Weekly Gardening Thread
Posted on 11/06/2009 4:00:43 AM PST by Red_Devil 232
Good morning to all of you gardeners. I hope all of you are doing well this first week in November. This past week has been beautiful here in Miss. Highs in the mid 70’s, clear and dry. Great weather to clean up the yard and add to my compost pile but I just could not get motivated to do it.
The indexing/archiving of this past year’s posts is still on going. Please let me know if there was a particular post that you found helpful or just interested you.
Weekly Gardening Thread
I hope all of you will stop by.
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Not much gardening going on around here. Mid twenties this morning.
So far so good with my new porch/greenhouse. My houseplants are still out there and doing fine. I was thinking it might be good for 3 seasons but if I put a heat source out there I think I can keep plants out there all winter.
shivering gardener here ... everything put to sleep for the winter ... except this ole fatboy .. however, I may crawl back under the covers and start my hibernation. yawn....
All the beds are cleand and clear, and the veggie plots and annual plots are over seeded with buckwheat.
I do have several rosebushes and shrubs that need to be put in holes. Lots of time for that yet
nap time zzzzzzzzzzzz
Picked a couple of tomatoes Thursday. Made a GREAT grilled cheese and tomato sandwich.
Waiting for my nicotiana sylvestris to set seed, so I can snag it for next year. Been warm enough during the day that she’s still trying to poop out a few blooms!
This is the porch/greenhouse you built and posted pictures of? Sometimes I have a hard time remembering who has done what. LOL
I’m just dropping by to let you know I often lurk. Thanks for the thread.
About 74 today expected in S. Utah, but soon we begin our descent into the 60’s and 50’s of winter. Leaves are starting to drop but still lot of green around here.
My broccoli is doing well in the greenhouse. Heads are about 3" across on the first planting. Second planting is up about 12" high or so. Ditto on the cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. Lettuce has been coming in for about a month now. Carrots are doing well, too. I planted some Walla Walla onions from seed and they are all up now. I had one volunteer cantaloupe come up in one of the greenhouse beds. Not sure how it got in there, but I have one cantaloupe that is about the size of a volley ball. Should be ready to pick shortly if I can keep my labs from stealing it.
I will be in the garden today. Lettuces, radishes and greens are doing well. We had our first salad last week and will have many more until bedtime for the garden later this month.
Winter rye will be our green manure for the winter.
Great! Glad you stop in from time to time.
Outdoor containers have been covered for the winter, but still harvesting/freezing/processing hot peppers from indoor plants. Loads of tasty fatallis, red savina habaneros, trinidad scorpions, and others designed to torture the palate. Keeps the swine flu at bay, though... :-)
Yeah. I heavily insulated. The doors are all double pane low E glass.
Sounds like any one of those would keep anything and anyone at bay!
Hi Red Devil. Pole beans and peas are blooming and producing. Cucumbers are too. Put onions in the ground last month and they all took fine. Two types of tomatoes are blooming now that the weather is cooler. Looking to can the beans and peas. Will start some greens when the cucumbers are finished. How is it out in AK and how’s the wife and hounds?
They’re pretty nasty, but they are very good for your health. NO colds or flu at Casa Wkwe for years and years...capsacin very good for cardiovascular system, as well. Keeps your blood pressure down...an hour of screaming pain still beats open heart surgery. :-)
Morning all....This week was my birthday and have a days worth of labor coming from son....I’m up..He’s hybernating!
When I went to pick up a coupleof loads of kindling, discovered the saw mill has old saw dust mixed with horse or cow maneur....GOt one load hope to get another today.
Cut seven trees down Tuesday, will get them hauled out of the woods cut and split today.
Still have a bit of work to do on the greenhouse, will clear summer garden off today and mulch for the compost pile....
Let’s see what else is on the list....I’m sure I’ll think of a few more things before the day is over......
Got the more efficient baseboard heaters in on birthday, but had to rewire the house for the tankless waterheater. Wires run, waiting for breakers we had to order. It will be finished on Tuesday.
He lives in a town/city?? called Malang.
He emails me all the time. Y’all may enjoy his last email
It’s the last of October and time to turn the clocks back or FALL BACK as they say. Here it is just a matter of SIT STILL since Indonesia does not have daylight saving time as they already have enough daylight.
