I got a little done after work today. More tomorrow with any kind of good luck.
Posted on 05/06/2016 1:48:07 PM PDT by greeneyes
[[I have been trying to grow sweet potato sets for planting without luck ]]
If you are picking them up from the grocery store look for the medium to larger ones and try to pick them up from different places.
(better chances since some are sprayed and may or may not sprout ) All sizes from my garden sprout easily through (I leave a few in the garden over winter to dig up and sprout).
Stick them half in water holding them up with toothpicks and set them on the windowsill.
Some of them should sprout .
Once you get sprouts let them get a couple of leaves and break them off . Some people plant that straight in the garden , some soak them in water until they begin to get roots . I found that sticking them in peat pellets until they root up works better for me (my soil is really sandy and they take off much better for me if I put them in with some roots )
Yeah, I know all that. I’ve just been unlucky this year
3/4 of my 40’x80’ garden is planted, as are 9 fruit and nut trees in my new orchard.
I am exhausted!
I still need to plant the rest in another 2 weeks, then the weeding begins.
How do y’all manage all that work?
sounds like heaven.
can you post some pictures?
I planted some asparagus from Tractor Supply. I have no idea if it will grow or not!
“Now we are gathering leaves and shoots of Greenbriar. Should have done it a week or two back. The leaves are like a green taco shell, just add whatever stuff in the middle you want. Sort of like grape leaves but not cooked. Straight out of Euell Gibbons “Stalking the Wild Asparagus”.”
The same greenbriars that are all over my forest, with thorns ripping my clothes whenever I try to walk around the woods?
ouch!
sounds very frustrating too ;)
Mine has been in the ground a few years and is really starting to get established.
Last year was a decent crop. This years look nice, with thick stalks.
My daughter ate some last year and said that that homegrown stuff set the bar really high.
I’ve had it that fresh before and it’s phenomenal.
Once I move my computer out here, I’ll try. I’m on Beau’s laptop for now...getting used to satellite internet. It’s weird, but it’s nice to have some connection with the outside world. :)
In one word : "mulch" !
It impedes weeds sprouting, and development, smothers new weed seedlings
It retains moisture - less watering, fewer trips to the garden
Use whats available (and free) before you buy !
Mulch: rice hulls , buckwheat hulls, leaf litter, pine needles, straw ,
coccoa hulls, rinsed seaweed, pine bark , commercial fabric, cardboard , and newspapers, etc., etc.,...
That’s what we have - it’s slow but it’s worth it to live in the country.
I not real worried about flooding for the following reasons;1] our property is at 700 feet above sea level & the Mississippi River is at 440 feet above sea level, 2] our property slopes down towards the roadway [a drop of about 26 feet] & all that water runs into our pond [which I have to drain & dredge this summer, because I have 50 years of silt build up & remove] And that I will haul up to the back part of my property to use for a raised bed garden after letting it sit sit for several months to let the algae die off.
I put down paper/cardboard with straw/grass clipping/leaves on top. Just layer over it year after year. Worms love it. No weeding and much less watering when it’s hot and dry.
I save junk mail, cardboard cereal boxes, amazon boxes, walmart circulars, kroger sale papers, newspapers from my MIL (who helpfully bundles them all up for me!), packing paper and that sort of thing. Also toothpaste boxes, cream cheese boxes, basically any ‘paper’ product that isn’t from something ‘made in china’ (like electronics, kids toys, ...)
The first year I did this I weeded half time and mulched half time. By first of August it was all mulched and I didn’t weed again :)
Also keeps blight off my maters (blight lives in the soil and weeding or rain will stir it up on the leaves to cause headaches)
Some people use old carpet, but a 3200sqft patch is a bit big for carpet scraps. I use the heavier corrugated cardboard pieces for the walkways in more used crops (tomatoes, string beans, etc) that will be picked every day or every other day. I use the newspaper and thinner cardboard around the tomatoes/peppers/etc and also for stuff like corn that you plant once and then basically leave alone till harvest. I just drop the soaker hoses on top of the mulch for good measure if I need to water. I leave one on the mater row and bury it in the mulch so water doesn’t spray up on them.
YMMV.
This works for me and I have a 50X50 and a 50X75 plot. I start mulching in Feb/March and use a dibber (from amazon) to poke holes to plant stuff using a little topsoil/potting soil.
I got a little done after work today. More tomorrow with any kind of good luck.
Whatcha gonna plant on the black plastic’d section?
Hit the 80s, and one day over 90, this week; back to 60-ish & wet the next few days.
Other than weed control, nothing new; we can still get a killer frost during the next week or two.
Only thing I’ve started is sweet potato slips; everything else will be direct seed, or purchased plants.
Oh, the cherry has blossomed out, and the peach definitely has flowers for the first time ever.
Apple, wild plum, chokecherry, and pear blossoms galore.
Raspberries & elderberries I put in last year are leafing, too; and the strawberries have awakened.
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