[Red_Devil 232]

Weekly Gardening Thread

Weekly Gardening Thread

[Red_Devil 232]

Ping to the Weekly Gardening Ping List.

I hope all of you will stop by.

This is typically a low volume ping list. Once a week for the thread and every once in a while for other FR threads posted that might be of interest.

If you would like to be added to or removed from the list please let me know by FreepMail or by posting to me.

[Red_Devil 232]

Link to a FR post by Diana in Wisconsin A New Call to the Farm (From 1906!)

[momtothree]

Not that it means a hill of beans but I saw my first robin yesterday. (Maryland) Of course, this morning temperature is 11. However, I am clinging to my robin sighting!!

[doodad]

Good morning,

I have all my seeds in place and the garden opens in two weeks. Intersting that many of us did soil tests recently. Most used the extension service, but I grabbed a colorimetric kit off the shelf. My kit showed low levels of P and N, but all the extension tests came back fine. Not sure if the kit was to blame or if my bed, which was used extensively last year, is really low. I am going to amend with fish meal and top with mushroom compost just to be sure and start planting.

Lettuce and greens, radishes and such are round 1.

[Daisyjane69]

FWIW, folks....

Crop loss in Mexico from last week’s blizzard - 80 to 100%

http://www.stevequayle.com/News.alert/11_Cosmic/110209.Sysco.Mexico.Freeze.pdf

[Augie]

Looking forward to the coming heat wave here in central Missouri. It was a balmy 10° above zero when I left the house this morning. Heading for daytime temps in the 50°s over the weekend. Will be nice to get rid of this cursed snow.

[metmom]

Well, we’re FINALLY supposed to be seeing temperatures above freezing more days than not around here.

It’s actually supposed to be getting into the 40’s for w few days.

Once the trees thaw out, it will be maple syrup time. I hope the temperatures cooperate this year. If it warms up too fast, it will ruin the syrup season again, as it did last year.

[John 3_19-21]

Please add me

[sneakers]

I have seeds on order as well, like other freepers. We’ll be buying wood for raised beds and the materials for deer fencing. The deer population around here is through the roof, and last year our pathetic little garden was a smorgasbord for them. I guess deer aren’t that picky!

[Mrs. Don-o]

FREE SEED EXCHANGE

Thrifty? Gifty? Curious? Generous? Spare seeds? Rare seeds? For a tiny plot? Or a flower- pot?

Send seeds? Befriend seeds? Just want 10 seeds?

If you have garden seeds you can offer other FReepers for free, for a SASE, and/or in exchange for other seeds, please send me your info. (Private Message Mrs. Don-o) and I will add you to this list, which I will post on the garden thread from time to time. Please also Private Message me to be removed when you no longer have the seeds to offer. FReepo-seedoholics can contact each other by Private Message to arrange any transactions.

Remember that old seeds may have reduced germination. (Although I’ve had great luck with them. And for free, you can't lose...) If possible, list year and variety.

Mrs. Don-o

I CAN OFFER
Acorn Squash (2009)
Borage (2009)
Basil (“Genovese” 2010)
Rainbow Chard (“Bright Lights” 2010)
Kale (’10)

INTERESTED IN
Kefir grain (live culture)
Berry plants, any kind
...(small rooted cuttings or rooted runners)

[Racehorse]

Bought two 6-packs of BHN-444 and Tycoon tomatoes. The Tycoon is this year's San Antonio Rodeo and Stock Show pick.

Tycoon is a large, firm, oblate tomato that has very high yield potential, with outstanding fruit quality, on a determinate plant. It is a mid-early variety with heat set ability and high tolerance to tomato yellow leaf curl virus. Tycoon also offers tolerance to verticilium, fuzarium race 1 and 2, nematodes, and tomato spotted wilt virus.

We'll see. Gets mighty hot around here.

Got a new crop of heirloom tomato and pepper seedlings started. I think I've trapped or poisoned all the house mice which laid waste to my first crop. Sure hope so. At the end of February comes the cucumbers, cantaloupe, and squash.

[Ellendra]

The way prices keep going up, I really need to find a way to get my house built, so I can start raising my own meats. At the moment, I live an hour away from my land, and last year I think I only got out there a few times. This year I’m hoping I can get there about once a week during the warmer months, but I’m not going to count on it, so everything I plant has to be able to look after itself.

The good news is, I just got a new job, so I’ll actually be able to afford the gas to drive out there!

[TASMANIANRED]

Kale and lettuce going strong in my cold frame.

[Bean Counter]

Hi everyone! I hope the snow is melting wherever you are...

I took the plunge this week and scored my water tank today. I had shopped the tank online some time ago, and had priced it out at $239.00; plus shipping, and you had to call them for shipping. I figured it would be a substantial amount to have it shipped, so I checked with the local feed store (Wilco) and they got a quote from a local manufacturer who makes them right up the road from me; retail was $302, with tax it would have been $327.00.

So I called the online place to check on shipping. Sure enough, this guy in Texas is a broker for the same local company in Washougal, Washington, right up the road, who makes hot spin-cast plastic tanks of every description.

