Weekly Gardening Thread --- To grow or to buy

MSN Money ^ | May 28,2008 | Sally Herigstad

[gardengirl]

No prob. Growing things is so amazing! From dirt and seed to sprout and then plant and then finished product. I adore it!

[USMCGunnut]

Have a fig tree myself. Any trees (fruit or nut) and perennials (such as rosemary) are a good bet to start with.
They may take some time, but great return for investment. Rosemary and blueberry bushes are in ample supply on my property though one rosemary bush is more than enough. I am also lucky enough to have mature pecan trees and wild-growing blackberries. Note: as with the mint warnings, blackberries will run wild also and aren't as pleasant to deal with, although they make a great natural fence along my property lines. Also good points made about vine veggies. They need lots of room to roam, but they do produce!

Semper Fi

Shooters, you may commence firing when your DOG target appears!

[Red_Devil 232]

You must have the day off.

Have you ever pickled cukes? I am trying a batch of Clausen style, cold process, to see if I can do it! It is the only type of pickle I like. They have been in the jar for 3 days now and producing some nice small bubbles. I used some distilled water, a heaping tablespoon of Ball Kosher Dill pickling mix, some garlic and pepper corns. I think I will wait another day or two and then add some vinegar and let them pickle in the frig.

[USMCGunnut]

Thanks for the plant guide. I definitely saved that. I knew some of those, but some new tricks to try. I also would advise (depending on location and land) other natural controls. I have bat houses, plenty of bluebird houses, and use various sticky traps to catch some of the unwanteds such as fruit and deer flies.

[Red_Devil 232]

When do you retire? My Father was in the Corps for 25 years retired in 1963 as a MGySgt (I think he was one of the very first to earn that rank). He and our family spent the next 10 years in Laos (that secrete war). I went back to the States and joined the Marines in ‘69. Got out, earned a degree in Geology at Miss. State Univ. and am now retired and enjoying my time left.

[gardengirl]

Nah! Had Weds off but I’m stuck doing paperwork so I’m sneaking in some desserts along with the ho-hum!

Never tried pickling anything but okra. One of my customers brings me bread and butter pickles-my favorite. My crowd doesn’t like them so I ahve them all to myself. Tehy are truly wonderful in potato salad!

[trisham]

Are you sure the leaves are part of the cilantro? If I remember correctly, ours didn’t have any leaves other than the lacy ones with the seeds on top.

[Ditter]

I have flowers and herbs in pots on a patio that gets a couple of hours of sun. Not enough sun for tomatoes, unfortunately. I hear you on the sprays etc. I have to get someone to do that kind of thing for me. I loved all the gardening I did in the past, it was my hobby for relation and my exercise.

[Squantos]

A great little gardening tool from the web !

http://lifehacker.com/394044/track-your-garden-at-myfolia

Stay safe !

[kcvl]

Mark for later

[lesser_satan]

I've got tomatoes and Tabasco, Thai Ornamental Hot, and Numex Twilight peppers. Was going to do sweet corn to but I didn't get around to planting it.

I'm surprised asparagus is on the 5 worst list. I know it's a pain to grow, but it's so ungodly expensive at the store.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Thanks for the ping, I will link it on my thread.

I hope you have a good day.

[tubebender]

WoW Gabz! The thread is up to plus 50 replies already and I thought everyone would be in the garden doing catchup after the weird weather back yonder. I helped my wife fill planters on the deck after she finished baking about 40 dozen cookies this morning. We have used 10 bags of Black Gold potting soil so far and will use another 6 for the flowers plus what ever it takes to fill 4 big tubs for the tomatoes.

The weather here is influenced buy the Pacific ocean including high fog or low clouds depending on the weather man. It was 54 today and our growing season is a month late this year here on Humboldt Bay.

I saw a mention of author Steve Solomon in the linked story and did not know he was still writing. He was the founder of Territorial Seed co in Oregon specializing in seeds and plants for the maritime North West and I met him when he still owned the company. I will have to get his latest book...

[gardengirl]

I am so tickled! Haven’t been out in the garden for a week. Made it out there tonite to check on things—with the help of the 15 month old gbaby! Potato vines are dying,vidalias are about the size of tennis balls, picked a couple of early jersey cabbage,saw a small zucchini, peppers are popping, flowers are beautiful!

Course, the weeds are growing like...weeds!

[Gabz]

Whoa! How did William Alexander spend over $16,000 creating a garden and why is he cited in an article about saving money?

It totally beats me!!!!

The guy seems to be lacking the common sense gene. LOL

And some people apparently have more money than sense!!!!!!

[Gabz]

I've been picking fresh cucumbers and tomatoes for the past few weeks.

I am absolutely GREEN with envy!

I'm going to try trellising some of my vine veggies this year -- cukes and summer squashes.

We also used terraces for growing melons, cucumbers and cantaloupes. One row close to the top and let the vines grow down each side.

I'd love to hear more about that.

[Gabz]

I joke to my friends that I'm growing a salad!

With the price of produce in the supermarket these days, growing your own salad is no longer a joke.

[Gabz]

Thanks for that really concise repelling plant guide!

[Gabz]

“Artistic” painting is not something I do very often anymore, I had enough of that working in ceramics many years ago. I have to bein the “mood” to paint, even though I actually like doing it. Getting paid to do it definitely puts me in the right “mood.” LOL!!!

We’re kicking it out. We didn’t get as far along as we thought we would today because we ran into a couple of unexpected things, like rotted wood -— but we’ll still have the big cabin finished and the second one started on Monday. So we’re still looking at a no-later-than midday Wednesday finish, even though we have to knock off by 3:00 on Monday and 4:oo on Tuesday.