Weekly Gardening Thread
Posted on 11/04/2011 5:08:00 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232
Weekly Gardening Thread
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My greenhouse plants are all sprouting and doing fine. I have a system for maintaining the temp at night.
Heat lamp until I retire at night - then I take a metal bucket of coals from my wood stove and put it on a conrete slab (some airflow leaks so no danger of CO2) - that lasts 5 hours - then a timer kicks on a low wattage heater.
So far so good.
Broccoli is almost done then I start on the seed catalogs and dream of spring.
I had just put in tender seedlings of Bok Choy, Head lettuce, Romaine, Broccoli,Peas and Green onions...and then last weekend we had 14 INCHES of rain.
The backyard was flooded. I despaired of my little guys making it through.
But today, they are thriving. Amazing! :-)
Happy Friday, Red Devil! Something very cool happened here and it is sort of related to gardening. We had a Summer of weird pop-up weeds... everywhere. One of those weeds is vine like that has small “grape like” clusters of purple berries. We got rid of most of them BUT one large weed escaped our diligence. Last week, we saw two little birds eating those seeds... birds that I can honestly say I have never seen before in my life. After a bit of research, we found the birds to be Eastern Bluebirds. Very pretty little things with a rust colored chest and the most beautiful blue body. So... I guess I have learned a good gardening secret: even with weeds, beauty can arise.
It’s 31 deg here with no frost. It’s still too dark to get out to the garden and look at the collards. They are going to be thinned out tomorrow. They went in late, but it was gamble on them or miss out.
Hi everybody. I’m an amateur gardener from central Florida and wondered if anyone had any suggestions for seasonal crops? I don’t have a ton of property, but I’d love to grow some foodstuffs for the family.
I’ve successfully grown and harvested tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, and green bell peppers. I’d love to grow onions, shallots, asparagus, and a multitude of herbs, but I’m not sure if they would be appropriate for our clime.
Any links for research or friendly advice would be very much welcome.
We spent Sunday clearing snow and downed limbs. The fencing around the duck pond where the ducks and chickens usually spend the day was taken down by the weight of the snow. Jack and Barb corrected that and Barb shoveled a path from the coop and duck dorm to the duck hutch. The ducks were perplexed with their new ability to walk on water.
We lost power at 6 PM on Saturday and got it back at 8 PM on Sunday. However, the generator and transfer switch worked great and we had heat, water and lights as well as a full A/V center. Lost cable from about 9:30 PM Saturday until Wednesday morning.
We now have three New Hampshire Reds laying daily. Should get number four on line this coming week. Our five Marans pulleets are really eating and getting large, but may end up spending most of the winter in our dining room. At least, once they start laying, it will be convenient to the kitchen! They are characters.
Whew, it went from the mid 80s down to the mid 20s here. What happened?
“... it went from the mid 80’s down to the mid 20s here.. what happened?”
Global warming or global cooling or something like that! LOL!
Hope all the Mass and CT residents are doing well after the freak Halloween storm. Now that the snow has melted, the cleanup begins. I lost a beautiful twenty year old Crimson Queen and part of a split rail fence. All the Oak trees in this area took a real beating because they are one of the last to loose their leaves. We lost power for about 48 hours and it looked a little like a war zone here. As bad as it was, Connecticut was worse. I never realized how much I depended on the internet. Having it out for four days was worse than losing our phone service.
Still very dry in Texas. I have to water my garden twice a week. I’ll be turning the compost again this weekend.
When I lived there I planted lettuce, and any other cool weather crop that didn’t need pollination. I found that most of the greens worked.
I guess I’m looking for a “what to plant when” guide. I have a great local landscaping/floral shop where I get seeds, but getting a knowledgeable green thumb can be a bit of a chore.
Any good websites out there that you’d recommend for this sort of information?
We’re “supposed” to get some rain for three days. I hope it’s true. We sure do need it. What have you planted in your winter garden?
I left their in ’99 but there was a guy called the “garden rebel” that was an excellent source of information. He did have a web site and a show on one of the TV stations if I remember right.
I hope that forecast comes true. Yes, I have cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage and onions planted. I hope my tomato plants didn’t get nipped during the night.
Check out seed companies which specialize for your area of Florida :
Kilgore Seed Company
1400 West First St.
Sanford Fla. (407-323-6630)
Tomato Growers Supply Company
PO Box 2237
Fort Myers Fl. (941-768-3476)
Both companies specialize in Tropical and Sub-tropical vegetable varieties.
The first thing you need to do is make a list of what you like to eat.
Your seed catalog/web site will tell you the planting times for where you live.
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