Posted on 12/21/2012 1:22:01 PM PST by 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!
Gee Mr bender, at least you have rain. Imagine only 4 inches of precipitation in 2012. The nearby lake is dry.
John Deere has a couple good models if you have a tractor with a PTO.
If you're looking for something larger, I'd recommend a Vermeer, but they are pricey.
I would recommend staying away from the models you see at Lowes/Home Depot unless you are only going to use it for residential yardwork.
My parents and 4 of my siblings fled Texas when Grandma Bender predicted the drought of 012... way back in 1921
They taste alot like kale in my opinion except they are a little more refined.
Thank you for your input.
We have very heavy soil in a fairly new garden. Our older gardens we blended wood chips and sand with the soil and it really loosened it up and the root veggies grew much larger, the carrots grew straight, etc.
Wanna do the same with our newer gardens, and needs lots of chips.
Been looking at a Woodmaxx PTO driven with hydraulic feed, sells for about $2700.
We did price John Deere, they wanted $9400 for similar size. I really think they purposely overpriced it because they don’t want to fool with something that small when they can sell a combine for $500,000 and get 10 times the commission for the same amount of time and paperwork.
Man, your weather is tough. We may not be back to normal, but at least we’ve been having some pretty good rainfall since the summer ended.
Thanks for the link. I’ll be looking for them in our super market, or maybe just use polk instead, since we have so much growing wild around here.
Actually, 3 of them, Henry Fields, Gardens Alive and Jung. Sorta like gardener’s porn.
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Now, that there makes me smile, and feel bad at the same time. I ordered from all 3 of those last year, and I don’t have a catalog yet.
I did get a an RH Shumway’s which I have never seen nor ordered from before. Go figure.LOL.
Thanks for reading and participating. It is a great relaxation thread, and goes well with those who want to become more self-sufficient.
I don’t have a chipper, but I do have a log splitter. He’s about 5’11” and loves gravy.LOL.
You may get some additional advice as the days go by. While we post mostly on Friday, the thread does go on for the rest of the week.
I really hate to admit it, but I really haven’t had kale either. Greens are not exactly my forte. As a kid I liked the spinach they served at school.
I used to eat my spinach, the other kids, and the teacher’s spinach. My folks alway fixed spinach, mustard greens, and polk greens. Spinach was the only one I liked, and I must have gotten burned out, because now I don’t like it at all unless it’s on a salad with some Romaine and other mild lettuce.
Still, several people have sent me recipes, so I will eventually try them. If I can’t find any at our local stores, I will plant some in the 2013 gardens, so I can try the recipes.
Did Grandma Bender give you any stock market or horse racing hints???? ;)
Add some extra nitrogen fertilizer to the beds you till the wood chips in. They can deplete the soil of nitrogen as they decay.
No... but she told me to marry a local Indian whose Tribe would one day build a huge casino...
Merry Christmas to you!
My area of western PA got socked with snow which will stay on the ground thru Christmas. Which makes for a white Christmas but will mean a slow and inevitable demise for my kohl plants. Oh well.
I grow lettuce and other cool weather crops under snow when we have it. It’s pretty good insulation, once it gets a little depth.LOL.
LOL. Now that is just precious. Are you a dog whisperer, or did your wife help you get those dogs posed?
Haven’t made up my mind what kind of chipper to buy yet, the woodmaxx and wallenstein are at the top of the list.
I might make some tea and pour on the garden and green grass clippings for nitrogen. The recipe for tea is get some fresh cow manure, fill a burlap gunny sack with it. Fill a barrel with water, put the bag in it like you would a tea bag in a cup. It’s best if the barrel is dark or black. Let it set in the sun for no more than a week. Pull out the bag, let it drain into the barrel. Wallah! You have liquid fertilizer without the weeds found in the manure. The number of barrels you need depends on the garden size. If you let it set longer than a week all kinds of nasty bugs start growing in it. Don’t drink it, pour it on the garden - LOL!
Your mentioning nitrogen fertilizer reminds me of a true story. I used to buy granular nitrogen fertilizer from a local company, and typically dealt with the boss who was a nice guy. In about 2003 I went there for the seasons supply and a little blonde chic waited on me. The next day the boss called me and said she turned me in as a terrorist. He said that was a new rule since 911, to advise the FBI of anyone suspicious buying nitrogen fertilizer. A couple weeks later a FBI dude stopped by and interviewed me. I never got into any trouble as the agent had already did a thorough investigation on me, and the fertilizer manager vouched for me. Have not bought nitrogen since.
Growing lettuce under the snow - when and how do you plant the seeds? Thanks.
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