Now there is an idea!
Posted on 06/21/2005 8:25:15 AM PDT by RandallFlagg
Since I have to get to bed, I'm just going to paste what I placed into the coffinnails.com forum. There's relevant questions inclused that I'll place on this thread if they get answered.
Day one -finally got my seeds!
Them things are SMALL! Sheesh! I had to fuzzy up the end of a Q-Tip to place them into the trays. Before I screw things up, there's a few questions I must ask. The 200 seeds I got are Dark Virginia. I'm doing 16 at a time.
Will the unused seeds keep for a while? I'd like to grow 'em in staggered stages. Will regular tap water work, or will I have to use distilled or rainwater? I have to used that kind for my Venus's Flytraps. Flourescent lighting. Will it work well for staggered stage growing year-round? Humidity? Someone told me that nicotine is a natural insect repellant. Is this true? Has anyone here saved the $$$ they expected to save? That's why I'm doing this. What's the best soil to use?
Luckily, there's a big place near my home called Paulino's Gardens, where I can find almost all the accessories I need for this venture of mine. I'll update on this thread as I go along.
OH! First entry: Got seeds three days ago and placed them on top of potting soil in 16-cube icetray container with holes in the bottom. Placed trays in my carnivorous plant terrarium that uses three 15-watt flourescent bulbs on a 18-hour timer. Sprayed and soaked with rainwater. Crossing my fingers.
Last question for the day: How long should it be before something actually grows?
That's something that's been ticking away in my head.
IF they try to go after folks for growing tobacco for personal use, I wonder if we can use the, "If tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers are all legal to grow, why not tobacco? They're all legal products," argument.
I'm a fella who likes to think ahead -and I KNOW how government gets when they don't get all the tax dollars they want.
I would LOVE to learn how to make wine. when my crops start coming in I'll trade you pickeles, jellies, preserves, etc for some of your homemade wine :)
I'm also making a note of your screen name if I get the tobacco in this year :)
Hopefully Randall will be able to keep this thread going as he wends his way through the growing season.
Thanks. Don't work too hard.
Yeah. I miss the rhubarb my Grandma used to have in her itty-bitty backyard garden. I used to break off a stem, wash it, pour a pile of salt in my palm, dip the stem into it and take a bite.
Those were the days.
At those prices, I think I'll grow the first crop for seed.
Having all those veggies in the freezer all winter is a godsend!!!
I don't know what it is with me, but I have terrible luck with root crops except radishes.........in fact I need to put some more of those in today. My daughter wants to try carrots, so I bought her a couple of packets of seeds. We shall see.
I wonder if the trick I was taught to keep deer out would help with your skunk problem.........human hair tied into the leg of an old pair of panty hose, tie them to posts and every week or so, or after a heavy rain spray with hair spray.
I've not had rhubarb pie since my grandma passed away.
Thanks for the memory. That will be planted next season.
LOL on the laundry - yes, I would like to outsource it also :)
(sigh)
It's truly sad how ignorant a lot of kids are about common-place things.
Recently, my twin girls had a project in school that required sewing.
My two were the ONLY ones in the entire 5th grade that knew how to thread a needle or sew a seam.
It took about 4 weeks for my seeds to arrive. They're shipped from England.
Now there is an idea!
WOW - I wonder what other garden eating animals that would handle?
Bump!
My kids can sew too.
They were making felt dolls with plastic needle point needles and yarn since they were 2. Boys too.
My daughter can thread the sewing machine now at 10yo.
That's not a problem I have encountered, thankfully - but it is also a reason we moved out of the city to the country. My daughter (she'll be 7 next month) has her own section of garden and it is totally her responsibility - she picked what she wants to grow and must do her own digging and weeding. (of course mom and dad help) It's a great learning experience and teaches responsibility.
Hmmmm, good question!
Deer are probably too large, but I know it works on skunks, possums and raccoons. Getting VERY tempted to try in on the squirrels if they don't stop being such enormous pains.
Kinda a sad way to go for the little critters, but hey! They should keep their mitts OUT of my stuff!
:)
I will never forget the look on my son's face carrying the first crop of zucchini into the kitchen :)
I'm going to the garden store now to see if I can find rhubarb. I might not wait till next season.
ciao!
Nicotine is a damned effective pesticide and the straight stuff is a very potent toxin. If memory serves, something like 1 gram of pure nicotine is the LD/50 dose for an average sized human. A Law and Order episode from several years back had the murderer using nicotine from a plant supply house, intended for pesticide use, as the murder weapon. William F's son Christopher Buckley wrote a hilarious book, the title of which escapes me, in which the anti-tobacco nazis kidnap a tobacco lobbyist and try to kill him by applying nicotine patches to every inch of his skin. In the novel, the guy is rescued, but that amount would definitely be fatal.
HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM..........something to think on. Many folks seem to think that the SCOTUS ruling on medical marijuana may just have further ramifications on such things as growing our own tobacco..........or anything else for that matter.
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