WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD, APRIL 3, 2015

freerepublic | 4/3/2015 | greeneyes

[left that other site]

Hi Everybody!

A Blessed Easter and Passover to you all!

(((HUGS)))

[JRandomFreeper]

God send His blessings to you and yours also. This time of year is very special.

/johnny

[left that other site]

Yes it is

Passover,
Good Friday,
A Blood Moon,
A Lunar Eclipse, and
a very bad deal with Persia, all on the same weekend.

Makes one think...

[sockmonkey]

Posted this at the end of last week’s thread, but am reposting it on this week’s for any small space gardeners. I saw this on youtube, and thought it was kinda preppery, too.
bottle tower garden- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuykRRspWOY

[MomwithHope]

Lovely pictures, thanks for sharing. Still too cold here in west Michigan but I usually start some romaine lettuce in a cold frame big pot on Easter weekend. Started it today. I have a pretty large pile still of goat manure mixed with old straw bedding. This is even though we have not had goats for 2 years now. When we cleaned out the barn we always made a tall a pile as possible, so only the very bottom is broken down to a fine rich soil. I put some on the big garden but mostly use it in my big pots for my peppers and lettuce and campari tomatoes. I hope to post more pics this year. Love reading about everyone who has already gotten started in warmer climates than mine.

[MomwithHope]

That is kind of interesting, creative. That would work great for someone in the city even with a small patio.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

afraidfortherepublic :"A couple of years ago, somebody on this forum recommended diatomeceus earth for some use in the home garden.
I cannot remember what it was for. Pest control? Does anybody remember?"

I believe it was "Black Agnes", and I beleive that she noted that there is DE for gardens , and that there is a "Food Safe" DE, as well for food storage .

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Red_Devil 232 :"Yes it is good for all kinds of pest control.
It is such a fine powdery substance with very sharp edges it actually clings to insects and eventually cuts them up."

The DE (Diotemacious Earth) is made up of diatoms ; small hard shell deceased microorganizms shells.
They cut up the chitinen of hard shelled beetles, and soft-bodied insects like slugs.
It causes them to bleed-out , or puncture the hard chitinen insect shells so that pests 'dry out'.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Red_Devil 232:" Yes on the ground. Or you can get hand held spreaders that will puff it out like a cloud of dust
and spread it on leaves to take care of aphids and other leaf munchers and such."

Diotamacious Earth (DE) is one of the easiest pesticides to use under leaves where most people don't bother to look for pest infestation.
Best application is in a duster, as it can reach under leaves , and whatever falls to the ground will continue to protect plants on the soil surface.
It is a "two-fer, freebie ".

[tubebender]

Terrific photos dware. Thanks much for taking the time to format and post them ~

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Augie:" I noticed this evening that all of my plum trees, and the two Elberta peaches are starting to bloom.
They’re probably gonna get bit by frost."

Use dry cleaners plastic bags to cover the trees, if you can ,
and throw a 'trouble light' of at least 30 watts under each tree , and you should minimize any frost damage.

[tubebender]

Take a old cold tater and wait…http://www.potatogarden.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=PG&Category_Code=NSP

[matthew fuller]

Thanks, I”ll keep looking for the real red potatoes, I think that they can be had if you buy the bulk/not bagged. But like I said, the franken potatoes were good- just not what I wanted.

[JRandomFreeper]

I know how frustrating that can be.

To be honest, speak to the green grocer at your store. You do have a personal relationship, right?

Get to know the guy/guys that do that. They can steer you to great deals and warn you about stuff like stupid name changes. I hate it when that happens to me as a home cook.

As a pro, I don't do that anymore, but when I did, I knew what I was ordering, including demanding a sample if I was unfamiliar.

/johnny

[matthew fuller]

I use WM and HEB here in Central TX, and I do talk to the produce people in both stores, and I do get some great advice in both stores.

[JRandomFreeper]

Ain't it great to have a personal relationship with those folks? I try to encourage folk to form one. Sometime, used to be when I was shopping with someone, I'd introduce them to the green grocer and meat grocer that happens to be there.

During my time in fine dining training I got off at 3pm and was home way early. So I shopped every single day on the way home and got to meet all those guys.

My poor 3rd ex wife gained 40 pounds when I was doing that.

Nothing to do from 4 until 7 except make 4 course fine dining meals for #3 and her daughter as 'practice'.

Ex says I ruined the daughter for regular food, since she always got a 3 or 4 course sit down meal every night of the week. ;)

/johnny

[sockmonkey]

I don’t believe that they are the same kind of Red potatoes that I have eaten all my adult life, as they are oval/oblong, not basically roundish, the color is not the same dark red that I’m used to, more of a greyish red, the flesh is even yellow not white, and they really don’t even taste like Red potatoes, although they are good, but more like a russet. Just wondering what kind of franken potato this is

I bet it's a lasoda. I like the little red norlands, but I did plant some red lasodas this year, too.

[MomwithHope]

My Dad in Chicago had a terrific backyard garden, a real oasis. He also shopped every day and did nearly all of the cooking. The new manager at the local store after awhile thought Dad was a covert food inspector. He was always pointing out expired food that was sitting out to be sold, and pointing out bad looking produce. This went on for many years until the manager found out Dad was not a food inspector and they wound up becoming good friends and having coffee in the store nearly every morning. He was a younger guy than Dad and even came to Dad's funeral, he was really broken up.
True story, once Dad saw some hydroponic heads of lettuce out for sale. They were getting old. He had never seen hydroponic veggies before but he saw roots. Probably the rest of the neighborhood didn't know what they were because they did not sell. He called the produce clerk over and said - these look really bad, you can't sell these. Then he talked the clerk into marking 4 cents apiece on them. Dad bought them all about a dozen heads. He took them home sliced off the tops and planted them. They all grew fresh heads. Dad was very proud. I tried it once myself and it worked.

[matthew fuller]

No, at least they are not Burpee Red Lasodas-
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
http://www.burpee.com/vegetables/potatoes/potato-red-lasoda-prod001493.html
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I looked at all of Burpee’s potatoes, and didn’t see any that look like the ones I bought.

[sockmonkey]

Bag says 5lb US No. 1 potatoes, and below that it clearly says Simply Perfect Red potatoes. Back of bag says Distributed by Potandon Produce L.L.C. Pasco, WA 99301 produce of USA.

I have a bag of those, and the plastic tag says Red Chieftan on it. Guess they aren't lasodas.