Posted on 01/25/2013 11:53:34 AM 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!
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I will add you to the ping list. I don’t have much luck with squash, pumpkins, or watermelons.
I hope that one of our other gardeners will be able to help you out.
Of course, single guys can do that. ;)
/johnny
No flowers here, except for Russian Sunflowers, and the old flowers that were here 50 years ago, and come back every year. If I can't eat it, I don't plant it. Except for tobacco. ;)
/johnny
Hi johnny. Good to see you. We’re pretty busy with our community garden. We’ve had it plowed, found some interesting stuff during the planting. On old, rusted, bent horseshoe, some plate shards, thick glass from soemthing, other stuff used with horses. We disked a small area and one of the fellows planted 3 rows each of mustard greens and collards. We’ve put 4 raised gardens in the mid-back for the youngsters, then we’ll design the rest. I want both, raised gardens and in ground gardens, even acouple for wheel chair participants.
We also get large swings in temperature. Just recently we had 50 and 60 degree weather bookended by below freezing temperatures.
I think that the bugs here have been roundly zapped this winter.LOL.
We cover our blueberries and strawberries etc. too. However, the larger fruit trees often have a problem and get zapped during a spring cold front. Years ago we had a big peach tree, and we would only get a good batch once every 4 years or so.
I am not sure whether the dwarf trees we planted are supposed to start fruiting this year or next. I’ll have to check with Hubby-they are his babies.
I grow my indoor plants on the southwest side of my office which is in the basement. They are in front of the sliding glass doors that leads to one of our patios.
I would like to build the greenhouse so that it is attached to the house, and I can just leave the door open and walk in and out during the day.
We also have windows facing southwest upstairs in the kitchen and the utility rooms. These I would like to replace with greenhouse windows and fill them with herbs, green onions, chives, etc.
Married people can be flexible too. Now that the kids have moved out we have lots of room to be flexible.LOL.
We’re thinking of putting dwarf fruit trees in the front yard as part of a edible landscaping strategy. Dwarf because they won’t get massive and becuase they’ll be easier to cover in the event of an unseasonable frost. Right now I’m leaning to the disease resistant dwarf apple trees from Jungs. Possibly some dwarf low chill hour cherries from Bay Laurel as well. We’ll have to see how our financial situation works itself out next month. Definitely in the list are a couple semi dwarf ‘Warren’ pear trees. Those are supposedly one of the best dessert pears and also one of the most disease resistant varieties too.
I’ll have to investigate my strawberry bed after the past 2 days of upper 60’s/low 70’s. It’s time to grub it out and move the runners into more appropriate places.
Any particular varieties of herbs you’re starting? I’ve got some ‘plain’ rosemary seeds to start but i’ve seen some of the ‘foxtail’ plants in various places online. Those look wonderful. Any experience with the gourmet varieties?
We’ve got a mole family that’s been doing our tilling for us. I’m agnostic right now because they eat SVB grubs. We’ll see how I feel if they get in my strawberry bed.
The south end of the kitchen is almost like a greenhouse, with all the windows facing every direction except north.
/johnny
/johnny
We were putting the nut trees in the front yard, but couldn’t ever get any of them to grow. We have tried all sorts of flowers and shrubs over the years too. Nothing ever surivives.
I am thinking we should try some Paw Paws. They are native to Missouri, and I thought they might actually survive. I have never tasted the fruit, though. They say it tastes like a banana. I’d kinda like to try the fruit and make sure I like it first though.
That’s good to know. They’re kinda spendy too. Dependable is important.
I think pawpaws are the one i’ve heard smells like dead animals when it blooms. You might verify that because I can’t remember for certain. There was one tree we considered planting in our back yard but nixed because of smell. No sense making enemies of the neighbors.
I GOTS to have those, and I prefer to have them grown in my own garden.
Some things, like peppercorns, and cinnamon, I obviously can't grow here, but the others, I put a lot of effort into having fresh on the property.
/johnny
That matches my ‘to do’ list fairly accurately. Except for the lemon grass. I’ve seen seeds and plants for that. Any preference? Does it take For. Ever. to grow from seeds or is it just easier to buy the plant?
WoW, A flash from the past Diana! Good to see you posting on my favorite thread.
I regret that I did not design a bigger window in the kitchen when I was working on the house plans, but at least I did put 5 feet of window in the utility room.
We did make the patio footing such that we could add on a room or greenhouse to the back, so we are seriously considering it among other things such as a cistern or root cellar/storage shed etc.
Any suggestions on using lemon juice? I picked about 40 lemons this year to try dehydrating lemon zest (I don't think it's going to work out). Left a couple hundred on the tree. I've still got probably a gallon of juice frozen from last year.
I haven't figured out how to take close up pictures with my camera, but here's a shot of a lemon tree beginning to bloom to brighten up the thread.
My fall Amelia tomatoes continue to produce.
And some lettuce.
Yikes! I’ll have to check that. I only want good smells. Well, I will accept the smell of manure in the spring.LOL
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