Posted on 12/25/2021 7:20:14 AM PST 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.
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5 Easy New Year’s Resolutions for Gardeners
If you’re among the almost 50% of Americans who statistics show make New Year’s resolutions, be sure to remember gardening when setting your goals for a new year. In fact, consider putting gardening at the top of your list.
Gardening can help you achieve some of the other resolutions that are often at the top of resolution lists, such as slowing down, living a simpler life, and exercising.
To help you get started, here are five goals to consider adding to your list of New Year’s resolutions:
1. If You’re Not a Gardener, Become One
You don’t even have to have a yard. Condo and apartment dwellers might be surprised to know how many flowers, herbs, and small vegetables they can grow in pots. Beginning gardeners might also be surprised to learn the many other benefits of gardening. Like all exercise, gardening burns calories while also helping you to destress and unplug. It will also teach you patience — after all, you can’t hurry Mother Nature.
2. Reduce Your Lawn Area
Lawns are high-maintenance money pits. If you replace some of your grass with shrubs, perennials, or even vegetables, you’ll spend less time behind the lawnmower and less money on fertilizing, watering during droughts, and re-seeding in the spring or fall. You can even begin this project now by organically killing a portion of your lawn. All you have to do is select an area of grass and smother it with compost and aged manure or “burn it up” by solarizing it under plastic sheets. By spring, the area should be ready for planting and mulching.
3. Add Native Plants
This will really simplify your life! Native plants adapt much easier to periods of stressful weather, such as droughts or bitter winter cold snaps than the hybrids and non-natives that are often seen in nurseries across the U.S. Native plants also help sustain beneficial insects and bird populations because they attract native pollinators and birds that might not be drawn to non-natives.
4. Start a Compost Bin
Here, again, you don’t need a yard or large space to create garden compost. Small composters no bigger than a patio grill are available from garden centers or online. They’ll turn kitchen scraps, leaves, or yard waste into what some gardeners call “black gold” — nutrient-rich material for your pots or in-ground plants. Industrious and handy gardeners, of course, can build their own bins using 4x4 posts and heavy gauge wire or slatted boards. Either way, for the eco-conscious they serve the added purpose of reducing the amount of recycled material that otherwise would go to the curb.
5. Add One New Sustainable Method to Your Gardening Routine
Working in harmony with nature instead of fighting it will improve the health of your soil, increase the bounty from your garden, and minimize negative effects on the environment — as well as cut down on your stress! There are many sustainable practices you can use to increase your gardening enjoyment. One example would be to resolve to eliminate chemical fertilizers. Another would be to install one or more rain barrels to capture rain runoff from the roof. You could also start using a drip or soaker hose that would put water directly on the plant root zone rather than broadcasting it to unintended places from an oscillating sprinkler.
https://www.treehugger.com/new-years-resolutions-for-gardeners-4860393
My neighbor cut back his plumeria and put the cuttings on the median near the street. I decided not to be greedy and only took one, which I stuck in this pot filled with stock:
My eucalyptus is blooming:
He can't stop looking out the window for Santa's sleigh:
Merry Merry Christmas to all.
How is greeneyes doing?
I have never seen eucalyptus flowers before. Beautiful. Thanks for the pictures! Merry Christmas to you and all here.
Yes how is greeneyes doing. Merry Christmas and how was your seafood extravaganza? Hubby is making a small rib roast today. And I baked cinnamon rolls, frozen bread dough is
the way to go for me.
Merry Christas from Georgia. Who wants some fruit cake?
HaHa. My only gardening resolution is to spend more time in it, maybe set up a chair for breaks.
Merry Christmas!
We started doing some of this this past year.
Here’s a link to native trees and plants for a reasonable price.
https://www.nh.gov/nhnursery/documents/spring2022nurserycatalog.pdf
I haven’t coveted dishes in decades, but that is the most amazing cup and saucer I’ve ever seen. Stollen looks good, but that cup!!!!!!!!!!
Merry Christmas, Diana!
🎄🎄🎄
Great weather!
Merry Christmas! Great pictures, I have seen that kind of eucalyptus but not the flower. Very interesting!
First of all - how DO you keep that dog so clean? I guess you don’t live on a farm, Eh? LOL!
