Posted on 04/19/2013 1:07:02 PM PDT by greeneyes
The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly 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.
This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. No matter what, you won’t be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked.
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We have some tomatoes about the size of ping pong balls. Everything is doing great. Neighbor said he is ready to harvest most of his onion crop next week.
Greetings all from chilly Tennessee. So much for warm weather. The cold front made its way across our fair state yesterday-down in the 40’s with a brisk cold wind. Brrrr!!!
Been enjoying the comments regarding backyard chickens. We have friends down south of Nashville-out in the sticks. They have been raising chickens. Got a call a few weeks back. They were wanting to know if I would like to help them um “process” them. Hah! I said “say what? You mean kill slaughter and fix for eatin’ ?” lol. So tomorrow I get to learn how live chickens get from the farm to Kroger. Ought to be an experience!!! I figure-regardless of how messy it may be-it seems like a good skill to learn in these times.
The yard and garden need so much work. So many weeds to pull, borders to re-do, planting, tilling, mulching, fixing.... just have to keep at it and be patient. Going to start tomatoes indoors this weekend. Going to grow “Celebrity” and “Mortgage Lifter” tomatoes. I’m also going to take J Random Freeper’s advice and plant a lot of Romas. We struggle so with fungal/blight problems with tomatoes.
Sure enjoy this thread. Enjoy hearing about everyones struggles and successes.
Sorry for the delay. First I had unexpected company come in and stay a while. Next I am having computer problems. This is my third attempt at responding - here’s hoping that the third time is a charm.LOL
I don’t know what kinda cover you are talking about. I’ll just tell you what I did the first year - I strictly followed the square foot method. I had two beds totaling 40 sq. feet.
I used Mel’s mix equal parts of peat, compost, and vermiculite/perlite.
It worked great the first year. Not so much the second year, I think I didn’t get as much replacement nutrients in that year.
For the other beds, we turned the grass over to help kill it and left the roots exposed for a few weeks. Then covered it with cardboard and newspaper. Then just poured the potting mix and top soil into a wheelbarrow, mixed it up and dumped it out on top of the cardboard. It worked just fine.
I really that any old cheap potting soil from the garden supply would work and be cheaper too.
It grows a little elongated indoors, but tastes great! I use the natural sun and add a grow light for a couple of hours after sunset, and sometimes on gloomy, dark days.
Outdoors in your area, I think you could do it using a hotbed that is covered, but then I am such a pansy, I would avoid getting the lettuce because I would not want to go out in the cold.LOL
Buckwheat is good to plant to get rid of some pests. I can’t remember for sure, but I think it’s good to plant before you plant corn for that reason.
Thanks, I’ll have to make sure to get some of the bush kind if I can find them.
I don’t know about California, or cherry trees. We just planted some this week.
Our butternut tree is bountiful and then kinda takes a couple of years to recover before it goes all out again. We just vaccum pack the nut meats and stick them in the freezer.
Glad to know you are here.
I am wishing I had some real tomatoes right now.LOL
I can wipe the mulch stuff off it and it's just a continuous sheet over the ground. If I put dirt on top of this cover, the dirt has to be deep enough for a plant to grow because it is never going to grow through this cover.
So, wouldn't the whole garden become a raised garden? Understand?
My question was about the top soil. Is all top soil equal? If you buy a bag of top soil, are they all the same?
Psst.
The winter sowing.
It’s working.
I am amazed!
I was away last week, and they are sprouting in spite of my neglect.
I’ll post pictures tomorrow if I get a chance.
Hubby love the mortgage lifter. He likes to just make one big slice that covers the bread on his sandwich. I like mine for salads and tacos, so size isn’t that big a deal.
I don’t like to have a leftover tomato, because they loose so much texture and flavor in the frig. So I always go for the smaller ones and use the whole thing.
Forgot to tell you - I was just trying to talk my daughter into helping process some chickens. We have a farm south of us that sells free range chickens to the public.
They will give you a discount if you come and help with the processing. I figured someone else in the family could do it, and I could buy them and raise them and then split them. LOL.
My neighbor also gave me two cherry tomato plants today. One is OK, but the other is iffy to make it into the garden. I have a nice strawberry patch growing in a sunny area. The plants already have berries on them. My orange and lime trees are loaded.
Well...I moved about 10 months ago, and this week I took the plunge. I now have a full blown herb garden growing on my little balcony!
My food tastes GOOD again!
Chives
Basil
Rosemary,
tarragon,
Oregano,
Dill
Sage
and lavender for potpourri.
Some house plants for color, and some potted vaggies!
Woo Hoo!
Garden thread ping.
“and lavender for potpourri.”
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My daughter-in-law uses lavender in some of her recipes.
.
Oh, please tell me what those would be...i can’t imagine!
OK. Some of your plants will grow just fine if all you do is cover this cover. Don’t bother to wash off mulch, I think it’ll be ok.
I’d probably surround it with some cheap edging, or landscape timber to mark the space.
Some things have longer roots. They might not grow unless they can get through the cover. You can drive a hole in it or, just plan on planting the deep rooters elsewhere.
I would have to say that top soil is not equal.
Think for a moment about a river delta region vs your yard. Or a cow pasture vs your yard. Or a forest area vs all the others. The top soil from each of these areas, would not be exactly the same.
However, my gut instinct would be that whatever top soil you buy from your local Walmart, Lowes, or Home Depot will probably be very similar, so I wouldn’t sweat it.
Maybe you should just set the bags of dirt on the cover and open the tops and plant them for the produce that needs some depth.
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