WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD VOLUME 1, JANUARY 3,2014

Free Republic | Jan 3, 2014 | greeneyes

[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!

NOTE: This is a once a week ping list. We do post to the thread during the week. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest are welcomed, so feel free to post them at any time.

[Sarajevo]

Yep. The kohlrabi tops can be prepared like any other type of greens. They have a taste like collards.

Try spraying Garret Juice on your baby choi. It may help. I had to spray the citrus trees I put in the garage because they were full of spider mites.

[SisterK]

That is a fine looking feral tobacco plant. At the rate it is growing, you will be cropping tobacco by March.

[Marcella]

I don't think I told you I ordered Stevia seed from Burpee and it should be here within the next couple of days. I'll check mailbox today around 5 pm and see if those came today. I'm wondering what the instructions will be and how long it will take to grow the plant.

[JRandomFreeper]

And no tobacco worms in the kitchen to bother it. Funny, but I check it twice a day, anyway. Habit, I suppose. ;)

/johnny

[JRandomFreeper]

That's some good-looking crops. Your hoophouse seems to be working well.

/johnny

[Sarajevo]

It actually works out lot better than the greenhouse which gets way too hot in the summer. It’s also easier to cover the plants with plastic than to try to keep them warm in greenhouse when we have a cold snap.

[JRandomFreeper]

I may look into using the technique next fall. I'm satisfied that 3 mil plastic works well enough to keep my cold frame plants alive down to 15F, including cilantro.

/johnny

[sockmonkey]

It actually works out lot better than the greenhouse which gets way too hot in the summer.

I was thinking today when it was 97 degrees in my little Texas Prepper's Greenhouse, that come summer, I may have to turn the window & door, into a screen window, and a screen door, and probably hang shade cloth above the whole thing..and it will still be 500 degrees in it..

[sockmonkey]

I don't think I told you I ordered Stevia seed from Burpee

I could've sent you a tiny potted one from the nursery here..

the operative word is small,... Mr Stevia..I was lazy and had UPS pack him up..with packing and shipping, it was 27 bucks....In the future, I will stick to sending small packages (or envelopes).

:o)

[rightly_dividing]

My t squish came in the mail today, 35 seeds in the packet I opened. Still have not formulated final plan for '14 yet. Thought of putting in a new patch where I have a little sunny space, would have to hire somebody to till for me since it is new ground and lots of sizable tree roots.
Option 1)put cattle panel arch there and plant in containers, both maters and squish.
Option 2)put cattle panel arch beside current patch and grow one side from garden, other side from containers.
I did lay eyes on some grow bulbs, but no fixtures because we had 2 go bad last year and were not replaced at the time. Guess I will be back at Lowes Mon.

[TEXOKIE]

lolol! Well....there’s always birthdays, anniversaries, next Christmas...

Been wanting one for 2-3 years now!

[TEXOKIE]

“There’s also the number of plants grown to insure genetic viability. So much to remember-I can’t-have to continually look stuff up.”

Ain’t it the truth!? I’m just going to learn at my kindergarten pace, and just hope for the best! LOL!

[TEXOKIE]

““I’m trying to obtain seeds and/or plants that I’m not readily able to buy locally.”
“Being a prepper, that is an excellent idea and I hadn’t thought of that. In a shtf situation, people would have seed of local growing plants, but not seeds that aren’t sold there now.”

Oh it makes my day to have brought up a helpful prepper point! Thanks!

re Experiments
You and I are much in the same mode. I’m such a newby and trying to learn at warp speed and yet maintain balance. Not easy to do, but I try to look for the fun in it, with the knowledge at sometime that fun could turn very serious.

re wagon

Actually I asked for the child’s wagon, and Santa did me one better! You are correct, imho, that a child’s wagon will do the needful things.

[Ellendra]

My “gardening” this week has consisted of redesigning my barn plans for when I have animals to take care of. I want a walkway between the barn and the house for these cold, icy, Wisconsin nights. We’re expected to have windchills below 50 on Monday!!!

[sockmonkey]

We’re expected to have windchills below 50 on Monday!!!

I can't even imagine. Please stay safe everyone who is experiencing this polar blast, and keep us posted.

[JRandomFreeper]

Pic of the feral tobacco this morning. .50 BMG round shown for scale. I had to trim first leaves from the bottom today.

/johnny

[JRandomFreeper]

The winter wheat. You will notice that it is almost completely brown now. I've never seen anything like that. The weeds are plenty green enough.

/johnny

[sockmonkey]

The winter wheat. You will notice that it is almost completely brown now.

So, whatever it is, likes wheat..any idea if it's fungal, nematodes, or what?

[JRandomFreeper]

No idea. It happened right after the hard freeze we had. I can't see any fungi, nematodes (don't have a microscope, but do have strong loupe) or anything else.

Winter wheat is supposed to be able to survive cold weather.

/johnny

[piroque]

As near as I can tell you may have had to much growth on some of the wheat, but there may be smaller plants,suckers(what stools out as it grows ,Too much growth some times by planting to early or to much nitrogen in the soil . You should be O K on your stand from what I can tell from the picture.