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Weekly Gardening Thread – 2010 (Vol. 19) June 11
Free Republic | 06-11-2010 | Red_Devil 232

Posted on 06/11/2010 5:02:26 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232

Good morning gardeners. It looks like from all the pictures and comments that most of your gardens are coming along great. My garden is about three weeks behind where it was last year at this time but all is well and it is coming along fine.

If you are a gardener or you are just starting out and are in need of advice or just encouragement please feel free to join in and enjoy the friendly discussion. Our Freeper community is full of gardeners, each with varying interests and skill levels from Master Gardener to novice.

If you have a question about gardening or just an observation to share please feel free to stop by and participate. There are no stupid questions, just honest ones.


TOPICS: Agriculture; Food; Hobbies
KEYWORDS: garden; gardening; recipes; weekly
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To: tubebender
”I had the best view of anyone,” Daniels said, noting bombardiers operated from the glass bubble on the plane's nose.

We have known 2 different men in two different times of our lives in 2 different states who served in WWII as bombadiers. Somehow, both managed to bring home aerial pictures of their exploits as souvenirs. To make matters weirder, BOTH men eventually married women from the countries that they bombed. And BOTH wives (while perusing the old pictures) recognized the aerial shots of their home towns. As far as I know, both marriages survived.

One man bombed his wife's home town in Japan and one man bombed his wife's home town in Germany. We knew one couple in Oakland, CA and the other couple in Everett, WA. Weird?

241 posted on 06/14/2010 6:20:48 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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To: tubebender; Diana in Wisconsin; Red_Devil 232; Black Agnes; fanfan; hoosiermama; JustaDumbBlonde; ..

My onions want to bloom. I know that they are not anywhere near large enough to harvest. Should I be cutting of those blooms to allow the bulbs to grow larger? Or, do they continue to grow, even though they are blooming?


242 posted on 06/14/2010 6:23:19 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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To: afraidfortherepublic

I wont say it!


243 posted on 06/14/2010 6:27:48 PM PDT by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: tubebender

Are you sure you did not grow just a wee bit just so you could see it fly over? Twice?


244 posted on 06/14/2010 6:34:22 PM PDT by MtnClimber (Osama and Obama both hate freedom and have friends that bombed the Pentagon)
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To: Red_Devil 232

Fourth day in a row with rain/sleet mix. Yesterday was some snow too, but all melted today. The snowline is not too high in elevation above the huge and vast rocky MtnClimber estate in Colorado judging from the view over the deck facing west.


245 posted on 06/14/2010 6:53:55 PM PDT by MtnClimber (Osama and Obama both hate freedom and have friends that bombed the Pentagon)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

Yes, that is weird. One of my brothers was a bombardier on a B17 and after 17 runs spent 11 months in Stalag III. He didn’t bring much home with him but memories. He married a gal for Odessa Tx and it is possible he bombed her home on a practice run while training around there.

I can’t help you with the onions but what do you have to lose if you try half of them...


246 posted on 06/14/2010 6:59:52 PM PDT by tubebender (Life is short so drink the good wine first...)
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To: MtnClimber

Saw a picture of a funnel cloud somewhere in the CO. Mts. on FNC today. Neat!


247 posted on 06/14/2010 6:59:58 PM PDT by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: MtnClimber

I have to admit the Redoods are huge but I’m not going to compete with the Rocky Mountains as your back yard...


248 posted on 06/14/2010 7:02:00 PM PDT by tubebender (Life is short so drink the good wine first...)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

I wish I knew the answer to the onion question, but I don’t have a clue.


249 posted on 06/14/2010 7:18:22 PM PDT by JustaDumbBlonde (Don't wish doom on your enemies. Plan it.)
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To: Red_Devil 232; MtnClimber; afraidfortherepublic; All

I drove my wife to and from the eye Doc this morning and didn’t get out until 11 and filled 49 large, medium and small planters for the decks and then she started planting her annuals. I’ll get a total count when we are done but I have already used 23 cu-ft of Black Gold. Our son in law came over earlier to do some serious weed whacking over the “hill” and he’ll be back tomorrow to finish.(that’s what he thinks). I have a morning appointment for a hearing test and a tuneup on my current hearing aid and then fill more pots before moving back out into the garden.

BTW... all this activity is about a month late for us...


250 posted on 06/14/2010 7:25:42 PM PDT by tubebender (Life is short so drink the good wine first...)
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To: tubebender
Our son in law came over earlier to do some serious weed whacking over the “hill” and he’ll be back tomorrow ...

Heeee Heeeeee I read that and figured "now that is some serious weed whacking when tommorrow is the expected return date!" Maybe he actually did go "over the hill"?

251 posted on 06/14/2010 7:40:15 PM PDT by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: Red_Devil 232

That funnel cloud was near Leadville which is about 10.000 ft elevation and about 100 miles SW from here. The funnel cloud was near Mt Massive, the 2nd highest peak in CO and just west of Leadville. I climbed Mt Massive about 10 years ago after 2 other tries where I had to turn back due to hail and lightning. The third try was clear and very good weather, a pretty easy climb. Only Mountain Goats tempting my dog Shadow to run into dangerous slopes were a problem. He was on all the other attempts too and hated the lightning, but liked chasing critters and truly loved going into the mountains.

