Posted on 04/12/2013 12:55:20 PM PDT by greeneyes
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I was getting impatient, so I started planting even though it’s still too cold. I have friends who swear by their wall-o-waters as season extenders, but whenever I see them in the store they’re always more than i can justify spending. Well, it occurred to me that I could make my own, sort of.
I cut the bottom off of a 20oz plastic bottle, cut the top and bottom off a milk jug, and filled some plastic ziplock baggies half-full of water. Then I stuck a tomato cutting in the ground (from my indoor tomato vine, it’ll root anywhere it has moisture), and set the 20oz bottle over it. Then I put the milk jug around that, and anchored it with 2 lanscape staples stuck through holes in the sides. Lastly I filled the space between the two bottles with the bags of water.
We haven’t had our April snowstorm yet, although we’ve had a few nights dip into the lower 30’s. Every time I check, that cutting is still green, so I decided to do the same with a couple of zucchinni seeds. We’ll see how it goes.
Thanks for joining in. I sure am glad that I don’t have to mess with poo - Hubby does that for me. He’s great that way.LOL.
Ditto that on depending on a big crop-especially considering Missouri weather. Well, you know we had that early spring, and the USDA reclassified us to zone 6 instead of 5, so I was hoping that meant more early springs. HeHe.
Anyway I’ll just improvise for spring by starting some things indoors again this week.
18” of wet snow Monday-Wednesday at our place; 28.2” at the official measuring site in town. The peas & replanted onions should be very happy with it.
We were able to get in & out okay in the Expedition all 3 days, but Wednesday afternoon I dug out the tractor anyway; I wanted to minimize the melt-mud. I cleared the driveways around the house, and a mile of road the county doesn’t maintain...then met a neighbor on his 4-wheeler, who told me he had ordered a road grader from town to come out Thursday to plow the road. Had I known 3 hours earlier....
None of my eggs hatched. When things settle a bit, I’ll try another batch.
Been gone most of the day, and am at a friend’s house, so thought I’d get this posted before we leave for home.
That sounds like a good improvization to me. If I am going to use water, I usually just fill up milk jugs and line the sides, back, and middle of the 3x4 foot space with the jugs.
Then cover it with row covers or sheets, and maybe a bunch of straw on top, if it’s really cold, but that’s for the winter garden. Spring garden not so much.
Plant hardy stuff and put on row cover. Start tender stuff indoors is pretty much it for me. I am especially lacking in energy this spring, so not doing much that requires ingenuity or effort.LOL
I am so glad that we don’t have such cold weather and snow here at this time of the year. It’s more challenge than I want to have.LOL
This one set an all time record. Not all that cold, though; and it is almost all gone now.
It didn’t last long - Praise be for small favors!
Thanks for posting those. The guide for me looks right, and has been printed out.
The video I “watched” on Vimeo, so I could save it with YTD-Downloader, and convert it to Windows Media to watch later.
thanks for the update.
Corn should be okay, as long as you can minimally disturb the roots. It is just another grass; and rice, wheat, and the others are often started in flats, then transplanted individually by hand, something I do not have the time & patience for.
When I plant corn, there’s always some ‘holes’ in the rows, and I fill those with seedlings that would otherwise be thinned, and they always grow fine, after a droopy day or two.
Great photos; thanks for posting.
What gives with the Topsy-Turvy having stuff top & bottom?
Ours (indeterminate tomatoes) had so much root in them from just a single bottom plant, I don’t see how you can do both. Have you done it before?
Well the corn is in degradeable individual compartments about the size one of the sections in an egg carton only deeper.
So I figure I just snip the bottom and the sides and plant them leaving the container otherwise intact hence not disturbing the roots hopefully.
Thanks for the offer. My neighbor planted 12 two inch pots and every one came up. He said I can have half if I want them for my garden. The seeds were over two years old, and he figured only one or two would grow.
I have always pre sprouted corn seed by laying it on and covering it with moist paper towels and then into “Speedling Trays” when the root tips show. Then transplant into the garden near the end of May. The soils around Humboldt Bay are too cool for direct seeding. I picked up 1 1/2 cu yards of fine pine bark mulch to cover the 140 sq ft of Seascape Strawberries yesterday and will complete that this between Nascar races this weekend. I have used rice hulls in the past as a mulch and slug deterrent.
This is our first time trying it. We had an extra plant so we stuck it on top. So far so good. Both plants are thriving (even though they got beat up by the windstorm last week) and they're starting to produce nice fruit. One cool thing about it is that when you water it (or when the drip turns on) the excess water flows out of the bottom. This doesn't seem to hurt the plants and their roots seem to get plenty of moisture. We catch the excess water in a bucket and use it to water other plants.
Mr. Sg started corn, several varieties of squash, hot and sweet peppers, several varieties of tomatoes, cantaloupe, and green beans and herbs from seed. It's amazing to see them grow so fast. He wants to put them in the ground but I'd really rather wait until the end of April. Weather patterns have been so weird.
Thanks for posting!
So beautiful! Thanks for posting.
Thank you. And you’re welcome. :)
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