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.
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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.
Bump ,,,, thank you for the ping
I’ve left my garden to the aid of God and hubby for the week. Made the 12 hour drive to Alabama to stay with grandkids for a week. Spring in northern AL is a good bit behind central Texas. I intend upon weeding a couple of beds here for my daughter while she and her hubby are off on a 6 day adult vacation. Lots of rain today, and pretty chilly for this heat lovin’ gal but yesterday was sunny and beautiful.
I understand from hubby that my beginnings of a food crop got a good heavenly soaking yesterday which means he won’t need to worry about watering for me till at least Tuesday or Wednesday. Hope winter is letting go her freezing grasp on the rest of you. God bless all.
looked up on the internet how to do it. lots of info, generally, put them in water, if they float, throw the floaters out. There are some other pointers to recognizing a potentially good acorn.
then, simulate winter by keeping them in a bag of moist potting soil in the fridge for three months. Did so, took them out of the fridge in the same bag, added some moisture, laid the bag on a flat surface, and a week or so later my wife says, have you seen this?
This, was seven sprouts in the bag of fifteen or so acorns. the only thing I did not do was the water test initially. transplanted them into cups with drainage holes, and a week later they were up with two leaves. now have four leaves.
Greenhouse guy says get them outside for more sun and acclimated to cool spring. have not done that yet. need to protect them from deer, bunnies, squirrels, birds, etc. plus in the warm sun all day they will need more attention with water. probably need re-potting at least once more.
Thanks for all the info! The acorns have been wintered over in SE Oklahoma, I wonder if they need to go in the fridge. I will try the float first. Appreciate it!
Worth a shot. Let us know how it works out. My wife keeps reminding me that my age isn’t conducive to outliving my oak seedlings. And now I want more. I have a particular tree in a State Park, that I gather from every year for the last three, but this was the first year I went to the effort of actually trying to get them to sprout.
My Yorkie, Prissy, will be 8 yrs. old July 31. She is extremely smart; we have to spell words so she won’t know what we say if we are talking about her. If I say a sentence with the word, “Karen”, she knows she is going to her groomer, Karen. She starts jumping up and down, and wants to go right then. Stays agitated until we go to the car. We never say, “Karen” unless we are actually going there.
If Bob says, “Go tell her”, or “Go ask her”, she comes to me.
If we say, “Prissy”, she is all over us.
She is right now sitting in her usual place, on the carpet facing the front door. There is a strip of glass next to the front door she can see out of - she is guarding the house. If anyone walks past the house on the sidewalk, or anyone drives into the driveway of the house across the street, she goes nuts, barking, that car or that walking person is in her “space”.
The groomer, Karen, puts her down on the floor of the Vet’s office where she grooms dogs. All office personnel plays with her. Karen uses Prissy to calm anxious dogs who are there for a grooming.
At night, Bob puts her on the California King bed with us. During the day, I work in the library/TV room. When Bob comes into the room and sits on the couch, Prissy is right there wanting up on the couch with him. If he takes a nap there, so does Prissy.
You won’t go wrong getting a Yorkie. Sweetest, smart dog on the planet.
Another great Yorkie Testimony! :)
Got the vegetable garden tilled on Saturday but it was a chore. Started out with water in the gas as forgot to top off the tank last fall and add stable. Then I hit a piece of 5/16 steel rod and wrapped it around the tines. Bolt cutter time. Just about finished and the drive belt came off. 15 minutes to get it back on.
Potted pomegranate tree is out of the garage and on the deck and the first leaves are trying pop out.
For those near Central Kentucky you need to try Thieneman’s Herbs and Nursery at 11535 Louisville Road in Coxs Creek. It is about a 45 minute drive for us, but the quality and prices are well worth it.
Bummer with the tiller. I hate when stuff like that happens. Of course we don’t even have a tiller, but hubby has a leaf blower and chipper. My shovel handles etc. for gardening.
However, I often have troubles with kitchen gadgets. Almost always when I’m in a hurry and need stuff to go smoothly. Par for the course.
We’re supposed to be having a drought in Texas. I’m knocking on wood before typing this but we’re so far from drought just now that I need some dry days to work soil in my new beds. It’s wet enough that I’ve come to Alabama for a week with grandkids here knowing that hubby is probably not going to have to turn a hose on even once while I’m away.
Now, in a state that’s subject to regular droughts, this isn’t really a complaint. But, at some point I need a dab of sunshine.
Sorry to be the one to say this but taters need a few hours of sunshine/day to produce. They can stand a little less sun than other nightshades but do need some. :(
Glad you are getting acclimated in Louisiana. You’ve got a good climate now for things like sweet taters and okra so might take advantage of those. IMO, it’s really nice in the south since we can almost garden year round. Hope you continue to enjoy :)
“But, at some point I need a dab of sunshine.”
We are finally getting some sun - but I think we’re going to go from Winter directly into Spring this year...with no gradual warm up at all...which I hate! Grrrr!
Farmer’s Almanac and Weather Bell are predicting drought for us up here in Wisconsin, too.
Snow hasn’t melted and the Northern lakes are still frozen solid, so we’ll see...but we HAVE had drought years when the ice didn’t come off of Lake Superior until July, so anything goes!
Hadn’t paid attention to my onion bulbs. I kept back only the smallest bulbs of the 100 (supposedly) in the WM $3 bag.
So I’m guessing I put 75 down. I now have 60 plants coming up. Was surprised when I went out to water (now that the weather is turning). We had some snow and 2 or 3 really cold nights but they survived in the pots. Well 60 ot 75 did.
We got a lot of rain today and then Sunny the next few days with better temps. I’ll have to count again in 3 days to see if anything has changed.
Meanwhile, my indoor starts are doing well. The watermelon REALLY took off. The plants are all now 3-4 inches long. It’s fun to see how they turn away from the window at night to point towards the single lamp going in the living room.
Squash are coming on strong, too. I have GOT to find a place to put them. Same with the chives, and some tomato seedlings are starting.
Sounds like some good progress. Hubby was able to get some things planted today. My herbs came in so I need to plant re pot them tomorrow.
I got some stakes (exchanged for fewer with better wood (cheaper too by $1+) and chicken wire.
I’ll have to fence off that area before I plant the watermelon. They look good but I’m not sure they’re strong enough yet. The carrots are just thin sprouts. So we’ll see how long I can hold off. Maybe I can put the watermelon seedlings in a post, tomprarily. We’ll see.
re: stunted chard
We had one hot spell, and it has been mild for a couple weeks now. I’ll try cutting the leaves off. Thanks.
I got home from Montauk on Tuesday. Ate all the trout I could stand while we were camping and brought six nice ones home in the cooler.
I spent most of Tuesday afternoon cleaning up the WhinnyBago, and then went to work in the kitchen garden. Got some more cleanup done out there, and got my snap peas planted. Tuned up the soil in the cold frame and planted green salad in there.
I still have some weed mat to pull up and a bit more cleanup to do. I’m not in a big hurry on that as there’s nothing that needs to go in right away.
The kale and spinach that I planted before leaving for Florida are up. Got a good stand of kale, but the spinach is a bit thin.
I beat the woods for a few hours yesterday and came out with enough morels to have with supper last night. I might do that again today, or I might go fishing for crappie. I still haven’t made my mind up on that. lol
I haven’t been to Montauk in 40 years. We stopped camping when the kids grew up. I used to like it - a nice break from working - got to cook - something I never had much time for then.
Now, cooking is work. LOL I need to transplant some stuff in pots today. We had rain all night. Likely won’t get much done outdoors.
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