[greeneyes]

Hope all you gardeners are having a great day. The sun shine is bright here in Missouri. We had some really nice 60 and 70 degree days this past week, followed by chilly 30s and 40s, but the trend is warming for the weekend. Right now is a nippy 49 degrees.

Hope all is well with everyone. Have a good weekend. God Bless.

I got a little more outdoor cleanup done during the nice days. I had to weed a couple of raised beds (unusual). Some sort of invasive wild mint. I am wondering if it was the straw I used as mulch last year, but can't remember which beds I used it on.

I was also able to harvest some spinach to use this week for addition to my salads. Giant winter spinach, and Bloomsdale. Since Bloomsdale did just as well if not better than the Giant, I will be just using it going forward.

Bloomsdale is reputed to be one of the best for warm weather too. Last year I tested in by planting it in a raised bed shaded in the afternoon by a tree, and it did just fine. Bottom line it will be my staple for year round fresh spinach.

[greeneyes]

The last paragraph didn’t print. Hope you are all doing well. Have a good weekend. God Bless.

Pinging the List.

[JRandomFreeper]

Rain coming down here, so no gardening this weekend. Only thing I really want to do right now is check on and work the asparagus plot. Asparagus is always my early veggie, and it should be time soon. Mmmm.

One more week of radiation treatment is over. One more week to go. Be glad when it's done and I can quit the drive.

/johnny

[Qiviut]

Saw this & thought it might be of interest .... as for me, I’m still going to be doing tomatoes the “old fashioned” way this year.

Grafted Vegetables – The Future of Vegetable Gardening?

https://viettes.wordpress.com/2015/03/06/grafted-vegetables-the-future-of-vegetable-gardening/

[mrsmith]

zone 6
All my onion seedlings died in a week after I took the plastic cover off the starter tray because they needed the room.
Last week I tilled a section of the garden and planted seeds. Hope I get some onions.
Also planted ‘Mammoth Melting Sugar’ peas and some leftover seeds.
Daffodils are blooming here.

[goodwithagun]

My gardening has now branched out (pun intended) to carnivorous plants. My six year old has developed quite the interest in them. Tomorrow we transplant two Venus fly traps into a terrarium, and plants seeds in it for more. Other carnivorous seeds will go into the fridge for stratification and will be added to the terrarium in six weeks. My son is pretty excited and keeps talking about seed stratification, which is interesting since I thing marijuana seeds need the same treatment. Oh well, here’s hoping CPS doesn’t get called lol!

[Psalm 73]

I can see my vegetable gardens!
For the first time in months, I can look out into my backyard and (almost) see my gardens - hope springs eternal!

[EternalVigilance]

Cleaning up the garden, getting ready for the new season.

I’m trying to buy three empty double city lots on a tax sale so I can expand my gardens quite a bit.

Last year we helped on the new community mass garden. It was a great success, and we hope to make it even better in 2015. The proceeds from the sale of sweet corn and some other produce all goes to help the local food pantry, which needs the help, it seems, more than ever. Lots of folks in need.

I put up a new website just for the effort yesterday, which you can see here:

http://lohrvillemassgardens.weebly.com/

[samiam1972]

I want so much to get my garden started but my husband and the big kids are out of town this weekend. I’m 33 weeks pregnant and not moving/bending well anymore. Also, I lost two more chickens last night. At this rate we’ll have to build Fort Knox and start all over. They weren’t laying well anymore anyway. Old girls. So many obstacles in my way this year! However, I have purchased seeds and my dad is offering to help a bit this spring so I’m not giving up yet!! I have my starter tray ready to go. It’s just going to have to wait one more week.

[Isabel2010]

Happy first day of Spring to everyone from No. California!!
Just planted my corn seeds. And a variety of squash.
Will be using lots of mulch due to the drought we are having.
Trying to preserve water!

[tubebender]

Not much to report from the Far Left Coast today. Did get 14 new Dahlias planted Wednesday & Thursday for Lady Bender. Grandson is coming over tomorrow to start my weed-eater so I can cut down the Vetch cover corp Monday or Tuesday. He will also put Black Gold potting soil in the 10 large planters in the new green house. May rain tomorrow and Sunday~

[KosmicKitty]

The 18-20” of snow we’ve had on the ground for weeks in Connecticut finally started to melt this week and I got a brief look at my garden beds peeking out. But the snow is again falling here for the start of Spring.

Got my tomatoes started inside yesterday anyway. Eventually it will stop snowing. PLanting my eggplant today. Grew a Cambodian eggplant last year - best tasting eggplant ever. Going to put more of that in this year. Got to get my ground cherries going to. Took them forever to germinate last year. Then my youngest ate most of them :-)

[TEXOKIE]

Hi Everyone!

