Posted on 04/26/2013 12:37:55 PM PDT 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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We don’t use a tiller of any kind. I have raised beds that have so much Mel’s Mix that all I do is wack them with a 4 prong gizmo about the same size as a hoe a few times or else just use a rake.
Hubby used the double digging method and added lots of manure and top soil, then made rows about 4 feet by 30 ft with a foot and half in between that is covered with dark plastic to avoid weeds and walking on mud.
With this set up, we don’t walk on the areas that are cultivated, and so we don’t really have to till the soil.
However, some of the others will no doubt have an answer, if they are still monitoring the thread. If not, ask again next Friday afternoon, since we all kinda post the most at that time.
Weather getting much nicer. Pansies blooming like crazy and I have several small bouquets around the house. Lilies have gotten tall in a short period of time and can hardly wait for them to bloom.
Until that happens, I will continue to try to grow food. There was a bad storm here yesterday and this morning I went to the little garden to see how the plants are. My cherry tomato in the potting soil bag, was leaning over. I propped it up. I don't have gadgets like you gardeners. I know there are tomato “cages” but I don't have any. I wonder if there is something other than cages, something cheap, to keep tomato plants upright.
I have Roma tomatoes growing on two plants and the others have blossoms. The two cherry plants have tomatoes all over them.
In the planter on the brick wall, I've got the bunching onions up, about three inches tall. Leaf celery is also there and those are up.
Lettuce is growing in the ground planters. If sweet peppers are up in one of those, I can't define them yet.
Kentucky Wonder bean plants along back lattice wall are up and healthy looking and at least 4 inches tall. I have two places I planted something in the middle of the garden and that is up and I don't know what I put in those two places. (I don't have anything to write on and stick in the ground telling me what I put there.) I hope one of those is the wild tomato. Squash is also there so maybe that is one of those. Whatever those are, they are at least 4 inches tall.
There are three or four more places where I planted more of the wild tomatoes and squash and nothing is coming up.
I have more seed in that I ordered and that is an onion that makes slicing onions and green cucumber and jalapeno peppers, and “Little Finger Carrots”. I think I'll buy more bags of potting soil and put those in the garden and plant these new seed in those.
The wild strawberry seed said to freeze it two weeks and I have done that so will plant two in a very large pot sitting in the garden and put some in potting bags. The thing is, these don't die out, so they really need to be in the ground. Have to think about that.
I've done this using as little “bend over” as I could and not staying out there in the heat any more than I have to.
I know I need “stuff”, like something to help tomatoes stand up and those tag things to write what something is to stick in the ground. If any of you use something simple to help your tomatoes stand up, I'd like to know what it is.
Well, we have a Sassafrass bush. When the stems are as big around as his thumb, hubby cuts them, uses a knife to whittle the end to a point, and use them as stakes. He strips the leaves, and they can be used for tea. We just use any old rag from the rag bag to tear into strips to tie them up.
When plants are really small and still in pots, I use the wooden skewers I have on hand from when we have had kabobs.
For tags, I use milk jugs. Just cut a strip the length and width you want off a milk jugs. Write on it with permanent markers and stick it in the ground or pot.
You are having a lot of success so far for a newbie gardener. It won’t be long till you are eating salad from stuff you have grown yourself.
The wild strawberries should be in the ground, but they might also make a nice patio plant. I am not that familiar with them. I do know they are supposed to very flavorful, and the fruits are pretty small.
I have some urns that I am going to try planting strawberries in this year, but they are commercial everbearing plants.
That guy you are talking about has serious problems. Seems to be projecting his own doom and gloom onto all of us who are determined to thrive no matter what comes our way. Highly critical of others actions, but when asked point blank what he thinks should be done, silence, crickets chirping, Nada. He appears to be all bluster and hot air, signifying nothing.
I have issues with the lumbar spine, so I too like to avoid bend over. I keep a rather large flower pot that I turn over and sit on when I need to spend a lot of time at ground level. Then I just do what’s in reach, and move it as needed.
Yes, that’s the kind I grew, the light colored kind...sort of straw or millet colored. But it was my understanding that even the bright ones could be eaten....guess I need to reread my stuff and verify that.
I took my plants outside for a sun snack today...GORGEOUS! But Darlin’ says we are due for another cool snap. But SURELY not freezing! These guys want to get their little toes into some DIRT!!
To clarify, I think all are edible, but some are not so tasty unless cooked.
Renting makes sense to me too. We have places around here that have that sort of stuff to rent.
In our case, the soil was too hard for even that. Hubby had to use a pickaxe, and add lots of soil improvement stuff.
If we were going to get something it would more than likely be total manual and similar in size to the posting on this thread. I think it was 121, but that’s just us. Our gardening is pretty small, so we just don’t figure we need a lot of power stuff.
“To clarify, I think all are edible, but some are not so tasty unless cooked.”
LOL! To clarify your clarification, are you referring to the greens when you say “some”?....because I cant imagine eating my amaranth grains without cooking them!
For what it’s worth, here are some pages regarding the nutrition of amaranth. Perhaps you’ve seen these already in your own researches.
These do not address the question of which kinds of greens can be used raw or cooked. I would be very interested in what info you have found, if you are willing to share some of your sources.
