Posted on 12/29/2018 6:10:27 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. 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 about gardening.
Hubby has 2 more raised beds ready to go. So I'll plant some more rye, if we get a decent day. Lemon tree is still blooming and doing better. Usually, I have lemons to pick by Christmas, so the problems this year, seems to have reset my timeline.
I have one of the tomato plants that has some blooms. We got in 3 more seed catalogs this week. Hubby already has 2 pages of seeds listed-I think he needs to cull the list. LOL
To anyone wanting to grow lettuce in the winter, I really had good results a few years back with a lettuce named winter density, which I covered with a double layer of row cover, and planted in a somewhat protected location on south west facing bed.
Have a great weekend. Prayers up for all. God Bless
Pinging the List.
Hi greeneyes. Good to hear your lemon tree is recovering. My parsley is still green outside. The only thing I can thing of is it a really deep bed with rich aerated soil. The roots must have gone deep over the summer. Just weird that the foliage has not frozen. I have a nice white orchid -phaleanopis that I have had about 10 or 12 years now, always good for a winter bloom, last year it had 2 blooming stalks. This year one. That’s it for anything growing here in west Michigan. Happy New Year to all my gardening friends!
All of my gardening seed catalogs have suddenly hit the mail box. Got to figure out what to plant next year and what to start early indoors.
The forcast high/low temperatures for Monday here high in the Colorado Rockies is 11F/-6F.
Hi Everybody!
Weird weather here, but at least no snow for now.
Hello everyone from Louisiana , this being my first REAL winter down here has me just baffled...all the leaves are fallen from the hardwoods , the grass just stopped growing yet I have some plants flowering? and the rose bush I WAS thinking about trimming back is now sprouting new leaves all over its spiney self? I am dumbfounded as I was normally up north in Massachusetts and the last 10 years in Maine...any advice from freepers in this section of our GREAT Republic...this is all upside down to me.
Well, I remember that a guy from New England used to plant a four season harvest, and he used compost as the heat source, so maybe that really rich and deep soil is the answer.
Your weather is intimidating to me. LOL
Well, that’s some positive news for now. We had rain this week, so got the moisture with out the freezing stuff.
I have the thermostats in the house set at about 62F, but with the wood burning stove in our living room kitchen (about 20’ by 30’) it is 72F right now.
Yes...we did get a lot of rain. I had to make sure there wasn’t a lot of it lying around to freeze during the night, to slip me up tomorrow morning. :-)
I’m not from Louisiana. I will say that some plants that are planted annually in northern climates can be perennials in southern climates. In general your growing season will start earlier, and end later - more growing days-lucky you.
For now, here’s some links to explore from LSU Extension Service. I would advise that you google to see if there is a farmer’s market near you-good to hook up with people and visit and ask questions while you pick up good veggies.
Good Luck-I envy your climate, but not hurricanes. LOL
LSU Ag Center Topics on Home Gardening:
https://www.lsuagcenter.com/topics/lawn_garden/home_gardening
LSU Veggie Planting Guide:
We have baseboard heaters in the basement and an electric fire place radiant heater. I only have one baseboard heater turned on and the radiant space heater.
We have 2 electric heaters in the greenhouse, so I’m planning on keeping the heat off of the other rooms. I am wearing a sweater and using a blanket at the computer.
Hoping to keep the greenhouse warm enough without increasing the heating bill.
Smart to do that. I hate ice. I won’t go anywhere if there is ice. Can’t afford to fall.
We have propane hot water baseboard heaters with 5 zones. We keep them all turned down low and use the wood burning fireplace insert to heat the living room/kitchen and electric blankets in the bedroom. We go through about 5 cords of wood in a single “winter” which lasts mid September to mid June.
I’m planning to build some more raised beds in my garden next spring (the previous owners built some also).
Was planning to use pressure-treated lumber, but got to thinking plain wood might be more prudent.
Anyone got any definitive reasons to use untreated wood?
Duncan; do not use pressure treated, use untreated only! See:
https://www.finegardening.com/article/does-pressure-treated-wood-belong-in-your-garden
I really miss our wood stove in the winter. Other places I have lived, the electric company gave a discount for all electric-not here. We built during the oil crisis of the 70s and that’s why we are all electric.
I’d like to have some solar and wind power to help with the heating bill, but mostly to provide power to the well pump when the electricity is out.
The articles I have read, said not to use treated wood, because of toxins that are used. Perhaps there are now treated wood that isn’t toxic-something to double check.
We have used pieces of cedar trees that we had to cut down, and cedar lasts quite a while. We have also used concrete blocks, which last longer than the landscape style poles that we got at big box store.
Also, dwarf bananna should be putting out a fruit spike any day now ... wondering when I should fertilize it.
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