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WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD VOLUME 14 APRIL 4, 2014
Free Republic | April 4, 2014 | greeneyes

Posted on 04/04/2014 12:54:31 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.

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.


TOPICS: Gardening
KEYWORDS: agriculture; food; gardening; hobby
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To: Marcella
Never had canned onions except as an adjunct to something like pickled peppers. Onions are best kept whole and cool and used in the dormant state, like you buy from the grocery store.

Second best is dehydrated.

You will only kill yourself canning anything by not knowing what allows bacteria to grow in canned food.

They need water, food, proper temperature, and proper pH to survive.

Most canned stuff will have water, and stored at room temp is great for bacteria.

Changing the pH to acid will get rid of lots of them. That's why you add ascorbic acid or vinegar.

Raising the temperature to above 180F for 30 minutes kills most of the bacteria off, but maybe not all the spores.

For that, follow the USDA recommendations for temp and time for all canning.

It's that easy. Even I can do it without dying. ;)

/johnny

221 posted on 04/08/2014 6:15:56 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: JRandomFreeper

“It’s that easy. Even I can do it without dying. ;)”

Yeah, well, and I thought I could put that work table together by myself and I couldn’t. I will, however, be able to do the canning since it takes brains and not brawn.


222 posted on 04/08/2014 6:41:59 PM PDT by Marcella (Prepping can save your life today. Going Galt is freedom.)
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To: greeneyes
For sleep, there is a combo of Valerian, passion flower, and hops

If there's a CVS pharmacy near you, in the Mexican homeopathic section back by the pharmacy, they have tea..I think it's called five flowers cingo flores. or something like that which has those things, plus probably chamomile, and catnip in it. In Mexico, Passion Flower is used for opiate detox.

I used to do skullcap, valerian, vervain, and catnip back when I was in high school for cramps. My Mom thought I was drugged up on some heavy duty illicit drugs when I'd fix up a cup of my homebrew tea. It was very effective, but you had to drink it about every four hours, unlike RX drugs.

223 posted on 04/08/2014 6:50:55 PM PDT by sockmonkey (Of Course I didn't read the article. After all, this is FreeRepublic..)
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To: Marcella
I will, however, be able to do the canning since it takes brains and not brawn.

It takes some brawn to tighten lids..Also, my friends who have the canning buz..the hubby has broken his thumbs quite a few times stuffing pickles tightly down itnto the jars...Stuff em in there real tight, so they don't float to the top.

224 posted on 04/08/2014 6:54:18 PM PDT by sockmonkey (Of Course I didn't read the article. After all, this is FreeRepublic..)
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To: sockmonkey
skullcap, valerian, vervain

Wowza! that is heavy duty. Screw that up, and you wake up with angels.

My last wife... I think that was #3, was something of a herbalist. I learned to be careful.

/johnny

225 posted on 04/08/2014 7:01:18 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: sockmonkey

Very interesting. I don’t have a CVS. I used to drink coffee all day long, but now I just drink it in the am, and drink two or three cups of herbal tea, so I might just look on line for a source.

None of our grocery stores or Walmart have much in the way of tea, supplements, or alternative foods. Our county is 97% white. At least we have access to some good fresh produce, and we have processing plants where we can buy a side of beef or pork etc.


226 posted on 04/08/2014 8:17:00 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: Marcella

That is what I would do - whack away. I add sliced onion rings to some of my pickle recipes, and pickled peppers too.

I sometimes dehydrate them. Grind them into onion powder when dry or sometimes just chop them into minced onions.


227 posted on 04/08/2014 8:21:49 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: Marcella

OK. Thanks.


228 posted on 04/08/2014 8:22:16 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: rightly_dividing

LOL. I am hoping to avoid that. Doc gets a little frustrated now and then, cause I don’t just jump on the Rx bandwagon.

I really really have to feel like I need the meds desperately, and that theirs 30 years of data regarding benefit/detriment analysis available. I have to understand it all and read about it from the medical journals before I agree to take it for most things.

My Dad took about 30 meds daily. I had a spread sheet that I made to use that was like a PDA with potentila side effects, and drug inter actions etc in addition to the dosing instructions. When he was in the hospital, I wouldn’t let them give him anything, until they told me what it was.

I caught errors all the time. It was too complicated for even the professionals to keep straight.


229 posted on 04/08/2014 8:34:40 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: Covenantor

LOL. Thanks for the laugh!


230 posted on 04/08/2014 8:35:53 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: JRandomFreeper; rightly_dividing; Marcella

We had a pretty nice day today. A bit cool, but the sun was shining in the AM. Midafternoon, it got overcast, the wind became strong, and the sun shine went missing.

We got another half inch of rain, so that’s 2 inches including the weekend numbers.


231 posted on 04/08/2014 8:39:33 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: sockmonkey

Hubby took my hair dryer outside to hurry up and dry up some caulk. He didn’t tell me he was doing it. Then he forgot about it.

