Posted on 04/20/2018 6:38:54 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. 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 any time-and don't have to be gardening.
I have zero experience with Chard. I’d probably be inclined to eat it, and add some compost to the soil, and plant something else.
Chives most likely. Consider planting cover crop for winter, and turn it under in spring to improve the soil. If all else fails, red clover sown in February will also help and grows in most any soil no matter how poor-helps to improve it.
Nice!
What’s in the flask? Early Morning for me: Coffee! Later in the Afternoon: Dirty Martinis. ;)
Beau bought me a zero-turn mower last year. Man, I freakin’ LOVE that thing! I was scared at first but now I am up and down the hillsides with ease. Wheee!
Takes me about 2 hours to mow the house yard, orchard, and around the kitchen garden...which is about 2 acres.
Trimming? Meh! No neighbors, so forget it! :)
thanks.
I drink 2 cups of hot tea per day except Saturday when I have 1 cup of tea and 2 cups of hot coffee with old friends whose combined ages equal 400 years plus 2 younguns at 120 years...
This weekend, we'll be heading to Rapid City for feed, some fertilizer, and a second hive-body for the coming of the bees.
Might also get a honey super at the same time. That will leave just another super to get later. Try to get it set up next weekend. Two deep bodies, lower brood chamber; upper food chamber; topped with a queen excluder & honey supers for us.
Sound like the chard has done all it’s going to. Add compost and/or organic matter.
I used to follow the tree trimmers to the dump, and load up the trailer with the leafy shreddings—they couldn’t let me have them, but told me to follow them. That, plus manure from some of the local farms & activated sludge (no longer recommended) gave us a fantastically productive garden near Riverside.
When we lived in SoCal, about 40 years ago, we had a lot of oxalis in the yard, too. It is actually pretty tasty.
http://www.ediblewildfood.com/wood-sorrel.aspx
Edible parts: Wood sorrel is an incredible thirst quencher and is refreshing to eat. The leaves, flowers, and immature green seed pods are all edible having a mild sour flavour that some say resemble lemons. Wood sorrel can be added to salads, used in soups, sauces and it can also be used as a seasoning. Wood sorrel tea when cooled can make a refreshing beverage especially when sweetened with honey. In moderate dosages, wood sorrel is cooling (refrigerant, febrifuge), diuretic, stomachic (soothing to the stomach, relieves indigestion), astringent, and catalytic.
Other name: Oxalis.
Bindweed is also a listed noxious weed in a good many states, including WA, and our own SD.
Here's a harvester that ran into a patch in a field.
Hello all from Louisiana! I am getting somewhat acclimated and a friend of mine is getting some planting success with some tomatoes and basil etc.... I am doing the trimming and lawn work to get used to basics . Lot’s of clay down here as opposed to the rich top soil in Maine that I was accustomed to , butit seems to me that I should be able to grow just about anything down here with the climate as it is!
Northern Tool has reasonable shipping rates and much of the same inventory. Home Depot ships free on orders, I think over $50 bucks. And the best thing is, none of these companies are Amazon and Jeff Bezos.
Ya gotta be tough to live up north.
Interested in hearing everybody’s favorite tomato variety. I love Cherokee purple, mortgage lifter, a good beefsteak. So do the deer. :(
The past several years my production has gone way down. I end up with plants that just look diseased. It has been frustrating as I have thought it was soil nutrition/minerals. I need to build raised beds so I can start with fresh soil.
OK I bookmarked that site to look at later. At first glance - nice. Finally warming up here in west Michigan. We are about 3 weeks behind. We normally till the garden for the first of 3 times the first week in April. Have not done it yet. Hopefully Monday. Looking forward to planting!
That’s a lot of knowledge around that table! :)
Yep. I looked - neither has the parts we need, so it’s off to Farm Tek...who specialize in greenhouses and sort of have you over a barrel when something breaks. ;)
Still much too wet for tilling here, but it looks like we’ll have a long stretch of WARM for a change, and no snow, though we are getting some ‘sprinkles’ this morning.
Ithaca says, ‘Hi!’ He got out the other day and was enjoying eating the lawn and kicking up his heels. I’m sure eating boring hay has gotten old; normally he’s back on grass by now, but...this weather!
I lured him back into the paddock with carrots and dog food. He’s such a sucker. ;)
I’m in Atlanta and going to wait another week to plant.
Started cleaning up the garden yesterday and will till today.
No point in jeopardizing the 200+ seedlings that I started from seed.
I’ve heard quite few local sob stories from people who planted a few weeks back.
Last year we had rain and nighttime temps in the low 40’s the first two weeks of May.
That mean one thing for maters - black canker!
Besides, summer crops *do not* like cold soil.
70+ degrees is the ideal temp for them.
Greetings from southern New Hampshire! It is sunny and 40 right now, but this past week, we had, you guessed it, about an inch or so of that white *^$&! That was the night after I tried to start the tiller. Need starting fluid.
Barb’s seedlings are doing nicely. Yesterday, I started on a long-delayed effort to clear the brush from a number of trees we had cut-down a couple of years ago. It will be a summer-long project, as for some reason, at 71, I am not able to wield a chainsaw all day and dance all night!
I did connect and pressurize the backyard water system, yesterday. That is the official start of warm weather. I hope to get started on the underground water distribution this week. It is supposed to be up in the 50s and 60s this for the next two weeks, so I may re-mount the snow thrower on the tractor!
Not much going on around here. Had some family medical drama so was late getting started with tomatoes, we’ll see if I actually get any tomatoes from those. Bastardi has predicted a hot summer for a while now so we’re going to focus on okra, blackeyed peas, lima beans, the long asian bean thingies and sweet potatoes. Also some rice, tef and sorghum.
Incidentally, Sand Hill has bimonthly specials now and sweet potatoes are on sale right now along with peppers and tomatoes.
https://www.sandhillpreservation.com/2016-year-in-review
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