Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 15, April 13, 2012

[JustaDumbBlonde]

Happy Friday the 13th, and good morning fellow gardeners and FRiends! I hope that you are enjoying weather as beautiful as what we are experiencing here in NE Louisiana. Nights and mornings are cool and breezy, and the days very warm.

I've planted 1.6 acres of bi-color sweet corn. We checked the seed the next day and it had already sprouted, and was pegged the following day. Perfect conditions!

Looking forward to hearing what's going on in your neck o' the woods.

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!

[JustaDumbBlonde]

I ran in the house for a second to post to you, because I've been forgetting every day. I would absolutely love to have some of the onions you were writing about on last week's thread! Let me know what you think postage would be and I'll send it to you, or I can send you a variety of seeds in return. I have all kinds of cowpeas that are short season and should grow up there, some Serendipity sweet corn, a dozen different cucumbers and dozens of tomatoes. Lots of different squashes.

Now, back to the yard!

[opbuzz]

Yum, a pot of rice would go good with that!

[rockrr]

That’s great! I’m planting Asparagus for the first time and noticed that all the resources I accessed said that I shouldn’t expect to harvest for at least the third year.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Reasonably good soil will produce a fair crop the second year. The third year, you’ll be gifting some out...

[Red_Devil 232]

Good afternoon JADB and all gardeners. The tomato seeds I started in Mississippi did not survive our move to Texas:( They got set aside and neglected and I couldn't find the seeds I had saved from my Marion and Arkansas Traveler tomatoes from last years garden. My two favorite varieties. I went to Lowe's a week or so ago to buy some wood for my raised beds and they had both varieties in stock as transplants I bought four of each plus another heirloom called "Homestead". They are ready to go into the soil and be on their own. I will have some Homegrown Tomatoes this summer!

[tubebender]

I don’t know wether to laugh or cry but I see your husband DID NOT trade in his diesel guzzling Excursion. My grandson set up my Primos wildlife camera and I got 956 photos of every rodent in the county plus 14 of me and 3 of our dog...

[SupplySider]

I'm growing Patty Pan squash this year... Question: What should I do with them... (Is food?)

I like them best prepared simply.

A quick dice, steam, and toss with butter and salt!

[evets]

Thanks! Pattypan is a good source of magnesium, niacin, and vitamins A and C.

My neighbor calls them 'flying saucer' squash. TGIF!

[rightly_dividing]

I'm glad that you are still going to have tomatos this year.

We have lots of squash blooms this year and our peppers look good, in contrast to last year when nothing but tomatos were happy.

[JRandomFreeper]

My grandson set up my Primos wildlife camera and I got 956 photos of every rodent in the county plus 14 of me and 3 of our dog...

LOL! I went out to my brother's hunting area with him because he needed me to dispatch and prep some piglets that he had trapped. WTH... It's the country, we've been riding a while after a stop at the Dairy Queen. When we stop in the field near the trap, I discreetly move over to.... leak check a tire... Brother forwarded me a pic of the event that his hunting buddy had captured on the wildlife cam.

All I can say is that it was chilly that day.

/johnny

[Arrowhead1952]

Been trying to get to work in the garden today, but have other pressing issues. So far, everything is doing great. I am close to having to tie the tomato stalks to the rebar I used when I planted. Lots of flowers and the same with the cucumbers.

[JRandomFreeper]

Good recipe. I don't use reduced fat anything but to each their own. I'm eating for the fats and calories required to sustain human life. And the better they taste, the better I eat. And that recipe is good. I don't care who you are. I might roast the corn kernels in the oven to a brownish black, but that's just my take on it.

You can bet I copied, pasted, and printed it.

/johnny

[WestwardHo]

Two years ago I planted a dwarf peach tree. This year it is covered with baby peaches. Do I need to thin some of them out, or will they thin themselves?
Thank you for help!

[JRandomFreeper]

We had a roasted fall vegetable recipe at one of the fine dining restaurants that I worked at that included the flesh of older, harder, summer squash, baked whole, and the innards cubed to be recooked with the potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, parsnips, etc.....

As long as it isn't chewy or fiberous when it gets to the customer, they eat it up.

/johnny

[ConorMacNessa]

Good afternoon - I just noticed (yesterday evening) my first casualty of the season. My French Tarragon did not make it through the mildest winter I can recall in many years. C'est la vie!



Nos genuflectitur ad non princeps sed Princeps Pacem!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

[Augie]

We’ve gotten some badly needed rain here in Central Missouri today. Light frost at my place the last two nights. I haven’t had a chance to check the peach trees for freeze damage. They are absolutely loaded with little baby peaches. If the frost didn’t wipe em out I’m going to have to thin the heck out of them before they get much bigger. They’re about the size of a dime right now and there are literally hundreds of them on every tree.

[who knows what evil?]

Wow...looking at several days of mid and upper 70’s here in New Sodom...this will give the tomatoes and peppers a shot in the arm after a period of more traditional April gloom.

[Darth Reardon]

Over the winter I grew lettuce and such which required a lot of watering. On my lot, watering the garden pretty much means watering the lawn, which is only allowed twice a week. And to be honest, I didn't do a very good job keeping things wet.

This week I completed the new sprinkler project, burying PVC running to the raised beds and into the corners of the yard where I have bananas, where it converts to 1/2" poly tubing. So far I just have a few drippers installed for the bananas, but now that it's all set up and connected with it's own zone to the automated sprinkler system it's simple to add drippers wherever I need to water.

Just in time for the rainy season.

I'll probably run some more PVC for another "irrigation" project once I finish the testing phase. This picture shows the fence the squirrels use to get from my neighbor's tree (aka "home") to MY tomatoes.

(It's a motion sensitive sprinkler with a three second burst).

[who knows what evil?]

My kitchen is plant free for the first time in 2 months (except in the refrigerator, and I'm not sure that's a plant or some other lifeform).

LOL! My wife HATES this time of year, because I have tomato flats everywhere...kitchen, extra bedroom, top of the washer and dryer, etc. She gets over it when it is time to plant.

You think she'd be happy with a man who doesn't have any particular interest in sports...more time for her. :-)

[who knows what evil?]

Bee keeping sounds interesting, but not in my current location. On the other hand, an empty hive with a sign warning of ‘SWARMING BEES...DANGER!’ might keep the neighborhood kids away; not to mention that b**** of a neighbor who tweaks me by walking her pit bulls down the street. Hmmm...