Ratih did find some pumpkins so I cut the jack o’ lanterns on Wednesday. As a matter of fact, we ended up with 8 as we found 4 at a fruit market and the regular vegetable vendor called with 4 more the next day. They are all small but were good to carve. I noticed the maids took one to cook so we will see how that turns out.
Last Sunday morning Ratih and I went to the hospital to visit Robert Plumhof, American living here in Malang. Robert sat and talked with us for a while and we left when the doctor came in. Robert, 74 years old, served 22 years with the US Navy, retired, moved to live in Malang and adopted an Indonesian girl as family. Elizabeth is now 4. Monday we got a call that Robert had passed away. Back to the hospital to help Yuli, his wife, with the arrangements. After paying the bill in cash (only acceptable method of payment) Yuli took Robert home in an ambulance which was better than the other option (personal car or taxi). As Yuli and friends dressed Robert for burial, they stopped when they got to the necktie so I helped out with that. It’s just not one of the things that I do every day so I caught myself talking to Robert as I got the tie on. The coffin arrived, two saw horses were placed in the living room and the coffin was put there. The family and friends placed Robert in the coffin and that was the signal I suppose for the neighbors to come in and greet Yuli. It was about 7PM and there were about 100 people there. With a list of family members to notify, Ratih and I left. Yuli called later and told us that the funeral would be at 10 Tuesday morning. After a short service at the home, there was a procession to the cemetery (cars this time but I have been in a procession that is on foot following a 2-wheel cart with the deceased). It was very hot at the cemetery but the people crowded under the awning for the grave and the service was progressing when Yuli stopped the preacher and asked to speak with me. I stepped up to the grave to find out what was the issue. Yuli wanted a US flag presented to her on Robert’s behalf. I had thought about this and had arranged for a US flag to be there but I thought that we would present the flag to Yuli at a later date. No problem. I stepped away, found another American, folded the flag and presented it to Yuli. The service resumed. Thursday there was a prayer service at Yuli’s. Since Robert and Yuli belonged to a Javanese church, the service was in Javanese. The songs’ melodies were familiar but the lyrics were not so I just hummed along.
Last night Ratih wanted dinner with family so we went to the club house and had dinner and karaoke. It was a new system that rated each performance with a letter grade, A, B, C, D or E. Yes, I tried one song and got a “D” and that was that.
Some things do translate but it takes a while to figure it out. Many Southern families have a “bubba.” One of Dad’s brothers was “Bubba” but he was a Urologist so maybe Dr. Bubba. Here each family has a “adik” which translates as “little brother” so Mika is called “adik” most of the time. It’s “adik” to them but “bubba” to me.
This afternoon, Ratih and I leave for Rocky Face, GA so we will be out of touch for the next 40 hours.
Hi all! I have been lurking on your thread - I don’t have room for a vegetable garden but have some flowers and containers in front of my little shotgun house here in St. Louis. My Mandevilla is still going strong and blooming like crazy even in this cool weather. Almost everything else is hibernating. I have a few Astilbe I used as container plants that I want to transfer to the ground this weekend and add some Mums - yes, I know I’m late to the game on that one :) I have company coming next weekend so I’m trying to make the entry look nice.
See you all around....
Please add me to the gardening ping list! Thank you...
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Thanks for the post and come on back when ever you feel like it!
Reading above, I am astonished to hear of 74 degree weather in Utah. Did I read that correctly?
I have a question for everyone. Since I can't seem to get my husband to help me build a compost corral right now, what would you think of my piling leaves and grass clipings into the boxes I have ready for next year's square foot garden and letting them cook right in place over the winter? The boxes are empty and will need to be filled with a mix of 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 compost, and 1/3 peat moss next spring to start my garden. Why couldn't I just store lalyers of leaves and grass directly in them for now and let them start to decompose and add the rest of the stuff in the Spring? If I do this, should I add commercial "compost starter" too?
Comments are appreciated.
The rest of the bags I put in the strawberry bed to preserve a path until I can add mulch next spring.
I still have green onions, dill, radishes not quite ready to pull and Mesclun lettuce about to pick if they do not get frozen before they are ready.
