Weekly Gardening Thread
Posted on 10/02/2009 3:59:53 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232
Good morning to all of you gardeners. I started the clean up of my garden this past week. I am taking my time doing it. I started with my tomato plants and decided not to use them in my compost pile. I do plan on pulling up my landscape fabric and saving it for next season. I would like to plant winter rye grass in the garden but would like other advice from y’all. What would be a good cover for this area until spring?
Weekly Gardening Thread
I hope all of you will stop by.
This is typically a low volume ping list. Once a week for the thread and every once in a while for other FR threads posted that might be of interest.
If you would like to be added to or removed from the list please let me know by FreepMail or by posting to me.
My onions are doing well.
Should I dig out my Calla Lilly now or later?
BA
Morning,
Not much luck with our leggy seedlings we planted. Not enough light when they were young to overcome the cold snap that coincided with planting. Oh well, we planted seeds too last week.
Will get some established plants tomorrow to make up for the seedlings.
28 degrees here yesterday norning so outdoor gardening is pretty much done for this year.
Got my porch/greenhouse pretty much finished so I brought all the houseplants inside. I also brought in my cana lillies. They got a late start so they never flowered but I’ve read that they grow well in pots over the winter for an early start in spring.
Not an expert on Calla Lilly growing but I have heard you should wait until after the first frost to dig up.
Good morning!!!!
I’m going to start the garden clean out this weekend.
I have lots and lots of tiny green maters, so I’m going to be making lots of pickles on Monday!
Brought in two-and-a-half bushels (about 150lbs) of “tire grown” potatoes yesterday. Gonna dig my sweet taters this weekend. The vines are everywhere, so there ought to be a bunch.
The red plastic on tomatoes .. no scientific prove it out. This was my best tomato year ever (peppers also) ... but everybody had a good year. Tomatoes everywhere.
Those green tomatoes make great fried sides and salsa verde as well. The real small ones that are kind of hard still are perfect for salsa. Sub them for tomatillo in any recipe.
Gabz good to see you. We have had fried green tomatoes just about every evening this past week.
Thanks for the up date on your bucket potatoes. I plan on using your system next year.
Thanks, R_D 232.
Outside clean-up continues by much has been done. Garlic planted, still more lilacs to trim but most are done, need to set a date to blow out the sprinkers & contemplate that final short-cut mowing.
Falling leaves are nice & pretty. Just once though I’d like to see the trees do a Charlie Brown type fall. One moment all there, then “thump” all on the ground.
Please add me to your ping list.
First time gardening in the South for me and I lost everything I planted. Too much sand down here. I planted a trial garden so I didn’t plant a lot but hopefully I learned a lot. I need dirt and lots of it.
I just ADORE Yukon Golds!!!! I’ve never tried potatoes before, but I’m seriously contemplating doing so next year.
The only ‘maters I had true success with this year were the grapes, which were all volunteers left over from last year. Mr. Stripey’s were pretty much a bust, but I will save seeds and try again next year, giving them more room.
I have used the little ones in salsa and supplemented the tomatillos with them when I made salsa verde a couple weeks ago.
Do it...mine were delicious! I am battling frost with tarps to protect my bell peppers while they turn color...so far, so good. My hot peppers are beautiful...bright blaze orange, red and yellows. Gorgeous plants.
I tried it once when we lived in Bandon Oregon and it didn’t work for me. I probably spread the seed to thick and it was a real chore to rototill in the Spring...
Can you do a test area just for fun??
I tried it once when we lived in Bandon Oregon and it didn’t work for me. I probably spread the seed to thick and it was a real chore to rototill in the Spring...
Can you do a test area just for fun??
No fried green tomatoes here, SIGH. Never got any big tomatoes.
I actually have an hour to play here this morning. Child is on the bus, but DMV doesn’t open until 9. I no longer need to “put her on the bus,” she is in 6th grade after all and the bus stop is our driveway, but if I don’t stand outside the kittens try to follow her on to the bus, so I have to keep them occupied!!!
Two words...raised beds. Nail some 2 x 10's together into a rectangle; fill with a cubic yard of nice garden mix from your local garden center. You could set up four nice raised beds for about fifty bucks, maybe less.
