Posted on 05/17/2013 1:01:42 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!
Thanks for the blackberry info. I copy what you guys say and save it on my computer.
Does anyone have any experience growing chives? I planted them from seed and in the perimeter around my tree bed. They sprouted up well but died off soon later. I might have given them a drink of a too strong mixture of seaweed tea/molasses but I’m not sure this was the issue.
Usually, I don’t know anything, but in this case I can assure you that animal protein should not be composted. A friend told me that seeds shouldn’t be composted, either. If you compost veggie waste, it should be in small pieces and flipped over every once in awhile to aerate it. I’m sure the rest of the FReepers will advise you thoroughly! Happy gardening....
If there is no air, I don’t know how you are going to make compost that doesn’t stink and look slimy. It’s the lack of air in my experience that causes stinky compost.
Like I posted before, weeds should be used before they develop seeds. If I have a weed that has seeds, I throw it on the back patio where it gets the hottest of hot sun, then I throw it on the trash pile where we burn stuff.
Wood ashes can provide another great addition to the compost pile to keep down the acidity.
Three day delivery took five days. The P.O. here is pretty good ... lots of folks mail-order chicks and in the past they have called me to pick up a shipment before their normal opening time.
On McMurray’s behalf ... they replaced the entire shipment of fifty even ‘tho more than half had survived the original shipment. I prefer to buy locally but no one locally has white leghorns.
I know what you mean. I’d rather have eggs and cheese....
/johnny
Thanks a lot for the composter info. since it’s like mine. Should have mine by next Monday/Tuesday.
I used to keep pea fowl, but I never paid $500 for one. That’s the kind of price you might pay for a pure white male adult. I used to buy them at St. Martin’s Fair — the last street fair in Wisconsin where live animals are allowed to be sold. It’s been nearly 20 years, so I don’t even know if they still have the live animals there. They used to operated on the first Monday of every month in the town of Franklin, south of Milwaukee.
I’ve purchased pea fowl from fertilized eggs to adults. We only got a 50% hatch on the fertilized eggs. I’ve paid as much as $65 for a full grown Blue India (common) peacock. Pea hens are generally cheaper because they are not as pretty. I got lots and lots of eggs which I used in making zucchini bread (fabulous) but was never able to hatch my own chicks.
Either the eggs were not fertile (hard to tell), or the parents (or a marauding racoon, or skunk) broke the eggs before they hatched. I’ve tried an incubator, as well as leaving them with their mothers. The only time I was able to hatch the eggs was when I gave them to a friend who put them with her chickens. However, chickens have diseases that are fatal to peafowl so that is not a good idea.
Pea fowl make terrific “watch birds” because they scream a blood chilling “rape, rape” whenever a stranger comes on the property. My peafowl knew the sound of family cars and never made a peep. But if anyone else came round, they set up a real fuss. Luckily we live on 12 acres and have large plots of land all around us. Since my little flock died off, however, 16 houses have been built on the 60 acres next door. They might not appreciate it if I decided to keep pea fowl again.
Besides, all my birds were very bad birds. They were supposed to stroll around my garden and look pretty. However, they would refuse to come out of my barn until dusk; and then they would just eat my blooming flowers and poop on my porch. They also couldn’t seem to fly up into my trees to save themselves from marauding foxes and coyotes.
And the males would fight with each other. The females also would pick on the males. I think a couple of them died from broken hearts because they were not loved by their peers. I learned first hand what the term “henpecked” meant. My poor “Danny Boy” (named after the man who sold him to me) kept having his top knot pecked off by a couple of nasty-tempered hens. Upon reflection I decided that the hens didn’t like him because he was very close to me and would sit on my arm. They thought he was too “human” and would not accept him as a bird.
An unwanted tomato?!? Never heard of such. I figure if it grows, great. Just don’t tell Monsanto. Who’s to say you won’t like what it produces? If it doesn’t germinate then you’ve lost nothing.
I’ve have chives in pots and basically ignore them. Planted one in a pot a few years ago and its seeds have blown into other pots ... where they have taken over. They come back year after year by themselves.
OMG! That’s horrible! I hope you got a refund!
Also I planted a few seeds of chives in the corner of my garden the only ones that survived. Very little growth and its been 2 months now. I hear chives dont like too much nitrogen.
“eventually you’ll have new plants for the fall.”
Didn’t know you could do that with tomatoes. You know a lot.
Yes I am not sure when we will be moving. It could be middle June, depends on when WalMart wants her in Mississippi.
Can you transplant your tomatoes into large posts and take them with you? Glad you are going home.
Oh, the $500 was for 8 of them in a ‘rare peafowl’ selection with all the pretty pretty colors like buff and cameo and stuff.
My great aunt used to have 2 peahens and a peacock. The peacock would hang out in a tree in her front yard with its tail just draping off a branch. My aunt had 80 acres and her neighbors had 80 and 160 acres respectively. Lots of room for peafowl to hang out in. And no coyotes or foxes that I’m aware of.
They’d scream like a girl. My great aunt didn’t have chickens though. Just guineas. There were NO ticks or chiggers in her front yard either. Just small discrete piles of guinea poop.
We only have 3 acres and live on the corner of a busy country intersection so there’s no question of us not having one right now. It would die a sad horrible death.
Smiling for you. I believe you had some great fig trees there didn’t you?
Last year when Hubby decided to just let his garden burn up instead of watering it, I went out and dug up 2 or 3 tomato and pepper plants and put them in big pots. They wilted, then most of them survived, but I guess you won’t really have room to do that.
“Plenty of lettuce,”
I have no lettuce growing. I planted seed in two, on the ground long planters, and think the birds or squirrels got every seed. I HAVE NO LETTUCE GROWING - I hate that. How can I have a lettuce and tomato salad with no home grown lettuce? Guess I’ll buy grocery store organic Romaine to go with my tomatoes.
Next year this will not happen - no critters will get my food.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.