The garden is just beginning to dry out enough I can walk in it and not sink to my ankles in mud to pull out the tomato stakes, rest of the corn stalks and green bean vines. So I still have some cleaning out to do.
Happy Birthday to you! Mine was the 4th.
Glad you've been lurking. Look forward to hearing from you again.
Please add me to your ping list. I recently put in a 20x60 garden. Everything seems to be growing well, hope the nice weather lasts thru Dec here in S.E. Texas. Thanks.
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Thanks for the welcome - I will probably try some veggies in containers next year - still getting settled into my mini house and yard. I had 2 acres of lawn before and I’m enjoying the downsizing :)
You can just layer the ingredients in piles and let them compose plus it is a lot easier to turn the open piles then in bins. My mother composted in trenches for years I would use your empty boxes this winter for a neater look..
Temperatures here are still in the 60s. All the cold weather crops I planted are thriving and have had several servings of Swiss Chard, Chinese Cabbage, Kale, Arugula. Spinach bolted as it has been too warm. A few weeks ago transplanted some mini-rose bushes. They are thriving and flowering in bright indirect sunlight! A neighbor gave me some yellow pear tomatoes. It’s the first time I’ve eaten them and plan on trying to grow some next year.
By the way, could someone please tell me how to post pictures here in Freep? Thanks.
I picked fresh cherry tomatoes off the plant we have on our deck this morning. That is correct, Central Kentucky and November 6th and FRESH tomatoes! Life is grand when you garden.
Are you close to the Freeport gold mine? I have been wanting to climb a mountain right next to the mine. The mountain is called Irian Jaya or also Carstensz Pyramid. I was actually in Jakarta, I think it was in 2001, trying to arrange with the government to get a permit for that climb, but got caught up in the overthrow of the president and headed over to Bali until things cooled off.
From what I have heard Irian Jaya is the name of a province of Indonesia on the island of New Guinea.
"Papua" is the official Indonesian and internationally recognised name for the province. ... Since its annexation in 1969, it became known as "West Irian" or "Irian Barat" until 1973, and thereafter renamed "Irian Jaya" (roughly translated, "Glorious Irian") by the Suharto administration. This was the official name until "Papua" was adopted in 2002." - Wikipedia
According to Wikipedia, the mountain known as the Carstensz Pyramid is also referred to as "Puncak Jaya".
Sorry, you are correct. Irian Jaya is the name of the Indonesian half of Papua. I intended to write Puncak Jaya. The traditional dances on Bali were very interesting.
It is a nice warm day, 59F right now. That 46 inches of snow we got last week has been melting quickly.
I've never been to Freeport. But that mountain is actually Puncak Jaya. Carstensz is the old Dutch name for the mountain. That name has fallen out of use completely. This entire province was Irian Jaya, however, early in this decade the government tried to appease the freedom movement and renamed the province Papua.
I'm sorry it took so long to get back to you. But, I was asleep. It's now 6:30 am and I'm just getting in gear.
Tube -- are you saying put the compost in, or out, of my boxes? I was hoping to utilyze the boxes to keep the leaves from blowing away, as I live on top of a windy hill. Normally I don't even have an accumulation of leaves because they all blow over to my neighbors'. No raking here!
That description of the funeral rings a lot of bells. I have to so many and I've learned from experience to plan on waiting. There is a lot of ceremony involved. Things happen on their own schedule which means no rush. Having said that, when things do happen, it happens quickly so you have to be prepared. I take different shoes so my feet can go from comfortable walking shoes to nice church shoes and back again. I always take a fan, one of those folding hand-held things, and I always take water. Food is always served after the service. When someone dies, if the person was a Christian, on that very day, there is a service at the house. It is held in front of the house. An awning with chairs are set out. This often spills into the street and therefore the road is blocked. The next day is a day for visitation and preparation. Sometimes the funeral is that day, often it is held a day later. Again, a service at the house. If the person held a church office, another service will be in the church. Then, a graveside service will be held. There will be a lot of hymn singing, preaching and passing the offering. I've learned to take along many small bills.
On the third day after the death, there is another service, and another on the 40th day and another service on the year anniversary. It is quite a production.