If I do go ahead with taters, I will most likely do them in tires.
We’ve decided we’re going to move the location of the garden to get it out of the “swamp,” closer to a water supply, and further away from the deer.
Hubby has to get more 6mil poly to repair the roof of the greenhouse and he promised to put down plyboard, instead of just tar paper for the floor.
I planted 50 sweet white onions last weekend and they are doing great. The entire garden is doing well, since we had over 7 inches of rain in Sep. That was our wettest month since Jul 07.
We are still way behind in moisture, but expect around 4 inches this weekend. Hopefully it will be heavy enough to add a few feet to the lake levels and aquifers.
GOt the foundation of my greenhouse poured just before the rain yesterday.....First time I’ve done concrete work by myself....My son is going to teach me to lay the cement blocks.......If it all goes well I thought of a half dozen little project to add to the hardscape.
Planted garlic this week. Havested some potatoes and carrots. Used the lasagna method for pototoes....A thick layer of newspapers, seed potatoes and cover with thick layer of straw...TO harvest just lift the straw.
Nice new red potatoes....
Planted my carrots in a raised sand bed. THe ones I picked yesterday were 8-10 inches long....Beautiful.
Wow, my first double-post.
tubebend will be so proud.
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ADDED TO THE WEEKLY GARDENING PING LIST
I have a community garden plot in Fairfax(Bo White Gardens)
I planted ealry corn and when that had gone by I replanted with corn that I had sprouted first.
I its coming in now , but 10-15% has Corn Smut! How can I prevent that in the future???
A question for you all,
Looking for suggestions for plant materials for a cottage-garden type garden for a space that is right above the ocean in central California. Can get gale force winds,and plenty of salt in the air at times so the plants must be very hardy.
Rosemary,lavender and Myoporum can grow there.
Also looking for roses that would be hardy enough for this environment. repeat bloom and fragrance would be appreciated.
Use annual rye (not perennial rye!) as a crop cover. You can till it in this fall, or till it in in the spring.
I’m a lazy gardener in the fall. See me on the first sunny, warm day in March. Then, I’m a madwoman, cleaning up the garden! :)
I have a few tomatoes left and had a bonus find of 6 red peppers in there yesterday. A miracle, to say the least!
I’ve been hauling in potted plants on the nights we’ve been getting down to the mid-30’s. I brought in the houseplants two weeks ago, after giving them haircuts, a blast with the hose and insecticide.
My hanging Tumbler Tom tomato plant is still putting out cherry-types, and fall lettuce is coming along well, though some of it bolted for some reason, so I need to re-plant more.
Garlic is in at work, so we’ve been busy with that. I made roasted garlic paste the other day. It’s wonderful! Fall bulbs are in (tulips, daffs, etc.) and we’re up to our butts in pumpkins; a super-nice crop this season.
I've been hacking away at the concrete-like baked clay that is my yard and for the last few days, working in a spot by the house for bushes, bulbs and flowers. It's a work in progress...lots of work, little progress.
I have a dump truck load of composted cow manure and yard waste on the driveway, a pick to chip away at the clay, a wheelbarrow for hauling the old clay across the street and a mantis to blend the bad dirt with the good compost and hopefully end up with soil.
Now, if I can just find some ibuprofen and that motivation I had when I started this project a week ago. Honestly, I don't know how farmers can make a living farming here.
I wonder if that clay was put down when they did the foundation for your house?
I’m ALWAYS a lazy gardener :)
I received a windfall of pots from a friend in exchange for helping her clean out her sheds, so I think I’m going to do a lot more container type gardening next year. Especially herbs.
Hubby’s not going to be happy when I tell him I want to move the rosemary inside, I swear the container weighs at least 50 pounds.
There was a piece on the local news this morning about pumpkins. Local ones did not do well this year because we had so much rain. And they’re calling for more tomorrow...SIGH!!!
Just as long as it quits by midnight. We’re celebrating the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi on Sunday, with the annual Blessing of the animals, which means service is outside. I’m on the roster for Altar Guild this week and so have to set up everything OUTSIDE. It will be a royal pain if we get a lot of rain, because we do it on the lawn in front the main entrance to the Church.
