[Red_Devil 232]

Weekly Gardening Thread

Weekly Gardening Thread

[Red_Devil 232]

Ping to the Weekly Gardening Ping List.

I hope all of you will stop by.

This is typically a low volume ping list. Once a week for the thread and every once in a while for other FR threads posted that might be of interest.

If you would like to be added to or removed from the list please let me know by FreepMail or by posting to me.

[Gabz]

In before the ping???? LOL!

Good Morning.

[Bulwinkle]

Tomorrow i will plant the corn i have sprouted indoors! Trying to have fresh corn before the 4th of July. If it fails I’ll just replant. I’m in Fairfax, VA

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Oooo! Made it into the Top Ten today! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Spinach that survived the winter!

[Mrs. Don-o]

FREE SEED EXCHANGE

Thrifty? Gifty? Curious? Generous? Spare seeds? Rare seeds? For a tiny plot? Or a flower- pot?

Send seeds? Befriend seeds? Just want 10 seeds?

If you have garden seeds you can offer other FReepers for free, for a SASE, and/or in exchange for other seeds, please send me your info. (Private Message Mrs. Don-o) and I will add you to this list, which I will post on the garden thread from time to time. Please also Private Message me to be removed when you no longer have the seeds to offer. FReepo-seedoholics can contact each other by Private Message to arrange any transactions.

Remember that old seeds may have reduced germination. (Although I’ve had great luck with them. And for free, you can't lose...) If possible, list year and variety.

Mrs. Don-o

I CAN OFFER
Acorn Squash (2009)
Basil (“Genovese” 2010)
Rainbow Chard (“Bright Lights” 2010)
Kale (’10)

INTERESTED IN
Kefir grain (live culture)

---

I HAVE HEIRLOOM TOMATO SEEDS (FREEPER TDSCPA) from about 75 popular, open-pollinated heirloom varieties. Tell me via PM what varieties you’re interested in, and if I have them I could send you a few seeds (10?) if you will send me a SASE.

Don’t know what variety to grow? I can make suggestions, if you want to grow plants from seed. Contact Tdscpa

---

If anyone needs or wants okra seeds (says JustaDumbBlonde)… please let me know. I saved a ridiculous amount in the fall of 2010. Two different varieties, Clemson and Jade, are both are heirloom variety so that you will be able to save seeds from your plants. Both are spineless and heavy producers. Jade is a bit darker green than Clemson and the pods are a bit shorter and fatter. Both are good for frying, soups, freezing, dehydrating or canning. Don’t be shy, l have more than plenty to share! Tip for planting okra: soak your seeds for 24 hours before planting. Okra seeds are hard like peppercorns and soaking will assist in quicker germination. Contact JustaDumbBlonde

---

I have some black-seeded Simpson lettuce seeds and some Buttercrunch lettuce seeds if anyone’s interested. (says Oberon), And... anybody have any Gold Nugget yellow cherry tomato seeds? I’m interested. Contact Oberon

---

I have about 100 Canna seeds that I would be glad to share (says Dacula), These plants are tropical and last up to the first frost. I live north of Atlanta and my cannas grow up to 6 feet and have beautiful flowers. I leave them in the ground over winter, but you can take the bulbs and over winter them. . In order to get the seeds to germinate, you have to lightly sand the outside of the seed and soak them overnight. Contact Dacula

---

[LearsFool]

A composting question, if I may...

This is my first serious attempt at composting, and my heap seems to have “died”. Quite puzzling, since it had gotten up to 155 degrees just a couple weeks ago. Once it dropped down to about 120 (last weekend), I turned it, adding more greens (i.e. alfalfa rabbit pellets, since it’s all the greens I have at the moment) and wetting it down again.

Since then, it won’t get above ambient temperature. Granted, it’s been cooler here lately: nights as cold as 40s and upper 30s, with days in the 60s and 70s.

The heap is roughly a 4’ cube, so it can’t be bleeding off heat. It’s simply not generating any. (In fact, a heap that size should cook even in winter, right?) Moisture is fine. Lack of ventilation couldn’t be the problem, since it never even began heating after being turned.

I’m at a loss. :-/

[Red_Devil 232]

Here is the link you FReepMailed to me early this morning. It just showed up or I missed it earlier.