I only plan to take dogs on “hiking” type routes, but had one occasion downclimbing a nearly vertical route with Shadow, he was a 70 lb Belgian Sheep Dog, on my shoulders with no rope and a small storm moving in with intense lightning. The guide book was written by a type of climber who boosts his ego by saying something is very easy when it is really difficult. I climbed Audobon Peak and then crossed a narrow ridge to climb Payute Peak. Going down from the low point of the ridge to the south was supposed to be easy even though this was in spring with much ice and snow. So I found myself and my good old dog Shadow (deceased from old age now)on about a 2,000 ft descent to easier ground that gradually got worse going down on the south slope until the last 1,000 ft was narrow, slanted ledges that were only about 6 inches wide at times and with vertical drop off. I carried Shadow down on my shoulders and I could tell he was keeping his shivering and reaction to lightning strikes under control, but I could clearly feel them. At times the ledges got wide enough I could let Shadow down on his own and at the next narrow ledge he would let me help him back on my shoulders. The last few hundred feet of steep slope was a snow field and we slid down effortlessly. I needed to put Shadow on leash to comply with park regs and I found it had fallen out of my parka pocket at the top of the snowfield. So, dead tired, I had to climb up without crampons or ice axe and get the leash. I then slid down and put shadow on leash which always embarrased him. The storm continued most of the way back to the SUV with lightning frequent and close. Shadow was happy when we got in the SUV and I was still shaking. The weather in the mountains is always unpredictable!


252 posted on 06/14/2010 8:22:27 PM PDT by MtnClimber (Osama and Obama both hate freedom and have friends that bombed the Pentagon)
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To: Red_Devil 232

I haven’t told him about out front and across the street but he is going stir crazy at home as he is one of the unemployed and receiving unemployment benefits. He only lasted 2 hours today although he did get a lot done and the grass is 16” to 24” high and hard to cut but he hasn’t totally mastered getting down near the roots. He’ll learn or I’ll get his son to show him...


253 posted on 06/14/2010 8:34:48 PM PDT by tubebender (Life is short so drink the good wine first...)
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To: MtnClimber

I am told by spellin’ gods that the peaks are Audubom PK and Paiute Pk.


254 posted on 06/14/2010 8:40:34 PM PDT by MtnClimber (Osama and Obama both hate freedom and have friends that bombed the Pentagon)
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To: CH3CN

Get a Thermacell. I live bayou country where the mosquitoes came in a close second to the pelican in a contest for our state bird. My Thermacell has never let me down, and I have been in some situations where you could hardly breathe without taking in the mosquitoes. The only time it is not effective is when the wind is blowing badly.


255 posted on 06/14/2010 9:23:40 PM PDT by JustaDumbBlonde (Don't wish doom on your enemies. Plan it.)
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To: afraidfortherepublic
All about onion

12. Q: Should I remove the flower stalks from my onion plants?

A: No. Once the onion plant has bolted, or sent up a flower stalk, there is nothing you can do to eliminate this problem. The onion bulbs still will be edible but probably will be smaller. Use these onions as soon as possible because the green flower stalk which emerges through the center of the bulb will make storage almost impossible.

256 posted on 06/15/2010 3:20:26 AM PDT by lysie
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To: lysie; tubebender; JustaDumbBlonde

Thank you for your thoughts on onions. One thing I learned this year is that I shall always plant red onion sets. I like them the best, since I mostly use them for green onions snipped into salad.

The article lysie referenced answers all my questions and even some questions I never thought to ask! I’ve saved it for future reference and printed it to share with a friend. I imagine the early bolting I’m experiencing is a result of wide temperature fluctuations here — a week of 80s followed by a week of 50s and 60s.

Dang! It’s hard to grow food!


257 posted on 06/15/2010 4:24:42 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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To: randita

Thanks for the tip on growing coriander. I’m going to scratch some later today. Wish me luck!

You mentioned lettuce so I’ll pass on a ‘find’ that I’m really happy with. ‘Summer Crisp’ lettuce from Burpee. I grew it a few years ago & couldn’t find it again until this year when I spotted it on the Burpee seed rack at WalMart. Held up really good for me during the summer planted in a flower box that was sitting on the ground at the end of the house. My house sits katty-wompous w/ a lot of trees so the lettuce got morning sun only.) Never bolted & didn’t get bitter. (Look for a Batavia type lettuce if you can’t find Summer Crisp. Batavia’s are supposed to hold up better as a main season lettuce. ‘Nevada’ is one of the more common Batavias.)


258 posted on 06/15/2010 4:37:14 AM PDT by elli1
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To: Red_Devil 232

Please add me to the Gardening Thread ping list!


259 posted on 06/15/2010 4:42:24 AM PDT by elli1
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To: lysie

Thanks for that link. Good info on onions.


260 posted on 06/15/2010 5:11:50 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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