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Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 21 (Keywords) May 25, 2012
May 25, 2012 | JustaDumbBlonde

Posted on 05/25/2012 8:00:24 AM PDT by JustaDumbBlonde

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Huge thanks to Red Devil_232 for posting the thread last week!!! It is absolutely crazy around the farm, with everybody going in different directions at the same time and trying to stay coordinated with one another.

The wheat harvest is well underway, and the yields have been above our wildest dreams. The field corn has tasseled and is pollinating nicely. Several hundred acres of cotton have been planted and it is now being fertilized, sprayed for weeds, sprayed for bugs, etc. Still have about 900 acres of cotton left to plant behind the wheat.

My sweet corn patches are looking good, but have not tassled yet. Night before last we had the first sweet corn of the year from a neighbor's patch. Yum!!!

To everyone that posted photos on last week's thread, NautiNurse comes to mind, they were gorgeous! Such talented gardeners in this group. I'm looking forward to coming in this evening and reading your comments and looking at your photos.

Take care all of my FRiends and fellow gardeners ...

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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 ... there is no telling where it will go and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us!


TOPICS: Agriculture; Food; Gardening; Hobbies
KEYWORDS: garden; gardening
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Previous weeks' threads:

Weekly Gardening Thread (Catalog Fever) Vol. 1 Jan 6, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (Seeds) Vol. 2, January 13, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 3, January 20, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (U.S. Hardiness Zones) Supplemental Vol. 1
Weekly Gardening Thread (Soil Types) Vol. 4, January 27, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (Vacation) Vol. 5, February 03, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (Vacation) Vol. 6, February 10, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (Vacation?) Vol. 7, February 17, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (Home Sweet Home) Vol. 8, February 24, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (Soil Structure Part 1) Vol. 9, March 2, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (Transplanting Tomatoes) Vol. 10, March 9, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (Useful Links) Vol. 11, March 16, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread -- Vol. 12, March 23, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread -- Vol. 13, March 31, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (Happy Easter!) Vol. 14, April 6, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 15, April 13, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 16, April 20, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 17, April 27, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 18, May 4, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 19 (Getting Projects Done) May 11, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (Harvesting Wheat) Vol. 20, May 18, 2012

1 posted on 05/25/2012 8:00:35 AM PDT by JustaDumbBlonde
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To: Diana in Wisconsin; gardengirl; girlangler; SunkenCiv; HungarianGypsy; Gabz; billhilly; Alkhin; ...
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Ping to the Weekly Gardening Thread Member List

Please let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from the ping list.

2 posted on 05/25/2012 8:02:14 AM PDT by JustaDumbBlonde (Don't wish doom on your enemies ... plan it.)
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Detailed State Plant Hardiness Zone Maps

Alabama District of Columbia
Kentucky Montana Ohio Texas ( East )
Alaska Florida Louisiana Nebraska Oklahoma Texas ( West )
Arizona Georgia Maine Nevada Oregon Utah
Arkansas
Hawaii Maryland New Hampshire Pennsylvania Vermont
California ( Northern )
Idaho Massachusetts New Jersey Puerto Rico Virginia
California ( Southern ) Illinois Michigan New Mexico Rhode Island Washington
Colorado Indiana Minnesota New York South Carolina
West Virginia
Connecticut Iowa Mississippi North Carolina South Dakota Wisconsin
Delaware Kansas Missouri North Dakota Tennessee Wyoming

International Plant Hardiness Zone Maps
Australia
Canada
China
Europe
Japan

3 posted on 05/25/2012 8:02:14 AM PDT by JustaDumbBlonde (Don't wish doom on your enemies ... plan it.)
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To: JustaDumbBlonde

First in???


4 posted on 05/25/2012 8:05:01 AM PDT by tubebender
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To: tubebender; JustaDumbBlonde

Second?

I’m afraid that I’ll be taking a hiatus from gardening this year. I should have planted when we had our first warm weather, because it has stayed nice here ever since.

My knee is better, but my mom is not doing well in CA and I’m going out there to see what I can do. If I plant now, there will be nobody to care for the plants while I’m gone. By the time I get back, all the good plants will be gone from the garden centers, so I’ll just have to get along with what grows naturally.


5 posted on 05/25/2012 8:08:50 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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To: JustaDumbBlonde

Bump for later.

/johnny


6 posted on 05/25/2012 8:14:54 AM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: tubebender
I was not motivated to start my garden this year partly to take away the food source from the bugs that winter over, and partly because we have our house up for sale. Just this morning I have the itch to plant something. Usually I plant from seed exclusively, but this year I may try something from the garden center at Lowes or Home Depot. Any fun suggestions?
7 posted on 05/25/2012 8:16:11 AM PDT by shatcher
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To: JustaDumbBlonde

and please folks, I don’t want to hear your corn is tasseling or your tomatoes are ripe!!! We just transplanted our corn plants that I have to start in the greenhouse in order to beat our cool weather and have a crop. Strawberries are starting to ripen and the Blueberry and Raspberry plants are looking good.


8 posted on 05/25/2012 8:18:18 AM PDT by tubebender
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To: JustaDumbBlonde
In my 'invisible' deck tomato-growing project - invisible as you can't see it from your house as the foliage is dangling down to the ground - I planted some Italian Pink Oxheart tomatoes, and the leaves are now bigger than my hand. Only about ten blossoms so far.

It shares a 20gal planter with flowers and herbs, and the plant is becoming so massive I have to water it twice a day.

