The Garden Thread - March, 2024

March 2, 2024 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[Diana in Wisconsin]

The MONTHLY Gardening Thread is a 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.

If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located.

This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked.

It is impossible to hijack the Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table Recipes, Preserving, Good Living - there is no telling where it will go - and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us! Send a Private Message to Diana in Wisconsin if you'd like to be added to/removed from our New & Improved Ping List.

NOTE: This is a once a MONTH Ping List, but we DO post to the thread all throughout the month. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest to Gardeners are welcomed any time!

[Pollard]

Alright all you flower girls. 269 flower growing guides - http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/homegardening/scenee139.html

[MomwithHope]

I can test for pH. It’s been awhile. Thanks for the info. BTW what your doing with technology and gardening is amazing.

[Augie]

The weather has been gorgeous here in Central Missouri over the past week. We even got a bit of rainfall. Not a drought-breaker by any means, but anything is better than nothing at this point.

Worked on yard cleanup and landscaping yesterday. More of the same today. Cut all the tree sprouts on the pond dam and hit the stumps with Tordon RTU. This afternoon I'm working on the hoop net that I bought last fall. It's time for some serious crowd control in the pond and the net should make short work of that.

The remainder of last year's yukon gold potatoes have been telling me that it's time to put them in the ground. The garden is all torn up so what to do with them? I chucked em all on top of the ground and covered them up with composted horse manure. They won't get any love from me this summer but maybe they'll amount to something.

[Pollard]

I've been here 12 years and haven't tested the soil at all but I know the USGS Soil Survey says low 5 pH and everyone here agrees, and limes, which I've never done. As of a couple of hours ago, I have a pack of 100 soil pH test strips on the way. Someday I'll get a lab test for all stuff you can't test for DIY and see how accurate the pH test strips are.

Full time job and wanting to grow a lot of food. Tunnel helps but there's a lot of tattered tunnels and tunnels that have fallen into disuse around here due to the management it requires. Kinda gotta be available all the time. We had a swing of 50 degrees in 14 hours from high to low last week and naturally, that came with high winds. Automation is the only way.

Heading out to get frame 4 of 7 in right now.

[Qiviut]

I am about to go nuts ... we have a high wind warning in effect until tomorrow morning ... northwest winds 25 - 35 mph with gusts up to 55 mph. I’ve had to reposition & re-tie that loose piece of siding which had gotten loose from my original tie-down & was flapping & banging around. My lawn chairs have blown around - one landed on top of the fire pit. The wind is a dull roar - fingers crossed nothing more comes loose or tree branches don’t come down on the roof! Being up on a knoll is great for views but also for wind exposure.

[Pollard]

Frame 4 of 7 is in. Got the next set of holes down to 18 & 21 inches. Will finish them up tomorrow after work and maybe get another frame brought over, hoisted up and dangling in the holes. Could level it Tues and get concrete in Wed. Might happen, might not.

Warm this week, chance of rain Thurs/Fri and cooler and sunny next weekend. As of now.

[Pollard]

It’s been said that you should live on a piece of land for a full year before you do too much so you get to know it a little. My neighbor buddy 6 miles up the road lives on a plateau that’s mostly cleared as pasture. It’s always windier there than it is here. As I take down more trees to the SW, I’ll get a view, and more wind from that predominate wind direction.

[Qiviut]

The back side (western facing) part of the property is open, just fields with no trees so there is nothing to break the wind. The place definitely has its own ‘personality’, much different from our ‘flatland’ house. One issue is not knowing who to call when problems come up that I can’t fix myself, but relatives are pointing me in the right direction for the most part. I will be glad to get through a year here & figure everything out about the house systems & also what is blooming/growing on the land.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Those will probably be the best potatoes you’ve ever grown! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Hunker down! It’s just MARCH blowing through. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

P.S. We had big winds last week. Today I WAS going to pick up the fallen branches and get them into the brush pile but I was having too much ‘help’ from the puppies!

