good stuff....In the future wait at least until I get a chance to read and get the jokes before you pull everything out of here will you?
Ya I was just kidding Daddy ::) Hoy vey , talk about a over reaching Govt/ Admininstrator ;D ;D
Hey Pettie nice trees , your kinda short eh! I thought I could hear that in yer typin ;D Sorta midget like, eh! ;D
Now don't go edit my stuff again there Glenn bob! Well unless I'm really outta line :-[ Which should never happen! ::)
QuoteOnce you have had parsnips cut as french fries instead of potatoes you will never want potatoes again...
Sounds like I should try that. Don't have deepfryer tho'; is that how you do yours? Maybe frying in Olive Oil? :-[
Peg
Yeah I am not very tall....5 foot 10..... :)....Perfection comes in all shapes and sizes...
Don
Yeah deep frying anything is nasty...You can use sunflower or extra virgin olive oil..... There is no deep fat fryer in my house either...
I have used a pot with olive oil to fry things....I think 4 times in the last 3 years.... Wse try to stay away from anything fried...no matter how strict you are with trying to use the best vegetable oils out there...
What I like to do with my Parsnip is to cut them in slices like silver dollars.... and throw them in the pan...With a little butter and pepper... and fry them that way.... they get golden brown and I eat them that way with a little ketchup.... Good luck
I'm about the same elevation, Peter- I think I claim 5' 9 1/2" and also have to admit -- Quite the picture of perfection. ::)
Some of us grow much taller - that's scary, because it's so much farther to the ground when we fall. :)
Also - I like my parsnips like french fries - long skinny fried in coconut oil or butter. I like things that really taste good - not always that are good for me.
As to my editing, guys --- near any perceived complaint will cause me to edit, but other than that I won't do much. I probably edit myself more than anybody else. I was born without a sense of decency so have to try to read what others think. :)
I try to keep it to what my mother would think if she read what I posted here, :o
then would walk out of the room shaking her head and crying. :-/
I think anything just above that threshold is probably OK.
Glenn
I love deep fried parsnips...I just tried to give up fried foods... I eat them in restuarants once in a while...I try to stay away from them though....
I am not going to live forever...But I do not want to be on blood thinners taking 20 pills a day to stay alive after a heart operation either.... My uncle had a quintuple bypass and he is on more meds than you would ever believe... Sure he is 84 and doing pretty well.... but takes 20 pills a day....
If I can avoid that I am going to...if it means less fried food so be it...I think it a worthy trade off.
Glenn
I wish I was taller... but you know...I got over it by the time I was about 17 and stopped growing...Played a lot of basketball and baseball growing up....and it sucked because I was the best hitter in three counties...and a fair basketball player...The other kids just kept getting bigger....*LOL*
I am still the best hitter in three counties...Played some charity softball a few years ago....Broke the lights...Hit one off the lights shattered it down the right field line (yes I am left handed...) telephone pole in the outfield for lights... lights at the top of the pole...
I never got another pitch to hit the rest of the tournament...And it was for charity...*LOL*.... Growing up I would always get asked to play baseball on mens teams in money torunaments and I was only 14 and 15...and I was batting cleanup...Hehe mostly because I started hitting homeruns when I was about 13.... I am old now...But I do get to the batting cage a bout once a year...Love to just feel the bat smack the piss out of the ball...That sound when you hit it perfectly... over and over...
The neighbor who is 14 was walking to the park the other day with a bat and a glove so I asked if he wanted to hit a little I would throw him batting practice... and then he threw batting practice....He is tall and lanky...6 foot 1 I would say....I showed him a few things and his hitting is going to improve a lot.... when I started putting balls into the tennis courts beyond the outfield fence he started to pay close attention to batting lessons... :)
I really miss coaching little league....Very rewarding to teach kids to play the game properly and see them excell....To see their confidence soar and then they feel good about themselves...
Wow getting off topic...Oh yeah.. height.... well I never let mine determine what I could or could not do... I am a couple inches taller than my dad and 4 inches taller than my grandfather...My Brother was lucky he got to about 6 foot... I hope my kids are a little taller than me.... My wife has a little more height genes in her family..she is 5 foot 6.. Her dad is 6 foot... So there is a little hope for the next generation of Ross revolutionaries.... ;)
Just goes to show that it is the size of the fight in the dog not the other way around...
Everything is a trade off. You just have to prioritize everything on your own personal list. And keep in mind that the all vegan, bicycling non owner of an automobile, etc. person may get run over by a concrete mixer tomorrow while you may live on into your next century while indulging yourself in the occasional "fatburger" and fries or whatever.
Restaurant food, BTW, is really not good for you on the whole. It tastes great because they use loads of real butter, lots of salt; and so on. They serve a minimal amount of veggies; but it's oh-so-good.
Well I read a book once explaining how nasty margarine is for you...We use only real butter now...
I laugh when I see people eating diet peanut butter and skim milk....
They eat at Mc Donalds or whatever 3 times a week and each meal they comsume at those places is several days worth of calories and a week's worth of fat....And then they try to balance that out by eating styrofoam rice cakes with skim milk and something that looks like but does not taste like butter...
We drink whole milk here and use real butter... This year we will have all homegrown veggies...We killed the deep fried foods...We have killed off the fast food for the most part....I still drink coca cola and that is bad for you...
switched to whole wheat everything pasta included....this winter all our preserves will be homemade also... I do not think it is easily done to get 100% natural...But I would like to get 80% natural.... Trying to convince my wife to switch to brown sugar....Our bodies absorb it better It is much better for us....Dunno how a coffee would taste with brown sugar in it....Anyone want to try it and let me know?
When I am on restaurant food for a week or so I usually start getting heartburn and in general feeling crappy.
Nothing better than food from our garden - even vegetables bought at a store cannot compare in flavor to the ones we grow. Possibly our local organic farmers market would have vegetables etc. as good as ours.
Corporate foodmills cannot compete. Big empty vegetables they produce don't have the same quality.
Sassy pulls her parsnips.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010607.jpg)
Yeow! That's some parsnip. :)
Cooking pictures I took yesterday didn't come out great so today we pulled another batch to eat and tried it again.
If you haven't had them before, imagine the flavor of a sweet potato, regular potato and a carrot combined and fried in coconut oil . Sprinkle it liberally with salt as with French fries and it's really yummy. Don't expect any of these to be left for leftovers.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010616_edited-1.jpg)
Museum of gardening history (http://www.compulink.co.uk/~museumgh/tools.htm)
Main site http://www.compulink.co.uk/~museumgh/
Any odd tools you need here?
(//%3Cbr%20/%3Ehttp://www.compulink.co.uk/~museumgh/images/Tools%20-%20dibbers%20multi.jpg)
Well got a break in the rain finally roto tilled the garden , 1 st go round this year , hope to add some cow manure soon , then do another turn over of the dirt.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Mar25th4.jpg)
Pressure washed the deck as well ,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Mar25th.jpg)
Then this odd , wierd thing showed up , sort of scared me at first , wonder what it is , sure was warm .
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Mar25th3.jpg)
;) ;D
Looks good PEG - did you see your shadow - I am wondering how much more winter we will have. :)
Got the spinach, bell peppers, jalapenos, zucchini, yellow squash, watermelon, and cantalope started here in SoCal. Got to love the weather here even if everything else sucks.
You got that right - we have continuous winter garden - more of the parsnips, cabbage , carrots, chard, spinach, more still growing and ready to eat right now. :)
Not true of the whole country, but parts of the South and the South-east have rainfall that amounts to about 40 percent of the average for the year. (not 40 per cent down--60). Somebody said that it was the driest since before the Civil War.
Which so far does not put us into major drought status.
Here's a link for drought monitoring.
http://drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html
Yup - looks about right - we've been pretty dry.
Thanks for that Amanda. It's interesting watching the 12 week animation.
I see the animations can be saved and then later, could be combined (with the right software) for say, a years worth.
Good thing I started this thread , I went back to post #1 , I see it was 12 April when I got the garden in last year, I'm way ahead of schedule this year ;D 8-)
Must be that added 3 weeks of daylight savings time , it's like adding hours to a all ready full month, well or somethin :-/ :-?
I do that often -- look back through the thread and see how long it's been since I've done something -- or anything. :)
Quote
If you haven't had them (edit: parsnips) before, imagine the flavor of a sweet potato, regular potato and a carrot combined and fried in coconut oil . Sprinkle it liberally with salt as with French fries and it's really yummy. Don't expect any of these to be left for leftovers.
I didn't have quite enough parsnips for a meal so in a moment of culinary madness I cut up a small remaining portion of cabbage and fried them all up together in olive oil. Added a small sliced onion and it was oh-so delicious. No left overs either. :)
After a couple of weeks of pretty warm weather (most of us had broken out the shorts instead of jeans for at least a while) that have seduced a lot of us into buying our plants early, we've gotten hit by days of hard frosts. The up-side? It felt almost good to be chopping into the privet jungle. :o
So here's the garden report from the Alabama/Tennessee border.
A couple of the asparagus spears are limp. The new growth on the oregano looks frost-bitten. So far the Spinach, sage, and thyme look OK. Haven't planted any basil yet, although I've got a plant in the house, brought the flat of lemon balm in because one of them looked frozen, although I think they'd have been OK if they'd been in the ground for a while.
Some of the new growth on the multiflora rose (nasty prickly invasive pest) is leaning. They can just do that.
Don't really imagine that the lavender will make it. I've put the geranium/sweet potato vine container inside the barn room, but after a couple of days of cool-to-cold and tonight may be the worst, at least the cute black sweet potato vines will probably be toast. No room inside, and besides it's quite a ways away.
Neither the raspberries nor blackberries have bothered to bloom yet. Fruit trees (peach/apple/cherry, although not my little cherry tree) and strawberries are another story. Including the kind of strange plum (Damson??--sour and late-fruiting) down the hill. It's already bloomed, presumably the little fruits are being frozen.
BTW, the cookbook author Sally Fallon says that parsnips are inedible if they aren't cooked in oil. maybe coconut specifically.
Didn't know that about Parsnips but -boy are they good.
Gardens all doing pretty good here.
Sassy and I ate a big bowl of asparagus steamed and buttered yesterday.
Yum.
There was some nice looking asparagus at the store the other day, so I steamed (storeboughten) vegetables (yellow squash, red sweet pepper, broccoli, and the asparagus, dressed them with garlic sauted in olive oil, added some ricotta cheese and cooked pasta. It was a hit at a potluck-dinner. Even if I did forget to bring parmesan cheese.
Since a good deal of my extremely meager asparagus crop seems to be frost-bit, I wish I'd picked one or two for the dish. :)
I have three rows of parsnips in - my only gripe with them is that they take so long to mature, but they are well worth the wait. We usually roast them along with potatoes and swedes ( rutabarga is the US term I think..?) with roast beef. An orange glaze works well- roll them in a mix of orange juice, brown sugar and a little Contreau if you have it, before you bake them.
QuoteBTW, the cookbook author Sally Fallon says that parsnips are inedible if they aren't cooked in oil. maybe coconut specifically.
I don't know about that claim. :-/ I've cooked them in soups and stews with no fats or oils, strictly vegetarian. Also baked with carrots , apples and brown sugar. They're also great roasted alongside a beef, pork, elk, whatever roast... ok, there you'd have the beef fat. Thay are tasty indeed. When I fry them I use either olive oil or Smart Balance. Hint; they cook faster if parboiled first. I microwave them sometimes with just a spoonful or two of water.
I don't know. I haven't had parsnips in 30 years. And that time I thought they weren't quite edible. But I'm not sure how they were cooked that time.
But then when I was younger, I didn't like Chinese Parsley/cilantro much either.
QuoteI have three rows of parsnips in - my only gripe with them is that they take so long to mature, but they are well worth the wait. We usually roast them along with potatoes and swedes ( rutabarga is the US term I think..?) with roast beef. An orange glaze works well- roll them in a mix of orange juice, brown sugar and a little Contreau if you have it, before you bake them.
That sounds good, Pete. Missed it before. Rutabaga I think -- haven't seen them in years and don't remember what they taste like - maybe it's time I try them out.
ru·ta·ba·ga (rt-bg, rt-, rt-bg, rt-)
n. In both senses also called swede, Swedish turnip.
1. A European plant (Brassica napus var. napobrassica) having a thick bulbous root used as food and as livestock feed.
2. The edible root of this plant.
[Swedish dialectal rotabagge : rot, root (from Old Norse rt; see wrd- in Indo-European roots) + bagge, bag (from Old Norse baggi).]
I got the deer fence up today except one small temporary section. Almost 100 feet with 3 gates and a door 7 feet high. I used the black poly netting for fencing -- very nice to work with and stops the giant rodents from lunching out on top of my house.
I put in about 5 yards of top soil I saved from making another flat spot earlier this year and 5 yards of composted horse manure -- 3 year old yummy stuff. I love my Bobcat. :-*
So-- after I did that I planted three citrus trees we've had in pots forever and even tomatoes and peppers - we planted some others already but found some heirloom Brandywine and Anaheim Peppers at the feed store when looking for the deer netting... so in all added about 250 square feet of prime garden soil.
Sounds good Glenn , Hopefully I can get some garden time in this coming weekend :)
My solar is a bit upgraded from last year so more water available - yard is bigger -- garden is bigger - -should be a good garden year. I think we may grow enough for us and the gophers. :)
Any time you can stay ahead of the gophers of all kinds is a good time. :)
They used to be a major problem but now, we have so much stuff that reseeds itself - I don't think they can eat it all so we don't have as much problem. There are quite a few gopher holes - even on top the house -- they don't really care where they go to eat.
QuoteThere are quite a few gopher holes - even on top the house -- they don't really care where they go to eat.
As long as they don't actually drop in....
No - I guess they don't like the taste of plastic. They just stay above it.
Well-- I got another 36 feet or so of rock wall up to around 30" high today and most of it backfilled with top soil - needs about another 6 to 10 inches of rock and compost then the garden will be even bigger. ;D
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010746_edited.jpg)
All trees, vegetables and flowers will be on drip irrigation and timers so it will stay alive if I have to be away for work -- don't want anything dying while I'm gone.
It really does look wonderful! I sure was pleasantly surprised when I got back to the cabin last night to see all the rock work... :) Glenn won't tell me what he's doing most of the time - says "it's a surprise!" so then I have to wait 'til I get back...
It's looking real good!
It certainly does. Did all the rocks come from onsite, Glenn? The land visable in the background looks green and not at all rocky.
I think Glenn has underground rocks, just like his house. :)
Thanks, guys. Pete, --you are looking at a good spot - a place where the grass has grown tall enough to cover the rocks hidden behind it.
Our land runs from 1/3 to 4/3 :o green andesite and claystone with a 0' to 5' layer of soil on top averaging about 2' of soil overall between rocks. Rocks average 1 to 2 feet in size for the most part but actually range from pebble size to larger than a truck.
I saved topsoil from making a flat spot on the other side of the hill by my sawmill, and put it under the compost. The larger rocks I placed today probably averaged 300 to 400 lbs.
QuoteI think Glenn has underground rocks, just like his house. :)
Even my rocks have rocks, Don.
Our county has miles of rock fences built by the Chinese during the gold rush days. Over 150 year old dry stack walls and fences still standing - some falling over but many are not.
Just like in Merry Olde England.... walls lining all the quaint country lanes... just laying there waiting for an errant speeding cyclist/motorist to run into. :'( I don't know what made me think of that? :-/
Almost sounds like a voice of experience. :-?
Almost would be correct... Have you heard of the Isle of Man Grand Prix or TT (motorcycle races)? It's run around the (closed for the event) public roads around the island. Stone walls, 3 - 4 foot diameter trees, houses and country pubs all within inches of the road course.... mountain roads with no guardrails.... and the most breathtaking scenery, most wonderful experience to roar around. Never saw an accident, tho' they did happen, never had one, tho' it was dicey. The year I was there one guy ran headon into a tree and died. I believe they still have the TT (pro race) but the Grand Prix (amateur/sportsman) is no longer. Maybe they all got killed off.
But there are roads like that all over England and the thought of running into them never left me I guess. ( Had an old Suzuki X6 and an old Bedford van over there.
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/oddsnends/IOM_GP.jpg)
Standing on a walljust like that one to take picture
how did a motorcycle end up in the garden? :-/
What size will the total garden end up being, Glenn?
Hey, take heart, Mr President- all those Arabs couldn't kill Laurence Of Arabia, but a motercycle, and stone wall and a narrow English lane did the job just as well...just don't get on any motercycles.
How about a pond? Is that on the drawing board?
Quote- all those Arabs couldn't kill Laurence Of Arabia, but a motercycle, and stone wall and a narrow English lane did the job just as well...just don't get on any motorcycles.
Vincent Black Shadow... always wanted one of those.
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/oddsnends/vincent_1949_black_shadow.jpg)
Almost looks like a Harley moter, doesn't it? It's a V-Twin, same as a Harley?
the rockwork is beautimus
I am not going to show that to the wife...She will be like...."why does sassy get all this done to her yard and I get next to nothing ?"
Glenn even inadvertantly you are making me look bad man.... :(
A bobcat would help...I am moving piling my earthen blocks by hand...
Feel like the... "Old stone savage armed" in Robert Frost's "Mending Wall"
Going to read it again...Or recite it from memory and then it is off to dreamland for me...I get to see my wife tomorrow .. been a week and 2 weeks since I have seen my new house...I am excited
night
Thanks Peter. I liked the fence my old buddy made out of car hoods too. Be unique. Tell her you would never make a car hood fence for any other woman. She'll love it. :)
Benevolance, I had to be good for 5 years before Glenn would build it... :-/ Sassy
This morning I read my post and realized I made a factual error... must be getting old. :-[ :( T.E.Lawrence (of Arabia) rode Brough Superior (pronounced Bruff Soo-peer-ior) He had a bunch of them, considered the Rolls Royce of motorcycles. They had V-twins as well....
Pete was correct, he did die in a bike crash... took nearly a week to succumb.
But the Vincent was a bike I always coveted. Faster than a Brough. (below)
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/oddsnends/BroughSuperiorSS100_jpg.jpg)
Unique fences....
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/oddsnends/cadellac_ranch.jpg)
Cadillac Ranch, TX Seems to have become a graffiti target
oh my god....never thought I would see anything like that :o
Sassy
You are supposed to behave always.... ;) It limits the need for discipline :P
QuoteWhat size will the total garden end up being, Glenn?
Hey, take heart, Mr President- all those Arabs couldn't kill Laurence Of Arabia, but a motercycle, and stone wall and a narrow English lane did the job just as well...just don't get on any motercycles.
How about a pond? Is that on the drawing board?
Sorry - I missed this somehow, Pete. :-/
The new area there is about 20 x 34 feet, plus the 10 x 15 feet by the tree, plus about 4x20 by the house. I will probably limit the new to that for now. The garden on the house roof is currently about 25 x 60 feet and 16x21 feet. The strawberrys and misc garden on top of part of the shop roof is about 12 x 18 feet. The planter box on the front of the RV garage is about 1'6" x 20 feet. The small rose garden on the other side of the house is about 2' x 20 feet.
I think that covers most of it for now - except the little area planted in edible cactus - is about 10' x 10 feet. All rough numbers but pretty close. We have one area over another bathroom that is 12' x 18' feet, but I'll probably phase that one out this year.
The green house area is about 8' x 34' and will eventually have some hydroponics but we have so much growing year round already I don't know when I'll get to that.
We have one frog pond already on the roof of the house, but we brought another small pond liner up here and I have considered putting it in there -- may still get to it. :)
That's a lot of garden- what is the average rainfall each year in your area, Glenn?
QuoteAlmost would be correct... Have you heard of the Isle of Man Grand Prix or TT (motorcycle races)? It's run around the (closed for the event) public roads around the island. Stone walls, 3 - 4 foot diameter trees, houses and country pubs all within inches of the road course.... mountain roads with no guardrails.... and the most breathtaking scenery, most wonderful experience to roar around. Never saw an accident, tho' they did happen, never had one, tho' it was dicey. The year I was there one guy ran headon into a tree and died. I believe they still have the TT (pro race) but the Grand Prix (amateur/sportsman) is no longer. Maybe they all got killed off.
But there are roads like that all over England and the thought of running into them never left me I guess. ( Had an old Suzuki X6 and an old Bedford van over there.
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/oddsnends/IOM_GP.jpg)
Standing on a walljust like that one to take picture
how did a motorcycle end up in the garden? :-/
Hadn't heard of the races but have heard of the walls in England. We saw a movie up here with British artist Andy Goldsworthy making a wall at Storm King Art Center. He seemed a bit odd but creative - fit right in. :)
(http://www.stormking.org/images/wall_large.jpg)
http://www.stormking.org/specialexhib_archive.html
Quote
By Benevolance - You are supposed to behave always.... Wink It limits the need for discipline
:-? ::)
Sassy
I hope you believe in behavior modification and discipline...If Not....Then I need to have a serious talk with Glenn ;D
Benevolance, I suppose you have your wife perfectly under control?? :D ::) ;) :D
If you can do that , Peter, my hat is off to you.
You are a much better man than I.... :-/ ;D
completely under control......well no
She is still here...that is a good start... ;D I did tell her she was never allowed to leave me :P
I guess you have take what you can get and find a victory wherever you can in life.....
the frustrating thing for me is that my wife tends to let other people walk all over her...I have to tell her to stand up for herself....The only person she seems to stand up to though is ME!!!!!
you cannot win for losing sometimes....
So Glenn I would not start handing out accolades just yet......
Thanks Peter. You made me feel so much better. :)
Between my wife and her mother...I am completely outnumbered around here....
It is like they have earplugs in all the time...I am wasting my breath on the pair of them...
I could tell them that the price of gasoline went up or that the woods out back were on fire....
Might as well be talking to the walls
Passive agressive women.....what are you going to do?
If a man walks into the forest and speaks and no woman hears....
is he still wrong? :-/
Don't ask me who the genius philosopher was who said that. I could guess but I'd probably be wrong.
...meanwhile, back at the upside down ranch...
I have 40 okra plants in flower, hoping to get in a very late crop before the weather really cools off.
Tomorrow the last of the cool weather stuff goes in- Chantany carrots, purple-top turnips, oakleaf lettuce, cherry tomatoes, beetroot and spring onions.
We are picking a bumper crop of eggplant and green beans, with a load of zuccini almost ready, as well.
Quote... 40 okra plants in flower...
Oh dear. Tried okra once and it was a one and only. But I'll raid your garden for all those other things any day. :)
The high elevation desert here is just not conducive to outdoor gardens tho'. Maybe if it was a matter of survival... No, I'd have to move down to river bosque level and fight off the infidels.
Quote...meanwhile, back at the upside down ranch...
I have 40 okra plants in flower, hoping to get in a very late crop before the weather really cools off.
Tomorrow the last of the cool weather stuff goes in- Chantany carrots, purple-top turnips, oakleaf lettuce, cherry tomatoes, beetroot and spring onions.
We are picking a bumper crop of eggplant and green beans, with a load of zuccini almost ready, as well.
The perfect upside down garden - I hope to put extra effort into ours this year -- if we could only get a bit of that global warming to get them off to a good start -- still too cold here and they are slow.
Try the okra sliced in thin rounds and rolled in cornmeal then fried, Don. Yummy. :)
Spent most of Saturday tilling in this ,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/GardenApril2007.jpg)
Way to green , to much straw in it made tilling a bear :(
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/GardenApril20071.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/GardenApril20072.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/GardenApril20073.jpg)
I hope it drys out more so I can turn it over at least one more time.
Looks like really great rich stuff- is it from a stable? What will you grow on the trellis? Beans, maybe?
Beef cattle farm , from a covered area they spent some time in this winter.
Peas go on the trellis , we do bush beans in rows generally.
Do you find a high proportion of viable grass seeds coming through in cattle manure? I have both available, but I only use horse manure now because of the seeds in the cow manure.
QuoteDo you find a high proportion of viable grass seeds coming through in cattle manure? I have both available, but I only use horse manure now because of the seeds in the cow manure.
We'll see :o This is the first time I've manured this garden up , I expect some weeds / grass etc .
This MAY not be so bad :oas the cows where wintered in these barns so I don't think they where roaming around much , I think he said the young stock was kept in till spring and he just hasn't gotten around to mucking out the barns . At least thats what I hoped I heard ;D
Never tried Eggplant..I suppose it tastes like chicken though ::)
Nectarines are the size of golf balls.... A bunch of the lemons fell off the lemon trees :'(
Going to try to get some vegtables in the ground this week...Been a little busy wanted them in 2 weeks ago...
Oh and I used the ashes for gardening...I mixed the ashes 50/50 with run of the mill potting soil....And it is beautiful stuff
I am going to play around with sandy soil types mostly because my yard more than 3 inches deep is all pure white beach sand....I dig it up and it is dark...Leave it out in the sun for a couple days and it is almost white once dried out...
Drainage will never be a problem I guess :-/
I had half a dozen wheel barrow loads of ashes from burning leaves...I have a small compost pile and I am eager to see if I like the compost better than the ashes for mixing in with soil...
Might drive out to a farm next week and see if I can get a half ton load of manure....I am sure if I give a farmer 5 bucks he will let me shovel a load onto my truck??? used to get it for free...Nothing is free anymore though.
I am not much of a gardener...So I need fool proof vegetables that cannot be killed... ;)
Potatoes are pretty bulletproof plants...I have had success with them in the past...Corn is hearty as well....Not sure if I am ready for anything like Peas or beans....We love squash...Not sure if we can get er done though...Probably just Potatoes, Corn and Carrots
If I can keep those things alive I will try other next year
I desperately want to make molasses from scratch...So I need to be able to grow Sorghum..We will see
QuoteSpent most of Saturday tilling in this ,
Well at least you weren't rolling in it like my ol' hound dog, Stinky used to love to do. :)
Quote
Might drive out to a farm next week and see if I can get a half ton load of manure....I am sure if I give a farmer 5 bucks he will let me shovel a load onto my truck??? used to get it for free...Nothing is free anymore though.
Mine was free :) 8-) Ron said he'd always wanted to give me $hit :o ;D
Boy was my back sore :'( Must be gettin old ::) two I B profins and a hot tub soak have helped 8-)
Young trees naturally drop some fruit the first year - sometimes all of it. They recommend thinning it pretty heavily too if it doesn't.
Horse manure is the perfect mix for composting. If it has bedding straw, etc, add chicken manure (heavy on nitrogen- needs carbon). Add water till damp and air - turn it weekly and in a bit over a month it will all have turned to dirt. Watch out for the white smoke - it will stick to you and make the girls avoid you. :'( Try not to overheat it and burn it up. There is a perfec ratio of carbon to nitrogen for composting - plain horse manure is it. :)
I did about 150000 lbs of it about 3 years ago. Smell and flies will stay down if you have some that is done already to cover it with or use dirt.
Glenn
Wow thanks for the tips...
Dunno about composting 15,000 pounds of manure....Half a dodge pick up truck load will be fine for me for a couple of years...I have a massive pile of leaves composting as we speak and a bunch of left over ashes from burned leaves..
Mixing all that in with the sand I have...I should be okay...
For composting leaves, use chicken manure to add to it for the proper carbon to nitrogen ratio if you can get it. Chicken needs more carbon so will help the leaves decompose faster. Important to turn weekly and keep damp for the bacteria to have their way with it. This will do the deed in about a month if the mix is right.
Careful - it can catch fire.
QuoteCareful - it can catch fire.
I've never had that problem, but my curiosity led me the leave a steel concrete form stake impaled in the center of my compost bin once. It was cold and the pile was steaming a bit. The next day when I puled it out it was too hot to comfortably hold bare handed. :o Quite impressive. I turned the pile right then.
I wonder if there is anyone out there using this as a source of heat or hot water for their homes...
Think about it...Pack the leaves and manure all around the outside of the house where the top of the cement foundation is exposed.... Sorry glenn talking normal houses here.
Would provide a great source of heat...
Or you could run the water pipe outside and bury it under the manure compost pile.... Instant unlimited free hot water!
My mom mentioned they used to pile manure around the foundation of their house in Wisconsin to help stay warm.
Her brother claimed it got so cold in Wisconsin, that they used to have to wet the bed to stay warm. :-/
From what I gather from that, I don't want to live in Wisconsin. :(
Jean Pain - France has an entire heating and gas production system worked out.
Check this article out - just found it - google Jean Pain compost heat gas for more.
http://www.permacultureactivist.net/PeterBane/Jean_Pain.html
impressive... one hectare of forest can produce 4000 litres of Methane gas and all that soil and energy in hot water...
And at the end of it the forest in better shape and of better health than before...
Pretty slick
I started collecting wood chips to try that, but that is as far as I got. He built his own special chipper to make smaller chips. I think I would have had to add chicken do-do to get the pile to heat up.
When you compost the horse manure you want to keep it a bit below the overheated stage - seems it was around 125. Hotter than that makes ash or could burn. The heat is what breaks it down so fast - controlling it is fun. You don't exactly smell like a bouquet of flowers after the white smoke hits you.
Looking at gold mines yesterday we came across an old pioneer house foundation with a batch of wild gooseberries in the gully behind it. We ate a few and dug a few to plant hoping they will survive. May be one of those things you get and wonder if you really want it though. Pretty stickery.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010822.jpg)
One of my aunts in Iowa had a gooseberry patch. On the Old Home Place.
Pies and jam.
I planted the stickery little gooseberries under the planter water runoff - fairly out of the way and maybe they will grow. I read that the ones that turn red are not as common as the green ones, but they are pretty small though. Maybe 3/8 or so. Not many bigger - but these were not getting much water at the location they were in.
Also got the drip irrigation started on the two rock planter areas - the big ones that weren't done. Never can tell when I'll go to work away for a while and things will die -- then I'll be in deep doo-doo. :'(
So now we can get after planting and later just try to fix problem watering areas in the new section.
Finally got the garden planted today ::)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/May5th7.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/May5th8.jpg)
Almost a month later than last year but adding the cow poop was a neccesary job . We'll see if it pay's off now :)
Why look at that -- it's growing already. :)
QuoteWhy look at that -- it's growing already. :)
We have a short season but it's fast ;D Must be the cow poop , or maybe I'm full of poop :-?
How tall are you -- 6'1" -- :-? I didn't know they stacked it that high. :)
OK so much for the old high school jokes.
Looking at your pictures the first one looks like your little lettuce plants are walking over to the rows to plant themselves. :)
No -- I'm not smoking anything. :P
That would have made a cool animation series. :)
Quote
Looking at your pictures the first one looks like your little lettuce plants are walking over to the rows to plant themselves. :)
What, yours don't!!! >:(
It's all in how you train them Glenn ;D
I guess I can't hold a candle to you. I kept telling mine, lettuce go to the garden and cover our feet with dirt, but they just kept looking at me with that blank look on their faces -- like I was stupid or something. :-/
Hey guess what I did today. I went up on the roof of my shop and picked breakfast. Strawberries - then I added some coconut frosted cake Sassy made and some ice cream and some whipped cream -- breakfast of champions. Yum.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010831.jpg)
I am so jealous :'(
Jump in the Jeep - come on over - I have some left and I'll share. :)
I may not have strawberries but the cacti are doing well...
Overview
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/2750/cactigeneralmay07.jpg)
Closeup One
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/2750/cacticlose01-May07.jpg)
Closeup Two, another variety
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/2750/cacticlose02-May07.jpg)
And my Lichens are doing exceptionally well. :)
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/2750/lichensMay07.jpg)
No berries or cactus....Have the tomatoes coming along pretty well....Not so sure about the carrots potatoes corn and turnips...I did a internet search on the ten easiest vegetables to grow...and that is what I am growing basically
Hard to buy a PH tester in this town....I have just been mixing horse manure with potting soil a little compost and the almost 100% sand that was there....Watering with a mixture of miracle grow....Hoping for the best.... Read somewhere that if you water tomatoes religiously every day or so they are foolproof.....We will see....
Many years ago, before moving to the desert, we had a vegetable garden in the backyard. We never has a problem with peas, green and yellow wax beans, yellow squash, zucchini, tomatoes, beets, carrots, parsnips, green onions, yellow onions, rhubarb, lettuce, cabbage. We did have a problem with cutworms and the young tomato plants tho'. Found a ring cut from a paper cup around each stem foiled them until the plants were thick and woody enough.
Potatoes we grew in the country at a friends farm. No problems with them, if hoed and hilled properly. Had room for corn there as well.
Too much trouble in the heat/dryness of the desert tho' The soil right around here would need a lot of work as well a constant watering. Not enough rainfall most years to bother with rainwater collection as far as a return on the dollar.
But the cacti grow by themselves. Break a pad off, shove it in the ground, keep it moist for a while and, there ya' go with another cactus plant.
G/L Peter
And plan on a place to make a compost bin for the fall.
So is it nopales por desayuno, Don? How about cactus jelly - any fruit coming on? I hear you can torch the needles off so you don't get stuck while working with them.
The deer around here take a bite once in a while. I have some crippled cactus pads. I wonder if the needles bother them -- serves them right for eating my plants though. I never eat their stuff. :-/
My lichens look like your lichens Don. Rocks even look similar. Ours are on greenstone or green andesite. I like'm.
That's breakfast I think :-/ I'm not much of a breakfast chef... Cheerios. Dry. Don't care for milk. Don't care for the Cheerios either, but something good happened to my cholesterol after I began eating 'em, so I better not stop.
Yep, get a torch out; burn 'em off. Slash with a knife, brush on Olive Oil, and grill them with chicken or steak.
Looks like there should be a bunch of fruit again this year.
I never eat deer food (as far as I know), but I eat them! :) The last Bambi's Dad was tasty.
I'm also waiting to see if the pinon's are going to have many nuts this year... varies year to year. I don't like them much but have friends who do and will trade other home grown food for them.
My lichen rock came from SE Utah. Part of my legally allowed rock collecting from public lands under BLM rules. :) Today I just realized my lichens are color co-ordinated with my house trim... subconsciously trying to blend in?
What is the law on that- rock collecting, Don. I always wonder - never bothered to find out. :-?
Depends. ::)
The rules vary, just like the rocks. First of all just to be clear, the public lands I'm talking about do NOT include National or State Parks and National Monuments. Those are totally off limits for collecting of any kind.
It gets interesting when you get into the National Forests, Grasslands and Recreation Areas and lands managed by the BLM, school trusts, State Lands, etc.. Removal of a small amount of rock would not get you in trouble; it's a little vague though. The words personal use, reasonable quantity, small amount, not for resale, abound in the regulations. I've seen a 5 gallon container listed as a suitable amount. Ditto a wheelbarrow, tho' no size listed. These are annual amounts. The BLM also has a prohibition on collected rock being used in any construction; fire pits, retaining walls, foundations, etc. For that a permit would be needed. And of course some areas may still be put off limits for whatever reason or rule interpretation they may decide on. Also tho' it isn't stated it would probably be a good idea to stay away from some places such as keeping 300 feet away from any antiquities, historical sites and the like. That follows the 300 ft rule for camping near these.
No power or mechanized tools (skid steers get special mention) are allowed, only manual labor, shovels, picks, pry bars, etc.. FYI, the BLM also frowns darkly on the use of vehicle mounted winches when used for trail maintenance like moving large boulders out of the way, but that can vary between divisional offices. :( (personal experience)
Smaller quantities of rock are on the honor system, no paper work or reporting required at all. For larger amounts of rock permits are available and they are pretty reasonable, $2 - 20 a ton depending on type of rock, sandstone is about $6. On the lower cost types there's a minimum billing amount from $10-20 or so. Nowadays scale receipts may be needed to prove weights removed.
Vertebrate fossils collection is prohibited, but it's okay to collect invertebrate fossils in the aforementioned small amounts. Artifacts, arrowheads, pottery parts or whole, feathers, basketry, even old bottles are prohibited from collection on all public lands.
Petrified wood has some special rules, no single piece larger than 25 lbs. and a 250 lb a year limit. Also the Utah BLM specifically prohibits the use of explosives for petrified wood collection. :o I don't know if that applies to other states or not. The Utah BLM also frown on use of explosives for trail maintenance. It is, or maybe isn't, surprising how many really small pieces of sandstone can be rendered from a "two to three Ford Excursion size" boulder. :-?
Thanks for the info, Don -- it may keep my tit out of the ringer. :o (Can I say that here :-?)
Sassy got some stuff planted and the drip system is working pretty fair.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010835_edited.jpg)
The rocks look much nicer with some green stuff in the dirt :)
I should have gotten out there sooner for a pix- would have been better, but - I'm a bit slow today - helped a friend with a rammed earth wall yesterday.
what is this dri[ system you speak of and how does it work....Sounds like jolly good fun?
A hose timer automatically turns on the water as many times as programmed for. Drippers water each plant or a row or a mini- sprinkler waters a large area. You never miss watering so if gone for a week things are still alive even during the 100 degree summer weeks. It uses only about 1/4 the water of a standard system. I used to install drip systems on vineyard etc.
Most hardware stores - Home Depot - etc carry the stuff - or some of it. A single hose controller is easiest to use most of the time. I guess I should do a little tutorial when I get time.
I didn't have time to read this but here is info.
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/Garden/04702.html
http://www.irrigation.learnabout.info/dripirrigation.htm
http://www.cvwd.org/archive/lush&eff/lsh&ef7.htm
Yes, drip systems are great. If I wanted to take the time, effort to improve the soil I could likely make a go of a garden here using drippers. I do have a drip system for irrigating the trees, because they thrive much better with a little extra water. Even the Pinon Pines, a tree native to the area are much happier with a little assist. It gives them the extra strength to resist disease. Mine is "hard plumbed", has several branches timed differently for the different needs and sizes of trees.
One thing that probably doesn't come into play for most. Do not try to use a drip system to use recycled gray water. The gray water usually has too much particulate matter and will clog the drippers.
I notice that even the trees here love a little extra water...And we get a fair amount of rain here in SC
There are some dogwoods and a japanese Maple that love a little extra water here. They are small and look much better now that I am watering them semi regularily...
That's the purpose of drip system on timers, Peter. It doesn't water semi-regularly. It waters regularly. :)
Glenn
I am pretty low tech...Not sure I can install a drip system....
took a few months...I did get the central heat and AC done.... not exactly my forte...Electricity and my mind just do not work well together....
Cutting logs...Building walls of stone....I guess that is more for me...
Old Stone Savage Armed......Just like in the Robert Frost Poem
that is one of the names my wife has for me.... old stone savage armed....I guess she sees me out there dragging old pieces of broken cement wall down by hand and thinks I am some kind of cave man...
Maybe I should try to be in the Geico commercials
If you can hook up a gas line on a car you can install a drip system. :)
It's actually easier than a gas line. The 1/2" lines I work with just push and wiggle together, no clamps, the tubing goes inside the fittings (couplers, tees, rt. angles)
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/oddsnends/0e39721e-2d41-404c-ba36-0c701a92d11.jpg)
Just be sure to buy the correct size tubing and fittings. As fas as I know there are 1/2" and .71 in the large size. There's also 1/4 that has it's place.
I have some here that went into service in the mid to late 80's. In that time I had one fitting blow apart. Also a couple leaks that were self inflicted... pushed the root feeder probe right through the tubing. Twice! :o
well if it is a part on a old car I can fix or install it....Usually...I always need a caveat ;)
Would be nice to get water to the other end of the property...
I bought a international 3514 loader tractor a while back...Once I get all the bugs out of it I might dig across the property and install some plastic PVC pipe under the ground to prevent freezing ( it is possible here though not likely)...
Would be killer to have water where the garden is at the other end of the yard...No more carrying the watering can over there.
Need to get the Injector Pump Rebuilt on the Perkins engine....Then I have to split the tractor in half and replace the clutch and do the back brakes.....
I only paid $200 for the tractor and the front end loader works perfect with no leaks...and it has a couple of almost new back tires on it....So I am okay with spending $1000 on it....going to cost $500 for the injector pump... :'(
Hoping to work smarter once I get the front end loader/ bucket working for me....
I will have an equipment trailer a 1 ton dump truck and my tractor all up and working... I will need more land to play on now though... :-/
they charge a fortune for water here where in SC...Good water quality...Very expensive
Last load I bought, the first for ten years, was $130 for 3,500 gals. Wow, $200 for a tractor, even with what you need to spend on it and the work involved is a great buy. If you need to get the water over any real distance, the 3/4 size would be a better option- almost as cheap and far less friction and flow restriction. I plumbed my whole house with it, except the hot water, and it stays pressurised to 40 psi.
Drip hose can go across the ground surface and freezing won't hurt it. You could go a couple hundred feet with 1/2 inch or so and still drip irrigate an area about 1000 square feet or so - give or take a bit. I just keep adding until pressure drops off too much.
Then requires another line and timer. If you could get the bigger line you could do a bit more with one line - or run a 34 hose most of the way - semi-permanent installation- and then switch to drip. there are connectors and timers that go onto hose. Put a "Y" with ball valves in it - a simple hose fitting and you can add another hose to the faucet --- or more "Y"'s for more hoses - or a manifold if you need more -- they make all this stuff so no problem.
Peter, here's a pix of the emitter, or dripper. The bottom end is inserted in a hole you punch in the 1/2" tube. it regulates output, 1/2, 1, 2 gal per hour depending on model.
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/oddsnends/efb08fa5-f7f1-4b47-823b-e852a1ae480.jpg)
You could just lay the tubes out in rows on top, then in the fall when you want to till everything roll them up and out of the way. Put them back next year.
Pete the cost of your delivered water is rather high, or so it seems. This got me to thinking about just what is my local water cost. And what is the cost around the country/world. So I started this topic
http://www.countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1178739408/0
There are also soaker hose drippers - for rows - mini-sprinklers and lots of others . Get the pro at Home Depot to help you out with it. ::) ;D
do not laugh too much...I have pestered those guys to death...Asking electrical and plumbing questions....Usually the person I ask has no idea and has to go get help....I try to stay patient and wait for an answer of some sort...
makes me mad when you have someone ask you if you need help and when you ask them a specific question they look at you like you are speaking latin and greek...
I did buy an amazing Do it yourself book at the home depot that was worth every penny...the size of the phone book full of color photos....I use it almost daily...Has flooring wiring plumbing tips...If you do it in building a house it is in there....
Once I asked a young fellow there about slate floor on a shower. He was about 18. Had worked with an old tile man since a kid. Actually told me how to do great stuff. Sometimes they have a good one. The kid was great. :)
Lil update ,
Starts are lookin good , spinach , lettuce , radishs , onions , strawberrys all coming along as well.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/sept17003-2.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/sept17004-1.jpg)
Even flowers ,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/sept17005-1.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/sept17006-2.jpg)
Cool cultivator, PEG.
Looks great PEG. I planted a bunch of stuff in ours today too. Bought more stuff to improve the drip system also. Reset the pump to do about 800 gallons per day. Hope to take better care and get more out of it this year. Little birds have been nipping off quite a few of the things I planted last week but maybe more plants will keep them occupied for a while.
I planted corn with an antique corn planter today also. Plugged it with clay toward the end but I think most of it all worked OK.
Similar to the planter on the left but a little more complex.
(http://dairyantiques.com/images/000_1016c.jpg)
Quote
Little birds have been nipping off quite a few of the things I planted last week but maybe more plants will keep them occupied for a while.
We have a sentry on duty 8-) , a motion sensored sprinkler , it's behind the cultivator , can't see it in the photo's .Once things get growing I'll share with the birds and wabbits , but for now they do neither of us any long term good wiping out a row of something in a night.
I had one of those to keep the deer out of the garden a few years ago. Came home one night and the deer were sleeping under it - my car scared them off. :-/
Ya I remember that now :-[ we went over that last year :-[, but birds arn't deer ;) , I don't have deer issues here, you still feedin bambi's or are they feedin you??
Just think if your corn grows those coon yer feedin are gonna really like you :o ;D
The coons are slowly thinning out - ::)
7 foot high deer fence keeps bambi away - most of the time. With the new black plastic it doesn't look so much like a prison. :)
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The coons are slowly thinning out - ::)
Lead poisoning?? ::) ::) ;D
You could say that. :-/
They are cute but in reading about them they are considered an infestation. There is no way of stopping them- they can climb straight up wood walls - open things - move things dump things etc.
I had a hole in the chicken pen to get eggs from - they pulled a roosting chicken out through it at night and killed her. So it has come down to them or us and they haven't learned to shoot yet. They have learned to run though. :-?
PEG, I look at letting Bambi live as a way of keeping the meat fresh. :)
Ya it's cheaper to keep it on the hoof than in the freezer ;D Just about any critter if theres to many can become a problem , fuzzy lil gray squirrels can do a lot of damage to a house , just like Mr. Rockie Racoon.
Coons can become agressive and can carry some bad JU JU , so thinning is required . Farmers used to call us to hunt thier corn fields , a few hounds chase in um around would sort of break up the party some what.
We got growth in our cold weather crop bin:
(https://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/mommymem/daddymem/IMG_0126.jpg)
That's spinach, kale and mesclun left to right.
Our soil lacks loam so much that we got granite growing.
(https://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/mommymem/daddymem/IMG_0100.jpg)
That's Lillies, Hostas, Bridal's veil, well cover (hey how did that get there), Mayflower and sundry perrenial thinnings just transplanted from our old yard and Mom and Dad's yard.
Around here Memorial Day weekend is the start of the planting season so I set up our Lasagna beds to cook for a week before planting.
(https://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/mommymem/daddymem/IMG_0142.jpg)
Got info up on our blog on how we did it as well as some more pictures.
I'm crossing my fingers that this works or we'll have a cruddy vegetable season again. I miss gardening. :'(
Looks great, Daddymem. How about the kids - have they got plants in there too?
Now you got me wondering -- I can't remember if I planted any spaghetti this year or not. I think I have a couple coming up from seed but they may have crossed with something else. :-/
Crossed with an oyster ( salsify) plant, Glenn, they could produce a marinara bush, maybe...or bolognase bush if it was a beefsteak tomato :)
The soil in the pics on the blog looks tough and limey, Daddymem. Have you tried much without the raised beds? What will go in for the summer crop?
I noticed mentioned on there also that you just lost a long-time canine friend, that's a tough situation by any standards, most of all for the kids I guess.
No lime here, it is all loose beach sand. The topsoil that was stripped off was a very thin layer with a lot of sand in it. The stripped topsoil will be used for our teensy lawn area to go in this fall. We plan on beans, squash, corn, tomatoes, pumpkins, carrots, and sunflowers. Neither the boy nor the girl expresses and interest in the garden yet.
The kids seem to be ok with the loss of Bear, probably better than we are doing. It has been a long time coming, we never expected to make the move with her. It seems like years now we've been saying she wouldn't make the winter-but she did. Her pet cat misses her too-yeah she had her own pet, a kitten we got from a shelter that took to her like she was her mother. Slightly feral-mostly nutty.
Sounds exactly like the soil in my yard...3 inches under the grass it is pure sand
I mixed as much mulched leaves in as I can scrounge...That and the ashes from burning leaves....a little bit of manure...
I am sure it is not perfect...But my vegetables are growing...Mind you I am growing easy stuff like Tomatoes, Potatoes, carrots..etc... Nothing too complex
Tried the Salsify once, Pete. I don't remember getting any to grow though. It was a long time ago. I should try it again.
Hows the lasagna garden doing now Daddymem? For green stuff I think you might be able to use grass clippings from the lawn mower. I met a guy one time who had a giant garden grown in nothing but grass clipping compost. One of the best I'd seen. I don't know what the ratio is on Carbon, nitrogen air and water but that's what it takes to break horse manure down in a month along with weekly or more turning. Horse manure is the perfect mix of carbon to nitrogen. If it has more straw - bedding etc, then chicken manure is a perfect addition as it is higher in nitrogen and offsets the carbon.
Water to the point that it is damp but does not drip when you squeeze a handful of it. Air is necessary for the bacteria. Sounds like your lasagna garden is providing the needed air etc. by the layer technique. The manure is supposed to completely break down in a month if turned often enough and kept damp enough. Covering it with completed compost keeps down the flies. If none a tarp would probably work. It took me about 3 months to break down about 200000 lbs of it - 7 truckloads. I used the Bobcat. Sometimes I didn't smell good. Temps would reach 140 degrees - at some point there it is too hot and makes ash or can catch fire. I know I posted a link to it somewhere a long time ago.
Losing a dog is always rough if it was a good one. I have had to put down a few - some with cancer - at least one of which got it from sleeping on fiberglass insulation in the barn. Others I should have done sooner but didn't. The worst was my little dog that bit my moms legs when she tried to make me get on the school bus --- I had a mean teacher and didn't want to go. She would make me get on the bus protesting violently while my little dog was gnawing at here ankles.
My uncles collie killed him. Came about a mile cross country to do it.
Even though I was only about 7 years old, I was seriously considering taking my dads 30-30 over there and shooting him -- (the dog - not my uncle) :-? I thought it over though and decided I didn't want to upset my uncle and that wouldn't bring him back but I never did like that dog-- long nosed POS. >:(
We don't have a lawn and I hope to keep it that way-well maybe a couple tiny areas (kinda like construction entrances to get the sand off the feet before entering the house). We're gonna check out the golf courses around here to see if they have waste piles we can get into. I could get more seaweed but I'd rather have that stuff buried deep...it smells a bit too much like a clambake-makes me hungry ;)
How about horse stables. I know you want that yummy smell around your place. You must have friends who play polo. :)
We are done with yards too. We use the water for vegetables and flowers
Lawn Bowling clubs are good, if you folk have them up there- they mow the bowling greens down flat all the time and always have heaps of very fine-ground clippings available for nothing.
MARCO
Got it, Daddymem. When I think of Mass. I always think of high class sophisticated and proper college types, so I figured - in a stereotypical way that you would automatically have friends who played polo.
...which reminds me that there is a particular mint sold here in supermarkets as ""Chef's Mint""- it has an elongated oval leaf ..I want to grow it but I have been unable to find it in any plant supply sites or companies. It's used in tabouli, but Lebanese people I have asked just call it ""mint"". Does anyone know it's botanical name or another name for it?
You got me on that one, Pete. Is it possible it just wasn't mint for you to know? :-?
daddymem
Have you heard of the plant that looks like grass...requires little water is almost impervious to the weather and does not grow....You might have to mow it once every 3-4 years....
They have a web site...Nomoremowing.com or some such...I am a big fan of killing lawns...I hate mowing grass...
http://nomowgrass.com/
Wow I actually remembered where I had stored a link....Must be the Stan Rogers Music I am listening to....
I want this grass in my yard....It would be amazing to never have to mow again
My grass requires no water, no mowing, resists weed growth, requires no fertilizers, and stays a nice green all year round. ;D ;D ;D
The only thing I miss is when you lay down on it you don't get that nice cool feeling like you do from a nicely manicured real lawn.
That's some really nice lawn, Don.
I figure if I'm going to water anything up here, as much work as I have to go to to keep things working, I am going to have to eat it or have pretty flowers from it.
I wouldn't want to eat my grass...
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/2750/grass-srn.jpg)
I want green pavement...
I win the lotto I am paving the yard and paying extra to have them color it grass green....
It would be amazing... no work same color...
I told my wife she said soemthing to the effect of over he dead body....But if I win powerball that will suddenly become a possibility...
Okay I was not totally serious about that last part ;)
Get her some of that beautiful green plastic grass like Don has in the picture there.,,,,, and he talked his wife into it. Are you less of a man than he is? :-? ;D
Reminds me of one of our big projects. The grass wasn't growing near the sales office so they went out and painted the ground green.
Nothing against lawns but around here they don't grow too well without tons of effort with chemicals and fertilizers. Besides, I live on a dirt road tucked into the woods, a lawn just looks out of place imho. I'm interested in that no mow stuff, I'll check into that some more. It grows sideways instead of up-that might be the ticket for a decent patch of grass.
Nice lawn MountainDon. I wouldn't be opposed to that either. Care to share cost?
I don't have any polo playing friends, can't say I've heard of polo around here at all. This hea is the ahmpit of the cape-full of swamp yankees, fishamen, and bog frogs (although the "willow tree 100-feet on center please" crowd has gotten quite an edge). Don't they learn yous guys propa in calyphonia? :P
I guess I just got the wrong picture -- Kennedy's and all. (Good party but don't ride home with 'em).
