Posted on 03/27/2015 1:25:20 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.
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Planting by the moon works according to Alan Chadwick. Just like the moon impacts the tides, it impacts the water/plants.
Our daughter ripped out all her carpets and refinished the floors in her home a couple of years back. It was a chore, but they are beautiful.
I am improving another couple of beds by double digging, it really helped mine last year. I also read about a triple dig which involves adding wood at the lower part of the triple dig, and thought I would give that a try too.
Has anyone else ever read about or tried this triple dig process?
If it gets any worse, I’ll be heading your way with bribe in hand. LOL
My real complaint is the headaches. Before June 2012, I rarely had any. One day, I started having headaches, and have been getting them every day since. All on the same side as the unremarkable tiny vessels.
Naturally, I wonder if there is a correlation, exactly what is going on with the little dears, because I’d like to quit taking aspirin/Tylenol type meds every day.
On the other hand, I’m glad that OTC meds work, and I don’t need anything stronger.
LOL. My husband’s usual response to offers of help (from family) “I don’t need no stinkin’ help”.
Then of course there are times when he asks for help and I try. That usually ends with “get out of the way, I can do it better alone”. LOL
No. I don’t use pea gravel, and in fact the info I have advises against it. I can’t remember why, except that the roots don’t benefit, and it actually doesn’t help the drainage for the roots.
I usually just use a garden fork and loosen the soil about a foot down. Cover up the grass with 4 or 5 layers of news paper and add 4-6 inches of good loam on top of the news paper. Maybe a quarter inch of compost worked in on top of that, but if the soil added is really good, you won’t need the compost till next year.
You have my sympathy for the bad stuff, and cheers for the good. We have sunshine today, and I’ll be heading out to the garden shortly.
Thanks for the pics, and thanks for posting Eric’s article.
Eric - Thanks for supplying the article.
I’ll have to check those out too.
It’s only $1.00 per sq. foot. Red peppers around here sell for $1.70 each. I grow one plant per sq. foot, and get several red peppers, so even if I sold them at the farmer’s market, it seems like a person could do better than just clear a $1.00 per sq. foot.
Hi everyone! Checking in late this week.
Class was amazing. We had our lecture on ornamentals/color in the landscape. Our OSU professor introduced 6 hours worth of a LOT of shrubs and trees - MANY of which I had never heard of. Darlin and I were cross-eyed when we left.
I put a star in my note margins for the Alnus maritima “Seaside Alder” because it was a gee-whiz that I thought you guys might enjoy.
Its size is somewhere between a shrub or a small tree. He tells us, “if it wants to be a shrub, let it be a shrub. If it wants to be a tree, let it be a tree!”
He says the advantages to this plant are:
Eye candy in winter
Crafters will like them
They are drought resistant.
I got a kick out of learning this fact, and wanted to share it:
It is a mystery in the plant study world. Here we are in land-locked Oklahoma, and yet we seem to be an island of SEASIDE Alder! Not found in surrounding states. How did this disjunct population get here??? He speculated that perhaps Indians from the coastal states brought them at some point to a particular area of Oklahoma where the plants were happy. Or of course, perhaps they were brought here by animals or birds. But that really doesn’t totally explain why not the other surrounding states. So there it is. No one really knows!
http://www.plantoftheweek.org/week507.shtml
For those who are into horticulture for prepping purposes may be interested in this one:
Vitex
White pink, purple, or blue flowers on long spikes (for most spp)
Heirloom flowers - you can sometimes see it old timey pictures
Doesn’t need a lot of water
In Oklahoma, (approx zone 6) harsh winters will kill it back, but it is root hardy and can come back and bloom on new wood.
It historically has MEDICINAL properties. It was used to help regulate female cycles and can if I followed the discussion properly, was also used to help men calm down if they were burdened with too much testosterone on board.
Be aware that it can be mistaken easily for marijuana in its growth habit. People have been reported to authorities who grow it! [If okra can be mistaken, well this stuff can too!]
I still hope to share info from that famous Bean handout!
There are different varieties of artichokes : some are annuals , some perrenials.
The artichoke fruit that is consumed is really an immature flowering bud .
Both can be induced to the flowering bud , but it depends on timeing of seeding , and exposure to cold/light frost ... called ' vernalization'.
Good General information :
www.http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetables/p/Artichokes-Tips-For-Growing-Artichokes-Just-About-Anywhere.htm
Good general information on care of artichokes , includes recipies, maintenance , winter care , reccomended varieties ,etc.
Another good source for information :
www.http://www.veggiegardeningtips.com/growing-artichokes-in-spite-of-mother-nature/
"You can provide this chilling experience by exposing your artichoke seedlings to outdoor temperatures during the months of March and early April,
but don’t leave them outside when weather conditions are expected to drop close to, or below freezing, and don’t transplant them out into the garden too soon."
and don't forget to 'harden off', if they are seedlings . EQANDY, if you are in Texas, I assume that your plants are in the ground already , and have been hit by at least 50 degree temps; that is what they need to formulate flowering.