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/10640/2
http://www.livestrong.com/article/88302-amaranth-nutrition/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaranth
http://www.ehow.com/about_5475754_amaranth-nutrition.html
http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/the-nutrition-of-amaranth.html
Oh dear! I’m such a terrible plant parent! I went outside just a little while ago and found that my poor little plant babies were wilted! I had given them a good watering when setting them out, but it is warmer today and I did not take into consideration that and the breeze. The poor dears were too dry. I watered right away, and that seemed to help most of them, but I fear I may have caused some casualties.
*SIGH*
Two words for young plants...shade and shelter.
*red face*
Ok - Thanks. ... that’s where I blew it. It’s been cloudy, so didn’t take that into account either.
I made the same mistake years ago...’habaneros are hot peppers, so the plants will like some sunshine to get going’. Bzzzzt! Wrong. They went down like Joe Frazier...fortunately; relocating them into the shade and a quick drink of water restored their vigor.
Great relaxation video.LOL
Ok. Yes I was referring to the leaves. Amaranth plants fall into 2 categories. One is grown primarily for leaves, but still has some seeds. The other is grown primarily for grain, but the leaves are edible.
However, some of the edibles are not so great in a salad, but need to be cooked. I have no first hand knowledge, having never grown it before.
Thanks for the links, I’ll check them out later, and I will give some more info that I have in my bookets, later. For now, I have to run. The sun is going down, and I want to get a few things done and check out the plants before it gets too dark.
“They went down like Joe Frazier”
ROFL!!
I think most of my little ones recovered, but perhaps a few didn’t make it.
Darlin just showed me the weather report....we are actually due for MORE SNOW in a few days.
These little guys were ready to plant two weeks ago!!!!!
Thanks! I look forward to it when you are able to. Toddle off now, and get those errands done!
Pulled some Hen Bit out of the next raised bed that I am going to plant. The weekend didn't work out like I planned. It rained all day Saturday and most of today, so no planting, just making some more seed tape.
I too have forgotten to water my poor little plants. It will stunt their growth a bit, but if you catch it in time, it won't kill them.LOL
Now to the Amaranth. I am just going to go ahead and share some information on the info sheet that came with my seeds; some of it I am sure you know, but others may not. So I'll just start at zero, and tell the little bit that is on this info sheet.
Amaranth was one of the super crops of the Ancient Americans, along with corn and beans. After being outlawed by the Spanish Conquistadors, it was nearly lost to civilization. It is beautiful with multicolored flowers, and large leaves. The seed head resembles Sorghum and contains thousands of tiny seeds.
It is very hardy; requires little water, and may be grown anywhere in the Continental USA. It also can withstand lots of heat, and bright sunlight, even under dry conditions.
Excellent for growing backyard grain due to ease of threshing(it has no hull to remove) and a respectable amount of grain. Just roll the dried grain between your gloved hands for processing and winnow in front of a fan.
Cruentus is a grain variety that is most adaptable to various locations and climates. It's leaves are edible as a pot herb, but inferior to some of the other types.
Nutrition is similar to wheat, but with higher protein content, and much lower in gluten. It contains 2 of the essential fatty acids, and a double dose of lysine.
Leaf Amaranth is also very high in protein and nutritive value is similar to other leafy greens, but with 2 to 3 times more available nutrients. It is particularly high in Vitamin A, Iron, Calcium, and Niacin.
The Grain can be cooked and eaten by itself, with other foods, ground into flour, popped like popcorn, added to soups, pilaf,dumplings, breads, cookies, candies, fillers etc.
It does require soil of good texture. Once established it requires little maintenance. It is tall and the broad leaves shut out weeds. It grows well in Mexico and the Himalayas.
A problem is that the seed heads can grow too large and fall over, and ants carry away the seed.
I have 5 different choices for this year:
Golden Giant - Yields about 1 lb of seed per plant;grows to 6 ft tall; golden stems and flowering heads with white seeds. It is also known for it's edible leaves.
Burgandy - Beautiful, large(8ft tall)with leaves and seed heads of red. Yields white seed excellent for grain.(Many of the red varieties have black, strong tasting seeds and are grown just for leaves).
Ellen's purple - Has white seed, and not much else is known, so it will be an experiment to see what happens.
Molten Fire - Crimson leaves; great for edible landscaping since the young leaves are very tasty and nutritious.
Red Calaoo - Red leaves superior for salads and becoming a favorite in the Farmers Markets.
Final thought: Amaranth is one of the most complete proteins available in a plant. Flax seed has the third essential fatty acid, and the seeds can be ground and added to any flour you make from the Amaranth. If you happen to grow winter wheat, as I do you can make a great combination of nutritious flour.
Remember that whole wheat flour loses the majority of it's nutrition within 72 hours of grinding, IIRC. It is best to grind small amounts as needed from a strictly nutritional standpoint.
Grinding is easy with an extra coffee bean grinder or blender to just add to the flour you normally use about 50/50. To get finer grind and use more of your flour it appears to me that a grinder capable of a finer grind might be needed.
So that's were I am at on my journey to learning about growing, harvesting, threshing, and grinding my own flour.LOL
Thanks for all the info. Now that you mentioned raised-bed gardening, I’m thinking that i may be better off just building a small area using some lumber and go that route. The buckets i used last year almost ran me ragged having to water them so much.
I still haven’t figured out how to keep the deer and other animals out, though. Still working on that little problem. That’s ANOTHER reason I’m leaning toward the raised-beds now... I can get them closer to the house to protect everything from the animals.
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