Posted on 04/03/2021 6:39:27 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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.
If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located.
This thread is a non-political respite. 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! Send a Private Message to Diana in Wisconsin if you'd like to be added to our New & Improved Ping List.
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 to Gardeners are welcomed any time!
Hi, nice to see your pictures glad you are at least getting outside..
Thanks for the ping. Late to the party. Have been a bit under the weather, but made a big batch of bone broth and started to feel better. Plan to plant taters tomorrow-hubby got the raised bed flood prevention put in.
He also poured the last bit of concrete for the Shed/Root Cellar. A couple of doors, and the siding is all that’s left I think.
We had a problem in a nearby county with the health inspector not allowing sale of canned goods at the farmer’s markets. As I was doing research, I ran across this article, and thought it might be of interest even though it’s from the real milk blog:
Preserved foods in mason jars on a counter(I’ll try to post a picture of these foods below).
Excerpt—the entire article is at link below:
On December 10 1, District Court Judge Cynthia Feland put an end to one of the more ambitious power grabs by a government agency in the area of local food regulation when she ruled that the North Dakota Department of Health (NDDH) exceeded its authority by adopting rules that ban the unregulated sale of some homemade foods that the Legislature allows to be sold under the Cottage Foods Act [also known as the 2017 North Dakota Food Freedom Act (FFA)].
Under the FFA any producer can sell cottage food products directly to a consumer without regulation
2. In her decision, Judge Feavel enjoined NDDH from enforcing the cottage food regulations; the department has decided not to appeal the ruling so the judgement is final.
Moreover, NDDA will not be working through its allies in the state legislature to introduce legislation to amend the GGA this session, a move the department made in 2019. The filing deadline for bills in the 2021 session was January 25.
Attorneys for the Institute for Justice represented five cottage food producers challenging the rules. The case boiled down to the definition of a “cottage food product.”
The FFA defines a “cottage food product” as “baked goods, jams, jellies, and other food and drink products produced by a cottage food operator”
3. The only food the Act expressly bans the sale of are “uninspected products made from meat” (the sale of uninspected products from poultry is allowed if the cottage food operator slaughters no more than 1000 birds a year).
The judge found that “nowhere in the Cottage Food Act is the Department of Health granted any authority to further restrict foods that can be sold under the Act.” ..snip..
Did you make those cages you use on your strawberry plants?
Or did you purchase them some where? What are they made of?
I printed a picture for hubby-even though he’s plenty busy. Ha.
My 10 X 10 portable greenhouse is kaput. I can easily replace the one bent frame pipe, but the cover, alas, is no longer obtainable.
Solved the problem, after looking at others online, by ordering a 10 X 20. I have a better location for it, and that will face it E->W, putting the long side on the south. The extra space will be partially taken up with garden tool & tiller storage.
It will be outside the northern fence of the garden, and I’ll use steel t-posts to anchor it. May install a gate in that fence line, for convenience.
MIGHT do some tilling this coming week; perhaps put in an early planting of spinach & carrots.
I went to Bomgaar’s Supply (https://www.bomgaars.com/) here in town, and bought 100 onion sets, hand-picked. I’m usually stuck with buying the little mesh bags of 100, which usually contain closer to 200 puny sets, of which maybe 50 grow half decently. My 100 weigh over twice as much as one of those little mesh bags, and all are plump & healthy.
I also picked up some russet and Yukon Gold seed potatoes; they’re currently both sprouting more eyes; and developing out the ones they had when I picked them out of the bins.
Need to get more, since I’ll actually have time to garden this year: after 6-1/2 years at Taco John’s, I’m now re-retired.
About 3 weeks ago I talked Mrs. A.R. into taking advantage of a good sale on some great celery, and picked out 6 big, heavy heads. Broke out the Excalibur, and dried 4 of them, and used the other two fresh.
Thanks for reminding me: I need to start leek seeds!
Don’t toss those celery stubs! I’m growing all of my own celery this year from ‘stubs’ that I’ve cut off of purchased celery and rooted in water. They’re going in the ground soon!
