I have 5 green peppers about the size of ping pong balls and lemons just about the same in my indoor garden. Still picking some spinach and lettuce from the same. The basil is beginning to look like a miniature tree.
Hope you are all doing well. Have a great weekend. God Bless.
Here in Houston area
I have planted Cherokee Purple, Black Krim, Orange Oxheart, Brandywine, Sunny Boy, Boxcar Willie and a couple of hybrids...
Watering with collected rainwater and supplementing with compost tea.
Pinging the Garden List.
Pinging the Garden List.
Pinging the Garden List.
Novice questions time.
I have some small, raised gardens that did OK last year, mostly greens and herbs (mustard, arugula, spinach, and chicory). In the fall I planted cauliflower. It is growing very odd (at least for this noob’s knowledge). Instead of growing big cauliflower heads, the plants are growing very tall with small heads (quarter size). Is there a trick I am missing.
Also several years ago I planted asparagus shoots and they come in each year but they are very whispy, like dill, not like asparagus. I thought I had pulled them out but they come back thicker and thicker each year but they are all just thin, frizzy stems, not even pencil thickness.
It went down to 28°F last night, and it topped out at 84°F this afternoon, and it's dry.
All my seedlings are indoors, and I have a couple citrus that will need to be covered for the next couple days.
It may be a little off-topic, but we're going to order another batch of pullets to re-invigorate the chicken flock soon. I'm also planning on more ducks, and maybe geese too.
Here's my dilemma and I'm hoping that knowledgeable freepers can give me some good ideas without spending a lot of money.
I'm in SW Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh. There is a 12' x 18' area which gets neither good shade nor good drainage as it is bordered on the south by my walkout basement, on the north by a storage shed, on the east by a driveway (the only direction from where it will consistently get direct sunlight and on the west by a steep downslope an retaining wall.
If I had the money to roof it or put in a deck, I'd probably consider it. But it is out of the question.
I have taken out about 3.5 feet with mulch on the 18' side because it is under the eaves of the house and, of course, I want water to drain away. However, what remains, tends to accumulate water, particularly during and after heavy rains.
And, of course, its location means the potential for a lot of foot traffic, so hydrophyllic clover (which I tried), had limited success. When it isn't accumulating water, it is mostly growing moss which is nice and low maintenance over the grass which once grew there, but I'm not sure moss is the best solution either.
Greetings from middle Tennessee. It’s cold here. Spitting snow periodically. Forecasting maybe an inch tonight. That is a big deal for these parts. Kids, teachers and parents are pissed that they will miss out on a snow day due to it being the weekend.
Broccoli, cauliflower and kale seedlings are an inch up. Spent an hour and a half whacking down our pampas grass specimen in the front yard last Sunday. Good heavens. Every year that thing gets larger and larger. Friend wanted some cuttings. Had to take a pick axe to the thing to divide off a piece. Whew.
Just a few more weeks until rosé pruning time. Wanting to grow a lot of vining fruits and veggies this year. I just need more garden space to make this happen. Sigh. Prolly should just till up the front yard. Lol
My winter veggie seedlings under lights have their first sets of true leaves, and have grown quite a bit. I hope to start some tomatoes, peppers, okra, herbs, flowers, and more inside within the next week or so.
The ixia bulbs are starting to sprout all at once now, and the freesias are getting taller every time I look at them. Their stems are a little weak, though. My MIL, who is a master bulb gardener, suggests they need more sun so I'll see if that helps.
Kind of overdid trimming some bushes in the front yard this morning. I had to stop because my arms were shaky and worn out and now it's sitting there half done, which I hate.
Sorry to hear about you losing some of your plants to damping, JRandomFreeper. That's something I have to be careful with, but with me it's a lack of experience. I still am learning when a plant does and doesn't need more sun or water-- not to mention when to feed it, fertilize it or transplant it. So much to learn.
Greetings from Southern California!
Temp is 83F today but is supposed to “dip” into the low 60s next week. We have been very dry this year which is not good —meaning water restrictions again. Water police drive through my neighborhood every morning around 7 AM when I walk my doggies taking names and looking for wet sidewalks.
People here are pulling out their lawns, whole or 1/2 and planting either cactus or aloe gardens. I’ve dedicated a small space in my garden to California natives. Many garden stores now sell a lot of Cal natives or aloe-type plants that need little water. Yards here are starting to look like Tuscon, Las Vegas or Phoenix. One neighbor pulled out his lawn and put in gravel, which is too bad. But water prices keep rising and this year doesn’t look good.
Problem with hot weather this time of year is it forces my fruit trees to bloom — then if we get one good pounding rain and cold weather, all the blossoms drop and that means no fruit.
I hate snow (from years of having horses to keep up with) and we are watching the weather carefully - could get a major storm next week, starting Tuesday. At least it’s March, not Jan/Feb so it won’t last on the ground but so long. Thank goodness we got new gravel in the driveway (a mere 46 tons) so when it melts, we won’t be hubcap deep in mud. I have a large crochet project to finish and two active bird feeders I can watch so, if snow happens .... well, maybe I’ll survive the cabin fever! Spring weather can’t come soon enough for me. :-)
14 inches of snow on the ground here. No gardening happening. But, my son in Overland Park, KS got it even worse.
Woo Hoo! This year I am finally 100% non hybrid non GMO seeds! All the greens planted and most of the others started indoors for another week or two.
Just discovered pansies blooming under their protective coverings. And one clump of violets booming and filled with lots of buds! Of course, had to pick some.