WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD FEBRUARY 17, 2017

freerepublic | 2/17/2017 | greeneyes

[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 won’t be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked.

It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table(recipes)preserving, good living - there is no telling where it will go and... that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us!

NOTE: This is a once a week ping list. We do post to the thread during the week. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest are welcomed, so feel free to post them at any time.

[Wneighbor]

Yeah, i keep expecting an arkancide report on braverman...

[tillacum]

I envy your and Mrs. Bender’s green thumb.

[goodnesswins]

Most luck I ever had with nasturtiums was when we lived in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. I have problems here in western Oregon...they don’t like full sun and seem to do best in Fall...must like cool nights, AFTER they start flowering.

[tubebender]

We have adapted to our unique weather environment by choosing plants that do well here plus we have shifted from a large vegetable garden to a larger mix of annual flowers. This area gets neither too hot nor too cold with winter rains but very little in the summer...

[WHATNEXT?]

Wow...that’s beautiful.

[txhurl]

If you’re thinking about tackling them - buy them now, they’re heck on wheels to germinate - find someone in your area and ask how they grew them, don’t go off the instructions on the label. This plant does *not* like full sun, as advertised.

[txhurl]

My neighbor who grew them unknowingly also has diverted her greywater to drain in her 1/2 sun hillside rock garden. When I scrambled down to inspect the plants, they were dangling by long roots that grew under large limestone rocks. I went and inspected the slope again today to see if any others had volunteered, not yet.

I also have a large rock garden, 1/2 shade, and another neighbor last year took out 2 large branches overhead, thinking he was being helpful - the rock garden ends at the road - and fried all the shade plants I’d coaxed to life in this desert climate of Centex.

Couldn’t dress him down, he honestly thought he was helping.

[WHATNEXT?]

Thanks for your advice. I start looking for the seeds.

[WHATNEXT?]

Aww...I see you are in Texas. Texas and Oregon are very different. But, I will take your suggestions.

[MightyMama]

Planting peas tomorrow. Glee! And I got my bareroot trees shipped in and planted per Tilted Irish Kilt’s instructions, so I am totally blaming him/her if they die.

We have a defunct swimming pool about fifty feet from the garden, and I am eyeballing it with thoughts of creating a sunken greenhouse for tropical plants in 2018.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

MightyMama :" We have a defunct swimming pool about fifty feet from the garden, and I am eyeballing it with thoughts of creating a sunken greenhouse for tropical plants in 2018."

I am assuming that the defunct pool is subterranian.
If so, I would cover it with 6 mil plastic over a conventional truss system ( ie: "MM)that is sligthly elevated for rainwater drainoff to determine if glassing later is worth it,
also, with a truss framing, plastic could be removed and replaced with "shade cloth" for summer heat.
Also, a truss 'tent-like' structure at surface level would provide ease of installing ventilation at either end since heat rises to the highest point
If subterranian, you should have access to a drain pump to avoid accidental excess moisture that otherwise could lead to 'dampening-off', mildew, and fungus control issues.
Sorry to hear that I wasn't there at the time of the planting to supervise or participate - P.S.: that voids the "T I K warranty"

[MightyMama]

Yeah, it’s a concrete pool that’s about 50 years old, 6 feet at the deep end. Been reading stuff by a guy named David the Good (bonus: he’s published by a house that really, really ticks off liberals, so I giggle every time I buy one of his books) who says that a body of water in the greenhouse helps immensely with heat regulation. My dad lives with us and is pushing for aquaponics, so I’m tinkering with the notion of a fish pond in the 4-foot section and a greenhouse in the 6-foot.

In 2018.

Not this year.

Probably.

I think.

[tob2]

We have been enjoying spring like weather Have transplanted pansies and sowed more lettuce and arugula seeds. Snapdragons and dianthus have started to bud, which look like they will be blooming soon. The daffies planted around the holiday time bloomed yesterday! Need to spray because wasps love to build hives right by my front door. Hope all is well.

[Wneighbor]

My sweetie took me to a Mother Earth News preparedness fair this weekend. Had a ball :) Came home with some fresh seed native to our area, some composted bat poop and he got himself some reading material. Saw lots of presentations. Was informed while we were there that he’s decided he would be okay with me getting some bees! No bees yet, but that’s the best news I got of the weekend :) also came home with a Berkey and an infrared foot gadget. The foot gadget has already given me 1 night of neuropathy relief :)

Still, I want me bees soon! Been reading, studying and visiting whenever possible with local beekeepers. Now, I can go for it. They’re gonna love it here!

[Augie]

Crazy warm weather we've been having here in Central Missouri. The peach trees are looking like they could start popping buds any day now. I'm afraid we're going to see the trees jump the gun and have their leaves frozen off in April.

We spent a good bit of Saturday cleaning up winter mess in the yard. Finished pruning orchard trees. Added a couple loader buckets full of firewood to the pile. Turned the compost heap and made arrangements with currently unemployed nephew to start hauling in stall waste from the horse college.

Went to the farm and cut some 3"-5" diameter hedge poles to use for legs on the park benches that I'm building for Mrs. Augie. I put her to work with the belt sander smoothing the slab to get it ready for stain. She got it slicked up real nice and stained the top side yesterday.

The market garden got an application of lime on Friday, and I got that tilled in Saturday morning. I still need to clean up the tomato fence, but aside from that it's ready for planting time to arrive.

Nephew and his GF helped a ton in the kitchen garden. We pulled up the west fence and moved it to the other end of the potting shed. Tilled up the sod and buried it with compost about 6" thick. Fences are cleaned up. I used some of the oak lumber that we sawed last weekend to build a new box for the cold frame. The other one I built had some issues so I decided to just replace it. It will be nice to have it inside the garden fence so I can open it up without the chickens tearing up my green salad.

[greeneyes]

Thanks for the pics. We rented a trailer space that had a peach tree for many years. Almost every spring, there would be some nice days and it would have buds etc. Then the frost would get them. So we only managed to have a harvest about once every 4 years.

[greeneyes]

What’s the name of that foot thingy?

[tubebender]

In spite of the heavy rains we are still getting (and another week to go) things are blooming. Took this photo at our Church Saturday afternoon. All our rivers are at flood stage and Katie Bar the Door by the end of the week...

[greeneyes]

Very pretty picture - thanks. I hope you are not close to any dams!

[tubebender]

The city sits well above any rivers but some parts of town are in the Tsunami Zone along the waterfront...