[JustaDumbBlonde]

Ping to the Weekly Gardening Thread

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[BenLurkin]

Is there a smiple and easy way to check soil pH?

[Ellendra]

Had to put off ordering my seeds and trees until my tax refund gets here. My budget suddenly got tighter, and it was either wait 3 weeks, or cut out 90% of my order, so I'm waiting. The refund should be here soon, though.

My order this year is going to be a combination of market crops and prepper crops. Things like apples, cucumbers, kiwi, and peppers for market, and things like witch hazel, hulless oats, and several varieties of beans for stocking up. I might not plant them all this year, in fact I don't have room yet for everything on the prepping side of the list, but I want to get the trees planted and have the seeds on hand just in case. I've already got a big box full of seeds, including several I saved from last year. There was something satisfying about watching my piles of squash and beans grow last fall.

There's a shop that buys produce from local gardeners to resell, so I won't have to worry about actually running a produce stand. Last year, they were surprisingly short on cucumbers and zucchini.

[afraidfortherepublic]

I have a different problem — well question — this year. I changed a deteriorating front door and 2 windows on my house in December and February. I’m in a quandary on what to plant in my urns on the front steps.

I think I want something RED to match the front door in a mixed urn. The terrace faces south, is surrounded in brick, and gets quite hot in the summer.It’s like an oven. There are mixed tulips and daffodils in the front gardens with bronze chrysanthemums that come alive in the fall. I can plant just about anything in there (in front of the boxwood) in the summer.

But what to put in the urns? I used to emphasize pink and purple. But, what should I do now that I have a red door? I’ll post a couple of pictures as soon as I get them on Flickr.

I want something that grows lush and trails. I’ll mix several plants, if necessary.

[rightly_dividing]

Good afternoon JustaDumbBlonde and all.

I just read the weekly garden column by Bill Finch in my hometown newspaper and he did a pretty good column on tomatos growing in the hot humid southern gulf coast. It was particularly good with discussion of tomato history, varieties and his SuperSoil, a cross between Lasagna gardening and composting.

Link: http://www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2012/03/gardeners_its_time_to_plant_to.html