WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD VOLUME 9 FEBRUARY 28, 2014

Free Republic | Feb 28, 2014 | greeneyes

[Silentgypsy]

Oh, gracious! A fellow onion-lover! God bless!

[left that other site]

Prayers for your rapid healing and comfort from that sinus infection!

(((HUGS)))

[Silentgypsy]

Three cheers for dehydrated onions! Plus, yahoo!

[ApplegateRanch]

Snowing again; 6-12" expected; heading for a HIGH tomorrow of -6 (TV forecast) or 0 (Weatherbug) or -1 (NWS 'Point Forecast for the ranch): too bloody cold, any way you slice it.

Meteorologist said that is 50F below normal for March first!

First 4 peach seedlings emerged yesterday.

Cats have just about finished demolishing their cat grass, but what's left is still green; longest it's ever lasted for us. The experiment seems to be a success, and I'll continue to plant it in deeper containers for them.

Got the last of the seeds we ordered, though of course not the potato & sweet potato sets.

I also accidentally found my missing barley, spring wheat, and lentil seeds that I put in a "safe" location 2 years ago. Guess it wasn't safe enough, or I wouldn't have stumbled on them today. *<];-')

Had to split some of next winter's wood yesterday, as we were down to our last week's worth of split & stacked firewood. Had to bust a trail through 10-12" of frozen snow to get the truck to the piles; that took almost as much time as it did to load the billets. It was a balmy 38, and sunny, and calm, so not too bad at all for working outside.

This is one of our old apple trees; its at the SE corner of the main barn.

[crazycatlady]

I’ve been having trouble with aphids(I think that’s what they are)in indoor herbs and other houseplants. I don’t want to use insecticide. A friend says to mist them with water and dish detergent. This seems to work on hardier houseplants, but not herbs or flowering plants.

[Sarajevo]

We've been raising chickens for 4 years now and our insect load has diminished. We no longer have scorpions or many other insect pests invading the house. We also benefit from around a dozen eggs per day.
On the flip side, we free range our birds, so we tend to have a loss from predators, and the birds eat everything. If it's young and green, it's gone. If it's a leafy vegetable, it's gone.
Our cats don't bother the birds. In fact, the cats are afraid of the chickens.

[Sarajevo]

I am envious. All my Scorpion and Ghost peppers dampened off a couple days ago. I have to start all over again.

[crazycatlady]

I live in Everett WA. I’m planning to start my tomato seeds in the house in March as I did last year, and move them out in May. Last year they were somewhat successful. A few actually ripened normally either in the garden or after I brought them in. But many more rotted before ripening, or had big brown spots. This was very disappointing, and seemed to get worse as the season wore on. Some I salvaged by cutting around the bad spots or picking and using green. But I would have had 3-4 times the tomatoes if this hadn’t happened. I have a plot in a p-patch that is organic gardening only, which doesnt bother me. I would do that anyway, probably. Somebody said that they sell “blight-resistant” seeds, but none if the packages Ive looked at say that. I do plan to get those wire cones to keep the plants upright this year. I think that a few other people had this problem, from what I could see, but none as bad as mine.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Get some chick grit !
Sterilize your soil and trays.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

We have one or two red foxes here. They are small, about 20-25 pounds.
I see them trotting through in the morning.

[Sarajevo]

The orchard survived the 29° temps we had last night, and a lot more blooms have opened. The loquat suffered though. It bears fruit in the early spring, so it needs a very mild winter. In the past 7 years, our loquats have only born a harvestable amount of fruit once.

Anna Apple:

Almond tree

Methley Plum

Harvester Peach

Bruce Plum

Native Texas Peach; This tree produces fruit that are the size of a 50¢ piece, but they are so sweet! Unfortunately, squirrels like the fruit also

As you notice, we have cages around everything. The Texas Hill Country is overpopulated with deer, and they will destroy a tree. We found this out last year when we planted a pear tree. 90 minutes later, we found the tree's cage tipped over, and all leaves were stripped from the tree.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

When you see the 3rd and 4th leaves, you're on your way...
Remember, they like heat and humidity at that point.

[Sarajevo]

I’ve been having trouble with aphids~

Try spraying the plants with Garret Juice.

Your tomato problem sounds like blossom end rot. Spray the plants with Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salts)

[Sarajevo]

We have had issues with possum, skunk, raccoon, and neighbors dogs; mostly the dogs though. A couple years ago, a couple dogs destroyed 50% of my flock, and the rest wouldn't lay for 7 months afterwards.

No problems with fox, but some neighbors claim they hear coyote at night. It seems doubtful to me though. There are too many feral cats in the area.

[KosmicKitty]

Did you have any major issues with fruit cracking?

I've grown the Cherokee Purples for the past few years and I've never had a problem with them cracking.

They are a simply lovely tomato, IMHO.

[Godzilla]

thanks

[rightly_dividing]

—The Texas Hill Country is overpopulated with deer—

I used to visit a church in hill country. Always saw deer in the church yard or nearby. One day we counted 22 deer crossing the road about a 100yds ahead of us. Quite a sight.

[rightly_dividing]

We grew Cherokee Purple last year and I loved the flavor. It is going in again this year. I bought a couple of starts last weekend and have some seeds coming up also.

[greeneyes]

Thanks for sharing the pictures. Nice orchard.

[greeneyes]

That’s a nice size apple tree. We are in for it tomorrow as far as the weather goes. At least no one has to go to work tomorrow.