So you are saying you are just a NE version of a redneck. :)
Tree huggers - they're all over the place. :o :)
Hey man I am a tree hugger.... Well I consider myself one...
It is the burlap wearing granola eating tree huggers I loathe ;D
I consider myself a tree guy because I love trees...I tell everyone I know to plant trees... I advocate that increasing forest cover on the planet will eliminate global warming... Simple...No new tech needed...
Trees will fix just about any environmental problem...They clean the air and water...Prevent desertification... animals and insects love em too...
Glenn..."willow 100 foot on center" refers to the McMansion lots with 100 feet of frontage, each lawn manicured to perfection with one of those silly 6-foot tall willows with only 3 or 4 long spindly branches planted in the middle of said lawn. Nothing to do with not liking trees at all. I'm not kidding, new subdivisions have become so cookie cutter that it is easy to get lost in them-all the houses and yards look the same!
Daddy
It was the same in Nova Scotia three years ago when I left and it is the same here in South Carolina....Whatever the mold the houses and lots are carbon copies of each other....It keeps costs down...One design....workers are more efficient each time they build the same house over and over...Ditto for the landscaping and driveway...etc....
Follow the money
Daddymem,
The product is RealTurf http://www.realturf.com
That piece of grass is 14 x 25 ft and cost $2K installed. They had to excavate the old genuine organic grass, dig down and remove earth, then bring in crushed stone, pack it, then some sand, pack it, and finally install the "turf". I wasn't around the week it was done. It was a birthday present I had hinted at. :)
At first I thought it was a lot of money, but thinking about it's my opinion it was worth it. Now that we've had it for a while (third summer) I'm even more convinced it was a good thing to do.
It always looks good, we use a plastic rake whenever necessary, or a blower to round up the leaves etc in a corner.
I never did calculate how much water we poured into the old real grass (I know Glenn, you're shoked at Mr. Numbers here for that neglect) but it was substantial. June thru Aug demanded a daily soak or it would quickly go into the wilted look stage.
QuoteGlenn..."willow 100 foot on center" refers to the McMansion lots with 100 feet of frontage, each lawn manicured to perfection with one of those silly 6-foot tall willows with only 3 or 4 long spindly branches planted in the middle of said lawn. Nothing to do with not liking trees at all. I'm not kidding, new subdivisions have become so cookie cutter that it is easy to get lost in them-all the houses and yards look the same!
I've seen similar things here-- It would be easy to come home after to many beahs and end up in the wrong house, eh. :)
Don, could you please at least throw out a few ball park figures? Just a couple? I miss the number's Don. :-?
(Sigh!!) ::)
We cut the summer water use by more than half. But that includes the change from evaporative air cooling as well. So the waters are muddy. :P Highest summer use was 8000 gal compared to lowest winter use of 3000 - 3500 gal.
Of course that's the volume that was cut, not the dollar amount. That's because the monthly bill includes those fixed charges as you know I've previously discussed, Glenn.
Hope that helps out. ;D ;D
(http://bp0.blogger.com/_cw43EvaDbbM/Rltwe4-QOeI/AAAAAAAAAq4/IcgrxpiBQ_U/s320/IMG_0204.jpg)
Mesclun to pick, spinach not too far behind.
(http://bp3.blogger.com/_cw43EvaDbbM/RltwTo-QOdI/AAAAAAAAAqw/NPoUA0d_Xq8/s320/IMG_0203.jpg)
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Lasagna beds ready for planting. Tomatoes in tonight, beans this week and newspaper potted seedlings this weekend.
Amazing what things will grow around here
(http://bp1.blogger.com/_cw43EvaDbbM/Rltu_I-QOaI/AAAAAAAAAqY/2xHhqBulJAI/s320/IMG_0202.jpg)
gotta be one of those relatives of Glenn's he mentioned that are from around here.
Update on the upside down garden- picking oakleaf lettuce, purple-top turnips, cherry tomatoes, okra and silverbeet-
....growing are potatoes, swedes, more turnips, beetroot, kohlrabi, parsnips, carrots, broad (fava) beans and eggplant...in two days it's winter.
we've been picking a lot of strawberries & a whole variety of heirloom lettuce, some carrots left but a lot of the veggies are either blooming (tomatoes, squash, peppers, melons), corn's coming up; everything else is going to seed - we just let it all reseed itself & don't have to do much besides water & weed & we have a whole new winter crop.
Does it get very cold, Fourx, where you're are in your upside down world, since winter is only a couple days away? You have a great variety of veggies - food fresh out of the garden is so much better!
Daddymem, your garden looks like its getting a good start - lots of good stuff - & a great way to use your leftover granite pieces - makes for an interesting flower garden :).
Quotegotta be one of those relatives of Glenn's he mentioned that are from around here.
I think I know that guy, Daddymem. Who knows... my great great grandfather may be the fertilizer for that tree.
Actually they put him in the ground in Brockton, but he could be moving around down there. :-/
Sassy, it gets cold enough once or twice a year- in July, usually, for there to be a light frost, but by 10 am most days I'm just wearing a pair of shorts because winters North of about Sydney are dry, and as soon as the sun is up it's constant sunshine all day. Summers are when it rains most, and when it's needed most, so it's ideal for 12 month vegetable growing. In the Southern half of the country, the rainfall pattern is the opposite, so Winters are cloudy and cold.
QuoteSouthern half of the country
Now you are confusing me, Pete -- is that to the North? :)
8-)Yeah, if you think of the South Pole as the North pole, and Sydney as San Diago...
Update 29 May 2007,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/May29th.jpg)
This lil guy or gal , not sure which , is coming to a garden near you,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Brownsteinskitchen9.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Brownsteinskitchen7.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Brownsteinskitchen6.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Brownsteinskitchen4.jpg)
It's Momma was right there in the woods , the lil one just froze like that for about 2 mins or so. I was about 2' away , pretty cool , was about the size of a big beagle , must be only a few days or so old.
Garden looks great, where was the fawn? Cute little fawn, better watch out, you won't have nuthin left once that little one gets a bit bigger... ;)
At a job site , no where near my place ;) Another doe , at least I think it wasn't Mamma , cuz the wee one wasn't with her , layed down for a napping in the back yard , right out in the open , by the flower beds in the sun , layin in the gravel path :)
It was tiny , never seen one that young / small before :o
Mary, Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow?
Sassy wanted me to post a new pix of the garden - here's one.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000032.jpg)
You must have built the soil up heaps to have stuff growing right at the base of the tree like that, Glenn. Tough looking ground in this pic....Is that lettuce near the tomato plants? Whats the dish near what looks like poppies and hollyhocks for?
Actually completely built the soil there, Pete. I scrounged the topsoil and saved it with the Bobcat last year when I made a terrace for storage. I built the rock walls with local rock about 2 feet high then put 1 foot or so of good topsoil on the bottom. I kept adding rocks as the fill material was added - faces as even as I wanted - backs random.
The last foot of fill was about 3 year old composted horse manure. The garbage company removes it from Yosemite National Park each year - so about 3 years ago I got over 200,000 lbs of it delivered here. Horse manure is the perfect mix of carbon and nitrogen to compost - just ad water to taste - I mean until moist and turn weekly to allow to mix with air. Try to keep it from getting so hot it turns to ash. In about 1 to 2 months it will be great soil. I mixed it with top soil about 2 to 1 and that is my growing soil. Stuff is really liking it - nice bunches of earthworms too.
The Bobcat is the tool that makes instant gardens etc. like this possible for a lazy guy like me. :)
The dish is actually an old oblong tin bucket I found near an old mine dump at the base of the mountain. It is rusted paper thin in many places. I was thinking of planting flowers or something in it. It has no bottom - probably 70 to 150 years old.
The ground is about 1/3 to 3/3 rock and or claystone around here. Hardness of bricks to concrete - softening in places if soaked for days. Takes a couple minutes of hammering with a jackhammer to drive a 1" stake in about 2 feet if rocks are not encountered.
Incredible...It makes me realise just how well off I am, having a decent lot of soil in the bottom of a valley to grow stuff in- not all that common here, of course. Can't beat horse manure for building up the organic content, can you? By the way, the drought that the greenies have been yelping about down here, with predictions of doom as ""global warming"" ( kind of like that horse manure, but from bulls..) turns the country into a dustbowl ( unknown to the inner-city zealots, most of this country any more than 200 k's from the sea is a dustbowl all the time ) has broken, with massive floods which have killed a dozen people.
I read that the best garden soil is the soil you build yourself. Our natural ground here has from 6" to 2 feet of top soil in most areas on the mountain. The Blue Oaks are natural soil builders with acid leaching from the annual leaf drop into the soil to decompose the green andesite or other bedrock. You can actually find rocks that are turning to granules. Acid rain can't hold a candle to the action of the natural oak tannins and acids doing their natural job.
Great on the breaking of the drought - if -- it didn't have to be all at once, eh? :-?
Not exactly garden, but I'm certain if I had a garden she'd be helping herself... This first shot was taken 05/21
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/backyard%20bird/mini-IMG_1694.jpg)
This Momma Bird built herself a nest in one of the roof support beams for one of our playground structures. So, I guess I can take credit for providing shelter even if I had nothing to do with her project. Next shot today, 06/10
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/backyard%20bird/mini-IMG_1826.jpg)
I'm not a birder, can anyone tell me what kind of bird this is?
Mourning Dove I think .
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Mourning_Dove_2006.jpg/200px-Mourning_Dove_2006.jpg)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning_Dove
The Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) is a member of the dove family, Columbidae. The bird is also called the American Mourning Dove, and formerly was known as the Carolina Pigeon or Carolina Turtledove. It ranges from Central America to southern Canada, including offshore islands. Many individuals in northern areas migrate south to winter within the breeding range where January temperatures are greater than minus 12 Celsius (10 F).
A while back I posted photos of the cactii in bud stage. They've been blooming a couple days now, there'll be more and more opening each day now for a time.
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/2750/mini-IMG_1834.jpg)
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/2750/mini-IMG_1821.jpg)
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/2750/mini-IMG_1819.jpg)
Beauty, Don -- the bird and the cactus -- both of which are edible.
OK, ok -- so I wouldn't really eat the cute little bird. :o
QuoteBeauty, Don -- the bird and the cactus -- both of which are edible.
OK, ok -- so I wouldn't really eat the cute little bird. :o
Yes nice Don , and those doves are hard to hit even with #12 shot :o Beside it takes a bushel basket full for a decent meal ::) ;D
Thanks PEG. I guess that one and her two little ones are safe for now. Never hunted or eaten a bird smaller than a duck.
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/backyard%20bird/mini-IMG_1838.jpg)
How cute! And the cacti are gorgeous - can't wait until ours get old enough to bloom. I still have a lot of varieties in pots that one of these days we'll be able to plant. I like the way you've landscaped 8-)
In Kerman, we have one of those plastic holders they deliver the newspaper to next to our mailbox - for the past 2 years we've had 2-3 nests of little birds - think they are sparrows - tiny little blue spotted eggs. One batch got old enough to fly off a couple weeks ago & the next week there were 4 more eggs! The birds are more reliable than the delivery of the newspaper used to be - we finally stopped it 2-3 years ago. This batch hasn't hatched yet. We also have a lot of baby owls born in our huge palm tree in the valley - they're flying around now & screeching at night. Glenn made an owl house - we've had at least 3-4 babies raised in it every year.
Found another one!
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/backyard%20bird/mini-IMG_1839.jpg)
... more of a clay pigeon, if you catch my drift, tho' :-/ :)
We have heard some owls up in the mtns. over the past 2 weeks.
Hmm - no legs on that one, Don.
Reminds me of the neighbor who put up an electric fence for their horses using those little yellow plastic insulators. The humming birds would come down and sit on the fence then try to extract nectar from the yellow insulator - thought it was a flower I guess -- and ZAP --- instant hummingbird double amputee. It would just leave their little legs attached to the wire as they accidentally grounded to the metal post with their tongue.
Not funny but something to watch for I guess. :-/
Quote
Reminds me of the neighbor who put up an electric fence for their horses using those little yellow plastic insulators. The humming birds would come down and sit on the fence then try to extract nectar from the yellow insulator - thought it was a flower I guess -- and ZAP --- instant hummingbird double amputee. It would just leave their little legs attached to the wire as they accidentally grounded to the metal post with their tongue.
Your kidding right?? If not , it's a wonder we have any humming birds left :o :(
PEG, no --- I'm not kidding. :'(
Perfect little pairs of hummingbird legs fried to the hot wire blown off at the knees. Just standing there. All by them selves. :-[
You could hear the song "I ain't got no body" sizzling softly through the air. All the local hardware stores were sold out of hummingbird prosthetics and wheelchairs for months. OK -- I was kidding about this entire paragraph. :-/
I know -- not funny. :(
They changed the insulators to a different color so the hummingbirds wouldn't think they were flowers.
(http://www.goldrushcam.com/images/2005/kabcam2.jpg)
A local hummingbird from our local news site. http://www.goldrushcam.com/
Pretty easy for man to screw things up eh :'(
8 limes left
Went from 40+ limes on the tree to 8....
Went away for the week-end, Some kind of lime eating critter got in and broke a couple of branches off the tree and raped it of limes...
I was devastated....
I need a gun
It is all fun and games until my lime trees are vandalized
Side note the Tomatoes are the size of baseballs
what is the best way to ripen them? pick em and let em sit in the dark? leave em on the vine until they are starting to turn red...
I am a total garden rookie here folks
Yup - but it wasn't intentional. The people who did it were pretty upset and fixed it right away, but in a small town news like this travels from one end to another in hours. Now everyone knows.
Just leave them on the vine until they are ripe and ready to eat. Only grocers and produce hawkers need to pick them before they are ripe.
If you get overly anxious and have plenty then they are probably ready to slice and cook as fried green tomatoes. Mmmmm - yummy.
Peter -- remember -- you are a gun control advocate. :o
Let them ripen on the vine , in late fall take the whole plant outta the grd. and hang it upside down from the root ball , and or wrap the green tomatoes in newspaper very late in the year.
BTW If a critter gottum it's not really vandalism is it? ::)More like critter crop damage ;D. And no weapons for you !! >:( >:( Think soup nazis from Sienfeld ;D
I think it's unanimous, PEG -- if we catch Peter in a dark alley, I'll grab him and you get his guns. No lime bandit hunting for you Peter. Peace, eh? ;D
Gettum Glenn ;D Friggin nob gun toter >:( ;D
Sweetist water melon I ever ate , Billy Guilbault and I stole outta a garden , in like 1969 :-[ ;D
Peaceful way, Peter would be to go to the local nursery or feed store and buy some plastic netting to protect your trees that need protection from birds etc. I guess you could hook up an electric fence and blow their legs off. :-/
Definitly let the tomatoes ripen on the vine, Peter. The only time you should pick 'em before ripe is if you like/need green ones for something or in the fall when they might freeze. Haven't got a clue about limes, but I suspect the same rules apply, naturally ripened is the best way as a rule.
FYI, there's a grower in AZ that produces the best store bought tomatoes I've ever had, still not quite like home grown, but better than the usual store bought brick. They grow them hydroponically and when they pick them they actually cut off a piece of vine with the tomatoes attached. It supposed to make all the difference. I think they're right on that.
No guns Peter... only if they threaten your life or safety with the limes can you shoot.
The best oranges I ever had were fresh off the tree from an orchard in Spain. Had to run like hell too. :)
Ripened on the vine is the best way, I agree. Do you get bronze-orange citrus bug there, aka stink bug?- large, black or orange, stinky, and deadly on limes and most citrus.
I have very fond memories of a Hummingbird- a Gibson, gone thanks to a light-fingered club patron, like so many of my guitars over the years. There is a bird, the Satin Bower Bird common to this area which eats the tomatoes when they are ripe, and almost everything else, stone-fruit, etc, but not citrus..it builds a bower of twigs to attract a female and decorates it with anything blue it can find...leave a disposable razor, a brush, a pen, anywhere in the open and if it's blue it disappears into the birds bower, along with blue bits of plastic, blue flowers, blue bits of wool....
Our main tomato pest here in California is the Tomato Hornworm. It will strip all the leaves and even eat the tomatoes usually when green.
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_hfrr/extensn/problems/hornworm.htm
(http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_hfrr/HortImage/Tomato%20Hornworm.jpg)
http://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/Files/Live/Species/7000/7776.shtml
well no stink bugs and no tomato worms....
Not going to get a gun....I do not even lock my door at night and the keys are almost always in my car.... I am not going to ever live where I need to change that lifestyle...If I someday have to move deeper into the wilderness for that kind of peace of mind so be it.
the missing limes I can live with....Breaking a big branch off a small lime tree really upset me
Never had fried green tomatoes Glenn....I have 3 varietes of tomato growing...The beef steak are the ones all big as my fist...I am wishing they were red instead of green....I get hungry when I water them
about 2 weeks and I hope the Nectarines will be ready...They are starting to turn reddish pink...
I suspect the early limes what is left of them will be ready in 2 weeks or less....
I guess this is incentive to finish building the greenhouse....I have all my fruit trees in washtubs....well except for the peach, nectarine and plum trees...they are permanently in the ground....The citrus are in wash tubs
Got some pineapple and mangos from a friend of mine who came to visit from Trinidad.... Never knew how Pineapple grew....Pretty neat....Cut off the top and stick back in ground.... I hope it works...Only planted a few tops in the ground...Going to see how it works
Need to see about some non toxic sprays...They say a tree fungis is the worst thing that happens to citrus and fruit trees here... peach are expecially susceptible to it....I can get a spray at the local feed store but it is a nasty chemical....and I am trying to rid myself of using nasty chemicals on food I want to eat
Nasty looking thing, Glenn. I'm going round the leaves of my Kohl Rabi patch each day, squishing green grubs, which are eating the leaves, to a paste because it appears Derris Dust has been banned because it has been linked to Parkinson's Disease. Sounds like human pests if a branch was broken, don't you think?
I dunno....Would a raccoon or dear eat the limes?
we have deer mania down here....they are everywhere...Cannot drive 5 miles without seeing one dead on the highway
Deer will eat almost anything green - especially if it is special to you. They know that. :-/
We have to put 7' fence - plastic deer netting - around the entire garden where we don't want the deer to eat everything. One deer can eat about 1/3 of our garden in a few hours or less. It has happened.
The limes didn't grow too big and break the limbs themselves did they? I think you said they were completely gone though. :-/
QuoteNasty looking thing, Glenn. I'm going round the leaves of my Kohl Rabi patch each day, squishing green grubs, which are eating the leaves, to a paste because it appears Derris Dust has been banned because it has been linked to Parkinson's Disease. Sounds like human pests if a branch was broken, don't you think?
They are extremely nasty. About the size of your finger, and soft - squirmy - they ooze green jelly when you pop them and lots of black poop as they eat. We had a dog who liked to eat them when we would pick them off and throw them to her.
Birds won't eat them? A pity the bower birds http://www.wam.umd.edu/~borgia/bowerbirds/birddetail.htm don't like eating the grubs on the Kohl Rabi..we get the bottom half of the fruit on the mulberry tree when it's in fruit- the bower birds get the top half.
Glenn
No there were not 40 limes on t he ground when we got home last night......So I am not buying the " fallen off the tree" theory
QuoteBirds won't eat them? A pity the bower birds http://www.wam.umd.edu/~borgia/bowerbirds/birddetail.htm don't like eating the grubs on the Kohl Rabi..we get the bottom half of the fruit on the mulberry tree when it's in fruit- the bower birds get the top half.
These things are too big for little birds - none seem interested. Their camouflage is so good they are very hard to spot even if they ar right in front of you.
Quote....I do not even lock my door at night and the keys are almost always in my car.... I am not going to ever live where I need to change that lifestyle...If I someday have to move deeper into the wilderness for that kind of peace of mind so be it.
Spending the two weeks up in the mountains required a change of mindset regarding security. I have locked my doors behind me at all times for so many years I can't remember not doing it, other than summers spent on the uncle's farm. (Back then the keys for everything were left in all the equipment all the time... saved trying to remember where they were..)
I found myself locking the Jeep, the RV, taking the key from the ATV for the first few days. With conscious effort I got to where I only had to lock up at night. Probably not needed. But old habits die hard.
My Mom & Dad always said better safe than sorry. :-/ But they lived in the city too.
Recently a bunch of the local mountain carpenters were working together on a house up here for the winery owner. They left their tools there unlocked everyday never losing any.
Sheetrock - being throughout the house, was a major part of the job. A Mexican drywall crew from FRESNO was contracted with, to install the drywall, tape and texture -- they did the job (rather crapilly) and when they left so did all the carpenters tools. They stole them all. While I guess I shouldn't stereotype them, this is typically what I come to expect of Fresno and most big cities.
Up here, even many of the store keepers leave their goods on the sidewalk at night. Some places leave vegetables - yard sale goods etc out with a jar and a note to pay on the honor system. I know it is not a sure thing and can't last forever, but it is nice to know that there are at least a few people with some honor left.
what makes me laugh is that you consider Fresno a big city :o
It's big enough to suck. >:(
Used to be good car hunting in Chico and Fresno....
That's because so many are stolen daily there are a lot to choose from. They think nothing of breaking your windows out and stealing your stereo so they can get money for drugs - in the daytime right on a main street.
One of the worst places in the US.
Ya ya all that chatter is it about what gardens :-/ ::) ;D
Update 17 June 2007,
Spud's , lettuce , onions , strawberry's doing good , Radish's a flop again this year >:( >:(
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/June17th2.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/June17th3.jpg)
A few garden tools I turned some years ago and a big snail :o >:(
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/June17th1.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/June17th.jpg)
So enought about Fesno ::) I thought it was a concrete working trowel ;D ;D
A Fresno ,
(http://www.concretesupplyhouse.com/Merchant2/cc820_sm.jpg)
;D
Fresno Trowel - the good thing from Fresno. :-/
Well, the things you got growing look good, PEG. :)
You didn't get a problem with grass seeds germinating in the rich load of soil you got then, it seems, like I wondered when you first put it on the garden..looks like you work it too much for them to get going. Lettuce look good- I have a plot of the same types, mignonette and oakleaf.
So, where is this f-----ing global warming? On Friday here it never got above 10 degrees ( around 50 F) all day, which is no doubt a balmy day to some of you folk, but unheard of here. A lady 78 who lives near my office in town can't remember a June day like it in her lifetime. No way would I have cathedral ceilings in a cold climate..the gas heater we use didn't come anywhere near heating the place.
I got a lil grass tryin to grow , but[highlight] I LIKE to weed[/highlight] , and water. Sort of rest for the soul I guess ;D
In fact I have to use restrain with watering , I sort of over do it some what :-[ My Calalilly's sort of took a hit , so I gotta remember to SKIP them when I water :o
Still quite cool here as well , they say this week we should get some 80 deg. F weather , we'll see , it's low 60's here and has been for a week . We did get a lil Indian summer sort of a month ago , dryer and warmer than "normal for us" which really isn't very warm or dry , just unussual for us that early.
Should be your winter , are you South or Northern Oz?
Coldest it got here last night was 72F - has been 77 some nights -- note -- this is the low. Things grow pretty good though.
Our garden continues to grow. We have some peppers ready and squash coming on.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000173.jpg)
Note the large troglodyte growing by the tomatoes. Anybody know a good way to get rid of them? :-?
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000174_edited.jpg)
(// http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Bunker/7316/chlkbomber.jpg)
And lots of um , thier hard to hit , them troglodyte's :o :o
That may be effective. Would it possibly require a bunker buster? :-/
Quote
That may be effective. Would it possibly require a bunker buster? :-/
Check out the properties line ;D
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/[highlight]Bunker[/highlight]/7316/chlkbomber.jpg
It really is an example, Glenn, of just what can be done in the toughest soil with a little tender loving care and lateral thinking. Our Aboriginal people here, those who live in remote outstations in arid zones supported by welfare, say that there is no point in trying to grow their own vegetables because the soil conditions are too tough-I wish they could see these pics.
PEG ( weird names you people give your kids- although Newt is even more strange) I'm in the top half, halfway up the right-hand side if you look at a map, where in usual circumstances right now days are cloudless and around 22 C, nights can drop to 3 or 4 C but as long as the sun shines heating costs, with a little thought in housing design, are almost nothing. To have no sun combined with a wind blowing off the snow on the mountains 100 K's west, and have that all day, is very unusual, and very uncomfortable. Most Aussies build their homes to deal with the heat, not the cold, in areas north of Sydney.
Dang, PEG -- I think you got me PEGGED. (Pete - PEG is his initials - He is one of the manliest guys I know-- darn it -- that doesn't sound good for the guys I hang out with. Maybe I better rephrase that. :-?)
Pete, if the people were educated to know that horse manure is the perfect compost to soil material possibly they could help themselves. It can go as fast as one month from poo-poo to soil if simply dampened and turned daily to weekly. It is the perfect ratio of carbon to nitrogen for composting. It is usually available free.
All that is necessary after that is the desire to do it. :-/
Ya Fourx , you folks sure do have funny names ;D Oz , down under , Bruce , Crokie , Dingos , Wallabees , and well wallabee Bruce ta you gad daymate , etc, etc .
Yup Glenn's read the thread , Paul Edward Girouard AKA PEG_ 688 ;D ;D But ya Fourx thats a common name round here , ahyup! ;D
So eh GADday Bruce ;) Ya I know it's spelled wrong Glenn , what/ how do you and Joneysdownunder write it?? BTW another "common name that eh Joneysdownunder, "Wallabee Bruce , why I oughta ............... ;D
It's, "G'day mate." Crikey. :-/
In fact, I have never heard an aussie say Crikey to another, aside from that croc-hunter dickhead, just as I have never seen an aussie drink Fosters..the problem stems from those convict genes, PEG- way too tight for comfort- and the false marketing of a country which is nothing at all like the commercials say it is.... But, get ya in a pair of budgie-smuggelers, PEG, or dressed up like a pox-doctors clerk, with a tinnie in your hand at a barbie, hanging round like a fart in a phonebox and not shooting through like a Bondi tram and, in between your trips tp shake hands with the wife's best friend and point percy at the porcelain I'd be flat out like a lizard drinking and busier than a Bagdad brickie in tellin if you were a ridgi-didge sand-groper, crow-eater, or one of the other many types of pie and dead-horse loving home-bred fair-dinkum sixth-generation knee-trembler experts who hates freckle-punchers, pillow-biters, shirt-lifters, counter-jumpers lezzos and turd-burglers to the extent that the very thought of them makes him park a tiger, have a technicolour yawn and call Herb on the Great White Telephone, and I reckon you'l fit right in like a lawyer at a car crash. With a name like PEG, mate, the Shielas are gonna be all over you like blow flies on a dead sheep.
Given our common heritage of the English language, a translation for my Northern friends is, I'm sure, unnecessary. ;)
I love it. Culture overflowing from all over the world. :)
too bad there is no water in OZ... Driest place on earth...And getting drier... a lot drier...
Read that unless it rains like boblical flood rain they are going to start a recycling system were sewage will be treated for drinking water in many parts of oz...
water is the reason people do not bother to compost and make soil in OZ.... I mean in Egypt they turn the nile delta into the most fertile soil in the world...It was barren desert before irrigation....If you have the water it is easy to make soil even out of 100% SAND OR 100% CLAY
Egypt? Before the goats and cattle grazing ate it out, it was one of the most fertile areas on Earth- the source of much of the written language was the shape of cattle bones, including the Anh...
DRY? Oz- driest place on Earth- sure ::)
... with the Greenies moaning like an old dingo at the full moon that """We're RUINED!"", and "It's the end, Scotty- beam me up"" while outside right now the rain pours down and I sit here, thousands upon thousands of miles away, in front of the heater ( Global warming! Come Back! All is forgiven!) stroking my pussies ( much the same as ladies in Chernobyl are doing right now, I guess..) and, as a seriel compost-maker from way back, wondering what all the fuss is about.
Really, the best gardens of all, as I have seen countless times in PNG, in China, in Kashmir on the floating gardens, in Indonesia and Malaysia and Thailand and the Phillipines is human poop, and plenty of it.
Lucky I have a few horses around. :)
...and I wonder why Asian food makes my stomach gurgle. :-?:-/
I wanted some straw to put on my potato plants the other day so went to a bunch of old decomposing straw bales a tarp blew off of a couple years ago. As I started to load it into the wheelbarrow to move, I struck a bonanza. The mother of all worm piles. They liked the straw as it held moisture , so I loaded thousands of them and the straw ant took them to the garden. Nothing better than our wormy little friends to loosen and improve the soil and give us nice worm castings. Yummy.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000178.jpg)
Looks like bait to me Glenn.
A good excuse to go fishing!
These are fairly small guys - a bit skinny to get on a hook but, hey -- they'd probably catch a fish if it wasn't too choosy. ;D
I was just thinking about it -- they did just stock our river with some fairly nice fish--
(http://www.goldrushcam.com/images/2007/1-126-copy.jpg)
but who wants to fish for plants? :-?
http://www.goldrushcam.com/2007/Mariposa%20News/mariposa30.htm
damn I love trout for supper.. nothing better than fresh fish that you caught yourself
Saddens me that they have to stock these rivers to keep a fish population when for thousands and thousands of years there was no problem until we polluted it and diverted most of the water out of the rivers... built dams etc...
Just shows how bad the situation is when the fishing club has to raise money and stock the river so they can go fishing
OK back to the garden ,
new radish's coming up and spinach for supper,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Garden24June2007.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Garden24June20072.jpg)
Nothing like picking spinach in the rain ;) Well maybe there is :-/
That looks very much like spinach in the rain, PEG -- could that be what it is? :-?
Great on the garden, PEG. I know how hard it is to grow one up there in the rain forest.
Ya with all thsoe earthquakes , sunammies , lahars and such on top of the rain it is tough, but we'll try ta get by , just keep those Califorinacator down there eh ;D
Are they Cos in the second row from the front?
Just put in a new herb garden, with two types of parsley, oregano, basil, sage, mint, green onions and thyme.
Grasshoppers mow down the mint, though- and the wife's hydrangas.
Quote
Are they Cos in the second row from the front?
You Aussie talk funny , but yes they are close ;D to the front ;D , one row right behind the fence then the one you can see doing well , then the third row is new spinach, then the row we just picked off and ate , man it was so GGGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOODDDDDD , Humm who do you repeat a repeated letter like that?? :-/ :-/
Squash , stir fried spinach and siskabobs , or how ever you speel that :-[ ;D.
Quote
Grasshoppers mow down the mint, though- and the wife's hydrangas
Outhouse has the answer for you on this thread :
http://www.countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1182729402/5#5
Eatum before they eat you ;D Not sure about eating the Hydranga's thought :-/ ;D
Cos lettuce, PEG :) - tall, loose-leafed...óf course, you may call them something else, like the eggplant/aberguine, rutabarga/swede, fresh coriander/cilantro thing....?
Cos = lettuce ?? No savie , we've got Bibb lettuce thats one row in from the spinach then Romaine (sp) , then Red leaf lettuce.
The really small green stuf right up close to the camera is 2 rows of radish starts , then a row of spinach (really small) , then the two rows of spinach I picked off tonight. Anothet row of small spinach the Bibb , lettuce etc .
http://greekfood.about.com/od/soupsstews/r/maroulosalata.htm?iam=momma_100_SKD&terms=%22Cos+lettuce%22 a Cos by any other name- here's a nice way to use it, Romaine or Cos.
Buscuits/-crackers, scones/biscuits, apartments/flats, nappies/diapers...and if your wife says she is rooting for the local football team..? Down here they are the ones cheering. ;D
Sassy gave me instructions on how to take the pictures in the garden today so I have some officially blessed pictures then some of my own. ;D
I have heard you guys talk so much about Swedes, Pete and Jonesy, that I went out and planted some Rutabagas - havent eaten them since I was little.
New stuff is growing good - flowers - corn - potatoes.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000190.jpg)
Old stuff we let reseed the garden - carrots and parsnips mostly -- parsnips are about 6 feet tall stalks.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000197.jpg)
Peppers are ready to eat - plants are about 3 feet tall.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000191.jpg)
She wanted this one too. Overview of most of it. Sometimes we just sit outside and listen to the corn grow. :-/
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000198.jpg)
We just had some steamed yellow summer squash & slices of Armenian cucumber for lunch, still lots of different types of lettuce, carrots; even picked a handful of blueberries off one of the bushes I planted this spring. The pluot tree(cross between plum & apricot) is loaded with fruit - some just getting ripe. Our strawberries are about done with now. Lots of tomatoes but still green.
Glenn has to make chile rellenos with our Anaheim chiles - they're kinda mild but have a little bite to them. He makes the best!
Yeah- the poor little pluot tree - second year of fruit - she thinned it quite a bit but the poor little rascal is overloading itself. Won't need much pruning this year - just trim back the broken branches. :-/
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000188.jpg)
Hoo-boy.
I've just been reading a list of ways to prepare yourself for the coming meltdown. Having success as a gardener is one of them.
But this year could easily be a famine year for us if we had to live on our own food. Very warm March tricked a lot of trees into blooming--plums peaches, apples, blueberries (OK, they're shrubs). A lot of people had planted commercial quantities of tomatoes already, etc. And then we had two days of hard freeze (mid-twenties) over Easter. And since last year we've been in drought. At last report "severe." We've had a handful of little bitty storms go through, so we may not progress to "extraordinary."
But tonight was the first time at least this year, I've seen flood warning/watches in Tennessee, both in the Memphis area and basically due north of me, up by the Kentucky line.
I've been hauling water in buckets for my tomatoes. And somewhere along the line did something unpleasant to my knee. (And the gal who's been working for me has gone over to the manic side of bipolar, so I've taken a break from her)
Not been a great summer so far!
...does that mean she is in two minds about the existance of ::"" ( ..drumroll, please, Mr Music..) ""Global Warming""..?
I can relate to that ::)
It reads just like the summer we had down here, Amanda, with late frosts wiping out the grapes in the vinyards and the bulk of food crops, with a large rise in food prices as a result...now, it's the coldest, bleakest Winter in years, so get ready...just thought I'd cheer ya up.
We had the cold spell in Calif, too - a lot of the stuff I originally planted never came up or the birds ate the little plants I had started in peat pots, lots of lettuce & tomatoes though. Glenn has planted a lot more stuff & it is all doing great now-lots of squash & peppers. I planted 2 blueberry bushes this spring - I picked off most of the blooms (that's what's advised for the 1st yr)but did leave enough for a small handful of berries.
The grapes at our place in Kerman are doing wonderful - more grapes than we've ever had - lots of lemons on the lemon tree, didn't have a whole lot of cherries but will have quite a few nectarines & hopefully oranges. So far, so good :) We are certainly not starving ;)
Hope your knee is better, Amanda - missed your posts!
The military said they would own the weather by 2025.
http://earthchangescentral.com/research/Project2025/vol3ch15.pdf
Nothing like a little practice to make perfect, eh? :-?
http://www.greatdreams.com/weather/weather_manipulation.htm
This could explain why we are having such funny gardening weather. :-/
Tomato Pruning. I pinch all suckers from mine and replant then in a wet spot - just poke a hole and jamb the stem in the ground -- It usually grows and makes a nice clone in case something happens to the original. I don't remove the lower leaves as shown below but do remove the suckers. I plant the tomatoes deep as the entire stem will grow roots making a strong plant.
http://www.taunton.com/finegardening/pages/g00031.asp
(http://www.taunton.com/finegardening/media/g00031_01.jpg)
Early Pruning
Early pruning encourages strong stems. Remove all suckers and leaves below the first flower cluster. Let a second stem arise from the node just above the lowest flower cluster. Let a third stem arise from the second node above the first flower cluster.
Alternate views - some don't prune - I find production starts slower and fruits are smaller. Not all varieties are the same. I prefer indeterminates of heirloom varieties.
well there is no better strategy than I have,,, get drunk and let the wife deal with it....
hehe I think I made the wife and mom in law mad...Drank like 24 beer and kept them up until now which is 4 am
life is a funny kettle of fish
Not a problem, Peter. Go to church Sunday -- get forgiven - then you are free to start over. :-? :)
Study up the pruning, Peter - you may want to try it sometime... :)
Well, I thought I had a fair grasp of all aspects of tomato growing, but planting the pruned parts is something I have never seen done- I'll try it in spring. At the moment I only have cherry tomatoes growing- they do well in the cooler months here. Glenn, you are near a vinyard area there I think..how common is everyday consumption of wine with meals there? And how expensive is it?
Nah not going to ask god for forgiveness...Just ask the wife... Lord of the manor and all of that I guess ::)
I remembered why I almost never ever drink to excess..... I had the worst headache ever....Some guy came for a transmission this morning and I was in rough shape.... you know with the shakes and the headache that impairs vision...
Not a good site...
Just had a little nap this afternoon and I am starting to return to normal...
I missed out on a car for parts on ebay and I lost a day of work....Now I know why I do not drink very often...Costs too much to recover
As for the pruning man...Looks great...I pruned my fruit trees that I planted last year and they seemed to respond well to it..
I am in pretty heavy soil with the compost over it and rather short water supply so use daily drip. To get the tops to grow I plant them in a constantly wet area - as they are - just pinched off with no special preparation. Rooting hormones could help but I haven't needed them doing it the way I do. I plant them with about 80 percent under the ground to do it that way. Many of them are blooming already too.
We live in an area with many vineyards around - several here in the mountains. We are not very regular wine drinkers - for us about once a month or less on the average. There are some who drink a bit more and some who drink a lot more. I would guess not more than 20% at any rate have it with most meals. I think more may drink beer. I think we are more the redneck class than than the yuppie class.
Average wines go from $2.00 to $30.00 per bottle depending on perceived quality with some going much more. We don't always like the most expensive wines and are not good at pretending they are good if they are really not-- broke my little pinkie in a toilet seat accident so it does not extend well when drinking -- (just kidding there) pass the Ripple please. Sassy just said that the $2.00 a bottle wine was not bad, actually.
The last bottle of wine I bought for our last year anniversary was about $30 17% alc. - one glass of it put Sassy t sleep on anniversary night - so there I sat -- the Lone Ranger. So much for it's romance enhancing qualities. :o
I am thinking of planting some grapes up here for our own supply, but they have to be protected from the deer (large rodents). That will be another project. :)
I was wondering how you got away without the headache, Peter. Looks like you didn't. Last time I had the problem many years ago they pulled the tent off me in the daytime and let the sun hit me in the eyes - that was enough of that.
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Average wines go from $2.00 to $30.00 per bottle depending on perceived quality with some going much more.
Two Buck Chuck! :) (... so named because the label name is Charles Shaw and because it's sold for $1.99 a bottle, in California; 2.99 in AZ and 3.99 in NM due to shipping etc.) Sold only at Trader Joe's grocery stores. It's the best $2 wine I've ever tasted; amazingly good for the price.
Personal everyday choice is a Cabernet Sauvignon 5 litre box wine by Almaden that works out to about the same cost per volume, when bought at a warehouse store (Sam's Club). It's pleasantly dry. I don't like sweetness in a beverage.
We have a local vineyard and winery (mid way between the suburban home and the mountains) :) as well as a few wineries that make wines from purchased grapes. The Ponderosa Winery products are pretty good but cost more than Chuck's.
Serve a glass of a better wine and then switch to Two Buck. :-/
I really like a good beer though, preferring Lager over other varieties and dabble in home brewing.
Referrals to $2Chuck
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Shaw_wine
http://www.snopes.com/business/market/shawwine.asp
http://www.azcentral.com/home/wine/articles/0410winevintages10.html
and Trader Joe's
http://www.traderjoes.com/product_categories.html
That's her favorite store, Don - and yup that's the wine - Charles Shaw- never heard the 2 Buck Chuck line but have now. :)
I used to make my own beer a bit but quit when my ex-FIL drank it all.
I made one batch that would make you sleep for 3 hours after you drank one bottle. May have overdone the hops? :-? :)
I thought about planting a batch of barley on the mountain here as a winter crop then making my own beer but that would be a major garden undertaking I thnk -- May plant some this year anyway - winter crop grew well as ground cover for erosion control on one of my jobs up here.
Quote... a batch of barley on the mountain
That mention turned on a couple seldom used brain cells and reminded me of the 2 bottles (well maybe 1 1/2 now)Mortlach single malt scotch whisky that I've been hoarding for years. Outrageously priced stuff these days.
Growing barley for erosion control could be an idea. Birds would like you too if you didn't harvest it.
I am a fan of the cask as well, Don, and most of the bottles we drink run to no more that five or six bucks each - on the 2 Buck Chuck subject, the equal here would be Chateau Tanunda...there are many charming folksy convict-bred terms for vomiting in Aussie slang- chunder, Park A Tiger, Call Herb On The Great White Telephone, etc- Chateau Tanunda, originators of the very cheap and nasty, have been known for decades as Chateau Chunder :)
Wine with meals, Glenn, is by no means a Yuppie thing here- it's very much blue-collar and-yes- even redneck. Plenty of beer gets downed in the hot weather, for sure, but most Aussie homes have a cask or two and a few bottles of good red or white floating around. I was given an eggcup-full of claret or reisling with my meals from around age seven- concidered then as an education into the relationship between wine and food and as a preventative against teen-years binge drinking. I don't think things have changed all that much. We have wine with meals except when the missus whips up one of her fabulous asian dishes or a curry ( or Mexican)..to drink a fine wine with something that overpowers your tase-buds seems a waste.
A cask, Don, is 10 bucks here for four litres- mostly Shiraz or Grenache, and whites are mostly reisling style. There are lots of great wines produced here, Semillon( Hunter Valley) and Carbanet( Clare region and Barossa Valley) being my favourites, but the very best are only for domestic consumption in most cases, with only the overpriced Hungerford Hill and the average quality Bannrock Station and Jacobs Creek exported in huge amounts.
Making your own beer is cheap fun and it tastes so much better than what you get in the store...
It is a no brainer
QuoteA cask, Don, is 10 bucks here for four litres... There are lots of great wines produced here,
A 5 litre box (cask is so much more elegant sounding... have to adopt that) of a medium quality like I buy is $12 - 17 depending on which vendor you choose. Yellow Tail has made big inroads in the market from what I see, tho' I don't browse the wine shelves as much as I used to. I have my favorites and that's that!
QuoteMaking your own beer is cheap fun and it tastes so much better than what you get in the store...
Usually it tastes better... ;D ;D Do you bottle or keg it? I like to use the Cornelius Kegs, much easier than washing, disinfecting, etc all those bottles. Of course it's not as portable as bottles so I also like to bottle. I've got a bunch of the short stubbies like Red Stripe comes in here (also used to be used in Canada... not sure if they still use them). They save space, tho' not as nice in the hand as a long neck.
One of my dad's uncles made a bunch of beer and buried it so the revenuers wouldn't find it. Apparently he didn't find it either. Years later my uncle was driving his Cat bulldozing when the ground started foaming. An emergency was declared, the Cat was shut down and the unbroken bottles were rescued and consumed.
My wife has friends and I have relatives who drink more wine. I have a bit of an allergy to the sulfites used so don't drink too much of it. Sometimes it doesn't bother me much - other times I just feel I'd rather avoid the sneezyness etc.
I had an old Croatian friend who made barrels of wine - probably 6 or more per year from his grapes.
Don,
I have a beer fridge....Took an old 50's fridge and painted it up with hot rod flames...And out the side I drilled 2 holes and installed draft taps...
Two 5 gallon corny kegs joined to a tee and a bottle of Co2
So there is always 10 gallons of cold beer on tap...The beer fridge is at the new house in the Laundry room
Been making my own beer since college....About the only thing I ever learned when I was away at school :-/
Started to make beer with the kit where you cooked it on the stove...and used a plastic bucket..
Just kept getting more into it... Built a grain mill... Switched to the kegging system and the beer fridge because it is so much easier....And I find the beer tastes a lot better.
Usually have a imitation bass ale and a imitation newcastle nut brown in the beer fridge...
My wife hates generic american beer like miller or bud...She loves Mexican and English beers... Newcastle and Bass are among her all time favorites..
The really cool thing about making beer is that you get to make gadgets for the beer... Like the counterflow chiller that hooks to the garden hose.... Or the wort Aerator... Then there is the custom brew kettle and things like false bottoms and stainless steel screens... I have a false bottom in mine and a 3 pronged sparge manifold... I found a good gadget site ten years ago that is now defunct... and the guy used a DC motor on a long shaft and fan blade to create a downard current in the wort as it was cooking... it created a flower or funnel in the kettle...Pulling it down in the middle and upwards on the sides...Kept everything from burning or sticking...
So I have one of those... Sort of looks like crap...a piece of plywood with a hole drilled in it... that sits on top of the kettle.... But it is great because it means I do not have to sit there and stir
I currently do not bottle individual beer bottles.... I would like to... I have awesome plans a guy sent me for a counter pressure bottle filler....It would put the Co2 in the bottles with the beer...
It is one of the things on my list... I would like to give friends cases of beer for gifts making their favorite type of beer and print them their own label....
Take some wood and make a old timey box for the beer to sit in... It is fun to make and print labels on the computer...
I remember the old hardwood chocolate boxes when I was a small boy...My grandpa worked in the mill as he was a machinist/sawyer...I think it would be way cool to make some crate type beer boxes to put beer in for friends and family.
Maybe we can make a batch sometime...
Peter and Don's "Hot Rod" ale
Would be neat if you had some pointers or recipee help for me...I am always amazed when I taste someone else's beer and see how good it is... Just that people are capable of making great beer so easily...It just floors me
Why do people buy store bought???
Speaking of making your own beer...
I trained my son right, I think. We had a grapevine in the backyard, and when he was 14, he asked me if we could make wine form them. I did him one better, and bought him a book on winemaking written by a guy from England. I told him that I would fund his endeovor, but that he would have to provide the expertise. He read, went online and found the experts, and has beeninto it ever since.
His first wine was drinkable...if you pinched your nose while doing so. I also seemed to remember that it was a double whammy...it would bite your tounge on the way down, and the high alcohol content would bite you the next morning.
He's turning 20 next week. He's made a lot of wine since then. Our favorite was peach wine. When we'ld take the oldest to school in Georgia in the fall, we would bring back a crate or two of peaches.
Right now we have 6 gallons of strawberry wine fermenting away. He made 1 gallon last year, and we decided that it is very drinkable, so we bought him 3 flats of strawberrys this year.
His vision is to open a winery, and is currently attending college for that.
QuoteWhy do people buy store bought???
Why do people eat at McD's?
You are way deeper into brewing than I, Peter. :) What I make is from ingredient kits; sometimes store/online purchased but more frequently from a local microbrewery where I know one of the principles. It's a short cut, I know, but it suits my attention span. ::) As for bottling, bottles like the Grolsch style with flip top lids work very nicely and obviate the need for a capper. They're also available in larger sizes like 1 and 2 litres. :o
fishing_guy, good luck and best wishes to your son's endeavor's. I haven't made any wine in a couple of decades. :'(
I am not into winemaking...I know some people that make very nice white wine...
Don I sometimes buy the kit where the wort comes from a can.... Dump er in the kettle boil it and you are making beer....
I did that for a long time and it is amazing how good the quality of the beer is with it...
If I remember some of the better kits are the Coopers IPA and the Blue Mountian
I have toyed with the idea of going to the bottling recycle depot and asking to buy a couple dozen bottles of Grolsch... emptied of course... Take em home steralize em... and presto
Don the Grolsch bottle eliminates the need for a capper....But there is still the problem of priming sugar...Which is why I got rid of the bottles in the first place..
when we were in college it was no big deal to pour the beer into a glass and dump out the last couple inches in the bottle...So the left over sugary solution from priming the bottles would not get mixed into your beer
That got old for me very quickly and when someone suggested I upgrade to the keg system I almost lost my mind I was so happy :o
So when I said I wanted to build a counter pressure bottle filler I should have said for Grolsch type bottles.
My wife has some unlces that are beer drinkers and they love european style lagers ales and pilsners... Which is why I thought making the Wooden crate type beer boxes for the beer and printing a label for them would be way cool
I used to have this crazy dream when I was in college I would someday open a microbrewery.....
I have no time or money for that sort of endeavor and I like the old cars....So it worked out well that making beer is a fun hobby for me.
takes me a long time to drink 10 gallons of beer....So I only have to make it a few times a year....and mostly other people drink as much as I
For some weird reason it is a super rush to make beer and see the look of amasement on other people's faces when they try it and love it.
Yup - I'm lazy - don't drink much so can do with a good store bought or a bad one sometimes- long time since I made wine - only a gallon or two.
Picked a peck of pickled peppers today -- OK - it wasn't a peck - maybe 5 or 6 lbs. OK they weren't pickled either . Anaheim's. :)
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Garden is growing like crazy now too - Foot and a half long Armenian cucumbers every couple days. No pix right now of them -
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Glenn I am way jealous
Peppers look amazing..Are they easy to grow? I need easy food to grow...
My wife and I both love green Red green and Yellow peppers of all varieties.
Put them in the ground -- add water. I noticed the steep bank right behind the largest tomatoes and the Anaheim peppers seems to have stored the early sun heat and given them an extra boost. Black buckets of water - Wall-O-Water - milk jugs of water etc can also store heat near the plants if necessary for an early start. The next rows out seem to be growing slower but coming right along. If you have the peppers in a frost protected area they will produce for several years.
The composted horse manure and raised beds over our clay soil has greatly improved our garden this year - things are growing twice as big twice as fast. I read that the French intensive gardening used just horse manure in places. Things can then be grown much closer together shading out weeds. I have put a bit of very light commercial fertilizer - vegetable type - nit grass type - in addition to the manure, and sprayed them with miracle grow once for foliar feeding.
The peppers pictured above average 5 to 6 inches long and 1 1/4 dia on the big end.
Yeah I mix a little miracle grow in the watering can once every couple weeks just to make sure the plants are getting everything they could possibly need
Directions on the back and such
I went the burn the leaves route over composting...I would like to try the compost manure method though... this fall when the half dozen oak trees lose their leaves
If you want to compost the Oak leaves, then you need a stronger manure such as chicken to add to the leaves. Horse manure is the perfect mix of carbon to nitrogen for composting as it comes from the horse - stand there with your little scoop to be sure it is pure-- ;D
You need to approximate that mix when using other materials - chicken is high nitrogen and needs more carbon such as leaves and straw. Too much straw in your horse manure requires added chicken manure to compost at the fastest rate, I don't have specific amounts. Just mix it to taste. :)
so the oak leaves are extra sturdy and need the extra boost of notrogen to break down...
Hmm Glenn you seem to be a manure specialist... ;)
It is a good feeling knowing we are using mostly natural products on food at the house with no pesticides
You just never ever really know what you are being exposed to when you buy in a supermarket
though since we are talking manure and compost fertilizer I am sure there is a study done somewhere that says it is bad for you and will kill you ::)
Looks fantastic now, Glenn.
I don't use a spray- just horse manure and a little commercial fertilizer. What is that on the left in the bottom pic with leaves a bit like punpkin, Glenn? Is that the cucumbers? I find them rather tough- only grow Lebanese now. Have you tried growing them?
The big leaves on the left are winter squash of various types. I want them for storage - they will keep all winter and still be good to eat by the time you replant the next years garden besides the winter stuff in the garden.
The Armenian cucumbers are very mild with a very light skin. In this picture they are behind the corn. Th vines are growing about a foot a day - and are growing up the fence behind th corn now. No need to peel. They are good even if longer than 1 1/2 feet and 2 inches dia. but they may get hollow inside.
I haven't seen the Lebanese cucumbers.
Between the squash and corn is potatoes -- I keep throwing straw and worm compost on them and they keep coming up right through it even stronger. Supposedly that will make more potatoes.
Peter - not just the oak leaves - straw or any other carbon needs the proper amount of nitrogen mixed with it to compost at maximum speed. Horse manure with no bedding - straw etc is the perfect mix.
Leaves - wood, straw etc have too much carbon to compost fast -- chicken manure has too much nitrogen -- mix the two together in a proper proportion and you get something that will compost fast like horse manure. Remember to add water and air weekly. Water until it just dampens your hand when you squeeze a hhandful but not dripping wet. Turn weekly to add air. It well get very hot -- it it catches fre or starts turning to ash it is too hot. Add more water.
