Weekly Gardening Thread VOLUME 19 MAY 9, 2014

Free Republic | May 9, 2014 | rightly_dividing

[rightly_dividing]

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. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks.

No matter what, you won’t be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. There is no telling where it will go and... that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us!

NOTE: This is a once a week ping list. We do post to the thread during the week. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest are welcomed, so feel free to post them at any time.

[greeneyes]

Thanks for helping out while I was out of town. Had a great weekend with the family. Exciting torrential downpour on the way to our accomodations and tornado moving along the highway and destination in front of us and heading away from us. Great food too.

[rightly_dividing]

We have the worst of the storm over us right now. We probably had an inch of rain, with some more coming, but it has slowed way down.

I guess I will go back to bed, nothing to see here.

[rightly_dividing]

Welcome home, greeneyes. No thanks necessary, It was fun on Friday, happening pretty quick, it slowed down on the weekend to a manageable pace. I now have a greater appreciation for what you do every week, thank you for doing this every week for us.

I’m glad the weather did not interfere to the point of ruining the occasion for you and your family.

[rightly_dividing]

One other thing, In my best Columbo, we had one new person wanting to be put on The List. Check your FReepmail for the name, please ma’am.

[greeneyes]

I have a recipe for you to spray on plants to fight pests.

Use 1 bulb of garlic (separate cloves and smash) and 1 onion (sliced). Put into a qt. jar. Add a teaspoon or two of cayenne pepper. Fill jar with almost boiling water. Cover and let sit overnight.

Strain using coffee filter. Add a drop or two of dish-washing liquid and a drop or two of cooking oil or neem oil. Shake to combine. Put into spray bottle, and spray on plants (don't forget under the leaves).

Repeat if it rains. Works for all kinds of insects.

I tested this on a water bug that was running around. In 30 seconds, that bug turned over on it's belly and was dead as a door nail.

Some of the pests are just don't like the spray and avoid the plants.

[sockmonkey]

Any rain in your neck of the woods yet?

Is that what that stuff was? Got almost 3". It killed my satellite reception, and not 24 or En Otre Piel for me..

I t hik it was worth it. We so need rain. My rain barrel is full. In fact, it was overflowing.

[greeneyes]

Here’s a link that has pictures and stages of growth for corn.

http://www.clemson.edu/extension/rowcrops/corn/guide/growth_stages.html

[rightly_dividing]

We are in the middle of that storm line going through. One lady from our neighborhood said the streets were flooding around Marcella’s area. It floods easily there though, poor drainage.

[greeneyes]

Well, at least you are getting rain - right?

[greeneyes]

Got it.

[greeneyes]

I am still trying to use up my current lettuce seeds, but I plan to order some Tom Thumb later on along with some winter lettuce.

[greeneyes]

Food rationing in Venzuela. Thanks to Black Agnes.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3153229/posts

[greeneyes]

Venzuela = Venezuela

[rightly_dividing]

—Well, at least you are getting rain - right?-

Yes, and loving every minute of it. We may have gotten 1”-2” Thats not much, but its more than we’ve had in months.

[Qiviut]

Thanks for the recipe! Everything (seeds) I planted in the garden a week ago, with the exception of green onions & chives, has come up! We had a couple of 90 degree days and I watered every day when we didn’t get rain showers. The pests will be arriving shortly. The ingredients might help keep deer away as well, although I haven’t seen the herd (7 of ‘em) in a couple of weeks - the does should be dropping fawns pretty soon.

[rightly_dividing]

We are still getting rain. :) It’s been raining all night with more to come. When it gets light outside, I will go see if the creek is out of it’s banks, as it does often when we get 4or5 inches.

A lot of yellow on the radar coming to us from the west. I think my wife may be able to make it to work before the yellow gets here.

http://www.intellicast.com/Local/WxMap.aspx?latitude=30.31&longitude=-95.45&zoomLevel=8&opacity=1&basemap=0014&layers=0039

[sockmonkey]

When it gets light outside, I will go see if the creek is out of it’s banks, as it does often when we get 4or5 inches.

Flooding, creek banks, muddy ground, scooter chair...What could possibly go wrong? Stay in the house or workshop.

[Augie]

It was pretty much pumped out by the time I got home from work yesterday, but we got a real toad strangler last night.

This is what it looked like this morning:

[rightly_dividing]

Going around there in my truck. It needs to be run a little.

[rightly_dividing]

First picture verifies I'm in my truck. The water was a couple of inches deep where I stopped. There is a bridge under the water where the rapids are, it curves to the right as you get to it. The water there is about 10ft deep, and rushing pretty fast. The bridge is about 2or3ft under the surface.

Same description for the second picture, just zoomed in a little for details.

Here is proof that we had a lot of rain, it was so full that I had to remove it to be sure it was full and not cracked and leaking. We got over 5 1/4"