There are two words for siblings here. Your older siblings are kakak and your younger siblings are adik. There can be more than one of in your family relationship. It depends on where you are in the family position. However, the oldest is always the kakak and the youngest is always the adik. There are other words for the oldest and youngest as well, sulung and bungsu.
I do not envy your friend his 40 hour travel. I've made the hop across the pond many times. There is no help for it but to take the "blue pill" and try to sleep every chance you get. Your friend is closer to the entry ports than I am. Our travel to the states takes 50 hours. I've learned where to break the travel and get a horizontal sleep and a shower along the way. It is pure misery if I don't.
Long response to your post. I'll try to be more concise in the future.
No problem enjoyed it!
I was just commenting that you can just use a pile but in your case You should use your boxes...
My friend worked for R J Reynolds Tobacco (I think that is the Co.) he was the Big Boss for a factory there in Java.
My garden update from the shores of Humboldt Bay. We have had nice mild weather with plenty of sunshine the past week and we continued cleanup and compost building plus I found the first Bolete mushrooms (Good Eats) under the Spruce trees across the street from our mailbox. I have grown Garlic for 15 years and this is the first time I came remember that almost all of it is showing through the rice hull mulch with the Fireball and Chinese Pink up about 3 to 4 inches. I planted all of it on 10/14/09
I still have to get my chipper/shredder down to my sons shop so they can replace the bearings on the shaft that supports the flails/chipper. We had a half a inch of rain last night but the soil is still workable and the weeds love the moisture >:(
We’re in for a nice weekend; it’s perfect weather to get the garden put away, the hoses rolled up, leaves out of the gutters and raked, etc.
Of course, I’ll be at work and none of that will get done, LOL!
I did get fall bulbs planted on Thursday. Put lots of daffodils under my apple trees and by newly planted shrubs for a shot of color in the spring. I have a lot of bulbs all over, so it’s hard to remember where I can put a few more.
I planted three bulb pans with tulips, crocus and mini-daffs; they’re in the fridge on the porch chilling until the dead of winter when I’ll bring them out for a thrill.
I potted up my Amaryllis so they’ll be on schedule to bloom around Christmastime. My Christmas Castus have already come and gone...but I’m ordering more next week for work, so I can add a new color to my collection. (I want RED!!)
The big pots beside the door are emptied; I’ll fill them with dogwood, curly willow and pine cuttings for Christmas decor. And I might just set up the Christmas Tree this year; I’m in a mood for it for some reason. Haven’t had one since the boys moved out and Husband re-arranged the living room so I may just go with a table-top sized cutting from a fresh one from work. The cats will LOVE that, LOL!
Off to work. Enjoy your day, Everyone! :)
P.S. to Gabz: The Cranberry wine is awesome! I started a jug of cherry yesterday, and I think I’ll use the juice from my Red Lake Currants from this season (boiled down a bit) and try to make Red Currant wine. *SPLURP* How about Hot Pepper Wine? LOL!
THanks for the clarification. That’s what I thought, and I think I shall go do that right now. They might not get enough air circulation, but I can always make up for that next spring.
Wish you were here...
Things are slowing down as there were only 10 small crookneck squash and a quick pick of a basket of fresh Raspberries from the garden plus 6 more Bolete mushrooms from across the street...
Thanks, but no thanks! I am SICK TO DEATH of my garden and everyone elses garden right now, LOL!
Be careful what you wish for! Your dreams just might come true...to have a farm and manage a Garden Center. I always wanted it all...just not all at ONCE!
(But it’s nice to know you’re thinkin’ of me! *SMILE* )
I’m getting a lasagna together tonight for supper tomorrow night. It’ll be veggie, with most of the veggies coming from my garden. :)
We just got the doe back from the butcher yesterday, too. I know; we usually do it ourselves; just pressed for time and it’s too warm to hang the thing for any length of time. Anyhow, 40 lbs. of burger, some nice tenderloins and a lot of chops. About 20 lbs. sliced real nice and thin for some jerky Husband will cure in the smoker.
Life is good. :)
Just catching up....Did ten ricks of wood yesterday....cut, split, stacked....New meaning for the word tired.....
The fourth....You, me, Lady Laura, JR.....Looks like we’re in good company. (Only three ladies in our church have B=days in November, all on the fourth..... mmm?
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