Horse with straw or sawdust - wood etc needs chicken added -- I think you could add commercial nitrogen fertilizer als if no chicken available. If you don't add the nitrogen to the carbon, it will rob it from your plants in order to break down the carbon. Then your plants will suffer for nitrogen even though you are adding compost.
Can I suggest, as it's still early summer for you, that the next time you are looking at seeds to plant you try Lebanese? They are the sweetest, best tasting fastest-growing and least disease prone of any cucumber I have grown- they crop in less than six weeks from seed.
I'll see if I can find some -- I intend to keep planting throughout the summer. We're good until about November for weather usually.
Seems they are called Amira here.
http://farmerseed.com/detail.asp?nav=&pid=7347
(http://www.farmerseed.com/medium/7347_m.jpg)
Yeah, that's them-I'll see if I can find an aussie reference.
When I looked up Lebanese Cucumbers, most of the references to seed co's were down under.
I ordered the Amiras from the above company - hope they get here soon. :)
No worries, I have grown them very late in the season and they will still bear heavily. They will run as do most cucumbers, Glenn, but if space is scarce they will grow just as well on a trellis. You don't need to peel these- they are similar in flavour to a Crystal Apple ( round type) only sweeter.
Sounds great -- now just waiting for them to get here. I picked 5 Armenian ones today about 1 foot to 1 1/2 feet long - gave them away and one guy I gave them to sat down and wrote out a recipe for Bread and Butter pickles using them even if they grow way oversized.
Bread and Butter Pickles
25 to 30 med cucumbers (or equivalent of large ones)
8 large onions
2 large bell peppers
1/2 cup salt
5 cup cider vinegar
5 Teaspoons Turmeric
1/2 Teaspoon cloves
Wash and slice cucumbers. Chop onions and peppers. Combine veggies and salt and let stand 3 hours.
Wash and drain.
Combine vinegar, sugar and spices in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Add drained veggies and heat but not boil.
Pack while hot. He said to adjust the recipe as you like.
Thanks to Doyle Cook. :) He said they were the best he had ever had.
Here's one from Tasmania-
Poached petuna ocean trout
With thanks to Chef Christian Heidenreich...
Serves 4
You need:
640 g ocean trout portion
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
300 g arborio rice unwashed
280 g simmering vegetable stock
80 g white wine: A good ( maybe aussie) dry white
20 g freshly grated parmigiano reggiano
250 g beetroot
150 g fish stock
Fresh butter
2 lebanese cucumbers
Sea salt and milled pepper
Method:
Risotto
Place the beetroot on baking tray and roast in pre-heated oven for approx. 25 minutes.
Allow to cool and peel.
Chop two-thirds of the beetroot into small cubes and set aside to be used in risotto.
Reserve the rest for use in sauce.
Heat the oil in a fry pan on medium high and add the rice.
Cook it until it turns slightly glazed.
Turn heat down to low, add enough simmering stock just to cover the rice.
Simmer uncovered until the liquid is absorbed.
Stir the rice several times during this liquid absorption.
Repeat three or four more times until there is enough liquid left for one more addition.
Add the chopped roasted beetroot.
Simmer a few more minutes to allow the betroot to combine with the rice.
Before you serve the risotto, add half the grated cheese.
Mix the wine into the risotto gently, after testing quality.... :)cover, and remove from heat for 5 minutes.
Poached ocean trout
Simmer fish stock and add ocean trout either directly into liquid or in a steam tray.
Poach for approx. 4-6 minutes keeping the centre of the fish rare.
Pickled lebanese cucumber
Cut cucumber into thin lengthwise slices.
Sprinkle with sea salt and set aside for 30 mins.
Meanwhile, open bottle of good dry white.
Squeeze cucumber and remove any excess water.
Beetroot sauce
Heat sauce pan.
Pour glass of dry white- sip
Add olive oil and saute the remaining betroot cubes.
Add fish stock and simmer for 5 minutes.
Use bar mix to blend the sauce.
Add cold butter to thicken the sauce, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
To assemble
Mould the risotto into round shape by using a ring.
Pour another glass of dry white- sip
Top with poached ocean trout.
Top with pickled cucumber, drizzle sauce around plate.
...tell me what you think. Also works well with freshwater bass, but I add capers to the poaching liquid.
Sounds like a good way to start using some of the extra vegetables. :)
Picked a few Armenian Cucumbers today -- I would have to say about 40 lbs. worth -- two shopping bags full.
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The corn is corning --- the artichokes are choking and
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000242.jpg)
the squash is squashing.
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WOW your harvesting some nice stuff. 8-) Do you have to water much ?? Few times a week , everyday , twice a week?? Been dry down your way , is that pretty normal ?
I have it all on drip irrigation and mini-sprinklers. There is a timer attached to a faucet and it is easily adjustable to more or less time or times per day. I put it up to 4 times per day (every 6 hours) now for 30 minutes per time. All water is pumped by my solar power system from the well.
We also hand water assist the areas needing extra as we see what gets wilty. Corn needs extra now too but still the drip keeps everything going quite well.
I can make the drip system better but have to change to timer to a 2 station timer as I have as much on this one as it can handle right now. Still works great.
The longest cucumber is 28 1/2 inches long.
We have clay ground so if we do not water slowly and often water just runs off. Drip is ideal for our area. The raised beds with the horse manure is the best we have done so far -- actually stores some moisture for the plants.
I put my name in the hat for more truckloads of horse manure to be delivered by the garbage company again -- may get tons and tons of it.
We get nearly all of our rain from November or December through March or April. None again until next November or December. Maybe a shower near start or finish but nearly never any at other times during the summer.
So I lied - got a sprinkle from a T-storm this morning - .10? as a guess. Dampened the dust.
Received and planted my Lebanese cucumber seeds yesterday. Will keep you updated on their progress.
Garden continues to grow and cover everything in sight. Gotta love that composted horse manure. I do assist it with a light application of commercial fertilizer 16-16-16 as not everything is in the compost. This should improve over the years. I noticed some of the squash were a bit yellow and weak yesterday. A small addition of fertilizer and they are already green and going today.
Squash leaves are 3'6" tall and 14" across
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A couple tomatoes are starting to turn ripe. The measure mostly about 5 to 5 1/2" across. Not the pretty new commercial varieties but Brandywine heirloom type. We also have some very nice Cherokee purple.
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Overview from the east
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The Armenian cucumbers are tired of laying on the ground and staying in where it is safe. They have started attacking the fence.
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I know --- just lots more pictures of green stuff. :-/ :)
Mrs fourx says she has lots more lebanese cucumber recipies, if and when you want them....
What technique did Sassy use to grow those giant parsnips last ( your) Winter? Was it just the same stuff you are using on the vegetables now?
Sassy said they just reseeded themselves - The video I posted along with several of the pictures shows the parsnips going to seed -- we eat what we want then let lots of them reseed. Thousands of seeds. We don't till the soil. Just pull the old stuff and weeds out and compost them then let the seeds grow as they want in a lot of it.
The tall plants here are parsnips going to seed. The white one is a carrot going to seed.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000197.jpg)
All our soil is a mix of horse manure compost and maybe 1/3 topsoil. I find that it still needs some all purpose fertilizer for best production but the quality of the compost is great.
I read that in some places -- France I think they do the square foot gardening or French intensive gardening just in horse manure compost - or maybe in the manure only - I use the compost.
About the recipes - tell Mrs. Fourx, yes-- I would really appreciate them.
Here is a food thread we started a long time ago in the general forum that would be a great place for them. I'll move it here to the off topics now.
http://www.countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1144265293
Tomatoes , and strawberrys ,
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Front flower beds,
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(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/July12th4.jpg)
Even a bit of sunshine there, PEG. How'd you come up with that.
Great looking plants and flowers. I think the plants and garden is what makes the house. In my case it is part of the house. :-/
The Bees -
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000328_edited.jpg)
are helping to make these
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000332_edited.jpg)
That one is about 11" across.
Looks like the big ol fat bumble bees are doing most of the work.
Eating corn now too. The tomatoes are not the prettiest but after trimming off the ugly parts they taste great.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000337.jpg)
Picked a few things from the garden today.
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A little excitement in the garden yesterday. I was out watering a few things & as I was reaching down, pulling up some dried plants that had gone to seed, something moved a couple inches from my hand :o :P I looked closer & saw it was a snake. I kept looking at it, couldn't see its head, but it had some peculiar looking appendages on its tail. I went to get a shovel to kill it, although I didn't want to if it was a gopher snake. When I came back with the shovel to look at it again, I couldn't find it.
I called Glenn - he was on his way home from a job. When he got there I showed him where it was. He found it & sure enough, it was a rattlesnake :o - I'd just about grabbed it :P earlier... well, my hero cut it in half with the shovel - it was still trying to bite the shovel, so Glenn chopped it again. We didn't think to take a picture... :-/
We don't like to kill the critters, but a rattlesnake in my garden - right about waist high on one of the planter boxes next to the path on the roof I walk all the time... had to sacrifice it... Glenn threw it over the side of the mountain - it was already gone today, some other critter got a meal out of it. I just hope there aren't any other rattlesnakes in my garden.... :-/
Thats way too close for comfort, Sassy, and you are quite a distance from the nearest hospital, arn't you?
Wow that was close , :o :o Another good thing about wastern Wa. NO poisious snakes :) Except the rare few people lose but generally thats happens down in the city .
At least Glenn found the darned thing , but you know there's more . You'll have to take to wearing snake boots and rattling all the plants with a hoe or something.
Actually, we're about 4 miles from the local hospital - but don't know if it has anti-venom...
I told her the same thing PEG. Great minds, eh? :-?
She thought there was a bigger one but I think she just blew it up in her mind. The little guys are more dangerous than the big ones though-- not enough rattles to make a lot of noise. Rattlers don't always rattle before striking anyway. :-/
I am so jealous of the beautiful gardens and vegies you all have. My little plot got plowed under during the landlady's excavation work and I didn't start a new one so this year I am vegiless. Now on to the rattlesnake question does anyone know how to keep them away? I am moving soon to rattlesnake country. I know guienea hens and peacocks will keep them away but unfortunately the housing association does not allow poultry. I am thinking of getting some chiwawas I read online today that a little chiwawa saved a child from a rattlesnake. My friend has three and my daughter has two chiwawa's I don't really like them that much especially when they all get together, (only one barked all day and night but he gave them all a bad reputation) but if they can keep the snakes away I am going to love them dearly, I'll get a bunch of them. Does anyone know any other ways, sprays? thistle bushes? I know to keep things mowed and not leave standing water around or allow flys or bug areas, use a rake to go walking but how can you ever keep them out of the garden especiallly the little ones which don't rattle very loud and I don't see that well either. And my next question is does anyone have any suggestions for drought loving plants. I have lived all my life where water was plentiful so having a garden with very little water will be my biggest challenge. I need suggestions for drought loving trees and climbers that I can use to build shade.
Tanya, I read that article about the chihuahuas (had to do spell check to spell that :D ) . I've never had a little dog but people seem to love them. When the garden is growing like crazy, it's a little difficult to know where the snakes might be since you can't see under the plants. A stick (I used a shovel today) - someone else told me I should learn to shoot & carry a gun with me - but ya can't very well shoot at the ground on top of the roof :-/ . I'm always on the lookout for snakes but never thought there'd be one in the place it was :o
Here's a link to drought tolerant plants - looks pretty good http://landscaping.about.com/od/plantsforsunnydryareas/DroughtTolerant_Plants_Sunny_Dry_Areas_and_Desert_Landscaping.htm
Well now tanya, some people like chihuahua's, and I can't say I hate them but they do annoy me. :-/
My ex-mother in law had a couple -- barked a lot.
She asked me to trim the big ones toenails once -- it was very afraid of having it's toenails clipped... in fact so afraid of having its toenails clipped that after clipping a couple, shaking violently, she did a number 2 right in my lap --- the chihuahua - not the mother-in-law. :-?
After that I made some little fake Chihuahua doo-doos out of bread and painted them with acrylic art paint.. they looked pretty real. I put them on the mother-in-laws couch and told her that her chihuahua did it. She really let out a screem when I picked one up -- sniffed it and stuck it in my mouth --- I knew it was made out of baked bread dough - she didn't. :-? :)
So I don't know about chihuahuas. A rattle snake may just mistake one of them for a rat or a gopher. That is what rattlesnakes like to eat. :o
Cats could help keep rattlers away by keeping the rats and mice away. Gophers, rats and mice -- if you have them you may have snakes as that is what they like to eat. We live in the boonies and it is a bit hard to keep them all away but the less you have the less chance that the snakes will show up there trying to eat them. They may still show up occasionally -- no gopher problem in our garden, but it is a bowl shaped area that will occasionally collect a snake or two. :)
Thanks for the drought tolerant plants link Sassy. I am going to go check it out now. I guess I wont be needing the chiwawas I have plenty of cats, to many cats really, 6 but if they keep the snakes away they will be well worth it. One of the mamas is having more kittens too so I guess that is good. I had twelve cats at one time I lived on the river in the mountains and I spent about $50 on decon. The mice ate it all and there were still mice everywher so I got every cat I could find. No more mice. Darndest thing though people actually loved those cats so much that they would actually steal them when I was out of town. I had never had the experience of people stealing cats before that. That is better than dumping them off though.
Hey, Tanya, chickens are a magnet for snakes, and as a country boy living in the land with the most dangerous snakes on Earth who only wears shoes when there's frost on the ground or at work ( me, not the snakes) and who lives 50 K's - thirty miles- from the nearest hospital with kangaroos hopping past the back door and dingos howling from the mountain tops , they are something we are very aware of here. All the folk around who have chickens have had big snake problems, and cats are a good solution...not only will they remove the mice and rats that bring the snakes, and kill the small ones, but last summer I was sitting in the shade reading the paper near our water tank which Mrs Fourx had wrapped in wire netting and grown honeysuckle over when one of our three cats which was lying at my feet started to growl- I turned around and about a foot from the back of my head was a 5 foot long black snake wending it's way through the loops in the chicken wire and I hadn't heard a thing. :o
QuoteHey, Tanya, chickens are a magnet for snakes, and as a country boy living in the land with the most dangerous snakes on Earth who only wears shoes when there's frost on the ground or at work ( me, not the snakes) and who lives 50 K's - thirty miles- from the nearest hospital with kangaroos hopping past the back door and dingos howling from the mountain tops , they are something we are very aware of here. All the folk around who have chickens have had big snake problems, and cats are a good solution...not only will they remove the mice and rats that bring the snakes, and kill the small ones, but last summer I was sitting in the shade reading the paper near our water tank which Mrs Fourx had wrapped in wire netting and grown honeysuckle over when one of our three cats which was lying at my feet started to growl- I turned around and about a foot from the back of my head was a 5 foot long black snake wending it's way through the loops in the chicken wire and I hadn't heard a thing. :o
Stange counrty Oz that is , more stuff ta killya than ya can shake a stick at :o Ya gotta be a criminal to live there still ;)
Good thing you wheren't all wrapped up in wire and honeysuckle as well ;D I'd think you'd need really good hearing to hear a snake crawling , well unless it's a rattler and it wants you to hear it :o ::)
Well, we still have politicians and taxes, so it's not all that different really, PEG :)
Ya, I am really concerned about the snakes I am hoping to build and enclosed courtyard with a strawbale fence and tight fitting gates to keep them out along withthe cats and dogs and spray the bugs and all that. If it doesn't work though I am moving back to the mountains.
My sister has every type of fowl known to mankind, including peacocks and guinea fowl, and has snakes galore- she sprays phenol around the base of their house- which is built on a slab, a snake welome mat- to keep them out. She has dogs, but no cats, so you know what they say about making your bed .... ;)
YIKES! fourx :o That was a close call :-/ I like cats - they're independent, most are good mousers, they're friendly when they want to be.
Tanya, I had several cats when I met Glenn. In fact, his daughter-in-law called me about Persian kittens I had for sale. We got to talking for quite awhile & for some reason I had mentioned I'd like to go on a medical missionary trip or something like it. She told me her father-in-law (Glenn) flew doctors & nurses down to Mexico to work in a clinic every month with Liga International - Flying Doctors of Mercy.
She gave me his phone #, my 1st trip was on his plane & the rest is history! We just celebrated our 10th anniversary :)
So cats can be a good thing, although he always tells me he hates cats - they LOVE him! ;D He takes in strays & they always like to sit in his lap. :-* ;)
Well I sure am glad I decided to keep the cats. I thought about giving them away but they are so cute I decided to keep them all. They stick to thmeselves pretty much and since there is soft dirt pretty far away from the house but close to the shed where I feed them the poop isn't in my flowers or up near the house. It is interesting that you guys met over some cats. I guess the world is a strange place. I really don't like cats much either but htey do like me one of the little kittens runs up every time I go outside now to get pets and he is adorable. I have to park my car far away from the house now though because they like to get up int he engine area and I have had to redo my wiring several times due to cats and before that it was the mice it costs a lot of money. I looked a thte plans for the drought areas and I love them all so I am very happy with the choices. I Still need some climbers though. The area I am moving to is grape country and I want to do some arbors for shade so any suggestions for grapes (the eating kind) would also be appreciated. I know they need a lot of water though and I am willing to haul water for a few grapes. Does anyone know how many plants it will take to cover an arbor about 3x6 ft.
Without her help on that trip out of Mexico, I don't know how I would ever have made it back. :-/
Engine starter trouble -- I had to send the others on ahead. ::)
tanya, grapes grow vines 10 or so feet long each year with enough water and fertilizer. Each one can grow multiple vines so one or two should do it. Drip irrigation works great for grapes if you can do that.
Quote- someone else told me I should learn to shoot & carry a gun with me - but ya can't very well shoot at the ground on top of the roof
A number of ranchers in the west will carry a sidearm loaded with shotshell cartridges. They wouldn't go thru the depth of dirt, etc. on the underground abode.
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/oddsnends/45colt-shotshell.jpg) #9 shot.
I have one of these just because it's cool... shoots my favorite .45 Colt cartridge as well as 410 shotgun shells, interchangably... just has a longer cylinder to accommodate the shotgun shells.A little over 2 pounds loaded. Many more pellets to a shell and a wide choice. Bye-bye rattler. :) My mountains don't have snakes, but the desert sure does. :)
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QuoteWe just celebrated our 10th anniversary :)
Hey, Congrats!! and many more.... coming up on number 30 this fall here. :-/
Noticed the snake thread. A rattler (middle the size of a baseball) killed my neighbors dog yesterday. It was hanging out with us on the jobsite. I need to get a shotgun.
WooHoo!! This isn't exactly my garden, but it is right beside the road up to my mountain property. Wild Raspberries!! :) We found them hidden in the tall grasses beside the last 300 feet up the drive. They appear to be just coming into their season. Have to check them out after the weekend when we head back up. Small, but tasty!
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/jemez%20mtn%20property/raspberrypatch.jpg)
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(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/jemez%20mtn%20property/raspberries.jpg)
Those raspberries look pretty yummy! I used to pick them in Washington state, also wild blackberries.
Cool Raspberries, Don.
They have whiskers just like my great aunt Avola -- we used to call her Vollie (long O). Gone now, but I used to always become fearful when she wanted to give me a kiss. :-/
Sassy
Glenn has a plane?
Glenn is there anything that I like that you do not already have? I have spent the last couple years talking the wife into (brow beating her actually) the need for us to get a plane of our own...
I have always wanted one.... I got into some trouble as a teen ager trying to build an ultralight... The need to fly has been with me always
Peter, you're not old enough to fly yet ;) :D Glenn didn't start flying until he was 40 :o !
Planes are a lot of fun, you can get places a lot faster. :) But they are expensive. In fact it's been about 5 yrs since our plane ended up in the hanger waiting to be fixed - some corrosion on the wing struts - hard to get used parts & very expensive to fix so our flying days may be over unless we strike it rich... Glenn's been doing a lot of gold panning & exploring old mines lately ;)
I've done a lot of flying - then started the underground complex after the plane went in for repair - or about the same time -- and don't care to think about paying for it so am not pushing for it.
I did many Indiana Jones stunts (but for real) went to Mexico 15 times -- landed in the bottom of Copper Canyon (Barranca del Cobre) in Mexico- dove off into the canyon to get enough airspeed to fly --- landed on top of the Sierra Madre at San Juanito ---barely got over the chain link fence there-- Bahia Kino in a storm -- flew through the center of Mount Saint Helens -- over the Sierra Nevadas at night about 50 times -- iced up over the Siskiyous --Had p-static coming off the wings in an electrical type storm (St Elmo's fire - kinda like lightning -- been hammered by clear air turbulence and flipped 90 degrees on the back side of the Sierra Nevadas---- lots of cool stuff. :)
This reminds me of something I've thought of from time to time.... How has the two story aircraft hanger worked out? Pix?
...and your plane is a...?
I never did go back there - the company finished it themselves as I overextended their budget - things took longer than they planned as things were pretty messed up on that one - design - fit - etc.
My plane is a Cessna 205 -- officially 210-5 -- the first fixed gear 210 size - predecessor to the 206. 1963 model -- six passenger. It was a good fun old plane. :)
Deer got in the night before last and ate a bunch of the Armenian cucumbers and peppers and plants. Damage was pretty light considering what a deer or group of them can do.
I think she stood up on the deer netting with her front feet to eat the cucumbers growing through and on the netting and accidently ripped a 4' hole in it. I put chicken wire and a board over it. No more problem - yet. >:(
At least she's keeping the meat fresh. :-/
I live in right onthe edge of town but I still have plenty of deer here. Five big bucks out in the yard the other day. Pretty much they are out there every day I just don't see them every day. When I sued to live on the river I had a bunch of deer that would come to my garden too. My big dogs wouldn't chase them away much to my dismay but someone told me if I out the hair from the kids hair cuts out there in the garden paths they would stay away, it worked there but here in town nothing works, the deer even beat up the dogs, no kidding. They have big town meetings because the deer eat all the yards and stuff but the tourists seem to like them. So they (the deer) get to stay. There is a new law not to feed them though. The deer are pretty dangerous I actually saw one run after a child one time after her basket of apples, she dropped it but I don't feed them at all and if they come in the yard I make the dogs chase them.
Yeah... and some of those tourists like the cuddly bears too ! ::)
We have deer, elk, coyotes and bears. Most leave us alone (we haven't anything in the way of a garden (other than that raspberry patch... they better stay away from that!) but they don't mind walking through whenever and wherever they feel like it. :-/
Another reason to garden. The end of cheap food.
http://www.countercurrents.org/james040807.htm
A possible change in price from about 10% of your income to about 25% of your income.
As more and more food is provided only by large corporations we become more and more susceptible to having to pay whatever they want to charge also.
Food costs are outrageous if everyone ate only rice and beans on sundays for awhile it would teach those major corporations a good economic lesson. I can't even imagine how city folk who are living on fixed incomes survive.
QuoteI can't even imagine how city folk who are living on fixed incomes survive.
.... rice and beans? :'(
We have a pretty big crop of tomatoes ripening now which made Sassy think we need a bigger or another freezer -- can't argue with that-- hate to see the tomatoes and other stuff go to waste or give it all away, but that may require improvement or addition to the solar system ( not the sun and planets, silly -- I mean our solar panels ) :)
She says canning isn't fun in the hot summer. :'(
Will the circle be unbroken.... :-?
One year we had a bumper crop of tomatoes- Beefsteak- and made pasta sauce. I had read about Italian families having a weekend tomato sauce making get-togeter and just how good home made pasta sauce is, but did not really believe it untill after tasting the finished product, which is so much better than the store bought type it seems like a different food type.
The winter garden here is a sad sight..no rain in two months and the coldest winter in 50 years. Remarkably, stuff like brassicas and fava beans are still growing, but everything else is kaput.
Home canning / freezing.... :) makes think of my dear departed Mum. She stayed home and worked there. Canned, and in later years froze, lots of stuff, from apples through zucchini. Some things like sauerkraut and pickles of course couldn't be transitioned to freezing.
Uh-oh, look out! Thread drift.... for fourx...
Pete so you Aussies use the term Mom or Mum for Mother. In Canada we used Mum as in Britain. The US of course used Mom. You??
It's funny how I can switch forms depending on whether I'm speaking to my sister or someone else in Canada or someone here. :-/
Is anyone out there involved in the study of mycology?
Definition: The branch of botany that studies fungi and fungus-caused diseases - their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy, and their use to humans as a source for medicinals (see penicillin) and food (beer, wine, cheese, edible mushrooms), as well as their dangers, such as poisoning or infection.
All the rain in the past few weeks has caused an explosion of mushrooms and various fungi in my NM mountains. Some are quite pretty, some I know could be quite delicious and some could cause at the least an upset stomach. Not seeing anything that looked like a market mushroom I played it safe and had a field day with the digital camera. I must learn more; a trip to the library is in order. :) Some squirrels filled up on some... hauled them up a tree in the rain... too far away for a decent picture... need more zooooooooom, and then with more zoom I'd need to haul the tripod out.... no end to it all...
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/jemez%20mtn%20property/mushrooms3.jpg)
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It's Mum, Don :).....and watch out for those ones with the gold tops- the mushies, not the Mums- they can give you a nasty day or even week...
Identifying mushrooms can be very difficult. In some cases they are identified by a spore print. The mushroom top is allowed to dry out on a piece of white paper. The size, color and pattern of the spores on the paper may be the only characteristic that distinguishes an edible from an inedible mushroom.
The Great Smokey Mtns. have a large number of wild mushrooms. Years ago I tried to educate myself in identifying the edible ones. I soon became confused and settled on eating the only the ones I found at the local supermarket. :)
Quote....I soon became confused and settled on eating the only the ones I found at the local supermarket. :)
That's what I was afraid of. Or rather it's the mistake I'm afraid of. The market still sounds good. :)
A friend took me years ago. I don't trust me and even some Asians around our area who supposedly knew what they were doing got sick -seems someone in CA died from it a few years ago. I'll just play it safe - bought lots of books about it too. Better to eat Cattails.
You can eat cattails? I mean the kind that grow in the ditch. What have I been missing all these years? :-/
I understand they taast like chicken --- just kidding -- everything is supposed to taste like chicken. I heard you eat the immature head kinda like corn and you can also eat the root.
http://wildfoodplants.com/article/100/curried-cattail-soup
The link above has a video... quote from the text...
"In this video you'll see how to identify cattails shoots (along with a poisonous 'lookalike' plant)," :o
Okay! I'll stop right there and go open up a pack of frozen beans, corn or whatever.
Dang -- now what will I eat -- wheres Euell Gibbons when you need him? :-? Oh yeah -- pushing up cattails. :(
(http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/511ZTR976JL._AA240_.jpg)
Can be ordered through John's Amazon book link.
Has anyone ever made hypertufa? I am planning on making some hypertufa troughs for planters and I am wondering if it can be used for a fountain pool?
Hypertufa, sometimes incorrectly referred to as hypertofu (really anxious tofu ? :-/ )
I would think that the porosity might be a problem if used as a fountain pool. Unless that would be no big deal. (If I understand correctly the reason for using hypertufa for a planter is that they grow moss on the exterior surfaces rather well... because of the peat in the mix allowing transpiration of water?? That's just my take on it having no real life experience with the material.)
I have seen this on Charmaine Taylor's site. She does a lot of things like this. She put it on CD now. She is always great to deal with.
http://www.dirtcheapbuilder.com/tucrcd.html
More links from Charmaine's Papercrete site. Here's her site for tons more information - much or most free
http://www.papercrete.com/
Tufastone &HyperTufa links
http://www.flash.net/~blhill/pages.aux/pond/recipes.html
http://www.backyardgardener.com/tufa.html
http://pages.prodigy.net/airs/rocks/making.htm
http://www.flash.net/~blhill/pages.aux/pond/hypertufa/hypertufa.html
http://www.minerals.net/mineral/carbonat/calcite/calcite.htm
Thank you for the sites to check out. I have read a lot of those sites already and I think I saw one wehre it says you can use the concrete waterproofer to seal it for a pool or fountain but I can't remember where now so I guess I better start taking notes!!!
Hope you can use some of it,Tanya.
Found a big ripe melon under some leaves , along with about the end of the corn and a steak off the barbie. :)
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The cucumber was called a slicing cucumber. Not sure if it is tha same as the Lebanese or not. A bit stronger flavored than the Armenian.
More reason to garden - the economy is unraveling. Food prices are increasing.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/18902.html
Picked some spuds today , and the last of the onions , no onions in the photo sorry.
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Gardens about done , just a few lettuce plants left and the strawberry's are still kicking out a few , Cherry tomotoes are coming in slowly as well in there barrels out front.
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I spread some mulch from the compost bins in , might get more cow , or horse poop if I have time , then add the leafs as they fall , I mow those up with the rear bagger so they get some what busted up , they till in better.
Grapes , :( well at least this year a few bunchs came on :) , won't be makin any wine thought, I doubt they'll rippin.
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Bout time for Jonsey down under to start planting , wonder wheer that guys been hiding? You run him off Glenn? :(
Jonesy has been in New Zealand for a while at his sons? place. It would be great to hear from him again.
Looks like your spuds did better than mine but we still have tomatoes, a few mellons, squash - winter squash - okra, peppers and misc other stuff.
I have a nice south facing wall of windows so I brought in my cherry tomatoe plants and set up a trellis for them to grwo on along one wall. I also brought int he green peppers they love the warmer climate. I plan to plant some more spinach and lettuce too. I also have some chives going and I want to get some mroe herb seeds parsely and basil for sur but in this part of the country it is hard to find seeds this time of eyar. I might be able to find some in a bigger city though. I love having the plant room st up, I don't know why it took me so ong to get it done. I have been reading a lot of books about solar heating though and event houghthe land lady isn't going to let me tear outthe carpet and put in bricks for solar heat retention I figure the big pots of dirt will soak up some of that heat. I sure hope so i am gong to put in as many plants as I can fit in that space ands till have my little spot where I lay in the sun in front of the windows that is the best part about this house in January. I still haven't got the hypertufa projects started yet though. I have to get the perilite and that is also going to take a trip to the big city. I have put off the cottage building until spring I could build the panels but it looks like it will be easier to move all the lumber and supplies and then build them on site. Plus if I can I want to go with the straw bale at least for part of the project. So for now I am sticking with little projects here in this house until spring. Oh I made some cute little candle lanterns too taht was easy and fun and will make great garden decoration when the garden is done.
Biggest strawberry we've ever grown,
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Late but still the plants are producing about 12 to 20 every few days, this ones been hiding , even the bugs/ snails didn't find it ;D
That's a beauty, PEG. I think we may have a few but I've been too lazy to go up on the shop roof to check.
We will soon harvest our winter squash --if I build a root cellar. We have lots of them. We also bought a 20 cu ft freezer to store the extra harvest this year. Seems I mentioned that already, Lots of tomatoes and peppers to freeze. Working for a couple months now I think and solar electric power has been doing fair.
Time to plant winter vegetables now too. Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, parsnips (we have some year round ) trying to get full time self sufficiency here. :)
Quote
Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, parsnips (we have some year round ) trying to get full time self sufficiency here. :)
Well lets hope it never gets to that , ,,,,,,,just eating only those items :o :o It could be a lil gas-ie around yer neck -oh- the- woods ;D Not sure about carrots :-/
Ahhh yesss -- the aromatic joys of winter vegetables. I forgot about that until you mentioned it. Where is my mind lately?
Sitting here eating stewed tomato soup fresh from the garden. Thought I should mention that Our tomatoes, peppers, squash, celery, swiss chard, parsnips, carrots, onions, a few strawberries, and misc. other stuff is still producing just fine. Many of the plants are looking a bit ragged but still putting out. :)
It's nice when things "put out " eh Glenn ;D
Tilled the garden yesterday so that compost can work in better , I hope .
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Those grapes are riping a little we ate a couple this AM while in the hot tub so lil victories all a guy can ask for really outta life 8-)
Forums sure dead :(
QuoteForums sure dead
I guess we solved all the problems and get a break to talk about the garden. ;D
Yeah -- seems when they don't put out, it is more of a problem.
Had some people here today who didn't know what winter squash was. It is a good way of having something that pretty well preserves itself for about up to 6 months. Winter squash has relatively hard shells compared to Zucchini or Yellow Crookneck which are summer squash for those who don't know.
I finally got around to reading up on the papercrete what a fantastic discovery I am anxiou to try it and this weekend I plan to get going on some stepping stones and planters. I like it better thanthe hypertufa because it is only paper and cement and I wont have to worry about how I am going to get my hands on the peat moss or perilite. I found a good site too called at www.livinginpaper.com and they have some good info there. My indoor garden is doing well I made chicken soup yesterday and had cherry tomatoes and chives to add from my pots and the lettuce is ready to pick too. The flowers are so beautiful I love geraniums and I have some gorgeous ones, I wish I had put them int he fair. Well that is all for now thank you so much for the lead on the papercrete.
My pleasure, Tanya.
A friend and group of her friends is experimenting with papercrete. Here is a washroom they were building but she had a fire in her code approved electrical panel and garage (4 years old), and wasn't there the day I went to check on her. Funny the county didn't step up with a warranty check as they did inspect it :-/ Wonder what all that inspection permit money buys? :-?
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Just noticed that there is a gardening thread here this morning. Glad to see it! Our garden did fairly well this year, except the beans which all got eaten up by the Japanese beetles (or whatever those nuisances are called... I miss my chickens!) We're still learning how to grow things up north... still haven't produced enough to can or preserve very much. This year I made some salsa, and last year I canned a few green beans. We've still got a lot of tomatoes, carrots, onions, and pumpkins. Already went through all the potatoes, lettuce, corn, and so forth. I've found a variety of tomatoes that we love... they're smaller than most cherry tomatoes but have one of the most powerful tastes of any tomato I've ever tried, and they grow and produce like crazy here. They're Matt's Wild Cherry (available from Johnny's Seed). Thanks to the chipmunks, we now have them planted all over our yard and garden, but I enjoy them so much that when they come up as volunteers, I try to leave as many as possible because they'll get eaten. They seem to handle the first frosts better than other varieties, too. Last year we were out of town when the first freeze hit. We came home to mostly sad and wilted tomato plants, but the wild cherry varieties only looked a little nipped, and they continued to produce for a few more weeks.
In OK, we'd gotten to the veggie and fruit self-sustenance point, but have never achieved it here... growing season is much shorter and there are a lot more garden pests to deal with than I've ever had to before. Each year we get a little better, though. Unfortunately we can't expand the garden any without cutting down some trees, so we have to be content with depending on the local orchards, farmers markets and the grocery store. :-/
I was reading more ont he papercrete and I am not sure it will work for some of the ideas I had apparantly it holds water like a sponge so it wont work for stepping stones who wants to step on a wet sponge? But I do think it will work for planters and I think it will work especially well for planters I will be using in the desert if I can seal the outside and make it so the water is released bact into the planter it may be jsut the ticket for that drought ridden area. I also think the papercrete will make a lovely hearth I can build it with the flat stones i have been collecting and it will actually work as a heat sink too.
Hmegrown tomatoes you should try french intensive gardening in raised beds I have used this method for my gardens for years and you just plant everything really thick using companion planting like tomatoes and carrots inthe same bed, and make the beds deep and high and I even plant stuff (strawberries) on the sides of the beds because I never cared about how things looked or if stuff like volunteers grow in the paths, just as long as I have a spot to step and someplace i can park the wheelbarrow to harvest. After the first year you rarely have to pull a weed at all and they save water once the plants are established. And after the first year the digging is easy and minimal. I saw an idea recently too that says you can use straw bales to form the outer walls of the beds and that would make it better with kids and dogs around. I have noticed that kids and dogs tend to stay in the paths better than in a gardens with a flat surface.
A garden is good for anything you can get out of it, Homegrown. Much better than the store. :)
The papercrete does soak up water, Tanya, Not real tough structurally but it is a solid object. I have only read up on it and seen the above project. Maybe the hypertufa would be a better product for the garden stuff.
I'm also in favor of the French intensive gardening for home use. Composted horse manure - 100% has been used successfully. I like to add about 1/3 soil - maybe ashes too for other necessary minerals. Seems it still needs some fertilizer - all purpose. We had great results this year - our first year with a ground based garden instead of on our roof (Still have the roof garden too but want to change some of it and fix a few problem areas.. We went to the two foot rock walls - foot of topsoil on the bottom and a foot of composted horse manure and 1/3 soil mix on top.
The straw bales will grow stuff also if covered with manure and manure tea, and will probably decompose in one year or less, but still good stuff to build the soil.
Actually, we do garden intensively in raised beds as well as using edible landscaping (though I'm not giving the French any credit for it!). We just have a really shady yard and a relatively short growing season. I figure we'll just enjoy garden produce in season and deal with it out of season for now... hopefully we won't have too many more seasons of growing up here!!! I'd like to be back somewhere where I can grow anything and the neighbors are smart enough to be thankful for chickens!
Anything (organic) that's supposed to get lawn grubs gets the Japanese beetle/masked chafer bug larvae, because those are the two main lawn grubs.
When I moved here there were shrubs along the road, no giant ragweed. The utility company kills everything they can, so they killed the shrubs (wild hydrangea as well as the dreaded privet) and now the area is choked with giant ragweed. Which I didn't get before it bloomed this year because of knee problems (I've still got knee problems). They're even proud of killing shrubs so that weeds will grow.
I don't think they Round-upped a rose by the road--quite. But they tried. Did get the tomato beds.
So this year for the first time I seem to be allergic to ragweed.
Bless their little hearts.
Speaking of papercrete and fire--if there's not enough cement/concrete in it, it can burn very strangely, you might not notice it until it was a block of ash, and it collapsed into ashes. According to what was going around a few years ago.
Doesn't take much concrete/cement, though, IIRC.
but that, and draining the blocks (that water is right nasty, I gather) is what made me think that papercrete wasn't for me.
My allergies were triggered big time a year after we moved to NM.My allergist said that's a common occurrence. :-/
Yep.
When I visited my (now late) parents on Rota (north of Guam), the first couple of times I wasn't allergic to the molds and mildews there.
Might had gone away again by now. ;)
Vancenase or Beconase about once or twice per year gets rid of my hay fever - sniffles etc. Yeah - I know --- empowering the pharmaceutical companies. :(
Funny thing... my allergies were so bad this summer here that I finally broke down and tried taking stuff for them. Since they changed the formulation of Sudafed, it doesn't do diddly-squat for my symptoms, and Claritin makes me feel like I downed a whole pot of coffee in one gulp, and Benadryl knocks me out cold, I finally picked up a tiny little bottle that my mom had bought at a health food store for my husband. It just says "Seasonal Allergy Relief" and looking at the ingredients, it's got things like cedar pollen and ragweed pollen in it. They taste like little baby aspirin (does anyone else remember what i'm talking about... I don't think they even make them anymore.) I couldn't believe it worked better than any of the above to help with itchy eyes, runny nose, sore throat, and sinus headache. They don't seem to work as fast as the better known stuff, but they sure work better for me. I was pretty skeptical, but if I ever run out of them, you can bet I'll be hunting some more of them down!
The two above are prescription -sprays that you sniff a few timess a season. I learned about them from an old horse doctor who had allergies and found the cure. It works quite well for most people but you sometimes have to ask your doc for a prescription for them as they don't all seem to know about it.
When my hayfever gets really bad I take children's benedryl the liquid kind so I can take only half a dose I can handle that without getting all knocked out. If I have to take a full dose I take it at night and then I am fine the next day. By the way I like having hte liquid benedryl inthe house and one inthe car. I have had several instances where we have needed it ont he spot up in the high mountains hours away from medical facilities. Bees nests and such. Plus I have seen a couple of people who were never allergic to bees and meds all of a suden become allergic and not know waht was going on until they were in serious trouble and even jsut a short way fromt he doc a quick spoonful does wonders until you can get them there.
Picked a peck of peppers today -- seems I did that last year too. :)
More this year though. Already about 10 bags in the freezer.
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The lone head of cabbage I had planted when I knew it would be too hot (planted several) but it survived and will appear in another thread. :)
Impressive load of peppers, Glenn.
And just in case you were wondering "What the heck is a peck?"
A "Peck" is 8 dry quarts, a bushel is 4 pecks or 32 dry quarts.
And Peter Piper's peck of peppers were already pickled.... something strange going on in his garden.
I've always wondered about Peter's pickled peppers and how that happened. Maybe Peter was pickled also. :-?
Thanks for the number's Don. :)
There are still more of the smaller ones in the garden. Still growing season left here.
Nice having excess freezer space now that we have the bigger one. Lots more food in storage this year.
I filled up 4 gallon bags for the freezer besides the ones I cooked. I just freeze them whole most of the time. They are great for cooking.
been eating fresh limes and emons off the young trees of late...
Last week I picked a lime and I spent an hour just smelling it...As it was picked off the tree... My wife was looking at me funny and she asked if I was on drugs...I told her yes...I just found the lime to be the sweetest most refreshing smell ever...Told her that must be what it is like to be on drugs or whatever...It was euphoric for me at least...
Almost a shame to peel and eat the limes when they smell that wonderful..
I never knew they could be that tasty and smell so good.... you do not get that at the supermarket with their produce
Sassy how do you freeze the peppers so that they keep and are crisp for later use?
I don't think there's any way to keep a once frozen pepper crisp. That's why they're only good for cooking. :'(
That's great hearing your trees put out for you Peter.
Peter, the peppers don't stay crisp :( but are wonderful for cooking - especially in the off-season when they are so expensive.
I love the smell of limes, too. We have orange, grapefruit & lemon & kumquat trees at our house in the valley. My dad & brother have lots of citrus trees also that I can pick fresh fruit from - but no one has any limes - don't know why we don't... :-?
It's great you are getting fruit off your new trees - I ate plums (4 different kinds grafted on 1 tree) for a couple months off the tree (they were a little green when I 1st started eating them) in the mtns, & had wonderful "red flame" grapes at our place in the valley for 2 months - they ripened at different stages - we also had some Thompson seedless green grapes - yummie - much better than store bought.
Now, I need some Fuji apple trees & of course, a lime tree :) Our orange trees up here haven't been producing yet - I think something eats a lot of the blooms. We did get a lot of little fruit but they dried up & fell off before they grew much on the orange trees we planted this past spring. Oh, peach, cherry & apricot would be good, also :) We have a cherry tree in the valley but I need to prune it - it's gotten so tall you can't get up to the top & it hasn't been producing as many cherries.
Somebody should invent a little lime jock strap for you two so you could just walk around with a nice lime strapped under your nose. ;D
sassy I am jealous sounds like a wonderful orchard...
Our fruit trees are only a couple years old so the fruit is not full size to what you would see in the grocery store and the trees only produce a handful of fruit each...
Sorry glenn I was like a 4 year old with a shiny flashy toy...I was just amazed with how sweet and great the fresh limes smelled
My wife and I thought we would enjoy the fruits of our labours but we had no idea we would enjoy the fruit trees this much...my wife wants to get half a dozen more fruit trees.
i was disappointed with the garden.... only tomatoes and cukes survived... my wife grew some peppers in potted planters along the side of the house... nothing else lived...
I do not have green thumbs it seems...
I am going to compost my leaves this winter and the garden will be bigger and better fertilized for next spring...I want fresh corn squash (which is my favorite..I can eat butternut squash with supper 3 nights a week and be hungry for more...and I dunno why my potatoes did not make it... they are supposed to be easier to grow than tomatoes...I want potatoes also
I need to get a book I guess and get reading...For everything else in life I usually try it and then if there is not total success I get the idiot guide for book or the nearest facsimilie to it.... and then try again
Our potatoes never do very well up here for some reason so don't feel bad! That was the 2nd year for our plum tree - the 1st year it rained & snowed on all the blooms so only ended up with about 5 plums - this year I had to keep thinning the plums - they broke just about every branch even though I put up supports for them :'( so hopefully we still get some fruit next summer. It takes time to learn what everything needs & some years certain things do great & others don't & then other years it will be the opposite... so you just keep planting & hopefully you'll get a harvest - it's always much better than store bought! :)
How do you cook your butternut squash? We have a whole bunch of them in our garden. We also have lots of huge hubbard's, spaghetti squash & acorn squash. Hopefully we'll be able to store them for a few months during the winter.
I will probably steam quite a few & freeze them - that way, they'll be ready to fix without a lot of preparation. I'm going to try a squash soup today - if you have any good recipes, let me know! I'm looking a recipes on the internet.
Sorry Sassy
nothing fancy with me and the squash...
Mostly I cook them in the oven... cut them in half lengthwise... place them in a cookie sheet.... spice the open side freely... and cover with foil... and let it bake.... when you can stick a fork in it with no resistance it is done... and the spices will have been absorbed into the squash somewhat...
We cook them all summer long on the barbeque... sort of the way you wrap a sweet potatoe in foil with spices and butter and throw it on the coals... I do the same with the squash.... turning it every so often so as not to burn it...
We love the roasted taste of cooking it on the coals with spices wrapped up in foil...
not exactly gourmet I know... I am a simple man when it comes to cooking...I just try to get good food and get r done for supper.
QuoteI I'm looking a recipes on the internet.
Cooks www.cooks.com has loads of recipes
Hey, thanks, MtnDon, for the link! Your dinners always sound so creative & yummie! I've gotten more like Benevolance - the simpler, the better, as long as it tastes good & is, for the most part, healthy :)
Was looking over the recipes for butternut squash - I think I will end up just fixing them with butter & brown sugar... I looked at the soups - some sounded good but I don't have the ingredients on hand, some didn't sound so good - a lot of them called for squash, apples, onions & chicken broth - doesn't sound too good to me :P
i make sort of a mean beef stew soup... make the stew... with carrots onions and potatoes in the casserole dish and we have a serving..... after that when it is half gone I cut up the rest of the roast and then throw it into a pot with the natural gravy veggies and let it simmer and we have lazy man soup the next day....
Other than that I am not really accomplished at making soups...I would like to start though my wife and I love to eat hot soup after working outside in the yard in the winter time... And soups and a healthy sandwich is a nice light meal that will not make you feel bloated or lazy... Since can soup are all sodium we do not eat those ever....my wife has pestered me many times to start making soups for her lunch at school... Where the school food is pure crap!
We got a crock pot from someone at our wedding...I never use it...I remember someone telling me it was great for making soups in.... perhaps I can suprise the wife with a hearty soup.... I know when I make fresh bread (have a couple loaves rising on the counter as we speak) that we love to have chili or a roast to go with the fresh bread.... Fresh soups with the bread would be good too I think
I like the dumplings that float around on the stew and cook too. Even if I use Bisquick. :)
never heard of bisquick dumplings.... share glenn please sounds like a good idea
Quotenever heard of bisquick dumplings.... share glenn please sounds like a good idea
Gotta be something here, Peter.
http://www.bettycrocker.com/Products/Bisquick
yep... http://www.bettycrocker.com/SearchResults.aspx?searchText=dumplings
From the box...
2 cups Bisquick
2/3 cup milk
Stir
Drop by spoonfuls onto boiling stew, reduce heat
Cook uncovered 10 minutes, cover and cook an additional 10 minutes
They will be white steamed floating biscuits that go great with the stew. :)
So simple, even I can do it. ;D
You beat me, Don. Probably lots more pretty good stuff there too. :)
AAAW. I was just too lazy to get the box out, Glenn. :-[
well if they are really good I guess it is not plasphemy to not make them from scratch
I am all for things that are quick and easy.... hehe that is why I married the wife... :o
rotflmao.... okay that was wrong.... but funny.... I will stop that now.. must be the newcastles
You are lucky to have found a woman who is broad minded enough to marry a guy who is quick and easy, Peter. Good choice. They are rare indeed. :)
As you grow older and gain more self control you will find you are able to take things a bit slower and make it a more satisfying experience for all involved. ::)
...unless she gets tired of waiting. :-?
I can see it all now. :o
"Peter. My patience is growing thin here..." :o ;D
All of this from teaching you to make dumplings to go with your things from the garden -- what a bargain. :)
glenn
you are forgetting something...
wedding cake man... remember it kills a womans sexual appetite!
When I get older instead of learning anything about self control I will have to send my wife a text message to tell her I care instead of look towards the bedroom or whatever
Sassy and I sit in chairs that are about 3 feet apart when on the computer in the evenings, so since we each have our own laptop computer, we find it convenient to e-mail each other. :)
wow.. too much info glenn
;)
Benevolance, try making a soup stock from leftover chicken next time you have chicken, and then freeze the stock in small enough batches for one meal. I freeze soup stock in leftover yogurt (qt. size) containers, and then can pull them out and make a soup or stew that tastes like it's been simmering on the stove all day in a matter of minutes. Just cover the chicken bones with water and add a few stalks of celery, an onion (skin and all), a couple of carrots, and a bay leaf or two. It's nice if you have leftover meat to put in, too. I mix roast and chicken, and the leftovers of a Thanksgiving turkey can make a LOT of soup stock. Anyway, let it cook all day, and if you're too busy to deal with it, all night. When you get around to it, pick any good meat off the bones and strain the broth into freezer containers. I always mash the veggies into the strainer a little bit. I don't care if it does make the stock thicker and/or cloudier because it tastes better. Then, when we want soup, I just get a quart or two of stock out and add vegetables and spices. It's good, hot, and filling, and so much better than soup made with canned broth or boullion. Sometimes I salt the stock and sometimes I don't, but I always try to label them so I'll know which ones have salt and if they have any meat or not (sometimes I'm just left with stock and no real meat to throw in.) Anyway, it makes you a soup expert right away if you start with a good hearty stock.
Sounds really good, Homegrown. With our two freezers now, we can do more of that stuff. :)
There ya go, Glenn... freeze you a few batches of it and then next time you're hungry for some of your bisquick dumplings, you just pull some out and heat it up and there you go. I like to put roasted/baked meat in because it tastes better to me... ie. have baked chicken for dinner and then put whatever is leftover (bones and all) into the stock pot. Sometimes I roast oxtails and soup bones and onions first, and then make the stock from that and leftover potroast. We don't waste anything around here. By the time the chicken bones have simmered for a day and a night, they're so soft that I don't worry about letting the dog eat them, though I usually do pick out the onions because they don't agree with his stomach. He loves the chicken bones and the carrots and celery that are all mashed together. I usually try to get a little meat in the stock at least, but don't always have enough to go around. When I get to the containers of meatless stock, I use those to make kimchee chigae (Korean cabbage soup) and I add a can of tuna. The traditional one is made with beef or pork, but we recently discovered that the hot and spicy (and sour) flavor goes really well with tuna, too.
I think it was Sassy saying earlier that she wasn't sure about those recipes calling for squash, apples, onions, and chicken broth... I kind of feel the same way. They're OK to me, but not great. I think the curried squash ones are a little better, myself, and then the apples don't taste out of place with them. I did learn a fun trick a few years back though-- hollow the squash (or pumpkin) out and then cook your stew in the oven inside the squash/pumpkin. I made curry for Thanksgiving year before last this way... chicken curry with all kinds of veggies, including some sweet squash. You put a little olive oil on the outside of the pumpkin before you stick it in the oven and it comes out all shiny and dark glossy orange. (Bake it with the "lid" on top of the pumpkin to keep it from bubbling all over the oven. When you serve the soup, scrape out the inside of the pumpkin with it... it's really yummy this way, and it looks really neat for a special dinner. I cooked the stew meat before putting it in the pumpkin and then added all the veggies and spices when I put it in the pumpkin and baked it for about an hour. I think there are pictures of the pumpkins on our website in the Thanksgiving album, but I'm not sure... they were in the Thanksgiving spread one of those years.
Get the most out of your chicken -- sounds like you use everything but the Cackle. :)
Pretty much... never have quite been able to bring myself to eat the chicken feet like they serve in some Chinese dim sum restaurants. And I had a friend from Malaysia who swore trout eyeballs were delicious, but I usually left the trout's head intact. (Would've made fish stock with the head, though...) You ever wonder about the first person to decide to eat some stuff? Like squid... who looked at THAT and thought it looked like something to stick in your mouth?? I had a roommate in college from Zimbabwe and she was thoroughly grossed out that anyone would eat lobsters and shrimp, yet she used to rave about the flavor of roasted field mice and corn porridge. :P My great-grandma loved pickled pigs feet, but that's one of those things I've yet to try, too (at least, knowingly.)