Checking in with a report.

The notebook given to us is MASSIVE. I’ve just finished reading the first chapter and some of the 2nd chapter.

The first chapter covered the origins and uses of the Master Gardener title.

The 2nd chapter goes into plant structures and general botany. VERY detailed!

We were given two handouts which I thought I would dip into which would probably be of most interest to our thread participants: The first is called “Growing Tomatoes” and the second is called “Beans: Planting, Growing and Harvesting Bean Plants”

So here goes!....excerpts from:

GROWING TOMATOES:
This information was generated by Darrell Berry, a Master Gardener who moved to Oklahoma from Indiana 3 years ago, and notes that there may be some differences in soil and climate.

Tips to help gardeners from now til frost:
1. A PLACE IN THE SUN. Tomatoes Need Sun Light
If a tomato plant gets 8-12 hours a day of full sun, expect plenty of fruit. Choose a bright airy spot, and leave room between plants for air to circulate.

Rotate even a little - Alternate your tomato bed between even just two spots and you can diminish risk of soilborne diseases such as bacterial spot and early blight.

2. PASS UP OVERGROWN TRANSPLANTS
When buying tomato seedlings, beware of lush green starts with poor root systems. They will languish for weeks before growing

3. BURY THE STEMS
Plant your tomato seedlings up to the first true leaves. New roots will quickly sprout on the stems. More roots mean more fruits.

4. WATER DEEPLY BUT INFREQUENTLY
Soak your tomato bed once a week or every five days at the height of summer. Water directly on the soil, not on the leaves.

5. PINCH THE SUCKERS
Prune off these non-fruiting branches. This directs the tomato plant’s energy into growing bigger, better fruit.

6. STAKE THEM HIGH
Use 6-foot stakes for indeterminate varieties like the “Brandywine” tomato. Put the stakes in when transplanting to avoid damaging roots.

Add Compost and Trim.
While the 1st fruit is ripening, encourage new growth and continued fruit set by scratching compost around the stem, and trim some of the upper leaves.

Build a Home for roots.
The soil must be rich in organic matter. Before buying a single tomato plant, consider adding about a two inch layer of compost or organic humus. Work this into the soil along with a bit of agricultural lime. The lime adds calcium and brings the pH up close to 6.5 to 6.8, a range that is ideal for tomatoes. (Many soils in Tulsa are highly acidic and need liming) Tomatoes need some nitrogen, but plenty of phosphorus and potassium. Try mixing a slow-release all purpose vegetable fertilizer into the soil to keep fertility levels even for several months. If plants slow down in growth in mid-summer and foliage is pale, then add a bit of nitrogen.

To get the amount of fertilizer just right, consider bringing a soil sample to your county extension agent’s office for testing. They will mail back a personally prescribed fertilization plan for your garden. [texokie note: check with your own county agent; their policies may be different in your state and county. Here, there is a very nominal fee for the testing]

7. PLANT AGAIN
three weeks after you plant tomatoes in your garden, put in another set so all of your harvest doesn’t come at once.

8. VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE
Buy several varieties. 6-10 plants are plenty for a family of 4 for fresh eating. Plant more if you want to save your harvest.

There are two major varieties: Determinate and Indeterminate
a) Determinate - Will ripen all at once and are great if we are making salsa, canning, freezing or drying. “Roma” and “Celebrity” are determinate.
b) Indeterminate - will continue to bear fruit until frost if we can keep the foliage healthy. “Sun Gold” a yellow cherry tomato, will bear all season. Most of the popular medium to large tomatoes, such as “Jet Star,” “Better Boy,” “Beefsteak,” and “Super Fantastic” are indeterminate.

If a variety is called “compact” or “stakeless” then it is usually determinate.

9.HEIRLOOMS
Many heirloom varieties are not disease resistant, but have unique flavors. They bear fewer tomatoes, and are later to bear fruit, but many gardeners feel it is worth the wait to have a few bites of these tasty tomatoes.

10.DON’T PUSH THE SEASON
After buying or raising tomato seedlings, don’t push the season. Take the soil’s temperature before planting. Better yet, check local weather station web sites. They usually provide the soil temperature. SOIL NEEDS TO BE ABOVE 60 DEGREES FARENHEIT before planting tomatoes. Air temperatures may be balmy, but it’s the soil that drives the system. If roots are cold, transplants will just sit there and not grow.

