WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD OCT. 14, 2016

freerepublic | Oct. 14, 2016 | greeneyes

[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. Planting, Harvest to Table(recipes)preserving, good living - there is no telling where it will go and... that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us! NOTE: This is a once a week ping list. We do post to the thread during the week. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest are welcomed, so feel free to post them at any time.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I’ve bought and planted a dozen pecan trees and have yet to harvest a single nut. I also bought and planted eight Missouri Mammoth Hickories. No nuts from them, either. Ditto the filberts.
Ozark soil is pathetic...

We harvested a couple of buckeyes from a wild area nearby to transplant for our hillside. Last year, one of these developed what looked like a nut. I made a plan to go out the next day but the squirrels beat me to it.

[mojo114]

Happy Husband can get back to work, sure that will help him and you.
We still have green tomatoes on our Grow Box. Fear a frost soon so will look for recipes for green tomatoes.

[Shadowstrike]

thanks I’ll look into that.

[SkyDancer]

Okay - I just want to loosen them up.

[SkyDancer]

I like marigolds in that they keep certain pests away from your garden. I plant them around the edge.

[patriot08]

You will always find Dale, local meteorologist, at the KRIS TV Spring and Fall Home & Garden Shows in Corpus Christi. He has developed a formula famous in this area for growing tomatoes.

http://www.kristv.com/category/294095/dales-tomato-formula

There are two Tomato formulas... One formula for sandy soil and one for clay soil. The first time you use the tomato formula use the "Original" formula no matter what type of soil you have.

Original Formula / Sandy Soil

1 cup 10-20-10 (1-2-1 ratio) fertilizer

1/4 cup super phosphate

1/2 cup gypsum

2 cups cow manure

Dig a hole and mix ingredients. Then, add regular dirt on top of formula before placing tomato plant in hole. Otherwise, formula will burn the roots of the plant. Don't let formula touch the roots when they are first planted. Let the plant grow into the formula. Water regularly. Stand back and watch them grow! Best varieties are Sonny, Bingo, Carnival, Heatwave, Celebrity, Big Boy, Better Boy and President. Best cherry tomatoes to use are small Fry and Cherry Grande. Everything needed is available at any local nursery.

Caution: Please be aware that excessive use of phosphorus in our clay soil over a long period of time can be non beneficial to your plants.

Clay Soil*

1 Cup 21-0-0 (1-0-0 Ratio) Ammonium Sulphate

3/4 Cup Gypsum >p> 2 Cups Cow Manure

Mix these ingredients together with existing garden soil and plant one tomato plant per hole mixture. *Most clay soils in this area already have too much super phosphate, which tends to stay in the soil for a long period of time. The local nursery people tell me, the best way to correct this is by adding ammonium sulphate which is 21-0-0.cc

[ApplegateRanch]

Had another hard freeze, and a skiff if snow earlier this week; back to 80+ today. Back down to 60s & mid-30s lows into next week.

Health is back to normal; feeling great. Will do my Fall tilling this weekend, as well as cut & split about another cord of firewood.

Final bean count: less than 2 oz of Great Northern beans yielded just barely over 2 pounds of dry beans. The butter beans also gave us about 2 pounds; exact amount uncertain, as some of them are still drying.

Late planted garlic to overwinter is finally sprouting; I had about given up on it.

Shorter days means the chickens have dropped their laying by at least half, but still enough for daily use, plus a few to spare. I’m working on getting power into the henhouse, without resorting to a long run of extension cords. Once that’s done, the on at dusk timer can be reconnected to give them a few extra hours, as well as reconnecting the heater.

[greeneyes]

Yes, we are always glad to get his green stuff.

[greeneyes]

If you wash the green tomatoes and let them dry, you can wrap them in newspaper, and they will ripen and provide you with tasty ripe ones for quite a while.

[greeneyes]

Interesting formulas. Wonder if Mo. Clay has a lot of phosphorus? Will have to do some research. I use raised beds, to avoid the poor clay stuff we have.

[greeneyes]

Glad to hear you are doing better. I would like to have fresh eggs, but I don’t really want to mess with the effort, so I get them locally when I can, and otherwise make do with the grocery store crap.

[mojo114]

Thank You.

[tob2]

Beautiful fall weather today and I spent some time outside. Rearranged the largest planter, scheduled to be replaced early next year. It is showing it’s age. What I did was dig up the lily bulbs and put them in planters, then planted pansies and violas on top of that and watered Well. Took some of the smaller, loose planters and put them on top of the planter as well. Watered everything. Can hardly wait for next year’s growing season!

[Ellendra]

They might be under the name Viola.

Or, you can order some here: http://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/perennials/sweet_violet.html

[lee martell]

Thanks. I think I will order some seeds. Only $2.99.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

ApplegateRanch :" Health is back to normal; feeling great... Shorter days means the chickens have dropped their laying by at least half, but still enough for daily use, plus a few to spare."