Sassy just went out to the garden and picked some nice carrots and tomatoes to take to the other house and work with her.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000662.jpg)
Those cherokee purples look really good. Pretty much the rest of our garden froze last night.
Our tomatoes are starting to rejuvenate after the hot summer. All blooming again. I don't know how long it will last but was thinking of covering them with plastic before frost.
Cherokee purple are one of our better ones. I like the Brandywines for stewed tomatoes as they are tangy but most of ours are really ugly.
I grew brandywines the first year we were here, but didn't care for them much as the texture was really mealy... but I think it may just be the climate/soil here. Beefsteak tomatoes here don't seem to have as much flavor as they did back home, and the texture isn't as good. The yellow pear tomatoes and cherry tomatoes all seem to do better in this climate and our yard. One of my good friends back home grew Cherokee purples one year that must've weighed a pound each... they were really good, too, but we got a kick out of our co-workers who wouldn't eat them because they thought they were rotting because of the color. Sigh... I miss having friends nearby who garden, so we can swap varieties and grow what the others lack in their gardens...it is always nice when my potatoes grow like crazy to have a friend who didn't get any because her garden spot was too wet or dry, or to get zucchini from a friend because I didn't mess with them this year.
I have to work on the potato problem this coming year. They don't like me and I don't know why, but hope to figure it out.
The winter stuff is looking good except the ones I transplanted are a bit droopy.
Weird, I replied to this thread this morning, but it must have gotten lost in the switch-over... my daughter was looking out the window this morning and getting all teary eyed because our garden is dying off.
That's exactly what happened, Homegrown and I replied that I would take pictures for her to look at until she got a new one growing.
...and here they are special for her.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000664.jpg)
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000669.jpg)
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000667.jpg)
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000668.jpg)
She said thank you... she thought the petunias must smell really good.
My pleasure. Tell her I will check the next time I go out there. I haven't really stopped to smell them. :-\
Will do. Think we're going to go rake leaves today to burn off some energy because it is supposed to get colder the rest of the week... even though it is kind of misty out there now. Kids need to be outdoors. It isn't good for them to be cooped up all winter.
Hey.......a garden thread
I have these to trade 12-36
Aunt Ruby's German Green
Beefsteak
Big Zac
Black Prince
Brandywine Pink
Cherokee Purple
Coyote (Yellow Cherry)
Debbie Beefsteak
Early Glee
Evergreen
Farmer's Red
Gardner's Delight
Gold Currant
Golden Sunburst
Mortgage Lifter Estler's Strain
Moskovich
Mr. Stripey
Negro Azteca
Northern Lights
Orange Banana
Pruden's Purple
Reif Red Heart
Roma
Ruby Gold
Shaker Village
Tappy's Heritage
Yellow Pear
Looking for these:
Alaskan Fancy
Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Red
Arknasas Traveler
Black Sea Man
Caro Rich
Dinner Plate
Dixie Golden Giant
Dr. Wyche's yellow
Garden Peach
Georgia Steak
German Head
Giant Belgium
Golden Ponderosa
Italian Giant Beefsteak
Kentucky Beefsteak
Lillian's Yellow Heirloom
Manitoba
Moon Glow
Mule Team
New Yorker
Pld Brooks
Old German
Omar's Lebanese
Orange Strawberry
Sausage
Sunray
Thessaloniki
Vintage Wine
Watermelon Beefsteak
Wins All
Earl/MI
Today I had the little buggers get up into my storage shed after the hay. Deer babies, to cute!!! But they better stay out of that hay!! I don't know what to do the darn dogs refuse to chase them, the hay costs a fortune this year, they are town deer so nothing at all scares them or keeps them away I may have to tame them and sell tickets just so I can buy more hay.
Homegrown, I smelled the flowers for your daughter -- good but not real strong.
Here are some carrots, a little parsnip and the big Swede that is in our soup tonight.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000724-1.jpg)
Northern Mich, we only seem to have some of the plants that are on your have list, and even they are probably not pure as we grow several varieties in close proximity to each other.
Glenn, what variety of carrots are you growing there? Those things are monstrous, like the ones we used to get in Korea. I like the big ones for cooking (= less washing and cutting, ha ha.) I like the little ones for eating raw. I bought the rainbow variety from Johnny's last year and the kids really liked them... they thought the white and yellow ones were neat... red ones didn't like it here. I harvested the last ones from our garden Dec. 1st in the midst of a snowstorm. They were absolutely delicious, and so crunchy I almost hated to throw them in the stew, so I ended up putting them in at the last minute and turning off the burner as soon as they were starting to get crisp. By my third bowl of stew, they were getting softer, but the first ones were perfect. Really ready for the seed catalog season... promised my daughter we'd get seeds for gray pumpkins this coming year. We were in the hardware store here a few weeks ago and they had a bunch of squash on display and she was all excited about the big gray pumpkins... the lady running the store told her she could take one home if she wanted, so I told them to choose one. However, they got into a fight about which one, and the younger one really wanted a light yellow-green pumpkin, which was the biggest one there... we ended up compromising on the deal, because the only reason my older one wanted them in the first place was for the seeds.... she ended up taking one of the "carnival" varieties of acorn squash instead of the big gray pumpkin she really wanted, and the little one got her great pumpkin. So, now she'll never let me forget that I let the little one have her choice and as a result I "owe" her seeds for a gray pumpkin. ???
I think those were nantes or danver's half long. Doesn't matter how big they get, still crisp & not bitter at all. These were very good - better than some of the little ones I've eaten. I also planted some red carrots, don't remember the name - the seeds were from the catalog "Seed Savers Exchange" the red ones were heirloom.
Made 3 sweet potato pies this afternoon. I'd baked a bunch of sweet potatoes Sunday for our get-together with some friends & had several left. Haven't tried a piece yet - I added pineapple & put pecans on top & sprinkled a little bit of coconut also. Hopefully they're good. Never tried the recipe before, looked it up on the internet. My brother-in-law custom farms several hundred acres of sweet potatoes in the valley so we can get all we want from him. Yummm
I think those were the half longs as Sassy said. We planted lots of them for several years so many of them volunteer from plants we let go to seed.
I think it's the horse manure compost that makes them so big and yummy.:)
We just went to the grocery store for a few things. Glenn was looking at prices for rutabagas - $1.79 lb - the one he picked from our garden must have weighed 3 or 4 lbs. The peppers were $2.99 lb & we're still growing those in the garden even though it's frozen at night for the past 3 nights. The plastic hoop house over the plants is really helping! :)
Can't believe those were half-longs....You must be doing something right.
Sassy that pie sounds delicious... how could you go wrong with pineapple and coconut and so forth... I tried a recipe for popcorn pie from TMEN here a while back, and it was really good, especially with coffee, but I think it needed another egg or something... some more fat, maybe? It had a good flavor, but was a little dry, especially for a pie... I'll probably add butter and another egg on the next go-round.
I've been looking for rutabagas in the grocery store here, but haven't been able to find them... I've never tried them, so I wanted to. They should be here because I know a lot of people around here grow them.
The basic recipe was: 3 cups mashed sweet potatoes, 1 & 1/4 cups sugar, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup evaporated milk, 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice, 1 tsp cinnamon & 1/4 cup melted butter. I didn't really measure the potatoes, doubled the other ingredients & put in 6 eggs, can of pineapple chunks, sprinkled coconut & pecans on top & baked until done. Seems I can never leave a recipe alone ::) But it turned out real tasty. Enough to make 3 pies :) so will freeze a couple.
Couldn't believe the price of rutabagas in the store - but we really like them, don't know if I'd ever had them before.
Sassy I can't believe you bought rudabagas at the store. The avid gardner you and glen are I would have thought you would have raised them yourself. A friend of mine raises them from seed. The trick is not to hill them in like potatos. Just plant in regular level soil and them will make their own room. I think this year he said he had 5 bushels that he puts in the root cellar.
We just looked at the prices of Rutabagas in the store -- 1.79 per lb. that made the one we grew worth about $6.00. Peppers were $2.99 and I probably picked 5 lbs -- that is $15 -- I was just trying to justify the cost of the roll of plastic to keep the plants from freezing -- still getting ripe tomatoes and peppers and they are still blooming.
There are still a few of the summer rutabagas left but letting them grow. I have a whole new crop coming on too. Broccoli and Cauliflower are growing good - rather crowded but we'll see, and I started cabbage seedlings ad kohlrabi also. They are growing slow but up.
I bet your little plastic hoop house will work well... when we were in OK, I made a little one over one of my raised beds and gardened all winter. Several times i forgot to cover it up when then temp was well below freezing, but perhaps because it was so well insulated (straw bales) and raised, even when the spinach looked completely frostbitten, it sprang right back to life as soon as the temp was above freezing.
I'm hoping we don't get a real killer frost that overpowers it. I'm off to work today -- got a real job. :)
Sorry Sassy I misread your post. I thought you said that Glenn bought Rudabagas at the store. I see now he was just pricing. One thing nice about country living. If you didn't raise it someone else did and they mysteriously show up at the door. Neighbor dropped off a bushel of potatos yesterday.
Redoverfarm, no problem :) We just like to look at all the money we are saving when we see the prices in the stores. What a nice surprise, having a bushel of potatoes dropped at your doorstep! [cool]
Homegrown, we don't cover any of the winter veggies like spinach, swiss chard, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, turnips, beets, etc - sometimes the leaves will look all droopy & frozen, but as soon as they thaw out, they look great - even when they have been covered with up to 9 inches of snow - they bounce right back. We're trying to see if we can keep the summer veggies going as long as possible.
I usually covered even the cool season crops back home because the way the temperature suddenly changes (often 40 degrees one way or the other over a very short period) does tend to be hard on even the toughest crops. There was one night the local peeping tom took one of the concrete blocks off the edge of the plastic to try to look in our bathroom window, and the cover blew partially off. I don't remember what the actual temperature was, but the wind chill that night was something like -10 and some of our inside pipes even froze (with the heaters sitting there right by them!) I went out the next morning and the spinach looked destroyed and I felt kind of sad... well, later in the day it got above freezing and if those darn things didn't perk right back up! I have better luck with the curly-leafed spinach varieties than the flat leaf, FWIW... they seem to be more impervious to cold.
Ug... I hate winter. I know it is months before I can plant anything outdoors, yet I am already itching to do it. We've got snow that is over the tops of my snowboots, and here I am daydreaming of spring already. It's going to be a long winter at this rate. Ready for the seed catalogs to come out... we don't even know where we're going to be in the spring... if we'll still be here or elsewhere.... d*
That really sounds terrible, Homegrown. :( I mean...really. I just couldn't handle that.
We like Seedsavers for heirloom seeds.
http://www.seedsavers.org/winter08.htm
I like their catalog, but admit that I've never ordered from them... I like Johnny's a lot, too. They have great customer service. It's always funny to me to call them with my order and end up talking over seed varieties with whoever answers the phone because they're actually people who garden themselves. Last year, I must have been on the phone with the order gal for 20 minutes to half an hour, about 2/3 of that time was talking about how to adjust to the short growing season here and what varieties she'd had luck with in Maine (they could tell by listening to me that I wasn't a native of Wisconsin...) ???
By the way, it is getting to me... think I'm gonna snap. My husband is talking about waiting until mid-January or February and taking a vacation to go job hunting in the south. It got above freezing (33) today and really isn't too bad, but as much as anything it is just knowing how long it will last. The kids are so short that they can't walk across the yard in the snow without it coming over and down into the tops of their boots, or going up their pants legs... little one especially hates that. Maybe after I get her all bundled up I should wrap her in saran wrap to the waist?? ;D Seriously, I'm sick of it already... the sun is at such a low angle all winter that it seems like sundown all day long to me. Husband had to go out and shovel for a couple of hours last night so that he could get the car out today because he had to drive; he doesn't want me doing it because he figures I'm achy enough just from being pregnant.
Oh well, at least it is warm inside... we're about 2/3 of the way done with the cookie baking caper.
One of the guys on a job I'm on mentioned that many businesses are slow right now. Hope you're not stuck there.
Our garden is still alive -- The plastic has saved the tomatoes and peppers so far - if they don't get some kind of mold disease. No signs of any yet but not here enough to give them breathers and air out often lately.
I'm wondering what's going on because my husband was supposed to have a phone interview with a company in OKC yesterday and they never called... he came home early and waited for over an hour for them and nothing! He was pretty steamed. Maybe they decided that they couldn't afford to hire someone else yet??? They could've at least called and let him know.
I've read that moving ranks up with losing a loved one in the realm of stress, but I want to move so badly I can't stand it...staying through the winter ranks higher in stress to me, I guess! ;D We want to be closer to home because my grandma is getting on up there in years and I'd like to be close enough to go down and help her once a week or so... however, at this point I'd settle for a warmer climate and land, even if it wasn't significantly closer to home. d*
I ordered a bunch of seed catalogs a couple of weeks ago and they still are not here even though the web site said it would take about ten days. I want those seed catalogs so I hope they arrive soon. I started parsley the other day and picked all the peppers and pulled the plants they don't seem to be doing much anymore. the cherry tomatoes are still prolific and most are getting red but I am not noticing as many green ones or blooms coming on so they are next. I found my cilantro seed so tomorrow I will start that too and alyssum and forget me nots. I still have to order seed for the lavendar and rosemary so I hope those catalogs arrive soon. I am sick of the Christmas decorations already I want my garden and I don't care if I have to do it indoors under lights. getting soil in this town in the middle of winter is a challenge too and all the regualr dirt is frozen solid under a lot of snow. I have no patience today.
Tanya have you ever considered hydroponic(sp?) as an alternative to winter time growing. That is if you have the space.
Misery must love company because it makes me feel a little better knowing that I am not the only one who gets in a rush for spring. ;D
If I were in zone 7 or warmer, I know how to garden all through the winter, but up here I don't have the resources and the sunny space to do so. The sun is so low all winter that very little of our yard receives adequate sunlight to attept year-round gardening. Same problem inside as we don't have but two small south facing windows in the whole house. The builders of this house chose view over efficiency... all the windows are on the north, east and west. Last year I tried grow lights in the basement, which kept my houseplants alive through the winter, but it was too cold for much to sprout... the ones that did sprout were stunted. The basement is pretty darn chilly all day long in winter, with the cold storage room often freezing. The previous owner was a butcher, and when we moved in, I noticed that he had a bunch of meat hooks attached to the rafters in the laundry room and in the cold storage room, so I figure that probably doubled as a walk-in fridge/freezer during the cold months.
I have considered hydroponics but right now theexpense isn't something I want to get into. I have a huge wall of south facing windows and plenty of room to get going with some bedding plants in that part of the house, sort of a garden room off of the living room but not seperated by a wall jsut a little divider. I think I might supplement the sunlight with some grow lights for the next month or so. I just have to be careful to only start the slow growing stuff this early because those faster growing plants grow right out of thier pots and even fill up the space to the point where they end up all scrawny and stretched out. So as much as I would like to start some cukeumbers it isn't time yet unless of course I could get those seed catalogs and find some of the patio shrub type. In the meantime I am looking at ideas and plans for garden decor like maybe building some of those hypertufa troughs I was thinking about earlier inthe fall. Maybe some concrete birdbaths and garden nomes too. Today though is the day to shift gears and get ready for the holiday since I cursed the decorations with my complining I now have to take down the string of lights tht burnt out half way throught he strand and that means taking down everything that is part of that display. And we have company coming so I have to fix the guest room, make more cookies, etc. etc. etc.
Woo-hoo!!! Got Johnny's 2008 catalog in the mail today, so I've spent the last hour and a half poring over it with my daughters. Can't express how much it brightened my day. DD was not satisfied that they had the variety of gray pumpkins she wanted, so she picked out a gray winter squash that resembled what she wanted, but then announced that she'd wait and see what the other catalogs have to offer in the way of the perfect gray pumpkin. It is insane that I am even looking, because we don't even know if we'll be here come spring, or if we'll be in any sort of permanent place, and seeing as I'll be having a baby right in the beginning of the serious gardening season... but it didn't stop me from having a ball looking. :) I get a little goofy in the middle of the winter! DH is doing everything in his power to find a job closer to home... the weather is getting to him far more than it did in the past... he hasn't seen the sun in weeks, other than when it was out during Christmas, and then he was in the garage changing the oil in the car. The kids desperately want to move back home, too, so we're looking, but figure come spring we'll probably be somewhere temporary rather than in a permanent location with the land we so want. Still, you never know. If DH finds something in the next month or two, we could move soon, rent for a few months and maybe sell and buy all before planting season. It wouldn't be the first time that I've ever planted pregnant or with a baby in a sling... besides, I have two excited and dedicated little helpers who plant enough for us and all the critters.
It is snowing to beat the band out there... and I'm dreaming of warm dirt and sprouting seeds. ;D I seriously dreamed about spring last night. Could be influenced by the hormones, too, I guess... I remember having some pretty wild dreams about gardening when I was pregnant with my oldest... I remember one where I had to get an extension ladder to climb up this tall trellis on which I was growing watermelons, of all things... I carried down a watermelon that was too big to fit in the wheel barrow.
rofl I guess it's all those hormones...
It snowed here this am & we're supposed to get another storm... I need to get down the mountain to the valley -I work all through New Years.
Carrying watermelons -- hmm what made you think of that?
Sassy is off to the valley for work and I'm just plain off. [crz]
Yeah, but we already knew that, Glenn. ;D
Got a load of seaweed to cover three of our lasagna garden beds. Then I emptied the compost bin of the black gold contents and covered the seaweed. Should cook up nice by spring.
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/P1020966.jpg)
Yeah that is snow in the right side of the frame. It looked like we were going to have a white Christmas then a Nor'easter hit us with rain and washed just about all of it away. Tshirt chopping wood and doing the garden today. That's New England for you.
I think you need some old timey headstones, Daddymem.
???
Sorry John -- Looking at his composted garden plots reminded me of our little town of Hornitos.
The ground was so hard they had to bury the dead in little mounds on top the ground -- they called the town Hornitos because the graves reminded them of little ovens of earth built above the ground like they do in Mexico.
Makes great tasting bread though. ;D
I was thinking it looked like pygmy graves... they're too short to be otherwise.
;D
Well I am still waiting on the garden catalogs but in the mean time I have found a great resource for trays and cell packs cheap so I have faith that this is a good opportunity for getting my greenhouse business going. I am thinking of starting a bunch of lettuce, broccolli and other early things and then reusing the trays with new cell packs for the later stuff, cukes, cantalopes etc. It should all work out well. I also found some fluorescent lights for cheap to supplement the lighting until they can all go outside in the greenhouse and I found the soil mix locally after all, so that is a huge surprise. Spring is here with all the right preparations I suppose, as long asn you don't go outside. And it really isn't to bad outside today but there is a lot of snow and more on the way so it will be awhile yet before I can actually garden we have to get through mud season after winter still. My friend who is a hortorculturist is coming this week to help me out and I am very excited. I am practical and she is fanciful so it should be pretty interesting by the time all is said and done. She cooks and cleans too so I can't wait to have her here. We are also planning my daughters baby shower so we will be busy as bees. My first grandbaby is due in feb. or march so I am also going crazy with excitement for that. I have been buying such adorable clothes and the nursery furniture and car seat so we are prepared. It is all about the waiting now. My daughter and her husband are going to be so happy too. They never expected she could get pregnant due to a birth defect and they did't think the pregnancy would survice but it has and is very healthy according to the Dr. Now they just better stick to their agreement, I get the baby on weekends, summers, vacations etc. If they don't bring her over for my visits I can always go stay at their house. I think for hte baby shower i will make fruit punch, tea, strawberry shortcake and cukeumber sandwhiches. And either we are having a "no kids" request or renting the hall, at the wedding there were over 150 kids under age 10 and I knew they said there would be lots of kids but that is beyond any person's comprehension. My son in law comes from a huge family with lots of siblings and they all have lots of kids too. The cake will be huge!!!
Tanya, congrats to you and DD and her husband on the miracle baby... that's great. Baby showers are a lot of fun... I have a friend who has a HUGE family and because they own a little restaurant, a lot of friends and acquaintances who were anxious to welcome the baby. She got so much stuff for the baby that they couldn't even store it in their house! She ended up storing the bigger items in the upstairs of the restaurant because they didn't know what else to do with it. With our first DD, we ended up having something like 3 showers... my family and friends back home had a huge one, and then my co-workers had a surprise one, and then a week after she was born, our church threw yet another amid our protests that enough was enough. I don't think we bought a single thing for either of the girls until they were more than 2 or 3 years old.
As to planting stuff indoors, I've given up here... there just isn't enough space, warmth, light, etc. in our house.
Well I have lived inthis house for three years with plenty of space, light etc. I just always planned to move so I didn't get into it and also this house is freezing cold in winter so I thought they would all freeze out anyway. This year though I have the hay stacked along the walls that don't have insulation so that is helping keep things warm. Sort of a primitive straw bale thought put to good use. I also decided not to move anytime soon. As much as I would like to move to a warmer weather place, the kids are stuck here and I have all these animals and the grandbaby on the way so my perspective has changed and now that I snowboard too I absolutely love the snow. I am planning a trip to some warmer weather at my earliest opportunity though. Since the kids still live nearby they can take over feeding the animals and keeping the house warm while I sneak off for awhile. In th emeantime I got the seed cataolgs from Johnny's and Territorial seed Co yesterday and I can't believe the price of seeds I think I could get rich just growning seed. I am for sure saving as much of my own seed as possible this year luckily I did save some over the past several years but I should have been saving a lot more. Here I have been thinking the trays and flats and soil would be my biggest expense, not so it will definately be the seed. I am still waiting for my seeds of change catalog and the gurneys too. There are lots of great ideas in these catalogs and good instructions on how to grow everything too but I am having trouble finding Jasmine and Gardinia plants or seeds neither of the ones I got yesterday have them but I think I remember seeing those in the gurneys.
Got a Henry Field's catalog today. Not one I usually order from, but enjoyable none the less. I think they had jasmine. I went to India a few summers ago and the girls all wear these jasmine braids in their hair and it smells just heavenly. Everywhere we visited, people put jasmine and little pink roses in my hair... it's too bad American girls don't wear flowers in their hair.
(https://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd131/homegrowntomatoes/DCAM0286.jpg)
(https://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd131/homegrowntomatoes/DCAM0162.jpg)
That brightened things up a bit. :)
It's too bad a picture can't capture the way they smelled... it was intoxicating. The little roses don't look like much, but they had such a sweet smell, and the jasmine was out of this world. If you turned your head the least little bit, a wave of their perfume would wash all over you. It was probably a good thing because that day was particularly hot and humid and we were all sweating like race horses! :P The huge flower necklaces probably weighed about 5-10 lbs, and they were just tons of blooms sewed together... mostly jasmine, roses, marigolds, and something that looked a little like eucalyptus (might have been a variety of eucalyptus). There was another type of jasmine that was smaller and orange, and it didn't smell as sweet, but it was really a beautiful flower. I think when I went to India, I expected the smells of livestock running the city streets and open sewers and tons of curry, but the smell of jasmine everywhere was such a pleasant surprise. When young girls would walk past us on the street, you could smell the jasmine for a good ten yards after you passed them. The little bushes the roses grew on were spindly and the leaves were small and few, but the rose smell was really concentrated. Perhaps it had to do with the dryness of the climate, but they seemed to thrive. The mangoes were also surreal they were so good. I've always liked mango, but after trying it in India, the ones that are shipped here just don't even compare to the ones pulled off a tree and sliced on the spot.
Those are lovely pictures. And thank you for the info on Henry Feilds catalog having hte jasmine. Gurneys does have the gardinai I got that catalog today. I love both and my friend had a whole wall of jasmine in her backyard when I visted her last spring it was in full bloom and the scent was really over powering we had to keep the door shut because it literally was to much. We got a bunch more snow last night but today there are rain clouds onthe horizon, now rain mixed with about two feet of snow is no good. If it holds off until night fall it might be snow again but those dark clouds are scary looking.
Today I am bringing inthe tables and setting up for planting the spring flats. I hope to get around to planting the cilantro and some lettuce too. I am so happy the weather is warm and sunny today.
OK I got the parsley seedlings transplanted and they have their second set of leaves now so I know they are going to live!!! Today I am picking up my friend who is going to help me withthis nursery/greenhouse endeavor and I am really excited to start buying seeds and the other supplies. The sun is shining more and more here too so that is great. Nice and warm too.
Sounds great, Tanya!
I am just trying to keep my indoor plants alive for the moment. They're starving for sunlight, and I haven't gotten motivated enough to bring my grow light setup up out of the basement yet. Maybe this weekend. It is going to be bitterly cold this Saturday, and I'm dreading it in the worst way... now the forecast is calling for a high of 4 degrees tomorrow! Haven't made any garden plans for spring, but really can't until I know for sure where we'll be and that we'll have a place to plant, even.
We're supposed to get snow Sunday... right now it is sunny, beautiful & 50 degrees outside so I'd better get out there to enjoy it while I can :) Gotta trim my roses & plum tree, look for my blueberry bushes - actually they weren't quite bushes yet. They were under the plastic to keep everything else from freezing but the plastic filled with water & ooks like they might be squashed - I hope not - this would be their second growing season since I planted them - got lots o blossoms last year - only left a few on & got a handful of large, sweet blueberries - this year should be better - if they made it through :( :)
Oh, I hope they made it. Nothing is quite as good as fresh blueberries.
I found one - has large leaf or bloom buds on it - pretty sickly looking though :( Can't find the other one - the tomatoes totally engulfed it this past summer - I cleaned out the area so hopefully it will show itself... I love blueberries, too! And they are so nutritious...
Well my houseguest arrived and we have been getting her settled in over the past couple of days. My van ran so great on the trip to go get her and she had a LOAD of boxes!!! Today we start chives and cilantro I am hoping to make small herbs and greens gardens out of the hyper tufa troughs and then sell them to the folks who can't wait to get gardening but can't get anything going outside yet. Hopefully all will go well the weather is pretty cold here right now but the sun is coming out during hte days and that warms things up nicely. We ordered a bunch of flats and cell packs to get things going like tomatoes and peppers later in the month. It is all pretty overwhelming because it is hard to decide how much of everything to order and plant but I think more is better. And of course we need more of the lights for the seedlings or they will just stretch and fall over and waste the seed. I have learned this from experience but it isn't easy to convinve people that the plant DO need more light than that which comes through the windows. And once we start the peppers and warmth loving starts they are not only going to need more light but more heat as well. I hope spring hurries so fast!!!
Tanya, did you make the hypertufa troughs from Charmaine Taylor's information? Can you tell us more about them? Thanks
I haven't made the hyper tufa troughs yet but I probably will use the info at Charmain Taylor's site when I looked it up that seemed to be the best and clearest instructions my problem is that it is tooooo COLD to work in my basement right now. I am also thinking I might have to substitute some of the peat moss and perilite to ingredients that are more readily available here I am considering an experiment with wood shavings and pine needles. And since I think it will work after reading the papercrete sites too, I am brave enough to make the experiment but still to cold. I am not going in that basement to work at all until it is warmer I do have some light bulbs on my pipes though, trying to thaw out my washing machine!!!
Hope it warms up there, Tanya.
Our winter garden has a bit of stuff that isn't froze yet but it may get real cold this week so hard to tell how it will do.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000807.jpg)
Broccoli is doing decent.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000806.jpg)
Still have beets and other stuff in various places. The puppies really trashed a lot of stuff earlier that would have been growing pretty good by now.
Glenn, my hope is that even if we're in a rent house all summer I can get land before winter and get a winter garden in... Not only is it possible to grow veggies all winter in OK, but it is possible to grow all your veggies for winter in the winter in OK. :) So ready to move... freezing to death here. I don't think it ever even hit 10 degrees today. The dog went out and hiked his leg on the fence and by the time I walked back past, it had frozen into little dog pee icicles. Gross. :P
Isn't it colder there than here though? You still get cabbage- broccoli etc to grow in winter there.
In OK? Yes, it gets cold, but it doesn't usually stay so cold so long like it does here in WI. If I build a raised bed and then protect the plants with a sheet of visqueen on the really cold nights, I can grow just about anything but the really tender stuff. January is the only month that there's much real risk at all... and even then I grew spinach, parsnips, carrots, cabbage, kale, lettuce, endives, garlic, onions, burdock, potatoes, radishes, and so forth. I planted my tomatoes outdoors by the middle of March. New potatoes, carrots, onions, cabbages, etc. were usually out by Groundhog Day, if not before. I'm so wound up about heading home that I'm even enjoying watching the snow fall today!!! I think it is actually harder to keep stuff from burning up during the month of August than it is to keep stuff from freezing all winter. My Grandpa used to be meticulous about weeding the tomatoes until they started setting a lot of fruit, and then in July and August, he let the weeds grow up with the tomatoes because he said that they kept the tomato from burning up. He was right. Then, at the end of August when it started to get cooler again, he'd get the weeds out before most of them went to seed.
I'd like to know what sort of compost systems you folk prefer.
I seem to have heaps of grass and leaves in various spots in the garden, which I cover with black plastic to heat them up. I never seem to get time to turn them over and they just seem to multiply!
I also have two plastic compost bins where we put all our vegie scraps, tea leaves and coffee grinds etc. The problem with these is that when the bin is full the stuff at the top is not composted although the layer at the bottom probably is.
A friend of mine has a huge tumbling compost bin (with a chain gear). He puts the stuff from his full compost bins into the tumbler, adds heaves, small sticks, weeds etc. He gives it about five turns every day and after a fortnight he has fully composted stuff.
I worry about worms.
Worm worry No. 1 is that there are maybe no worms in the tumbler - does that matter?
Worm worry No. 2 is that if there ARE worms in the tumbler, they are maybe going to get cooked as they can't dig themselves down deep in the earth. Our summers here are pretty hot (often around 40C)
Any thoughts on this?
cecilia
www.duckpond-design.com.au/theduckpond
When we had garden stuff to compost we used 2 side by side bins I made. I turned the material one bin to the other to keep things mixed. Maybe not as easy as turning a crank but it worked.
As for worms I never gave them a thought, The material did rest pon the ground so they could come and go. An active compost bin/pile produces so much heat from the decaying matter I'd think that would kill off any worms present. An iron stake left inserted in the bin after the fall clearing, chopping and composting was underway got very hot. Steam would ride on a cold day.
I studied a bit on composting a few years ago when I got 7 truckloads of horse manure from the park.
While not the same as you are doing, you can draw conclusions from it.
Horse manure is the perfect mix of carbon to nitrogen for fast composting. If you have straw or bedding in your horse manure it will have too much carbon, so nitrogen must be added. Chicken manure is too high in nitrogen so it will be good added to the excess carbon to bring the reaction back up to ideal. The bacteria need air, carbon, nitrogen and water in the proper ratios to quickly convert the material, so at least weekly turning is recommended, along with enough water to keep the mix slightly damp --- no water dripping out when a handful is squeezed. It can get too hot making ash or even burning. Turning and cooling is necessary - maybe add water to cool it down and slow the reaction. The bacteria die if too hot, as well as worms. Worms tend to stay to the outside until it cools.
Duck or bird manure could add the needed nitrogen - maybe even commercial fertilizer. Without turning, alternating layers of greens, manure and brush could provide air, and the pile could be kept damp. Compost will decompose on its own eventually although without the air or proper mix of carbon to nitrogen, it can go from aerobic to anaerobic decomposition which is rather nasty, slimy and smelly like sewage.
I put a sprinkler on the fence spraying onto our general compost pile collection, so it gets wet daily in the summer when the drip system is on. A lazy mans way to do it and while not ideal, it works -seeds sprout and grow around the pile and worms hang out around it. We throw everything into it - bad vegetables - stalks - some manure and a little commercial nitrogen fertilizer but need more- the pile keeps decomposing and I turn it occasionally with a pitchfork. We were also bad about piles here and there until I put the sprinkler there and we started throwing it all under it. Note that the sprinkler is just one small 180 degree drip irrigation sprinkler running off of an 1/8" drip line. It covers about a 5'x5' area -- or in your case - maybe 2 or 3 square meters I think.
Note that chips - excess carbon etc. spread on your garden without the addition of nitrogen such as commercial fertilizer or bird manure, will rob your plants of nitrogen slowing growth. I guess that may be why it works well as a mulch between rows.
Horse manure done properly will turn to soil in about 4 to 6 weeks. Left in a pile will take a year or more.
I hope this is of some use to you.
Here's our compost method; it is truly the lazy man's way to do things. We put all our compost and scraps and stuff in a chicken wire bin. If we think about it, we turn it. If it starts stinking, we turn it and pile some leaves or straw or grass clippings on it. Otherwise, we leave it alone. We empty it twice a year in the fall and the spring. If there is stuff that isn't composted well, we just scrape it off to the side and start the new pile with it once we've gotten all the good stuff out. In Oklahoma, it was better to keep two piles, like Don mentioned... because then we had chicken manure to deal with, too, and composted straw, etc. and more weeds, etc. from the garden. In addition, we built our raised beds with straw bales which gradually compost. When they start falling apart, we just go ahead and bust the bales and stir the decomposed straw into the soil. The worms seem happy and healthy...
The worms love to work the decomposing straw. I had a pile of wet straw and under it were piles of worms even in the summer.
They sure do. I am all in favor of the least work to produce good, organic produce. This method works for me. Sometimes the compost heaps steam up and get hot, and sometimes they don't, but I don't worry too much about it. I figure that's why God made all the little microbes and soil organisms that seem to love rolling around in manure... and when we open up the compost bin, it's always fun to watch the chickens help us sort it looking for grubs. If my kids see one they miss, they pick it up and feed it to the hens. The next step may be to make a compost bin on wheels so that I can just haul it to the garden and shovel it directly from the bin to the garden beds? Maybe that's too lazy.
brrr.... it is cold here but we have parsley, chives, cilantro, chard and two kinds of lettuce up and growing (inside of course) . The temp outside is zero this morning!!! So far so good withthe cold tolerant stuff but even inside the temps drop to 40 so we are waiting on the warmer weather planings for now. I am so ready for spring.
Well, I've bitten the bullet and yesterday ordered a 'proper' chipper, shredder, mulcher (whatever you like to call it).
http://www.hansachippers.com.au/C7.htm
At their website you can see a video of it in operation.
I don't know what sort of chipper/shredders are in general use in the USA, but here just about all of them have two places to feed in the material. One for sticks and small branches on the side, and an open funnel sort of thingy at the top for leaves and smaller stuff.
The trouble with this system is that you have to stand there for hours, with a pair of secateurs, removing all the bits of the larger branches before you can stuff them in the machine. This one is self feeding, with only one in-chute and takes branches up to 65mm (not sure what that is in real money). The angle of the outlet is adjustable, so instead of having to pick the stuff up off the ground, you can discharge it into a wheelbarrow or trailer (or is that trailor?)
The blades are easy to remove for sharpening and it's powered by a 6.5hp Honda motor.
Do you have similar machines over there? This one is Australian made.
Then I plan to work towards a 420 litre chain operated tumbling compost bin (which is supposed to turn stuff into compost in two weeks - providing you put in the right mixture of stuff, of course).
I'm hoping then to reduce the number of compost heaps which are popping up all over the garden.
Oh - and while I'm in the gardening part of this delightful forum - can anyone tell me why some of my (self sown) tomatoes are colouring up in a patchy fashion? This plant has popped up in the same place as one arose last year - giving me over 500 ripe tomatoes before the first frost of winter.
cecilia
www.duckpond-design.com.au/theduckpond
Sounds like a nice machine. As far as your tomatoes it sounds as if they re-seeded themselves. One year a friend owned a produce stand and sold plants. He had several flats which had almost dried up. He gave them to me and I took them home ,watered and brought them back to life. Had about 100 all total. To my surprise they were all "cherry tomatoes". They kept coming up in the garden for years everywhere.
cecilia
I just went back and looked at your blog. Did a very good job on everything that I saw. Such a feeling of accomplishment not to mention probably hours of hard work. You deserve a POB.
I had one like that - maybe a bit smaller, but they do work on small stuff, Cecilia.
I'm rather impatient though and bought one with an old 318 Dodge engine on it -- maybe 150 horse power.
Tree guys call it a chuck and duck. If you mess up -- say get trapped between a limb and the machine , you likely will go through the chipper. It will take about a 5 or 6 inch eucalyptus tree 25 feet tall in about 30 seconds or less.
I haven't brought it up here yet and don't use it often. It is an old one with no safety's. I have heard of a couple guys going through them in the last few years.
We get blossom end rot on tomatoes from lack of calcium sometimes -- maybe an all purpose fertilizer? Calcium I think is bone meal- limestone - dolemite etc.
Not sure if it's appropriate to post in the Garden thread, but they do live in the garden, so here's hoping it's alright.
These creatures are specific to only two small areas on mainland Australian and the northeast of Tasmania.
They've been sharing my garden now for over a year, and with almost 300 photos of them I decided to make a 'Wildlife at the Duckpond' section of our website - and begin with the swamp rats.
(https://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j54/cecilia_000_99/P1010027_cropped.jpg)
Here's a photo to wet your appetite - I had trouble pruning the section down to just 53 photos on four separate pages. I've tried to keep the images small for those on dialup internet.
Hope you have time to visit!
cecilia
www.duckpond-design.com.au/theduckpond
No problem Cecilia.
Cute little guy. Thanks for posting and the invite.
Yeah, I used to think chipmunks were cute until we moved here and they eat everything in the garden. Even my 5-year-old takes a militant stance against them... she refers to them as the "evil hordes."
We have big, cute wood rats - brown with white bellies... wouldn't mind them if they stayed out in the woods but the love to get in walls & everywhere else around here...
(https://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e44/kathykrn/ScreenShot007.jpg)
(I didn't take the pix)
... a good fresh box of Decon takes care of the ones who want to drop by to stay though.
This looks like a good place to start. :)
We've got a growing field that to my knowledge has never been farmed. It's about 4.5 acres of grass on top of clay and rocks. I plan to take a sample and have it analyzed by an outfit friendly to organic farming.
Our plan is to plant on it a little at a time. We'd prepare one section, then grow on it while we prepare the next section. I am interested in what you folks think would be the best way to approach the soil preparation task. Is it as simple as cut down the grass, spread manure, lime, and amendments (as indicated by the soil lab), plow, disk, plant?
I have no equipment past shovels at this point (not even an ATV) so I am not invested in any particular method. I can invest in the right equipment when I know the requirements my field is going to have for me. We do not expect to farm all 4.5 acres anytime soon since it will be just my wife and me for the near and mid term. I am more likely to hire a plowman once or twice a year than buy a Kubota, but that depends on the economics.
I have time. We won't be living there full time for 2 more years, but my drip irrigation system (to be completed by this spring) will be timed and will be able to keep the ground moist in the summer. I can plant and plow under cover crops if that's the way to go. We are in Zone 9 near Oroville, CA. The summers get into the low 100s and are dry. The winters are relatively mild and will dip below freezing at night a few times. It does not snow.
Thanks!
Drew
I posted a bit on the other thread. Your soil sounds similat to ours and amendments will be in order.
Just with watering, the clay will pack tightly around the plants and growth will slow to a crawl. Bad hay - straw - horse manure - likely lime - ashes - can help. You will need massive quantities. Composted grass clippings can do wonders. Maybe find a yard service to supply you - hopefully free. You could use machinery to help with the chores if you can manage to get something. Thing - good - old -- cheap-- get books -- learn to work on it. New is nice if you can afford it but old will do the job if you have time to work on it. You will likely want to do most repairs yourself if it is old and you are not wealthy. I don't trust a lot of the shops. A good redneck mechanic is more trustworthy than most shops and much cheaper.
Quote from: Drew on February 08, 2008, 12:00:43 PM
That's good stuff, Glenn. I just posted a more verbose question in the Garden Thread about preparing the soil in our field.
DavetotheSouth has horses, a donkey and a mule he corrals, so the manure is easy to collect. RobertototheNorth pastures stocker cattle with no barn, so the manure is all over and harder to collect. MarytotheNorth also raises horses. I'm the only guy who's thinking of growing anything out there. My manure needs would certainly be met. I was thinking briefly of growing hay on the undeveloped parts of my field and selling to to my neighbors, but my early research indicated it would involve more capital and labor than I can afford at this point. One neighbor said he was driving out 30 miles to get hay at $9 a bale. That's got to hurt his margin on his stocker cattle.
Heh. Even if I could collect and bale my forage grass and put it into a hoop house until January...
Cow manure may be a bit salty anyway -- do a taste test [hungry] - and it needs more carbon and possibly nitrogen - maybe chicken manure. Horse manure is the perfect mix of Nitrogen to Carbon for fast composting. A machine is nice for weekly turning in large quantities.
I have posted about composting here a time or two -- Here's the other day posting-- http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=1427.msg46872#msg46872
Outstanding. There's my luck again, having two neighbors with horses.
I'm thinking that I can cut the grass from the rest of the field and rake it into windrows for adding to the part of the field I'm preparing. While it sounds like I won't need it with horse manure since the nitrogen/carbon balance is already there, I can still use it for other composting.
Now that I think of it, there's another guy who raises chickens in a coop down the road. I don't know him, but asking if I can haul away his manure would be a great ice breaker. :D That stuff should work great with the grass and some other things I know I could come up with.
Perhaps I could dedicate a timed drip line and set it on top of a compost windrow between two rows I plan to plant. It would keep the long pile moist while it composts. When it's ready I could shovel it onto the rows on the left and right and leave a little on the original row. That way I could get three rows fertilized with a minimum of compost hauling. I still have to figure out how to turn the windrow without messing up my row too bad, but that should be solvable.
I think the mini drip sprinklers would be better on a row of compost. Gives you room to spread out and you could put the line up on posts or stakes so you could freely work the rows of compost - maybe one each side of the elevated sprinklers. Mine is on a timer with my drip system - just one pile though.
The chicken manure would go ideally with grass - straw etc. to give that good nitrogen, carbon balance. Only other two ingredients are moisture and air for composting in 30 to 60 days with your diligence in turning.
I have a similar problem withthe earth here. It is hard and rocky and whatever the nutrients are here they are not very goo AND there has been noxious weeds on it for so long the soil is actually poisned. So my plan is to use reaised beds which are totally made from old straw, horse manure and good dirt that I can haul in from other areas. I would try to re-establish the soil but it is pretty bad and from the stories I have heard this is an old train depot wrecking yard and there were old cars parked out there for many years that were only hauled off last year so no telling what other contaminants are in the soil. So in the interest of better safe than sorry I am going with raised beds made of totally organic materials on top of some thick layers of plastic. I hope it works, and man I miss my lovely garden on the river where I could dig good organic black dirt several feet down with never finding a rock. I had a big gardent here with plenty of food for the entire family, freezing and the huge deer we had there.
The best soils are the ones you create, Tanya...I read that somewhere, so it should work/ I have grown stuff pretty well on both decomposed straw -- adding fertilizer -- it eats up nitrogen, and horse manure compost. Better than the natural clay. I rescued the top soil and used it under my compost.
We picked some beets out of the garden yesterday and cooked them. They were really good. Nice and sweet and flavorful. Can't buy them at the store that good.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000835.jpg)
We also took one of the winter squash and steamed it in a pot over the wood stove. It was so big we had to use a 10 gallon? at least 7 gallon tamale pot and trim the top and bottom to fit. The pot was 14 inches dia.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000833.jpg)
Sassy froze 3 one gallon bags of squash from it. It was probably about 15 lbs before cooked.
Daaang!
Now that's a testament to your gardening skills and not, um, a result of a secret government project gone horribly and deliciously wrong?
A big blue Hubbard, Drew. Not Frankensquash. :)
It's an heirloom I believe.
We still have probably 40 or 50 lbs of squash left to carry us through the winter.
YUMM beets and squash no that is a good dinner!!! We have about two and a half feet of snow so no fresh vegies anywhere and it makes me want to live in CA. or anywhere wrm where I can grow a nice garden and have a longer season. I love these mountains but they are tough when it comes to the winter weather.
We'll be home in time for spring planting... don't yet know if the landlord will let us garden or not, but if not, I'll grow in containers and move them with us when we move. Got the house reserved officially this morning and have been on the phone and/or computer nearly all day trying to nail down dates for everything, etc., and get a doctor/midwife appointment lined up for shortly after we arrive. Whew! I can't wait... this has been one heck of a winter. I hope that we get a thaw and the snow melts off at least once more before we get out of here... really need to clean up downed branches, etc.
Kids are suffering severe cabin fever... me too!!!! Can't wait to play outside in the dirt.
Finished the beets off tonight and had some nuked frozen chicken wings to go with it.
OK in the garden room, which I am now referring to as the hothouse now, it is 99 degrees right now that is nice. I have planted two kinds of parsley, chives, cilantro, two kinds of tomatos, three kinds of peppers, basil, spinich, lettuce and chard, some flowers, and maybe some stuff I forgot about. It seems to be a lot and I almsot have the space filled up. My good pepper seeds are supposed to be in the mail today so I am off to the PO to get them. That seed co took forever to get that order sent out grrr. I had to compain, I don't like heating that space and not having it full. The snow is melting off the garden area too so I will be able to get going on that soon. Still to soon to set up the greenhouse though, if it snows again which it will, it will collapse.
My older daughter saved some gourds from our garden last year... she wanted to save the seeds and make something with the gourds. Anyway, they froze hard on the front porch a month or two ago, so I threw them away when they thawed and were getting soft. Later, I found them out of the trash and threw them away again, thinking this time I got them out before DD found them. ??? Well, a day or two ago, she came trotting out of her closet holding a really furry "thing" and said, "Mama? What's wrong with my gourds?" She had hidden them in a plastic bag in her closet!!! There were five moldy gourds hiding out in there! YUCK! Anyway, it was a little easier to convince her to toss them this time! I'm so glad we found them before the packers packed them and they moved with us! :P
My ex sent my daughter gourds one year for her birthday. She made the cutest little rattle dolls out of them with some yarn and fabric scraps.
I am a new grandma now. Baby is a week old and I have been at the hospital and getting them settled in at home over the past several days. I love being a grandma but now I miss my little grandbaby already, just got home today. I will see her again on Tuesday but I am envisioning a nice little mother in law apt... yes, they live very close to a wonderful beach and nice quiet little town...
congratulations, Tanya! Grandkids are fun! I just had my 5 y/o granddaughter for a couple days up here at the cabin - she loves it here!
Congratulations, Tanya... how big was she and all that fun stuff? ;D
Picked a bunch of fresh Broccoli yesterday -- we had 2 meals off of it. [hungry]
The baby is a girl and weighed 6lb. 2 oz. She is so adorable and sweet. My daughter had a bad time of it though she has a double uterus, cervix etc. and the extra cervix got in hte way of a natural delivery. Her Dr. wsa a nut and let her push for five hours before sending her in for a c section. But that went well, the baby is sweet as pie and thank god my daughter is healing up faster than could ever be expected. I am still pretty freaked out about nearly losing both of them but tryying to focus on the important stuff. There should be a law though if that baby isn't moving into the birth canal within one hour (when complicatins are present, like in my daughters case) or two hours for an otherwise normal deleiver, they should go to c secion those extra hours of pushing exhausts the mom and baby and if the baby isn't moving down after an hour or two is sure isn't going anywhere after that. Yes, I threw a big old fit too at that doctor but it didn't last to long because of course she was busy getting the emergency c section going. But like I said my daughter is fine and the baby is fine. My daughter is hands down the strongest person I will ever know, she gave it her all trying to have that little baby. And one good thing that came of it is I got to spend a lot of time helping them and holding the baby while they rested up. I know if it had been a normal delivery I would have been sent home after the first day. She is pretty independant and her husband is a baby hog!!!
QuoteShe is pretty independant and her husband is a baby hog!!!
Cool-- should make interesting looking children. ::)
I remember Peter, Paul and Mary used to sing a song called "I'm In Love With a Big Blue Frog"
QuoteI'm not worried about our kids, I know they'll turn out neat. They'll be great lookiin' 'cause they'll have my face, great swimmers 'cause they'll have his feet."
WoW -- I did that from memory. :o
Sorry Tanya, I couldn't help myself. :( d* :)
Well he is a good dad but we have to take turns holding the baby and my daughter has priority status. So poor poor me I have to wait. Now if the baby would have been born ather due date he would be back at work on his construction work and then I would have had more time. And he isn't like most men who get bored withthe bay either no, he actually likes holding, feeding etc. I can't wait until he goes back to work.
Today I got to hold the baby the entire time I was there, all afternoon. I also went to the garden store and got some great buys there. They had some sort of cute little animals in a cage, probably rabbits or puppies but I didn't look. No more animals. I found another hypertufa site and they have a recipie for using the pine needles so I am happy about that. I have lots of pine needles but no money for peat moss.
Ah spring , tilling , blooming stuff , all good things eh!
Clematis (sp)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Mar820086.jpg)
Tulip or Daffodil ,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Mar820089.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Mar8200811.jpg)
Garden turned over ,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Mar8200812.jpg)
way ahead of last year I think .
Sorta neat I can go back and look at the dates I've done this in the past , gotta love these "stickies " :) [cool]
Daffodils, PEG :) I love it when those are blooming - I have a lot of them throughout the garden right now - also hundreds of calendula (orange flowers) some daisies, the bachelor buttons are getting ready to bloom & have some buds on the roses.
Today Glenn picked a bunch of broccoli & I made broccoli cheese soup - pretty good! We have lots of rutabagas, onions, beets, swiss chard, broccoli, some cauliflower, the asparagus is coming up, lets see what else... oh, lots of celery, parsnips, cabbage... our weather is ideal for winter gardens :) (although I envy your summers, PEG when its 100 +)
Glad to see you got up out of the easy chair, PEG. ;D
Easy what ??? :-\ :-\
So planted a few lettuce plants and onion sets, two rows of spinach and two rows of radishes.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Mar92008.jpg)
Well see how they do , it may be to early , frost could be a issue.
Now I have to go "prune " my photo bucket account , I've reached my 1000 picture limit.
What to delete , hummm :-\
Don't prune... start a new account! I have two. :)
John (redoverfarm) sent me some interesting examples of horticulture.
This is my favorite...
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/oddsnends2/bikeintree.jpg)
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/oddsnends2/grannyknot.jpg)
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/oddsnends2/archtree.jpg)
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/oddsnends2/mantree.jpg)
The last one is one of many that may be viewed HERE (http://www.pooktre.com/)
PHOTO PAGE LINK HERE (http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~blackash/pooktrephotos.htm)
PEG - Maybe you can just start a new folder in the same account, because all together I have more than a thousand photos but some are in other folders.
I had a look at the photobucket rules of use and found that I am in violation of their policies. :o We are limited to one free account per person. Maybe I got away with having two as I sometimes think like two different persons. :-\
Here are the free account limitations...
Storage space 1GB (approx 10,000 files)
Image size 1024x768 Unmetered
Image dimensions 1024x768 max
Slideshow images Up to 30
Video length Up to 5 mins
So I'm not sure what's going on with PEG? ???
http://photobucket.com/terms
account comparison; free vs paid
http://photobucket.com/upgrade
You can look in
Account Options for specs --I have 1262 - 438 mb out of 1GB.
When I loaded the last batch the account said I had 1000 photos as a limit.
I just deleted a bunch of photos , no big deal , most where multiple "looks" at the basic same things. I don't think what I deleted will effect, greatly , any of the "good" threads here. I kept all the garden photos , and the ledger , how to hang a door , trim detail photos , or all most all .
Call it "spring cleaning", it was good for my soul ;) At least to seemed good :)
Mtn D , you cheater, :o :o ;)
Good news for WA farmers the legislature has pased the bill allowing local food banks, school districts etc. to use thier money to buy fresh LOCAL vegetables and fruits. Now since i live in an area where it is winter most of the school year I will have to figure out lights etc. But I have a great start so far and this is apparantly the year to go for it. For such a small town I already have a lot of folks wanting these organic tomatoes and peppers. North of hear in BC they have giant hot houses full of everything even bannanas. It is awesome that farming is going more local, one good thing about the current petro crisis. Personally I think every school district should have courses on green gardening/agriculture and grow their own foods but that is a long ways off.
I planted the rest of the plants I started earlier in the year. Sassy weeded the day before.
I had kohlrabi, Cabbage? something else like cauliflower?. Didn't mark them and can't remember. We'll figure it out when they grow up. Like kids. ::)
Tanya, you sound like you have a great start to your garden & a ready made clientele!