One branch on the pile, three dragged back into the yard!

How I EVER survived SEVEN underfoot is still a mystery to me! The landscaping around the house that year did NOT survive! Beau believes in raising ‘free range puppies’ and that works out well for the most part. And he never complains when I replace shrubbery and such. ;)

[Qiviut]

Lots of branches down! Some are big enough I am going to have to bring an electric (battery) pole saw up here to cut them up.

After much thought about the mower dilemma, I think it makes the most sense to try to get Little Buddy going - LB will fit in the trailer. It will be miserable mowing without a zero turn, but with only 3 acres vs. 10, Clyde needs to stay at the old house until we are truly gone at which point my brother will have to figure something out. If I could trailer Clyde up here every 2 weeks, that would be perfect, but the 60” deck won’t fit in my 5’ trailer. LB is 48”. Also, I have a little trailer for LB which would be great for picking up debris. I need to get a new battery, fix a flat tire & drain old gas, put in some fresh & see if LB will run. If not, I will have to call in some extra help (bro).

Wind still blowing pretty bad - supposed to ease off by tomorrow noon. I probably won’t sleep well tonight.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Nice compost heap! I am sure your potatoes will do well!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

"Are you forgetting that I’m the one with the huge prepper library?"

Given that I used to post this every week do you think I would?

Pollard's F/R profile page is the location of his Prepper links and Data Base and contains the Gardening Resource files. Click anywhere on the ivy covered books link to his homepage!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Diana in the Driftless! Glacial Geology...I lived on a lateral moraine on the side of a large kettle depression called Lake Michigan!

The place of Many Waters! Its beautiful, I always feel at home when I visit, but I know from experience its a lot colder than that picture! Sadly, the old retired me does not have the spare change for that 2nd winter place in Gulf Shores or some Dell Web community in Arizona!

[Pollard]

Five gallon buckets, mylar bags as liners, sealed with O2 absorbers inside that suck it into a state of vacuum. It’s been the prepper method for nearly 20 years back when I learned it. Smaller buckets and smaller O2 absorbers work too.

As I said, I replied without having read your earlier replies and we were both saying the same thing. Didn’t mean to offend.

[Augie]

Those will probably be the best potatoes you’ve ever grown! :)

If they aren't the best they'll surely be the easiest.

The smaller heap to the left of the pic with the little tufts of green coming out - that's the soil from the corner of my garden where the winter onions lived. I didn't want to be fighting onions in my raised beds for the rest of my life so I put that dirt in a separate pile from the rest. I think that I'm going to leave it where it's at for now and see how they like it there. I can always move some to a dedicated raised bed later on if I don't like how they're doing.

@Pete - That's a small heap of horse manure that came out of the barn earlier in the winter. It burned down nicely I think. Spuds ought to be decent there if we get rain when they need it.

I took a few minutes to wet a line in the pond after I was done choring yesterday. Pulled two more welfare eaters out and put them to the knife. They'll be joining us for taco night this week. For scale, the cutting board is 24" wide.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Impressive! I do so wish we had a pond! Beau has been trying to build one in the pasture, but he’s not hitting the spring, I guess.

We do have a pretty good Trout Stream over the hill on the neighbor’s property. He says we can fish it if we want, but we have to be quiet about it, LOL! (This is the same guy we buy pork from.)

[Pollard]

Frame 4 of 7 in. Upper body still sore so I didn’t do any more digging tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

A pleasant surprise Sun morning. My automation controllers had updated to the new time.

[Augie]

Building a pond in the field, eh?

Suggest that Beau do a google search for Pond Boss Magazine and check out the discussion forum there. Lots of pond pros, along to a number of very experienced laymen, on that site who will offer free advice and suggestions for success.

They also offer for sale a couple or three books on the subject of building/maintaining ponds and a paper magazine published semi-monthly that is loaded with great info for pond owners.

Highly recommended.