Secondly, GORGEOUS, as always. Stock is probably my favorite scent for flowers! When I was buying for Jung’s, I always had them on hand with the other annuals. I got SO many ‘Thumbs Ups’ from customers who remembered their Grandmas having Stock. Me, too! Have always loved it.
Your house is like a visit to the Tropics and it’s only California! I lived in Imperial Beach for 2 years in the early 80’s. Loved the weather, but missed my Four Seasons. It rained exactly ONCE in 2 years - which was very weird for this Midwestern Girl! And you people wear COATS? Come on! It’s 60 degrees out! That’s still shorts and flip-flops weather up here, LOL!
Merry Christmas!
It IS pretty, isn’t it? I thought it was very ‘Christmas-y,’ very, ‘Hygee’ for the winter months.
Check ‘Better Homes and Gardens’ brand at Walmart. They always have lovely, affordable stuff. Lots of white, which I like.
Here’s a mug that is pretty close:
https://www.opensky.com/molla-space-inc/product/sweater-mug-1
Incredible! I remember Christmas Days around here that were sub-zero! I will take THIS, any day of the year!
40+ and SUNNY. Hurray! :)
Merry Christmas everybody!!!
My gardening resolution is to do side-by-side tests on a lot more varieties this year, to find the ones that work best for me.
I just added Bitter Melon to the list of things to test. I’ve been trying to grow the white bitter melon carried by Baker Creek, but haven’t had much luck with it. I found out 2 things that made me want to branch out into other varieties:
1. When fully ripened, all bitter melons develop a sweet, cherry-flavored pulp around their seeds. I had been under the impression that most were not that sweet, which was why I focused on a the one that was. (This is all according to descriptions by others, I haven’t had a chance to taste it myself.)
2. The bitter compound is actually quinine, at least according to some sources. In addition to being anti-malarial, quinine is also anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anti-parasitic, and antiviral! Seems like something worth growing!
I’m now determined to find a bitter melon variety that will grow well with my gardening style. Other things on the list of things to test are wheat, oats, barley, luffa gourds, and watermelons. I’ve tried one variety at a time here and there, but never found one that worked well. Hopefully testing a bunch of varieties at once will turn up something.
My second goal is to try and cut down on the list of vegetables we buy at the store. I plan to try growing a lot more green beans this year. Normally I’ve been skipping those, because peas and dry beans have more nutrition. But, I’m on the keto diet now, and green beans are a good low-carb filler. Canned green beans are still easy to find, but frozen ones are getting scarce, so I expect the canned will follow. That was a reminder to me that these weird supply shortages are going to continue cropping up for years to come.
Third goal is to get the equipment made that I need in order to scale up my seed business. Right now I can’t get anything done on that because there’s nowhere I can work on it without a certain family member hijacking and destroying it while pretending to “help”. No idea how I’m going to deal with that, but it needs to be done, because the status-quo just isn’t an option.
10 New Year’s Resolutions for the Gardener
Gardenista Blog
1. Care for Compost
2. Use Natural Remedies
3. Save Your Eggshells
4. Start Small
5. Water Wisely
6. Welcome Insects
7. Bring Greenery Indoors
8. Keep Potted Succulents Happy
9. Embrace Sustainable Design
10. Schedule a Garden Therapy Session
https://www.gardenista.com/posts/10-new-years-resolutions-gardener/
Merry Christmas to You & Yours from Me & Mine!
Love the Bitter Melon properties. Who knew? I know you’re good at medicinal herbs, but I RESOLVE to learn more about those, myself. Simple things like making my own tea combinations and such. I know I can start with Elderberry blossoms - I have enough of those growing wild all over the place, so that’s an easy one to start with. ;)
I’m totally on board with the ‘Grow more Green Beans’ Resolution, too. Since I had such success with canning the Dilly Beans this season, that’s getting added to the normal rotations along with all of our other faves for the pantry. My new favorite is ‘Saychelles’ from Jung’s (and others.) What an AWESOME Pole Bean! She grows straight and relatively uniformly, even if I don’t pick for a few days (or weeks!) she’s not the least bit stringy or tough. I had green beans growing this year into November! I couldn’t believe it!
As for your ‘helper’ I have a skid steer you can borrow.
*WHISPERS* No one needs to know... ;)
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