Weekly Garden Thread - May 14-20, 2022 [I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for...Rhubarb?]

May 14, 2022 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[cherry]

"Fry Rubarb flowers for Turkish delight."

apparently, you can dip elderberry blossoms in a pancake type batter and fry them and they are quite the delicacy in Germany....

[SuperLuminal]

My refrigerator is never without a jar of strawberry-rhubarb jam...

My wife makes strawberry rhubarb pie 3-4 times a year...

We discovered strawberry-rhubarb pie back in 1975 when the five of us (the three kids were with us) were eating in the Marie Callender’s restaurant on Sahara (Las Vegas)...

[MomwithHope]

I never knew! Nothing like that in Michigan. I remember a trip to the Caribbean where we saw them all over, even growing on people’s roofs. Thanks for the pics! PS. We keep groundhogs and varmits under control with a .22. Gophers I believe are smaller you might want to try Tomcat baits. They work great on chipmunks otherwise we would be overrun.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

What can we say! Hive Minds / Great Minds! Twice confirmed, doubly certain!

L.J. Rhubarb link above for natural health! (Well, at some level so is the entire thread.)

[mabarker1]

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

The tiger in the original picture is a mess. This is better looking.

We can celebrate at least one action of the "first nations" who (if it was not done by asteroids or comets) eliminated preditors like the saber tooth tiger from the Americas! Grizzly bears and wolves ere more than enough to deal with.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Leggy tomatoes. Don’t try to dig a hole that will accept the entire height.

Dig a hole, fertilize; dig a small trench on one side; Lay your Leggy Tom roots in the hole (flatten them out...remove any peat pot or jiffy pot netting) and lay the stem in the trench with most of the top and branches above the soil line. Bury. Mulch around it to protect from mud splashing up on the leaves!

It should develop additional roots and do just fine. (There I Think I Learned that here...was that you Diana?)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Thompson and Morgan says:

“This cordon variety can be grown in the greenhouse, or in a sheltered, sunny spot outdoors. Height: 200cm (79”). Spread: 50cm (20”).”

https://www.thompson-morgan.com/p/tomato-rosella/tt38814TM If the same as what you purchased from Rare seeds (And there is no guarantee of this!)

It is clearly a semi indeterminate! (Or a category fluid Semi Determinate? ?)

I would assume at least 6 feet high and will need staking. Good luck!)

[Ellendra]

I'm trying to scheme a PVC pipe to push a hole in the soil and drop seeds down the pipe and then cover up the seeds.

Take a 1/2" dia pipe, and zip-tie it to an ice chopper. (An ice chopper looks like a hoe, but the blade is in line with the handle instead of at an angle.) If planting small seeds, you'll need to encapsulate them somehow to give them more weight, but large seeds can slide through the tube as-is. Stick the ice-chopper into the ground at a slight angle, tilt it the other way to open a hole in the soil. Drop a seed down the tube, then use the ice-chopper to open a second hole right next to it in a way that pushes the first hole closed.

I've tried this with narrower blades, but they made too small an opening. It was easy to miss the hole.

For giving small seeds more weight, I've tried several things, some more complicated than others. The simplest is to make little paper pouches, using low-quality paper so it breaks down easily. If it still needs more weight, add some dry dirt, sand, or other plant-friendly weights in with the seed. You can go fancy with origami, or just wrap it up like a burrito, or any other method you like. Just try not to let them leak too much. If you decide to use glue to seal them shut, use biodegradable or water-soluble glues, and try not to let the glue touch the seed itself. I don't recommend using tape.

[WHATNEXT?]

How nice another lucky Blue Bird host. Weather has been soooo cold and wet, it has kept them from nesting. Saw a male a month ago on the house they used last year...but, the weather seems to have stopped their activity. Hoping for return of our usual temperatures.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

If the stars align properly, some years I have both at the same time. It is SUCH a great flavor combination in pie or jam.

I am SO looking forward to some more of the vanilla ice cream and rhubarb sauce, tonight. We’re having salads for supper to compensate, LOL!

I’m sorry, but dieting is a PITA when you like to eat seasonally; Some things just HAVE to be eaten in season, no matter what. :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“I remember a trip to the Caribbean where we saw them all over, even growing on people’s roofs.”

I was enchanted just like that in Hawaii. After I made my (ex) husband pull over for the 15th time he said, “Yes! We get it! Amaryllis grow here like the orange Ditch Lilies back home!”

You can see why he’s my ex, LOL!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“There I Think I Learned that here...was that you Diana?”

Nope. My motto is, ‘Stacking Them Deep and Selling Them Cheap!’ :)

Oh, probably. I live to serve. I’ll answer questions that aren’t even direct at me! ;)

[MomwithHope]

We loved the rainforest in Puerto Rico too. The plants growing everywhere are sold as houseplants here. I remember tons of purple wandering jew.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

"The squirrels would steal her little plastic people and accessories, LOL!"

If she had stuck with pink flamingos and garden gnomes she would not have had this problem!

"She started trapping them and would spray paint their tails blue while they were still caged, then would drive them out past the dump and let them go."

And let them go. Um Hum. And where did everyone in the township go to practice shooting?? Probably out past the dump.

[mabarker1]

SWEET !!! The debugging stuff I was running around in My cranial container was down the Tube with the different sized Seeds and the Backfilling. I have a new piece of 1” Schedule 40 PVC that’s already paid for leftover from another project.

Have You tried a cotton ball for the tiny seed.

[FamiliarFace]

We are very blessed. I have been coaxing the Bluebirds for 4 or 5 years. I think it was 3 years ago that they chose one of our houses the first time. We usually see 2 clutches each year. I have successfully watched these babies go from eggs to nestlings to fledglings each year since then. Sometimes I miss the fledge event because of being out of town, but see the young ones in the trees being fed within days of fledging. It’s always fun. I’ve gotten to see Cardinals and Robins do the same. Always fun and always a miracle to watch these events.

I hope your temps return to the norm soon!

[FamiliarFace]

Nice layout! Wish I had that much space available for planting veggies!

[FamiliarFace]

Bet you it was Greeneyes if it wasn’t Diana. Miss her!

[TheConservativeParty]

Fabulous pictures!
Always enjoy your beautiful photos.
☺️