my back hurts just looking at it .. LOL
Posted on 05/17/2013 1:01:42 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.
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I couldn’t process chickens. But, when I lived in Washington State and was active in a Quilting guild, I remember a conversation among members about the best way to process hens. One lady recommended tying their legs together and hanging them from a clothesline and then going down the line and wringing their necks — 1, 2, 3. I sat there with my mouth open and I’ve never forgotten that conversation!
Heirlooms, planted that about 8 weeks ago and I am in central Texas. I used a compost, peat moss, vermiculite mixture.
That’s a nice size plot!
Two days ago I came downstairs and opened the curtains across the large three pane glass that looks into the garden. There were two squirrels on the deck close together and it was like the “Keystone Cops”. It scared them so badly, one turned right at top speed and the other turned left at top speed and they ran smack into each other (my squirrels are not real smart). The crash sent them rolling and they fought to get right side up and get out of there.
I've got birds coming in. Today, a huge blue jay landed right next to my large cherry tomato plant growing in the bag and I was out there like a flash to make him leave.
You see, I can sit in my chair and turn my head left and see the whole garden and be out there in a few seconds. I don't want to spend my life every minute of the day trying to keep my food safe staring out in the garden from my chair. That's why I'm going to grow mainly on the deck and cover that area with netting.
Thinking about it, I could put large containers in the garden itself, have them grouped together and use the netting there, too. That means another bag of netting to get. I am going to keep my plants safe from squirrels and birds - it's either me or them.
My two rose bushes are full of beautiful blooming large pink roses with mega number of petals on them.
Try 3% rock phoshate. If you can, dig a small hole near your plants and put about a handful of rock phosphate in the ground next the plants. They’ll love you for it.
If you would be so kind, please put me on the ping list here. Thanks.
Pacific Northwest semi-rainforest here, where I’ve got only a small piece of land, and must fight my wife for vegetable space amongst her ever-encroaching flowers. :)
Grains don’t do well here, (nor do many other things) and are rather inefficient sources of calories, IMO, so I’ve concentrated on high calorie, high nutrient items that do well here and can be easily propagated and stored between seasons.
Dry beans and potatoes are my staples, and I’ve been experimenting for four years to find what works best here.
Ireland Creek Annie, Rockwell, Yellow Indian Woman and Hutterite Soup beans are my favorites, though I have a back up roster of Steuben Yellow Eyes and Great Northern White beans to plant/eat in a pinch.
Potatoes: Yellow Finn, Kennebec, Plain Russet, and Dark Red Norland’s do best in my little micro-climate.
This year I’m focusing on onions/shallots/garlic to see what works best here. My wife planted a few leafy odds and ends as well, though they’re not likely to keep us alive long if it comes to it.
We’ve also got several asian pear and plum trees, and four figs that do fair here. Neighbors have all the apples we could want, and we’ve planted various cherries that have not yet produced.
Chickens? I like dark brown eggs: Pure and interbred Welsummers, Marans, Orpingtons (eggs not that dark, but good broodies), New Hampshire Reds, and both black and red sex-links do well here - if my wife stays ahead of the game trapping predators (a job she relishes). I couldn’t even begin to list the list of predators we have here (most not very good eating) and there is therefore quite a turnover in the flock, though I have beefed up security this year. :)
When your tomatoes start coming on more, save the seeds from a few of the better ones to plant for next year. Tomato seeds take an extra couple steps to save than other plants. Scrape out the seeds from two or three same variety tomatoes and drop them into a small jar of water. Set the jar, uncovered, in a window sill or on top of the fridge so they stay a little warm. This step takes off the gel coating of the seeds that prevents sprouting. After a few days, you’ll see some scum or moldy gunk growing on top of the water. Empty the jar out into a mesh strainer that’s small enough to catch the seeds. Rinse the seeds in cool water and spread them out on a saucer (or whatever) for several days to dry. After they are totally dry (if they aren’t dry, they’ll mold), put them in a jar or envelope for storage. Label the container with the variety, the date and any other information you might need for next year such as bloom time, spacing, etc.
Well. My sweet little southern belle grandmother used a small hatchet. And Gulf wax for the pin feathers. I won’t forget either of those.
