I’ve already ordered and received my seeds for this year although no doubt I’ll have to get more later. Mr. Mercat bought a small table top aqua garden to take to our son for Christmas but forgot it so I set it up. It’s supposed to grow herbs. Also, Mr. Mercat built a cold frame and its still producing lettuce. So that’s my gardening news. Oh and he was rebuilding my raised beds so that they are more accessible but still protected from all critters except birds. My garlic that I planted in October came up because it’s been so warm. So don’t know how that will go/grow.
Hello Diana and All! I’ve started planning a garden in my new state of Virginia. Of course, here in the southwest of the state the soil is acidic red clay so I’d have better luck making pottery than vegetables :D (in fact there’s a brick making business right down the road ).
I think the first thing I have to do is get a composter up and churning, then see about lime, then consider a lot of plants in pots, then figure out how much this will all cost then see if I can actually afford a garden this year.
Our new 1954 home came with all the original, 14 amp, cloth covered electric hidden between 20 amp breakers at one end and not-really-grounded 3 prong outlets at the other. It also has a SURPRISE indoor waterfall feature courtesy of the cracks in the chimney we can’t use because the damper looks like a rhino sat on it.
So, I’m scrummaging the local sale pages on facepage, going good will hunting weekly, and asking people to keep an eye out for cheap garden things like large pots, chicken wire and stakes, and any kind of bricks and blocks that might be useful.
If I can manage a compost bin or pile and a few plants in pots with bought soil it’ll have to do for this year.
But I REALLY need to learn how to grow things in clay and how the stuff can be amended.
Cheers!
It’s been a long time since I posted! I’ve got wonderfully large east facing windows in my office. I’ve installed a foxtail Rosemary plant and a piece of lemon verbena I was able to get to root. I had Johnny jump ups in the pot before repurposing it and seedlings are filling in any empty space. I hope it flowers. That is my current gardening triumph.
The flat leaf parsley at the grocery store looked so bad this morning I’m headed to a nursery to buy a plant to put in a window. I am taking a 10 dollar bill and no plastic in to pay to keep myself in check. Lol.
Books:
Oldie but goodie; How to Grow Vegetables and Fruits by the Organic Method by J.I. Rodale
Also by Rodale; Complete Book of Composting
I also have the newer; All-New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening by Rodale
Good to learn the old organic methods now. Food prices are going up and one reason this coming year will be due to fertilizer prices doubling. I finally got some Comfrey last year. Good compost activator and for fertilizer as Comfrey tea due to being high in nitrogen. Comfrey is also high in potassium which can be hard to get as organic. I asked about greensand at the local farm store and the guy looked at me like I had two heads. Wood ash is another source but washes through the soil pretty quick so you can’t put it on/in a month or two before hand or in the Fall to prep for Spring.
I need to get a metal barrel with lid to start saving ash/charcoal(biochar) from my wood stove. Our place is small so sometimes on days when it warms up quick, I shut down the air intake to shut down the stove which leaves me with a lot of bulk charcoal aka biochar which is awesome for the soil. Supposed to be especially good for acidic soils which I definitely have as is evident by the wild blueberries among other wild fruits that grow here.
Cold and dry this past week here in Central Missouri. There’s still several inches of frozen crunchy snow on the grassy areas, and lots of pack ice on driveways and back roads.
This last round of bitter cold pretty much wiped out the kale and collards. I guess I should have picked it and packed it away, not that I have any space to pack it away. Freezers are all full, and I picked up 81 pounds of deer sticks and summer sausage at the locker plant yesterday. It’s in a cooler in the barn right now, and I’m shopping for another freezer.
Counting the days until I can start my spring seeds……
after my poor garden failed last year. This year I hope to home honeybees and put up a fence around my garden. Prayers for a blessed garden for me and not just the area critters!
XD
(The resource area is posted at the end of the the July 3-6 Gardening Thread beginning after post 112!) https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4022311/posts
Trying one more time: ordered a 10 frame nuc box, with 6-8 active frames, from a local source. After 3 ‘packages’ of bees absconded over a 2 year period, it’s time for a course change: once more into the breach!
Already have most of the garden accounted for, between saved seed; early purchases; and thriving beyond all reason potted sweet potato vines on the kitchen windowsill.
As to favorite resources, The Weekly Gardening Thread; Duck-Duck-Go links; The Western Garden Book, any of several annual editions I have; Older Garden Way books, including an early Joy Of Gardening.
On another note, took the pickup & 24’ flatbed to (near Greeley) Colorado & back yesterday, to pickup my “new” tractor: 1980 1500 Ford diesel, with the Ford bucket loader, box blade, bucket forks, PTO mower, an old drag-behind chisel tooth harrow, and set of new tire chains. Came with the complete set of manuals, and history. 13 hour uneventful round trip, despite 90 miles of thick, icy, hard packed, pressure-ridged snow in Wyoming. On the bright side, the plow was clearing the narrow SHOULDERS!
I already have the 8’ multi-way rear blade, boom-lift, and middle buster that also fit it; plan to sell the old Ford 2N.
