Posted on 12/14/2012 11:34:17 AM PST by greeneyes
The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly 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.
This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. 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 Weekly Gardening Thread ... there is no telling where it will go and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us!
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It has been a great Sunny Morning here in Missouri. It's 56 degrees with a low tonight of only 45. Tomorrow will be 61 and low of 40. Woohoo! A Great Gettin' UP Gardening Weekend for sure.
If you didn't tune in last week, you missed a little dust-up flame, and responses unparallelled in my time on the Garden Thread, but apologies were given. Thanks to everyone for their support. I wasn't sure we had that many people left who were still reading the thread.LOL.
Anyhow, my newly planted Spinach and lettuce has begun to sprout. I still have fresh tomatoes to eat. Peppers are growing like gangbusters, and the lemon tree has 24 marble sized lemons on it. I think I might have to pinch off a few of the smaller ones.
Hope you are all doing well. Have a great weekend. God Bless.
Pinging the List. A few ideas were sent to me as noted below.
From Black Agnes:
I found a heat tolerant corn variety at southern exposure seed exchange:
http://www.southernexposure.com/corn-dent-flint-flour-corn-c-3_18_72.html
‘jellicorse twin’.
Just in case you want to try something this coming summer?
http://www.keydesignsolutions.com/cornculture/table1.htm
is a really good resource for the older OP field corn varieties.
From Free Vulcan:
If you wish, when you post the garden thread today, I have a number of old seeds that I’d love to give away. Many are old and don’t know how they’d germinate, but they’ve been in the freezer for a majority of the time. My garden plan is full and I’ll never plant them again, so I’d like for them to go to a good home.
My wish is for someone to take them all to save on postage, but if that turns into several people so be it. If anyone wants they can freepmail me, I will send them a list, and I’ll mail them out to them what they want.
Pinging the List. A few ideas were sent to me as noted below.
From Black Agnes:
I found a heat tolerant corn variety at southern exposure seed exchange:
http://www.southernexposure.com/corn-dent-flint-flour-corn-c-3_18_72.html
‘jellicorse twin’.
Just in case you want to try something this coming summer?
http://www.keydesignsolutions.com/cornculture/table1.htm
is a really good resource for the older OP field corn varieties.
From Free Vulcan:
If you wish, when you post the garden thread today, I have a number of old seeds that I’d love to give away. Many are old and don’t know how they’d germinate, but they’ve been in the freezer for a majority of the time. My garden plan is full and I’ll never plant them again, so I’d like for them to go to a good home.
My wish is for someone to take them all to save on postage, but if that turns into several people so be it. If anyone wants they can freepmail me, I will send them a list, and I’ll mail them out to them what they want.
Sorry about the double post, I only hit the button once.
I am jealous of your fresh tomatos. The only thing we have growing is the 3 ghost pepper seedlings. All my wifes container plants are inside of the back porch, with heavy plastic up to close it in with 2 4ft lights with grow bulbs connected to a timer for 16hrs per day. That kept them going pretty good last year so they had a head start in the spring when they moved back outside.
I hope that you are ready for Christmas :)
Merry Christmas to all, and remember what the occasion is really about, the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ
I got my catalog, but haven’t had a chance to look at it. I had ordered some seeds earlier from them on line, and got those, but I love to look at the catalogs rather than the on line catalog which bothers my eyes.
We got the freezing weather Monday night so I was out right before it picking the garden clean. A neighbor stopped by so put her to work and gave her a couple buckets of stuff. Brought in mustard, spinach, lettuce, bell peppers, jalapenos, tomatoes and green beans. Of course, I’m saving seeds. A lot of the green beans had dried so after picking though and saving the largest seeds for next season, I was able to bag up the rest for dinners later. As the tomatoes are ripening, they’re going into the freezer. I’m not going to can them because most are cherries so peeling is out of the question. I’m going to make a green tomato pie today so will see how that goes. May also make a green salsa with some and of course fried green tomatoes.
Does anyone have a green tomato preserves recipe?
Well our tomatoes are winding down, so it won’t be much longer that I get to brag LOL. Merry Christmas to you and yours too.
