Weekly Gardening Thread – 2011 (Vol. 13) April 8

Free Republic | 04-08-2011 | Red_Devil 232

[Red_Devil 232]

Good morning gardeners. I hope things are going well for all the gardeners. My seedling trays are over flowing with growth. I have heirloom tomatoes, Marion and Arkansas Travelers ready for repotting. Paste tomatoes and squash were repotted a few days ago. I Also have a few types of flowers also doing well. I will plant some hot peppers in my garden also. Hot peppers have always done well for me. Sweet Bell peppers I have always had problems growing but will try them once again.

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.

[fanfan]

plus someone took my young mind and put it in a old mans body and I can hardly lift my feet to walk.

Tell me about it!

I was on crutches a few days last week, and Hubby became upset when he saw me raking the lawn yesterday.

At least I can't rake today; we had the second "flood of the century" last night. The first one was last Aug.

[tubebender]

I moved to the north coast in 1954 to flee the earthquakes of the great central valley and Surprise Surprise... We had the earthquake of the Century, then a year later we had the Flood of the Century which was followed in 1964 by the Flood of the Century, but I digest...

[tillacum]

I’ll be trying it in my larger pots. I appreciate the information.

[tillacum]

I am too, I have the Black Krim, and Aunt Ruby’s Green German Striped toms.

[joesjane]

Thanks so much for the tips and wish me luck!

[Bean Counter]

Hi Folks! I hope the snow is melting where you are...

I’ve been very busy over the past several days as we’ve had a run of decent weather, at least decent as compared to some of the weather I’ve seen lately. I did get run inside this afternoon during a particularly vigorous hail storm. It was over in half an hour and the sun was shining again. Sunny again tomorrow then another extended period of rain after that.

I managed to extend the retaining wall and pavers by about 20 feet on Saturday. The weather was nice and I got on a roll.

Today I was digging out another section of raised bed behind the new wall.

I shredded up 2 blocks of coconut coir, about 6 cubic feet worth, and sprinkled it evenly over the compost bin. I had a wheelbarrow of clean soil that I added as well, then took my small rototiller and chopped it all together very nicely. The coir really helps break up the chunks of compost and the end result was perfect and ready for the new bed. I’m still grating the soil to remove the rocks, and I thank God I only have to do that once...

I dug the pit out a good 2 feet deep, and broke the bottom up pretty good with the fork. I laid in a 3” bed of chicken yard straw with a good dose of manure, and proceeded to bury it with layers of soil and compost. That base layer draws in the worms and encourages them to dig ever deeper....

All of my garden sowed seeds are up and doing very well, and my starter seeds inside have begun to germinate. By the time the new raised bed is ready for them the starters should be ready for hardening and transplanting.

All in all, a busy week behind me and to tell the truth I’ll be ready for a couple of days worth of rain so I can get some other things done...

Cheers!

[afraidfortherepublic]

Following is a pic that appeared in our local newspaper this week touting community gardens. What caught my eye is that they said that the boys were planting cotton, along with other crops. The story commented that one of the boys uses the cotton to "stuff pillows". The story seems to be gone, now, but the picture lingers on. Who'da thunk anybody would ever grow cotton in Milwaukee? Wauwatosa, no less -- heart of the city!

Sean Gelles of Milwaukee (right) and Dan Barsch of Wauwatosa (left) enjoyed the warm weather and worked on getting their plot ready to plant in the community garden in Underwood Park in Wauwatosa.

[fanfan]

Yeah, there is no getting away from life, eh?

At least I'm walking again. How about you? Will the body cooperate?

[fanfan]

Does cotton grow in zone 4?

[Red_Devil 232]

Must be some pretty small pillows they are stuffing!

[tubebender]

Yeah, there is no getting away from life, eh?

Well I forgot to tell you that we are waiting for the earthquake of the millennium which happens every 200 years and the last one was 1799.

Ever so slowly I am getting things done in the big garden but you would need a program to know where I am and where I am not. Started cutting the cover crop of Bell Beans and Oats and composting it with some straw and and Redwood needles that I use for winter mulch. My original wife is up to her elbows transplanting her flower seedlings to pony 6 packs and she has finished 12 flats of 72 cells in 3 hours. Rain promised for the next 6 day... unnnngh

[Red_Devil 232]

My body does not know how young my brain is and my brain does not realize how old the body has become. But we seem to survive each others whims!

[tubebender]

Why don’t they just ask JaDB for a module of cotton for their pillows?

[tubebender]

Don’t fret Red cause as the brain will soon catch with your older body...

[tillacum]

What did you use to shred the Cocoanut coir? I’ve pulled my “circles of coir” and hand cut the shreds. Is there a better way of shredding it?

[Bean Counter]

The product I am using is called "Beats Peat" and I buy it at Home Depot. It is shredded and compressed coconut coir, and it is ph neutral as opposed to peatmoss which is very acidic. It is 100% organic as well.,

That one block is equivalent to 3 cubic feet of peat, and costs just under $8, where 3 cubic feet of peatmoss is around $23. Quite a bargain if you're building soil like I am...

You have to break up the four slabs that come in a pack. They separate easily. I have a couple of plastic concrete mixing tubs I use around the garden, and I shred up the slabs in one of those. I use a hatchet to break it up into smaller pieces, then use my hands to break it up completely. Wear gloves because it will leach all of the oil out of you hands, and wear a dustmask because this stuff generates fine dust that you don't want to breathe.

Once it's broken up it's simple to add to the garden and the particles swell up with water pretty quickly. You can see it in the soil because it does not break down as fast as peatmoss. It makes excellent compost extender and holds as much if not more water than peatmoss does.

Good stuff!

[afraidfortherepublic]

I never heard of cotton growing here, but who am I to say? The real question is, how much cotton could you possibly grow in an urban Community Garden? I suspect that we don’t have a long enough growing season. When I was visiting my son in South Carolina for Thanksgiving, they were still picking cotton in late November.

I remember it that way in CA when I was a child, too. The migrant workers were still in their dwellings in the weeks before Christmas. My church used to take gifts and meals to them. If the crop were in, they’d have already been back in Mexico.

I suspect the young gardeners were yanking the chain of the reporter who probably deosn’t know any better.

[tillacum]

Thank you for the “Beats Peat” information. I’m going to Waco tomorrow and will stop by Home Depot.

[tillacum]

She is a fast worker, in fact you both are energenic.

[tillacum]

You’ve got that right, Diana. I cannot understand how anyone can sit through a soap opera. We were in a cafeteria one time and there was a soap playing. I thought it was an x-rated movie..when I asked about it, the manager turned that program to the news channel. Just got some climbing spinach, and some tomatoe plants that are supposed to produce GIANT tomatoes. We’ll see. The poor plants were kind of wilted so into the soil they went. The strawberry plants are hanging in a tree and we’ll see what happens. I’m putting the spinach in a good sized pot and lit it climb on my shed. We have a beautiful black cat that has moved under my garden shed. He has the most beautiful golden eyes. He acts like he was once a house cat, right now he lets me know he’s there, but stays his distance. I have put out a water pot and give him some goodies. Hubby, says “NO he’s not allowed in the house”, I hadn’t even thought of that.