Posted on 10/17/2014 12:32:51 PM PDT by greeneyes
The 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.
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Yesterday the temps got back up to 70. Today we have lovely weather, with sunshine and mild temps of around 70 degrees. Melon vines are hanging in there. Peppers are still going. Winter garden has some sprouts.
One of the mystery melons split due to the heavy rain, right at the stem end, and disconnected from the vine. It is small like a vine peach or Minnesota Midget. However the outside looks like an Iroquois melon. All of which have been grown in that bed before. The inside is a nice orange color, which rules out a straight vine peach for sure.
It could be just a scrawny Iroquois or a cross of some sort, and that's about as near as I can determine. Several other melons are continuing with pretty healthy vines, so I may yet have something to eat from them.
Visiting the Bakers Creek seed website, www.rareseeds.com I noticed that they have a small discount on their Whole Seed Catalog good till Monday. This has not only more seeds than the free catalog, but recipes,histories,antidotes, tips, and guide to living off the land.
Today Hubby came down and got their catalog, making some comment that he is going to concentrate on Heirloom seeds! He also feels that their seeds are more likely to grow in Missouri. True for some. I didn't tell him that they also have locations in California and Connecticut. LOL
From the Almanac: Remember, a smile is the same no matter what language you speak.
Hope you are having a great weekend! God Bless.
When is the best time to purchase AND plan cactus (especially the flowering kind) ..??
Pinging the List. Thanks to all who helped or tried to help ping the list last week. Apologies for typo to Eternal Vigilance.
We are going to have to ask some of the others. My only experience with cacti has been the Christmas Cactus, which I bought in a pot and gave to my Husband as a Christmas present.
Hi everybody!
((((HUGS))))
Today is my Birthday, so i thin k I’ll go for a nice ride on my harley! The weather is BEAUTIFUL!
:-)
The weather in Central Missouri is much nicer now than what we had a week ago. I’m hoping to get the yard mowed over the weekend without getting stuck.
Still no sign of the old smokehouse soon-to-be potting shed. The wet weather has put a monkey wrench into everything lately.
I’ve got all the materials I need to build a new all-weather tree condo to sit in while I’m waiting to ambush bambi. I think I’ll spend some time working on that this weekend.
Okay, thanks.
Hi all, birthday greetins’ and such— nice, sunny, warm weather here in N. Tx about 82 degrees. The peppers are loving it and more are starting to slowly pop out. The rain buckets were filled up from last week so they can have some rainwater drinks. I dumped some used coffee grinds in a water bucket and gave a coffee drink to the peppers which are serrano, jalapeno, cubanelles and anaheims. Some folks grow the superhot peppers like ghosts, vipers and such but me no likey to eat those hellfires.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!! Enjoy the day!
Ellendra and I were in Branson last week. The early part of the week was beautiful. Rained quite a bit later in the week, though. We drove home in intermittent rain, which meant no glare from the sun. :-)
Thanks, Greeneyes!
My quick corn is ready. A little less than 7 weeks from when I planted it.
Cutest ears you ever did see. We’ll definitely plant this variety again. It’s perfect for that awkward spot in the garden that you don’t really have time to plant something warm season like tomatoes or peppers but it’s still a bit too warm to plant English peas or other cool season stuff.
What size are the ears? Are they like the little corn cobs used in Chinese dishes? I have forgotten the name of the corn, and failed to write it on my memory list. Would you mind telling me again what it is?
The variety is Yukon Chief, from bestcoolseeds.com (Denali Seed Company). The ears are 4”-6.5” long and about the same size around as a normal ‘smallish’ regular ear of corn. Ie, you can hold them and eat the corn on the cob like regular corn. Only they’re smaller and suitable for kids.
It got a max of 3 or 3.5ft tall, including tassel.
So, it was less than 50 days for this variety from planting to eating.
And it’s open pollinated.
But if you want to save seed, you need to plant it very early and cover it or very late to make sure there isn’t cross pollination.
Also, corn suffers from inbreeding depression so you need to plant at least 150 plants and save one ear or ‘some’ seeds from dried ears from each of those plants. Ie, maximum genetic diversity. You might get away with saving corn from just 3 or 4 ears for a year or two but eventually you’ll have issues.
I didn’t plant enough to save seeds from strictly this planting. So I’m going to let it dry on the stalk and then save 1 ear from each plant and then mix it with the 3 other packets of seed I bought.
Thanks that is all great info.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKrmPeMB6lU
Also wanted to say for those who are interested I will have some wild garlic seeds. This is a native garlic that comes back year after year, even in west Michigan. Spreads easy. The honey bees love the flowers too. Greens can be eaten like garlic chives while young and when the plants mature the garlic can be dug. It doesn't form a bulb, more like a thick green onion, but garlic is garlic. Plus you never have to replant. If you are interested Freepmail me and I will give you my mailing address. Seeds will be free (Freepers only) but I would appreciate a SASE. I can send about 50 seeds, enough for a nice starter patch.Freepmail first as I will have a limited number of packets. Seeds will be dried and ready in a couple of weeks. God Bless!
That’s great. Thanks for the link.
Mom (she’s visiting for a coupla weeks) took the last of our tomatoes off the vines this morning. About 60-70 lbs from 7 plants, 4 of which were volunteers. Will be trying the heirloom seeds next spring, after rejuvenating the soil because I messed it up with too much alkali 4 years ago.
After my bro tills the garden, I will be seeding purple top turnips, carrots, maybe some kohlrabi, and possibly a couple of potatoes for a winter crop.
I’d be doing the work myself, but my surgeon told me in no uncertain terms that I was NOT to do anything that required any effort over 5 lbs. I’m not even allowed to pick up the watering can, dagnabbit! I won’t even mention what my lawns and flowerbeds look like...
Got lots of green tomatoes now. I have never made and canned it before but I’m thinking of doing chow-chow. I like it as a side with chili. I used to have a neighbor who would give us a chili relish but have been unable to find the recipe. So if anyone out there has a recipe to share...........................
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