Red, those are cool pix Don posted...
Fun pics. I think the kids and I are going to have to play in the dirt, even if we have to do it with containers. We are all getting the garden bug, and the weather is so nice... surely our landlords wouldn't have a problem if we planted some pansies in the existing flower beds??? This place needs something colorfu. The Bradford pear in the front yard started blooming yesterday...those things make me sneeze, and what an idiotic tree that doesn't produce edible fruit, but they are pretty.
If you can't make a deal with them, it seems containers would be good -- then you could take them with you. Containers done the intensive way could do good and produce a lot.
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Square-Foot-Intensive-738/container-gardening.htm
http://www.gardenguides.com/how-to/tipstechniques/containerindoor/container.asp
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/hort/ext/Pubs/HO/HO_124.pdf
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/garden_pubs.html
Try Earthboxes:
http://www.earthbox.com/
If you are handy, make your own and use Earthbox for planting guide:
http://www.josho.com/gardening.htm
Add the Earthbox self waterer or make your own and you have a pretty low maintenance system.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7458996@N06/sets/72157603652656573/
My seedlings.
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/P1030166.jpg)
I've got yellow tomatoes, red tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, asters, sweet basil, and soon Cape gooseberry under my lights in anticipation for this growing season. I used the coffee filter method to germinate my seeds.
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/P1030151.jpg)
The tomato seeds were saved from last years crop and I expected very low germination...boy I guessed wrong. So when I transferred the germinated seeds to the soil-less mix under lights I thought perhaps some would not push up through the soil...again wrong. I'm going to have tomato seedlings coming out of my ears soon. So much for the second germination round to space crops out....
Can't wait to go play in the dirt. :D
That's great, Daddymem. You are quite the farmer. :)
If you had them close last year, you may end up with some interesting new varieties, but they should still be good.
Our broccoli and kale crossed and made a broccoli/kale that is edible - looks like broccoli with colored leaves but gets tough soon if it gets too big.
My tomatoes are big already and I repotted a bunch yesterday. I still have a bunch more to do. HUndreds, literally and I must admit I am already bored with it all. It is great at they are big and really good healthy plants but I am ready to get outside!!! OK I shouldn't complain and it isn't like I am in a hurry to do that raking I need to do. Still I find my thoughts wondering right past the garden on to the beach.
Daddymem, if you want some tomatoes with a terrific germination rate, get some Matt's Wild Cherry. I think every single seed of every little tomato that the chipmunks took off with the last two years in Wisconsin germinated. We had tomatoes coming out our ears, but thankfully they were the tiny ones that end up in each day's salad... they also have such a good flavor, I didn't pull out any of the volunteers, even the ones that took over the stair rail on the back porch.
Seems that would give you hearing problems, Homegrown, but quite novel. hmm
:P OK, Glenn, that was pitiful.
Sorry 'bout that, Homegrown. I suppose that once you've removed them and put them in the days salad, you can ketchup on the things you didn't hear earlier. [deadhorse]
(https://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e44/kathykrn/PICT0067.jpg)
(https://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e44/kathykrn/PICT0071.jpg)
Took a couple pix of the garden today while weeding & watering... yep, already have to start watering things :-\
Can't believe the difference in climate of yours as compared to mine. Had a few bulb flowers starting to come up. Got the ends of their leaves burnt by the snow and cold. But it won't be long now. God I still have to find some ever-bear strawberry plants. Hate to order them as the shipping will cost me double what they are worth.
Our conditions are exceptional even for here, John. People in the valley 1/2 mile below us may still be freezing once in a while. Fresh carrots and fresh broccoli soup today.
Quote from: glenn kangiser on March 17, 2008, 12:08:39 PM
Sorry 'bout that, Homegrown. I suppose that once you've removed them and put them in the days salad, you can ketchup on the things you didn't hear earlier. [deadhorse]
You put ketchup on your salad ??? You are wierd , well either way ;)
I have to keep trying, PEG to stay a step ahead of you. ;D
Girls and I finally couldn't stand it any longer. We planted some spinach, tomatoes, basil, and carrots in containers and will see what happens. I bought tomato plants rather than starting them from seed because it is so late already. We also bought a few pepper plants to put in the front flower beds. I'm terrible with containers because I tend to let them get too dry. Hopefully I'll remember to water them. When I build a garden, I always try to do it where I won't have to water too often and make the most of the rain we get. With my raised beds, I put drip hoses underneath to water them deep down, so I don't have to do it all that often because the things like tomatoes and peppers often get root systems larger than the above ground part of the plant. Most of the front flower beds (the best growing location at our rent house) are full of cannas. I'm looking forward to them blooming and to see what colors they are. It's hard to be motivated to clean out the flower beds here since it's not even our dirt. :-\ Or our choice of plants. But cannas are cheerful and easy, so I think they'll be pretty when they do bloom. I just wish that it was a veggie garden instead. I am also going to plant some perilla because my Korean MIL is going to be here most of the summer and would like to have it and leaf lettuce and peppers on hand at all times for making Korean food. (MIL announced to DH the other night that she now wants to stay three months instead of two, if she can get her doctor to give her 3 months worth of her BP meds!) Oh boy. I'm looking forward to it, really.
No, seriously.
Great on starting the garden. Ya' all will enjoy it. :)
MIL will be a great help, I'm sure. c*
Hope so. She's a good gal, but VERY opinionated and often without any reason to be so... stubborn doesn't even begin to describe her. And also pretty superstitious. DH and I think that probably the reason she miscarried more than 5 times before she was able to carry him to term was because of superstitions about different foods... she was most likely malnourished. Sometimes I am really surprised that DH survived to adulthood. ??? I'm both looking forward to and dreading her visit. I wish that FIL was coming too... he and I can really connect in the realm of growing things and fishing... stuff we both enjoy and have in common. Plus, he thinks I'm the greatest thing since steamed rice. He has a drinking problem, but other than that is the most likeable person you could hope to meet. MIL is practical, a good people-person, but awfully hard-headed when it comes to some things. My FIL could probably teach me a lot about container gardening... when I lived with them in Korea, he grew a lot of chilies and tomatoes, green onions, and lettuce in the street in front of their house. He used styrofoam containers (like the packing material around electronics, etc.) as flats for growing the lettuce and peppers. He recycled old buckets, etc., for the tomatoes, etc. He used to make the neighbors all mad by taking up all the street in front of the apartment with his plants... they didn't like not having a place to park. Didn't stop them from helping themselves to the vegetables, though. >:(
We are also doing a container garden this year, we made some earthbox clone type setups and used whatever pots were laying around. With the exception of some starter plants it hasn't really cost us a dime. I got my family involded with the building and planting process and have added some more plants to it over the last 5 weeks since starting this. I have some pictures posted (http://www.loopy.org/pictures/index.php?gallery=Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden) of the first weekend where we got started. Since these I have added summer squash, radishes, eggplant, and just this past weekend 6 centennial hops rhyzomes (the flowers to be used for beer brewing)... my garden time is probably the most stress-free hours of the week for me.
I think we're going to plant some Asian melons and cukes on the trellis between our house and the place where it meets our neighbor's place. And we're going to try the yard-long beans again. We tried in Wisconsin but didn't have a good season for them there... they like the heat.
Good container garden, muldoon. Cute kids. Great that you got them going on it too.
We also have some hops a friend gave us. I think I need to take better care of them - maybe some fertilizer to grow better this year.
Muldoon, good pics. Keep me posted on how the containers work out... looks like a pretty good setup. Might have to try something like that, though at the moment I'm in no condition to be lugging stuff around.
Well we had our first nice spring day , sure hope it wasn't summer , ya never know here in the PNW , that/ this could have been it [shocked] [noidea'
I've had things covered for a few weeks due to some cold mornings , I pulled the plastic last night and planted a few more rows of spinach , lettuce, radishs from seed. And some more buy-um at the store started plants .
The stuff I planted last month is coming in really nice , garden salad will be had soon.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/April1220089.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/April1220088.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/April1220087.jpg)
Looks great PEG, and you recorded that sunny day here so you can come back and look at it whenever you want. ;D
I'm always taken with the sight of black dirt. :)
Here in the suburban desert it's a light tan sandy color.
Uh, well, it is sand. ::)
My mountains have regular black dirt though. It's very reassuring. I grew up with black dirt.
I was going to suggest putting a layer of it in your trailer to take home each trip then I remembered your grass is astroturf. :)
:)
When we had real grass it did grow well, if watered a lot. Probably would have done better with several inches removed and replaced with real dirt though.
I prefer red dirt, myself. :)
By the way, I'm going to get an earth box today... decided I can't take the gardenless state of being after all. We put a few things in other containers, but even with the 5" of rain we got last week, the wind dried stuff out really fast. Seems like I'm watering all the time, and I know I can't depend on my husband to remember to water much during the days surrounding the baby's birth. Couple of years ago, I went to India in early June and I begged him to remember to keep the seedlings watered while I was gone. In ten days, he managed to kill just about everything in our garden because he didn't water until the day before I came home, and then he absolutely flooded the garden when the plants were already past permanent wilting point.
HT I have never used it myself but they say that the water pellets work good for container growing. The kind that you mix with the soil and during watering they soak up the water and release it later. Maybe that is a solution to longer term forgetfullness. I have concrete planter boxes on the front porch that constantly need watering. I had considered using them myself but never was around anyplace that sold. When I did find them they were at an upscale nursery and wanted an arm and leg for a 16oz bottle. Got to be cheaper elsewhere. One of these days I will find some reasonable.
This was several years back when I was putting on the addition so the yard and everything was tore up. I change the variety in the boxes every other year.
(https://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/redoverfarm/scenes/country%20plans/000_0003-1.jpg)
What a pretty front porch... looks very homey, Red. I went to the only local dealer of earth boxes and looked at the price tag. Then I bought some pineapple sage which smells wonderful and came back home. I just can't quite make myself pay $55 for one of those things. My kids begged to buy bags of ladybugs and praying mantis eggs at $8 each, and killjoy that I am, I said no. I told them they could raid their own piggy banks for that! I may go back and get the earthboxes yet, as DH seemed bummed when I called him and told him I was too much of a tightwad to buy them.
the clone container boxes work great, theres really nothing to it.
http://www.josho.com/gardening.htm
Once you get the concept down its pretty easy to apply the same principle to other containers that you can get cheap. An example, if you go to your local grocery store or bakery, or restaurants, donut places, (etc) you can usually get food grade plastic buckets for free just by asking for them. When I asked around I was able to get them in different sizes from 5-6 gallon to 2-3 gallons- sometimes 10 a week if I wanted to come get them. You can use coffee cans for the basket if you poke some holes in them. Also, a few feet of old garden hose would work just fine for the refill tube.
A long and very good thread from gardenweb on containers, alot of pictures and knowledge in this one:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg0712005018644.html
For the water pellets, be sure to follow the directions and put them in the container before soil and completely soak them. They expand a lot and if you put them in dry then plant everything will get heaved out once a good rain comes along and the pellets expand.. . o O (go ahead ask me how I know this :) )
I hit a thrift store yesterday afternoon to see if I could find any second-hand rubbermaid containers... all they had was absolute junk. So, I guess I'll bite the bullet and go buy a few because it is still cheaper than paying for the earthbox name, and probably cheaper than me burning gasoline to drive around and see where I can get off the cheapest. I sent DH a link this morning to the site you posted, Muldoon, and he agreed that we'd give it a shot.
Got everything but the pipe/tube. Had to modify a little bit because of what was and wasn't available. I may use a bamboo cane as the fill pipe because I think I have some in the garage. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find the drill yet. DH doesn't know where it is since the move, though I'm sure I saw him using it a few weeks ago.
Woohoo... the knock-off earth boxes seem to be working great. The wind had ttally whipped and wilted the tomatoes and peppers before I got them transplanted yesterday into one of the boxes, but by this morning, it was working as planned and they'd perked right back up and looked great. Ran out of potting mix before I got the second one planted but can hopefully get that done this afternoon. It took us all of about 20 minutes to make two of the DIY boxes, and cost a heck of a lot less. The peppers even have tiny buds on them this morning, so they'll be blooming before long.
Good job, Homey. I have to get some more going in ours -- corn next I guess. Sassy has been working on it.
I spend an hour or 2 out in the garden most every day - weeding, watering, pruning - put fertilizer on everything today & planted 8 pepper plants. All but one of my fruit trees are getting leaves on them - bought them at Costco - the bare root type - the dogs go ahold of one of them & chewed off the roots. Glenn planted them for me. I also joined the Arbor Society - just $10 for a year membership & they send you 10 types of trees that are good for your area of the country - pretty good deal, although I think only one is making it - the stupid dogs dug up most of them or they just didn't ever grow.
The roses are blooming like crazy, so are the California poppies & even the Iceland poppies are beginning to bloom. Lots of calendula - actually, they grow & flower all through the winter even, so always have some flowers. The foxglove & snap dragons, brown eyed susans, hollyhocks & lots of other types of flowers growing too. The tomato plants are getting lots of blooms. The artichoke plants are really getting a lot of "chokes" - now if we could just keep the aphids off them :-\ We got quite a good crop of asparagus this year...
HG, we made one of those types of planters out of 1/2 wine barrels - at least I think that's what we did. Glenn made the 1st one & I fixed up the 2nd one. I have tropical plants in the one in the uphill patio & have had different types of plants in the one out front - right now the hops is growing real well & there's also some volunteer parsnips.
The dogs got into the garden the other night & smashed a bunch of the parsnips & also my "hot poker" plant (think that's what it's called) they are worse than the deer sometimes - makes me so mad but then they can be so sweet...
Sassy, don't give up on the Arbor Day plants just yet... When we lived in OK before, I got my ten trees and put them out in a protected area with the intent of moving them later if needed. DH mowed over them twice and I figured they didn't stand a chance. Then the dog dug them up. Half-heartedly I stuck them back in the ground. Less than three years later and two of them were taller than the shed! Most of the others were still alive, but a bit stunted. The bigger ones were almost too big to move by the time I got around to doing it. And all that took place in the inconvenient shade of one of our huge pecan trees... because I'd miscalculated how much the pecan would spread each year. Give 'em a chance and they may surprise you and pull through yet.
Have any of you ever grown pineapple sage? I bought some at a really neat nursery I found the other day. Wow, does it smell wonderful! Someday I want to grow it all along the sides of a path I have to walk every day so that I can stir it up and smell it when I walk past. I hope it is as tough and easy to grow as regular old sage... that stuff even survived Wisconsin's harsh winters.
I have been selling bedding plants this week via consignment athte local co-op and they are going pretty good considering it is so cold still. There is a lady who is buying hte rest straight out soon too so no more consignment after that. I got the garden dug almsot all the way, and fenced and we planted cabbacges, brocclli, parsley, chives, cilantro, and strawberries so far and it is still all alive even though it is pretty cold here. I have been sooo busy that I rarely get on this board anymore. Spring is here now and it is jsut busy busy busy.
Good, tanya. Nice to have some extra cash coming in.
Humm I wonder what this will do to the garden,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/April182008.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/April1820081.jpg)
Taken last night at 1100 PM , we got about 3" of snow , sleet , snow pelts , thunder and lighting , 25 MPH winds.
Odd spring , where's that global warming!
Here a this AM photo, maybe not so bad , most of the plants are not covered and it is above freezing as things are melting.
John may have more snow from what I hear on the TV his area was / is in what they call a convergence zone.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/sept17001-1.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/sept17002-2.jpg)
Wow! It must have been really freezing! Look how hard you were shaking in that first photo, Paul!!
:-\
Hmmmmmm. I hope the humor came through there. :)
rofl rofl rofl rofl
Quote from: MountainDon on April 19, 2008, 03:15:25 PM
Wow! It must have been really freezing! Look how hard you were shaking in that first photo, Paul!!
:-\
Hmmmmmm. I hope the humor came through there. :)
rofl rofl rofl rofl
It was cold , I had my PJ's on and had the dog on her leash , melting snow / rain was falling down my neck from the tree .And it was dark / flash photo , so the camera was working as hard as the cameraman in capturing the "moment". So ya it was a shaky photo , it won't last long that's the kind that gets deleted when the account is full or I'm bored and "need" to clean something up :)
It appears that the shutter stayed open a long time because of the low light. That happens. I just couldn't resis a little fun.
Quote from: MountainDon on April 19, 2008, 04:39:16 PM
It appears that the shutter stayed open a long time because of the low light. That happens. I just couldn't resis a little fun.
Resistance is futile anyway :) As long as your not narc'ing me out for unfinished work around the house we'll be cool c*
I probably instigated that, PEG. I had to see if you were human, rather than superhuman as I had pictured in my mind.
You made such an impression on me when we met in Tahoe, I was still wondering. ;D
Quote from: glenn kangiser on April 19, 2008, 10:24:54 PM
I probably instigated that, PEG. I had to see if you were human, rather than superhuman as I had pictured in my mind.
You made such an impression on me when we met in Tahoe, I was still wondering. ;D
You area instigator thats for sure.
Was it the glow ??? I think thats left over from my nuke carrier time on TR :o
I think it may have just been your bright shining personality and charm---or maybe it was the glow hmm
spent the day busting sod and hoeing....I am in garden mode...Was going to do it 2 weeks ago but there was a frost warning
My tomatoe plants are about 8 inches high and the onions are coming out of the ground...I started the onions in egg cartons and the cherry tomatoes in clay pots...
Have Jalapeno and Sweet peppers in planters along the house.
Need Glen and Peg and maybe Don to teach me about drip irrigation systems... went to the hardware store and got some PVC pipe to run across the yard.. have to dig the trench for it this week and plumb it up...
We decided on Corn, Onions, carrots, eggplants, okra, tomatoes so far...
Busting sod stinks...But I have half the area done...pretty good exercise though...Very rewarding to put your hands into perfect loomy soil though after you mix in your mulch
Remember I am an idiot when it comes to just about everything... here is what I know so far... plumb the Plastic waterline to the garden... that is where I run into problems...
Quote from: benevolance on April 21, 2008, 10:00:37 PM
Need Glen and Peg and maybe Don to teach me about drip irrigation systems... went to the hardware store and got some PVC pipe to run across the yard.. have to dig the trench for it this week and plumb it up...
Not this sailor , >:( I heard about "the drip" and saw the "clap line " wrap around sick bay deck :o , UNUN , no drip for this squid >:( Nope never , no way I'm a clean, mean , fightin machine :)
I of course can't speak for the "other "two [slap]
[rofl2] PEG -- you are too humorous. d*
I'm lazier than that with the drip, Peter.
I go to the hardware store - get a hose timer - single simple to set kind - electronic so you don't have to be there.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21Cn%2BZLlIjL._SL500_AA200_.jpg)
http://www.amazon.com/Gilmour-Electronic-Water-Timer-9100/dp/B00002N8KC/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1208833985&sr=8-1
Get a hose to drip hose connector - screw it onto the timer - shove the drip hose into it. string it out - fold the end and secure it to stop it from leaking .
Get a punch for drip http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_hi?url=search-alias%3Dtools&field-keywords=+drip+hose+punch&x=3&y=21
Get barbs and mini sprinklers or emitters and stick them in where you want.
Could get the kit first then learn from there. By individual parts later as you need them.
http://www.amazon.com/EF55-Microsprinkler-Water-Kit/dp/B000JMH4HQ/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1208834326&sr=1-18
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41wSbtBx0sL._SL500_AA280_.jpg)
Quote from: glenn kangiser on April 21, 2008, 10:23:42 PM
[rofl2] PEG -- you are too humorous. d*
I thought it was pretty good ;D I do what I can here w*
BTW I don't have any drip irrigation system I water with a hose , I like doing it 8) So I really don't know much about setting up or using that type system.
I also live in the PNW where it rains every day , almost ;)
Here we likely won't have rain until October except for another day or two through the summer-- maybe tomorrow night is all that shows now.
Since I contract out of town, Sassy works out of town it is for sure we will miss enough to toast it in the Summer. So for a garden it's timers and drip.
Well, basil and carrots are up in containers. So is the spinach, but I hope it doesn't burn up before we get to eat some of it. Tomatoes are putting on blooms now, as are the peppers, all in containers. Some are the conventional containers and some of the knock-off earth box type things we made. Seems to be working well. Looking every day for sprouts from the cukes and melons.
Well I am away a week or two at a time from the ranch so without some kind of watering system everything will surely die... We used to get a fair amount of rain here... last year we got nothing...something like 16 inches below expected rainfall :-[
My wife did water the Tomatoes and the fruit trees last year and they lived....But planting more stuff is not going to jive well with her... The drip system is needed...
Gonna go to home depot later this week and see what I can make work... ;D
last weekend's weather....my hummer buddies thought it was a little unusual as well.
(https://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk265/considerations/HPIM0205.jpg)
peg
I think you had more fun as a youth than I did... if you know about the drip... ???
I practically saved myself for marriage... ::)
another question...
This one is related to rows size of rows and expected crop yield...
Okay I have a patch planted thus far that is 12 x 12... and my tomatoes and peppers are in planters along the house...
Just wondering if there is some math tools we can find and use to equate food grown from square footage... (Don)
I did try to do some online searching for this type of info... found university studies that do not apply to me... and a bunch of documents to download...
I was hoping for some basic rules of thumb or a calculator... you know so many pounds of food per square foot of garden...
I found a really neat way to grow my potatoes in some old car tires...I will gear that up this week...Get a half dozen planta growing in tires
I am afraid that 12 x12 is not large enough and that I will need to clear off a second 12 x 12 patch
Benevolence, it more than likely depends on what you're growing and how you're going about it. In our first home, our garden was 1425 sq. ft. I canned 100 quarts of tomatoes from it. We had enough veggies and fruit for our family all summer and winter (of course, at that time it was just the two of us) and to give away/sell quite a bit. Some of it was canned, some was dried, some was frozen. We ate the black-eye peas from that garden for the next two years, there were so many. A lot has to do with your growing season, as well. In WI, we had three raised beds (3' by 12" each) plus a quarter-round flower bed and another small garden bed, and we barely grew enough to keep us in salads for the summer. In my experience, growing intensively in a raised bed yields more per square foot than typical row planting, but as I said before the yield was always better in OK than in WI no matter WHAT I did. I would think a 12 by 12' plot should keep y'all in fresh veggies, but I wouldn't plan on necessarily having a lot to put away for the winter. If you're in a mild enough area, you probably can grow quite a bit over winter, too. In OK, in a raised bed that I covered when the temps got too low I grew plenty of produce to eat fresh veggies all through the winter... planted again in October and grew spinach, kale, chard, garlic, endives, burdock, salsify, lettuce, parsnips, carrots, radishes, and onions.
I can grow in the winter if I cover plants on the occasional frost...
I might get some more used tires I have 4 potato plants in now...I think I need about 10 or 12...
And my wife and I will get a few more tomato plants too.. we bought the kind that do well in clay pots so we are not putting them in the garden...
Peppers and onions are the key... my wife makes salsa all the time we cook with it a lot! and I use onion and peppers whenever we barbeque or throw a chicken or roast in the oven... We have gotten into making stews and soups more in the crock pot and peppers and onions are used all the time.
I am not the biggest tomato eater out there... potatoes corn onions peppers I cannot get enough of...
We have the warm climate here...I am in Zone 8! if that makes any sense to you.... And there is only a few light frosts each winter so I can grow late potatoes carrots and onions if I feel ambitious enough
One good thing about keeping the garden smallish is that a regular tarp can be used to cover the garden if there is a frost warning....
One thing I would like to know is how many pounds of potatoes can one expect from one large plant... 5 pounds, 10?
I did some mulching over the winter and I mixed in all my woodstove ashes... I even bought a little lime and some miracle grow potting soil to mix in....So the plants should be decently nourished...
As much of a pain in the butt as it was to shake all the soil out of the sod... I kind of enjoyed turning useless space on the side lawn into a garden.....I am no farmer... or gardener...I have a foot of soil worked...I wonder if that is enough...I dug with the pick and then hoed it over and over picking out any grubs or roots.
Pretty cool yesterday after supper I was out there turning a little sod and a mockingbird landed about 2 feet away from me and started to eat a grub I had exposed...The bird did not even seem to notice I was there...
I might go out tonight after supper and turn a little more ground and make the garden 12 x 16... We live alone and I do not know any of the neighbors so there is nobody to give vegetables away to...
I will be asking about ways to preserve veggies in the fall I am sure....especially corn...I remember my grandmother blanching the corn (spelling?) and then freezing it so we would have it to eat in the winter....I would love to have a deep freeze full of corn blueberries and strawberries (which we also grow here against the house)
It kills me to pay 3 and 4 dollars a dozen for corn in the winter... Got some local strawberries the other day for $2 bucks a quart which is a decent price.. local farmer selling them at the end of his driveway so they were fresh and local... In the winter here a quart costs like 8 or 10 bucks!
I cannot make myself pay those outrageous prices for fruit and vegetables.
Benevolance asks: One thing I would like to know is how many pounds of potatoes can one expect from one large plant... 5 pounds, 10?
Depends on the soil and the kind of potato and how long you leave them in the ground.
All spuds: In clay, the poor things have a hard time finding room to grow, so maybe 3 or 4 smaller than a tennis ball, larger than a golf ball.
In soil called "loamy", (soft, with lots of organic material), then, after the tops fall over and turn yellow, 3 or 4 bigger than a tennis ball, and several about the size of a golf ball. The weight adds up fast.
I plant about 5 pounds of cut up seed spuds, each a foot apart and in triple rows, and keep my mother and myself and sometimes the neighbors in potatos almost all year.
Sandy soil: I have never had any experience with this soil type.
Red potato: (New potato, salad potato) first harvest a few weeks after the plant flowers, if you are careful, you can gently harvest the little reds that we see in the stores often. If the plant is not too disturbed by this, and you only take one or two from each plant, then you can harvest again when the tops fall over and dry. Dig up all around the whole plant and get bigger, but just as good, reds.
Benenevolance said: I will be asking about ways to preserve veggies in the fall
All spuds: If you dont have a root cellar, or just don't want to get into fabricating long term storage options, you can harvest (once the tops have fallen over and dried out) potatoes as you need them almost all winter, they just keep growing. Late in winter you start finding some with little bubbles full of liquid (called water spots) inside, or maybe some critters have chewed on them. Then it is pretty much time to cover the whole area with mulch until spring. It is just a bonus if the ones you didn't harvest sprout and make new plants the following year. I'm on my 3rd year of volunteers like this, and the other veggies I planted over them don't seem to mind them poking through here and there.
Some folks with hard clay soil just plant the seed potato chunks on top of the clay, then cover the whole area with 8 inches to 12" of straw. The straw shelters the spuds, keeps them moist, and discourages all but the most persistent weeds. I only had to turn on the soaker hoses under the mulch a couple days throughout the entire summer. Straw mulch also allows easier incremental harvesting...but depending on your ground critter situation, also provides shelter for little furry and slimy things that like potatoes as well. However, leaving the straw on all winter, covering it with black plastic to enhance it's breakdown, and then in the spring, removing the plastic and tilling the straw into the clay does wonders for the soil....amending in the direction of the loam that grows all veggies so well.
In my garden there are many burrowing furry creatures, so spuds are in the ground, but I had to first dig trenches, line them with hardware cloth and then put the dirt back in...I don't share well.
As far as using tires, I know that the extra heat and continued stacking encourages growth and production, but I'm squeamish about what might leech out of the tire into the growing medium, so I've never tried it.
There are also probably a million good ways to grow spuds, these are just the ones that have worked for me in Western Oregon and Washington.
'nuff said
well I am not worried about the tire contaminating anything... My dad has about 10,000 piled up at his junk yard... some of them have been there close to 35 years and the government takes water and soil samples... and they have not arrested any of us yet or even stopped us from drinking the well water that is on site... We collect all the oil antifreeze and recycle the batteries...the tires are not creating any pollution...
They are indestructable as far as being biodegradable ....last for hundreds of years easily... there are people that made tire fences over a 100 years ago and the tires are exactly as they were when they were put into the sand
I read about the straw method for potatoes a couple of times... but that scares me...So I am going the tire method...I like the red new potatoes... my wife likes the russets... you can guess what kind we have in the ground ;)
One other note on the potato thing... I used the lightweight plastic mesh garden fencing around a small plot in my garden last year and planted the potatoes just under the soil surface. Then I piled compost and leaves and grass clippings and old potting soil all on top and added more as the potato plants outgrew it. Got it about 2' deep. The potato spot was probably only about 3' by 3', but produced at least 20-30 lbs. of potatoes. The vines kind of grew out and over the top and we didn't harvest until late summer.
I don't know if you like sweet potatoes or not, but they're incredibly easy. One year, I put a few out where the shade of the pecan tree had begun to overshadow my garden (sweets will tolerate more shade than a lot of garden plants). I only planted a few slips from one sweet potato... late that fall I remembered them and thought I'd go see if we had anything. We had just over 40 lbs. of sweet potatoes from those few plants! I couldn't believe it! It kept us in sweet potatoes until late the next spring. They don't do as well in northern climates as here in OK, but I grew quite a few small ones in WI, too, and even if they hadn't produced much, they're so pretty I don't mind.
sweet potatoes are the wifes absolute favorite...
How did you say to grow them...
I need to stop taking on more projects though...Already running me rampant... I do like to dig in the garden and it is very rewarding eating food that you have grown yourself.
So it is all good... 16 x 12 is going to have to be big enough for the garden though...I do not have it in me to plant any more than that..Not this year
Hi I used to have a big garden don't anymore because I have no sun.
I used tires mostly for melons: Honeydew, Cantaloupes, Crenshaws, I'm up North so we needed all the help we could get. When I first gardened I got cold weather seeds for warm weather crops. They tasted so bad I said why bother so I got the ones that had the long growing season and helped them out and tires helped. I would dig a deep hole say 2' and put in a layer of hot manure (fresh) cover that with 6" or so of soil and put my plants in with a couple of tires over it. the hot manure heated the soil underneath, the tires heated the plants on top and also kept the wind off. I could also cover the tires at night if it was cold night. Lot of work but you could walk by my house and smell the melons, best I every had ;)
I did potatoes like this I would run over some oak leaves and pine needles, (they like acid soil ) with the mower, I would pile them in a ring of wire fencing and cut them up good, then I would scratch these into the ground a little just to mix up a little dirt with them and get out the weeds. this was about 4" thick layer, plant my cut up spuds on top and cover with about 4-6" inches of leaves and needles and add a little bit as it sunk down. Want a thick layer. This makes it easy to gather a few new potatoes when you want them also keeps them real clean. I would then pile on another foot or so on top in the fall to keep them right there and wouldn't have to pick them all right away, I heard you could leave them out all winter but I never tried just till maybe Christmas.
I used to mulch greens, beets, carrots, parsnips like that just cover them over about 1'-18".
I garden very intensive, everything in beds. I would plant maybe 2 packs of carrots or beets in 3x3' area and thin them to eat as they grew. I used to make manure teas and feed that way I think that really helps when you plant a lot togeather. Of course as soon as the ground froze and before snow I would have 16 yards of chicken manure dumped in a big pile let it sit all winter and then rake it out in the spring.
I can't wait to garden again, hopefully sooner rather then later. I love greens my favorite are beet but they have to be small and fresh can't ever find them. If you have never tried these do so just pull the whole plant when they are 5-6" inches tall and eat everthing, if you mulch this will keep the rain splashed soil of them, not so much grit, I have to wash all the greens around here my wife refuses. Had some mustard for supper but they are store bought :(
Good luck all you gardeners
Mike
Good info, Mike.
Peter, if you are jut having a small garden just get the jhose timer and don't worry about the drip -- just put a reciprocating sprinkler on it. Elevate it if necessary.
I didn't get to read everything well -- was worknig out of town -- welder blew up -- gotta go back tomorrow. Sorry if my reply missed anything.
welder....I am sidetracked... what kind of welder...
Glenn I bought some hardline... going to dig a little trench and pipe it across the yard... the garden is a couple hundred feet from the outside spigot... So a tee on the spigot needs to go on and pipe the hardline to the garden... That way I can still have the 100 foot garden hose for the plants and beds around the house...
the automated timer sprinkler does sound like a good idea though
Quote from: benevolance on April 24, 2008, 05:58:58 PM
sweet potatoes are the wifes absolute favorite...
How did you say to grow them...
I need to stop taking on more projects though...Already running me rampant... I do like to dig in the garden and it is very rewarding eating food that you have grown yourself.
So it is all good... 16 x 12 is going to have to be big enough for the garden though...I do not have it in me to plant any more than that..Not this year
You just plant the sprouts off a sweet potato. You can even throw the whole sweet potato in the ground, if you don't feel like waiting for sprouts to grow on it, and you're pretty near guaranteed to get something off it. The vines make pretty ground cover if you have a bare spot, and nothing really seems to bother them very much. In WI, we had these beetles that ate nearly everything green, but for whatever reason, they left the sweet potato vines alone. Wait until after the first few frosts in the fall and dig them up...a fork works well kind of sift them out of the soil, but a shovel will do, too. You're supposed to "cure" them if you want to store them for long periods of time, which includes leaving them for a period in a warm, dry place before storing them in a cool dry place long term. In our case, we had a small pantry under the stairs and behind the heater, and we chunked them in a box there and they kept fine all winter. I know that's not technically the way you're "supposed" to do it, but it worked for us.
i do not have any sprouts...I wonder if there are seeds to buy at the store... My wife loves the sweet potatoes and if I plant some she will be pleased... I might be able to stay off divorce for a few more months ;)
Benevolence, yesterday I had to go to the garden center to replace the pepper plants the dog killed, and they had a little 6-pack container of sweet potato vines... be sure to get the one from the vegetable garden area instead of the ones put in with ornamentals because they produce bigger and better sweet potatoes than the ornamental vines, anyway, and besides, sweet potatoes of any variety are pretty growing, so why not get the ones that'll feed you more.
thanks for the tip....Did not know sweet potatoes were vines above ground...If they are pleasant to look at then I will plant them in the yard where we can see them and not in the garden which is across the creek on the other side of the yard... we have been desperately trying to make the yard look better....Mowing trimming bushes...I planted all kinds of perennial flowers this year... how they do is another question... to early to tell as it takes 3 weeks for them to come up... I planted multi coloured poppies... coloured daises black eyed susans, delphiniums, galliardias, Sunflowers, maiden pinks and shasta daises. We already had lots of azaleas pink and purple...and a couple wild roses to go with a huge snowball bush and half a dozen massive camelias red white and pink...I am going to cut at least one down I think...along with a massive sweet gum and a medium dogwood...So we can plant more of what we want in the yard... and truthfully...The sweetgum is a gorgeous tree...I hate the sticker balls and they annoy me to death..I am forever sweeping them up...And now that I have resurfaced the cement driveway...I cannot stand for it to look all dirty and when it is covered with stickerballs it makes me want to drop four letter words mostly the one that starts with F...i will not elaborate more than that ;)
there has to be a couple cord of wood at least in the Sweetgum...So I will have some fine burning wood for the fireplace in the fall... Sweetgum is hard to split... but it is off the charts for heat value...the tree is straight as an arrow and 60 feet or more I wonder if there is any value in it for furniture...maybe peg can chime in on the usefullness of sweetgum for furniture wood
Aw, I'd hate to chop down a sweetgum. For all they're a mess, they're sure pretty trees, and the color in fall is gorgeous. As to the sweet potatoes, I planted them in the flower beds around our front and back porches in Wisconsin because we didn't have a lot in there. They covered the bare spots with lots of pretty heart-shaped leaves, and they're kind of a limey green color, so they stood out from the dark green hostas and the bleeding hearts, etc. we had in there. And, all that and we got a few meals of baked sweet potatoes to boot. The front yard there was pretty shady, but they still did just fine. In the back yard, they filled in under the zinnias and dill, etc., and looked really pretty there, too.
Today I guess you could call it the annual garden day. Drove to a large nursery about 60 miles away and picked up 4 flats of flowers for the porch boxes and the like. Made a quick trip home after "Long John Silvers" to get them planted. Knew the rest of the week would be hectic to try to get them done working on the cabin. Just in time as the rain started about 1/2 hour after we finished. Yes I got tomato plants and will be holding my breath that it is not too early.
Tried a little trick the last couple years with tomatos. One year I planted them and the next day cut worms had gotten to two of them. Didn't have the time to go to town for chemicals. I had some large coffee cans. I cut the bottoms out then drove them in the soil around the plants about 1" or so. Never bothered with cut worms again. They stay all year like that. Actually it is easy watering and holds the moisture next to the plant. Has worked out well for me.
I've been using the coffee cans for years. Helps to protect seedlings from a variety of things. Now that my coffee is coming in plastic, I don't know what I'll do when my assortment of cans rust away. The plastic seems like it will blow away easier. The good thing is the plastic is red and tomatoes seem to really like red. There are companies that make red feeder trays and red plastic weed fabric. Supposed to increase tomato yield, something to do with red end of the light spectrum. The second tip is to use concrete reinforcing wire (re-mesh) to make tomato cages. The wire is 5' tall, and the holes are larger than woven wire fencing which allow one to extract a boomer of a tomato clenched in your eager fist and still make it through the hole. The plants grow up and out the top like a chimney, no ground rot and can till the rows until late in the season. Works very very well. Better than commercial in every way. Still far too wet to plant in N. ILL. but, hoping things dry out soon.
well i planted my tomatoes in pots the size of 3 gallon buckets...I hope that they do well in them... miracle grow potting soil mixed with some mulch and whatever the sand soil in my yard is... i will fertilize them with miracle grow in their water if they need more nourishment
Did you ever find you any sweet potatoes? You can put them out pretty much through the end of May or early June and still get a harvest.
benevolence
I used to grow some tomatoes in sheet rock buckets and then bring them into my solar green house in fall to extend season. I used to bury buckets in leaves, helped to keep them from drying out. I lost some when I went away and they got cooked.
Mike
went to the farmers market bought sweet taters with eyes on them and cut them off and they are in the ground in the yard....
As for the tomatoes... yeah we water em pretty much every day... they are growing like crazy
Our garden is doing good, too. The artichoke plants are putting on artichokes like crazy. I had to pull a bunch of rutabaga plants that I was letting go to seed because they were covered with aphids... >:( Just noticed that our pond has a bunch of pollywogs in it - yeah! I thought the mosquito fish had eaten all the eggs last year because once we got the mosquito fish, it seemed the frogs disappeared. So hopefully, they will get busy eating the aphids!
We also have a stupid gopher in the terraced garden - ate one of the big carrots & some of my petunias that I know of - they make me mad! Hopefully it will go away & not eat a bunch of stuff...
Finally getting some blueberries - not ripe yet but there's a few - I planted a couple plants last year... The orange trees are blooming & there's blooms on the tomato plants. Lots of roses, hollyhocks, foxglove, & other flowers. The "hot poker" plant has a dozen flowers coming up out of it - thought it was destroyed after the dogs smashed it up a couple weeks ago. And I finally have a "bird of paradise" flower after 5 years of the plant just growing & growing but no flowers.
Been weeding & weeding - seems like that never ends :P my hands have ground in dirt & the skin is splitting - sometimes it just doesn't work to use gloves when weeding... :-\ I have to explain to the patients that my hands are really clean ;) cuz I wash them a hundred times a day!
well I would just kill the gopher...
And if you have stuff coming in then bravo! I am not that far along as of yet... well the tomatoes and peppers are up... and some of the flowers I planted... but the main part of the garden is not up yet not really... dunno if it will be a success as of yet or not
Our knock off earth boxes are doing great. The cukes all came up, but I think the seed for the Korean melons was too old and never did sprout, so I replaced it with some seed for watermelon. They may be too old, too, and if they don't sprout soon, I'll go ahead and stick a squash or something in there. The new pepper plants that I put out after the idiot dog killed the first ones are doing well and blooming, and the tomato plant is slowly but surely recovering. I have another tomato plant on the front porch with basil and little carrots coming up around it, and it is the healthiest looking tomato plant I think I've ever seen... the base looks like a little tree trunk, and it is covered in blooms... Within a week or two, we should be getting spinach out of the pots in the back yard, too... it's up and doing quite well. There is also mint and pineapple sage, but those aren't too filling. Still waiting on the sweet potatoes to surface.
Superglue mends the splits in your skin. I know, sounds wierd, but it works
Patients tell me they've tried Superglue on their cuts& it works - never tried it myself... most hospitals have a glue they use - just talked to one friend who had a 3 in laceration across his forehead - they used glue & you can't even see the scar & this man is 70 y/o.
On another note, just watched part of a 12 part video on Monsanto - biotechnology - they have 90% on the genetically modified seed market around the world. They also produce Round-Up. Must see! Here is the link to the 1st of 12 parts
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=Shocking+World+By+monsanto&sitesearch=
Cyanoacrylate glue (superglue) was used in the Vietnam War. A type that could be sprayed from a spray bottle was developed and saved many a soldier from bleeding to death between the battlefield and the hospital. Today it is used in orthopedic surgery as well as for some dental medical uses. Band Aid brand Liquid Bandage is cyanoacrylate based.
My cucumbers are doing great, I have about 25 2" or so cukes growing in on the vines, pretty yellow flowers keep coming in. The tomato plants are growing great but only a single actual tomato has appeared so far. The bell peppers and the serranos have bloomed and should start fruit soon, I hope we have a hot summer and they are extra spicy. Carrots are coming up, as are the radishes. My eggplant never did much of anything other than germinate and stagnate at about 1 inch out of the ground. Good thing I don't like eggplant much. The hops have exploded and have come out of the dirt and into massive 2 foot bushes in just 3 weeks. I need to get those on trellis or at least twine stringers this weekend.
superglue is also good for guitar players; if your callouses are not strong enough long sessions can shred your fingertips. The superglue puts it all back together and acts as a callous by itself.
Cyanoacrylate.... used by burglars, etc to obscure their fingerprints as well.
FYI:
Do you know what makes cyanoacrylates set? Moisture.
CA's produce cyanide gas when heated.
Thick CA's are weaker than the thinner type.
Long life glue mixes are short lived and weaker.
Baking Soda is a great accelerant.
A good solvent for CA is nitromethane. (good to know if you own a "fuelie" dragster or fly R/C airplanes using high nitro content fuel)
Low humidity climates (desert) produce slow cures, long bonding times. Reverse for high humidity.
How's that for garden Thread drift?
Interesting info, MtnDon... wonder why the VA doesn't use that stuff? Would be so much simpler & looks like people heal a lot better with it. Of course this is very important info for the garden thread - I am always cutting myself ::)
You are getting almost good as me, Don. d*
;D We got .7 inch of rain last night and the tomatoes that were on the plant out front have more than doubled in size since yesterday... makes me grin to see it.
Some plantin' done tonight.
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/garden/P1030428.jpg)
Overall view of garden.
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/garden/P1030425.jpg)
My cauliflower and broccoli
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/garden/P1030424.jpg)
Tomato front and pumpkin back. Space saved for beans in the middle.
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/garden/P1030423.jpg)
Tomato front, squashes the rest of the bed.
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/garden/P1030422.jpg)
Squashes, cantaloupe and cucumber.
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/garden/P1030426.jpg)
Radishes
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/garden/P1030427.jpg)
Cape gooseberries.
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/garden/P1030421.jpg)
Tomatoes waiting for me to build their containers.
*phew*
Looks great Daddymem. I have to get after mine some more.
Well, the watermelon did finally sprout after all... they are saved seed from some watermelons we grew in our old house in Oklahoma more than three years ago. I remember picking some of them in late November that year just before a freeze hit. We sat inside watching the wind whip the trees around and eating our November watermelons, which incidentally tasted incredibly sweet. I saved some of the seeds that year. They're little bitty ones, but they fit in the fridge better anyway.
Looks good daddymem [cool], yours will take right off and pass mine . We're a slow and steady growth cycle here.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/May102008.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/May1020081.jpg)
But things in general are growing along. [cool]
PEG, it looks so pretty, though.
Thanks Home , I think it looks pretty good as well [cool] we are picking lettuce and radishes , spinach soon :) as well.
We've had some fresh basil, mint and sage so far, and we're getting really close on the spinach. Seems like the little tomatoes are doubling in size every few days, but they're no where near ready to turn red yet. The bell peppers are healthy looking and are starting to set tiny fruits. The cuke vines are getting bigger and healthier looking by the day in my knock off earth boxes. I was lamenting to my husband this morning that it is just wrong NOT to have a garden to work in on a day like today... it was the perfect day for it, but since everything is in containers and everything was watered, and there was nothing really to harvest yet, and no weeds, there wasn't really anything to do. I hate living in town. No wonder people actually pay for TV in some places. I'll be so glad to sell our other house and get out of town.
By the way, as a funny side note, my husband was praying the 23rd Psalm with the kids the other night and got tongue-tied, and instead of saying "Thou anointest my head with oil" it came out "Thou anointest my soil..." Even though I got tickled by it, I told him I was glad he was already praying for God to anoint the dirt we don't have. ;D
Garden is really looking great, PEG. We're still dragging our feet a bit. Lots of garden yet but haven't got the new stuff in that we need to get in.
Thanks PEG. I don't know though. We got a cold spell this weekend and the little guys aren't looking to perky. Think I lost my cucumbers. Our spinach, kale, and lettuce didn't even come up this year and carrots are still my "Eleanor". We have some odd ball stuff this year so we are chalking it up as an experimental year for us. I just hope we get some warm weather to stay here finally. You never can tell, it is New England after all, don't like the weather? Wait a minute.
Aw, Daddymem, hopefully they perk up - last year Glenn was in a hurry to plant stuff - usually April is ok where we're at. I planted everything & then we got snow! So not much came up & I had to replant... that's why I haven't been in a hurry this year.
PEG, your garden looks great! Always so nice & neat :) With so much volunteer plants, ours is rather chaotic :-[ :D but we get lots of stuff from it. Have been picking lots of artichokes. Our 4 plants have been making them like crazy. Cooked 7 of them last night. Last week, I saw the large ones for $1.49 apiece. So, we figure that was a pot of $10 chokes... really good flavor.
Quote from: Sassy on May 12, 2008, 12:51:15 PM
Aw, Daddymem, hopefully they perk up - last year Glenn was in a hurry to plant stuff - usually April is ok where we're at. I planted everything & then we got snow! So not much came up & I had to replant... that's why I haven't been in a hurry this year.
PEG, your garden looks great! Always so nice & neat :) With so much volunteer plants, ours is rather chaotic :-[ :D but we get lots of stuff from it. Have been picking lots of artichokes. Our 4 plants have been making them like crazy. Cooked 7 of them last night. Last week, I saw the large ones for $1.49 apiece. So, we figure that was a pot of $10 chokes... really good flavor.
Sassy, I think I'm going to try to grow artichokes after we have a permanent place... I love the things and they're not cheap! PEG's garden does look so organized and neat. I get garden envy looking at it. Our gardens are always crowded and colorful and full of good stuff, but they never look that pretty. I also want to grow asparagus once we are settled. My kids love asparagus (a-bear-a-gus) soup.
We have asparagus - got quite a bit this year - it is so wonderful picked fresh out of the garden - sometimes I just eat it raw. Once it gets established, not much to do with it but wait for it to come up in the spring! :)
Yes, PEG's garden is so neat... we have a lot of flowers throughout the garden that have reseeded themselves besides the rose bushes. This year my "hot poker plant" I think it's called is doing great - I've counted at least 25 flowers that have come up from it - I thought the dogs had ruined it - they'd completely smashed the plant earlier this spring & I was just sick. We have lots of foxgloves & some plant with delicate purple flowers - then of course the calendula, brown eyed susans, hollyhocks, sunflowers (they're not the big ones, don't know the real name for them), allysium, roses, poppies, daisies... they're all interspersed with the veggies - I have a hard time walking in between to harvest the plants. I was letting the rutabagas & broccolli go to seed, but the stupid aphids just love the stuff, so guess I'm going to have to pull it up - pulled quite a bit up already... have sprayed soapy water on them, dilute vinegar water - doesn't do a thing... >:( Oh, we have quite a few blueberries on the little bushes I planted last year. The peach & apricot trees have lots of leaves, but since Glenn just planted them this year, no fruit. My poor plum tree that had literally 100's if not 1000's of fruit last year - I thinned it over & over & ate plums for 2 months off it - it is a 4 in one - 3 types of plums & a pluot grafted into it - the poor little think broke most of it's branches so only had a few blooms this year & no fruit - I guess it deserved a rest...
The strawberries are producing like crazy - usually I go out to pick them, but they are on a really steep part of the shop roof so I think this year Glenn will have to keep picking them... :-\ I hate this arthritis - I've tried DMSO, other types of rubs, turmeric for anti-inflammation, honey with bee venom, you name it, I've been trying all the natural stuff... so still have to take naproxen & tylenol - I try to limit it to the bare minimum but can hardly walk & definitely can't sleep at night if I don't take it :(
What's DMSO? Haven't heard of that one I don't think. I have a little arthritis in my right hand and wrist, and I've found that one of the things that helps (though it burns like crazy and can irritate my skin, which is another issue) is making kimchee. When I knead the red chilies into the cabbage or radishes, it begins to burn, but I've quit wearing gloves to do it because it makes my wrist and hand feel great afterwards, even if I do have a little bit of a chemical burn from it. Another thing that has helped a lot is getting out of Wisconsin... something about the weather there (even though the weather is just as erratic here) really aggravated it. My mom swears by the nutra-joint and move free stuff, but I've never tried it, and don't really need it now that we've moved back here.
Speaking of natural remedies, etc., I have to say something about how the gestational diabetes has actually benefitted me... With both of my girls, I had typical pregnancy symptoms. With my first DD, I was swollen up like crazy. You could push on my ankles and the dents would take a while to go away. I had HORRIBLE heartburn, plus all the typical issues of pregnancy, like varicose veins, etc. Well, this time around, I have had virtually NO swelling (especially since altering my diet for the diabetes), no heartburn (since the diet change, though I had it somewhat in early pregnancy), no aching legs and leg cramps, no digestive issues, etc. Not only that, if I do experience a little heartburn, 9 times out of 10, my sugar is higher than it should be... as long as I stay in range, I don't have heartburn at all. With both of the girls, I couldn't wear my wedding ring and had to buy a cheapy "fat ring" to wear instead. This time, not only am i wearing my wedding ring, but it is getting loose and spins around to the palm side of my hand. If I lose the average 12 lbs when the baby is born (I lost over 30# with DD #1 at birth) I will have a net weight loss during the pregnancy. I have only gained a net of 11 lbs. And I feel good. The two different things I have done with this pregnancy are:
1. I didn't take prescription vitamins from the doctor. Instead, I bought perfect prenatal from the health food store. They are the best vitamins I've ever taken, even though you have to take three a day instead of just one... they've made a difference from day 1, and I figure they're worth it even though they cost a little more than the usual pre-natals which just tear up your stomach.
2. Eating like a diabetic. I am eating more protein and more fiber than ever, even though I always ate what was considered "healthy". Getting rid of the sugar and carbs has made a tremendous difference in the way I feel... I haven't had varicose vein issues at all, no swelling, no constipation, no heartburn, and I'm not overly tired like I was toward the end of the pregnancies in the past. For breakfast, I typically have either nuts or eggs and veggies, and a small glass of milk. Lunch is similar. Supper is a colorful salad and some grilled meat or fish. I also eat some cheeses and occasionally a banana (the only fruit I seem to be able to eat without my sugar going crazy). I get a little bored with it sometimes and would love to be able to eat stuff I love like tabouleh and grains and fruit, but at the same time, I like the way I feel, and I'll probably be able to re-incorporate those foods after the baby is born, but in moderation.
I know that is completely thread drift, but still.... I've been amazed at the food working better than medicines. (I was allergic to the medicine originally prescribed so that I could eat what I want and still control my sugar... now I'm glad. It probably wasn't nearly as good for me as the diet.)
That's great, HG! That type of diet is supposed to be much better, you'll have an easier time after the baby is born, keeping on it pretty much now that you've had to be so strict for so long! I know we have doctors advising patients to follow that type of diet - it is amazing to me that the American Diabetes Assoc (ADA) still pushes the high whole grains diet... the exact opposite of what they should be pushing! I guess it keeps the doctors busy & the pharmaceutical companies raking in the $$$... I wish I could discipline myself better :( Lower carbs & sugars in the diet are supposed to help with arthritis, also. I never had the swelling at all or morning sickness with my kids - just had terrible headaches the 1st 3 mo's & heartburn the last couple...
