I took a run out to a neighborhood nursery south of us a couple of miles and bought 12 dozen (144) Sea Scape strawberries today and also took a couple photos of some Cyclamen and Primroses while I was there
Will be taking most plants out to green house next week. Hubby will start seeds pretty soon. I need to transplant aloe plant and figure out where to plant the potted turmeric plants.
The wheat is now 3" tall. Garlic has grown a little. Looking forward to spring/summer gardening. Hope you are all doing well. Have a great weekend. Prayers up for all. God Bless.
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putting the finishing touches on my upfitted Rain Gutter Grow hydroponic System from last year and plan to go full-bore with it this year. Google RGGS systems for more information...
Have a 4-10'x4"pipes in a 10'x10' structure, with each pipe having a single feed from their own rain-barrel system. Also have 3 - 8'x4' raised beds going, with an eye to increase them as well.
all in all, it's looking to be a great year!!!
I wish I had pictures of my friends Castor Bean plants. They looked like bamboo some 10 feet in height and beautiful brown red leaves. The leaves looked more like maple leaves, no curled edges as in many internet pictures of the plant. I have some of it’s seeds and will plant them in my big tree planter by the porch. I will have another go at planting some Pumpkin on a stick seeds. The ones I planted last year did not come up. I was told I should plant them with just a dusting of dirt on top. A friend has promised me some seeds from the ancient strain of Indian tobacco that he grows. JrFreeper is smiling right now.
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I took a run out to a neighborhood nursery south of us a couple of miles and bought 12 dozen (144) Sea Scape strawberries today and also took a couple photos of some Cyclamen and Primroses while I was there
Finally got dug out on Tuesday, and with sunny days in the 20s-40s, about 2/3 of our 15” from last weekend is gone...just in time for another 4-6” Sun-Mon.
Pretty much decided to stick to shorter season varieties this year, and hope that the weather cooperates, to keep them bearing into the Fall. Beats betting that we won’t get a killer before longer season types are mature. I don’t trust the sun.
Our Black Jersey Giants are 7 or 8 years old now, with a lot gray feathers on their heads & necks. We’re now down to 4; another one died this week. We’ve decided not to replace them; it’s getting harder every winter to get up the hill to feed & water them. I’ll miss the eggs, but not the work. MIGHT get a few Cornish-Cross for the freezer.
Got my seed inventory done this week. And I’m currently in negotiations to become a seed grower for Baker Creek!
The last week has been fairly warm here in my part of Virginia. Been downright enjoyable.
Not planting a full garden this year, with it just being me in the house I just don’t have the need for one.
I am however planning on raising some tomatoes, peppers and things in containers.
I have scrounged buckets and larger flower pots from friends and the dumpster.
My big question is how big a container is needed for a tomato plant?
The few web sites I have found concerning container gardening have been more for herbs and such with no info on larger plants.
Any help is appreciated.
We have a spell of cold weather where there is 5-8 inches of snow on Monday and temps not above freezing for about a week.
I’m going to try a vertical pallet garden this year - I saw a DIY one where they had cut 2-liter bottles in half, punched drainage holes as needed, nailed ‘em to the pallet, and filled them with potting soil. It seems like a great way to grow strawberries, and I have a sunny south-facing wall to mount them on. I’m also planning to run bird netting over a shower curtain rod and hang that above said pallets to keep the )(*&$^%)$W%# mockingbirds away. Fingers crossed...
O.K. picked up 5 new packages of seeds this past week. Mostly what I already have, some squash (barely produced last year but nice plants) some more radish and a couple of packages of watermelon.
I’m thinking of using the watermelon in a small area of the ground - maybe 2.5 x 6 feet. So not very big.
BUT my question is this:
I’ve been sowing egg shells, bits and pieces of vegetables, etc. into the thing trying to make natural fertilizer. I do have other stuff. The pepper plants in there last year didn’t have enough time and produced very little. BUT the leaves on the plants had a lot of holes.
Is it diseased from the tomato pieces, egg shells, etc. I haven’t put much into it for months to let it settle down. It’s been covered in snow and has been hit by rain.
I hoped to cover it with chicken wire in a cage of some sort to keep out rabbits and squirrels.
Some say you have to let it sit fo a year when you sow organic leftovrs in there (all vegetables, very little fruit and a fair amount of egg shells). It got the majority of stuff in it by October and November.
IS THIS going to be a reasonably-safe soil for growing watermelons? I’m hoping the thick skin helps ward off pests.
I grow most everything in buckets on the deck and the insects are almost never a problem. A few tomato cornworms last year (3-4).
Will it help if I soak with water prior to planting?
I sowed the egg shells because I got blossom end-rot on a few tomatoes a couple of years ago. I DO put the eggshells into my tomatoes and those have been just fine.
Thanks
Snow Saturday, 60° Sunday - another typical weather weekend here in Central Missouri.
It was too nasty for me to do anything outside on Saturday, so I finished up my tax returns and e-filed both state and fed.
Went fishing yesterday morning. No luck. It was too windy to spray orchard trees and too slimy on top to do anything else, so I spent the rest of the day relaxing.
It is the 21st of February, and here in southern New Hampshire it is 72 degrees. We have honey bees all over our bird feeders. Barb mixed up some sugar syrup and placed it near the feeders, but they are sticking to the seeds.
The good news is that observing our two hives, I see bees flying in and out, which indicates that thus far, our two colonies appear to have survived this winter. I hope it continues.