WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD VOLUME 50 DECEMBER 14, 2012

Free Republic | 12/14/2012 | 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 ... there is no telling where it will go and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us!

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[greeneyes]

Thanks. I just bought it to experiment LOL. Based on the space I have, I will have enough, but I’ll keep it in mind, just in case.

[greeneyes]

Keep your fingers crossed for cold weather????LOL.

[greeneyes]

Ditto on the herbs. It is so great to be able to walk to the window or out on the patio to get fresh herbs such as basil, rosemary, parsley, etc. to use when I am cooking. When I order seeds, I’ll be getting some more variety.

[who knows what evil?]

Anyone ordered yet? If so, what are you getting this year that’s new?

All seed ordered; all in house or en route. More tomatoes and peppers, as usual. Many internet seed sources running out of certain varieties already...I have already been burned on a couple of items that ran out in late November. Geez...

[left that other site]

Crumbled into a salad fresh off the shrub....Like dining in some fancy gourmet restaurant!

[Darth Reardon]

Neighbor had a big old tree branch taken down. It was hanging over into my yard and the tree rats would jump to and from it from my pool enclosure. Now I've got some more sun for the garden and my poor little runt apple tree will get some too.

Felt like winter arrived this week. Had to put on a sweatshirt yesterday. Doesn't look like we'll see 80 degrees this week.

Got a few cauliflower so far.

My broccoli never seems to get much bigger than snack size, but if I hold the camera really close...

Trying several varieties of tomato this year. Of course, I put them right next to each other so I think I'm seeing traits cross varieties (that or I mixed up the labels). The Amelias are the only ones that are producing a lot of decent sized tomatoes.

And then of course, there are bananas. Everywhere.

[Lera]

That pumpkin sounds very tenacious.

Tenacious is a good trait here ,sorta have to be to survive our climate, soil and bug infestations.

[tillacum]

Good Morning Eveyone..It’s cool this a.m. in central Texas. It’s that time of year, when I trim my trees and remove little ones coming up, where they don’t belong.

[Lera]

I believe I will be ordering some seed this weekend. I expect heavy pressure on seed houses this year and want an early order to get the varieties I want. Anyone ordered yet? If so, what are you getting this year that’s new?

Probably a good idea to order as quickly as possible. I was surprised that my order from Bakers came back with a wee bit of cash in an envelope as they had already sold out of one of the varieties I ordered .

New for me this year is Kiwano , Green Calaloo ,and Egyptian wheat (hoping my chickens love it ,if not the quail will )

[tillacum]

I just received 2 copies.

[greeneyes]

Love the pictures. We are supposed to see 61 degrees today. Got the predicted rain last night, so I am hoping to get some yard work done today.

[WorkingClassFilth]

Plant the Kiwano melon someplace where you don’t go often. That sucker is ALIVE and wants to prey on exposed skin! Seriously, the thing is from another world and the vines reach out 24”-36” with fangs! Even the melons have little needle sharp claws on each of the bumps. Weird, weird fruit.

Interesting, though.

[greeneyes]

LOL. So True. Especially this past summer in Missouri and Texas to name just 2 of the drought areas.

[tillacum]

True, I have an old, old box freezer, over 20 years, it frosts up, I defrost and it’s good for another year. I keep the veggies, frozen liquids, etc, in plastic “boxes”, for easy removal of whatever I need.

[greeneyes]

Interesting about the little ones coming up where they don’t belong. Hubby often likes to let them grow a little bigger to see what they are.

One time he let a little tree grow in my flower bed next to the back patio upper level. Just going to see what it was for sure and transplant it.

It was about 6 ft. tall when he finally cut it down cause it was too big to transplant, and he wanted the space for blue berry bushes.LOL.

[tillacum]

Great idea, tubebender. Thanks for a morning chuckle. I’ll put that tree in my garden shed.

[tillacum]

LOL. We had an old oak fall over, but it left a sucker, I let it grow, now the sucker is a beautiful full grown oak. The sprouts I go after are lugustrum.(sp) When we bought the house lugustrum was used as a “fence”, and they were FULL of berries. The birds love the berries and planted them everyhwere. I am allowing some to grow along the driveway, but am keeping them trimmed before the berries arrive.

[steerpike100]

I have 5 indoor cats that use the tree water as an extra source. I wouldn’t be able to use the recipe with bleach in it for fear my poor kitties would get sick.

[Lera]

Plant the Kiwano melon someplace where you don’t go often. That sucker is ALIVE and wants to prey on exposed skin! Seriously, the thing is from another world and the vines reach out 24”-36” with fangs! Even the melons have little needle sharp claws on each of the bumps. Weird, weird fruit. Interesting, though.


I have a spot out back for it where I am hoping it just goes crazy like the wild grapes do . It's out of the way so it can go as crazy as it wants and the thorns should help it survive the wild animals .

I have roughly 6 acres out back that are out of the way and really can't grow anything in a traditional way. Two years ago I piled up multiple huge compost piles around the area and they are now pretty much broken down . I am hoping to plant some of these around the bases of the piles and just let them go wild. If it fruits on its own I'll have something new to try , if not I only lost a few bucks for the seeds .

[WorkingClassFilth]

I live in zone 4b and they need every day to ripen - most don’t by the end of September. I start the seeds indoors in flats and transplant. Moral: they need a long growing season.

FWIW, this is one failing of Baker Creek. They do not provide adequate information on all their offerings. One variety gives days to maturity, another doesn’t. Same for descriptions. He’s young, though, and I think he’ll get better. He certainly is crazy about getting seeds into the country, too, and that’s a good thing.