Posted on 01/09/2015 12:27:25 PM PST 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.
No matter what, you wont be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isnt 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!
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I can't see my winter stuff unless I go outdoors, which I try to avoid unless it's above 45 degrees. I harvested the lemons last week and gave one to each of the adult children/grandchildren while they were here.
We still have a daughter in N. Dakota and a great grand daughter who will be coming in January sometime for XMAS. Have settled in to reading the seed catalogs and continuing the early spring cleaning and organizing.
Finished the Gardens Alive Catalog which has a nice section of pictures of plants with diseases that is a handy reference. Now going through the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange which has a nice section of advice for growing each group of veggies prior to the individual listings.
Hope every one is doing well, staying warm, and enjoying the start of a New Year. Have a great weekend. God Bless.
Pinging the list.
Greetings greeneyes!
I am a native of Colorado, but my wife and I moved to lower Alabama (Daphne, right across the bay from Mobile); I plan to plant a house garden this spring and would like to get ideas/information on the best crops to grow for my area; I have a fairly large, probably 16x20 plot, so I have some room for crops that don’t take up too much room (like melons, corn, etc.); any suggestions you or any other green thumbers might have would be greatly appreciated!
Wife is down with a deep chest cold and horse cough. We had planned to escape to Florida for a few days but she can't go near an airplane until this cold clears up. Flying is no longer the treat it once was. Lots of garden seed magazines and catalogs received. I have jalapeno seeds but nothing else. Plan to start everything around the first or second week of February.
Only thing growing around here in the frozen tundra is a nice bowl of alfalfa sprouts on my kitchen windowsill. I always have some going, 1/4 cup of seeds is enough for each batch. Having a nice salad for dinner and cracking open a pint of chopped stewed garden tomatoes to top it off with. Also baking the last acorn squash with some apple, cinnamon, walnuts and brown sugar.
I’ve had enough winter for one year.
Still no progress on the potting shed.
Got at least half a dozen new seed catalogs in the mail since last week.
I’m starting to kick around the idea of building a greenhouse. I don’t really need another project, but if I had a greenhouse it would give me something to do during crappy weather besides sit on the couch and look at the teevee.
I’m about to make a cup of coffee and curl up with the Baker Creek catalogue and a red marker!
Lows in the teens, highs in the twenties. The ground is frozen and the garden is bare.
I can’t wait for spring ... good therapy for when life is tough (we have several seriously ill family members right now ... when it rains, it pours sort of thing) is to go dig in the garden and watch things grow.
Speaking of seed catalogs, I was looking at the new Parks Seeds catalog, and they have something called pineberries, which look like white strawberries with red seeds.
Anyone have any experience with these? Recommend or not?
My newest Burpee catalogue has a hybrid container corn which allegedly grows up to 9 stalks with 1 or 2 ears in a 24" container. I may try them in a limited space outside the containers to see what I get.
I would advise that you check out Alabama University Extension Service and the Extensions Services of contiguous states for the best info on local experiences.
Melons require quite a bit of room to grow, unless you go vertical and tie the vines up. Corn also takes quite a bit of room to grow, unless you are planting a dwarf variety or deck corn.
I think the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange catalog has good advice on planting environments, and should have varieties that would be good for your area too. Go to the link below to order the catalog which has a gardening guide in it.
http://www.southernexposure.com/
That should get you started.
So far, I have avoided the flu and colds. I take a little extra Vit D3 and Vit C during the winter, and limit my trips to Walmart and the Dr. if possible.
Frequent handwashing and avoid touching eyes and face.
Never got around to taking a flu shot. Strain A is what is going around and wasn’t in the shot anyway.
Hope your wife feels better soon.
You might even be able to incorporate your potting shed into it somehow. I’d have a green house, if I had the money. I’d put it right where I could step through the patio doors and right into the green house.LOL
That’s dangerous. I want everything I see in those pictures.LOL
Sorry to hear about the illnesses. Prayers up for all. I am going to plant some seeds suitable for containers this next week. If they sprout, I’ll put them in medium size pots till Spring.
I am no kind of gardener, but I love this thread each week. I can say that one of my African violets has been blooming profusely for a couple weeks now, and I have not killed any houseplants in many months.
The seed catalogs are coming thick and fast and making my eyes light up. I live on a farm and I’m very good at raising livestock, but plants, not so much. I’ve seen pre-planned gardens offered for sale - does anyone have success with these? I live in Maryland and I’m looking for something deer-resistant and relatively low-care that is already planned out for me. Does anyone have a source that they can recommend?
Thanks in advance!
Thanks for the prayers. We have a great south-facing window that would be good for sprouting seeds. Right now, it’s been commandeered by somebody else, but I’m working on a plan to evict them & take it over when it’s time to do some sprouting.
For Christmas, I gave away some Hyacinth Bean Vine seeds from our vines so there are some excited people hoping they’ll sprout. While looking for a commercial source for seeds, I found this place ... free USA shipping with a $6.00 order! She is very concerned with having happy customers ... will definitely try ordering some things from her (she does plants as well as seeds):
Onalee’s Seeds LLC
http://www.onalee.com/catalog.php/onaleeisrael/pg14253
I grew some of that last year. Had some success but the ears didn’t get too big
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