From Andre Viette - he gives this ‘stand’ formula on his radio show every year & the bough/tree spray is listed below that - good if you are decorating with greens:
Christmas Tree STAND Formula
This formula for your Christmas tree stand helps to prolong your tree and keep it fresh.
Ingredients:
1 gallon hot tap water
1 cup light Karo syrup
2 oz. Clorox
1/2 tsp. Epsom Salts
Directions:
1.Mix together well
2.Put tree in tree stand
3.Fill well of tree stand with the above mixture
4.Keep tree stand filled - 4 days of watering with this mixture will help keep the tree fresh but the tree will continue to take fluid up to 10 days or more so be sure to check the water level often and keep the tree stand full of fresh water while the tree is in the house.
Do not place the tree near a fireplace, radiator, wood stove, or other heat source that might dehydrate or ignite the tree. Be sure the tree lights do not have worn insulation or broken wiring.
Bough and Christmas Tree SPRAY
Be sure to protect your holiday greens and Christmas tree from drying out. Spray your boughs and Christmas tree with this unique formula to help fireproof and reduce needle drop through the holiday season. Tree and greens should be fresh and not dried out.
Ingredients:
14 oz. borax (20 Mule Team)
6 oz. Boric acid (from drugstore)
1/2 tsp. low sudsing detergent (granular)
1 gallon hot tap water
Directions:
1.Mix together well
2.Prop tree or greens upright outdoors
3.Using a good pressure sprayer, cover tree or greens completely
4.Let tree or greens dry fully before bringing indoors
Do not place the tree or greens near a fireplace, radiator, wood stove, or other heat source that might dehydrate or ignite the tree. Be sure the tree lights do not have worn insulation or broken wiring.
Pre-mixed sprays such as Bonide Wilt Stop can be found in your full service garden center.
Link to website: http://www.viette.com/v.php?pg=753
Broccoli and cauliflower are starting to make heads. Onions and garlic are growing like crazy this year. My lettuce seed did not come up this year. Turnips are doing OK for now, but we need rain here in central Texas.
Our freezer is on the fritz. It’s the second time. Last time the repair man came and couldn’t find anything wrong with it.
It’s got a panel on it, and I hate electronic stuff on things like that. I just wanted a simple freezer. Plug it in, open the door, turn the dial. I got the simplest one I could find at the time.
So I have just decided to make do with my side by side freezer, and can or dehydrate the rest.
Thanks so much for those tips and recipes.
The less bells and whistles, the less that can go wrong.
(knock on wood)
I am having trouble with lettuce and spinach seeds this year. Planted a bunch, and almost none sprouted. Sadly, I dropped the container of seeds I had collected from on of the stalks I let go to seed last summer and saved to plant next year.
It got so lost in the carpet, I never could even find them. They were about the same color, and the carpet is berber with lots of varying heights and patterns. Sigh.
Exactly. I also liked the simple microwaves, just put the food in and twist the knob. Now, just about the time I figure out how to use the new one, it is old enough to go on the fritz, and I have to start all over with a new one.
I have a small, simple, low watt Walmart special that is still going after at least 15 years. The new big ones only last about 2 or 3 years.
The sudden drop in temperature this past week motivated me to clean out part of the hoophouse and give it a rest for next years planting. We still have cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, kale, and catnip in there though.
Everything in the greenhhouse was nipped rather heavily despite being covered and having heat lamps set up. The pepper will be trimmed back, but most should survive through the winter.
Carpet, seeds ......
reminded me of “back in the day” when I drove a Ford Pinto hatchback. The rear seat folded down and I could carry two bales of hay and/or bags of horse feed for my critters. One fine spring day (meaning the grass had come out so I had not had to haul hay for a couple of weeks) I had occasion to open the hatchback and surprise! surprise! ... growing in the carpet was a fairly nice crop of grass, sprouted from the seeds that had fallen off the bales of hay! Turns out the window had a leak and the carpet was fairly wet ... since the weather was warm, the Pinto was a perfect little hot house for growing things. It was pretty funny ... until I had to clean it up. :-)
Be sure to cut at least a inch off the stand end of your Christmas tree before putting in the stand so it can take up those nutrients.
LOL. The pinto hatchback. I had one of those. Orange and white. LOL. What memories.
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