Posted on 01/05/2019 10:33:52 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.
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I am not a big fan of Putin, but i would have loved to have seen that!
Ditto.
That sounds pretty darn good for winter in the Ozarks!
Yesterday was beautiful here in Central Missouri. Cloudy today, but nice and warm. Too muddy to do much of anything outside, and I’m feeling lazy anyway.
Might prune a few orchard trees later if I can get motivated.
We went fishing below Bagnell yesterday. They had three turbines running for most of the morning, which normally makes for a good bite, but somebody forgot to tell the fish.
Have you started your seedlings then?
We have had one minor snowstorm, and now a string of 40+ degree weather. It was 100 degrees in the (closed up) greenhouse the other day! Of course, it goes down to freezing each evening.
Beau says I should grow succulents and desert plants in there in the winter; they can take the abuse!
Other than that, I’m still processing winter squash. This week I am making Pumpkin Sauce (for Pasta) and will crank out a couple of Pumpkin Spice loaves, too.
I couldn’t take it anymore and have started a flat of Micro Greens (lettuces, arugula, spinach, chard, kale) for snipping in 35-40 days and a new batch of sprouts for sandwiches and salads. Now I’m hungry for an Egg Salad Sandwich on wheat with sprouts! ;)
A friend and I are doing a ‘challenge’ to see how many days out of the year we can eat SOMETHING either fresh or preserved from our garden/land/animals/hens. So far, I am 4 for 6 days into 2019! She had a remarkable 234 days out of 365 last year from her small suburban garden! I am also including wild game & fish, as we eat so much of it, and also Fungi because I have a lot of wild-harvested Golden Oyster and Morel mushrooms frozen and dehydrated.
Pretty much anything you didn’t have to buy at the grocery store is fair game, IMHO. Should be interesting and will make me think of ways to beat my score next season. ;)
LOL. I am feeling lazy too. It is really nice, and the greenhouse is hot, and I’m just soaking up some sun, guzzling tea, and run back in to check the computer. Lazy days and wasted nights comes to mind.
No. I won’t start anything like that till first of March. Hubby is the one that really does a lot of seed starting. I’m more likely to just let stuff wait and plant directly outdoors rather than mess with starts and transplants.
I plant winter wheat and rye in the fall usually, but hubby had loaded down part of the raised beds with tools and what not as he was doing outdoor projects, so I couldn’t plant them then.
Given that we get periodic warmer weather, I am considering just sowing some winter rye to plow under in the spring for nitrogen, but the area there is also where I want to plant my spring triticale and that’s a cross between wheat and rye, so it might not be a good idea to do that.
Hubby thinks I should just wait till spring.
It’s that freezing at night that I don’t like. We used clear plastic to section off a small space and have an electric heater on low. I put a crockpot with the lid off on the table with the plants to keep the humidity in range.
So far it works. As a trade off, I have not turned on the base heaters except in the bathroom. Hoping to keep the electric bill roughly the same.
Those are brilliant ideas! I don’t have electricity out to the greenhouse, but if I drop a hint NOW - I’m pretty sure I’ll get it eventually.
I mean, Beau IS an Electrician by trade! ;)
When the weather is fair like it has been for the past 48 hours I can’t help but think that spring is right around the corner. My daffodils are thinking the same. I know we are both foolish but I can’t wait. For now I’ll try to contain myself and just work on cleaning things up. I’m not a seedling starter but I might try it this year for all the annual flowers that I like to put in pots and around dad’s place.
Well, they say necessity is the mother of invention. LOL I just needed more space. On the research and planning list for this summer is:
1. Cost benefit analysis of installing geothermal heat pump and possible retrofit of current HVAC system which is 44 years old.
2. Design of root cellar/basement with second level garden shed, with windows on south wall - just in case more grow space is needed.
3. Design of enclosed back porch with nearly floor to ceiling windows all around, and wood stove for some heat.
4. Back up power generator propane/gas, solar, and/or wind power to reduce electric bills.
Cost estimates and prioritize or omit projects based on estimates.
I love flowers, but we tend toward perennials, because there’s just not enough hrs. in the day when we get all the veggie planting done-plus we are both getting older and not as spry.
That’s a great list! We are planning:
Raised garden bed on South side of greenhouse for ROSES
Raised garden bed on West side of greenhouse for HERBS
Add four or six additional raised beds in Kitchen Garden (I need more cut flowers and space for more perennials; have plenty now for food crops...)
STOP growing so d@mn much winter squash, LOL!
Take out Red & Black Currant Bushes - move elsewhere due to White Pine Blister Rust issues :(
Add more Raspberries where Currant bushes were
Build Chicken Coop; chickens again in 2020! Yay! :)
Finish roof on porch and porch re-hab (needs a new bead-board ceiling that I want to paint ‘Haint Blue’) and replace some railings and such that the Puppies chewed on two years ago. Paint porch floor and steps (wood) with sand-in paint for safer grip.
Our list are going to be keeping us busy! LOL
I put three stacks in. Probably could use one or two more but I ran out of pallets.
Getting ready to put tomato and pepper seeds into trays. Grew ghost peppers last summer - the most prolific things ever.
Who Hoo. Always a good time - transplants just around the corner.
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