WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD VOLUME 14 APRIL 4, 2014

Free Republic | April 4, 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.

[Marcella]

“If you can get a leaf into the light while keeping the root in the soil, it will figure things out from there.”

After I potted it with the leaf part upright, I put it back under the grow lamp so it should head for that light. I’ve just never had a plant come out of a seed and punch a hole in the side of the paper cup. I’m also careful to plant it at the depth stated on the seed envelope.

[JRandomFreeper]

I've been using rainy days to make this for the grand-daughter's birthday. The kid will be 3. The doll is taller than she is. Once again, stuff from the junk pile. Old sheets and t-shirts make up the doll. Some old material from somewhere for the dress. I'll use thrift store yarn for the hair. Old hose will be the 'skin'.

I've got a couple of more months to fix the details.

Implicit in the doll is a promise to teach the basics of sewing if she wants more clothes for the doll. And teaching basic metal-working skills if she needs to make an 8" needle, like I did for this project. ;)

/johnny

[rightly_dividing]

Thanks for the kind words, my friend, but I am no artist. I do love my wife madly, poodle pups and all. My building in wood is about giving it to others.

[greeneyes]

I am getting there fast! Well, today I got 4 hours sleep before I had to get up and wake my grand daughter up to catch the bus.

Then, I had the wide awakes, so I wasn’t able to go back to sleep, but was grumpy, tired, and felt like I was in a fog. Did some dishes, and opened some mail, and did some more reading on gardening, and more detail on my garden plan.

Finally got sleepy at about 4pm, and finished up some bills, and went to sleep about 5pm for my other 4 hours. This sleep pattern is not one where I get maximum energy.LOL

Hope to do better tonight.

[greeneyes]

glad to hear that all went well. Hope recovery is swift and then the next one goes well too.

[rightly_dividing]

I would like to tour your workshop. I’m sure its fascinating.

[greeneyes]

Thanks for that info, I’ll do some looking for that.

[rightly_dividing]

I hope you get a decent nights sleep.

They took my wife back about 6am and we were out of the building before 7am. First in, first out!

This is her fifth surgery in about 6mo. Shes getting everything fixed.

[JRandomFreeper]

It's the whole property. The shop is just where I keep the big tools. Being a single guy, I can shove everything to the side and use the wide open space in the kitchen floor to work on projects. Everything is subject to re-working based on what is convenient and what I need.

No way I could have done any of this with any of my ex-wives around. ;)

Think of a 12 year old with some skills, lots of resources, and no adult supervision.

/johnny

[greeneyes]

I may start doing something like that too. I don’t have trouble with birds and squirrels when it comes to the seeds, because I cover them with row covers until they are up to at least transplant size.

Being a beginner compared to you and many others on this thread, I have usually just followed the basic instructions from the square foot gardening and free articles from the MU Extension Office and the directions on the seed package.

I have had good success with most of the summer veggies, probably because the weather is warm enough for the outdoor germination to go pretty fast. There is no doubt that germination for these so called “cool weather” crops is going to go faster indoors.

One of the things I like about the idea, is that it will take less water sprouting them in cups vs the garden. I did try sprouting corn last year as an experiment, and they didn’t seem to like the transplant, but I think that was because the spring was so cool and damp, that they had to stay too long in the cups.

The books that I got from Bountiful Gardens indicate that they also sprout everything (they use flats). They point out not only the water conservation, but also the space saving in the garden.

While their crops are reaching maturity and/or harvesting, they go ahead and start the succession plants in flats. This makes it possible to maximize the amount of food grown and the space needed.

Missouri has a little bit less days in the growing season than states to the south, so getting a 2cnd crop can be difficult, and usually you need to pair a long days DTM with a short days to DTM follow on crop or vice versa.

I am thinking that starting some things sooner in doors, and starting the succession crops sooner indoors may enable me to actually get some combos that work out to give me 3 crops from one bed, and follow that with winter wheat.

I discussed this with Hubby today, and he said he didn’t care, he was planting stuff outdoors and off he went to plant some beets. To each his own.LOL

[JRandomFreeper]

When I was bootlegging the pig here (the very ugly dog for animal control and code enforcement) I fed her quite a bit of whole corn. She loved it.

Some of the corn made it through the process, and after she was gone, there were lots of corn seedlings that I transplanted into the big garden. I transplanted them with a fairly large chunk of soil (and pig poop) around them (think shovel transplanting), and they did fine.

So corn can be transplanted.

/johnny

[greeneyes]

Thanks for that. I copied it, saved and printed it for future reference. Maybe I can work it into a cup of tea.

What does the good Doctor say are the best spices for reducing High blood pressure and LDL, raising HDL and lowering Triglycerides?

[greeneyes]

Strong little plant roots. Take the scissors to that paper cup, and free the dear little plant.

[greeneyes]

That is one thing that I have done with peas. They always come up, and act like they are going to do well, then they sputter out and die.

I am thinking now that it is the Fusariium wilt. What I read was that they are susceptible, and the fungus gets going once the temps are 70 degrees. That kinda fits the time frame for when they start going down hill.

I am planning a two prong approach. Sprouting the peas(even earlier next year, so they get some good growth before transplanting) and planting the short DTM in the beds, and the longer DTM in a container of potting mix.

Like I said, I really don't like peas that much, but they are nutritious for humans, and help fix nitrogen in the garden. They are supposed to be easy to grow, so I am perturbed that I have not yet successfully grown them.LOL

[greeneyes]

Pretty soon she’ll be good as new.

[rightly_dividing]

As a single youth with my first apartment, I found it convenient to rebuild the hull of a small hydroplane boat in the living room. After that it was a VW motor tear down and re-assembly. And one night, my friend rode his Honda 90 up the staircase with hard-right turn midway up, then rode back down. It sure was fun being single back then! ;)

Now my shop doubles as a woodshop, with everything on casters, an auto-shop when necessary, and soon an office/desk area where I can surf the net, read and store my WW and auto magazines and generally be comfortable, complete with mini-fridge.

[greeneyes]

Tubebender said last year that he started his corn indoors all the time in order to be able to get a harvest. I think that almost anything can be transplanted, as long as you are careful with some of the more tender roots.

That’s why I like paper or plastice cups, I can just take the scissors and snip the side and peel it off. Usually doesn’t even affect the roots at all.

[ladyjane]

Aloe vera is such a wonder plant. I got a bee sting the other day. Immediately I put some aloe vera on it. It worked like magic. Within 15 seconds the pain went completely away. Works on burns too.

[rightly_dividing]

Completely rebuilt! Really, her knees are not real good, though. She is more likely to go under the knife than I am. I will find a workaround to keep from being cut on. But I think I have told you why before.

I need 2 knee replacements, but as long as I stay off my knees, they don’t bother me. I’m going to the grave with as many original parts as I can.

[rightly_dividing]

When I worked in a shop where welding was part of the routine, every man had an aloe plant growing in his workstation for the inevitable burns.