The hot peppers are a great help in decreasing arthritic pain - you & your family eat so much of them, they're supposed to be good for a lot of other things. They have the capsacian cream you can buy - just be careful that you don't put it on too thick! The 1st time I used it, I put in on & went to bed - didn't think it was helping me so put another layer on, still wasn't helping so put it on again... a couple hours later I woke up on fire - just thought the cream was causing a "burning" sensation... when I got up to looked in the mirror, my skin was beet red! I didn't think it would actually cause a chemical burn ::) So I always warn patients - I knew the directions stated to put on sparingly but you know me... :-[ d*
I've used that flex joint stuff for years - chondroitin/glucosamine - never noticed it helping. MSM is supposed to help, but it caused me to have hives... Glenn's mom swears by it. I can use the DMSO - dimethyl sulfoxide I think - even though it has the sulfa in it like the MSM, it doesn't bother me like the other, probably because it's topical - although it can be irritating on the skin, also.
So, back to the garden thread ::) hot peppers, artichokes are supposed to lower blood pressure & stabilize blood sugars, avocados help with diabetes, lowers blood pressure, blueberries stabilize blood sugars, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, etc fight cancer - there's tons more that our garden veggies & fruits do - lots of websites that list them...
:) w* how's that for bringing it back on topic? ;D
Woops, now how did that w* get in there? probably like your icon (can't remember which one it was...)
HT I can't tell you what is in it DMSO but it was used quite frequently around the race tracks for linoment on horses. Then someone tried it on themselves and it apparently worked better than the OTC stuff and has been used ever since. I guess it is only apprioate as we have stolen the horse and mane shampoo for humans as well.
Dimethylsulfoxide I think - a by product of the paper manufacturing process.
The feed store here says they sell a lot of it (and they think some people may use it on - gasp---- themselves.)
Since we were talking about them I thought I would get some pix of the artichokes. Note the common pink garden pest behind them.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/artichoke1.jpg)
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/artichoke2.jpg)
and some of the flowers in the garden on top of the house.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/roses1.jpg)
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/flowers2.jpg)
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/flowers1.jpg)
Careful Glenn , Sassy will not pick the aphids off your articokes.
Argh!!! I started to pick some basil to go in dinner and there were aphids on it.
Looks good Sassy , is that liftmore 4000 one of Glenn's toys , or do you need it to pick artichokes ?? ??? rofl
Home's think of them as "added protein" :) Maybe not [toilet] ,,, I'll :-X now d*
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Glenn I see that one now , [slap] [slap] [slap] n* n*
And to think I all MOST wrote , bigger traps heh heh But I'm to smart fer that
(http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/dirtbox/pics/muttley.gif)
well my peppers are up and the tomatoes are going crazy... no potatoes yet I planted sweet and idahos
The garden is starting to look like a garden... but all my flowers are dead...I do not know what I did wrong ??? Squash are going strong...Of all that has been planted the Okra is growing the best....by a wide margin... my soil must be natural for okra...I did not do a ph test... just mixed compost and potting soil in with the natural sand and once a week I water with a diluted solution or miracle grow
Quote from: PEG688 on May 12, 2008, 10:44:42 PM
Looks good Sassy , is that liftmore 4000 one of Glenn's toys , or do you need it to pick artichokes ?? ??? rofl
Home's think of them as "added protein" :) Maybe not [toilet] ,,, I'll :-X now d*
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Glenn I see that one now , [slap] [slap] [slap] n* n*
And to think I all MOST wrote , bigger traps heh heh But I'm to smart fer that
(http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/dirtbox/pics/muttley.gif)
You're lucky, PEG, that my eyes aren't that good! ;) And Red, you're right, although, I think I've let Glenn eat a few aphids before... :P ::)
Quote from: Sassy on May 12, 2008, 11:06:24 PM
You're lucky, PEG, that my eyes aren't that good! ;)
I was counting on that ;)
I think she feeds me aphids when I'm not looking.
PEG, I don't think they make a trap tough enough to control that one. d*
everything in the garden is up... except the sweet potatoes...I have them growing in a mixture of old composted leaves and pine needles...
I wonder how long before they come up? and should I dig one of them up to see if it is doing anything or if it has died?
Maybe just scratch around a bit and look. They start sweet potatoes from slips out here. Start it growing - cut and plant the runners.
dunno what a slip is... I went to the farmers market bought a couple huge sweet potatoes that had sprouts on them 2-3 inches long... Cut off some leaving a inch of potato for each sprout and chucked it in the ground and covered it with a couple inches of leaves and pine needles.
That's it.
okay I will check them out in the morning and we will see why they have not come up out of the ground..I may need to go buy some more sweet potatoes at the farmers market this week-end
I bet they're fine... somtimes it just takes a while for them to come up. Ours are just now sprouting. (I just chunked some sprouted taters in the ground, though, instead of bothering to cut the slips off.) All my outside plants look great, but the basil growing in our kitchen window has aphids on it!
dunno if I have aphids or not...have not seen any.... have to do a google on them to see what they look like exactly
dug up the sweet potatoe slips.... all dead ???
Had a couple new ones to chuck into the ground....So they are in there now
Our sweet potatoes are up now if they don't cook in the ground before they have a chance to produce. The kids planted some spaghetti squash in the back yard that has come up. The bell peppers are looking really nice... they're setting fruit, as are the tomatoes. The one out front probably has 10-12 tomatoes all on one plant (not cherry tomatoes, either) and they are growing like crazy. I used some organic fish fertilizer on them, and that's all. They are the healthiest looking tomatoes I've ever seen. Can't wait until they start getting ripe. The cucumbers in the knock off earth box also seem to be doing well, though they got a late start. They're the asian type cukes, which I really like. Got the seeds from the Korean grocery a few years back. Also, have one watermelon growing in there, so we will see how it does...
one of the new sweet potatoe slips is up...Looks great... the squash and the peppers are growing like mad as are the tomatoes...
In the main garden the cukes are struggling....Might have something to do with the soil type here? the okra and corn are growing fantastic...So who knows? ???
You are correct the Sweet potatoe plant is gorgeous!...I hope they all come up
Needed a place to plant some corn - expand the garden a bit. This was the only place that would allow the Bobcat enough room to get in the yard for emergency work.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/IMG00006.jpg)
another view
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/IMG00004.jpg)
I built the new rock retaining wall today - a nice new place for the corn etc. We were doing good until I noticed a bit of gold in one of the rocks and had to check it out. d*
Here is a cool tool I bought at a yard sale for $15. It will till - mix soil - dig holes etc all on A/C - just plug it in and go.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/IMG00003.jpg)
No longer made I found out...but cool.
Illegal gardens in LA -- cities could use more.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/los_angeles_metro/la-hm-guerrilla29-2008may29%2C0%2C3470087.story?track=rss
There are numerous discussions on guerrilla gardening in this forum if you found that story interesting:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/smallspaces/
Seed bomb anyone? ;D
I'd love to see people doing stuff like that, though to be honest, in the city here there are already a lot of plantings done...Ithink they're done by the city, though. Usually it s wildflower plots, etc, though there are some done in bright cannas, redbuds, and bradford pears. One is in the median of one of the exits right downtown in kind of a run-down area, and it's just gorgeous with red cannas.
Interesting link, Daddymem.
We get limited on space a bit by deer -- gotta remain inside the fenced area, although the dogs have really improved things. I don't think we have lost anything here this year since our dogs are a bit hyper and see anything that moves.
Hoping to get some help with a problem. Nearly everyday when I get home from work I walk around the back and check out my garden. The last 3 days I have seen the tomatoes messed with, some stalks pulled down, after re-fixing them and wiring another support back in last night I asked my kids if they had been back there, nope. This morning at 6am I go check on my way out - same thing bent down - one broken stalk. (So I know its not the kids) Something is climbing in them or through them. I dont own any pets right now, but I have had cats, possoms, squirrles, raccoons in the backyard from time to time in the past - but I didnt figure they would be causing a problem. Any ideas on how to find out whats going on, or at least how to stop it?
Raccoons will shred a garden - either getting food or just playing - Peternaps game cameras will tell you what it is.
I would see possums more as a kind of gentler thief that may just walk in and munch on a few things but not tear things up as much.
Gophers will eat the bottom off - usually carrots etc and leave the top falling over to die.
I am a dumbass...
Really... as my garden really starts to grow I realize that I had the rows too close together... everything is growing like mad and it is a terrible mess as it is too close together...I cannot pluck weeds...
Where I have 3 rows I should only have 2.... I did thin out as much as I could... spaced corn stalks 12 inches apart pulled mega amounts of okra from the ground this morning... So hopefully what is left will do better.
Anyone else have this problem?...Okay I am watering the garden daily...and we have half a dozen tomato plants....a couple of them are the small sweet cherry tomatoes.... Well every day when I see one or two of them red and ripe...I pluck em and eat em as I water...So there is never any to bring inside... not yet anyways
Hee hee... I always tended to overplant when I did row gardening. I decided intensive raised beds were the way to go as I was always crowding everything anyhow! I remember one year we had something like 65 tomato plants in a VERY small area... it became the tomato jungle, and there were small "footholds" where you could sort of climb through it to try to get to all the ripe tomatoes without damaging the vines. ;D The mosquitoes were always terrible in the tomato jungle in the morning and evening hours, so I'd pick during the hottest or windiest part of the day. Worse yet, I only had about 10 tomato cages at the time, so they were spaced out throughout the plot and became sort of tomato pillars... the rest grew like some sort of impenetrable forest.
Just fertilize extra heavy, Peter to feed the too many plants and hope they outgrow the weeds. You can also try to transplant rather than throwing them away.
benevolance several years ago a friend who had a fruit market gave me two flats of tomatos that he didn't sell. Took them home planted and cared for them and they were all Cherry Tomatos. The darn things came up the next couple of years voluntarily after I plowed the first year. Kind of hard to slice up for sandwiches. ;D
we made our garden this year where the cherry tomatoes were last year... There never was a garden here and the soil was dry hard and generally poor.... So the thinking by me was that we would turn some of it up... mulch in some leaves and potting soil and grow tomatoes... and then turn that section into the garden this year...And then next to the garden we built a compost bin where we put down several feet of leaves and we dose them with water in hopes to turn that into a garden for next year...
But yeah we have had several volunteer cherry tomatoes pop up in the corn this year
Cherry tomatoes are hard to slice for sandwiches... but they are like candy sweet juicy and delicious
~PLANTING BY THE SIGNS~
~FIRST QUARTER~
During the first quarter of the moon plant the following:
Asparagus, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Barley, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Celery, Cucumbers, Corn, Cress, Endive, Kohl Rabi, Lettuce, Leek, Oats, Parsley, Onions, Spinach and seeds of flowering plants.
Avoid the first day of New Moon for planting, also the days on which it changes quarters.
~SECOND QUARTER~
During the second quarter of the moon plant:
Beans, Egg Plant, Muskmelon, Peas, Pepper, Pumpkin, Squash, Tomatoes, Watermelon.
When possible plant seed while the moon is in the fruitful signs of Cancer, Scorpio or Pisces. The next best signs are Taurus and Capricorn.
~THIRD QUARTER~
During the third quarter of the moon plant the following:
Artichoke, Beets, Carrots, Chicory, Parsnips, Potatoes, Radish, Rutabaga, Turnip, and all Bulbous flowering plants.
~FOURTH QUARTER~
During the fourth or last quarter of the moon turn sod, pull weeds, and destroy noxious growths, especially when moon is in the barren signs, Gemini, Leo, or Virgo.
Planting is best done in the signs of Scorpio, Pisces, Taurus, or Cancer, all of which are fruitful signs. In addition, astrologers aver it is best to plant all things which yield above ground in the increase of the moon; and all things which yield below ground,when the moon is decreasing.
Never plant anything in the barren signs, as they are only good for grubbing, trimming, deadening and destroying noxious growths.
For grafting, cut your grafts from good bearing trees at any time while the trees are dormant, from December to March. Keep them cool in a dark place, although not too dry or too damp, until time to use them. Do the grafting just before the sap starts to flow, while the moon is from new to full (first and second quarters), and while it is passing through the fruitful watery signs of Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces or the earthy, productive sign, Capricorn.
Planting or grafting done on Sunday will probably not succeed, as this day is ruled by the sun, and therefore considered a dry and barren day.
As the Zodiacal sign, Libra, represents beauty in form and color, being also an airy sign, it is considered the best for flowers. The seeds should be planted in the first quarter of the moon unless seed from the plant are desired, in which case use the period between the second quarter and full moon.
~REAPING and HARVESTING~
Pick apples and pears in the old of the moon and the bruised spots will dry up, where if they are picked in new moon the spots will rot.
Harvest all crops when the moon is growing old. They will keep better and longer.
Dig foot crops for seed in the third quarter of the moon. They will keep longer and are usually drier and better.
Grain intended for future use or seed should be harvested at the increase of the moon.
Fruits and vegetables gathered just before Full Moon in the second quarter will usually stand shipment much better than others.
Eating some of my first ever grown broccoli. Yummy. Too bad our recent heatwave caused some of it to bolt so we had to clip it early. Hope the side shoots do us well. Just wrapped up one cauliflower, waiting for some more. Eating stuff you grew is sooooo satisfying. [cool]
That's great, Daddymem. Even the stems are good if not tough. Sure beats the stor bought stuff.
Very mystic, John. Anything to it? Logical - scientific?
Yeah Glenn the avid gardeners from the older generation swear by the signs. Some will not plant otherwise. Myself when I planted a garden (before I got into deer country) felt that maintenance worked the best. Constant weeding, thinning and etc.. worked the best.
Well, our container garden is producing pretty well, considering how few plants we actually have. We are getting enough tomatoes for salads every day, and I picked three cucumbers this morning. Have gotten a couple of bell peppers. Still really hoping that by some miracle our house sells soon and we can buy a place in time to get a good fall garden going. I hate renting and I really don't like living in town.
redover, thank you for posting that zodiac information. I was talking with a man at the feed store last year about getting rid of mesquite brambels. Its a rhyzome-ish root based tree that is near impossible to kill and keep killed. The taproots can go down 25 feet and alsways be in water is what I have read. Anyway, he claimed that getting rid of it by the zodiac was the only way. He said his father in law knew the rules and they did it one summer and it never grew back. He of course did not recall the timing but did vouche for the effectiveness. Next time I go to cut and burn the stumps, I'll let the stars be lined up correctly - cant hurt, might help.
Homegrown - my containers are doing great too, simple design, great results. I have at least 4-5 cucumbers a week at the dinner table and more serranos than I know what to do with. The first batch of tomatoes are reddening up now (I was overwatering them keeping them green for a while). My bell peppers never did anything, great green looking plants - never a single bloom, never a pepper.. no idea what went wrong. Best part of containers - no weeding!
(http://www.brightok.net/~cyscott1-ss/pics/625084.JPG)
Maybe if I'm real still he won't see me. My wifes flowers are doing well after all the rain we've had.
Updated garden photos ,
Spud patch , for new potatoes,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/June292008series23.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/June292008series24.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/June292008series25.jpg)
Climbing Rose out by the shop , flowered this year but it's gone wild and changed color , no big deal really.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/June292008series26.jpg)
Where on our third crop of spinach , and about the same on lettuce, radishes and onions. Peas are not doing much this year cold spring , summer got here yesterday , it may stay awhile now . PNW has been colder than normal strawberry's and peas and other warm weather crops have been slow all around I hear.
The garden's looking great PEG.
I think you have us this year. We got some bad seeds or birds picked off the new plants on a lot of stuff --Still lots there but not like it should be -- and I am lazy and unmotivated this year it seems.
Quote from: glenn kangiser on June 29, 2008, 10:02:23 PM
The garden's looking great PEG.
I think you have us this year. We got some bad seeds or birds picked off the new plants on a lot of stuff --Still lots there but not like it should be -- and I am lazy and unmotivated this year it seems.
Humm with all the doom and gloom I figured you'd be plantin for "the end" or beginning of the end. I wonder where the stock market will go tomorrow ??? :o
I think were ok for the end -- still lots of stuff there -- the summer squash have never appeared - half the corn but lots of volunteer stuff, then there's always acorn and wood rats. Deer too.
Well I have cukes up to my eyelids...And the tomatoes are great... My corn is about dead :-[... The Cukes ran sideways and the runners wrapped around the corn and pulled on the stalks and only a few corn stalks remain...I might get 2 dozen ears of corn if I am lucky...Might not get any...
Squash are getting huge...Only planted a few squash plants and we have maybe 15 squash going...They love to run... they are clinging down the bank to the creek. Potatoes are growing like Mad and so are the sweet potatoes.
I learned that fresh jalapeno Peppers are not to be picked and eaten raw off the vine unless you want to die. I pick and eat the cherry tomatoes daily...and now that the peppers are doing really well I thought I would pluck a jalapeno pepper... one about 4-5 inches long...I bit it in half and chewed it up quick... and then I almost died... The flavour was amazing before the inferno went off inside of me....Will be good for cooking I guess. My wife wants to make Salsa with our tomatoes corn and peppers...I dunno if we can pull off that miracle this year though
Quote from: benevolance on July 06, 2008, 01:26:33 AM
Well I have cukes up to my eyelids...And the tomatoes are great... My corn is about dead :-[... The Cukes ran sideways and the runners wrapped around the corn and pulled on the stalks and only a few corn stalks remain...I might get 2 dozen ears of corn if I am lucky...Might not get any...
Squash are getting huge...Only planted a few squash plants and we have maybe 15 squash going...They love to run... they are clinging down the bank to the creek. Potatoes are growing like Mad and so are the sweet potatoes.
Where was the gardener when this murder took place :o Your suppose to move those vines as the grow so that doesn't happen eh heh
We don't plant squash any more , people started to avoid us cuz we'd be tryin to give them more free Zucchini's rofl
I pulled those two rows of spinach ( it had started to go to seed , we got about 4 to 6 meals for two out of that batch) , along with picking some peas . The neighbor gave us some crab he'd gone out and caught so we threw a steak on the BBQ and had a nice supper.
So I planted two more rows of spinach , we have two coming on ready to pick late in the week , and filled in some holes with iceberg lettuce.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/July5200811.jpg)
Strawberries are finally riping ,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/July5200812.jpg)
Had those with some vanilla ice cream and whip cream the past two nights man those are good :)
And the Grapes seem to be doing really well this year , last year we got two bunches for the first time the plants 4 or 5 years old and last season was it's first time to have fruit , this year looks better , I've found lots of Grapes bunches , so I know theres more in there ;)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/July5200813.jpg)
Garden looks great PEG. I an nearly sure the birds are eating our squash as the grow out of the ground as I replanted and till nothing. The rest is doing decent though.
Wish I had been there to see you eat that pepper, Peter. A wisacre at the phone co. years ago said I didn't have any peppers he couldnt eat -- probably about 1973. It was so funny -- he bit the tip off -- it was OK as the tips were a bit mild. He took a big ol' bite, chewed it up and the fireworks started. He was a lot easier to get along with after that too-- guess he learned a bit of respect or something. Maybe he didn't want any more of those peppers.
Peg
the corn stalk murder was one of those relentless things that happened very quickly... I was sorting weeding and removing stringers from the corn daily... but I went away for 4 days a couple weeks ago and that was the kiss of death for the corn patch...over night the cukes would entangle my corn stalks...that quick and that relentless.
I have no problems with bugs... and I use no spray or chemicals...So maybe the cukes are good for the corn that way...But I know now to leave twice as much space between cukes and anything else I plant...
At the new place next year I will try a raised bed and let the cukes run down like a hanging garden type of thingy.... I will do the same with the sweet potatoes and squash
Figured since we started harvesting, perhaps some photos were in order. Pretty good success with the lasagna garden again. Have some different veggies we are trying this year.
Welcome to the jungle
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/garden/P1030895.jpg)
Acorn squash
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/garden/P1030893.jpg)
Striped Cushaw squash
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/garden/P1030894.jpg)
Tomato trees
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/garden/P1030897.jpg)
Yellow pattypan squash
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/garden/P1030901.jpg)
Eightball zukes
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/garden/P1030902.jpg)
Cape gooseberry
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/garden/P1030905.jpg)
Tromboncino Squash
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/garden/P1030906.jpg)
Picked so far:
green beans, broccoli, lettuce, mesclun, eightball zukes, acorn squash, lemon cucumbers, kale seed pods to plant for fall crop
Great garden, Daddymem.
Re the squash and tons of zucchini:
I found out that they make pretty good chips. I would slice them and then blanch them quickly in boiling water, and then sprinkle them with a little lemon juice or vinegar and salt (dill is also nice) and then stick the slices in the dehydrator and dry them until crispy. The kids love them, and they taste good, and I'm sure they're better for you than potato chips.
HT we usually "deep fry" the crook-necks and zucchini. Sometimes we will bread and fry in a pan. When we do that is a complete meal in itself.
Quote from: Redoverfarm on July 18, 2008, 04:25:31 PM
HT we usually "deep fry" the crook-necks and zucchini. Sometimes we will bread and fry in a pan. When we do that is a complete meal in itself.
We don't do that too often, but I sure do love them that way. Fried food may not be all that good for you, but it sure tastes good!
Update from our container project, it's nowhere as great as some on here but has been fun (and productive) for us this summer. I have bigger plans for next year and cant wait.
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf1960.jpg)
A few peppers, cukes and tomatoes,
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf1956.jpg)
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf1959.jpg)
peppers, bell peppers and others
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf2013.jpg)
massively unwieldly tomato
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf2014.jpg)
cooking basil (http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf2016.jpg)
cucumbers(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf2017.jpg)
flowers from the driveway
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf2027.jpg)
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf2028.jpg)
one of several crape myrtles on the driveway
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf2029.jpg)
on the left is fresh rosemary- great on oven roasted potatoes and chicken
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf2031.jpg)
Looks like it's doing well, muldoon.
We got our first full sized tomatoes after being gone up-north for 4 days. I guess a watched tomato never ripens.
As an added bonus, we were up-north looking for some of the 1200 + trees we have planted over the past 2 years. My wife noticed we had wild blueberries on our land. Picked 2 pints before we left to come home. Sweetest ones I've ever tasted. Went well with the wild strawberries which are all over our land.
The base of our tomato plant that is in the knock off earthbox is almost 2" in diameter. It sprawls out and across the deck, probably more than 8' across. The cuke is just as bad...er, good! It's a monster.
What happened? Did everyone's gardens die off or what?
At the farmer's market a few weeks ago, one of the farmers with a warped sense of humor had a sign hanging off the table next to his squash that said, "Have you ever considered owning a squash as a pet? Think about it... they're already housebroken, they don't shed, and if you get tired of them, you can just slice them up and toss 'em on the grill. But don't wait too long. It's really easy to get attached to those little guys."
HT had them the last two evenings. Deep fried. Also fresh COTC. I have taken sliced them as well as onions, wrapped in foil and grilled them as well. Well I guess it is more like steamed. Still good.
Red, we always do that on the grill too... usually squash, peppers, potatoes, corn, onions, garlic, sometimes tomatoes, and a little butter and wrap it in foil and toss it on the grill. Don't even need any meat to go with a meal like that.
Quote from: Homegrown Tomatoes on August 19, 2008, 04:49:20 PM
What happened? Did everyone's gardens die off or what?
I spent the better part of the afternoon working in my garden. The cukes did finish and eventually dried up last month. The tomatoes put up another set of blooms and fruited but started wilting after that. I made three new earthbox clones today out of 20 gallon buckets and got them ready for fall (buckets on sale at lowes for 4.50 each). I also cleaned up the 2 rubbermaid tote containers I did last spring (the maters and cucumbers) and filled them with good composted humus. They are ready as well. Aside from that I have a bushload of serranos still coming in, and whoo-hoo some bell peppers. They finally made a show after I moved them to where they would get more shade - I was afraid I had gay bell peppers for a while! I also got a lime from the lime tree I started in May. I was surprised to see it trying to fruit this year, even if only just one. The hops are still hanging in there, but they really need a trellis to be happy... it's on the list....
Here are some pictures from todays work.
bells:
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf2446.jpg)
and
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf2447.jpg)
happy peppers:
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/700x500-dscf2445.jpg)
little lime
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/700x500-dscf2450.jpg)
and ready for fall:
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/700x500-dscf2444.jpg)
Glad you straightened those bell peppers out muldoon. ::)
We are just in that weird time of year here sort of to warm , some days , for the cool weather stuff to grow , lettuce , spinach etc all just rush to seed, and the warm weather stuff tomatoes , bush beans , grapes ,etc just don't get warm enough this year despite all the global warming talk has been a cool one here in the PNW. Potatoes are ready to harvest , I pulled all the onions this weekend , I have some Kohlrabies , bush beans ( I picked one picking and doubt I'll get another) , one type of lettuce.
It's been a very odd summer , and fall seems here to stay.
Over view ,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Aug2420083.jpg)
Grapes , although we have more than last year they look small , and I think as cool as it's been this may be about it for them.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Aug2420082.jpg)
Kohlrabi's , lettuce , bush beans,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Aug2420081.jpg)
Spuds ,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Aug242008.jpg)
I'm going to till in some compost and do a plastic green house this year maybe we can keep ourselves in lettuce and a few other things this fall , maybe into winter. Sort of a trial run year for this.
So that's my garden up date.
Muldoon, have you done anything special to get the lime to bear fruit? I've had a little orange tree for two years now, and we almost killed it when we moved from WI (it was -6 degrees the day we left, with driving wind and a blizzard.... by the time we got here, it looked like a little shrivelled stick in a pot.) I've babied it since then, even though it lost all it's leaves and looked pretty pitiful. I kept watering it, and in a few weeks later I woke up one morning and it had about fifteen little leaves coming out on it. It's grown like crazy all summer, but never has bloomed or anything. I'd love for it to bloom and bear fruit.
The garden looks great, PEG. Ours was a bit wimpy this year but still producing - I think the birds kept eating the plants as they poked their little heads out. tons of volunteer vegetables and this week I'm getting my dump trailer back so am going to get a load of alpaca poo.
The corn had a hard life this year - smashed by dogs - chewed by gophers but we still got a bit.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010693.jpg)
The volunteer Basil was transplanted by me and did well.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010692.jpg)
I think I will do the hydroponics this year - good year for extra production above normal I think.
Quote from: Homegrown Tomatoes on August 24, 2008, 08:27:31 PM
Muldoon, have you done anything special to get the lime to bear fruit? I've had a little orange tree for two years now, and we almost killed it when we moved from WI (it was -6 degrees the day we left, with driving wind and a blizzard.... by the time we got here, it looked like a little shrivelled stick in a pot.) I've babied it since then, even though it lost all it's leaves and looked pretty pitiful. I kept watering it, and in a few weeks later I woke up one morning and it had about fifteen little leaves coming out on it. It's grown like crazy all summer, but never has bloomed or anything. I'd love for it to bloom and bear fruit.
Sounds like you stressed it quite a bit in the move, so for it not to bloom this year is understandable. Having said that you can try to goose it with some fertilizer to get it to bloom if you think you have time before your first freeze.
All fertilizers have the 3 numbers on them N-P-K, a high N is good for vegetive growth, putting in leaves, lanky growth. The middle number P is used for flowering blooming fruiting or nutting. It helps the plant force energy into production instead of growth. I only use two fertilizers, Something called "save a tree" which is high N, and something called superbloom which is high P. I did the first one at the beginning of the summer and they grew like weeds. Once plants started blooming by themselves I switched and saw a noticable increase in blossoms. I did the same with the lime tree because I use the same 5 gallon bucket of rainwater/fert to water everything when I am working.
Couldn't hurt to try it if you think theres time.
Our ground is pretty hard with all the clay, even though it was mixed with horse manure compost - needs more. I've planted a lot of things only to either get eaten by birds or bugs or get dried out - Glenn's set up the sprinkler system but it gets clogged periodically or it doesn't hit certain areas so they dry out when I'm not around to water them by hand. We have a lot of garden & limited water so it is really a balancing act. It's bad enough when our dogs run through the stuff & crush it but when neighbor dogs decide to lie in the middle of the half grown corn & break it all off - really upset me... I've planted lots of different types of beans but have hardly gotten any to grow. The basil was from seeds from last years crop that I threw around - Glenn transplanted some of it to other places. We have lots of parsnips & onions; the potatoes this year were actually planted last year & grew lots of plants but no potatoes - this year we have quite a few. Lots of beets, some cabbages. Had lots & lots of lettuce earlier that had reseeded itself from last year which has now all gone to seed. Swiss chard is doing good again - also reseeded itself from last year. Lots of new broccoli plants coming up - again reseeded. If I pull out the dead stalks from the garden the dogs think it is a luxurious, cool, green oasis & they lay on the plants - so that's another reason I leave the stalks up until the reseeded plants get big enough the dogs aren't going to run through the garden or lie down on the baby plants [frus]
Our orange trees sat in pots for several years, didn't get watered regularly when I was gone so have been stunted & stressed a lot. Glenn planted them last year but some were in areas that didn't get regularly watered so almost died - he re-did the sprinklers so they're doing better now, also the bugs seems to eat the blooms off all the time - he has so much to do & doesn't have the time to hand water & weed the stuff - by the time I get done weeding & watering I don't feel like doing a whole lot more with the garden - it takes me several hours every week to keep it weeded & watered & picking the produce. We've gotten a lot of cherry tomatoes - I've made soup with them & frozen them - the big tomatoes got hit by the tomato worms - when I got back to the cabin from the valley, they were eaten pretty clean & I couldn't find the worms - but they are coming back really good. Hopefully there is still time to ripen the new tomatoes...
We've had a lot of beetles this year - the ones that like broccoli & cabbage - they're beige with black & red markings on their backs - I've killed a lot of them by hand - haven't had much problem this summer with the aphids like we did last year - maybe those beetles are eating the aphids, too? But aphids sure like artichokes >:( The ants & aphids were terrible! Lots of carrots. Did have a couple handfuls of blueberries - I planted the bushes last year - very tasty. My 4 way plum tree only had 2 pluots on it - Glenn was looking at it & saw them last week, I'd missed them - they were like candy. Last year I literally had 100's of plums on the tree even after I'd thinned it several times - but most of the limbs broke so this year it was just recovering. I bought a couple peach & apricot trees this year - the dogs got ahold of one of the peach trees before it was planted & tore the roots all up but the other 3 trees are doing good - hopefully next year we'll get some fruit on them. We only have one peach tree left in our original orchard of 12 varieties of fruit trees :( but it had probably about 20 or 30 peaches on it - the birds really like them ::) very tasty. Our strawberries did really well this year - the dogs got up on that roof & tore them up pretty good about a month ago - the dirt isn't real deep where they are growing so have to be watered by hand every day or they look pretty wilted.
Our grapes in the valley are loaded this year - I've been picking a bunch of Red Flame & Thompson seedless grapes & bringing them up to the cabin. They're really sweet.
Anyway, that's the saga of our garden... we really need to mulch a lot more to keep the soil soft & hold the water better. So Glenn left a bit ago to check on a couple job sites, get his dump trailer & pick up a trailer full of alpaca poo. It's supposed to be really hot again this week - we had a breather for several days of 80 to low 90's weather which was nice - doesn't stress out the garden so much...
Our stuff in containers is still recovering from that one or two weeks we had when the weather actually got hot. Then we got torrential rain, so I think that stressed them out even more. The cucumbers look a little sad, but they're still blossoming and actually starting to set fruit again. The tomatoes are blooming like crazy after all the rain and cool weather. The basil looks about like Glenn and Sassy's. As you come in the front door there is a pot with basil, tomatoes, and carrots growing in it. A few of the carrots are finally almost a decent size. You can smell the lemon basil as you arrive at the front door, along with the Thai spicy basil. In the back, the pot with the spicy bush basil is doing great, too.
Our squash keeps getting pretty stressed, no matter how much I water it - by afternoon the leaves are all droopy - we got 1 zucchini squash so far :-[ about 3 Armenian cucumbers, lots of winter type squashes (Hubbard & others) no melons ready yet, lots of blooms, though - I've noticed that on the squash, we have mostly male blooms - I know you can fry those & they're supposed to be good, but haven't done so yet.
We do have lots of peppers - bell, & hot & mild hot ones... I've frozen a few bags of them. I fixed some steak with cut up cherry tomatoes, bell & a hot pepper & onion for burritos yesterday - Glenn thought it was sooooo hot ::) heh I like the spiciness... I've tried to grow cilantro but haven't had much luck with that, don't know why...
Yeah, the hot weather just stresses out everything... :(
the trick with cilantro is soaking it before planting. And then pick it when it's pretty before it goes to seed.
We have Alpaca poo. It will make some great tasting vegetables.
They say this stuff is so good you can eat it right out of the box. [crz]
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/IMG00131.jpg)
The tractor was very small so I shoveled about 4 yards of it up high by myself after he brought it to me. Got about 2 yards yesterday and about 6 today. Yum [hungry] At least the dogs think so.
I planted in seeds for the fall garden yesterday. Did 3 types of carrots and 3 types of onions, winter squash, radishes, and artichokes. I didn't have any garlic seeds which is the only thing I wanted to get in but didn't. Anyway, I'm hoping to have somthing germinated and popping up in the next few weeks.
The serranos are going absolutely nuts, there are close to 20 peppers hanging right now on the bush. The bell peppers are still coming in and I got a new batch of flowers on the lower branches so maybe some more coming up. The basil looks good, but nowhere near as good as the ones on the previous page. I only have two main stalks in that container, but they smell great.
In the backyard I have been having trouble with the grass not filling in. I'm fairly sure it has to do with the two huge oak trees and the leaves they put down. I haven't been as good about raking the past 5 years as I should have been and I think the soil is very acidic from it. I dropped some granulated lime and watered it in, hoping for the grass to come back a bit from that.
I need to get after mine too.
We had to pick a bunch of our stuff, the vines were getting stressed and the worms were starting to get into our crop.
Our bounty:
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/garden/P1040443.jpg)
Eightball zukes, lemon cukes, Pattypans, Sweet Meat Winter Squash, Tromboncino squash
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/garden/P1040444.jpg)
Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/garden/P1040445.jpg)
Pattypans, scallop squash, Tromboncino squash, Acorn squash
Looks really good Daddymem. Really miss having a "real" garden. If the vines are any indication, though, we should at least have a fair amount of sweet potatoes... everything else but the basil has seen its better days.
Peg's right, our summer started in July and quit in August. d*
Cool veggies, Daddymem. Our dogs decided to sleep and dig in the corn and vegetables --- I was so p-ssed. They are banned.
daddymem, those look fantastic.
I have lots of new sprouts from last weekends fall start.
The radishes came up in full force. I have them in a 20 gallon bucket, roughly 2 foot tall by 2 foot across. Within some areas 5-6 sproutings per square inch. They are all nearly 2 inches tall with just a few stragglers just now coming in. I know thats too dense, but I am not sure how much I should thin it. Does anyone have any ideas? I am thinking 1 per 1 square inch, does that sound reasonable for now?
The artichokes are coming in as well, just saw them this morning for the first time, but this evening I have 5 new pods breaking ground and just shedding their seeds. I'm hoping I didn't overseed them too.
A few onions, just 2 or 3 so far, barely anything. Nothing on the carrots or squash yet either. Thats ok, I got time.
I dont want to post on politics or economy or bailouts or repubicans or democrats or russia or isreal or china today. All that has me fairly upset this weekend. I just want to spend some time in the dirt. I did eat a serrano off the vine. omg.
Gardening will ease your mind a bit, muldoon. If I had a mind I could get upset too. [crz]
Instead of upset, I just like to be well informed. d*
We were looking at the area destroyed by the dogs and since we let lots of our stuff go to seed and we shake the seeds into the different areas, the entire thing is filled with new plants. Nearly all of them will do well in the winter garden - carrots, parsnips, celery, onions, swiss chard - Hops - some in the other planter I finally put timed drip water on after I put in the bigger water line a few weeks ago.
I'm with you muldoon. Sometimes I wish topics on gardening, homesteading, and the like were in a different area than the politics and rants.
great gardening muldoon. as for spacing of radishes and such in a small area, google "square foot gardening" and it has a bunch of ideas. in one square foot you can put 16 radishes. if you can't get any info from said site just ask me as i have the book. bought it many years ago and it is quite handy.
dan
Quote from: Daddymem on September 07, 2008, 06:32:29 AM
I'm with you muldoon. Sometimes I wish topics on gardening, homesteading, and the like were in a different area than the politics and rants.
About the best I can do at this time is to keep the light stuff up in the stickies at the top of the page. This is the only place John has set up for the stuff besides building.
Heavier stuff you may not want to see will be below the blue shaded area.
Holy moley... I went out this morning to feed the dogs and there were 16 tomatoes (this is all on one plant) and about 10 bell peppers. Where did they come from? They weren't there just a few days ago... in fact, I was thinking about ripping all that stuff out of the planters and starting over with stuff for fall. The cukes are toast, but the peppers, basil, and tomatoes have come back full force after a few cool damp days. I've got some carrots in the planter out front that are about ready to pull, too... I really didn't expect much from a little container like that, but we've gotten quite a few tomatoes, tons of basil, and a few carrots out of the deal. Not bad considering it's not a "real" garden. Oh, and the sweet potato vine has taken over the entire front flower bed. I only hope all those nice green leaves are producing a lot of starch underground.
Sassy picked the vegetables from the garden the other day.
We also noticed the cooler weather eems to be giving things a boost.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000069.jpg)
Not a pepper fan in the least bit but nice looking tomatoes. What kind? Picked my seed Tromboncino squash last night as the vine had wilted. I'll have to get the picture off the camera, it is several feet long. Hope there are plenty of seeds in there for next year's crop.
I'm not sure what type the tomatoes are -- just that they are a larger cherry type tomato - average about 1 1/4 inches across.
Looked for a tag but couldn't find one. They are really putting out , and good that they are as the big ones got too hot - and are just starting to do something.
Here's that big Tromboncino. I sliced it up and froze it. It smelled of butternut squash. A weird veggie for sure, it was zuke-like when young and winter squash like when mature. I saved the seeds, a definite veggie for next year too.
(https://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff173/daddymem/garden/squash2.jpg)
Cool squash and your daughter just keeps getting cuter.
Picked the potatoes tonight not very many but they'll be good eatin.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Sept132008Take2.jpg)
She sure is cute 8), the kid that is.
Those little potatoes are great --I like them with lots of butter and salt.
Perfect size for a nice chowdah.
our greens out back are ready to start being picked. The tomatoes are still puttin on like crazy. I am really wanting to dig sweet potatoes, but usually wait until the first frost, which is still a ways off. There are a few eating-size carrots in the containers now, too.
Ours are still doing pretty good - actually some is better than summer and second crop of strawberries is coming on well.
I picked a couple of tomatoes and what will probably amount to the last of the peppers this morning. The basil is starting to look a little shaggy. The girls and I shook seeds out of all the different varieties to save for next year. I like the spicy thai basil the best. DH likes the lemon basil. Those sweet taters are getting really tempting... I looked at some at the store last night and for that price I think I'll wait until ours come out of the flower bed! With lettuce at nearly $2 for red or green leaf lettuce, we'll have to just depend on what we can grow here for the time being.
Our garden is still doing pretty well, and as yours is, our Basil is about done. I haven't trimmed it back for the whole season so its big and rough. This should be the year of the carrot - if they get big enough - there are tons of them from reseeding themselves.
My garden was about as bad as bad can get. 3 small tomatoes & 1 pepper. Don't think we can live on our bountiful harvest. :( Did get to pick up about 50 pounds of hickory nuts and walnuts today. At least I can bake brownies and cookies. :)May just survive the winter.
Do you have Acorns there, Sis. Our local indigenous Indians survived on Acorn pretty well. No one said it tasted great but I have tried it.
We have tons of acorns. Wouldn't know what to do with them. I wish there was something useful to use them for, I don't need anymore oak trees. They were falling yesterday and it was painful to get too close to the trees. How do you use them Glenn?
The Native Americans in their main use made a mush - sort of like a semi-cear gravy out of them that they still simply call Acorn. Such as - We're going to have Acorn at the Big Time Celebration, or let's eat acorn.
They used to pound it with a mortar and pestle made of stone with the mortar many times being in the bedrock, but they also used a portable one in many cases.
Today - an easier modern method ---- one of our local natives and a very nice lady, Julia Parker, in her book, "It Will Live Forever", http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keywords=parker%20%20it%20will%20live%20forever&tag=countryplanscom&index=books&Search=Search&link_code=qs
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/211GGWC09EL._SL500_AA140_.jpg)
New method by Julia, recommends collecting them. let them dry a while to get the shells off easier, crack with a hammer light enough to get the shell off and crack the nuts into 2 or 3 pieces but not smash, remove the shells and bad nuts and return them to the earth.
To loosen the skins, put them on a cloth and lay in the sun. Split the grooves open with a knife lengthwise on the groove. Sprinkle them with water and allow them to dry. Rub them between your hands to loosen the skins. Scrape off the remaining skins with a knife.
4 lbs of nuts will result in about 4 cups after cleaning and removing the bad ones. Measure by one cup at a time 5.5 ounces - and process them (the 1 cup at a time) in a blender , started on low until the jumping around slows then go to high and continue processing until the nut pieces stop falling from the sides into the blades. While still in the blender, mix with a wooden spoon including the sticky bottom part and repeat processing until it make a fine flour. If it gets to oily as it is being blended, Julia says to add a few whole nutmeats at low speed to absorb the oil as it is blending.
Repeat with the rest one cup at a time until all is fine flour. This will make about 5 cups of flour.
If there are chunks in the flour you need to process it longer.
Leaching - It is bitter with Tannins so this is how Julia does it...
Put it into an empty 5 lb flour, sugar or salt sack. Fill it with water and allow it to drain so the flour is saturated. Tie the sack to a faucet and allow a slow trickle of water - just past a drip to flow so the water flows out the top of the sack very slowly. The sack erves as a waterbreak. Leave it all night long.to leach the bitterness from the flour.
This leaves about 4 cups of wet flour. Place it into a stainless steel pot. Add 3 cup of water and mix. Cook at high heat stirring frequently, and gradually add 7 more cups of water as it cooks. continue boiling and stirring for 15 minutes until it has the consistency of tomato soup. For cornmeal mush consistency add less water.
This makes 11 1/2 cups "nuppa".
If using new acorn add more water as it thickens more than older acorn. I recall reading that the skins were harder to get off also.
Lots of interesting stories in Julia's book. I recommend it -- and I bought an official signed copy from her at the fair in '02. She was (and is?) in charge of the Indian museum and other things in Yosemite.
I have heard of breads and other ways to use them but this is the main way they were used. Maybe we can find more ways to use them with a bit of research. With the current economy maybe it will be useful knowledge.
I will have to get the book. I found another site that has some great information. www.grandpappy.info With the cost of food going up, you are correct about useful knowledge. Well, It looks like I will be gathering acorns today. I can't let anything go to waste. If I keep gathering things to dry, I am going to have to build a larger building.
That's great, Sis. Julia recommended the cardboard flat boxes like a case of soda cans comes in to spread and dry the acorns. Any way to get them spread out. They used to store them in granaries made in trees to keep them off of the ground.
(http://www.primitiveways.com/Image3/granary4.jpg)
www.primitiveways.com/acorn%20granary.html
Please keep us posted on your progress on this.
There are alot of Swine farmers who would love to have them. They are a good supplement to hog feed and yes the hogs like them also.
I just went to the bottom of our property cutting wood and the deer have eaten every acorn there on the ground. The fire took the rest of their food to the north. They eat them every year anyway except near the house where the dogs keep them away.
The live oak acorns are small and exceptionally bitter. The ones around here that are mild are the blue oak, white oak and black oak acorns.
Quote from: glenn kangiser on October 19, 2008, 02:08:19 PM
The live oak acorns are small and exceptionally bitter. The ones around here that are mild are the blue oak, white oak and black oak acorns.
Personal experience?
Yup -- I tasted them -
The live oak ones are very small and bitter, but the Blue Oak (White Oak family) are not too bitter with tannins even fresh and unleached.
I have Native American friends who just like the bigger acorns. At Carla's place where I have been working there are many bedrock areas with pounding holes in them where they pounded the blue oak acorns-- right in the rock and near a year round spring.
Our winter garden and so far, remains of the summer garden are still doing well.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/garden11-2.jpg)
We picked red tomatoes, squash, green tomatoes peppers and a bit of broccoli today.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/gardensquashtom-11-2.jpg)
and enough strawberries for cake and ice cream covered with strawberries and whipped cream -- if we don't get too greedy on the strawberries and slice them thin enough. d*
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/gardenberries11-2.jpg)
We could hardly get any zucchini squash to grow this summer but they sure are growing now... plus we have lots of hubbard & "sweet mama" winter squash. Lots & lots of carrots, parsnips, onions, beets... the artichoke plants are getting big, not putting any artichokes on yet, though. Also lots of swiss chard & I think a lot of celery plants that reseeded themselves... also, my lime tree has put on a lot of baby limes. Hopefully next year I should have lots of plums (4 different types), peaches, blueberries & apricots, plus the strawberries & maybe one of these years we'll get some oranges from the orange trees. We still need to plant some grapes... we have lots in the valley.
Last week & again today I picked big bags of cherry tomatoes & a variety of peppers. Still lots of green tomatoes - they were late this year, also... Cherokee purple & Brandywine - but doubt if they'll ripen - we'll just have to eat fried green tomatoes some more...
Quote from: glenn kangiser on October 20, 2008, 10:47:13 PM
Yup -- I tasted them -
The live oak ones are very small and bitter, but the Blue Oak (White Oak family) are not too bitter with tannins even fresh and unleached.
I have Native American friends who just like the bigger acorns. At Carla's place where I have been working there are many bedrock areas with pounding holes in them where they pounded the blue oak acorns-- right in the rock and near a year round spring.
Glenn, do you have any Burr Oaks out there? (
Quercus macrocarpa? It seems like that would be the most efficient acorn if you were going to harvest them to eat because they're huge. It seems like it'd be more trouble than it's worth to harvest them from things like blackjacks and live oaks, though. Around here pecans, black walnuts, sand plums, persimmons, and blackberries grow wild, so there's no shortage of wild stuff to eat. Persimmons are weeds that usually grow in the bar ditches and fencerows, etc. I remember my grandpa splitting the seeds with his pocketknife when I was a little girl to show me the inside of the seeds which looked like a little fork, knife, or spoon. (I had to show the same thing to my kids a few years back when I found some wild persimmons growing.)
They're predicting a freeze this weekend here. I think my container with lettuce, etc., will survive if I cover it. The tomatoes are almost gone, but they are such delicious tomatoes... about 9-10 ripe ones sitting on the kitchen counter right now.
I haven't heard of Burr Oaks. I think the Native Americans here prefer the Black Oaks - could have been White though. They also know how to take the poison out of the Buckeye and make them edible. They are a bit smaller than a tennis ball.
No Burr oaks. Most of the acorns we pick up are Black oak. The white oaks have more acid and are smaller. We do have pin oak acorns that are very tasty but hard to find ???We use a large coffee pot to leach the acorns out after they have dried.
We mostly use the acorn flour with our wheat flour gives it a nutty flavor [cool]
By the way acorns are one of the only things that regulate blood sugar naturally.
Dang, Whitlock... I didn't know you knew all of that stuff. d*
Quote from: glenn kangiser on November 11, 2008, 01:09:06 PM
Dang, Whitlock... I didn't know you knew all of that stuff. d*
Hang with me kid you will learn a lot rofl rofl
I'm old enough to be your dad--- does that mean I didn't pay attention when I was young? d* rofl
Quote from: Homegrown Tomatoes on November 11, 2008, 08:33:28 AM
Persimmons are weeds that usually grow in the bar ditches and fencerows, etc. I remember my grandpa splitting the seeds with his pocketknife when I was a little girl to show me the inside of the seeds which looked like a little fork, knife, or spoon. (I had to show the same thing to my kids a few years back when I found some wild persimmons growing.)
They're predicting a freeze this weekend here. I think my container with lettuce, etc., will survive if I cover it. The tomatoes are almost gone, but they are such delicious tomatoes... about 9-10 ripe ones sitting on the kitchen counter right now.
Good for the persimmons though the freeze that is. Remember finding some and giving to my son before the frost. He learned real fast when not to eat them. It could take the place of alum.
Quote from: glenn kangiser on November 11, 2008, 01:17:53 PM
does that mean I didn't pay attention when I was young? d* rofl
What do you think ??? rofl rofl
(https://i455.photobucket.com/albums/qq278/Minermatt/Glenns003.jpg)
I'll soon be catching up with you....you didn't even see the choppers...
Son and family are here. My grandson, Samson has something to say.
Being somewhat of a genius he completely forgot what I was prompting him to say and ad-libbed the whole thing.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/th_P1000354-1.jpg) (https://s35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/?action=view¤t=P1000354-1.flv)
What a pitchman! :)
The little sales dude has left taking with him a batch of quartz crystals he broke out with an air chisel and one last ride on the Bush Hog.
Here is the latest of the garden.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/garden12-6-08-1.jpg)
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/garden12-6-08-2.jpg)
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/garden12-6-08-4.jpg)
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/garden12-6-08-5.jpg)
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/garden12-6-08-6.jpg)
A natural ham just like his Granddad. ;)
I'm a canned ham... d* [hungry]
Quote from: glenn kangiser on December 07, 2008, 12:39:45 AM
I'm a canned ham... d* [hungry]
Spam I am , said Glenn d*
BTW Spam , I heard , is doing great business these days , over time, double shifts, etc. Part of the down turn has been a up turm at Spam.
I used to like Spam, many many moons ago. :P d* d*
I think they make a low sodium turkey Spam; Spam health food. ;D ;D
Quote from: MountainDon on December 07, 2008, 01:10:51 AM
I used to like Spam, many many moons ago. :P d* d*
I think they make a low sodium turkey Spam; Spam health food. ;D ;D
I remember eating Spam, onion and mustard sandwiches and watching Hee Haw on the black and white TV at my grandparents' when I was a kid. They tasted good... probably weren't that great for you, but they tasted pretty decent. It was probably on white bread, too, which we never had at home, but I couldn't say for sure.
The video of your grandson was pretty cute... have you put him on payroll yet?
I don't know if my son would allow me to have that great an influence on him... and they live 75 miles away.
I may have to try Spam again one of these days -- I remember I liked it - fried with ketchup too. I don't try to think about the ingredients in it.
worked in the garden with the kids a bit this afternoon. we transplanted the serrano peppers and the bell peppers into bigger containers. they are growing like weeds.
the bell peppers have 17 fruits hanging, and the hot peppers are more than 40.
this is my son, he's a ham too.
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf3050.jpg)
these are like fire!
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf3051.jpg)
bell peppers.. yummy -- I dont know what they sell at the grocery store because those are just watery pale imitations of good peppers.
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf3054.jpg)
some of the carrots are almost ready
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf3058.jpg)
the artichokes and chives are coming in slowly, hope I'll have some good harvest pictures of those in a few more weeks/months.
finished up for the day, I know it's still just a little tinkerers garden but it has been fun for us this year.
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf3049.jpg)
Hmm - I should transplant our peppers, muldoon. One day soon they will freeze and I know if they don't freeze they will keep growing.
It's great that you garden with the kids, muldoon. They need to learn it for their future. :)
Unbelievable. I went out this morning and pulled the old vinyl table cloth off the makeshift earthboxes and everything is still alive. We've had several days of bitter temperatures. :)
The wife brought the Jalapenos in last year and they did fair in the house and produced great in the spring but so far this year the NM. peppers don't seem to be digin on the indoor environment. ??? New Mexicos don't seem to do well out here anyway :-\
I brought our peppers in -- not doing great but not bad either. They would have been froze in one more day outside.
Haven't read all of the pages (forgive my lazyness), but the wife and I are going to be planting two gardens this year, one about 30x30, the other 20x30. Greens, carrots, potatoes, asparagus, broccoli, beans, melons, onions, zuchinni, tomatoes, squash, garlic, herbs, plus many more things that I can't even think of right now.
