Posted on 03/27/2015 1:25:20 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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Wood spliting day today.
Nice breeze with some sunshine.
I have 1/3 of what I’ll need for 2016.
Imho, you’re moving in the right direction. I hear you about pain meds, but at the same time, chronic pain can be debilitating. I wish you the best, and hope that you will keep us posted. :)
“Perhaps it is a medicinal plant used by Native Americans
and accompanied them on the “Trail of Tears “ since they valued it .”
That was a scenario I thought would be a possibility too!
OTOH, chronic pain that goes away after taking OTC is not as big a deal as many people my age have, so I still say I’m lucky and pretty healthy especially considering my family history.
So everything’s good. Will let you know if the mystery is solved or not.
Thanks for the encouragement and tips, as always!
LOL! pretty sad at the levels of ignorance out there, huh?
Good. :)
Indeed. The lack of that distinctive smell alone would be a clue, I would think.
Finally I have a few moments to share at least a first installment on the bean plant info. For many of you this is probably old news, but I know that some of it for me is quite new and will be very helpful!
BEANS: A Planting Guide
In general, beans are very sensitive to frost.
Most beans grow best in air temperatures of 60-70 degrees F and soil temperatures of at least 55 degrees F. Soggy cold soil will cause the seeds to rot.
Beans need a sunny, well-drained area rich in organic matter.
Plant your beans a week after the date of the last expected frost.
Always make a hole in the soil about 3-4 inches deep, add some good compost, and plant the seeds about 1 inch deep to help the seedlings emerge.
BUSH BEANS - plant 8-10 bush bean plants per person in a family. (2 seeds in one hole.)
POLE BEANS - Plant seeds in 3-4 feet of area per person in family. (4-6 seeds per feet.) Pole beans produce about 3 times the yield of Bush Beans.
Beans are self-pollinating, so you can grow and cultivate side by side. They germinate in about 8-12 days. [Texokie note: there is a big “HOWEVER” attached to this about growing them side by side. If you want to save your seeds, they will cross pollinate! So for seed savers, if you want to keep your lines true, don’t have more than one kind going at a time, according to our presenter.]
Light mulch when they are about 1-2” tall, and add more mulch as they grow.
Our presenter stated that she puts her seeds in luke warm water (130-140 degrees F) for about 10 to 15 minutes before planting to soften the shells and to remove pathogens and unwanted particles.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
POLE BEANS OR BUSH BEANS
POLE
*Grow tall and need a pole for support
*Produce 3 times in less space
*Need more time to mature - about 65-75 days
*Plant will keep giving produce for a long time as you harvest your beans
*Best for fresh everyday use.
BUSH
*Grow only about 2-3 feet tall and does not need support
*Needs more space
*Mature quickly in about 50-60 days
*Plant produces most of its beans at the same time
*Great for freezing and canning
[Note from our presenter: For pole beans, place them at least 3 feet from any fences! Other wise they will go there and you will potentially have a mess!]
End of installment one on beans!
/johnny
Thank you!!!!
I have one rosemary shrub, and 3 thyme plants in there too. All volunteer. I made rows, but I won't plant until tomorrow. I used 110 gallons of rain water and a 1/10th horsepower pump to water that little garden. Now I can clean up those barrels. That's a chore I actually had scheduled. I'm glad I could do that.
It's 15 paces by 2 paces, so I'm figuring about 270 square feet under cultivation with maybe another 200 I can put in cultivation. It's already heavily mulched with wood chips.
I find my math to be a little more challenging now, so generally I don't math. ;)
/johnny
See , you have been blessed with 'freebies'; that was no accident (unless Marcella planted some during her last visit).
We all profit from your continued participation in all the forums
Personally, I believe they may have been volunteers, but who is to question Divine Providence.
Continue to fight the good fight; you are continually in my prayers nightly !
Math ,.. it is greatly overrated
If I can't use my fingers ,..I am screwed !
I am mathmaticly incompetant, even with a computer or a calculator .
I use my fingers , and still get it wrong !
Sandbagging again: You do math. I see good spatial math in your artwork.
Great info there. In my sq. foot garden, I plant 9 Roma Italian Bush Beans per sq. foot. Only one bean per hole - sometimes I start them indoors. These are for canning as they are the favorites of one of my granddaughters. I also do a fall planting in late July or so.
Hubby plants a type of bush bean that is great for green beans to eat fresh, freeze, or can, and when we have all we want of the green beans, he lets them mature and we have dried beans too that taste similar to a pinto, but are smaller and milder.
You are most welcome! Do that! :-D
She didn’t go into great depth with this, just sort of indicated what her own experience had been, as she is much like many of us. Her saved seeds did not give her very good plants!
She started from scratch just a few years ago, and has learned by trial and error. She took the master gardener classes and I understand she was last year’s Master Gardener of the Year. She really inspires me!
I thought of you when she went into this, and I figured there was a LOT more to it, and I think now she did say, something about not planting more than about three varieties if you want to save seed. She may have been thinking of what you describe.
You are very welcome!
That sounds wonderful.
I was puzzled about planting more than one seed in a hole in some instances. I had not heard of that, and she didn’t really address that detail in her talk.
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