If growing from seed, get from reputable seedhouse ; if you have retained seed from previous crop, they will not always run true to their parent plants (hybrids ?) I hope this helps you .
Perhaps it is a medicinal plant used by Native Americans
and accompanied them on the "Trail of Tears " since they valued it .
Headaches that are always in the same place can mean many things, but the easiest cause to correct might be neck strain. If you’re holding your head in the same position it can trigger cramps in the muscle that wraps around your head and holds it on your neck. I have to be careful reading or else I’ll give myself a migraine that way.
Try a chiropractor, they can see neck problems that regular doctors miss.
Did anyone here tell you that you would be bored ?
Been there , done that, although many years ago . It is a college level course, crammed into a couple of weeks .
Just lay back and let it happen , and take as many notes as you can without feeling overwhelmed.
You can probably use the information later , and it will all come together at some later date
and then you will be surprized at how much you actually learned and absorbed. Johnny was right , keep copious notes and compare them with Darlin's notes after class, and you will both benefit.
Have you seen a doctor? A headache every day, if nothing else, is a very stressful thing.
That’s exactly how it is - lots and lots of notes that over time I will knit together in my mind as a whole.
Now that sounds rough - the memory issues. At least you have a system to keep things straight.
Because it started suddenly when I was out of town, I originally thought it was something to do with the neck and sleeping posture. My Doctor prescribed some sort of pill that he thought would help, but it had stroke risks, so I talked my Doctor into checking it out at the physical therapist, since I was already working there to return mobility to one of my knee joints.
They found that the C2 vertebra had rotated out of position. After their treatments and exercise, my neck and back felt better than for the last 20 years. But no luck with the headaches. Then I started having some visual blurring intermittently during the day.
So my doctor sent me to a Neurologist. Since I was able to walk a straight line, touch my nose with my finger, and didn't bring anyone with me, Mr Nuero Doc decided that nothing was wrong with me within just a few seconds.
He asked me questions which I couldn't remember the answers to, but went right on to the next question while I was thinking. I had reviewed all of my medical booklet the night before, so I could answer a lot of the questions, if I hadn't done that maybe he would have noticed.
The eye doctor also indicated no problems. If I have a really bad headache, the best way to get rid of it is to take 1 aspirin and 1/2 Tylenol. Put a heated rice sock around my neck, and a cool wet eye patch over the eye and lay down on my back against a 30 degree wedge.
Sometimes, when at the computer, I have to wear an eye patch because the blurriness gets too obnoxious, and I can see better just using the one eye, and yes I have glasses that are supposed to be helpful for this, but don't do diddly.
My primary doc has decided that they are cerviogenic, and there's nothing further to do except take aspirin, Tylenol and be thankful the pain is not worse. I think I have a symptom in search of a cause.
I personally think that it also involves the tiny blood vessels in some way, since they are on the side that hurts, and apparently close to the occipital area. I also think that whatever has happened to these tiny vessels could be related to the high calcium content revealed in my blood work - started around 2010. When tiny vessels have issues, I wonder if big vessels could be on their way too?
My primary doctor doesn't feel the high calcium is anything to worry about, just don't drink milk and limit other high calcium foods, since I have no markers for cancer. Well, I also have osteopenia and after the Dax scan, he told me to continue my Calcium supplements and take a little more D3 as I was deficient in that still. Contradiction? Yes.
My cardiologist is much more concerned about it, and he is referring me to an endocrinologist. It took 20 years to find out what was causing the overwhelming fatigue that ended up in horrible short term memory. (I would tell my daughter something and within 30 seconds tell her again - with zero memory that I had).
With the oxygen therapy/cpap I now remember what I have told her for several days, before I forget, and keeping notes makes life manageable now, so I am really thankful for the added energy and memory.
I just hope that I find out soon what the entire cause of headaches and calcium buildup is so that maybe we can get rid of it for good, and I don't have to take meds, and I can drink all the skim milk I want. LOL
Thanks for all the info. Don’t think I’ll be growing that one. Authorities around here can’t tell regular herbs from that wacky weed either.
A friend once got raided because the EMTs who took her husband to the hospital reported the dried herbs she was putting into packets and bottles for kitchen use.
You’ve been through a lot. Thank goodness your cardiologist is pursuing this more vigilantly than your primary doctor. I hope that your endocrinologist has a similar devotion to finding the cause of these chronic headaches, which must be exhausting to cope with over such a long period of time!
She is a woman, so maybe she'll be sympathetic to another woman. LOL
I also found a “holistic natureopath” who did her pre-med work at Truman State in Mo. They admit the brightest hard working kids there, so I know she would be intelligent. If all else fails, I'll be going to get a second/third whatever opinion. This is not a recognized doctor in Mo. though it is in some other states, so she has to work in collaboration with an MD.
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