Garden As If Your Life Depended On It, Because It Does

[Free Vulcan]

Below is a pic of the east end of a perfectly dry and ready-to-go garden (some rye, winter wheat, and garlic coming up) that I don't dare plant anything in because it's been too cold. Global warming my butt. I have for the last 10+ years managed to get something in the garden by the first of April. I've been planting later and later, and for the first time there won't be anything planted in March.

After a promising warmup we've had high's in the 40's for over a week and nothing higher than mid-60's for the next. I have learned the hard way that even things like peas and lettuce don't germinate well till the soil gets above 60 degrees or so.

However, the started plants are looking good:

[jennings2004]

Your weather has surely changed a lot since we “slip, slided” through that area in early Feb! Thanks for your report!

[Augie]

I’ve got cabbage, broccoli and brussels sprouts started in flats, and I noticed yesterday that the radish seed I planted out has started to come up. We’re supposed to see temps in the 80°’s by Sunday so the lettuce and snap peas shouldn’t be far behind.

[Ellendra]

My seedlings are just starting to sprout in my room. They don’t have the kind of light that’s recommended, so they’ll no doubt be kind of leggy, but I know a few tricks for nurturing leggy plants. Besides, this is the only way I have to start seeds indoors without the cat “helping”.

My new work schedule is crazy so far, but it should get easier in a couple more weeks.

Are there any wildlife specialists on this thread? I think I found where the neighborhood owl has been nesting, right in my backyard! But there are signs that he’s not doing so well, and I’d really like to talk to someone who knows owls. I tried the local wildlife rescue groups, they told me to call wildlife control, who told me to call the police, who told me to call the DNR, who told me to call the local wildlife rescue groups. I’m not looking to catch it or get rid of it, I just want to make sure he’s ok, so he can serenade me through my window again.

[tubebender]

I just saw this on the Drudge Report... Stink Bug Outbreak

[JustaDumbBlonde]

Good afternoon everybody! After a week of gray skies and cool temps, it is a beautiful day here in bayou country. Highs in the 70's and a crystal blue sky.

Last week I posted about my plans for a raised garden, and we finished it yesterday. The old timbers were not perfectly straight, and the ground was not exactly flat, but it is beautiful to me. Finished size is 16 x 8, and the 3.25 cubic yards of potting mix that I had delivered was just the right amount. My 9th grade math teacher would be proud that I finally got something right! This bed is going to contain many different leaf lettuces, baby greens, radishes and onions. I'm nicknaming it the 'salad bar'.

Tuesday evening my DH comes in so proud of himself, carrying 2 flats of beautiful south LA strawberries. I've spent the last 2 days washing, slicing, freezing, and making strawberry preserves. It totally threw me off of my schedule for the week, but it will be worth it in the long run.

Also, DH is on his way home from the Texas panhandle with something that is really going to take my gardening/produce patches to the next level. It is a 2 row John Deere planter with a variety of planting plates. Up until now, I've either had to plant sweet corn, peas, etc. by hand or with an 8-row planter that we use in the farming operation. When using some of the farm equipment, I'm second in line behind everything because the farming operation is what pays the bills. I will now be able to plant when I want to and plant as little as 2 rows of something so that I am not overwhelmed at harvest time. Staggered plantings will also keep me in produce consistently, as our growing season will permit me to plant at least 4 or 5 times within the proper window of time.

[Cindy]

It snowed/hailed/rained/sleet/high winds for two days and today it is calm.

My husband made the compost bin this morning.

I have a variety of squash, variety of tomatoes, leeks, onions, chives, lettuce, 20+ herbs and early corn planted in various containers and sprouting peat pots all over the house.

Sometime next week I can probably plant pine trees and apple trees outside — maybe.

Signs of spring in the air.

[Bean Counter]

Greetings from the Pacifist Northwest, and our brief brush with Spring's first kiss is about to come to a screeching halt. It was 70 here today and we'll be lucky to hit 50 for the next week. Lots more rain inbound here, and that probably means even more record snowfalls in the mountains and points East. You folks have my sympathy.

I got a lot done in the last few days, turning beds and adding compost and coconut coir to everything. I also got Spring cleaning done in the chicken coop and in the chicken yard. When its so muddy like it has been I go through half a bale of straw in 2 weeks, and eventually you have to do something with it, and I've got a novel way of letting the chooks help me with it.

