Posted on 05/02/2014 12:25:41 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.
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I just listed the ones that were being talked about on the thread. Have numerous Egyptian Walking Onions, bought those, plus bunches of onions from sets, four more containers with different types onions grown from seed, plus carrots growing, two kinds of peas, broccoli, celery, Brussels Sprouts. Have dwarf mandarin orange tree and it bloomed, don't know if will get oranges. Also 2 Stevia plants.
Six sunflowers. Put seven containers of Lantana perennial flowers spread through the plants to attract butterflies and bees.
If all that produces, there will be a lot of food which is my objective as I didn't know anything about growing plants in March of last year. I drained the brains of people on the gardening threads and researched other places, but this thread is the best way to find out how the master growers here do it.
I'll try to grow container tomatoes in my house next winter.
Yes, I knew you didn’t actually believe in global warming. The point was it’s the cow’s belching that puts methane in the air, not the flatulence.
So far this week, I've got 2 rows of leeks,about 100 of the total, transplanted, as well as sowed about 10’ of leek seed to fill up the space. Also planted 80 each white and red onion sets; 8o Georgia sweet onion transplants, and a few feet of yellow Utah sweet onion seed. The transplants are started in the fall, then stored over winter, and sold in the spring, to adjust for day length.
Last, but not least, I put in small plots of Swiss chard and Toy-Choi. This was all done in between repairing the electric fence; getting my tractor running with the help of a neighbor—we had to pull-start it; and attending public meetings to fight the VA’s attempt to close our local hospital & domiciliary facility.
Battle Mountain Sanitarium (now part of the Veterans Affairs Black Hills Health Care System) was part of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, which provided care for Union veterans after the Civil War. It was the first and only National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers built solely as a short-term sanitarium for veterans with lung or respiratory problems, not as a long-term home. Unlike the other National Home branches, veterans went to Battle Mountain Sanitarium for brief intensive treatment. Upon completion of their treatment, they were transferred to another National Home branch. Battle Mountain Sanitarium opened in 1907, offering veterans a complete array of services including plunge baths and an amusement hall. Located in the town of Hot Springs, South Dakota, the Sanitarium, made from local pink sandstone, rises above the town on a bluff to the northeast of the resort section of the town at an elevation of 3400 feet. A majority of the buildings predate 1930, and many of them are still used for their original purposes. The curving road system that winds through the facility is also original. The National Cemetery is located in the eastern section of the campus. ... . (Photos at link; it is listed as both a National Treasure, and a National Landmark.
http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/veterans_affairs/Battle_Mountain_Sanitarium.html
Also let your soil dry out between watering. Another home remedy is to slice some potato slices and lay them on top of the soil for 4 days, you should see some teeny black which is the heads. Throw these away and do not compost.
The homemade spray may work, have never had issues with the gnats. Here's the recipe:
1 onion, and a garlic bulb peeled and crushed-put into a quart jar. Fill the jar up to about half an inch with really hot to boiling water. Add a tsp or more of cayenne pepper. Let it sit overnight up to 24 hours.
If you are going to apply with a fine spray mist, strain it with coffee filters. If you are going to kinda squirt it using a Dish washing liquid bottle, a colander or metal mesh strainer is fine.
After straining, mix a drop or 2 of dish-washing liquid and a drop or 2 of cooking oil or neem oil. Shake to mix and put into applicator container. Make sure and shake to combine each time before using. Keeps in the refrigerator for quite a while.
We have some berries forming here on the honey berries and something on the pear tree. Some good chives and lavender too. All the other herbs died out over the winter. Often we can get them through with mulch and row covers, but not this past winter. Just too cold.
They don’t look like little tiny gnats - they are substantial enough they look like iridescent small flies.
I’ll make up the “elixir”. Thanks.
>
Most of the seedlings are Lady Bender's annual flowers. I started corn and cucumbers and the tomatoes were purchased as small starts at a small nursery
Well I see Flickr is messing with their format again, Sorry about that
I just switched to Flicker, and the last picture post I made was way too big, and I discovered a drop-down that allows you to choose the size you want to post. But maybe you knew that already and this is another problem.
I’ll be 81 in a few days and I have lost more brain cells then I ever owned. Tell me where to find this menu.
That’s a nice looking little green house. Hows the garlic doing these days?
My garlic leaves are already turning yellow and bulbs aren’t forming up. I am not sure what’s going on. Did the same thing I always do. I guess it could be the long cold winter. Anyway, I don’t think I’m gonna have much garlic to harvet this year.
I hope you all are successful in preserving and keeping this VA facility going.
You sure have got a lot done this week. I am still figuring out the onions, leeks, and garlic stuff. Mostly I do the garlic, because it doesn’t compete with other crops, since I plant it in the fall and harvest mid May or June.
I pulled a few Chinese Red garlic today and found some nice sized cloves as It ripens a month or so earlier then the 7 other varieties I grow and I will dig them soon. I have to figure out the Flickr problem
Good. Looking forward to seeing some pics.
I hope I was clear on that, if not let me know and I will try again.
Thanks and I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon
Onions explained. ;-)
http://bonnieplants.com/library/which-onion-is-right-for-you/
Onion map from a link in the above article.
http://www.dixondalefarms.com/category/onion_plants
Thanks for the links.
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