Our greenhouse is situated in the same direction. We had to repair it today because 2x a year we get AWFUL winds from the East. Modifications were made, today. :)
Calculate Planting Dates to Overwinter Crops for Spring Harvest https://www.johnnyseeds.com/growers-library/vegetables/overwintering-planting-chart.html
My son made those cages for me several years ago.The tubing is 1/2 inch square and the wire has about 3/4 “ mesh. They are tapered to stack and take up less space when not in use. They are appox 4 ‘ x 6’ to fit our 12’ beds and three rows of berries per frame pair...
I saw the pics of your greenhouse. :-( we get the same winds, but this winter we got some extras out of season, and even worse than usual: 70+ MPH gusts.
I’ve tried the celery stub thing several times, and they never thrived, so quit trying. They would put up some central stems maybe 3 inches, but never develop roots; then die when all the energy of the stub was drained. Didn’t matter whether I left them in water, or moved them to potting soil.
We’re 4,200’ at 43.4* N; Zone 5, technically; but Zone 4 realistically; and some things need to be rated for Zone 3 to fruit, or even survive. Frost free season is mid May to early September.
Along those lines, I quit trying to sprout mung been seeds, too; they just won’t do it. I KNOW I’m doing it right, because I grew beautiful sprouts regularly in both Oregon & SoCal. Can’t buy fresh ones, either, so I know it is something about the greater location they don’t like.
I had a patch of scallions in NY that kept self seeding and overwintering with no planning or work on my part.
Come spring, the plants would look like a mess, the leaves all slimy and rotten looking. If I tried to pull them, they would mush and fall apart.
But accidentally, since I did not feel like touching slimy onions leaves, I let them go one year and they started growing again and within a couple weeks were healthy looking plants. The bulbs did divide and mr. mm said the flavor was a little different than more freshly sown scallions, but they worked very were and were very potent.
After that, I usually just left the scallion patch go and do it’s thing and I’d have great scallions very early in the year.
However, it does help to sow scallion seeds in that area two years in a row so that every year you’d be getting overwintered scallions.
Thanks.
Stylish! Still has decent tread on the tires, too! :)
Leeks are up in our woods now (Zone 5). The young tender plants make good leek & bacon soup. They have a snappy flavor! In 2-3 weeks, the bulbs will be big enough to make pickled ramps. Those are fabulous alongside pickles and a sandwich. Great on a charcuterie board too.
Welcome to the Pack! They are adorable. Useful and Beautiful, for sure. :)
I’ve got my heart set on a big old yard dog, but our Beagle is getting up there and I know Beau will want another Beagle for our house dog/rabbit hunting. We have two Beagles coming next weekend for training. Our ‘Chief’ is really good at training younger dogs to track and trail and we have 160 acres for them to roam with no worries about crossing roads or speeding cars. ;)
Funny. Even if they leave at first light, they all come back by suppertime, LOL!
Yeah, I was torn about letting the adult male train these pups because he was good at his job and even recognized a hawk’s shadow on the ground and would bark up at them but I didn’t want his dislike/distrust of humans to rub off on the pups. LGD is instinctive to all three breeds and both pups came from LGD settings so I think they’ll do fine.
Picked up the male yesterday and when I first went outside this morning, they were basically one ball of fur but the female sat up before I could get a pic of that.
I’m going to set up an 8x8 kennel in with the goats and put the pups in that for a couple of days and then let them out. Right now, they’re in with our 15 year old HGD (human guardian dog). When we first got Mollie, half pit bull, she wouldn’t put up with another dog. Pit bulls have dog to dog aggression. Took years to get her over that and she still doesn’t have any use for other dogs but she puts up with them and even let this female pup snuggle up against her. Now with the second pup, Luna, the female has no use for Mollie and Mollie’s just fine with that.
Need to find a replacement for Mollie. Would like to get another Chow Chow. Another half Pit would work too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.