Are there postings on here about canning? Homegrown, maybe you can help on this. Like I said, I would read all 50 pages, but I have too much to do! :)
Feel free to email me or PM on the topic of canning as needed. High acid foods are easiest to can. Do you have a deep freeze? I ask because some foods are better frozen than canned, and some are the other way around. Some are good either way. Some are also handy dried. Just depends on what you want.
I usually can pickles, tomatoes and tomato sauces and salsa, green beans, pickled okra, jams and jellies, apple butter, etc. I like to freeze corn, peas, peppers, and berries, etc. (Things like pears, peaches, etc. are good either way.) I like to dry squash like chips, and the kids love dried fruits. I also like dried okra and tomatoes and peppers to cook with throughout the winter. I got a food dryer free off of freecycle one time... it was new and still in the box, so a great deal for me. We've used it a lot. Nothing smells better than apples drying on it. DH keeps saying that this year was our "sabbatical", but I am tired of resting from the growing and planting and harvesting and canning, etc. To me, going to the store feels like a chore, whereas working in the garden or kitchen does not. (I guess I'm warped enough that I've always thought this kind of work was fun.) Stuff like sweet potatoes and winter squash we just have always stored in a cool dark corner somewhere. I used to always braid ropes of onions and garlic and use them during the winter. If they were getting to the point where I was afraid they'd go bad, I'd chop them and dry them to prevent us from losing them, but usually they do alright as long as they're kept fairly cool during the winter months.
Quote from: Jens on December 30, 2008, 10:14:33 AM
Haven't read all of the pages (forgive my lazyness), but the wife and I are going to be planting two gardens this year, one about 30x30, the other 20x30. Greens, carrots, potatoes, asparagus, broccoli, beans, melons, onions, zuchinni, tomatoes, squash, garlic, herbs, plus many more things that I can't even think of right now.
Are there postings on here about canning? Homegrown, maybe you can help on this. Like I said, I would read all 50 pages, but I have too much to do! :)
Your "AsperGrass" should be seperate so you can mulch it good in the winter for the next year.
:) Aspergrass?? That's funny. My kids always tell me it is "a-bear-igus".
Quote from: Homegrown Tomatoes on January 07, 2009, 10:56:06 PM
:) Aspergrass?? That's funny. My kids always tell me it is "a-bear-igus".
I love the stuff but since we left sunny SoCal I haven't tried to plant any. All my SoCal " Abearigus" beds took two years before they really put out good shoots and I think in a shorter growing climate as Ar. it may take even longer :( And it seems the older I get the less patient I become, But also I have noticed the years go by faster now so I may have to prepare a bed this winter ??? Hmmmmm? .......My life = Quandary! d*
I don't know... it goes crazy here in OK. Our next door neighbor when I was a kid had a permanent bed of it in her garden, and she would freeze quite a bit every spring because she couldn't eat it all or give it all away. During the rest of the year, she used the feathery leaves as filler in bouquets. Put it in this year and you might have a harvest by next spring. If not, then the spring after that. But the longer you put it off, the longer it will be before you can pick some. ;)
From the garden this morning, orange and purple carrots, serranoe peppers, bell peppers and fresh chives.
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf3378.jpg)
hmm Lost the picture here but sounds like a nice harvest, muldoon.
the picture is showing for me, but the direct link should be:
http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Spring%202008%20Container%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf3378.jpg
Nothing here either. Not even the image alone on the separate link.
??? Other sites are connecting, but that one just sits there spinning its wheels.
Something's loopy I think. ;D
I have had a problem growing a garden in the soil I have in NE Arkansas. Never mind all the rocks. I am going to try it with raised beds this year. I haven't tested the soil yet, can't find a test kit at any place around here, will have to order one from somewhere. My questions is, what to put in the soil to get me a garden growing in the spring. I can't get any cow manure here, but might be able to get something from the chicken houses in the next town. It seems like the only thing that grows are oak trees. Planted tomatoes and peppers last year, but they didn't do a thing.
I quess my first thing is to find a test kit. Is there some good commercial fertilizer? I love to garden, but I am getting very discouraged. Help [noidea'
Ssis,
Have good friends in MO and AR, and here is what they do for a garden, and it works beautifully. They build their garden in a south facing slope and half-bury bales of hay or straw. The first year, they plant the tomatoes and peppers directly into the straw bales and keep them well-watered. Then behind the bales of hay, they use a mixture of compost and whatever dirt they can come up with to make the slope into little terraces. Then, the next year, they incorporate last year's hay bales, manure, and whatever else they can come up with into each terrace and gradually build the soil. Hope that makes sense. An old-timer basically told me that the soil wouldn't grow much of anything, but he'd learned to plant directly into the bales of straw/hay after letting a tomato rot on top of one one time and growing a bumper crop out of the hay bale! Also, where the soil is tough and rocky, they plant potatoes, because they are one of the best crops for busting up the soil.... as I mentioned somewhere else before, you might try the blue potatoes, because though they may not produce a huge crop, they'll almost always give you a steady crop.
Good luck this year.
You need to find out whats wrong with the soil before you decide what to add to it.
Have a look at http://www.sref.info/regionalpublications/SREF-FM-002
or http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:R5uOJMwFEsgJ:www.sref.info/regionalpublications/SREF-FM-002+ph+soil+oak&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us
You said oaks grow, any idea what type of oak? It might tell you what the acidity of the soil is. ie live oak and post oaks like high acidity maybe u to 7 or 8. Tomatoes like 6-6.3 according to most books I have seen on it.
If your ph is too high, you need to lower it.
Easy organic way is to add sawdust, hay, and/or compost to the dirt and let it decompose. Any organic matter you can add to your soil will be good. You also can add sulphur -- but you should read up on dosage for it depending on what kind of soil you have.
If your ph is too low, hydrated lime will bring it up.
Your county extension office may have some information you can use as well. They may even do your soil test for you, Mine did.
Quote from: southernsis on January 22, 2009, 01:48:19 PM
I have had a problem growing a garden in the soil I have in NE Arkansas. Never mind all the rocks. I am going to try it with raised beds this year. I haven't tested the soil yet, can't find a test kit at any place around here, will have to order one from somewhere. My questions is, what to put in the soil to get me a garden growing in the spring. I can't get any cow manure here, but might be able to get something from the chicken houses in the next town. It seems like the only thing that grows are oak trees. Planted tomatoes and peppers last year, but they didn't do a thing.
I quess my first thing is to find a test kit. Is there some good commercial fertilizer? I love to garden, but I am getting very discouraged. Help [noidea'
Also some trees like the black walnut kill tomatoes and peppers. They release a toxin into the soil that kills most plants around them. It is also found in there leaves, so watch when composting too. Raised beds are good because you can control everything that goes in. If you are going to garden as a serious hobby, I would invest in a soil PH tester. You can get them under $10 from ebay.
We have all kinds of oaks, hickory, and other things. I am going to get a soil tester and hay bales, and raised beds. We have been composting for a couple of years now, mostly veggie scraps, coffee grounds. I have heard that if you don't use a mulcher on the oak leaves they take forever to break down. I tend to believe it because when we originally cleaned this place up there was a foot layer of leaves. No one had raked up the leaves for about 8 or 9 years and they had barely started to break down at the bottom most layer.
:) DH's solution to the leaves not breaking down was to stick the lawn mower in the compost bin. ;) I would watch out with putting hickory, walnut, or pecan leaves in because anything in the Juglandaceae family is a little tricky in that it produces toxins that inhibit the growth of some plants. Usually you can find a simple soil pH test in Wal-mart or Lowe's or home depot garden center... not expensive, but I second the advice to talk to your county extension agent, too.
Thanks everyone. If all goes well, I may hve a garden this year.
I have used chicken manure added to the soil with good results but that was sandy soil. Also chicken would be good with the straw as it requires carbon to compost readily - it is heavy on nitrogen. Horse manure is the perfect mix of nitrogen and carbon for fast composting. Just add water and air - it will be ready in about 4 to 8 weeks.
Always compost the chicken manure first because of the very high N content. If you use it straight, your stuff will usually sprout immediately only to burn off after the initial growth. I second what Glenn says about using it with straw.
I've had great luck with the lasagna garden method. The soil below doesn't matter. You put down a thick pile of wet newspapers or cardboard then alternate layers of green and brown materials. Sheet composting is another name for it and you grow your garden right in it. I've got worms the size of baby garden snakes in there and I live on sand.
Some pictures of the results and the construction on our blog:
http://schluterhomestead.blogspot.com/
If there is anyone in your area with llamas or alpacas, their doodoo can be used immediately and directly in the soil, and they may be glad to have you haul some off.
The clay around here is lousy for growing, it makes root crops difficult and it is acidic because my trees are all cedar and fir.
I just keep composting and it is getting better.
We have an alpaca farm about 15 miles away - $10 to $20 a load for nice stuff. Now I just need to wheel it into the garden. d*
Quote from: Daddymem on January 23, 2009, 06:21:49 AM
I've had great luck with the lasagna garden method. The soil below doesn't matter. You put down a thick pile of wet newspapers or cardboard then alternate layers of green and brown materials. Sheet composting is another name for it and you grow your garden right in it. I've got worms the size of baby garden snakes in there and I live on sand.
Some pictures of the results and the construction on our blog:
http://schluterhomestead.blogspot.com/
I ran through the blog again, Daddymem and noticed grass clippings there. Years ago one of my customers grew a great big garden on grass clippings.
Had a friend who tried this method in OK, and had trouble (not because it isn't a good method, but because no matter how heavy the OM she put on top of the paper was, the wind would catch the edge of the paper and lift paper, compost and all flying through the air!) She finally had to put staw bales around the edges to keep it put! After that she had a pretty good garden.
Know where your grass clippings come from and what is put on the lawn they came from. You don't want to go put unwanted pesticides in your food garden.
The edges of my beds overhang the paper base and my beds have been through a number of nor'easters and a hurricane without any problems. The haybales could only make things better though, wish I could afford some for mine, not exactly super plentiful around here.
Quote from: southernsis on January 22, 2009, 04:38:02 PM
We have all kinds of oaks, hickory, and other things. I am going to get a soil tester and hay bales, and raised beds. We have been composting for a couple of years now, mostly veggie scraps, coffee grounds. I have heard that if you don't use a mulcher on the oak leaves they take forever to break down. I tend to believe it because when we originally cleaned this place up there was a foot layer of leaves. No one had raked up the leaves for about 8 or 9 years and they had barely started to break down at the bottom most layer.
Raised beds work better here for several reasons but the most important for me is being able to control the water, when we first tried gardening here everything drowned. then the next year the trees sucked the moisture out of the top two feet of soil because we didn't get enough rain! d*
Old leaky water troughs and tractor tires can be used for raised beds as well, I don't care for old hay bales because the mold that grows in them tends to go for your plants also.
Try to burn off the leaves and nuts before you plant to kill any active mold bacteria that may attack your plants, Mold works for making mulch but with the wet climate out here it can destroy a garden. Also the leaves and nuts have tanins that can leach into your plants and make the fruit bitter.
Seeds explaiined.
http://www.earthpowernews.com/lifestyle/heirloom-vs-hybrid-seeds?utm_source=Aweber&utm_medium=email
Quote from: glenn kangiser on February 16, 2009, 11:49:12 AM
Seeds explaiined.
http://www.earthpowernews.com/lifestyle/heirloom-vs-hybrid-seeds?utm_source=Aweber&utm_medium=email
Thats kinda funny, The best tomatoes we've grown here came from a slice of tomato I threw out of a sandwich from Subway! The plant came up voulunteer in a burn pile that I burned the paper and tomato slice in?!?!? ???
Got sweet potatoes growing in the window sill. Haven't started tomatoes yet, but should have. Just don't want to bother with moving them I guess. Not sure where the garden is going to go at the new place yet... there isn't a lot of clear land. ???
Tilled the garden today, I hope to pick up some starts this week , if the local Home Despot or Garden shop gets them in.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Feb222009.jpg)
Some kind of bulb already starting to grow , the Hydrangeas have nice buds on them as well.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Feb2220093.jpg)
You might notice the rain that considerations said our area would be getting today. ;)
Here I go --- getting beat by a Washingtonian garden again. d*
Humm glad I didn't plant anything d*
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Feb262009.jpg)
This year I am growing everything in the garden room in the house and in my greenhouse to keep out the deer/turkeys. Hopefully it will be great. I am also considering geting some mini goats, I was going to put it off for a few years because I think they will draw cougars which is not a good thing with a toddler around BUt with all the economic troubles and the coming famine I think it would be good to get the goats. Has anyone had mini goats? I like the sounds of mini goats instead of full grown ones because I am getting kind of old to wrestle goats around and the minis only get 20 inches high so I think I can manage them. I figure they can mow the lawn for me and supposedly they give a quart of milk each goat per day so if I got two that would be about half a gallon which I can make into cheese or feed to the dogs. My other plan is making homeade beer. I don't drink beer but I figure I can trade it off for dogfood and other supplies (coffee). Maybe I will make wine too. As long as I only trade within my family it should not be considered commerce. After all I am a consultant by trade not a farmer or brewer.
I expanded the container garden a bit this spring and am now doing a fair bit more than last year.
I started a bunch of heirloom seeds back in January, and got pretty decent germination and healthy starters. Gave a bunch of seedlings away to friends who are starting a garden this year after seeing mine last year. (Hopefully I'll be seeing salads and salsa later in the year :) ) .. anyway, I wound up picking up starts from a local nursery for the containers I still had empty.
Got 3 different bell peppers now, 1 was a trade for bunch of tomato and marconi pepper seedlings. It is already blooming and has about half a dozen peppers on it.
Have 11 tomato plants of differing varieties. Got 3 cherry tomato plants after seeing how decimated they were last year. Between me and the kids I dont think a cherry mater ever made it into the house. Started 8 boston pickling cucumbers and 7 of them are off and running now. A nice selection of poblano, jalapeno, serrano, habanero peppers for me (I am a hothead). The lime tree looks good, I'm hoping it's going to fruit this year. Got started on some strawberries, but only 1 of the 3 really looks healthy. I'll keep with the others for now until they just cant hold up. I have seen worse plants make it. I got a pumpkin from a lady on craigslist. Also some arugula and cilantro. I think thats about it.
I'm sticking with the strategy of most everything being "scrounged". The buckets are from HEB and Walmart and Krogers. The bakery gets the icing for the donuts in those buckets and they give them to me for free. About 50% of the soil is compost, 50% storebought .. although I hope to do better next year. I am building the bin right now in fact, more on that another day.
Here are some pictures.
first my helpers, they are 8 and 4 this June. wow time flies.
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf3457.jpg)
some squashes .. oops I didnt even mention the squashes and zuchinis above. a few pan squash and 3 spaghetti squash. I think this is the spaghettis
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf3458.jpg)
rosemary .. another I didnt mention and a bell pepper.
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf3459.jpg)
arugula, basil, jalapeno, serranos
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf3460.jpg)
more tomatoes
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf3461.jpg)
eggplant, cherry tomato. that eggplant was started last spring and never fruited. Hopefully this year.
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf3464.jpg)
mess of serrano peppers about to come in
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf3466.jpg)
my cucumber setup, there is another one right next to this one.
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf3468.jpg)
the rest .. you can see the deckblocks that the compost bin will one day sit on if I can get it done.
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf3469.jpg)
and the garden view.
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf3472.jpg)
still just a hokey hobby garden, but it works for us. Thanks.
That is great, muldoon. Looks like the kids will really enjoy it too.
Nice that you are getting others started. It's a very worthwhile hobby at this point in time.
Quote from: tanya on March 09, 2009, 07:52:57 PM
This year I am growing everything in the garden room in the house and in my greenhouse to keep out the deer/turkeys. Hopefully it will be great. I am also considering geting some mini goats, I was going to put it off for a few years because I think they will draw cougars which is not a good thing with a toddler around BUt with all the economic troubles and the coming famine I think it would be good to get the goats. Has anyone had mini goats? I like the sounds of mini goats instead of full grown ones because I am getting kind of old to wrestle goats around and the minis only get 20 inches high so I think I can manage them. I figure they can mow the lawn for me and supposedly they give a quart of milk each goat per day so if I got two that would be about half a gallon which I can make into cheese or feed to the dogs. My other plan is making homeade beer. I don't drink beer but I figure I can trade it off for dogfood and other supplies (coffee). Maybe I will make wine too. As long as I only trade within my family it should not be considered commerce. After all I am a consultant by trade not a farmer or brewer.
Pygmy Goats can be more trouble than full size goats. I like the Nubian's best myself because they are pretty tough and are usually very docile. I would also suggest getting a pair of nanny's first and get an idea how you get along with them before venturing into the billy goat "TERRITORY" ;) Our next goats will probably be Boer goats just for the meat.
OH NO!!!! Why do you say the pygmy goats can be more trouble than a full size one? I had a full size one once she was a monster, climbed on the car and used it for the toilet, got on top of the house and wouldn't get down, the last straw was when she broke into the house, let all the chickens in, they ate all my houseplants, I had to chase them out at night after working a double shift and doing the whole pick up the kids from day care thing. AND THEN when I went to get into my brand new bed it was soaked in goat urine!!!! I had to throw out the bed and the goat is ssooooo lucky she wasn't bar b que!!! BUT I thought the mini ones would be easier to manage:(
They are lots of fun but they are all trouble. Too smart for their own good. I have had both pygmy and Nubian.
That is two against, and the higher prices, I am leaning towards forgetting goats all together. I could never butcher one, and I would probably not be able to give away the babies either, I just get to attached. I think I am just back to paying a neighborhood kid to mow the lawn. Those little goats are so cute but at my age who really needs that much cute anyway?
They only eat what you don't want them to - not what you want them to. - but they are fun.
I worked out in the garden for several hours today - planted Ace & cherry tomatoes - did lots of weeding & watered everything. Bought 3 more fruit trees the other day - a 4 way apple, a Mitsu apple (supposed to be good in very hot weather) & another peach tree. Glenn needs to extend the terrace so we can get those planted.
The weather is so nice right now - everything in bloom & the grass green.
So far outside I've only gotten around to planting onions and potatoes. Inside, I have eggplants, piriform and Oregon spring tomatoes (varieties I bought while still up north, so not sure how they'll do here... so far I only have about a 40% germination rate), jalapenos, bell peppers, banana peppers, tomatillos, mortgage lifter and cherokee purple tomatoes. There are also sweet potatoes growing like crazy in the sunroom. In a week or two I'll go ahead and move them outdoors. I didn't have any seed left for my favorite little tomatoes (Matt's Wild Cherry) so I'll have to wait until next year to grow any more of them. We still have lettuce and spinach growing like crazy in the knock-off earthboxes we moved from the city. Am SOOOO excited because we can grow okra again! The whole time we lived up north, we couldn't ever get it to survive! Can't wait until this summer to eat black eyed peas and fried okra and tomatoes! Pruned the vineyard yesterday... as little as it is, I nearly got blisters on my hands because those old vines were so darn tough. Took a couple of cuttings and dipped them in rooting hormone and stuck them in wet sand to see if I can get them to grow... there are a few bare places in the vineyard where an old vine has died and needs to be replaced, and if I can do it without spending any money, I will. There are three tiny peach trees blooming just past the vineyard... looks like they're in dire need of pruning.
No shortage of work to be found, for sure!
Planted my first lettuce plants tonight :)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/April22009.jpg)
Not a very good photo but thats what you get at about 8 PM , on a rainy night! Almost dark d*
Our garden is doing pretty well. I got another 10 yards of Alpaca manure for it last week. Yummy. [hungry]
Looks like you have a good start, PEG. :)
We will be having snow for the next 3 days. After that I am thinking about putting my onions and lettuce outside. :-\
Mike...
The composting Alpaca manure has white smoke coming off of it when I stir the pile with the Bobcat so I thought I would just take a bit of it and spread it around the new trees so Sassy can play in it. Cabbage is coming along nicely.
Our potatoes are the only thing that got bit by the "big spring blizzard of '09". :( They're starting to recover. Even the apple trees were buzzing with bees the morning after the snow, and the blossoms on the peaches weren't hurt either. Now to get everything else in. This morning was supposed to be our last frost of the year.
This is the first time we have gotten Rhubarb that was not buggy or dying or something. It really looks good and is growing pretty fast.
I want to plant some... mine in WI had just started doing really well and I was going to have enough to harvest some if we'd stayed through the summer, and then we moved in February when everything was buried under two feet of snow, so I didn't bother even trying to dig it out. It would be nice to have rhubarb pie and preserves. [hungry]
Yesterday we got out the Colocasia and the Caladiums, as well as finally getting the strawberries planted. Should have had that done a while ago, but with still unpacking, it hasn't been easy to get stuff done. We also got peas, napa cabbage, leeks, and turnips planted a few days ago. I put out a lot of turnips because lately I've been on a turnip kick.... raw turnips for dessert etc. By the time they're ready, I probably will be out of the mood for them. I like the greens though, too, and that'll be nice. We still have a lot of cool season stuff that should already be in the ground or it is going to burn up. Our spinach and lettuce wintered over really well (in the knock-off earth boxes we moved with us from the city.) We've been eating salads out of them nearly every day and there is still plenty. Also, working on the chicken house has slowed gardening down considerably, but did finally get the other two garden beds turned and the soil is nice and fluffy. After seeing the voracious appetite of the guineas for the bugs around, I wish we had twenty of them... there are tons of bugs to be had this year. A LOT of grasshoppers. I'm hoping that this year isn't like a year we had about six or seven years ago where there were clouds of grasshoppers that would land and destroy everything in sight. At the highway intersections, as you slowed your car to a stop, you could hear them all crunching beneath your wheels. Our neighbors lost their whole gardens that year; the only reason we didn't is because we stopped supplementing the chickens with much food and let them clean up the pest problem!
I am fortunate, being a man, Homey, in that I am not moody. Turnips could be good at any time of the year. rofl
::)
The turnips have sprouted, and some of the napa cabbage, but no leeks yet. Also planted strawberries the other day, and today planted wax beans and okra and sweet potatoes... the sweet potato plants were going crazy in the windowsill and were kind of in the way inside, so I had to get them out even if it is a little early yet for them. Have peppers and eggplants growing inside, and tomatoes, of course, and hope to get at least some of them transplanted tomorrow. Want to plant some tomatillos too, but not sure I'll have room or time to. And it is about time to get the corn in too. And need to plant all the cucurbits. I don't know where I'm going to put it all...decided to wait on the other cool season stuff like carrots and radishes and plant them for fall instead. Want to plant some more of the yard long beans this year. We grew a few in the city last year, which violated our lease, I'm sure, but they were pretty good. Unfortunately, our neighbor sprayed roundup on his side of the fence and killed everything on our side as well. My daughter is adamant that she has to have her watermelon patch this year, too, and pumpkins, and of course there needs to be enough cucumbers to can pickles as well as eat fresh, etc. Anyway, garden season is in full swing again. I'm happy because peonies and carnations have come up in various spots in the yard. Whoever the first owners of this house were, they loved gardening....my kind of folks... and the dogwoods are all blooming out in the woods, too. I also want black eyed peas, but realized today that we ate them all and didn't save any to plant. I love spring. Oh, and the chicken house is "almost" done.
QuoteHave peppers and eggplants growing inside
Does that hurt? hmm
Sassy thinks she may have gallstones.
So far just strawberries from last years mommy plants, garlic, onions potatoes, a baby rasberry plant, a new grape plant, the chives are growing like crazy already, saffron crocus are going to sleep for the summer, and a new bay laurel.
The daffys, tulips, and iris are coming along. I think I lost a few baby trees in the cold. I'm even worried about a couple butterfly bushes, one of two climbing roses and a crape myrtle. Oh well, the baby cedars and redwoods are still happy.
tomatoes really liking the hot sun.
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-DSCF3949.JPG)
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-DSCF3951.JPG)
happy squash and a pumpkin
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-DSCF3952.JPG)
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-DSCF3953.JPG)
peppers coming in
serranos
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-DSCF3954.JPG)
ancho
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-DSCF3958.JPG)
bells and golden bells
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-DSCF3955.JPG)
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-DSCF3959.JPG)
Looking good, there, Muldoon. We still have greens growing in one of our knockoff earthboxes we made. The spinach is starting to bolt, but then it has been in there since last year, so it had to happen eventually. We're trying to eat it all up before it goes to seed. We've made salads all winter long out of there. It is also full of red leaf lettuce. I am thinking about planting some squash or something in the other container. The garden is going to be full to bursting at the rate we're planting. I have about six pepper plants that I have no idea what to do with... and I keep looking for someplace to squeeze them into the garden and just don't think it is going to happen. So, they'll probably end up in the front flower bed or in a container on the porch.
Nice looking veggies, Muldoon!
Got popcorn, black-eyed peas, perilla, and about 18-20 of the tomatoes planted today. It wasn't easy with the "help", but we got some of it done anyway. Tomorrow hope to get pretty much everything else in. The weeds keep trying to climb up over the sides of the raised beds, so I spent as much time weeding as I did planting.
Finally got time and good weather to get some things in the ground,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/April2120093.jpg)
Various lettuce varieties, Walla walla sweet onions , and for seed plants radish, spinach , Kohlrabi's, bush beans .
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/April2120094.jpg)
It's a few weeks til we can break ground for the buildings but as we don't need planning for a garden we put in some fruit trees and an asparagus bed - never too early I think, as it will be a few years before we see any goodies from them on the table.
It took us all the first day to pick up the trees and assorted kit as the nursery was some distance away. Here we're nearly ready to start.
(https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/alianita/countryplans/021.jpg)
Can't afford a tractor... but I've got a good gardener.
(https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/alianita/countryplans/030.jpg)
70 heads of aspsragus happy in bed
(https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/alianita/countryplans/031.jpg)
6 Apples and 2 Pear trees. Hopefully the wire will stop the deer crowning them - We also hung cheap soap on the them - apparently the smell is a great critter deterent.
(https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/alianita/countryplans/032.jpg)
We decided against any soft fruit trees just yet - (cherries or plums) as we have spent two weekends clearing the land of black knot infected choke cherries. We may put some in in a few years if the infection does not return.
thanks for looking.
Al
Al, I did not know you could grow stuff in the Great White North, but what you are doing looks great. :)
PEG - what is that Blue stuff in the background of your picture? Garden looks great --- now I'm behind again. d*
do moles or gophers eat strawberry plants? ??? I have never before had trouble growing strawberries anywhere.... none of ours even came up. I noticed a few of the beans and peas near them have been chewed off just above the ground, but other than that no damage anywhere.... any guesses on what happened? I am also wondering if the starts we got were bad to begin with perhaps?
Another thing... we planted four packets, yes four, of Korean varieties of cukes. Only two have come up... two lousy plants! We've had trouble before with buying seed from Korean seed companies where the seeds have a very low viability and they often remark seeds from previous years for this year. Korean cukes are excellent IF THEY GROW. There is nothing wrong with the soil. And all the seeds I saved from everything else are growing like crazy. Similar problem with the Korean melons. I have seed from Johnny's for SunJewel Asian melon, and they're up and growing. The same plant from Korean seeds has yet to have a single one sprout... (I planted them on opposite sides of the garden bed so that I could tell which was which.
Homey, Gophers will even crawl out of the ground and walk across the top of it to ruin your best plants and vegetables - I've seen them do it.
I read a study that said something like about 60% of the seeds they tested were not viable - even from popular companies.
The Korean seeds were Hung Nong (doubt anyone else on here uses them) and Nong Woo seed companies. They intentionally do not stamp the "packaged for growing season" spot, though it is on the packet because that way they can keep setting the same seeds out year after year...we usually get them from the local Korean market. The Sun Jewel melons I planted from Johnny's were at least three years old, possibly as old as five, and yet they all germinated. This is the very same plant, very same growing conditions and plenty of rain. The ones from Hung Nong, well, so far not one. Also I planted three year old seed for yard-long beans from Johnny's. Every stinkin' one of them is up and growing like crazy... there wasn't a bad seed in the bunch, and apparently nothing ate on them, either. Now, the okra was at least five year old seed (because it wouldn't grow in WI so I still had seed I'd saved from our old garden in OK.) It all sprouted, but the rain has drowned some of the sprouts. The only things that seem bothered by critters so far are the strawberries (at least that's my guess) and the napa cabbage... quite a bit of it sprouted only to disappear overnight in the last two weeks. A few of the wax beans were bitten off near the soil, but most of them have been left alone. The cat has been quick to dispatch any varmits she sees messing around here. And thankfully she has been very understanding of the fact that she has to make her litterbox way off in the woods on the other side of hte house. ::) Another strange thing is that I planted all my corn at once... a bit of the popcorn has germinated, but not much of it. The dent corn and the indian corn are growing like crazy, but there isn't a shred of evidence that any of the sweet corn is alive. I'm worried about it because most of the local corn is at least 6" tall already. The seed corn was a year or two old, but still should've been good... but again, it was something I picked up in a feed store somewhere, while the other corn was saved seed from previous gardens and/or ordered from Johnny's. (The dent corn may have been from Park's?) I've got squash growing all over the place out there and can't remember which varieties I planted where. In general, I remember where the summer squash is and where the winter squash is... most of it was from saved seeds... a few were storebought. In general, the garden is not doing bad. The onions are doing great, if i could just keep the weeds under control.... too much to do and not enough time to do it!
homey,
did you know that corn will cross pollinate and is one of the few plants that this years crop will be affected? corn types should be sperated and planted far away from each others groups. i just got my first raised bed in yesterday(4'X8' square foot garden w/2"X10" pine lumber sides). i guess it's too late for spring veggies but i will use it for summer stuff. i will eventually add two more modules and that will be enough for a single guy. we don't warm up in michigan as soon as you do.
Yes, I know the corn will cross-pollinate... isn't that half the fun? I don't think it matters much though because the sweet corn just isn't coming up. I think I'll go back and plant black-eyed peas and more okra in its place. Heirloom corn tastes good eaten green, too, though itisn't quite as sweet. I think it has a better flavor, though. The popcorn is planted in an entirely different area where the dominant winds won't bother the pollenation. Painted Mountain and Earth tone Dent are going gangbusters though. Every single kernal sprouted, and I don't think the critters got one.
The grape cuttings I took a while back and dipped in rooting hormone are almost all leafed out. Now in retrospect it is really silly that I went to so much trouble to multiply the grape harvest seeing as nearly every inch of these woods is covered in possum grapes and wild muscadines, which make just as good (if not better) eating and jellies. And, we have discovered that there are pink roses down behind the vineyard. I don't know why they're there... it is a hybrid climbing rose, and they stuck it in a tomato cage and let it go nuts. I may move it next winter/spring. Seems pointless to have it where you can't see or enjoy it. Found four other roses too, all hybrids, but out in the edge of the woods where they really can't be seen. I think at one time, they must have had the edge of the woods cleared out a little more where it looked like some kind of park. There are irises ringing the entire clearing, and pinks, carnations, peonies, tons of daffodils and narcissus and other stuff coming up nearly daily. But the funny thing is that though there are tons of "landscaping" plants, it doesn't look like whoever planted them really had a clue what they were doing.... they're just stuck here and there out in the middle of the yard, and just make more places hard to mow....I love some of the types of plants that are out here, but I just wish they had actually thought about where they were putting htem before they did it. One thing I will not change is the long hedges of mock orange (smelling so sweet right now!) and the quince and forsythia.
Two or three more of the cukes popped up yesterday, so maybe the seed isn't all bad after all. Sure seems like it took a long time to germinate, though.
that's quite a selection homey. sounds like you have a wonderful assortment of plants and flowers. good luck getting it more organized. hard but fun work. i know you are swamped w/other things to do like i am but i don't have the drive that you do and after about 4-6 hours of working on a project i just quit and chill the rest of the day. :)
It will be really pretty one of these days. Right now the house looks a little sad and tired and needs some sprucing up... a new roof and some paint on the eaves and the ends and the porch posts would make it look completely different. And the downed trees really need to be dealt with. Another dead one fell in that last big wind storm, and there is one between the house and barn that scares me because I'm afraid it is next, and the kids play out there all the time. The woods are really pretty. Wild edibles everywhere, which is nice. Will be really glad to get the garden plants good and established so that I don't have to fight the weeds tooth and nail as much.
Wow! Homegrown - you sound very professional!
We are the proud parents of one lonley new stalk of asparagus!
(https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/alianita/countryplans/build/026.jpg)
Shame it'll be 3 years before we can start harvesting any!
Our pear trees are in bloom too - but I forgot to take a picture.
Congratulations, Alasdair! :)
Started to harvest lettuce this week , radish's will be ready soon along with strawberries. Ah, Summer! :)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/May2320091.jpg)
I'm replanting a lot of stuff this weekend. >:( Dadgummed rabbits, deer, gophers, etc. have eaten way more than their share this year and our geriatric canines are too hard of hearing to notice them a lot of the time.
The snow peas are finally setting peas, and the wax beans are blooming. Corn is a foot tall and needs to be thinned... I think every single kernel sprouted. Tomatoes seemed a bit stunted from all the rain, so they're kind of puny but getting better. We have a few Korean melons that seem to be doing pretty good. Black-eyed peas and potatoes and sweet potatoes are also doing well.
Yay! We picked a few snowpeas today. Kids and I just stood in the garden and ate them, but they were yummy. Over the next few days there should be a lot more. I am so glad that something is doing well. I have a cherry tomato plant that can't be more than about 8" high and has at least 10 blooms on it. It is short, thick-stemmed and stocky. I hope that it actually produces fruit. Most of the tomatoes are much larger, of course, but that one is especially stunted, it seems, but is blooming more thickly than a lot of the ones twice the size.
I have been so busy working out of town I haven't had much time to help Sassy with the garden.
It is time to do it though.
Yours is looking great, PEG.
Cherry tomatoes seem to always be one you can count on, Homey.
Yep, we have a bunch of volunteer cherry tomato plants. Some of the other tomato plants I put in this year are doing pretty good. Our artichoke plants are multiplying like crazy & the big plants have lots of chokes on them. There's lots of apricots & plums on the trees - the rest of the fruit trees don't have too much fruit or any as we just planted them this spring. Lots of the plants are going to seed. We do have some cabbages & broccoli, did have lots of celery but that is going to seed. Looks like the gophers have chewed up some onions & beets. Strawberries are doing well but I can pick them unless I climb a real tall ladder & walk on a really sloped roof where they're growing. Glenn's been too busy to pick them :( Our pepper plants Glenn rescued from the garden last November & put in the uphill patio greenhouse are starting to get a lot of blooms.
We have some friends who have a bunch of starts of different veggies for me to pickup when I get back from work next week.
The rose bushes have been covered with roses - all different colors. Shasta daisies, calendulas, bachelor buttons, alysium & a few other flowers are blooming right now. One of my orange trees was full of blooms but it doesn't look like any of them set... seems like something eats the blooms >:(
I spend a couple hours a day watering by hand & always weeding of course... seems like the weeds do the best d*
Whew, I know what you mean about the watering, Sassy. In every place we've lived before, the soil was really rich and held moisture fairly well, but this place has really sandy soil, and the garden isn't any better than anywhere else in the yard (it is either really sticky clay or sand all over our place, so I guess at least the sand is easier to deal with, though not as good.) I spent most of today babying our garden and trying to convince everything but the weeds to grow. Corn looks really good. Peas and beans and squash are doing well, and the cukes that didn't get eaten are doing really well. Something keeps digging up my watermelon seeds and eating them before they have a chance to sprout. I've planted twice now, and both times it has happened. I really want some watermelons. :(
our little container garden just seems to doing fine. I have not taken pictures since march, and it's blown up since then.
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf4144.jpg)
I have 9 tomatoe plants nearing 7 feet tall, some are heirloom varieties, some just off the shelf, some are gimmies from other people whom I traded with earlier back in the season. Even have some tomatillos and of course cherry tomatoes in there.
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf4145.jpg)
I dont even know what to do with all the peppers anymore. I have a ziplock baggie in the freezer near full of serranoes, and they just keep blooming those little white flowers and producing. The bells are doing nice as well, and between the three plants I always seem to have 2 or 3 ripe at any time. different varieites but I like that.
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf4148.jpg)
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf4147.jpg)
This is the first year for doing squash, and I have had decent luck - but not spectacular. I believe I need to read up on the plant a bit as they dont really seem to love the soil I put them in. Same with the strawberries, maybe I did something wrong. (pH, sun/shade, trellis? I dunno).., anyway, they are still alive.
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf4150.jpg)
and no matter how much I use this rosemary on chicken, steaks, salmon, or lamb - it just keeps getting bushier and bushier.
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/09%20Garden/_thumbs/640x480-dscf4154.jpg)
Muldoon, your garden is looking good. I cleaned out a bunch of plants that had gone to seed (the broccoli, cauliflour). The slugs had eaten through all our cabbages >:( And the aphids like our artichokes & always get on the broccoli & cauliflour... anyone have some good, natural remedies? I've tried vinegar & soapsuds spray - doesn't seem to faze the aphids...
Some friends gave us a bunch of plants I have to ge in the ground today. The weather is still partially cloudy & cool - low 70's - VERY unusual for this part of the country. I do have a lot of cherry tomatoes putting on fruit & my fruit trees are doing great. The lettuce & Swiss chard have bolted so waiting for the seeds to mature & then I'll save those & pull out the plants.
I extended the terrace below the cabin to add another peach tree our friends gave us. Maybe corn down there soon too.
Muldoon, nice looking garden. I pulled up the rest of the onions the other day in ours. They might have gotten a little bigger had I left them, but didn't have the energy to do the remedial weeding they needed. Instead, I just pulled them all up and am going to turn it under a few times to help with the weed issue. The snow peas and wax beans are producing more than we can eat fresh. I love the snow peas and have decided to plant more in the fall. Corn is taller than me, which isn't saying a heck of a lot. The tomatoes are just absolutely loaded, but none are ripe yet. Jalapenos and some other peppers (no idea which ones actually survived, but I think everything that is growing is hot) are doing really well, and the ones I have in the container are just loaded with fruit. New batch of lettuce coming up in the container if it doesn't cook in the heat wave we're having. Also have Thai basil and oregano growing in a container. By the end of this week, we'll be swimming in squash and cucumbers and beans and peas. Hopefully by the beginning of next week we'll start getting some tomatoes so that we can put those onions and jalapenos to good use and make some salsa. Next year, we WILL plan a little better. The soil here is incredibly sandy... worst garden soil I've ever had to deal with. We're watering constantly just to keep stuff alive, but hopefully with the addition of lots of organic material over the next few years it'll get better. I've mulched as much as I can with grass cuttings, and because of the size of the yard, there isn't really a shortage of clippings to use. We're having trouble keeping weeds down in the paths between the garden beds... the path is wide enough for me to mow with the riding mower, but now the cucurbits and the sweet potatoes are creeping into the paths, so we need a different solution. What do y'all think about tilling the weeds in the paths under, and then covering the path in grass clippings to keep them from re-sprouting? Eventually, I would like to use something nicer looking, like wood chips, if/when we rent a chipper/shredder to dispose of the kindling we're sitting in. Hopefully by next spring, we'll have installed drip irrigation in the garden beds.
I have been so busy with this contract that I haven't had near the time I need to keep after the garden.
Sassy works it a lot. and I guess anything you can do to improve it for the future is worth it.
I got some chicken manure out yesterday. If I don't burn something with it, it ought to give it a kick.
Well, we have an experimental garden in the works. 8800 feet. Altitude, that is. Garden approx 3 x 4 feet. Those are radishes and there is also some lettuce coming up. Chives and green onions are invisible. There's some potatoes in another area behind camera position.
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/jemez%20mountain%20property3/mini-P1010141.jpg)
I'm not sure if this will be a garden or a deer feeder for the game camera. ??? (Scouit Guard 550 just arrived.)
Micro garden doing well
right to left
Zuchini, Hubbard Squash, Egg plant, pole beans (toward back) Tomatoes ('Trophy' an heirloom variety that did really good last year and tastes wonderful)
(https://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/Crockette/IMG_3840.jpg)
Nice. Windpower.
We are slowly expanding our garden. I just tilled up about a 6'x8' area between our new fruit trees with the Bobcat teeth on our lower terrace and mixed in alpaca manure to make a plot for corn. I used the square foot garden method and planted about 4 seeds per square foot along with rows of beans between to grow up the corn. They say it will work. Not out much if it doesn't. I need to add squash around the perimeter also.
Our fruit trees on the terrace are doing excellent with some even bearing fruit this year (their first).
I started to plant tomatoes quite close together a couple years ago -- they crowd out the weeds -- same with beans and squash
that and miracle grow seem to make a fairly low maintainance garden
Nice patch of garden there windpower. No feeling in the world like watching something grow out of the dirt and be green and happy with just the minimal care and attention.
You have plans to enlarge next year? It looks like alot of usable dirt still to be worked in the area ;)
'doon
yeah there is lots of area there but limited time to tend it
that's why planting close seems to be good -- shades out the weeds
I weed about twice a year with the intensive planting and it works good
can't wait for the tomatoes
the ultimate garden is up at the farm maybe next year (if we can get it together)
!/4 acre of wheat and corn
1/4 acre of veggies
we are planning to kill off the grass with black plastic this year
then fertilize with 10 10 20 for the first year -- then major compost and maybe chicken droppings
Satisfying to eat food from the soil
Gonna have to start canning this week or early next.
I need a little help.
I started an eggplant last year and it was healthy but never produced a fruit. I kept it alive all this time (even though hurricane Ike), and it's much bigger this year. I got fantastic purple flowers quite a few times but it never budded out or made fruit. Anyone have any ideas what's wrong with it?
My tomatoes look fantastic as far as plants go. Last year I crowded them and while they did generally ok, they were a rootbound mess and I realized later I missed alot of the potential. This year I used dedicated 5 gallon containers for each - and I have massive 7 foot tall tomatoes. All kinds, mostly heirlooms - german red, purple cherokee, arkansas travelers, homestead, and on and on. I have 9 huge healthy tomatoe plants - but they are not producing much.
Last month I had a repeat of last year - a possum was raiding the garden every night. He didn't seem to get the fruit as much as he would climb the tomatoes and eat the flower tips and bud sites. He didnt get them all but he got a good bit. I think I have ran him off with weekly sprinkles of tobasco sauce near them - he hasnt been back in some time. What was left fruitwise, (still a few dozen), seem to just get annihilated by birds as soon as they show a hint of color. They go to an orange, then just a blush of red, and the next day they have been attacked when I look at them.
I am always in a learning mode with this garden, and I have learned tons over the past two years... but I still feel I am doing much wrong. If anyone has any ideas on what I can do to improve my situation - this year or next, I would love the pointers.
Thanks.
Tomatoes (indeterminate)take a lot of pruning to produce good fruit.
When I took care of mine the were great - not so good as I get lazy or run out of time.
Good video
http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/videos/pruning-tomatoes.aspx
These photos are a month or so old, the garden isn't do so good in this 110 degree heat and stuff...
(https://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt319/pedalfastbmx/garden/DSC_1193.jpg)
(https://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt319/pedalfastbmx/garden/DSC_1172.jpg)
(https://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt319/pedalfastbmx/garden/DSC_1181.jpg)
(https://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt319/pedalfastbmx/garden/DSC_1170.jpg)
We have four white Pigeons that live in our garden ;)
There are 20, 16X4 garden beds inside that enclosed structure. It was built in the winter by a good friend of mine, and this was the first year it got used. We kind of just grew a little of this, a little of that, to see what would do well in it.
Next time however, I am only going to intensively plant tomatoes, cucumbers/squash, melons, and spinach/lettuce (it did really well earlier in the year).
Our corn, which I was hoping would do well (i'm from Indiana, all it is is corn corn corn back home) didn't do well at all... same thing with beans, beats, radishes, etc. Some herbs did pretty good earlier in the season, though.
The garden is in dire need of a good weeding. After I get that done, whenever I get around to it, i'll post updated photos of the other half.
Its all steel pole and fenced in, with shadecloth over the top because I live on a bird refuge, too many birds were just flying in an eating seedlings initially. Although we do have a couple chickens we let roam around to help control the bugs, and I think next year I may get some praying mantis to further help that problem. I'd also put any King Snake i'd find on the property in our garden to keep the mice population down, etc.
The garden is watered by a drip system, overhead, and IS setup for irrigation, however it sits a little lower than the surrounding area, so it tends to flood if not very carefully watched when we let water flow into the ditches... So we rarely irrigate it. Just drips for a four or five hours each night with a overhead spray a few times a week at night.
Looks nice Curtis.
We are getting a bit better on ours - I got more of the drip system going so hopefully it will cut down on the hand watering and keep things growing.
Our garden produce is crowding us out of house and home...
Earlier in the week I harvested 15 melons in one evening. Yesterday I got another 20. Hot pepper out the wazoo, more butternut squash than I've eaten in my entire life off of one or two plants, cucumbers like crazy and seven watermelons and counting out there getting ripe. I've been shelling blackeye peas every night before going to bed and still having trouble keeping up. Have canned pickles and more pickles.
The only thing that isn't doing so well is the tomatoes. They're doing OK, just not as heavy as usual. However, from talking to others around, nobody's tomatoes are doing very well. Seems a lot of people are having trouble with late blight, but in our case, it is hornworms and darkling beetles. We've been picking them off by hand and feeding them to the chickens, which the chickens love, but they're hard to keep up with.
You're way ahead of us up here homey
I just got our first 6 ripe tomatoes this morning
the only pest is japanese beetles -- and I am trapping them in bag-a-bug traps -- working very well
2 three inch eggplants and about 7 or 8 more blooms
the squash and zuchini is crowding out the beans and eggplant so I am off to the store to get more fence so they can expand into the lawn
so far this is a banner year for the micro garden
The Micro garden is growing like crazy
(https://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/Crockette/IMG_3881.jpg)
Here's the first eggplant -- it grows noticably every day
There are 8 more blooms
(https://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/Crockette/IMG_3882.jpg)
Here is the last of the first 6 ripe tomatoes -- we ate the others already
(https://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/Crockette/IMG_3883.jpg)
Going to grill some eggplant tonight
(https://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/Crockette/IMG_3937.jpg)
and some Zuchini
(https://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/Crockette/IMG_3939-1.jpg)
almost ripe
(https://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/Crockette/IMG_3938.jpg)
just finished some BELTS with a ripe 'mater from the other plant
Going to redesign our garden.
The past caretaker of it left, leaving me to take care of it aswell as the Orchard, all the animals, irrigating, paperwork, etc, etc so I let the garden go...
As I mentioned there were 20 16X4ft garden beds in there, with about two feet wide of walking space inbetween each bed...
I'm going to in there with a weed eater, cut everything down (I just let it go, stopped watering it, stopped weeding it) and then with a sludge hammer and some liquid encouragement go in there and knock out all the buried boxes and rip up the posts for them.
THEN
Rototill (sp?) the entire garden, this will increase growing space dramatically as there was a lot of unused room. Also while doing this I will be bringing in heaps of organic compost to mend our desert sandy alkaline crap soil...
Design it to be watered by irrigation, and overhead. We used drips before and overhead, the caretaker ran up a $350+ a month water bill... So it will get watered by irrigation and minimal overhead spraying. No more drip system.
Then in the spring, intensively plant 4-5 crops over the entire area and have a great harvest of each crop. Lot of work, but it will be worth it once we get it set up right.
brought in 11 pounds of tomatoes, 1 egg plant and about 2 pounds of beans today
cooked some tomatoes and egg plant into a beautiful ratatouilli al la Julia Child
the steaks are onthe grill right now -- summer is good !
Just put the lids on my first two quarts of dill pickle spears. I just hope the roommate keeps on to p of the cucumbers while I'm away for three weeks unlike last time.
He was good about watering them, but didn't know that once they start to turn color they're bitter and no good... he thogh they were a 'special' kind of cuke that needed to 'ripen' and just let them go. This is what I came home to (green one for proper size comparison):
(https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/Phssthpok/panels003.jpg)
They were crisp and juicy.. but BITTER! :P
pick the male flowers of the squash plants, stuff em with cream or regular cheese, batter and fry em, it's awesome. Italians call it fiorelli. You can tell the male flowers because they produce no fruit.
I didn't get any photos of our garden taken in full swing, but we had a good year. We got about 75 ears of peaches n cream corn, a good month or two of zucchini in practically every meal, about 100 pounds of tomatoes, enough basil for 3 pounds of pesto, and we still have green beans about twice a week with supper. Next year, we are going to try to increase our gardening enough so that we can have 3 CSA accounts.
here is a video showing what one family has been able to do with their home garden.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCPEBM5ol0Q
Phssthpok I have heard that you can take the yellow cukes before they really get big , slice and flour and fry them like you do squash. Haven't tried them this way but maybe one day.
My MIL makes the fried cukes like that...they taste OK, but it just seems wrong to fry cucumbers somehow.
Never before have I been so looking forward to fall/winter! The garden is getting totally out of hand these days... and we weren't settled in enough to really do much with the produce... haven't had the time to do anything to the house since we moved and am hoping that next year's garden will be a lot more organized!!!
Jealous. Our garden was mostly a disaster this year. Figures I get time to work on it and mother nature decides to be a bitch. d*
Rain, rain, rain, rain, and rain at the beginning of the year so that meant slugs, slugs, slugs, slugs. Destroyed so many of my plants. No cabbage at all. Beans took a hit. Kale was holey, got my pumpkins.
Then there was the tomato/potato blight thanks to the big box stores. They recalled their product it was so bad. Well, too late, they infected the rest of us. The rain and winds helped to spread it too.
Squash plants exploded then withered and died. I haven't figured out what got them.
We got 22 quarts of green beans. 9 pints of pickles. 1 quart dilly beans. 9 quarts of winter squash. Lots of kale soup. Turnips and carrots to come. Potatoes hopefully. A few more squash out there, mostly summer varieties. Lots of cherry tomatoes. Some plum tomatoes coming still. 1/2 ounce of hops dried. Plenty of lettuce.
Started a new blog:
http://armpithomestead.blogspot.com/
Here's where I'm at garden wise, what remains of the lettuce still pick -able I've given away at least 50 bags this summer along with what we've used. We had a oddly warm summer for the PNW. Kind a nice this global warming thing ;)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Sept132009.jpg)
You can see my next crop sprouting up along the fence line , spinach , more lettuce and way down on the end some radishes, I hope to squeeze one more crop in before winter. I will cover the plants with a plastic tent , thats why I planted along the fence , I guess it will be a lean to or shed roof plastic tent design really.
A new trellis to hopefully convince this clematis to climb up and not run sideways along the garden fence, we'll see if it works next summer.
Busy year , lots of work , hardly time to really enjoy the garden, but I did keep it plugging along all season and may have a slight extension of said season if all goes well.
A different story in the East. Most gardens have had it. Weeds have won and just waiting for the annual turn under to occur. Looks like you still have plenty for "wilted lettuce".
Quote from: Redoverfarm on September 13, 2009, 11:36:50 AM
A different story in the East. Most gardens have had it. Weeds have won and just waiting for the annual turn under to occur. Looks like you still have plenty for "wilted lettuce".
Yes plenty, we should cook some up tonight. I'll ask my bride.
With the exception of tomatoes, our garden was more productive than we knew what to do with... All that is left now are peppers and eggplants, and sweet potatoes. I have potatoes in a container on the front porch as well as greens and a few bell peppers and jalapenos. I finally gave up trying to put all of the produce up and let the chickens have a lot, which they appreciated. I'm ready to turn it all under and get it ready for next year. I think we got about 7-8 little pumpkins, all of which are already in the freezer for making pumpkin bread and pies. I was able to do a little canning, but not as much as I hoped.
Hmm -- the global warming thing, eh?, PEG. Looks like us Californians may have to move up there with you.... [waiting]
Good garden for just getting there this year, Homey.
Ours is still doing pretty good considering I didn't have much time for it this ear. Sassy picked about 27 ears of corn yesterday. We would have had over a hundred in about a 6x6 space but Spike decided to roll in the corn patch about three times. Grrrrrr.
This is on the lower terrace where we put in about 15 fruit trees this year. It follows the contour of the mountain and is about 150 feet long. My plan is for it to capture the mountain water and store it in the clay to help with watering over the summer. The trees are on a raised berm at the down hill edge of the terrace so all uphill water will be captured. I plan to add anoher terrace below that one. We can garden the area between the trees. I planted squash at the tree drippers also. They were an afterthought but are doing pretty well.
