Author Topic: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread  (Read 248576 times)

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #400 on: January 07, 2015, 10:58:10 AM »
As I understand it, rye doesn't fix much nitrogen. It's more of a holding crop/erosion preventer. If you want lots of nitrogen fixing, you need legumes like field peas or clover - and inoculate the seed! The symbiotic bacteria and fungi attached to the roots are what actually fix most of the nitrogen, then when you mow and/or till to kill the roots, the nodules decay into the soil and make the nitrogen available to the next plants.

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #401 on: January 07, 2015, 11:34:57 AM »
Hugelkultur...I may have to get into this just based on the badassity of the word alone. :)

deborah

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #402 on: January 07, 2015, 01:45:46 PM »
It is much better IMO to do the lasagna method rather than using imported dirt - that way you don't get weed seeds.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #403 on: January 08, 2015, 05:54:46 AM »
It is -26C here - so nice to think of gardens.  I have most of my seeds for this spring.  It is way too early to start anything.  I am afraid to order anything else yet, the seeds would not be happy freezing in my rural mailbox.   ;-(

I have been decluttering and have lots of paper - old Bell bills and such - instead of shredding I was thinking of rolling into logs and burning for terra preta in the garden beds.  Anyone done this?

@JonSnow - this is why coastal BC calls -    -26C means blue skies and sparkling snow, but I have to dress for a polar expedition jut to get the garbage to the end of the driveway or to check the mail.  Right now the mailbox flag is frozen in place, we had freezing rain last week.  Canada really needs to get together with the Turks and Caicos about that join-up.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #404 on: January 08, 2015, 07:11:46 AM »
It's -19C here and gardening has been all that I'm thinking about since coming back from holiday. That and chickens.

Question: when's a good time to transplant broccoli outdoors relative to an area's last frost? As early as the soil is workable, like peas? Or a bit later? Last year I only did broccoli as a fall crop but I want to start some indoors this spring too.

I'm going to place my seed and bare root plant order soon. Just waiting to hear if my sister wants to pool an order with me.

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #405 on: January 08, 2015, 08:08:40 AM »
RetiredAt63, I have never lived in any part of Canada but the west coast, so I don't really know the actual cold that the majority of Canadians experience. My wife and I went for a jog last night - no gloves, light sweatshirt and our heads bare. A bit foggy, perhaps 8 degrees celsius. This is more or less our winter reality. BTW, how are your plans to move out west coming along?

Back to gardening...I have spent a bit of time looking into the specifics of hugelkultur...this could really work. There is no shortage of wood debris on our land. A single winter storm produces enough dead fall to build several of these mounds. In past years we have gathered these fallen branches and burned them in a bonfire. Not sure yet if we will go the hugelkultur route, but I certainly won't be burning this debris for the time being.

Rural

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #406 on: January 08, 2015, 05:03:34 PM »
My window box basil is starting to do poorly, so I think tomorrow is harvest time. I'll make pesto and start over - nice problem to have in January in the northern hemisphere.

Editing to add I also need to pick my last three tomatoes. Love those south-facing windows.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2015, 05:05:18 PM by Rural »

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #407 on: January 08, 2015, 08:57:11 PM »
Yeah, that is why we think of the West Coast as "Lotus land" - compared to here it looks like paradise.  Moving plans - good and bad.  I really want to come out next summer and tour around.  However, the good/bad news is that I can't sell my house in 2015 - that is the bad news - because - TADA - my divorce is done - that is the good news - it only took 5 1/2 years, and we need to sell the matrimonial home.  It will be my principle residence sale for 2015.  However that gives me time to get this house ready for sale in 2016 if I go for the move.

Gardening - if you have charred wood left from those bonfires you could try terra preta - like hugelkultur but with charred wood instead of intact.  The charcoal holds nutrient ions and makes the soil more nutrient efficient. Read "The Intelligent Gardener – Growing Nutrient Dense Food" by Steve Solomon.

RetiredAt63, I have never lived in any part of Canada but the west coast, so I don't really know the actual cold that the majority of Canadians experience. My wife and I went for a jog last night - no gloves, light sweatshirt and our heads bare. A bit foggy, perhaps 8 degrees celsius. This is more or less our winter reality. BTW, how are your plans to move out west coming along?

Back to gardening...I have spent a bit of time looking into the specifics of hugelkultur...this could really work. There is no shortage of wood debris on our land. A single winter storm produces enough dead fall to build several of these mounds. In past years we have gathered these fallen branches and burned them in a bonfire. Not sure yet if we will go the hugelkultur route, but I certainly won't be burning this debris for the time being.

Jon_Snow

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #408 on: January 08, 2015, 09:12:40 PM »
RetiredAt63, best of luck getting out this way eventually. If you are ever on the southwest coast on a "scouting trip", especially the summer, let me know. I know the region pretty well and could point you in some wonderful directions (I am kinda biased towards the islands off the coast). And sorry about the marriage. :(

Right now, in my learning/experimentation phase I might try doing a single Hugelkultur mound and some raised beds and see what works better...what I'm not sure of is whether these Hugelkultur mounds need time for the wood material to rot and break down a bit before they can be planted - or can you build a mound with newer wood an cover it with soil and plant away?

And thanks for the charred wood suggestion. We are always having big fires, so charred wood supply is pretty much endless....

