Posted on 12/03/2022 5:57:11 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
I remember watching Victory Garden, too.
Somewhere, in a box, I have my 70s-80s Rodale’s Magazine of Organic Farming & Gardening collection. Best fast, hot compost pile building instructions, ever.
Also on the shelf is my Better Gardens the Troy Bilt Way.
So many others, but the Sunset books, and I have several editions, and other titles, too, are really the best for quick reference.
It was another dry week here in Central Missouri. The garden is patiently waiting for me to finish cleaning up and spread some more horse poo around.
In spite of my recent neglect there’s still some stuff growing in my greenhouse. It’s looking like there might be some green salad ready to pick by Christmas.
Placed a couple seed orders over the weekend. Hat tip to Pete for pointing me to Johnny’s for the Kaitlin cabbage seeds.
I reinstalled Nanner’s steering cylinder yesterday morning, unhooked the roto-tiller and put the back blade on, then spent a couple hours grooming the driveway. Used up most of a 26 ton load of surface rock and it wouldn’t hurt to add that much more before the nasty winter weather arrives.
Grandmother moved to California and gave mother a subscription to sunset. I never got to California to enjoy Pacific beaches or took a wine tour, but I do use their cook books!
Everything tucked in for the winter up in SD?
Cleaning the garage and rearranging and throwing out stuff today. Cold tomorrow, maybe rain. Might have another 2-3 weeks of warm (40-50 degree) days here in KS.
"The garden is patiently waiting for me to finish cleaning up and spread some more horse poo around."
Jeffers.com in Dothan GA has stuff for Horses and cattle. (Valley Vet in KS is another.) Cant help with the tractor!
Kaitlin---they get pretty big! Don't crowd them. (Consider a roll of garden fabric to put over them and keep the loopers out in late summer!) I grew them hoping to use them for sauerkraut, but I do not think they will get large enough by New Years!
Pretty much tucked. Just have to finish butchering my deer.
As weather permits, maybe cut & split more wood, even if we don’t need it this year.
Time for indoor chores in between hibernating.
You really are “naughty” posting historical frost data for your Florida location on a winter gardening thread! :O
(Got all your hurricane damage repaired yet??)
Winter is like nature taking a 4 month Sunday rest! (Good for us....have time for other important things!)
I still have some stray oak branches in the back yard to clear and soffit to replace. Otherwise, we're back to normal. Thanks for asking!
We've got the drip irrigation back in good working order.
Some annoying animal discovered two pots of catnip on the seedling cart. Wonder what species it could be? Trampled a young tomato plant in the process of groveling in the catnip. Catnip pots are now on the lanai, and my cats are groveling to get out there. My cats eat devour catnip. The unknown vandal tore off all the catnip leaves and left them strewn around, all without setting off the critter cam.
January 13, 2011 it froze out here on the beach. It was 32 and below for almost 3 hours. That killed a lot of flora in my neighborhood. We are due. Since I lost all the corn I had growing between the two 12+ hour episodes of TS force winds from Ian and Nicole, I replaced with beets, radishes and onions. I suspect the brassicas I have in the dirt will tolerate a short freeze/frost, but the nightshades prolly not. I’ll prolly fire up the strawberries here in the next few weeks, and they can handle a frost if need be.
Ha! I mixed Cosmic Purple with regular carrots using the corn starch method. They are loving this spring weather. I can’t get lettuce to germinate at all. I think it’s still too hot. Some days are right at 80. Maybe it doesn’t really like the sandy soil? Whatchoo reckon?
My basil forest is beautiful because I’m letting it bolt. I have blue basil (flowers are blue) and it’s lovely. If you make pesto out of this basil you need a little sugar because it’s a little “grassy” tasting.
Anybody want some radishes? Come get them.
My lettuce is growing in a salad table in rich potting mix, with dappled sunlight behind the giant tomato vine and at the outer edge of the oak tree. Lettuce is very happy in this setting.
My lettuce is growing in a salad table in rich potting mix, with dappled sunlight behind the giant tomato vine and at the outer edge of the oak tree. Lettuce is very happy in this setting.
I can’t get it to germinate, but the place I have the seeds is similar to your description. Maybe the dirt isn’t rich enough or maybe lettuce can go in boxes. Arugula, on the other hand is growing like gang busters in the row over from the lettuce. I didn’t even thin the plants. It just keeps giving.
I sowed all of the different lettuce varieties directly into the salad table with the exception of Bronze Mignonette, which I planted in a seed starter tray. It is a larger head than the other leaf and Tom Thumb varieties. Need to free up some space in the salad table for it.
I recommend starting your lettuce in a rich seed starter medium (e.g. Miracle Gro Moisture Control). My lettuce seeds are germinating in just a few days. Alternatively, you may have a lame batch of seeds.
We have had a lot variable temperature here, 20F to 50F. I have all the Kohl stuff covered up and mulched and with a little bit of heat from pipe heat wrap. Things are growing very slowly and the temperatures are getting ready to go below freezing all day for several days at a time. I will protect the Chinese Cabbage and Kaitlin Cabbage a bit more and and probably bring anything else I can in tomorrow afternoon. (Mizuna and Farao cabbage and Giant red mustard.)
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