Posted on 09/12/2014 12:29:15 PM PDT by greeneyes
he Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks.
No matter what, you won’t be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. There is no telling where it will go and... that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us!
NOTE: This is a once a week ping list. We do post to the thread during the week. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest are welcomed, so feel free to post them at any time.
We have brought in all Tomatoes with blush of red to finish ripening on the produce cart. Brought in another batch of red peppers for freezer or dehydration. These are really nice and currently selling for about $1.79 in the grocery store. We have already harvested and processed close to 100.
Time to get ready to plant the winter garden. Thinking of garlic, winter wheat, winter rye, maybe some carrots and arctic lettuce.
Hubby brought me the new Farmer's Almanac for 2015. The 2014 was a pretty accurate forecast so far. Here's a brief forecast for winter 2015:
1. Northeastern - Wintery white & wet southern end- central east - crisp and very stormy
2. Great Lakes/Midwest - Stinging & normal snowfall
3. Southeastern - Chilly and wet
4. North Central - Northern half - Frigid and Flaky Southern half - Bitter and Snowy - that's Missouri and contiguous states to the north and west.
5. South Central - Brisk & wet - that's Texas & contiguous states.
6. North western - Chilly, Normal Precipitation
7. Southwestern - Cool, Average Precipitation
Uncertainty over El Nino effects, which could impact the fore cast.
Here's a recipe for Homemade Carpet Cleaner: 1 cup Baking Soda 1 cup of cornstarch 15 drops of your favorite essential oil
Mix it all together, sprinkle on carpet and leave for 10 or 20 minutes. Then vacuum up. If you grow herbs or spices like lavender or mint, you can make your own essential oil.
My pantry has all the stuff needed to make this without going to the store, and I think a lot of us could say that. I'll try to remember to post some additional tips as we go along this year.
Have a great weekend. Stay safe and warm. God Bless.
Pinging the List.
Here’s a link from TIK gardeners mentioned on survival thread see #5 for TIK ping:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3202325/posts
Interesting comments and article.
My thanx to those who responded regarding my bamboo post.
Not surprised that most responses mentioned the generally held perception that bamboo is invasive, hard to manage, and leads to unimagined problems....true, I know but there is the other side of the coin, too.
The following link (w/pic) ...
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/pljuly96.htm
shows just what power bamboo can have, over a period of years, even when problems are anticipated...the bamboo in the pic is a clumping type bamboo too, not running bamboo as usually is the case when problems arise.
There are at least 1300 kinds of bamboo to choose from, but two basic types as far as growth is concerned...running bamboo, which is considered invasive boo; and, clumping boo, which is considered much less...”invasive.”
Dick Gaines
*****
Thanx for the “recipe”, and forecast. It is hot here. Front should be going through, but no rain here, and it’s hot and oppresively humid.
I look forward to the Brisk and Wet you mentioned from the 2015 Farmer’s Almanac.
Harvesting our peaches now. Not so many, but larger than normal and great flavor. We also had a great year, best ever from our cherries, not so much from the apricots.
Cold and clammy indeed it is.
I finally got my beets out of the ground yesterday evening. Needless to say some of them are a bit overgrown. I’ll be pickling what’s good this weekend and the horses and chickens will get the rest.
Tomatoes are just about done. Peppers are still looking good but I think I’ll pull them all up this weekend rather than let frost get them later. Brussels sprouts are loaded.
I need to plant some lettuce this weekend or it will be too late.
I’m going to be bringing another small building back from the old farmstead in the next week or two. It was originally used as a smokehouse. 8x12 with a high-peaked metal roof. With the addition of a couple windows I think it will make a dynamite potting shed.
I was thinking the people from Texas and contiguous states might really be liking that WET part.LOL
Good for you. Our peaches were very few and very small. Lots of bad spots, nothing really to process or eat. Cherries weren’t even as big as a pea, more the size of a chia seed.
No apples at all.
We figure it a combo of drought last year, very hard winter, and too close to walnut tree.
I sure hope we get our “usual” wet winter as the last two came up short but thankfully our municipal storage lake has another year supply in reserve...
Our last batch of beets was a little too far along too. We really need some gardening sheds here too.
Hubby wants to make a basement with a shed on top to clear out the garage, and store our gardening stuff. Just need to scrape together some bucks, so unless we sell some land or something it won’t be happening for a while.
Well the almanac thinks you will.
Beautiful weather here in Massachusetts. We’re still harvesting tomatoes, jalapenos, parsley and beans. Everything else has gone by.
My husband was very happy with our tomatoes, so we’re growing the same selection next year.
I wish that we had a greenhouse, but I don’t think that’s going to happen any time soon. Ah, well.
I’m planning on stratifying some big hickory nuts I found in our woods. At least, I think they are hickories.
I plan to put them in a sand bed in a bucket, about 4 inches deep. I’ll dig them up in the spring and hope I have a beginning of a tree.
Most of our stuff is winding down too, but we just got our first zuke. We may have to cover them in order to get enough for pickles.
However, if we get a long period of Indian Summer, we’ll have way more than we need.
Post some pics of your boo if you can.
Me Too. I have several pictures and plans. I want one attached to our house, so that I can go through the basement patio door and walk into a sunroom/green house. Ah the things I could grow during the winter.LOL
That would be heaven. :)
We have a bunch too. The shells are hard to crack, and the meats are a bit difficult to get out. They taste really good like a pecan.
The Indians supposedly boiled them shells and all to make a broth that they used in soups. We bring in a few, but leave the rest for the critters.
We get so many walnuts and butternuts that keeps us busy cracking and getting out the nutmeats, vacuum pack and freeze till ready to use.
And I wanted a redwood pergola covered in cucuzzi vines, with a little bistro set underneath where I could drink some fancy little umbrella garnished drink.... Oh, well, I settled for a cattle panel hoop, covered in cucuzzi with cats hanging out underneath. :o(
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