Posted on 05/22/2015 1:05:17 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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It sounds to me like you have great answers! I have so much to learn...
What is dry corn?
Dry corn means that it’s left on the stalk until the stalk dies down, then dried on the ear. So, flint corn, flour corn, dent corn, and popcorn.
Personally, I have stomach issues that act up if I eat sweet corn, so it’s been years since I grew any. This year I’m growing flour corn, and next year it’ll be flint corn. By alternating years I can keep the varieties from crossing.
Flint corn tastes best boiled, where flour corn tastes best baked. Dent corn has a little of both, so it tastes best if it’s both boiled AND baked, which is kind of annoying to do. But, most cornmeal that you find in the store is made from dent corn. Probably because it’s easy to grow. I think all feed corn hybrids are dents.
Ok, I’m overwhelmed!
So I have to rotate corn types? I’m sure something like this applies to other crops as well. Or to plant or not plant the same types if plants in the same spot each year...
What do you recommend as the best way for a newbie to start learning? Is there a guide or book that you’d recommend?
Outstanding news to celebrate a homecoming like that on Memorial Day weekend! Enjoy the visit and the trip.
It’s been pouring down most of the day. Hubby managed to get some beans planted during the sprinkling, but I was afraid I would melt. LOL
Any excuse to procrastinate. LOL
It’s really a personal decision. I tend to like the tidiness of raised beds. I don’t till anything, and I plant the veggies close enough together that I usually don’t have any weeding to do.
I use gravity feed to drain water from the swimming pool using a garden hose, and just move it down the hill as needed. It goes slow enough and the Mel’s Mix drinks it fast enough that I haven’t really felt I needed to put in a drip system.
Sometimes I use a five gallon bucket half full to tote some water to a few bedraggled extras and containers.
Hubby used to have the large plots too. Now he has been converting to the raised bed concept. In the large plots, he has raised beds about 4 foot wide and a very narrow space between where he laid some old carpet to keep it from being muddy and keep from walking on the beds or in the mud.
I’d rather he use something else besides old carpet, but to each his own.
Rifle? Skin them and eat them. Live trap? Haul them away. Cat that can catch them and eat them? I put pepper spray on mine, but it has to be reapplied every time it rains, and I’m not sure it does much anyway.
I just plant extra for the critters, but do my best to discourage them. I have a bunch of pinwheels that spin when the wind blows and some old pie pans and some old computer dvd disks that can be used the same way. They don’t like the reflection and movement.
Get the tomatoes as soon as a blush appears and let them ripen indoors. Unless it’s really dry the don’t usually eat the unripe ones. So I just try to beat them to the punch.
Nothing will get rid of them 100% for us. We have too many acorns and hickory nuts and a large enough yard that they can scamper away, and rob us later. Thieven lil murdersers.
Sad but true. You have to educate yourself so that you know whether the Dr. is making any sense. My Dad’s Cardiologist was the best Dr. I have run into ever.
He told me one time that I (and Dad)knew his health better than any Dr. ever could. So we had a better handle on whether he was sick or not. So he told me to never hesitate to speak up and object or question anything especially if they were trying to discharge Dad too early.
I always remember this. No matter what the Dr. is trying to tell me, if I feel that something is wrong - it’s wrong. If the Dr. can’t figure it out, then I have to help him or get a different Dr. (Shortage of Docs in rural areas though).
We have our terrior and a wild cat. If we let the terrior free range, she would catch the rabbits and squirrels.
The wild mama cat can often be seen dragging the critters to her brood, but I’m not sure where she has them hidden - not on our property is all I know.
I mention Missouri every week. Many of the people here mention their locations pretty often too. I understand your comment, but you’ll find plenty that applies universally as well.
If you read something that you want to discuss or wonder about, feel free to ask the poster where they are located or otherwise engage in conversation about the issue.
YUMMM. That recipe for Kale and taters sounds great. Thanks for the link.
Outstanding! Since the front of our lots has such poor soil, I have been noodling with ideas too. We have this big bare spot where nothing wants to grow.
I think a Gazebo type structure would be nice. It’s one the spare lot. I think it would be nice to have it large enough to be able to use a BBQ grill, have a swing and bench seating around half of the perimeter.
That way I could have a BBQ rain or shine, and sit there and watch the cars go by. We have plenty of porches, but none are covered. I wanted a large covered front porch with columns, but we were planning to build another house later, so Hubby said just wait on that.
We no longer have any plans to relocate, so gazebo might suffice.
There are a number of flowers that are edible. We have three Rosa Rugosa that I planted for the big rose hips.
If I had my way, I’d have a whole fence around the place made up of Rosa Rugosa. That would make it hard for critters to get through. LOL
Yes, there is a downside to everything. I like my heirlooms and the few hybrids that I grow. I mostly try to stay out of the whole GMO debate. I don’t call them “FrankenFood” but I don’t need or want to grow them, as I am not a commercial farmer.
As long as GMO is not in my garden, I’m happy, and not looking to hinder any one else from GMOs if that is what they want. If saving seeds of heirlooms were to be outlawed I’d say that is not right, and I’d just have to be a lawbreaker. LOL
We don’t live quite far enough into the country, but we might be able to shoot from the back window unobserved. LOL
Peaches are difficult here in Missouri too for many reasons. I watched American Sniper, McArthur and some stuff like that today. I thought the selections on TV were pretty poor considering it’s Memorial Day Weekend.
Looked at some of my Dad’s pictures of his ship, shipmates, and the raft and stuff that was recovered from the last German Sub that was sunk of the coast of New England. His ship participated in that operation.
I would have liked to visit the National Cemetary where he buried, but it is too far away, so we’ll go later this summer when we have a little more money saved up, and a little less gardening to do.
Ok, I might have throw too much out there at once.
Maybe I should mention, one of my hobbies is breeding plants. I do things a little differently sometimes because of that. For just getting your feet wet, don’t worry too much about it. The corn thing is because of an unusual feature with corn, cross-pollinations effect the kernal directly, where most crosses don’t show until they grow out. Most gardeners are only growing one type, so it’s not that big a deal.
Deep breath, relax!
I’ll let others recommend books for just starting out, but keep in mind that most plants are pretty forgiving. The seeds want to grow, all you have to do is let them.
Unfortunately they are the only plant in my yard that gets infested with Japanese beetles. It’s one of the reasons I gave it such a severe pruning this year. Can bear to yank it out because Dad gave it to me.
Ah yes, the J.Beetles! We hang the J.B. traps, and they work pretty well.
I have a friend who hung them for years. After awhile she swore all they did was attract more beetles to her yard. She quit and said the result was liveable. Since they just congregate on the one rosebush I spray and sometimes drown them off with the hose.
It sure didn’t sound too complimentary.
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