I really enjoyed the fresh eggs - highest protein of any food group
Glad to hear that you are back up and fully active.
One Fall, I moved the chickens from the henhouse into the barn(where there was power), but didn't keep an active count of the roosters and layers.
Then I noticed that the number of eggs each day was lower, and that I was missing some layers that we allowed to roam the yard during the day, figured they stayed out overnight.
With power to the barn, I provided extra light (brooder light 75 watt) but turned it off around 10 PM each night until I found even fewer layers.
As a lark, I left the light on overnight and plugged in the 'baby monitor' in the barn, with the receiver in the bedroom.
Around 1:00AM I heard a ruckus in the barn which awakened me from all the excited squawks from the layers, and ran to the barn in pj's and slippers enough to see an opossum.
My presence scared it away, so I returned to the house, got out the 12 ga., loaded it with shot, and returned to bed .
An hour later I awakened to squawking again, grabbed the 12 ga., saw the opposum near a small hole in the back barn door, took aim, shot (full choke)
..and missed the opossum, but I bagged and dented the 30 gallon milk can we used to store the laying mash.
An hour later it returned, I heard the squawking, exited the farmhouse in pjs, leaned up against the house to steady the shot, and I "celestialized" it from about 60 yards away.
(A)I learned the 'hard way' that when it comes to protecting livestock, a 'baby monitor' in the bedroom can be very helpful as a burglar alarm.
(B) That chickens ,without any light, can't see a predator coming and are at risk.
(C) That layers will continue to produce if you give them +15 hours of light, although production reduces as weather gets colder and stays below freezing.
(D) That spaggetti squash, raked with a fork into long strands, makes for good, cheap winter vegetable feed for chickens, especially with the seeds remaining.
(E) That at +15 degrees, with wind, neither man nor chicken wants to leave the house.

[Wneighbor]

Hi folks, I haven’t commented on a garden thread in years but have loved reading and seeing all your experiences. I have had my best gardening year this year than in over 7 years. Several times this summer I’ve thought of posting but I’ve worn myself out day after day just working in my soil and loving it.

We bought this place in late ‘09 as our retirement home. The first year we were still moving in. The 2nd year we had record-breaking heat and drought that killed several trees, including old live oaks and almost everything we’d managed to put in ourselves. The third year I was permanently disabled by a texting driver.

And for the first year, this year, I was finally able to learn to get around slowly and steadily enough to grow tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in pots and get them thru the whole growing season (thus far) without abandoning them to die due to my infirmity. I’m in Texas so I’m still getting fruit :) I’ve also finally gotten a small start on the landscaping dreams I had for this place from the very beginning.

Got a blessing of God the last week of May when a local hardware store needed to clear out the last of their herbs. A friend and I had stopped so I could buy 1 lavender plant to replace one in a grouping of 5 that had died last winter. The plant lady at the hardware store said we could take all the herbs we wanted on one particular row for free as her manager said she had to trash them on Saturday. Told us we could have all we wanted IF we’d love them, not resell them and do her the favor of bringing her pics of our gardens. Us 2 ladies fit 13 flats and several individual 3” pots into every nook and cranny of my Mustang. Got home with nearly 500 3” herbs. Not all lived because many were already stressed but it gave me a big jump on the afore-mentioned landscape dreams. With my slowness and difficulty working I still have a few dozen pots that will have to be brought in before first freeze but am hoping as cooler weather comes I might be able to dig some new places to get more out before full winter sets in. Have more than a dozen potted rosemary and am particularly looking forward to some promised assistance in getting those onto a fence row out back.

Have a mild but widespread case of poison ivy right now from some of that fence area...small price to pay for my immense enjoyment of being back outside :)

[MomwithHope]

We have a ton of acorns falling too. Very loud hitting my car and the tin roof on our woodshed. When we see an abundance of acorns on the ground like this year we know it will be a harsh winter. I am seeing small clusters of new sunflowers sprouting, the squirrels are gathering dropped seeds from the feeder and burying them in bunches, except they are sprouting. LOL

Picked our last 2 tomatoes and all that is left is some zucchini still growing slowly and those costa rican peppers, big bush is still green and still has over a dozen peppers. Hubby likes them red so I have not picked them. Our wood is done and stacked. Just have the chimney to clean. I did start some romaine in a big pot after I yanked tomatoes out of it. It's all about 2 inches tall. Have been covering it at night with a big sheet of plexiglas that I use in the spring. Experiment this year.

[Wneighbor]

I did bring the lemon tree in, and it takes up 3 times more space than last year.

Husband got me a lemon tree for our anniversary this year. It bloomed and made 4 lemons that are now huge! I read that they ripen in Dec but I don't know how to tell when to pick them. Advice?

[MomwithHope]

Here in west Michigan we have the standard blue, white and yellow in our woods and around our house (violets). The white ones spread like crazy.