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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Thanks. That’s pretty much what I’ve told my neighbors, but I wanted to verify i was saying the right thing!
Say that it is a cross between two types of tomatoes. Then you might get some of one parent, some of the other parent, and some would be a cross. Something like that. I am not all that well versed on the process, and it's been almost 48 years since college science classes.
Heirloom open pollinated (non-hybrid) is the term that is typically used, for nonhybrid seeds, and they give “true” results. You plant an heirloom seed, and save the seeds from several of your best fruits and veggies, and plant them again the next year. You'll get the same type of produce you got the year before.
If you are planting hybrids, then you have to buy them again to get the same sort of produce.
While I do plant some hybrids now and then, I plant mostly heirlooms, and save my seeds. It's cheaper, and allows more diversity of flavors etc.
In addition I have been reading about the danger to the food supply from the lack of diversity. For example with corn, the basic foundation of all the types of hybrids, is so much the same, and so much of the corn is hybrid, that a disease that wipes out one field, could spread to many of the other hybrids too.
That's what I have read and I can't really talk about it in depth, because I haven't studied it in depth.
Then there's the whole GMO thing, which I don't want to get into, except to say that I object to a company controlling our food supply. When you buy GMO seeds, they are not really yours. You are not supposed to do anything other than plant them and harvest them.
Commercial growers use roundup on the GMO plants, and other produce, and I am trying to get away from such chemicals, so I'd also like to know if my food is GMO or not, but the commercial companies are fighting such labeling.
Now, the GMO’s have gotten to the point that it is very hard to find heirloom corn that has not been contaminated by GMO.
There are people who are working very hard to try to preserve the old varieties so that we maintain the diversity. Well that's more than I intended to say. So I'll just shut up now. LOL
That’s too bad. Don’t you wish you could just do it yourself? I had to rely on anyone to do stuff like that.
On another subject, I have your recipe for the 100% RDA soup plus additions, and am planning to try it. Except, I have some leftover roast that I thought I sub for the hamburger. And the peas. Don’t like them. Could maybe stand for a 1/4 cup or so. Maybe, I’ll put in a few white beans and some spinach.
I try to stay between 1200 to 1400 calories. I also restrict my calcium right now, because my levels are too high, and the docs. don’t want me to drink that much milk, eat cheese, and yogurt very much (sigh), so I guess that’s where I’ll cut back a bit.
Give those plants a hand with the pollination. I use a Qtip or a tiny water color paint brush.
Plants in buckets are handy to have that way, because you can shift them around as needed.
There were several reasons that Mel gave for using vermiculite instead of perlite, but the only one I can remember is that it holds water better than perlite.
And yes 1/3 of the mix is supposed to be peat moss or sphagnum moss. Peat is readily available here.
Probably a good way to loose your 12 gauge to the police who are ever growing in intrusiveness. If I had one, I’d not risk it. Unfortunately all my guns and ammo went up in smoke along with Grand Daughter and her husbands stuff.
Neighbors for miles around thought they were setting off fireworks, but it was just the trailer burning up and everything in it. They just had two hunting rifles left after that - they were still in the truck from a hunting trip.
That sling shot thing sounds tempting though.
Thanks Marcella, glad he made it, and is able to eat something.
Cool.
My Dad was especially partial to Roses. They had a very small yard, but lots of plants and Roses more than anything else, but hunting and fishing was his biggest passions.
He was in the Coast Guard too during WWII. On the seas for months without seeing land - escorting ships. His ship was the Moberly. They participated in the sinking of the last German submarine off the coast of New England - Point Judith Light, along with the Atherton.
My brother was in the Navy during the Vietnam era, but he was lucky, and got stationed in Hawaii.
We are off and raining here in the heartland. I am always way too anxious to get the garden in and it sits in water—I weep for my tomatoes. We have harvested outstanding broccoli and decent lettuce. Thankfully the two peach trees are loaded, but there isn’t a critter in Mo that doesn’t eat peaches. Insects of a dozen hoards attack every part, and so, I have to spray them. Last year I murdered 13 coons. The foxes are after the chickens and they are harder to catch. Now we have a yearling large-breed, Rat Terrier to help. He is ever vigilant and very protective of family and domain. This dog is an amazing athlete, he can turn on a dime, jump a fence, and sail to the top of big hay bales, while covering the ground like a greyhound. No family should be without a good dog.
