Posted on 06/12/2021 4:24:59 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!
L.W. “Vortices? No Capes!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSfG3slODnM
“Splashdown, caught in a vortex!!”
(L.W.; Do you use a super-costume? I know you do not use a cape! :)
Checking off thread this AM for other obligations!
Excellent advice on the Milorganite and the peat. :)
Greetings from southern New Hampshire!
I have two pallet lumber full-sized and one narrow raised beds completed. I ran out of compost to fill them, and just got a trailer load (2+ tons) this morning. I have one long side for a full-sized raised bed completed and ready for the plastic sheeting lining and a bunch of side boards ready to assemble. I have three large-sized left to build, this spring. I hope to be done sometime Tuesday afternoon, assuming that I will need to get another load of compost, then.
Household Six is busily planting all of her seedlings. We put in an additional cattle panel trellis, and I have two more panels to put in as soon as I get the new raised beds finished. Then I can start working on the woven wire fencing around the garden area, tied to the duck pen, so that we can let them out to graze for bugs. Then, the electric fencing around the metal fencing to protect the duck pen, garden and bee pergola.
Speaking of bees, we haven’t seen any, recently. I am very concerned. I need to refresh my swarm traps as there hasn’t been any sign of swarms or even scouts.
When I bought our home, 13 years ago April, I put in a small rose garden and an oriental poppy, along with two Rose of Sharon. One of the rose refuses to die off. It is blossoming along with the poppy.
My hibiscus in the front planter bed, under the bay window, is pushing up sprouts and daughter plants. I have to do something to protect them as we just refinanced our mortgage and will have the house resided with vinyl siding. Also finally going to have an asphalt driveway.
Retiring from seasonal RVing was one of the best decisions we have made!
One of the best memes EVER!
Thanks, Pete! :)
We have had an inch & a half of rain since Thursday evening - should be clearing out today. I had just done a 'heavy' watering Thursday, thinking the storms were going around - the big one (heavy downpours) 'blew up' on radar & came over around 9:30 pm, then off on all night & yesterday. Everything is growing great!
Flower gardens:
Snake report - none in the hen house since we removed the last two on back-to-back days; however, my mom spotted one Thursday in the shed where I keep my Gorilla cart, tractor mower & she keeps her gardening tools - she was pretty traumatized. I'm sure it was looking for mice.
Chickens are laying beautifully - I made two quiches last week - really good & a great way to use up an abundance of eggs.
“Also finally going to have an asphalt driveway.”
Such LUXURY, LOL!
Our driveway is a mile long, so every few years Beau orders in 2-3 dump trucks of recycled asphalt. They do a good job of spreading it, then he goes over it with the skid steer or the blade on the old 1954 Allis-Chalmers tractor. ;)
If you can find recycled asphalt in your area, it’ll save you some money...then you can buy more compost and pallets, LOL!
I’m so glad you & ‘Household Six’ are happy to be staying put. Sounds like you’re putting your time to very good use. :)
“...& a great way to use up an abundance of eggs.”
I have Chicken Fever so bad, I can’t hardly stand it! I thought I would be totally ‘over’ raising laying hens, after doing it on a huge scale for so many years, but I really miss having those chattering biddies around, not to mention the eggs, which are so awesome when compared to store-bought!
My ex came from a family of 14 and when he was a kid he was in charge of their hen house that held 200 hens at a time. He wasn’t too keen on my chicken enterprises which he refused to help with.
(Yet another reason he’s my ex.) *SNORT*
I really miss that job some days. Such a fun, creative outlet and I had such an amazing crew working for me. And everyone was a great cook, so our Break Room was always full of yummy stuff to eat. But then, I remember the blisters, getting soaked with exploding hoses, unloading semi after semi after semi of plants each spring, sunburn, battling woodchucks and aggressive birds, waterline breaks, outbreaks of toads after rainstorms, dealing with WINTER...and I sober right up, LOL!
I was raised having some 300+ layers around. Gathering eggs,
washing, and cleaning up chicken poop. These weren’t free
range so the rest of the area was clean but gathering eggs and
feeding was a mess to say the least.
I was raised having some 300+ layers around. Gathering eggs,
washing, and cleaning up chicken poop. These weren’t free
range so the rest of the area was clean but gathering eggs and
feeding was a mess to say the least.
Good Morning, Everybody!
(((HUGS)))
Already harvesting tomatoes and peppers, basil.
