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Posted on 05/01/2024 6:00:41 AM PDT by 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.
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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.
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I was just surfing that soup thread you once put up......
the yummy recipes there make your mouth water.....
especially the restaurant potato soup you posted.
We need a repeat thread.
Can you check the tag? From what you’re describing, it sounds like a ‘Hothouse Hydrangea’ that they force into bloom this time of year - just in time for Mother’s Day! They are not really suitable for planting - they’re all for show, which I think is downright MEAN! :(
If there is a care/info tag, let me know what you’ve got there.
Oh, I buy at least ONE frivolous plant or garden-thingy that I don’t need EVERY season. You’d think I’d know better, having managed a Garden Center where my JOB was to get you to buy lots of stuff you don’t need...but I still fall for it, myself, LOL!
My ‘customer’ was a Woman in her 50’s, Married, Empty Nester (if she raised them right!) with lots of disposable income to hand over to ME! ;)
Enjoy it! It sounds gorgeous! :)
When I said ‘mowing’ I meant brush clearing and eating everything in sight. He has wooded parts on the edge of the pasture that need a good clean-out.
Neither here nor there - he hasn’t been talking GOATS, lately. Of course not! It’s nearly time to head to Canada to fish, then it’s time for Bear Training Camp, LOL!
Right now he’s napping because he and Emma Jolene (Treeing Walker Coon Hound - NOTE his girlfriend, LOL!) are going Raccoon hunting tonight. ;)
No puppies, yet! Taylor was due TODAY _ but she’s obviously not looking at her calendar. I kind of hope it happens this weekend because Mom and some of her BFFs are coming out for Mother’s Day and she will be BEYOND thrilled to show off newborn puppies to her friends. :)
You’ve got a lot to keep track of with all those gizmos. ;)
I spent a good part of the afternoon laying fresh mulch all around my greenhouse garden beds where I grow (easy!) roses and perennial grasses, Sedum and Day Lily. I’m a little sore this evening! ($2.00 a bag on sale - score!)
Also started ‘strategically’ placing tomato cages so I can plot out who goes where and so I don’t OVERDO IT and keep to my allotted 24 plants this season versus growing 32 and nearly killing myself with canning them all! (I’m getting too old for this!)
Got a few more ‘spring things’ planted - Broccoli and more lettuces. Got some Porch Pots planted up - but since we’re tearing the porch apart, they’ll just be ‘Anywhere in the Yard or Garden’ pots this season. ;)
Yes! ‘Lisa’s Famous Potato Soup’ is a staple here all winter.
Plenty of Spring Soups to make, though. Asparagus Soup comes to mind right off top. HINT! :)
If you want to take charge of this, and post recipes based upon what’s ready in the garden each month that can become a soup, that would be GREAT! :)
(Cold or Hot - I also loves me a good Gazpacho!)
The only thing of any consequence I got done yesterday was getting the truck inspected. I called Tuesday for an appointment, figuring they wouldn’t have an opening until week after next (I will be ‘gone’ next week); however, they had openings yesterday & today. Dropped the truck off at 8, got a call at 10:30 to pick it up - no problems. :-)
Our high temperature yesterday was 91 - didn’t quite make it to the record temp of 92. I’m not acclimated to temps in the 90’s yet, so I stayed indoors. I would rather have been loading the trailer with my slate slabs for the back entrance to the shop, maybe some large pots, a roll of hardware cloth, and two posts for hanging a gate. We’ve decided to gate the driveway at the new house. I also have a new EGO weed trimmer to take along this trip - two members of the family each have one and really like it.
Today could be rough - severe weather coming from the midwest should hit our area. If the sun is out a lot, that heat will make things worse.”All hazards are possible, but strong damaging winds are the most likely risk” per the weather mets. We just got one old (actually ‘ancient’ is more like it) apple tree cleaned up that toppled over - there’s another in the field that could go with any storm, plus a big dead pine near the barn (leaning away, so I hope that’s the way it falls). After today, temps should drop to the 70’s so that will be much better for working outside.
Thanks for reminding me. Just set the alarm on my phone to remind me to stop for more $1.50 plants on the way home today. Probably get another Sun Sugar then a couple each of whatever tomatoes they have that I don’t and some peppers. They have a lot more than shisito.
Gotta go out here in a few and pick up the plants that the wind knocked over. I can put them back in the seed tray now. I don’t have one with holes so I took the plants out so they wouldn’t drown with the rain. I’ll punch some holes in a tray or two after work. Will be handy for bottom watering instead of taking the pots out and putting in a different tray with water for a while and then putting them all back in the dry tray.
You are right about everything Pollard! Add destroying fencing. At one time we had 5 well behaved, pedigreed and gentle. Our pasture gate had a good locking hasp on it. Came home from church and all 5 were out in the yard, just looked at us like - where you been? They love to eat your flowers especially tulips. After that we used the same lock but also a bungie cord wrapped tight around the posts.
Some areas will have someone with a herd of goats that you can just rent for a few days. That way they could clean out some of your pasture and Beau could decide based on that. Try before you buy.
Is that for May 8-14 or the next 8-14 days out from now? Which is kind of essentially the same time frame now that I think about it.....
That said, I’m still a bit gun shy about frosts and tomatoes. They like it warm. So for now they are quite happy inn their pots waiting to go in the ground.
They are growing very well and a nice size. I got a good head start on getting them started.
I also need to finish prepping the bed, which I plan to do the rest of this week.
We had a big snow dump like that last year, April. The Robins were LESS than happy about it! The needed shovels to find worms. ;)
A few cool days ahead - nothing in the garden that can’t stand cooler weather, so things should be fine. Highs in the 60’s, but nighttime temps (which matter most this time of year for us) are still in the 50’s.
Rain, today and probably Saturday. Still waiting for those puppies to be born!
From may 1st. 2 Week Extended Forecast in Concord, New Hampshire, USA https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/usa/concord/ext. Fill your rain barrels!
Yes, in my experience, toms grow better with warmth and moderate sun than cool with lots of sun. And with no sunny days forecast for the next 2 weeks then I am waiting till next Mon to begin planting, as from Tues thru the 23rd day temps are forecast to be in the 60s and 50's at night, though the pros say that the soil temp should be 60. Which would mean June where you are! Kinda like Scotland for now. Thank God we have better conditions to grow than Siberia!
I planted my onions that I started from seed and about half of them didn’t make it. Lots of attrition. It’s very frustrating to put in all that time and effort and have precious little to show for it.
I got frustrated and just put a bunch of the seeds, the seeds went right in the ground where the missing plants were. I don’t know how soon they’ll come up and if they’ll get to a decent size before bulbing time hits.
I’ve had better luck other years.
I’m interested in trying to grow my own onion sets. The information online is not very specific. I get that they need to be sowed thickly to force the bulb size to remain small. Other than that, when should I start them, when should I harvest them, and how do I store them to keep them from rotting or drying out and dying until next spring? The bulbs are so small.
FWIW, I still have onions left from last year’s harvest and only a few have started sprouting. They have lasted really long for me this year.
Is it still in the POT and acting as you described? If it’s warm enough, get it into the ground, ASAP. You’ve got the whole summer to get her to do her thing.
If the leaves are turning ‘crispy’ that is, surprisingly, a symptom of too much water.
She’ll be much happier in the ground than in that pot. :)
If the roots look really pot-bound, make sure to take a sharp knife and make slashes, vertically, a number of times around the root ball.
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