Soil CAN be prewarmed before planting by covering soil with clear plastic for a few days before planting, or by loosening soil and hilling it up a bit. Another tip is to plant early tomatoes on a south-facing slope. We can gain two weeks of growth by growing on soil that tilts a bit toward the sun. “Wall of Water” plant protectores are a garden invention worth trying. They are cylinders of plastic chambers that we fill with water and place over the plant to form a tipi shape. The water collects heat evergy from the sun during the day, radiating it back slowly to the plant at night. They provide great frost protection for early season plantings.

After planting tomatoes, MULCH with straw, hay, or a thin layer of dry grass clippings to prevent mud from splashing on leaves. THIS IS IMPORTANT! Our soil contains millions of microbes. Some are helpful to plants, others cause disease. Many disease-causing tomato funal sportes diseases reside in our soil. When it rains and mud splashes onto the leaves, the fungus can start growing and invading the tissue. Septoria leaf spot and alternaria (also known as early blight) are two common tomato leaf spot diseases in the Tulsa area. Some tomato varieties have a letter “A” after the variety name. This means it is RESISTANT TO ALTERNARIA.

12. MULCH! Keep plants mulched, evenly watered and they’ll be happy. a good mulch is wheat straw. It is slightly reflective, will keep soil cooler and can be piled thickly to insulate the roots without cutting off the air supply.

[ApplegateRanch]

Weather’s nice enough, for few days, that I sat our new (bought last Fall) 5-6’ Winesap apple tree outside yesterday to get some sun.

SURPRISE! It has open blossoms on it. It will soon go into the ground; shooting for Monday.

[Ellendra]

I managed to get out to my land Saturday. One end of the landscaping fabric is loose, but other than that everything got through the winter intact. Including my garlic! I’ve never planted garlic in the fall before, so I was happy to see little garlic sprouts poking their noses out.

I also talked with a farming neighbor who had been using part of my land for a hayfield since before I bought it. He’s agreed to till up the part he’d been using, and I’m having a surveyor come out and mark the boundaries. That gives me almost 2 acres to play with! About half of it will be medicinal herbs, and I also have some cover crops to fill in the spaces until the trees and bushes fill out.

Still have a freezer full of squash. I have been ordered not to grow any this year, although I’m still growing my pumpkin that I’m breeding.

[Augie]

Well I'm late to the party as usual. I'd sat down with the laptop computer Saturday evening and was getting ready to post when I got paged for a problem at work. By the time that was fixed it was almost 11:00pm and I was out of gas.

Anyway, the weather in Central Missouri was absolutely beautiful and I put it to full advantage. Tilled about a third of the garden and got the rows prepped for setting seed taters.

Got the corner trim on the potting shed installed and painted, and replaced the section of garden fence that was taken down to accommodate the work. The hens have been having a big time scratching out there but the fun for them is over now.

Repairs to the north side opposite the window are progressing nicely.

Finished the repair of damage I did to Nanner's loader bucket.

Brought home a new batch of peeps.

[Augie]

Some pics from Eric.

[dware]

Late to the party again! I’m pretty excited this week, too. After reading all about how hard it is to grow hops from seed, and spending the last 3 months with a bunch of seeds in the fridge, I’m happy to report that cold stratification worked! I’ve got 8 new hops plants! Tobacco is also going strong, along with numerous varieties of tomato.

[ApplegateRanch]

After blowing the tiller engine last Fall, the corn patch and the dug, hummocky potato patch never got tilled. Today, that changed: got the correctly shaped tuit & cooperative weather, and spent an hour and a half in the garden.

Potato patch is smooth, and tilled full 8” depth, and the corn stalks are finally tilled in, and the patch cross tilled, as well.

Rhubarb’s first red nodules are beginning to show at the surface, and the horseradish is sprouting. All of the various perennial onions are doing fine, as are the ‘runts’ I wintered over instead of harvesting last Fall.

The Winesap I sat outside surprised me again: the “blossoms” have turned green. They were light-deprived leaf buds that were opening.

[ExpatGator]

Been busy here by Lake Stockton in SWMO. Got a couple types lettuce, some cauliflower, broccoli and spinach in the raised tire beds. The raised box beds have onions and garlic up. One of the mint plants survived the Winter and is coming to life as well.
Have some store bought starter plants in the plastic wrapped shelves on the porch. Spices and herbs mostly. Did get a couple of starter trays planted a few days ago. Mixed the potting mix myself for the first time. Hope it works.
My youngest son (he’s 22) is doing the muscle work for me as we put in a 30’ long Hugelkultur bed. Gonna see how that goes for us.
Our apple, peach and almond trees that were planted last year are all coming in well, as are all but 1 of my wife’s roses. Hope to find a nice yellow knockout to replace it for her.
We’re getting plenty of rain and warmth so things look good right now. Although, this is SWMO, so that could change in an hour.....