2 weeks ago the road in front of the Church was flooded up into the lawn and parking lot. The creek that runs along my property continues past the Church on it’s way to the Chesapeake and it was high tide on top of all the rain we had had. What a nightmare.
I am also a lazy gardener in the fall. That is why it is taking me forever to clean up my garden area.
I still have tomatoes, although they’ve slowed down quite a bit with the cooler temps. I pulled a few plants that were in bad shape a few weeks ago. I have a couple more butternut squash still on the vine, but after that, they’re pretty much done. I’m leaving gourds on the vine to more fully mature.
I harvested peanuts this week. I only planted a few for fun, to see how they grow, so I don’t have a lot. I will probably roast them next week.
I planted a little lettuce and spinach seeds probably a month or so ago. The lettuce is doing well, the spinach is okay. I will probably plant more spinach this week, as the temps are probably perfect for it right now. I also planted another batch of green beans a while back, but I think I waited too long. The plants began to have blossoms, but I don’t think they’ll beat the first frost ... fingers crossed.
I need to dehydrate some of my herbs this week, since they won’t be around much longer. Sometimes it’s hard to motivate myself at the end of gardening season.
Please provide a bit more info.
Red Plastic, as in...?
The 5 gallon buckets for potatoes: When did you plant and any other tips would be appreciated.
Thank you.
Now I know that this is a gardening thread, but....do any of you have chickens?
Daughter and I are thinking of adding some layers to our urban “farm” (zoning permitting) and any tips would be appreciated. We hear that hens are great snail control and we would love the fresh eggs.
You have a greenhouse.....sigh. The dream of my life.
Please ping me! Thx.
I still have the leeks to pull. And I planted radish and Mescaline lettuce seed where I dug up my potatoes...
I still am getting the volunteer yellow pear shaped tomatoes. I say volunteer because 4 years back I planted 6 plants in my raised snow pea bed after the peas were done producing. And every year since I have had these volunteer plants show up in the same bed.
IF the frost will hold off one week plus I will have another huge picking of French green beans, purple and pole beans. I found of all the varieties of beans I planted this year I like the French green beans the best. This is the first year I have planted the French green bean variety and they are wonderful stir fried.
Although the ‘growing’ season is almost at end, I still have a lot of work, cleaning up and out before the earth freezes. And then start the action all over again.
Good morning! The garden has been abandoned, but we have 4 acres of pumpkins. It was fun being decorative with some of our harvest!
I call it a greenhouse, but it is really just an oversized cold frame built with leftover 2x4s, discarded windows, and 6mil poly.
My husband built it big enough that I actually can put a table and chair in there.
As to your chicken question, a number of thread members raise chickens, I pinged Diana and P8riot for you.
Is that the Kerry family photograph?
When you do a triple you are beyond the tipping point and it is our duty to inform JR to pull your posting privileges...
Thanks in advance!
The clay is just part of life here and there are several types. One is what they call "bull tyler" a very sticky clay you could use to make pottery. Another is a very granular almost rock my neighbor calls road grade. He says they mine it to use for making roads because it's so stable. However, it's not so good for growing plants or yards. There is also another type that is a burnt reddish color with what looks like quartz crystal rocks embedded in it. It's not rock, but a shovel won't cut into it more than an inch. That's what I just hit yesterday about 4 inches down. yippee.
This lot was a hillside they cut into and moved forward to create a spot for the house, so my lot is probably worse than others. It makes for some tough work preping the soil/clay. As you dig down, you encounter each variety of clay. I didn't think you could wear out a shovel, but I'm on my third and almost out of inspiration. But, the more I work at it, the better it gets!
That is great! Beautiful!
I finally got the garden spot cleaned up!
I meant to do it a month ago, but I’ve either been not feeling good or heck o busy.
I added compost after pulling weeds & turning. My son helped me-that was a godsend.
It’s late, but I’m going to try & plant typical winter stuff, mulch it & see how it goes.
I'm gonna try the straw method next year.
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