Straw takes a long time to compost and it is not a particularly good addition to the compost pile. But I still have quite a bit of wet straw that has plenty of chicken manure in it. So I rake the yard, fork up all the old straw and pile it on the ground, several inches deep, and let the girls go in and cultivate it for me.





On the left in both pictures is the on-ground compost area. I put a 2 x 12 plank against the fence to protect it, and it serves as a good backstop for the pile. It's a good foot deep toward the back, and it is chock full of worms which the girls are tireless about pursuing. I toss a handful of oats out there and they scratch it in, and when it sprouts they eat that too.

The whiskey barrel half is going to have a couple of caged cherry tomatoes this summer. The girls can have all of the extras...and there are always extra cherry tomatoes...

I cleaned out the nestboxes on the coop, and replaced the coconut fiber matting and fresh nesting straw. I just shake the old stuff out on the ground and let them scratch it all in. I also raked out the inside run and added four more 60lb bags of coarse sand to bring the level back up where it should be. They kick a lot of sand out no matter what I do to try and stop it, and I add some about twice a year.


As you can see, they love the warm sand. They grovel in it and take dust baths regularly when the sun hits the sand...it looks like they are having convulsions when they really get going. The first time you see a chicken spasmodically kicking sand all over itself, it can be a bit disturbing....This picture also provides a good comparison between 2 Rhode Island Reds and a Black Jersey Giant...

When the weather gets warmer, I'll take my small rototiller out there and chop it all up a few times, and probably turn it over as well. Left to itself, it could take a year or more for the straw to break down, but this way by Fall I will be out there shoveling nice compost for the beds, and I just can't seem to get enough of it no matter how much I try...

We have over 400 eggs from the coop so far this year; well ahead of the curve over last year. The girls are pumping out some really nice eggs now that all 6 of them are over a year old, we got 6 eggs today, and they will only get better as the weather improves. Looks like another wet week but its April now and at least it will be a bit warmer...

Cheers! I hope that snow melts soon, wherever you are...

[pops88]

I need a recommend for an easy to read / use gardening book. I’m doing raised bed and container gardening. Last year’s garden was abysmal.

[Nepeta]

I'm just getting started here in SW Ohio. It's been colder than is typical. I started mizuna outside and it looks like I had good germination. The peas sown in containers have not shown much life yet.

Indoors, I have about 7 different varieties of tomato seeds on a damp paper towel (wicking up water from a plate below) with varying results. Some have sprouted, others are lagging behind. This year I'm growing my old favorite Sweet Million. My neighbors took several of the plants in 2010 and were thrilled with them--more people want plants this year. I am also growing Sun Sugar for the first time, others called Japanese Trifele, Purple Russian, Climbing Triple Crop, Brazilian Beauty. Later, I will start more.

Years ago I grew the small yellow pear tomatoes, but the ones grown in recent years seem to have a bland flavor compared to what I remember. In the 1970s, I would come home from work and graze the yellow pears. If anyone can recommend a source, or would like to trade seeds of a yellow pear with GOOD flavor, I am open to trade (not just of tomatoes).

Hundreds of daffodils are blooming in the front year--classic full size yellow trumpets, bitty yellow trumpets, small three-to-a-stem daffodils, and two-tone daffodils. The grape hyacinths are well along, and the surviving wild-type tulips are in bloom.

[DollyCali]

Hello Hello everyone. Almost 50 today. some sun & NO snow/rain. (yet, it is on way). Do need to do a lot of yard clean up , but I was busy doing other things & it did NOT get done today, nor will it tomorrow

Hope all are doing well.. jealous of my bro in Oklahoma City with mid 80 temps

[greeneyes]

We have had our usual up and down temps in Missouri. Last weekend was cold with snow on the ground. Today (Saturday) we had a great afternoon, which we used to go see our granddaughter who is home from college.

We have started a few tomato plants. Just had a salad last week from the winter lettuce garden. I have a tangled jungle of tomato plants from the cuttings I brought in last fall.

If the flowers continue, I'll put them out in the garden soon as I can, and maybe have some good tomatoes earlier than usual. I hope the weather is nice tomorrow, as I would like to do some yard clean up, and work some compost into the raised beds.

I can hardly wait for all the great pesticide free produce. Have a great weekend. God bless.