From the Big Valley.
My niece had to move to a guesthouse on her in-laws property after her house was sold and they are waiting for their dream house to be finished. The new house is on property that has no fencing or buildings so they will have to build a chicken coop this fall. My SIL next door got my niece’s 10 hens, all of which are currently laying machines! She also has two old hens that lay an egg now and then. When you are getting 10 eggs a day, it’s hard to use them all up. I suspect she is giving some away to the ladies she works with, but I can get eggs whenever I ask for them and sometimes she just brings them over when she’s totally inundated. My little great niece told her mom the other day that she really misses her chickens and she also wanted to know if they could take their garden with them. Once she sees a new chicken coop going up and they get a new garden laid out (going to raised beds(, I think she’ll be happier and feeling better about the move.
I must say that this trellis is one of the most satisfying projects I've made in years. Every year, I would try to figure out what my cukes could grow on & now I don't have to deal with that issue any more. The trellis is movable so it can go to wherever I need it when I rotate crops. I would like to make another one – need to find the lumber in the scrap piles – too expensive to buy lumber right now. The lumber in this trellis was re-purposed from an old structure, which adds to the 'satisfaction' of the project. I did splurge on new bolts ( under $7) – couldn't find the size I needed in the sheds.
My Cardinal Climbing Vines are “out of control” LOL! I am cutting back the long tendrils that are trying to attach to my compost pile, but I'm letting the rest grow & wave in the breeze. The flowers will be tiny, red, trumpet-shaped & are supposed to attract hummers .... looking forward to lots of flowers.
“From the Big Valley...”
What kind of personal or medical crisis is Audra Barkley having, today? ;)
Your garden is far ahead of mine! I’m on the ‘weed, water, wait’ program right now, thought I do have a few Zucchini forming - and you know there’s NO TURNING BACK from THAT, LOL!
The most I ever had was 50 at a time, but that was plenty! I had the Araucana/Easter Eggers and I would package them in clear egg cartons with nice labels and tied with a raffia bow.
This was a decade before everyone had backyard chickens, so I sold them to a local Liquor Store/Deli that gave me $2.50 a dozen. He turned around and sold them for $5/dozen and people were screaming for more!
God Bless American Capitalism, LOL!
Selling them covered my feed costs, buying new chicks and having plenty of eggs for my family back then.
Your garden is far ahead of mine!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Actually, it’s been a very slow start for us this year - we would have a couple of nice days, then the temps overnight would be mid to low 40’s. I bought my Celebrities back in May & that night it was down to 36!! They spent about a week between the living room at night & out in the sunshine during the day, once the temps got to about 50. They were 12”+ (my SIL found a great deal at Food Lion - $2.50 each) when I bought them so not as tender as the teeny tinies that come in 4-packs. After being planted in the garden, there were more than a few nights in the 40’s (a couple of them low, like 41) & they were big enough to do ok & survive, just didn’t do much growing ‘til it warmed up.
My first batch of peppers (4 bell, 4 jalapeno) were 4-pack purchases, as were the cukes & cherry tomatoes. The peppers all dropped leaves (too cold overnight) & died. The cukes/cherry tomatoes were borderline dying. Once the nights warmed up, they struggled, but gradually came back & started growing. When I bought replacement peppers, I transplanted from the 4-packs to small peat pots - this gave them more room to grow so I could hold them out of the garden longer. They also spent some nights in the living room (anything in the 40’s for about 2 weeks). They did a lot of growing in the peat pots - the jalapenos were sad looking (& I got the ‘best’ of what was available) - very thin stalks, ‘weedy’ looking. Once in the peat pots, boy did they do well - developed nice thick stalks & grew a lot before going in the garden.
Next year, I think I’m starting my own peppers, cukes & maybe tomatoes in peat pots. This year, I started sunflowers (giant), tithonia, marigolds & one cuke in peat pots - worked great. I used coconut fiber for the medium - added a little Milorganite organic fertilizer so the plants had some sort of nutrients. What I LOVE is that when I plant seeds straight in the garden, I often have trouble determining what is seed germinating & what is weed. No such problem with peat pots - if it’s growing, it’s what I want to be growing.
It’s been a difficult year getting things started/growing with the periods of cool/cold temps. It’s also been fun experimenting with the 4-packs/peat pots, starting stuff in the peat pots, etc. I learned a lot for next year.
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.