The bottom line is that I paid for it online, with a modest "will call" fee; the total came to $250. Of course since he is in Texas, he does not collect Washington sales tax...instead he gave me a call code since this company is a wholesaler, and I was able to go pick it up this afternoon. I saved almost $80 on this!!







I have temporarily relocated the downspout into the top of the manhole, as it is supposed to start raining this evening, through at least the weekend. Good chance this tank is full come Monday. Once it's at least half full I will take the last strap off the pedestal.

I installed a 1 1/2" plastic ball valve on the lower @" port, and will arrange the overflow out of the 1 1/2" upper port later on. The idea is that the overflow goes into the drip irrigation system, so excess water is always shed to the bed where it can be stored as well. The idea now involves a 1" black plastic pipe manifold down the length of the retention wall, with 1/2" funnypipe off of that, that will ultimately feed the emitters. The 1" manifold will ensure I get good flow all the way to the end of the bed.

So here's a few comments on the math of this. The tank cost me $250 for 300 gallons of capacity. I had 2 alternatives; 55 gallon food grade plastic barrels at $25 apiece or the outlandishly expensive ($100!!) "rain barrels" they sell at the home stores like Lowes and Home Depot.

To get the same capacity as this tank, I would need six barrels, at $300, that take up a lot more space than this does, and needs a small fortune worth of piping to tap into. Or, almost $600 worth of "rain barrels" that are marginally useful if used one to a downspout...I'm not sure how I could hook six of them together to get 300 gallons...

Any kind of barrel based system has to have an extensive support system to get it up in the air high enough to have a usable head, so I think my pedestal for this installation is a lot cheaper to buy and a lot easier to construct than any barrel system, and I have 2 elevated barrel systems, 4 barrels total, that are fed off of my shop, and water my patio garden...

This isn't finished, but you can sure get an idea of how it's going to look. It blocks some of the morning sun, but the good news is that warms the tank, and it will never freeze here. You cannot see it from the street either and if anything it increases the privacy of the back yard.

My neighbor and I have discussed replacing the fence some day soon, and we already plan to raise it a foot, and add some soil to his side to even things out. There's always something....

[daisy mae for the usa]

Could you please add me to your ping list? Thank you!

[who knows what evil?]

20 cent packs of vegetable seed at Wal-Mart; for anyone who might be interested...

[greeneyes]

Finally got a chance to get on the computer! Thanks for the thread, Red. Beautiful weekend here in Missouri with sunshine and mild temperatures. Snow is still on the ground, but melting rapidly off the roof.

The largest of the limes is now almost the size of a ping pong ball. The table where the tomatoes are sitting looks like a jungle, and has blooms and 1 tiny green tomato.

I am still looking at seed catalogs. I get 2 or 3 new catalogs every week. We decided to order Goji berries to add to our fruit, nut and berries landscape area.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. God Bless.

[who knows what evil?]

Has anyone ever implemented the ‘Vegetable Garden Planner’ software at the Mother Earth site as of yet? Worth a look...

[tubebender]

I try to listen to a radio garden show on Sunday mornings and they have been promoting the Grafted Tomatoes and had one of the developers on this morning. Here is a couple of Links

Grafted Tomatoes You'll find many more Veggies if you are patient and follow the index at the bottom

[Bean Counter]

So when I got up Saturday morning after it rained overnight, I found the tank had 175 gallons of water in it, and I realized I had to get at least an overflow line on it as rain is predicted here all week long.



Here is the fill filter under construction. I cut a plywood ring to fit a plastic bucket, and screwed it to the top of the tank using the screwholes for the manhole cover. The bucket gets most of the bottom cut off so there is only a 2" flange left under the lower molded ring on the bucket. It sits in the ring and will be sealed with silicon. I take a pair of nylon paint strainers that are made to fit a five gallon bucket, place them inside and secure them with the bucket lid. I previously cut a hole in the bucket lid for the downspout to go into.

This makes the fill mosquito proof, and filters anything that rinses out of the gutters.



I could have just run an overflow pipe from the top drain hole for now, but I decided to go ahead and plumb the whole thing right off. It cost me about $20 for parts, and I had quite a bit of material onhand from other projects.

You can see a piece of clear tubing next to the vertical piece of black pipe, that is the sightglass so I can see what the water level is.



I plumbed everything in 1" PVC, and installed a 1" solenoid valve that will be controlled by the sprinkler controller for the backyard. I included a bypass valve, a sightglass tube in the back, and a clear bucket filler hose with a valve on the front. We use a lot of fish emulsion fertilizer and it's really handy to fill a watering can from the tank. You can see the vertical black plastic hose next to the sightglass; that is the overflow, and it bypasses the valves and overflows directly to the drip emitters. No water gets wasted.

As I hoped, as soon as a couple of hundred pounds of water got in there, the pedestal stones were locked tightly in place. It's very solid and isn't going anywhere.

The plan now is to finish the retaining wall and start working on the soil in the beds. The 1" plastic hose manifold is hooked up now and that gives me plenty of water on that end of the house now. It rains here through mid-summer so the tank should stay replenished.

Later this summer I will build a protective cover of some sort to put over the valves and dress it up a little...