Weekly Garden Thread - March 12-18, 2022 [Small Fruit for the Home Garden Edition]

March 12, 2022 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memorium

[Diana in Wisconsin]

PROOF that Vegetables CAN make you a literal FORTUNE!

Renowned cookbook author Mollie Katzen selling her Berkeley Hills home for $2M

It seems fitting that Mollie Katzen, the author and illustrator of "The Moosewood Cookbook" and "The Enchanted Broccoli Forest," lives in a similarly enchanting home, surrounded by lush gardens and the forested Berkeley Hills. Now, 609 Canon Drive could be your enchanting home, for the price of $1.95 million.

Katzen's love and talent for food, gardens and art have propelled her cookbooks to historic fame. Katzen is one of the best-selling cookbook authors of all time, with more than 6 million books in print. Her books, writings and drawings have received numerous honors, including being inducted into the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame and housed in the Archives Center of the National Museum of American History.

https://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/cookbook-author-selling-berkeley-home-16971962.php?fbclid=IwAR00kI-MKJtgdmFiczdSdD68e4EhMYlVwXL5eGXTOkhHmwcvU8QJBurZygY

[Diana in Wisconsin]

https://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/cookbook-author-selling-berkeley-home-16971962.php?fbclid=IwAR00kI-MKJtgdmFiczdSdD68e4EhMYlVwXL5eGXTOkhHmwcvU8QJBurZygY

[Augie]

I’m planning to put some gravel down.

I have plenty of other places to drop small stuff that I need so no worries there. lol

[Ellendra]

Would love to have a 25/26hp Kubota with loader/backhoe but I don’t have $35k to spare.

*sigh* Same. That was on my wishlist for a long time. The backhoe I ended up buying was a little tow-behind Jansen kind for $5000. Not the most convenient, because you have to switch seats in order to move it anywhere. But still better than shoveling by hand.

[Pollard]

considering how boggy my garden can get when it rains a lot

My neighbor up the road couldn't set foot on his garden for two months last Spring and he had already planted some things. His garden is perfectly flat/level. Mine's on a slight grade so it's not as bad. One year when I didn't grow anything, it rained a LOT and I had a 1 inch hole in the garden area where water bubbled up for over a week. Clay subsoil, with rocks of all sizes and lots of Springs in the around here. Creeks and rivers were all high that year.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Sounds like you have an artesian spring! Pond for you goats and ducks.

[Pollard]

Only happened that one year in ten.

Got plenty of hillside seeps after a good rain. Several spots where I could build a pond that would get filled with water that’s been filtered through the soil. Got one up on almost the highest elevation of my property. High enough that a pond/lake could be used to irrigate the garden with no pump.

1/8 mile down the road and 200 feet down the hill in elevation is a Spring that shows up on the old maps and they started setting it up to bottle spring water. Then they figured out they would have needed a huge reverse osmosis machine to remove the lime and that means adding minerals back in so they gave up. The spring is certified by the state but white flakes were appearing in the bottles after sitting on a shelf for months.

I’m hoping when I get a good deep well drilled, it will tap into that same Spring. Hey, I can dream can’t I? No pump required would be sweet.

1) pay off land
2) get pond/lake dug
2) get well drilled

[MomwithHope]

If I had a greenhouse I would buy a bunch of those thick rubber tile puzzle pads. I have seen them at Menards. The ones I saw were black which would be good for heat and they interlock so once you put them down they would not move around

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Get a bigger pot then you think you will need.

Fertilize once a month.

A bit of water every day works better then a bunch a couple of times a week.

When you get flowers start tapping the trunk of the tree. Not hard, just enough to help it self pollinate.

During the winter keep it near a warm area. Keep it in a bright area as well. We keep ours in the kitchen. Not the brightest room in the house but more likely to be lit because it is the family gathering area.

You should start moving it out doors once it hits fifty degrees. Outside near the house and moving it out until it is in full sun after about two weeks. Do not leave it out if it is going to be under forty. The tree can take a bit of cold as long as it warms right back up.

Be sure to top the trees every year you want bushy, not tall. But also trim the sides back after you have picked the fruit.

Keeping the trees in a little red wagon means it is easier to move around.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Cement backer board?

[Diana in Wisconsin]

That would be a good idea down the middle of the greenhouse.

I need gravel for drainage under the catwalk-like metal grate salvaged shelving because when I water in there - I WATER, LOL!

P.S. Last crop of sprouts were delish! I have lettuce seedlings coming up inside and out. :)

[Pollard]

Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 65. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the morning.

Peas are going in the ground this morning. Been bringing them out for a few hours a day to harden them off. Lost two komatsuma seedlings. The mix in those two cells just doesn't suck up or retain water. Must be mostly coir fibers or something. I did notice some chunks of nothing but fiber in the mix and tried to crumble and mix in with the rest. Guess I'll just pull them out from now on.

I have a 7 foot gate I made that I'm not using so I stuck two t-posts in the ground and wired the gate to it. Both type of peas are bush, 2-3 foot tall but I still like having something for them to cling to so they don't get knocked down in a heavy rain with gusty wind.

Planting the peas out will open up 30 cells for something else. Maters are next in line but I don't need 30 so I'll do some peppers too since those are next in line. Johnny's seed starting date calculator gave me Mar 18th - Apr 8th for maters and Mar 25th for peppers. Thought it was weird that they didn't give a date range for peppers. Oh well, three days early on maters and ten on peppers. Calculator gave me transplanting out date of May 13-20th for maters and May 20th for peppers. Will play that by ear depending on weather.

[campaignPete R-CT]

Daffodils & tiger Lillie’s are up a few inches. No sign of crocuses yet. Some garlic mustard.

All thanks to La Nina.

No snow on ground. Hartford County. Connecticut 64° F

[Pollard]

Started out with a piece of 3/4" PVC and just shoving it into the ground, wiggling to make the hole tapered like the seed tray cell and using smaller PVC to pop soil plug out but I was having to push hard and worried about soil compaction.

So I swapped to an auger bit in the cordless drill and then followed with the 3/4" PVC wiggle which also pulled out any soil that fell in the soil and didn't require pushing down hard on the PVC. Worked out well and was less than 30 seconds per seedling.

Had three seedlings that didn't look too hot so I ended up with 27 planted with a little more than half being Lincoln and the rest Sugar(snap) Daddy. Most likely, all will be eaten straight off the vine. 30 mater/pepper seeds will go in the empty cells tonight.

[Pollard]

I spy with my little eye.

Planting pots.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“They’re everywhere! They’re everywhere!” Oh, wait, that’s Chicken Man, LOL!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

[musicman]

BTTT!!!!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Resources for growing small fruits:

Really? A gardener named 'Bob Flowerdew?' Adorable.

[Pollard]

Speaking of chicken, I think my little hen nipped the tops of a few of my pea plants I planted today. Propped a fence around it for now and she’s getting locked up in the coop tomorrow with food(haven’t fed her in two years) and water and fertilized eggs. She’s a bit on the broody side once there’s more than 6-8 eggs.

She’s been known to be broody. Will take a few days for the neighbor to collect a dozen unwashed non-refrigerated eggs but she’s laying again and if I don’t collect her eggs, she’s apt to start setting by the time I get the fertilized eggs. Then I can do the Indiana Jones egg swap.

Gotta move the coop up close to the house and it’s a fiberglass truck topper on top of a frame made of 2x4s and chicken wire. Have to put the topper on the bed of the truck, move frame and put topper back on frame. Bit of a process and frame will probably need some fixing.

Time to burn leaves. Gazillion other things to do of course. 60s to 70s here for the 7 day forecast.