We head to the Salute to Veterans Airshow today and hope the rain holds off. It is always hard to choke back the tears for me. I think of my uncle killed and buried in N. Africa, and my B17 pilot father in law who passed a couple of years ago. Don told me many stories of his 16 bombing runs over Germany. He was a 21 YO Lt in late 1944 after just a few months training—pilots were getting thin at this time. He was shot down over East Germany and survived in a Russian Pow camp for the last 6 months of the war. God bless em all.
You need a Rat Terrier.
Ah yes, my garden 150 miles south is in much better shape and far more advanced with tiny tomatoes set on. The Ozarks are my getaway and living on the Gasconade is a slice of heaven.
BB guns work well for keeping them out of the yard. I have lived in the country most of my life and so goes that story.
I use heirlooms and hybrids. Hybrids are more disease resistant and more productive but the taste of some heirloom tomatoes can’t be beat. I have grown GMOs on the farm fields, mostly corn and soybeans. It is aggravating that soybean seeds can’t be saved but, the GMOs have been outstanding in no till operations and saved millions of tons of topsoil. Absent that, if not for GMOs millions of people would starve. There is a downside to everything.
Thank you for the info. I had no idea that heirloom was the same as nonhybrid. Heirloom sounds so much fancier, LOL!
Hey my Dad loved roses too. He used to gripe at people who grew flowers and say you can’t eat flowers. But he loved his roses. He gave me three cuttings of 3 he had. and they have been going string at our house for 31 years. Two of them were at the house he bought in 1950, and one he stole from the rental house they were in before they moved in 1950. He said it was along the fence and being neglected. It was his favorite. Years ago I tried to identify it and sent picture off to rose experts. It was told it is Amelia Damask and goes back quite a ways. Thorny as hell, wicked long thorns. But the sweetest smelling rose I have ever smelled. Kind of a medium pink color. The other 2 roses are a climber seven sisters and a rosa rugosa that got as big as a VW beetle, it got a severe haircut this spring.
Hi Gang! We bought the Craftsy video on the edible garden and a whole bunch of ideas we have had knocking around in our brains coalesced! We have a five-year plan to build our dream garden, anchored on a 12’ by 12’ pergola that I have designed. I have the first two raised beds built and Barb has made one her raspberry garden. I am going to plant horseradish in the other. (Not the whole thing!)
I also planted my asparagus bed. Also a strawberry bed, all in raised beds. The rest of the beds will be for rotation on a yearly basis. Never let an engineer loose in your garden!
I have my Shopsmith and attachments up at the trailer now and today, I am going to turn some dibbles for planting. I have some 3”, seasoned Tulip Poplar and will try using it for dibbles.
Happy Gardening, Everyone!
Just mixed up that dressing for the kale - oh my!! It certainly appeals to MY taste buds & I will definitely be making it again. Two things ... next time I’ll probably use orange juice and white wine vinegar (which is also considered a substitute for champagne vinegar) instead of buying the Trader Joe’s Orange Muscat Vinegar. Also, I don’t use agave nectar so I just added a tablespoon of the sugar I use (coconut palm sugar), but you could use stevia, turbinado sugar, regular sugar .... just make sure it’s dissolved.
The kale is marinating until dinner tonight and then I’m going to add some toppings ... whatever suits my fancy at the moment. I also made a potato-kale gratin last weekend and here’s a recipe for that: http://www.theironyou.com/2014/11/potato-and-kale-gratin.html Mine turned out beautifully & was good enough I’d serve it to company.
It would be most helpful if we could somehow post where we are from.
I am from SC (the Lowcountry) which is a world away from Missouri as far as weather and gardening. It would really help us novices to learn everything we can so that we can be a successful as some on this board.
Regarding the rose cuttings, I have unsuccessfully tried 3 times this year to get my cuttings to take. I want to propagate knockoff roses. I found something on the net and followed the instructions to the tee but no luck.
Here is what I did.
Cut fresh stem just after flowering, 6 inches long. Make sure there are 3 leaf nodes on it, cut a slit on the bottom and dip in rooting powder. I put them in old water bottle bottoms and put them on the shelf of our sun room for indirect/bright sun.
Any help would be MUCH appreciated.
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