WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD VOLUME 43 OCT. 24 2014

freerepublic | Oct 24 2014 | greeneyes

[mrsmith]

I can only eat a few paw-paws and then only when they’re at their peak.

My local county extension gives away saplings every Spring. That’s where I got mine and they’ve all done well- except for some Plum trees and that’s probably my fault.
I figure the extension guys know what types to get. And... they’re free.
The biggest danger to my saplings has been my weed-eating. I’ve cut down a fourth of them on the backstroke.

[greeneyes]

That’s pretty neat. Our county extension doesn’t do that.

[greeneyes]

Interesting link for crop rotation:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3219960/posts

[Augie]

Fantastic weather over the past few days here in Central Missouri. I took advantage and got quite a bit done over the weekend.

Spent a few hours yesterday cleaning up in the garden and getting a patch prepped to plant my garlic. Now I just need to find the sack of garlic that I saved back to plant. I put it in a safe place that is temporarily evading me.

The old smokehouse soon-to-be potting shed is mounted on skids and ready for transport. I expect it will show up sometime this week.

Did a bit of repair work to Mrs. Augie's deer stand and cleaned up some sprouts and briars in the general vicinity. The condo of doom is all but finished. I just need to cut and hang a piece of plywood for the entry door and mount a couple or three grab handles to make climbing in a bit easier.

[greeneyes]

Nice picture. I also got some things done this weekend. Mostly yard cleanup and involving leaves.LOL

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Greetings - I joined this thread with the hopes of benefiting from freeper gardening expertise.

I got a 10'X15' plot in a community garden this year and I would like to do some fall/winter produce gardening. We live in the Pajaro Valley on the central California coast. Conditions are much the same as the adjacent Salinas valley. Possible crops are kale, Brussels sprouts, Peas, broccoli, carrots, and others. The space limitation is a factor in what we grow. Another issue is seeds or plants started indoors. Mrs. Homer has instructed me to look into seed tape. I am not familiar with that.

We probably have another month before the nights start getting seriously cold.

I would be grateful if anyone else who has had this type of gardening experience gave me the benefit of their experience.

Regards, Homer

[greeneyes]

One of the best sources for free or inexpensive info is the University Extension Offices: Here's a link for UC, Offices in other states that are similar to your zone can also be quite useful sources of free info:

http://ucanr.edu/County_Offices/

Here's some links regarding sq. foot gardening in case you are interested in that method:

http://squarefootgardening.org/
http://www.mysquarefootgarden.net/

Basics for organic gardening:

http://www.sustainable-gardening.com/how-to/organic/basics

Bountiful gardens has a booklet Food for the Future,Now: A survival garden and others that will give you illustrations and directions for a comprehensive garden - catalog is free

http://www.bountifulgardens.org/

This free catalog has illustrations of plants with diseases/pests/nutritional deficiencies and advice for treatment :

http://www.gardensalive.com/

Free catalog has some of the most beautiful pictures. All their seeds are GMO free, open pollinated, and headquarters is in Missouri - my home state.LOL :

http://www.rareseeds.com/request-catalogus/

Seed tape is used for tiny seeds - they are spaced equally apart inside a gauze like material. So you just snip the length that you want. It is a bit more expensive than individual seeds, and great to use.

However if you don't want to spend the extra money, I have found that using tweezers also is useful to manage the planting of small seeds. My winter gardening is somewhat limited due to the possibility of harsh winters. I plant mostly cover crops or winter wheat. Sometimes, I can grow arctic king lettuce, carrots, spinach.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Thank you! These links will keep me busy for a while. I need to work quickly, though. I want to have some seeds in the ground by next weekend.

[greeneyes]

Read fast. If you have a local feed store, they will have cheap seeds, and some knowledge of what works in your area. Also, you could check out local nursery’s and places like Lowe’s garden supply.

[HopeandGlory]

Paging Tubebender, maybe you can help this fellow Freeper out.

[tubebender]

You should check with your fellow gardeners and see what they have going for a winter crops as you truly live in gardeners paradise. It is too cool and rainy to grow much up here on Humboldt Bay other then Garlic and a cover crop... and slugs.

[tubebender]

This book is the west coast gardeners Bible…
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sunset-Western-Garden-Book-planting-lawn-vegetables-pruning-grafting-/221583490187?pt=US_Nonfiction_Book&hash=item339767bc8b