Left it plugged into the outdoor socket and it got rained on. I am letting it dry out before I try it to see if it will still work.


232 posted on 04/08/2014 8:51:12 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: TEXOKIE
Back to our discussion of early planting times. We are in the Ozark Plateau area of Missouri, so our planting schedule is the same as Northern Missouri. Which is after the mid Missouri and boot-heel regions, because of the higher elevation.

So I have done a little more research on peas. Turns out the Missouri Extension schedule/planning article(not to mention all the others) didn't tell the whole story on spring planting. They show no indoor germinationfor peas.

I have used this guideline, since the 1st year of planting. According to that, we should plant peas out side beginning with 3/25 and beets starting on 4/01. So that's what I have always done.

I don't know why I didn't put two and two together before, but here's the deal: the best soil temps for germination for these veggies is 70 degrees and above. Yet, the plants themselves grow better in a cool temperature below 70.

Peas in particular, can have an issue with fursarium wilt, which numerous articles from many sources have never mentioned. If it strikes, it appears when the temps reach 70 degrees, and cuts short the harvest(also never mentioned in articles I've read on this wilt issue).

Now our temps have been bouncing around between the 40s and 30s most of the nights so far, and often during the day. Peas take 36 days to germinate at 41 degrees. What a joke - why would anyone want to plant them outside now and wait over a month for germination? Especially when the harvest needs to start and be complete in May? (June is hot enough for the wilt for sure)

Then, say the peas have 70 DTM? Sometime in May we begin to have 70 degree temps, which means the harvest is about to be in jeopardy.

Seems to me that what they should have advised is to start those peas indoors a week or a few weeks sooner, so that the peas can germinate, and get some growth and then be transplanted in April so that they can mature sometime at the end of April, and harvest the first few weeks in May.

So then looking at all the other soil temps and germination times, best times are all at 70+ degrees or above. So seems to me that the same could be said for cukes, as I have had trouble with fussarium wilt with them for sure.

So I am going to start a bunch of stuff that is normally planted outside this time of year, in paper cups, so that I can just peel off the paper and transplant with as little trama to the roots as possible, and see how that experiment works. Then next year I'll start about 2 weeks earlier for these to see how that works, and also try to get the shortest DTM possible. The other stuff I have grown successfully will stay on the MU Extension Schedule.

233 posted on 04/08/2014 9:48:48 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: greeneyes
Left it plugged into the outdoor socket and it got rained on. I am letting it dry out before I try it to see if it will still work.

I would let it dry otut a couple of days, in case there is water in some nook or cranny, and I usually move it around from one side to the other, upside down, etc..just in case there's any water trapped in some little spot.

234 posted on 04/08/2014 9:50:36 PM PDT by sockmonkey (Of Course I didn't read the article. After all, this is FreeRepublic..)
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To: sockmonkey

Yep. I am planning on waiting about a week. I’ll give it an extra shake while I think of you! Smiles.


235 posted on 04/08/2014 10:05:48 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: greeneyes

I take 7 meds a day, I think, some up to three times. I have tried to do without each one at some point but can not give any up, without pain somewhere or not able to sleep. I have more arthritis than most doctors have ever seen, plus trouble in both legs that is a screamer without my meds. Other than the cost, I am happy to have them all.


236 posted on 04/09/2014 2:23:32 AM PDT by rightly_dividing (I measured twice and cut twice and it's still too short!)
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To: greeneyes

It will work again, I is a very simple critter. Shake it everyday for a few days, then plug it in and go.

I put my last TV on the side of the road and it got several inches of rain, but continued to work just fine after a good dry time. Some neighbors picked it up!


237 posted on 04/09/2014 2:44:59 AM PDT by rightly_dividing (I measured twice and cut twice and it's still too short!)
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To: rightly_dividing
I already take more meds than I want. I made it to age 65 with only 1 pill and the occasional aspirin. Now I have to take aspirin and sometimes Tylenol a minimum of two times per day sometimes more. While I did have quite a few arthritis aches and pains, I could almost always get by with heat treatments and massage therapy.

I also now take 3 pills for high blood pressure, and it's still not staying down where it should be. And I have to take vitamin D3, since I am deficient and bones have osteopenia.

I'd like to get back to almost no headaches,and one blood pressure pill, but it is probably not likely. Once you get to a certain age, you are usually about as well off as you are ever going to be, and then you get a new symptom and then a new pill. C'est La Vie.LOL

238 posted on 04/09/2014 5:25:08 AM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: greeneyes; rightly_dividing; afraidfortherepublic; Marcella; All

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3142431/posts?page=18

Here’s a thread on growing tomatoes. I’ll try to remember to post it on Friday. Would y’all please help me to remember? Thanks.


239 posted on 04/09/2014 7:42:44 AM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: greeneyes

I was able to avoid drs and meds all my life till 5 years ago, now I have too many drs and meds. lol


240 posted on 04/09/2014 7:58:18 AM PDT by rightly_dividing (I measured twice and cut twice and it's still too short!)
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