Posted on 03/02/2024 6:26:35 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
The MONTHLY Gardening Thread is a 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 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/removed from our New & Improved Ping List.
NOTE: This is a once a MONTH Ping List, but we DO post to the thread all throughout the month. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest to Gardeners are welcomed any time!
I’ll keep things rolling - it was just getting tougher to come up with something clever each week. ;)
Thanks for the links!
Sounds like a great plan for using your vacation days. I always had to take mine in the winter when I worked for Jung’s. It was just too insanely busy to be gone for even a day during the cash-earning Spring sales days that kept us afloat for the rest of the season. ;)
“March madness!”
High School Hockey started today, but we’re not really interested in that. Next weekend (Thursday, actually) the Girl’s Basketball Tourney starts, and since our three nieces were all involved in that in the past, we’ve remained fans.
Then the Boy’s Basketball Tourney starts the following weekend and we really love that! It’s ‘tradition’ for there to be at least ONE big snow during the Boy’s Tourney, so we’ll see how that goes. I always feel sorry for the Bus Drivers carting the kids around in that mess.
Starting my Peppers today - so Spring IS right around the corner - and it feels like Spring outside, today!
Thanks, Pete! :)
My niece buys bottle calves from local dairies to raise for future spa appointments. For a Holstein, it’s been $40 & for a Holstein-Angus cross, it’s been $80. Holsteins are actually decent beef cows as well as dairy, it just takes longer to feed them up to spa weight since they have larger frames.
This year, calf prices have gone UP ... way up. People (”from PA” she’s been told) are coming down with large trailers & buying up all the calves at prices $400 - 600 per calf!! Since my niece has an established relationship with a neighboring dairy, he is going to sell her a couple of calves for $150 each (will be born any day now). That price looks good in comparison to the $400 - 600, but it’s still about double what she’s been paying.
In a couple of weeks we will be heading to the Bay Area to meet our new grandson in person! We’ve visited in March and May in years past and I always enjoy the poppies that seem to sprout up all on their own. Love them!
You’re right about the prices going up. One of Beau’s good friends is a dairy farmer and he took a half-dozen
‘unfinished’ beef steers to market and got over $3K for them all!
I know Beau paid about $300 for Chuck (who goes to ‘The Spa’ on the 14th of March) but he did ‘all the maths’ associated with feeding him (which was mostly pasture this season) and we’ll still be about $3.00/pound including processing when he returns from ‘The Spa’ in nicely wrapped freezer packages. ;)
Now that’s clever! ;)
Hurray! Hurray! It’s Pepper Starting Day!
Chablis - Seed’s ‘N Such
Big Red - Jung’s
Giant Marconi - Jung’s
Alliance - Jung’s
Crispy - Burpee
I decided to start 16; will keep 10 and give the others to my Food Pantry which gives away extra garden plants in the Spring. I grew WAY too many last season, so I’m cutting back a bit this year.
I will purchase a Jalapeno plant from Walmart. The variety they had last season (Bonnie Plants) was beyond productive for me and one is plenty for my needs for use in (Medium) Salsa and Bloody Mary Mix.
Two weeks ago I took an empty prepared raised bed (curved south sloping is more accurate) and I planted a bunch of crucifers: Navone Rutabagas, Golden Ball turnips, Radishes, Golden Beauty Chinese Cabbage, Giant Red Mustard, and in the NW corner of the bed, several Sapporo Giant Cabbage. You can see the bed in the top of the first picture above. To discourage digging squirrels I put rabbit fencing down over the bed and laid chicken wire over that. The plantings are starting to germinate. I will thin the Sapporo Giant cabbage back to the strongest cabbage plant and defend it into summer with garden fabric. Hopefully everything else will grow and be harvested by mid may and I can plant peppers or tomatoes in the bed. (I watered last night and sprinkled the with a very dilute solution of Epsom salts and fish emulsion last night.) Conventional gardening says February is much too early to plant, and I expect to have another cold spell or two, but I have the seed and space and might as well take a chance on good weather and cold tolarant varities.
Along a bed next to a picket fence (Shaded) I sprinkled some lettuce seed and I will keep it watered. I planted Boro and Bohan beets on the south side of my potato onions and Lutz Tall Top beets on the north side. I have not had much luck with beets so I will see how this works. Maybe interplanting next to onions will reduce pill bug damage. I planted a row of lettuce in front of my 8" high garlic and hope this goes well!
You’ve got me licking my chops over your wealth of beef! I would need a new freezer to hold all that meat, but it sure would be good eating!
I just took a gander at my herbs that I left in the ground over the winter. The Greek oregano is coming up like gangbusters. The chives are poking up, and three of the four French tarragon plants are sprouting baby leaves. I’ll need to keep those protected for a bit more, but they look promising! Spring is coming!!
Today is a pretty day again. I’ll take every partially sunny day I can get. I have seasonal affective disorder, but this year I took extra vitamin D, and it has been a better winter most days. Of course, the mild winter has helped some, but it’s not the temps that get to me so much; it’s the lack of sunshine. I try to have a sunny disposition every day, and gray clouds get in the way of that.
That’s some beautiful broccoli.
And WEF Pushes Ban on Home-Grown Food to ‘Fight Climate Change’ Slay News ^ | March 1, 2024 | Frank Bergman Posted on 3/1/2024, 4:23:20 PM by packagingguy
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is calling on governments to ban the general public from growing their own food at home by arguing that they are causing “climate change.” According to so-called “experts” behind a recent WEF study, researchers apparently discovered that the “carbon footprint” of home-grown food is “destroying the planet.” As a result, the WEF and other globalist climate zealots are now demanding that governments intervene and ban individuals from growing their own food in order to “save the planet” from “global warming.” The research indicated that resorting to garden-to-table produce causes a far greater carbon footprint than conventional agricultural practices, such as rural farms. This research, conducted by WEF-funded scientists at the University of Michigan, was published in the journal Nature Cities. The study looked at different types of urban farms to see how much carbon dioxide (CO2) was produced when growing food. On average, a serving of food made from traditional farms creates 0.07 kilogram (kg) of CO2, according to the study. However, the WEF-funded researchers claim that the impact on the environment is almost five times higher at 0.34kg per portion for individual city gardens
They should all freeze nicely! (Nice to have lots of room for your garden!)
Thank you! It worked out well. The cabbage loopers and heat would have destroyed them in the summertime.
I think most of the regulars would prefer a weekly thread in the main growing season, but it is a time-using responsibility, yet I know of no law that prevents anyone from posting one, though not knowing all only the ping list.
Thank you! It worked out well. The cabbage loopers and heat would have destroyed them in the summertime.
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