Posted on 04/25/2014 12:24:10 PM PDT 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.
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We got almost an inch of rain last night. We are supposed to get several days of rain next week. Rain barrels are full, but the swimming pool is not yet.
I have some ripe cherry tomatoes to eat from Mr. Indoor tomato, so salad tonight or tomorrow. I moved the peas and lettuce outdoors for transplant tonight or tomorrow. Lemon tree blooms are smelling good, and lemons are of various sizes all still green.
Cut some rye grass and used it for mulch along with some straw. Potatoes are about 1 inch above the straw mulch. Corn and second set of peas are soaking and will be started indoors tonight.
Hope all is well with you and your gardens. Have a great weekend. God Bless.
Pinging the list.
The tomatoes are hardened and I just checked the 10 day forecast. They are going in today.
Duly did the research, Internet sites, called Shaw's Garden in StL, and so forth.
Then, I got smart. Asked a local pro gardener about the details of doing it right...and he was puzzled. Took out his garden shears, cut off two 7-inch branches, and -- with NO other prep of any type -- pushed them down into some nice loose fertilised soil where I wanted them. Took all of 60 seconds.
His parting advice? Pona mucha agua cada dia hasta las raices comenzan.
"Water them very well every day until the roots start growing."
Well, that's simple enough. Assuming he's right and the cuttings do prosper (and he has the very GREENEST of thumbs, btw), here's the question:
Why the devil does everyone I consulted have a list of 10 or so materials and 20 or so steps to go through just to make a healthy cutting? I don't get it.
LOL. Ya got me. Some people are just verbose?LOL
Have you ever really looked at a mature Anise plant? In most big towns, Anise plants and seedlings are as ubiquitous as dandelions, and often just as lowly valued. If you want a mild licorice flavor or aroma, you can easily get that from anise. There are many Asian recipes that rely heavily on flavors like anise or clove. I used to smoke those french clove cigarettes in colored paper, until the fumes overwhelmed the room I was in.
Yesterday I was in my car sitting at a red light, and to my right, by the freeway curb was a majestic growth of this plant, easily over 6ft high, and still thriving, still reaching up, up, up to confront the sun. Look at the top edges of the leaves or fronds, see how soft, wet and green they are? The Anise foilage has a slight resemblance to the asperagus fern, another plant that once established, can be low maintenance and highly pleasing to see in it’s natural state. One might say the roadside Anise, ignored in it’s soft fragrant, flowing perfection, is the dirty pigeon of the succulent freeway greens. The Iceplant is a half step higher in status, more homogenized, and domesticated to suit the needs of people.
All Right. You know you’ve arrived when it’s time to transplant the maters.
No I have not. I do have some in my kitchen spice drawer, but don’t have many recipes that call for it. It sounds like a really nice plant.
I just might have to try planting a few on the outer edges of our little acre.
rightly, I searched for any sign of a pepper today on all those pepper plants, and nothing yet.
sockmonkey, There are five tiny Lemon Balm plants tall enough for the leaves to be completely above the surface of the soil, so they are going to grow.
There is another 4 inch tall National Pickling cucumber with a blossom - that is two that tall with blossoms. The two foot tall Homemade Pickles cucumber has blossoms on it. That plant is really a grower. I had put a cane in the pot and plant latched onto it on its way up.
I get 6 to 8 red strawberries a day off the plants.
I really like the homemade pickle cukes. You can pick them quite small or let them get to the Klausen Dill size.
Speaking of pickles, I opened some pickled zukes last night. I hadn't tried them yet. They were a sweet and spicy recipe. Now they were really good, and crisp too.
I hope I can find the recipe and the notes I made last year. I only canned one batch of 7 pints, and didn't really expect to like them. Figured they'd be mushy.
Forgot big news: There are three tiny bits of green coming up in the Cilantro pot outside. I hope more seeds germinate, but at least there are three Cilantro plants trying to grow from seed. I sprayed water from a bottle over and around them to keep moisture there. Hope to see them taller tomorrow and maybe more of them.
To address your question; Why such complex responses for a basic planting task? I think some enjoy the mystique of gardening, the fact that no matter how much experience one has, you can be contradicted and dramatically humbled by the course of natural events.
Gardening is part science/ botany, part methodical thinking, and part an Artistic Expression, that says; Hells Bells, throw the bucket of seeds up in the air, where it lands, I don’t even care. Let it grow, let it grow!”
Last answer, many gardeners want to be known as The Plant Expert Who KNOWS How to Make Things Happen, so they tend to ‘embroider’ their routine a little bit, hoping to make it so impossible for you, that almost no one could reproduce their result, this would ‘prove’ to that Plant Expert that they were right all along, it is this person alone who has the GREEN THUMB!! (them, not you-yet).
I’m still 2 weeks away from planting mine here onthe CT shoreline.
Garden is all tilled, sheetrock scraps and all.
Spring is rampaging full force here now with daffodils blooming all over the place, a few early tulips, and forsythia ready to pop! I need to get my mower ready to go to get a head start on the trimming as soon as the winter downfall is gathered.
Northern Wisconsin still has plenty of ice on Lake Superior and the northern parts of Lake Michigan. In fact, there was an article today complaining that the barges couldn’t get through and the manufacturers were short of steel.
This afternoon will see temps of 62 degrees, but tomorrow will drop to the 40s again with rain predicted for Sunday night. Too early to plant, but a good time to get the winter downfall cleared so that we’re ready when the temps are more predictable.
My grandmother could make a cutting of anything she touched grow like crazy. I don’t think she ever BOUGHT a plant — she just gave homes to snippings from her neighbors’ yards.
They used to grow as ‘volunteers’ out by my garbage barrels in CA. Very pretty plant.
Greetings from coastal Virginia. Winter appears to have finally left us, but the wind has not. I swear the wind has not stopped since Thanksgiving.
It was supposed to me 75 today, with rain and T-storms coming in this evening and winds 10-20 - well it never got above 65 and the wind has not dropped below 25 all day and is about 29 right now. Tonight’s rain is a good thing, as the winds and low humidity have everything dry.
;^)
You are at the time when it is really easy to be impatient, and have lots of spring fever. It used to catch me down here, and I’d wind up putting stuff out too soon.
My hyacinths have bloomed and are kinda dying down. Still have some tulips and daffodils, but those are beginning to get spent too.
So far the only thing that is out and into the ground is the potatoes, garlic, chives, and lavender. Everything else is either in starter cups or planting pots so they can be taken in or out as needed, but it shouldn’t be long now.
We too are knee deep in clean up after winter storms.
Wind can really hurt the trees and vegetation making it so dry. We are going to take advantage of our recent rains by getting some trash burned.
Most of our trash is recycled or composted, and the rest is for the burn pile.
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