Posted on 11/29/2013 3:57:22 PM 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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Beautiful Amaryllis you have there. We just put our 2 in the greenhouse to over winter for next years blooms
I have yet to get amaryllis to rebloom :(. I keep trying.
An Aggie told me to put citrus ground up rinds around the mound. I had some ants in my keyhole garden, and they didn’t like the orange rind in lemon juice. I’m going to put it around my keyhole garden, because I’ll be putting some red wigglers in it. I don’t want those fire ants feeding on my little black gold makers.
Will chickens, ducks or turkeys or other fowl eat the ants?
If they do, it might not be a bad idea to get some.
Thanks for posting the pic of your coop. It is the cutest one I have ever seen!
I know some people who grow their lemon grass in a huge pot. They own a motel, and heaven help the customer who throws a cigarette in the pot...OOOOEEE.
Thanks murrie. One of my neighbors replaced her windows and kindly allowed me to re-purpose her old ones. Turned out cute.
Instead of seeds, just put a couple of inches of dirt onto the limbs laying on the ground. They will set roots very quickly. I let the limbs just fall to the ground and cut them off just above the roots.
LOL. Looking at the sweet potatoes. Sounds like something I would do. Love the pictures. I haven’t tried to raise any ginger yet.
That’s a spice I almost never used. In the past decade, I have used it more and more. Now I have to buy the really big containers to keep any in the house. I use it in almost everything, including my tea.
I gave up on Rosemary after the first 2 years. Some experienced gardener(can’t remember who) told me it was very difficult to grow indoors, mainly due to dry air IIRC.
Anyway, my raised bed is pretty well sheltered, and has concrete blocks in the back. The sun shines on the block during the afternoon and it heats up, so that helps too.
It usually survives the winter and comes out pretty nicely once the spring weather hits.
I tend to look for the zone 4 plants too. Also look for things like “Artic” in the title when I buy stuff for the winter garden.LOL
I don't have any Rosemary seeds. I have some seeds for stuff like leaf celery, spinach, chives, Roselle etc. Those are the ones that I need to dig out. I can't even remember what all I have. I need to finish the listing of my 2013 seed stash to see which ones I will try next.
I have one Rosemary bush that is over six feet across. We use as much as needed, and give away limbs of it to neighbors. Just take a limb, stick it in dirt and it will grow.
My big plant came from one single stalk that was less than a foot long. I’ve given neighbors potted plants that are growing like weeds.
I often see older Jw’s so I am polite to them as they are to me. Some of the obstinate younger ones, well, lets just say I control the short discussion and send them packing. Not rude, just ready.
Hi greeneyes and everyone!
Well, I finally got my round tuit to repot the Christmas cactus. I think its toes probably are feeling a LOT better now! While I was at it, I had two pots of parsley and brought one in. The other I placed in a larger pot. I’m experimenting to see if it will overweather this winter. Not betting on it, just want to see!
I inspected the pot in which I planted my walking onions. The sweet little idiots are sprouting! I’m guessing that they’ll do their thing and hopefully come back in the spring. I did not plant all of my starts, so if they don’t make it, I can try again in the spring. At least I know the starts I have are viable!
Gutters have been cleared of leaves, the turbine covers are on, and covers over the foundation vents are closed. I believe we are tucked in and [mostly] ready for the predicted cold weather in our region.
Looking forward to receiving my recipe book and TSquash seeds!
Thanks, daughter of greeneyes for making the post and assuring us of the condition of your mom!
Thanks for the story! How cool!
I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO WITH ROSEMARY!
I have never used it, don’t know zip about rosemary. Being in zone 8 I should be able to easily grow it and protect it through one or two freezes that would last maybe a day or two in winter.
Now, someone tell me what to do with it - do I just pitch some in a pot with food or a skillet with food or bake it with food, what? How much - a whole stalk or what?
With some of those seed packets, they’re going to be astonished at how little is in there. I’m not sure about the “survival seed buckets”, but most of the packets sold in catalogs don’t contain enough for a survival garden. The average for a packet of tomato seeds these days seems to be 12 seeds per packet, sounds like a lot until you’re living off them. I know people who grow 40 varieties of tomatoes each year. Not 40 plants, 40 varieties! You want a 50-foot row of beans? One of my bean packets contained 18 seeds. And if you’re saving seed from your own corn, it’s recommended to save from at least 100 different plants to maintain genetic integrity. How many corn seeds are in a packet? 20? 30? A large packet I opened last year had 40 seeds, and not all of them grew.
After studying plant breeding, I’m changing the way I do my inventories. Some plants are fine if you save seed from only one plant each year, but others will die out if you do that. I’m planning to order more of that corn variety, among other things.
That reminded me I have the 20 inch squash from the T squash, in my fridge. I'm going to cut that up today and cook it in a skillet with some chopped up onion and a bit of butter. I don't know if the small one that started to grow will keep growing. The top part of the plant looks really bad like it's dying but the part where the new squash is, is nicely green.
It grew so well in that 13 inch barrel with the plastic tower in it, that I'll get one more barrel/tower so I'll have two plants in spring. I think I proved that T squash in a container is not going to be killed by insects and it will grow to at least ten feet long as that is what it did. It's going to produce a lot of very long squash by planting it in spring instead of when I planted it in July I think it was. I have to keep a record from now on of when I plant what, as I have so many seeds now I'll never remember every one of them and when I did what with them.
I really hope I can get a bunch of food growing and producing in spring. I think I have screwed up tomatoes enough to get it right for spring. Last year I bought tomato plants from Lowes and got tomatoes but I have to do it from seed myself and plant them right. I got the seeds to sprout but screwed up the planting of the young plants.
/johnny
Ambrosia for the gods:
Cooking/eating the Tromboncino squash:
The skin of the squash is so thin, don’t even try to cut it off. It has the same texture as the meat of the squash. It does not get mushy which is why some people don’t like squash. It retains its shape. I cut up some onion with it with a little butter and put the top on the skillet and stirred it maybe twice until the onions caramelized. The end result was cut up squash still in their shape with one side or both sides lightly browned and the browned onions. A bite with the onion/squash was sweet and totally good. The squash by itself is very mild so it’s going to pick up the flavor of whatever you put in with it.
I could live on that alone it was so fine. Wow, I grew it from seed and I ate it and it was super.
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