Note: this pic is off the web, kid and tomato not mine:

I severely under-containered this plant. It should have been given its own 55gal whiskey barrel with a lot of nylon knee-highs tethering the base branches to the balusters of the deck.

It is an ancient heirloom, but if anybody is thinking about it you need to plan for a LOT of space for this guy.

9 posted on 05/25/2012 8:26:04 AM PDT by txhurl (AB would vote for Scott Walker. Come on, Ron, give us the chance to do so.)
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To: tubebender
Last Sunday, I had fresh jalapenos out of my garden in my breakfast burrito. ;)

Lots of blooms on the tomato plants, squash doing well, cantaloupe doing well, and I may have won the bug war on the tobacco plants.

/johnny

10 posted on 05/25/2012 8:30:09 AM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: txhurl

That or start with the Anna Russian pink oxheart heirloom. Much smaller fruit and I’m guessing a much smaller plant.

And oxhearts come in red, pink, yellow-red zebra stripe, no blue yet.


11 posted on 05/25/2012 8:33:46 AM PDT by txhurl (AB would vote for Scott Walker. Come on, Ron, give us the chance to do so.)
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To: JustaDumbBlonde

Another hot week in Central Texas. The corn is making and there’s jalapeno, banana and bell peppers. The tomatoes and green beans are coming back after the last storm. Next, year I’m not planting as many lettuces as I’m giving bags out to everyone. Noticed one evening that the squash was looking droopy and the next morning there were squash bugs everywhere. Pinched the ones I could catch. I only had some old Sevin dust so went with that. One step forward and two back.

That was also the evening I noticed the neighbor had cut the stems of my grape vines on my fence that separates us. This is their vacation house so they don’t live here. Yes, he can legally do what he wants with whatever’s on his side of my fence but he could have asked. I saw him down at the bottom with loppers but I ignored him so now I’m going to have to go down there and see what he was doing. This winder, I had cleaned the fences of everything but the grapes so they’d be abundant for jelly making. Now, no grape jelly for the neighbor. No nothing from the garden for the neighbor. So, now I have to clean the dead grape vines off the fence. I’m not a happy camper. Last year, they wanted to put a vine with thorns on it (they have little grandkids and dogs) and I told them not on my fence but they were more than welcome to ask the neighbors on their other side about it. So guess this is pay back. Never mind that we have run people off several times from their place because it’s obviously a vacation home and never mind that we’re here to notify them when there’s a weather situation. Last straw and no jelly for them - ever, grrrr.


12 posted on 05/25/2012 8:34:16 AM PDT by bgill
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To: JustaDumbBlonde
In after the ping this week.

We have okry sprouts coming up in the new okry garden area!

We also have first fruits of 2012. A wierd looking squash and a sweet banana pepper, along with one grape tomato that ripened overnight.

Tomatos are growing larger every day. It's getting tempting to pick them for fried green tomatos!

First fruits 2012

13 posted on 05/25/2012 8:41:38 AM PDT by rightly_dividing (This space available--inquire within)
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To: bgill

Yeah, my neighbors ****, too. On one side I have a master gardener from Viet Nam who lops my Crepes and Ligustrum from over the fence so her morning sun is uninterrupted. She really knows her stuff. I leave for work at 5:30am and on the trail up to my truck I breathe in the night-blooming Jasmine she trains on her side of the fence.... other-worldly.

Then my other neighbors weed-whacked three grapes and two rose plantings, but they need to die for somehow importing the Yellow Thistle to my lot, which is Satan’s flower. It went crazy and is everywhere. Never seen this plant in my life but now I have to clip each plant and bag it to avoid seed distribution.

So, it’s not just you. Chin up, girl.


14 posted on 05/25/2012 8:52:43 AM PDT by txhurl (AB would vote for Scott Walker. Come on, Ron, give us the chance to do so.)
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To: txhurl

We should be neighbors. I bet we could agree on what to grow on our fences.


15 posted on 05/25/2012 9:06:00 AM PDT by bgill
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To: JustaDumbBlonde

I need a rose expert. My Joseph’s Coat rose has reverted to being a wild rose red. Does anyone know what would make that happen?


16 posted on 05/25/2012 9:33:35 AM PDT by WestwardHo
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To: bgill

My heartfelt solutions for dealing with your neighbor would get me thrown off Free Republic forever....
But, I’ll bet if you did give them a sample of your grape jelly it would be your best revenge and solution! They would know what they were missing!


17 posted on 05/25/2012 9:38:02 AM PDT by WestwardHo
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To: WestwardHo

Would that be “sweet” revenge? LOL.


18 posted on 05/25/2012 9:46:14 AM PDT by bgill
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To: WestwardHo
I need a rose expert. My Joseph’s Coat rose has reverted to being a wild rose red. Does anyone know what would make that happen?

If this was a grafted plant, it means that the top plant died and the rootstock is now growing canes.
19 posted on 05/25/2012 10:01:49 AM PDT by Nepeta
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To: bgill
So, anyway. Here's how you grow tomatoes (or any vegetable that enjoys sprawling) 10 feet from God's green earth.

This is one of the landings on the back deck.

Here you see both landings with tomatoes dangling over. They get the benefits of breeze, no bugs except flying ones to pollinate them - including dragonflies! - and 8 hours of Western sun. All of these varieties being Indeterminate, they will grow to the ground and spread out if I can water them enough.

Only hazard is the mosquitoes I'm growing at ground level with all the water dripping thru the deck.

20 posted on 05/25/2012 10:02:41 AM PDT by txhurl (AB would vote for Scott Walker.)
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