Hubby cleans his own deer and processes it. Ditto bunnies and other assorted wild ‘food’. I told him if he gets it to a state that looks vaguely like something I get from the grocery store we’re good to go.
I have multiple squash blooms but no squash. I have several tomato blooms but only 2 green tomatoes have appeared Hope it’s just because of the cooler weather and plants will get more productive soon.
Better yet, don’t let the yard guy bag the clippings in the first place. Let them lay where they are to naturally fertilize the yard. Have the yard guy clean the gutters and put that onto the compost pile.
When I bought those tomato plants at Lowes, I figured they would die since I can kill any living plant. Well, I've got tomatoes.
I've tried to be nice to the plants to let them know I really want them to live and prosper. I am a licensed professional counselor so I'm using the Carl Rogers counseling technique. That method is the patient is simply wonderful and everything they say is simply wonderful. If I can get the plants to think that, maybe they won't die.
I’m seldom at a loss for words, but I was that day. The image of all those poor chickens hanging upside down on the clothesline, squawking until someone broke their necks was just too much for me. I considered becoming a vegetarian.
The conversation was between an elderly lady in her 90s and a woman about my age who was a “mother earth” type and married to an American Indian. Obviously I’m a couple of generations from the farm.
Well, my grandmother dispatched them one at a time. No waiting. My hubby isn’t a sadist either.
I can imagine the shock. Sweet little quilting bee ladies and poof, they turn into Ted Bundy chicken torturers.
Oh, I like the transplant idea! Thanx!
my back hurts just looking at it .. LOL
Please, think small. There is no where to use a mower in my little garden. I have a large one step up deck and a small garden area behind that. There is no grass. I’ve got thousands and thousands of leaves from the two oak trees that I have swept up in piles on the deck. There are leaves all in the actual garden area. I’ve got WEEDS. That’s another question - do I put the weeds in there?
Then, I have the many dead rose limbs with thorns I had to cut down because all the roses died except four I still have. I found out what killed all the roses in 2011. It was “sun scorch”. The temp for over two months was 105-107 every day. The leaves, no matter how much I wantered the rose, shrunk and curled and died. I read a post by a fellow in Arizona and he explained sun scorch - that’s what happened.
Marcella, you are an amazing person. Soon you’ll be our encyclopedia on gardening. LOL.
Strawberry plants are relatively cheap, so I usually just order the plants that I want. These plants will form runners which can be used to propogate more plants when you want.
Lots of gardeners propogate using the runners, and give some away to neighbors-good will gesture no doubt.
Compost. Anything that is not diseased or moldy is what I put into my compost, except for bones and meat - stuff that might attract dogs and other varmits.
I don’t get too anal about what amounts of stuff either, since I don’t try to hurry up the compost. All my kitchen stuff like potato peels, coffee grounds, banana peels, and eggshells for example. I keep some of the eggshells in a seperate container, because I put them in with my tomatoes and melons for slow release calcium.
I don’t have a chipper, so break branches into smaller chunks and add them to the compost along with leaves, grass trimmings and shredded newspaper.
Start out with a 2-4 inch layer of twigs/small branches sunflower stalks etc to allow plenty of air circulation. After I have added a gallon full of kitchen scraps, I toss on some shredded newspaper or leaves and some grass clippings, and a little layer of my hard clay rocky soil on top.
Here’s the main ingredients you need: Air, Moisture about like a sponge that has been wrung out as much as possible, Nitrogen (manure, alfalfa, bean pods, green stuff)Bacteria-from garden soil, Heat (no problem in Texas summer).
When I need compost, I just take off the plastic trash can type container that has no bottom and plenty of air ventilation on sides. Remove the unfinished materials and put them back into the container. That leaves a heap of finished compost on the bottom.
My stuff always look quite black, and kinda fluffy and smells like dirt- not stinky at all. I always take some of my green cover crop for the green material.
There’s a lot more to it, if you want to hurry it along, but I am a lazy daisy type. I figure that nature doesn’t do a lot of chipping, grinding, stirring, so neither do I.LOL
Male squash blooms or females? My squash usually put out males about a week or 10 days before they actually start ‘producing’.
These were started indoors. That’s why I just think it was bad seed.
/johnny
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