End of the year here
I picked the last 3 pounds of 'maters yesterday
The only problem was with the Hubbard squash
lots of blooms but no squash
It just occured to me this instant what the problem was --- hybrid seeds
I had salvaged these seeds from a squash we bought at a roadside stand last fall
I'll bet the squash was a hybrid -- many times the seeds from hybrids are 'sterile'
Glad I didn't make a mistake like that if I were counting on it to get me through the winter.
Everything else was excellent
from the 3' X 8' microgarden we got
about 30 pounds of tomatoes
5 really excellent egg plants
about 20 zucchini
4 dinners worth of green beans (the Japanese beetles really chewed the heck out of the beans)
A very good year !
Sounds like an excellent harvest from a small garden! We're still digging sweet potatoes. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed in them. Last year, after throwing them in a flower bed and ignoring them until frost, we had a bunch of huge ones, over 2 lbs each. This year, so far, they're mostly little. They taste good, though. I wait until I know it is going to be cool enough for a fire, and then dig a few and wrap them in foil and throw in the coals to bake. Yum! Like candy. We're still getting hot peppers daily... I am about hot-peppered out. I've pickled and frozen and even dried them, and I know there is no way we'll use them all before next year's crop. My thought on this is that if they're still in the freezer and pantry when next year's are ready, I can always feed them to the chickens. I wish I'd taken the time to make some hot pepper/cranberry sauce as it is great for basting chicken or turkey. We've had unseasonably cool weather lately, but no frost yet. At least the chickens are laying well (we got a dozen eggs yesterday.) ::)
Our garden is still doing fair considering that we have not had a lot of time for it this year. Tomatoes - squash - chard -celery - a few peppers- lots of volunteer stuff - carrots - and finally I have one good and another not as good rhubarb.
Glenn, I hear you on that.... I had just gotten our rhubarb going good when we moved from Wisconsin. I had to leave it under a couple of feet of snow. Oh well, at least we don't plan on moving anytime soon, so if I get it started again, it'll be nice to have rhubarb pie.
Friends gave us some rhubarb to get started with the pies, Homey.
this is the third time I have tried to start it. ONce the plants had bugs - died - ponce they just rotted and died but this time the plants looked good and one took of well and the other is a bit small but still seems to be OK. Maybe our own rhubarb to eat next season.
Guess what? I went out back the other day and saw an orb spider in the garden, and went to look closer and realized that there are tomatillos growing in with the tomatoes! They aren't ripe yet, and I don't know if they will be before it freezes, but I was surprised they were even there. I planted them indoors when I started the tomatoes, but thought the seeds were bad because they didn't come up. So I replanted the cups with tomatoes. Now there are three tomatillos growing up inside the tomato cages! I never even noticed them until yesterday!
A little short on patience there, Homey? hmm :)
Well, gosh, what'd it take 'em? 3 months to germinate??? d* d* d*
Hmm hmm You wouldn't expect that of a Mexican plant, now that you mention it, would you?
............ ahem.... *
BTW, I just got back from the feed store and noticed winter vegetables there this year. I had asked before and now they carry some so I had to buy 18 cabbage plants, a pack of iceberg lettuce - cauliflower- some flowers and maybe another thing or two.
*(Note - not prejudiced - I would say that to my friends and relatives too... [waiting]
Sassy picked a few garden vegetables the other day. The garden is still doing pretty well as the winter vegetables are starting to grow pretty well and the things that like cooler weather are coming back. Tomatoes and peppers seem to do better after it cools down a bit.
The peppers we dug last year to keep from freezing, are in the greenhouse. It was too hot during the summer but now they are producing quite well.
(https://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy62/the_troglodyte/gardenvegies.jpg)
looks great!
Thanks, Homey. I need to get the rest of the cabbage and cauliflower into the ground this weekend.
Sassy ate a few straggler strawberries the other day. [hungry]
Got the plants in the ground this morning as I woke up early. Garden is still volunteering well. :)
(https://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy62/the_troglodyte/gardennov1909.jpg)
Ordering my seeds and some fruit trees tonight! I love spring!!!
Got half of my seeds in already, but can't plant them because it is too dang cold. Told my hubby that for a combo birthday-valentine's present, all I want is the garden ready for spring, so come heck or high water, he and the kids are planning on spending all day Saturday helping clean out and prep the garden beds... hopefully we'll at least get corner posts set for our fence, too, and weather permitting, some of the cool season stuff in the ground. I'm afraid it will be typical Oklahoma and warm up all at once, if I don't get stuff in the ground now when I should.
you still have those earthbox clones homegrown? maybe you could start them on the porch with that and drag them in or cover them up on frosty nights? transplant when the ground is good. just an idea.
I started mine in dixie cups around the first of the month. just little 16 oz cups with two holes drilled in and filled with soil. wrote the labels on with a sharpie of what they are. Another option to get your seeds started before waiting on the ground to get ready.
I did it last year and it worked out pretty well. I wound up doing some trading with friends who also started seeds. As March came I still had a dozen plants. I found a woman on craigslist actually selling plants done in a similar fashion (rediculous markup too), wound up trading plants with her - she grew some of what I had left over, I grew what she had leftover. I need to email her about this year ...
anyway, just another thought to get it going. Personally all this credit crises ~ sovereign default ~ cds spreads talk everywhere I go all day long at work has me in serious need of garden time. I cant wait till spring.
You and me both, Muldoon! I have some stuff started in the sunroom, but seriously, it has been more than a week since I've seen the sun, which is unheard of in Oklahoma... it is too cool in there for it to germinate, and I don't have one of those fancy heaters for starting seeds, though I'm thinking hard about getting one. I do still have my big boxes, which I plan to do peppers in again this year (the peppers seem to thrive in them on the east porch. But I'm starting the peppers indoors and will put them out there once they are a little bigger to discourage the cat from thinking the boxes are king-size litter boxes. (They're covered up on the north side of the house right now, had to get them out of the way for firewood.) I'm planting some climbing roses with the girls this morning, and then tomorrow we're cleaning out the garden beds and getting them ready, just in case the weather does ever get better.
Does this hold over onion count as a "first harvest"?
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Mar1420101.jpg)
Got the garden turned over , I'll have to check the beginning of this thread to see where I'm at compared to past years , seems early.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Mar1420103.jpg)
Spring is here , Yea! 8)
I see you have worms, PEG. [waiting]
I got 2 more trees and planted them today.
Thats a good thing in a garden they say.
I planted a few grape vines this weekend and we added a bunch more fruit trees and walnuts last weekend since the trees were on sale. The grape vine starts came from our other place in the valley. They had grown into the ground and rooted already voluntarily so were ready to go.
We reworked an old section of the top terrace this weekend, added two wheel barrows of Alpaca poo and one of wood mulch from the saw mill. I spread all of those goodies on top of the soil after working it a couple times with the new tiller then worked it into the soil. Adding the wood mulch will make it require additional nitrogen as it pulls nitrogen from the soil to decompose. It may help with our moisture retention and compaction problems with the clay soil also.
What a nice tiller to use. Even in the cramped old terrace area with existing plants we wanted to keep, I was able to dig around them or up to them, put it into reverse and back out of the tight spots. It threw out rocks up to 6 inches across without having a cow about it.
(https://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy62/the_troglodyte/gardentilled.jpg)
After the soil was prepared I planted a a dozen cabbage plants, a bunch of short day onions that will hopefully make heads, and a patch of corn about 4 feet square. This is the early cool weather corn since it is a bit early so hopefully it will grow without freezing. Smaller square patches rather than long rows get better pollination thereby filling out the kernels in the ears better.
Everything is coming up in the garden... including weeds. We went from winter to summer with not much spring in between. HOping the cool season stuff doesn't burn up too fast!
I got the strawberries in and my corn is coming up - fertilized the trees and old strawberries today too.
I did a soil test the other day before planting the new strawberries..... Ph about 6.5 to 6.8 - slight acid - OK for lots of stuff, and fertilizer test -- that was easy - pretty much there are nearly no nutrients in our soil - maybe a bit of potash but the rest show nothing so I guess the thing will be to build the soil with organic material and add nutrients - fertilize the crap out of it - or maybe into it. [waiting]
So far behind on gardening this year. Did get a fence built around the garden, though, and have gotten a lot of the cooler season stuff already up and doing well, but just frustrated that there are always too many things to do in a day!
I know what you mean, Homey.
I'm behind a bit on the garden this year, too. I should have started the tomatoes weeks ago and am just starting them now.
Put Carrots and Lettuce in this last weekend, and peas sometime during the week before - and that's only a small part of the 70' X 12' garden - then I have the 20 X 40 foot cornfield that I need to prep for planting.
All that, and get to the ranch and build a cabin.
It's going to be a busy summer!
Well, I weeded the gardens yet again - figure I spend about 5-6 hrs wk just weeding... that doesn't include down the hill on the terraces. Glenn planted strawberries, besides the 30+ fruit trees we have & we're planning on planting other stuff. Today is the 1st day in several days that I think it got over 60 degrees. We've had rain, hail & wind & 30-40 degree weather!
I'm surprised that the tomato plants Glenn planted are still alive... and there's a few corn stalks coming through the ground. I'll have lots of apricots this year it looks like - yummy! Apricot/pineapple pie & jam is the best!
Snowing in Anchorage. 4- 10 inches expected today. But my rubarb is showing red buds pushing up!
Yee ha. Got my tomatoes in! Better late than never.
I hear ya, Shooter. We got ours in day before yesterday. There is a lot up out there that needs thinned... beets, chard, cabbage, napa, pac choi, spinach, carrots, etc., etc. I need to get the tomatillos and husk cherries and the rest of the squash/cukes/melons out today.... feel like I'm so far behind this year on it! All my peppers are still in pots in the house so far. We had a long drawn out winter, and then when it became spring, it was almost like summer overnight. EVERYTHING is blooming and blowing at once. My dark blue truck has a greenish cast from the pollen. Our new red roof looks gold from pollen... I'm so busy sneezing and snotting around that a lot of the time I just haven't felt like getting it done.
Joining the better late than never crowd,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/April1520101.jpg)
FINALLY!
Thinking about pulling the rest out of the greenhouse and planting them but we have 90% chance of snow Tuesday and I'm still working out of town during the week. I keep running out of time. [ouch]
ARGH! Went out this morning and ten out of eighteen tomato plants are just GONE. Not wilted, not dried out, but gone!! Time to cheat and buy some half grown.
Gophers, Homey?
Our orchard up in the mountains at our ranch the pie cherries 10 of them are all budding real well, and are all in all doing very well. However the sweet cherries are not fairing very well. Does any have any experience with winter hardy sweet cherries? We are at 5000 ft and a lot of snow most years and some sub zero. We also do summer irrigate the fruit trees. I know there are some that are very winter hardy and what I have plant are supposed to be but they just don't seem to be up to it. Any ideas?
So far up at the orchard this spring we have planted ten Honey Crisp Apple Trees. (That makes fifty apple trees.) This spring we also planted six peach trees split between two verities, and three Nectarines. Two verities of pears three each. Replaced one pie cherry, and three sweet cherries.
Then just in side the deer fence we planted today 10 black berries and 75 raspberries. 50 reds and 25 yellows. We also have 25 purples planted down here in the valley waiting to go up. They are very young and frost tender at this time to they will have to spent this year down here before we transplant them up there. We also today healed in 30 blue berries as we ran out of time to get them planted. So next trip up maybe about Wednesday we will try and get them in.
We've had 2 frosts in the last 2 days. The leaves on my potato plants are frizzled. The grape and raspberries seem ok. Supposedly it was a record low yesterday night in Seattle.
Planted a bit of cool weather corn a few weeks ago - hope it works, some came up.. also a strawberry patch which is doing decent.
Our trees are blooming and many have fruit.
Still cold for the garden though.
Picked a few radishes , lettuce will be pick-able this week. Things are really growing well right now. we had a wind storm two weeks ago , that sort of set the bush beans back a bit. But they are recovering now.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/May1520102.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/May15201021-1.jpg)
Dang, that looks great. Much more of a challenge in the desert though. And the mountains. Heck, it's still safe to plant anything outside there.
Looks like you are having better weather there than we are here, PEG. Your garden is doing great - we just had freezing rain or slushy snow a couple days ago. Now hot.
Things are warming up a bit and the artichokes are doing well... cooking some right now....
(https://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy62/the_troglodyte/gardenartichokes.jpg)
I'm having garden envy this year. I can't bend over to do much in the garden because the baby is too tall, so my garden has turned into a jungle. The tomatoes are somewhat stunted, but the weeds around them are doing quite well.... there is basil and dill, the cukes actually look good, and a few puny watermelons. All the greens cooked early on and they're pretty much done. Sweet peas and snap peas cooked. If it weren't for the cukes and the hope of tomatoes, I would have turned the goats into the garden for the duration of the season. :(
The expanded mini garden (12' X 13") out produced my estimate
12 # of potatoes
45 # of tomatoes
12 # of onions
5 spinach pies in the freezer
62 # of squash (mostly butternut - 3 hubbard )
5 # of eggplant
2 # of brocholli
lots of zuchinnii and patty pan summer squash
some radishes and carrotts
the poblano peppers are just now comming in -- next year I will start the seeds in February
a very good year, Thank you God
We are canning Tomatoes tomorrow
That is great. I just picked ten yellow crooknecks today - renter picked a bunch when I was gone - this is from the new hugelkultur bed - with the wood buried 2-1/2' deep under it. I turned off the drip to it before I left 5 days ago. Still wet unlike the rest of the garden around our place.
Potatoes did good but the gophers ate them all. Permies is saying to not plant in rows - makes it harder for them.
The garden is still doing well especially where I buried the logs and wood 2 feet deep under it. (hugelkultur from www.permies.com )
Even though started mid to late season it is producing better than a lot of the rest of the old garden and needing much less water. In some areas it may need no water for the entire summer.
(https://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy62/the_troglodyte/garden10-17-10.jpg)
I now have six 12 yard trailer loads of brush from one of my jobs to expand on this method.
*sigh* This fall weather has me daydreaming about next year's garden already, especially since this year's was a total flop because of the timing of the baby.
Glenn & I just picked about 3 dozen ears of corn, at least 50# zucchini, a large bag of peppers, lots of green beans, other squashes, Armenian & lemon cucumbers, a few tomatoes & even an eggplant.
My roses are looking beautiful, lots of other flowers. The cabbage is starting to make heads, the carrots & parsnips are growing, broccoli doing good besides we have a million little plants of broccoli & cabbage where I'd thrown the old plants that had gone to seed - Glenn is digging up batches of it & planting it down in the hugelculture beds. Those planting beds have worked out great.
Picked several pomegranates from our 2yr old trees - there's still more on them Glenn wants me to make pomegranate jelly - he found a good squeezer for me at the SPCA mall. The rhubarb have really gotten big - think I can pick some soon & make a pie or 2.
Have lots of romaine lettuce & another type that is kinda purplish & lots of volunteer Swiss chard - it's growing all over.
Anyway, this has been a good year - especially from the hugelculture beds that were planted in the middle of July!
nice after-christmas pepper yield.
serranos
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/.misc/_thumbs/700x500-12-2010-serranos.jpg)
habaneros
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/.misc/_thumbs/700x500-12-2010-habaneros.jpg)
and the pepper bowl of goodness.
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/.misc/_thumbs/700x500-12-2010-peppers.jpg)
Oh yummy! Peppers are so good. Will you use them all fresh or can, freeze, dry?
What I have in the past is leave them out on the counter for a few days. I'll use them in whatever I can and let fiends and family take what they want. Then, they go into a gallon ziplock with the data and what they are and into the freezer. They hold up real well and are still plenty hot when I take them back out on an as needed basis. They do lose the crunch/crispy part after being frozen, but they cook just fine.
Nice bunch of peppers, muldoon. We are getting winter vegetables now - Swiss chard - lettuce, broccoli, cabbage coming on.
They look good! I freeze peppers just like that - not any work & always ready to cook with when you are.
Picked a couple heads of cabbage from the garden today. Sassy made Berrocks from them - posted them in the dinner thread...you know what a stickler I am for staying on topic..... [waiting]
(https://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy62/the_troglodyte/cabbage.jpg)
Still getting Broccoli, Swiss chard and a bit of other other stuff also.
I planted 5 more rhubarb plants and 2 fruit trees last week too. Trying to not bring home more at once than I can get planted. [ouch]
Good heirloom seeds here ...time to start thinking about them.
http://www.seedsavers.org/
Is there ever a time NOT to think about what you're planting? ;)
I need to get a bit of action going rather than just thinking, Homey... but like you, I have some good cow manure fertilizer this year... :)
Quote from: Homegrown Tomatoes on January 26, 2011, 06:18:51 PM
Is there ever a time NOT to think about what you're planting? ;)
HT somehow with 6" of snow on the ground planting is the farthest from my mind right now. I usually have a little bit longer living inthe mountains as our season does not come as soon as other places.
Glenn although the manure is good for the garden it will also increase the weed population. But then if you heated it in a Microwave and killed the seed it would be OK, But for some reason I do not think Sassy would approve of the prevention method. [waiting]
[shocked] [rofl2] don't give him any ideas, Red!
Yeah, I probably will not get away with that. I had been picking it up and piling it in a nice pile to compost at first, but dang, John.... that's a lot of poop.....[waiting]
This EM we are using helps with composting and reduces smell and flies to next to nothing.
Thought this was pretty interesting - family in Los Angeles has the right idea - hope the FDA or Homeland Security don't shut them down!
http://www.nextworldtv.com/videos/community/sustainable-family-outside-la----keeping-it-extra-real.html
peppers hhmmm
I need to get the Poblanos started
I just saw that clip too, Sassy
they have a website as well
http://urbanhomestead.org/
lots of good info
they are making bio-diesel too
that is on my list and bumped up in priority because of the new farm truck
2005 F250 with 6 L diesel
(https://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/Crockette/IMG_0162.jpg)
Pablanos.... we need to get some going too but our feed store gets them in each year -- we hope.
Poblano/Anchos are a key incredient in my favorite chile recipe
I'd like to think last fall's chile was a bit better than store bought anchos
I like them for Chile Rellenos, but haven't made them in a long time. We have a bunch in the freezer though.
Are you eating genetically engineered food? Eye opening video... http://wideeyecinema.com/?p=4709
Glenn... I can help you out with that microwaved manure thing.... there are two working microwaves down in our barn, left by the previous owner. You want 'em, you can nuke all the poop you want. Come and get 'em!!! We don't even have a microwave in our kitchen, and yet there are two down in the barn. :P d*
Hmmm - I better think on that a bit, Homey... not sure if that is an experiment I want to try. [ouch]
Really would like to be out in the garden working today, but seeing as there is still a foot of snow, and I have 3/4 of my kids out with the flu, don't think it is happening. On the plus side, we really needed the moisture from the snow.
Hope you all are feeling better, HG. Any snow on the ground?
We've had several weeks of mostly sunny weather - The fruit trees are budding out - usually when they bloom we get snow :-\ The daffodils will be blooming soon, everything is green. Lots of honey bees buzzing around :) That will be good for the fruit trees.
I pruned the fruit trees in the garden area around the house & did a lot of weeding & cleaning out all the dead vegetation & put in the compost pile. Also trimmed all my roses - have the scars to attest to that :-\ Glenn pruned the fruit trees down on the terraces.
He picked some green cauliflower in the hugelkulture bed & I picked some white cauliflower in the garden by the house - ate it last night - yummy - so much better than store bought - no bitterness. Of course we melted cheese on it [hungry] Also cooked one of the butternut squash - put butter & real maple syrup on it, placed it in a pan w/a little water & covered it with foil & put it in the oven & baked it while the meatloaf was cooking... yes, Glenn & I like meatloaf :D Squash was really good, too.
stay warm folks, spring is almost here.
sassy, that cauliflower & meatloaf sounds awesome, I wish I was eating with you guys tonight.
Here are my tomato and pepper starters. They are in the garage because its 20 degrees outside. They are sitting under the warmth of 300 watts of compact flouros. I think by March they will be nice and stout to go into dirt.
All heirloom, personally I like baker creek seeds. http://rareseeds.com
(I have no financial ties to them other than happy customer of 4 years).
any good viable heirloom seed is a good seed.
I am so ready for spring.
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Garden%202011/_thumbs/640x480-2011-starters3.jpg)
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Garden%202011/_thumbs/640x480-2011-starters4.jpg)
Nice start on the garden, muldoon. I'm hoping to start another hugelbed to improve the top terrace garden at the cabin. Lots of fertilizer now with the cows. Some of it is aged pretty good. :)
I know it is safe for the plants because my dog, Spike, loves to eat it fresh and it hasn't hurt him.... [waiting]
::) :P , Glenn
Good start, Muldoon - our starts never seem to do real well, don't know why - they do real good at re-seeding themselves out in the garden, though :)
The apple and pear trees are pruned. The butterfly bush starts survived, as did the bay tree, both of which are spending the winter in the "cold frame".
As of Monday Feb 28:
corn/beans/squash (zucchini)
(https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/Phssthpok/cabin007-1.jpg)
Herbs/tomatoes/carrots (near to far)
(https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/Phssthpok/cabin006.jpg)
Cabbages
(https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/Phssthpok/cabin001-1.jpg)
under the
Green beans/cucumbers
(https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/Phssthpok/cabin008-1.jpg)
Roma tomatoes...
(https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/Phssthpok/cabin002.jpg)
...ripening nicely
(https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/Phssthpok/cabin003.jpg)
Not shown are the peas, carrots, radishes, asparagus, onions, garlic, pumpkins, green zucchini, cantaloupe and potatoes that are doing nicely as well, nor the celery, spinich, peppers, okra, lettuce, chard, parsnips and beets I seeded the last two days. I'll try to get some photos of those tomorrow.
And the Aquaponics set-up too! :) (even though we're still trying to get things stabilized and not all the plants are happy :-\ )
Very nice garden.
Ain't that just like a Floridian to flaunt his garden at the beginning of march. ;)
Nice.
Flaunt...flaunt.. ;D
Expanded photos and update of today's efforts:
Left to right: Pumpkin, (4) cantaloupes) green zucchini
(https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/Phssthpok/cabin015-1.jpg)
Snow peas and radishes (with the ubiquitous LEEzard...Srsly...they're EVERYwhere down here)
(https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/Phssthpok/cabin013-1.jpg)
Near to far (reorganized and added to from previous photo): Herbs, tomatoes, onions, tomatoes, unplanted, tomatoes, onions, tomatoes, carrots. Had to stake the near tomatoes due to wind today.
(https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/Phssthpok/cabin012-1.jpg)
Russet potatoes (find waldo the tail-less LEEzard)
(https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/Phssthpok/cabin011-1.jpg)
Bell Peppers (under the cloches), garlic down the side, two big onions on the end
(https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/Phssthpok/cabin010-1.jpg)
Snap peas and carrots
(https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/Phssthpok/cabin009-1.jpg)
Aquaponics tubes...
(https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/Phssthpok/cabin016-1.jpg)
..fed from repurposed Koi pond (now filled with brim) with float tray
(https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/Phssthpok/cabin017-1.jpg)
Very cool aquaponics setup. That is something I've been looking to get into.
All I can say is WOW! We're planning aquaponics, too. Have done hydroponics in the same type of set-up you've done. It's still too cold here...
Garden looks great.
I was thinking of building some planter boxes myself. Is it safe to use PT wood for vegetable boxes?
Turned over the garden today and cut the grass. Spring must be here!!
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Mar62011.jpg)
A few flowers think it spring anyway.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/June22010002.jpg)
Where does phssthpok hail from roughly?? Nice lookin set-up.
I think Don mentioned Florida.....
Everybody will be showing me up this year, except we do have year round stuff....not well taken care of but it is there. Nice to see you are out there after it PEG.
I got some onions and cabbage planted last week. Added some of our compost to it too.
Anybody want tio make a little extra cash with their garden. I was thinking about Drew and his orchard in CA. I went to Sams Club the other day and noitice the price of red Raspberries & Blackberries. Can you visualize 12 oz container selling for $6.98. [shocked]. That farm must be using union labor from the US.
We have friends up here who have lots of red & golden raspberry patches & also boysenberries. They told us we could get some canes from them to plant on our property. I've eaten some of the berries & they're really good! Now we have to figure out where to put the berry patches... at least Glenn has to d*
tomatoes, summer squash, cherry tomatoes, serranos, cayenne, bell peppers, habaneros in the dirt. drip system patched and back in working order. Compost bin full to the top with dead trimmings from last year.
I had great helpers this week and it made the time fly by really fast working in the garden with my kids. We decided we liked cherry tomatoes so much and never seemed to have enough we planted 6 of them in two big 12gallon containers; going to aim to make a cherry tomato hedge for ourselves this summer.
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Garden%202011/_thumbs/640x480-2011-03-10_13.11.58.jpg)
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Garden%202011/_thumbs/640x480-2011-03-10_13.12.12.jpg)
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Garden%202011/_thumbs/640x480-2011-03-10_13.12.19.jpg)
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Garden%202011/_thumbs/640x480-2011-03-10_13.11.47.jpg)
Quote from: Sassy on March 10, 2011, 01:57:19 PM
We have friends up here who have lots of red & golden raspberry patches & also boysenberries. They told us we could get some canes from them to plant on our property. I've eaten some of the berries & they're really good! Now we have to figure out where to put the berry patches... at least Glenn has to d*
Sassy just pick a spot that you know he doesn't want them and tell him you are going to plant some there. He will find an alternative site and probably plant them for you. ;)
Good idea, Red! [cool]
Quote from: Redoverfarm on March 10, 2011, 03:02:23 PM
Quote from: Sassy on March 10, 2011, 01:57:19 PM
We have friends up here who have lots of red & golden raspberry patches & also boysenberries. They told us we could get some canes from them to plant on our property. I've eaten some of the berries & they're really good! Now we have to figure out where to put the berry patches... at least Glenn has to d*
Sassy just pick a spot that you know he doesn't want them and tell him you are going to plant some there. He will find an alternative site and probably plant them for you. ;)
John....we need to talk..... [waiting]
Glenn I had your best interest at heart. Berries on ice cream and berry shakes.
That sounds very good, John and a very sensible meal too..... [hungry]
How's everyone's garden so far this spring? We just got ours in the other day, kind of late. Hoping the cool season stuff doesn't burn up before it even has a chance to get going good. Having to water a lot... just been so darn dry around here.
Too cold and wet to start ours yet. We have had more than a foot of rain so far in March. Yesterday was the first day of March were it only rained a tiny bit.
Last year everything we planted early just rotted in the ground so we are waiting more this year. Need to move our raspberries this year. The area they have been in needs to be rotated to some other crop since we had lots of problems with raspberry cane blight last year. It will take us a few years to get a new area into production, but the berry crops are great once they get going.
Great that you got your garden in, HG! I've done a lot of weeding, Glenn planted onions & cabbage where I weeded - the onions are doing great - no heads on the cabbages yet. Still been pretty cool & rainy. I read you had 88 degree weather? Wow, pretty hot - the fires haven't affected you, have they?
Pine Cone, that is too bad about the berries. I'm hoping we get some berry canes planted this year. Glenn's mom brought us a jar of raspberry jam when she was here last - we had it eaten up in a week!
Our friends have lots of berry canes & strawberry plants that they'll give us.
Going to try Square Foot gardening this year. Have the book and want to try. I need to test the soil and see what it needs. May have to wait a bit, there is suppose to be snow tomorrow. Happy gardening everyone.
.. Man I love springtime. garden is shooting up like weeds. in 21 days check out the before and now pics. I posted here on the 10th, only 3 weeks ago.
Cherry Tomatoes
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Garden%202011/_thumbs/640x480-2011-03-10_13.12.24.jpg)
to
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Garden%202011/_thumbs/640x480-2011-03-31_19.50.54.jpg)
Tomatoes:
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Garden%202011/_thumbs/640x480-2011-03-10_13.11.58.jpg)
to
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Garden%202011/_thumbs/640x480-2011-03-31_19.50.23.jpg)
Looking good. Shoot it would be July before ours looks like that. Shoot it is snowing again tonight.
A slug just ate all my basil and lettuce sprouts in the cold frame. Arggh! >:(
Quote from: considerations on April 01, 2011, 07:21:12 AM
A slug just ate all my basil and lettuce sprouts in the cold frame. Arggh! >:(
Are you sure it was just ONE slug? LOL!
Plant more, I'm going to plant a few things today!
I did a review of the thread which has become a garden log book ,
Planted in 12 April 2006 , March of 2007, 09 March 2008, had snow 19 April of 09 , 02 April 2009 , 15 April 2010. Sort of interesting to look back at it.
Got -er done, 2 April 2011 , about normal.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/2April2011.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/2April20111.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/2April20112.jpg)
Now GROW!
Better stand by with basket in hand, PEG.... I think they are about ready to start popping out of the ground as I am sure they would not dare defy you.... :)
I've gotten all the cool season stuff in that I'm going to be able to plant this spring, but hope it doesn't burn up or blow away before we have a chance to eat any of it. Having to water like crazy we're in such a drought. :-\ Should be getting the tomatoes and peppers and stuff out in the next few days, but my tomatoes are just not looking up to snuff so far... they're kinda shrimpy and puny looking. The peppers look fantastic, though. Something about the soil here just doesn't seem really favorable to tomatoes... I don't know why. I've been working on amending it the two years we've been here. This will be our third garden here. Structurally, the garden is looking great. We fenced it before last summer, and just last week finally put REAL gates on. We built a fourth raised bed on the eastern side, and I've put down burlap/brown paper in the paths and am slowly covering it with the mountain of mulch from when we rented a wood chipper some weeks back.
Sounds good, Homey. Our tomatoes did not do well last year.
Friends tomatoes did not do well last year.
We think it has something to do with the persistent expanding contrails from the jets blocking so much of the sunlight nearly every day to every few days of the year around here. Some say we are crazy. Seems the plants see it too though.
Ours haven't done well since we moved here... at least not like what I'm used to. Our soil is fairly poor and sandy, but somehow just about everything else does grand... is there one specific nutrient (not a macronutrient, necessarily) that tomatoes need more of than other things do? I added some organic bought garden soil to the bed we're putting the tomatoes in this year, so hopefully that'll help. Going to try to transplant the rest of the stuff I have tomorrow and over the weekend.
Tomatoes prefer a slightly acidic soil with a pH of 6.2 to 6.8. The term pH balance refers to acidity or the alkalinity of your soil from a numerical scale of 1.0 to 14.0. The neutral point on the pH scale is 7.0. Higher than 6.5 indicates alkaline soil, lower than that indicates acidic soil.
You may benefit from having a soil sample tested. They do it for free at the nursery by my house. The university at Texas A&M does it for a few dollars by mail. You should check with your agriculture exemption office or local nursery - they likely can test it or suggest someone.
If your soil needs to increase pH, (make less acidic), add ag lime.
If your soil needs to decrease pH, (make more acidic), add aluminum sulfate or sulfur
(all of the above is found at the closest garden supply or most hardware stores.)
Tomatoes prefer to be planted by chives, parsley, marigolds, nasturtiums, garlic bulbs, and carrots. Avoid planting tomatoes by potatoes or members of the cabbage family.
- resource that may be useul:
http://www.savvygardener.com/Features/soil_ph.html
Got a few more things planted today.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/1May20116.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/1May20117.jpg)
15 May 2011 update ,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/15May2011.jpg)
We have greens growing like crazy, and tomatoes and cukes are at least started. There is a lot more to go. I haven't planted a lot of the stuff I wanted to have in the ground by now, but there are so many things to do and never seems to be enough time. Structurally, the garden looks better than ever, though!
The last two months of triple digit heat and no rain is really taking its toll. We've switched from trying to keep the garden plants alive to just trying not to lose any trees. You know it is hot and dry when the chickens are playing in the sprinkler and even the blackjack trees are wilting. ???
:( you try so hard but then the crazy weather ruins it... I just have enough planted for what I can handle w/out Glenn around.
Something is eating the leaves of my combination pluot/plum tree - only the the grafted pluot part, though. It reminds me of when I lived in Ohio & we had a big mulberry tree - the silk worms loved it & the leaves in places where they were spinning their cocoons were all eaten - just the spines of the leaves are visible... the pluots are kinda wrinkled looking & not getting very big. Haven't seen a bug, tho.
We have been having wonderful weather for out neck of the woods - 70-80's last week, 80's this week - can't complain - it's usually in the 100's in July.
peach tree borer. They took out my pluot and apricot. I tried asia pear ant they took them out also.
We have had a real time in our orchard. In the spring with that cool damp weather caterpillars were feasting on leaves and we could never find them. Now we are finding them or a different verity. The grasshoppers will hatch this or the next week if not already and the invasion of the locusts will start.
I wish I was retired so we could have chickens up there. They are great when allowed to free range the grasshoppers and all the other six legged critters. One thing about it if this weird weather continues here we will have frost in September and snow in October.
Dang. Lost a cherry tree, peach tree, and not sure that the vineyard is going to survive. Praying hard for rain. I have mowed TWICE the entire spring and summer. Usually at this point, I'm still needing to mow twice a week in some areas (between the garden and goat pen, over the lateral lines, front yard, etc.) I think a lot of our mock oranges may be dying, too. Blister beetles taking over the garden and trying to eat anything left by the squash bugs, and this is with both chickens and ducks IN the garden eating bugs!!
Read the other day that something like 74 out of 77 counties in Oklahoma have been declared an agricultural disaster this year.
So sorry to hear that, HG :( You work so hard to get the trees & garden going...
We've lost 3-4 fruit trees & the 4 way pluot/plum tree has something wrong w/it in the pluot part - think it might be peach borers. The peach tree up by the house had a lot of delicious peaches but the birds have been feasting on them - everytime I go to pick a peach, just about, it has a hole in it...
I have to water everything everyday or it will be history. Was gone a couple weekends ago to visit Glenn - watered Sat morn before I left & Mon evening when I got back & most everything was pretty stressed & wilted - most came back...
Finally picked my 1st yellow crookneck yesterday & ate it for dinner. There's lots of chard & the squash plants look good, just not putting on squash - lots of male blooms. Glenn said he thinks he read that when you aren't getting female blooms to add some epsom salts, same w/blossom end rot on tomatoes & peppers.
Seems the whole country is suffering from one produce malady or another.
Our clay is not much good for raising anything but bricks.
We do build the soil with compost and have pretty good success.
One year I broke down and bought a few yards of 4-part soil.
Amazing.
Love my maters. But this year they're havin' trouble without the early summer sun.
Everything else hasn't had much of a chance;
One word...slugs
Ate our rhubarb, our beans, our peas, and whatever else they care to.
Gave thought to building a beer moat.............
So, now dependent on the grocer (ptui)...however the Olathe corn is there.
Lawdy, best corn I ever et.
Tempted to move to Olathe Colorado..........
Rain, rain, glorious rain! Two days of it!! Broke the fifty-something days of triple digit temps finally!! It was wonderful, albeit a little late.
Overnight, I had tomatoes set fruit finally!!
Good that you got some releif. We haven't had a good rain in well over a month. The temps have dropped some in the last couple days. Yesterday it was 48F in the AM. My tomatoes have developed some kind of blight. The bottoms are rotten. Look good on the stem side but once you turn them over there it is a different story.
Red, is that blossom end rot? Epsom salts will help that. With our clay soil w/absolutely no nutrients in it, we have to amend it a lot. The Epsom salts helped our tomatoes last year.
2012 tilling work,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/002-8.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/003-6.jpg)
Added ten wheel barrows of compost, most grass clippings , leaves , saw dust .
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/005-5.jpg)
It lightens the soil a bit , not sure if it's good compost for nutrients,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/010-1.jpg)
Glenn told me to tell you to stop posting last year's pictures [rofl2] And that he has 40,000 lbs of manure but has only put 15,000 on so far [slap] [waiting]
I say your garden looks very nice so far :) We need to modify our clay ground to get things to grow...
Quote from: Sassy on April 08, 2012, 11:28:42 AM
#1: Glenn told me to tell you to stop posting last year's pictures [rofl2]
#2: And that he has 40,000 lbs of manure but has only put 15,000 on so far [slap] [waiting]
#3: I say your garden looks very nice so far :)
#4: We need to modify our clay ground to get things to grow...
#1: What I like about this thread is the record of events year in year out, sort of a journal of the garden, having it as a sticky really is nice.
#2: This is where I / we can confirm that Glenn is full of $hit I guess c*
#3: Thank you Sassy.
#4: I wonder if my compost helps much with fertilization, I should take a soil sample to the WSU garden annex over in Mt. Vernon to see what I need to add. Our Radish's , spinach, beans seem to need some help of late.
1. Looks good every year, PEG, but I think you need to tear out a bunch of that grass and make it into garden too... you can't eat grass and what will you eat if the world ends tomorrow?
2. Correct PEG and I am quite proud of it...... :)
3. Always a pleasure to see your garden, PEG. Always nice.
4. Massive amounts of organics needed in our soil, PEG hence the need for so much crap. Any composting you do is likely to help. Uncomposted additions high in carbon will rob nitrogen from your soil to break down. Alfalfa and chicken manure can add nitrogen. Other animal manures are more of a all purpose fertilizer with some of everything in them. I tried the soil sample kits with the separate pill tests for NPK and found our soil naturally has nearly nothing left in it or originally in it. Manure and chips are changing that. Finally getting some decent crop output.
Fresh manure can actually stop seeds from sprouting so composted is better in most cases. PH can be a factor for different plants. Blue berries want acid soil so we made our own in a big container for them this year - otherwise several had died previously and one done nothing for 4 years. Lucky it was still alive. The new ones are blooming now.
Keep up the good work buddy... and manure..... yup... I'm full of it.... [ouch]
Quote from: glenn kangiser on April 09, 2012, 12:23:49 AM
Any composting you do is likely to help. Uncomposted additions high in carbon will rob nitrogen from your soil to break down. Alfalfa and chicken manure can add nitrogen.
Are you saying the leaves I grind in would be not composted / rotten enough so they could be "stealing" the nitrogen in my soil?
If so I can get some chicken manure or chicken based compost from a chicken farm not far from here, or I could add some nitrogen rich fertilizer from the farm store.
If the latter what would be a good percentage of nitrogen in a bag type fertilizer?
Yes PEG. That is correct. I understand that as a mulch on top they won't bother much but in the soil they need nitrogen to break down as the decompose.
I think I would add something like a 15-15-15 as most plants need the last two anyway, and the nitrogen needs to be lower so as some is robbed for decomposition of the leaves it will be closer to the range the vegetables want. Nitrogen makes green leafy things and fast growth but not so much on the edible part of the plant. 21-0-0 is a good grass fertilizer but not so great for the garden. It could be used to aid composting though. Otherwise Paul wheaton has said he likes to add alfalfa... at $22.50 a bale I won't unless I get bad stuff free. The high first number - nitrogen, makes lots of green plant but not much fruit. An analysis as you were talking about is the most sure method for finding out exactly what you need.
The chicken fertilizers are high in nitrogen and would work well with the leaves, sawdust, straw etc or stuff that is high in carbon. Horse manure is a perfect mix of carbon and nitrogen if clean for composting. Just add air and water to taste.... :) Turn weekly or so if possible for fastest composting. Horse manure with carbon such as bedding, straw etc, needs chicken manure added for the higher nitrogen for fastest composting. Done properly it will heat up - compost and be don in about 6 weeks.
Onions are different than other vegetables and they want high nitrogen after started. I just studied up on them as I have had a rough time with them in the past.
21-0-0 is what onions want though after the first couple weeks. A line of it along the plants after they are established. When planting Onions want a high phosphorus fertilizer under them.
QuoteFertilization of onion plants is vital to success. Texas A&M research findings indicate that onion growth and yield can be greatly enhanced by banding phosphorus 2-3 inches below seed at planting time. This phosphorus acts as a starter solution which invigorates the growth of young seedlings. Banding phosphorus, such as super phosphate (0-20-0), 2-3 inches below the seed involves making a trench 3 inches deep, distributing one-half cup of super phosphate per 10 row feet, covering the phosphate with soil, sowing seed and covering lightly with one-half inch or less of soil. Once established, onion plants should receive additional amounts of fertilizer (21-0-0 - Ammonium sulfate or Ammonium nitrate) as a side-dress application every month.
Good detailed info on onions. Also for bulbing you need to know the day length onion in your area or they may not make bulbs.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/publications/onions/oniongro.html
Got some things in the ground today , starts of lettuce, spinach , onions , some seeds spinach , radishes, carrots , etc , more to go , but a good start.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/010-3.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/012-3.jpg)
Some general flowers ,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/011-3.jpg)
Abby approved of the work.
First radishes of the season , been picking lettuce for a bit.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/004-7.jpg)
Planted bush beans , tomato plants , and a squash plant today. Finally getting some rain , been a dry May so far.
Updated photo's,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/042.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/041.jpg)
Looks great as usual, PEG. Ours is doing decent. Picked a bunch of eggplant and peppers today. More tomatoes are starting to put out.... but
I am working away from home a bit again so not getting as much done as I would like, besides moving and rocking the driveway. Still need to find more time for the garden.
(//i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy62/the_troglodyte/mobile/2012-07-02_18-59-47_-20Ev.jpg)
A tomato
and Amaranth from my cabin thread...
(https://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy62/the_troglodyte/mobile/2012-07-02_18-55-19_HDR.jpg)
Amaranth leaves can be eaten or it is an alternative non-gluten grain, porridge, bread additive or many other things you can do with it.
Decent Mother Earth News info on Amaranth.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2005-04-01/Grow-Amaranth.aspx
End of the season a few things doing OK ,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/003-12.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/002-11.jpg)
Nice carrots PEG. Many times I plant them but they don't always get big. Water shortage stunts them I think.
6 April 2013 I was thinking I was way behind , but reviewing my posts I'm right on schedule.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/003-14_zpsd76e35b3.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/004-12_zps5b184acb.jpg)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/006-7_zps27e2e4c8.jpg)
And two eagles I shot, with the camera, a few weeks ago.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/001-21_zpsbb8adf64.jpg)
Despite the unusually late, cold spring this year, I'm going to plant today. My huge (32 square foot) garden takes about 10 minutes of work to do. Eventually, I'm going to put in a garden of about 25 X 50, but I need to build the house first!
Got some plants in the ground today ,
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/001-21_zpsf4963d37.jpg) (https://s21.photobucket.com/user/PEG688/media/001-21_zpsf4963d37.jpg.html)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/002-14_zps9a28e7c4.jpg) (https://s21.photobucket.com/user/PEG688/media/002-14_zps9a28e7c4.jpg.html)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/003-14_zpsf742eae3.jpg) (https://s21.photobucket.com/user/PEG688/media/003-14_zpsf742eae3.jpg.html)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/004-12_zps8c75a6ce.jpg) (https://s21.photobucket.com/user/PEG688/media/004-12_zps8c75a6ce.jpg.html)
Making progress. We are working hard to make new beds in our new garden area this year.
Here is a frequent backyard visitor, a juvenile bald eagle that is scruffy since it is between juvenile and adult plumage. So far the eagles have left our ducks alone...
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/JuvenileEagle_zpsf9f8b033.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/JuvenileEagle_zpsf9f8b033.jpg.html)
Plastic fake half-barrel, with heirloom tomato and basil. Right off the kitchen
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/TomatoBasilPot_zps1d242112.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/TomatoBasilPot_zps1d242112.jpg.html)
Tomato & Cilantro
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/TomatoCIlantroPot_zpse92dde97.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/TomatoCIlantroPot_zpse92dde97.jpg.html)
Hanging baskets for color
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/HangingBaskets_zps1494d4d4.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/HangingBaskets_zps1494d4d4.jpg.html)
Our front porch
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/FlowerPorch_zpsb953c11c.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/FlowerPorch_zpsb953c11c.jpg.html)
Front garden, a work in progress
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/FrontGardenMay25_zps21bdb46b.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/FrontGardenMay25_zps21bdb46b.jpg.html)
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/FrontGardenMay25_2_zps94912fb2.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/FrontGardenMay25_2_zps94912fb2.jpg.html)
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/FrontGardenMay25_3_zpsddbee09d.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/FrontGardenMay25_3_zpsddbee09d.jpg.html)
Strawberries
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/StrawberriesMay_zpscf505cad.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/StrawberriesMay_zpscf505cad.jpg.html)
Potatoes
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/PotatoMay_zps120a9c89.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/PotatoMay_zps120a9c89.jpg.html)
Two months ago
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/EasterGarden_zps3415752b.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/EasterGarden_zps3415752b.jpg.html)
26 May 2013.
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/image_zps3d5d71db.jpg) (https://s21.photobucket.com/user/PEG688/media/image_zps3d5d71db.jpg.html)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/image_zpsa2986752.jpg) (https://s21.photobucket.com/user/PEG688/media/image_zpsa2986752.jpg.html)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/image_zps20bf5f63.jpg) (https://s21.photobucket.com/user/PEG688/media/image_zps20bf5f63.jpg.html)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/image_zpsb27a0e72.jpg) (https://s21.photobucket.com/user/PEG688/media/image_zpsb27a0e72.jpg.html)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/image_zps2e8cf7a0.jpg) (https://s21.photobucket.com/user/PEG688/media/image_zps2e8cf7a0.jpg.html)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/image_zps282258ac.jpg) (https://s21.photobucket.com/user/PEG688/media/image_zps282258ac.jpg.html)
I have a small patch of strawberries. Seems that there is a small grey bug/worm that likes ripe berries better than I do. As soon as they get ripe they get attacked. >:( End up with nice berries that have eaten cavities on the tops. Any idea what they are or how to get rid of them? Hate to use any pesticides as when I would need to use it is about the time they need to be picked.
Update for the end of July 2013. Lots of flowers in front of the house in containers.
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/Garden_July31_2013_3_zpsf8627e87.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/Garden_July31_2013_3_zpsf8627e87.jpg.html)
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/Garden_July31_2013_4_zpscbe1fbf3.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/Garden_July31_2013_4_zpscbe1fbf3.jpg.html)
Back deck have mostly herbs and veggies
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/Garden_July31_2013_5_zps059c49f5.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/Garden_July31_2013_5_zps059c49f5.jpg.html)
Main garden in front, done with peas, most of the potatoes, tomatoes, squash, artichokes, carrots, and cabbage ready or almost ready. Corn, beans, more carrots, onions almost ready to pick!
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/Garden_July31_2013_1_zps6d70fbdd.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/Garden_July31_2013_1_zps6d70fbdd.jpg.html)
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/Garden_July31_2013_2_zpsa5d8ef55.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/Garden_July31_2013_2_zpsa5d8ef55.jpg.html)
2014 Garden update
More beds this year, both raised beds and tilled areas. Started later, results seem similar by mid-summer.
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/BackDeckl_2014_zps23024dd7.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/BackDeckl_2014_zps23024dd7.jpg.html)
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/NorthSideGarden_2014_zpse4d4ab83.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/NorthSideGarden_2014_zpse4d4ab83.jpg.html)
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/Artichokes_Cukes_Beans_Sunflowers_zps8086e0d4.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/Artichokes_Cukes_Beans_Sunflowers_zps8086e0d4.jpg.html)
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/Lilys_2014_zps09010686.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/Lilys_2014_zps09010686.jpg.html)
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/Grapes_Strawberries_Asparagus_2014_zps4a074954.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/Grapes_Strawberries_Asparagus_2014_zps4a074954.jpg.html)
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/PeasTomatoes_2014_zps909f18e2.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/PeasTomatoes_2014_zps909f18e2.jpg.html)
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/SouthGarden_2014_zps87ee1396.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/SouthGarden_2014_zps87ee1396.jpg.html)
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/Eagle_in_Snag_zps31888a2d.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/Eagle_in_Snag_zps31888a2d.jpg.html)
we harvested 48 pounds of tomatoes this morning
there are at least that still out there that aren't quite ripe yet
MMMmmmmmm
May 22, 2015 Garden Progress
About half of last year's artichoke plants survived the winter giving us a huge leap forward this year.
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/FirstArtichoke2015_zps3tsbqtcz.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/FirstArtichoke2015_zps3tsbqtcz.jpg.html)
Tomato cages made from concrete mesh, more artichokes
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/ArtichokesTomatosEtc2015_zpsn0wmyvyx.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/ArtichokesTomatosEtc2015_zpsn0wmyvyx.jpg.html)
Year 3 since I planted asparagus so we got to eat some this spring. Onions and peas looking good!
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/PeasOnionsAsparagus_zps10dt6gtr.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/PeasOnionsAsparagus_zps10dt6gtr.jpg.html)
Hoop house with floating row cover. Experiment seems to be working!
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/HoophouseExp_zpsujgssgus.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/HoophouseExp_zpsujgssgus.jpg.html)
Panoramic overview
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/2015MayGarden_zpsab1vpuem.jpg) (https://s753.photobucket.com/user/Pine_Cone/media/2015MayGarden_zpsab1vpuem.jpg.html)
Looking back though this thread you can see the progress we have made. Should have our first grapes next year, they have flowered this year but I will pinch them off if they start to set fruit. Vine are big enough yet, and I am still woking on the basic trellis structure. Not happy with one plants shape, but I got a new shoot last week where I wanted one and hope to train it this summer.
We had our first salads with lettuce and kale from the garden this week. First planting of peas is about to flower. This year I am trying two new plants - celeriac and lemongrass. Haven't planted the celeriac yet, but I have about a half dozen lemongrass plants comming along.
Hey Pine Cone. We had very good performance from hoop gardens a few years ago. We used a breathable fabric material that was made for covering starter rows in big market gardens. That worked very nicely up at our cabin (8800 feet).
Quote from: MountainDon on May 22, 2015, 09:24:16 PM
Hey Pine Cone. We had very good performance from hoop gardens a few years ago. We used a breathable fabric material that was made for covering starter rows in big market gardens. That worked very nicely up at our cabin (8800 feet).
We are using a similar fabric this year. Two years ago we tried poly film and had poor results, lots of hassle trying to keep things watered and cool if it got too sunny. The breathable fabric is much easier to deal with vs the plastic film, and it doesn't make as good a sail. We had problems with the plastic blowing off the hoops in strong winds (from the ends) and then damaging young plants as it blew around in the wind.
Veggies in the hoop bed are more than double the size of others planted at the same time.
We are at sea level but because we are on Puget Sound it never gets very warm and the hoop house seems to help warm the soil much faster in the spring. We have used the row covers to get frost protection in the past and it works well for that, but so far we are pleased with how this is working.
Yeeow, just touched my eyelid... but we are having an awesome pepper year ;D
So, anyone else got the garden going this year?
I know for some gopher love prevents doing any bad deeds against them, but for me, welfare of my family comes first and any invading gophers will now be buried right back in their holes to support my vegetable garden growth and ....to warn their friends..... >:(
I got these..... (http://images.victorpest.com/is/image/woodstream/vp-us-B0625-3-1?$ProductPgLarge2$)
You can get them from Victor http://www.victorpest.com/victor-the-blackbox-gopher-trap-b0625-3?gclid=Cj0KEQjww7zHBRCToPSj_c_WjZIBEiQAj8il5OOU5K_VSXw7cfN0diUQO2NWP9R-Qa_Y8GT8a9dePhIaAkth8P8HAQ
or Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Victor-Black-Gopher-Trap-0625/dp/B000FBMFDO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492110957&sr=8-1&keywords=black+box+gopher+trap
Most of our tiny raised bed is planted. Peas are growing well; I hope they produce before it gets too hot. Last weekend, I set out a couple Cherokee Purple tomatoes. Not sure what to do with the last few feet. Our winter was so warm that everything is early. Last summer was very hot- so hot, that the peppers and tomatoes quit producing for a two month period, then took up again in the fall.
Last year's success story was a single cucumber plant that a friend gave me. I had no place to put it, so I planted it behind a little flower bed by the front porch. We picked over 50 full-sized cucumbers from that one plant! No thanks; I'll pass on the pickles for now.
We have a similar heat problem. Some plants just like to outdo themselves. We like to keep enough growing to have something to eat in case of a burp in the supply chain.
We plant several hundred onions and we let some go to seed so have volunteers also.
We looked for Cherokee Purple yesterday, but none so took another heirloom variety besides our standard Early Girls and a few cherries. :)