This thread continues to be the gift that keeps on giving - especially for garden newbs. :)

deborah

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #409 on: January 08, 2015, 09:15:30 PM »
I put a lot of prunings in the bottom of my lasagna bed and they were completely broken up within a year. But different climates do different things. Just put a lot of manure in the wood pile before you cover it with whatever you are covering it with and you should be right.

horsepoor

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #410 on: January 09, 2015, 07:49:12 AM »
RetiredAt63, best of luck getting out this way eventually. If you are ever on the southwest coast on a "scouting trip", especially the summer, let me know. I know the region pretty well and could point you in some wonderful directions (I am kinda biased towards the islands off the coast). And sorry about the marriage. :(

Right now, in my learning/experimentation phase I might try doing a single Hugelkultur mound and some raised beds and see what works better...what I'm not sure of is whether these Hugelkultur mounds need time for the wood material to rot and break down a bit before they can be planted - or can you build a mound with newer wood an cover it with soil and plant away?

And thanks for the charred wood suggestion. We are always having big fires, so charred wood supply is pretty much endless....

This thread continues to be the gift that keeps on giving - especially for garden newbs. :)

You can plant in them right away as long as you put some soil on top - but they will get better with age.  At first, the rotting wood ties up soil nutrients, so they won't be good for crops that need lots of nitrogen.  I've also read that hugelkultur beds are not good for brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, etc.) due to all the fungal hyphae that they promote in the soil.  Should be a fun experiment though; in your area I'm sure you could go all summer without watering once the bed is functional - if you have land, you might even be able to bring in wood that is already starting to rot to get a head start.  The idea is to use the wood like a giant sponge.

I've got all my seeds, and am trying to figure out a rough plan for this year.  I've got to get my watering more automated because I have lots of travel on the schedule between April and July.  My motto this year is KISS, while trying to maximize food production value.  Will probably start my cool season crop seedlings the second week of February, then it's off to the races.

CommonCents

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #411 on: January 09, 2015, 09:24:57 AM »
Anyone have a good online source for buying seeds?  I'm skeptical about buying from home depot/lowes, and not excited about my local garden shop's seed prices.

Also...as a newbie...when should I plant my seeds indoors?  I live near Boston.  I'm assuming ~Feb?

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #412 on: January 09, 2015, 09:55:40 AM »
@CommonCents - Seeds - lots of online catalogues, and you see a lot more choice than in a store.  For the East Coast Johny's Selected Seeds is good.  Big names like Burpee and Stokes also have lots.  You can also get annuals, perennials and trees/bushes online, with again more choice.

Here in Canada I have ordered from Stokes, Dominion, OSC, Richter's, and Vesey's.

@jon_snow - I will take you up on the scouting trip!  Re the gardens, why not be experimental?  Select a site that is consistent, set up one bed each of fresh wood, charred wood, and both fresh and charred wood, plus a control with just soil.  Use the same soil for all of them, and plant the same things in each, same varieties and location and spacing, same care, and see how it goes.

Rural

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #413 on: January 09, 2015, 09:56:35 AM »
Frankly, I get common seeds from dollar stores, or did; now I have my own saved seeds for most things I grow. Uncommon seeds or varieties I will order from a catalog, but the bulk of my seeds originated at Dollar General.

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #414 on: January 09, 2015, 10:33:52 AM »

@jon_snow - I will take you up on the scouting trip!  Re the gardens, why not be experimental?  Select a site that is consistent, set up one bed each of fresh wood, charred wood, and both fresh and charred wood, plus a control with just soil.  Use the same soil for all of them, and plant the same things in each, same varieties and location and spacing, same care, and see how it goes.

Oohhh...great idea. My wife is actually an scientist IRL, so she could really help setting things up with experimentation in mind. And now that I think of it, there are tons of fallen trees in the darker reaches of our forest that have been rotting in solitude for 20 or 30 years, so they would be a wonderful addition to a hugelkultur mound or two.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #415 on: January 09, 2015, 10:56:41 AM »
Anyone have a good online source for buying seeds?  I'm skeptical about buying from home depot/lowes, and not excited about my local garden shop's seed prices.

Also...as a newbie...when should I plant my seeds indoors?  I live near Boston.  I'm assuming ~Feb?

FedCo is almost always cheaper than Johnny's for the same variety. If you're looking at plants in addition to seeds, CW Jung is the most reasonable mail order source I've found because shipping is included in the item price, unlike a lot of the seed vendors which tack on shipping for trees, plugs, crowns, etc.

As far as when to start indoors, check with the local ag extension for a reliable last frost date. Most varieties have guidance on when to start the seedling based on that date.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #416 on: January 09, 2015, 05:05:02 PM »
Re when to start things indoors - figure out when you should be putting the transplant in the garden and work backwards. Some things are faster than others (tomatoes versus peppers), some things go in earlier.  So you need to work out a schedule depending on your growing plans.

horsepoor

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #417 on: January 12, 2015, 05:40:19 PM »
Anyone have a good online source for buying seeds?  I'm skeptical about buying from home depot/lowes, and not excited about my local garden shop's seed prices.

Also...as a newbie...when should I plant my seeds indoors?  I live near Boston.  I'm assuming ~Feb?

My two favorites are Pinetree - www.superseeds.com and Baker Creek www.rareseeds.com.  Both still independently operated if that matters to you.

It's usually safe to plant warm season crops out here by mid-May, so I stagger my seed starting based on time to get decent seedlings going.  Eggplant is very slow, especially if you don't have a heat mat or warm place to start them.  Peppers are next, then tomatoes.  For cukes and zucs, I wait until about 2-3 weeks before transplant to start them indoors because they are quick and don't like being transplanted after they start putting out true leaves.  So for a 5/15 plant out, I'll do roughly:

Eggplant (and habanero type peppers) - March 1
Peppers - March 10
Tomatoes - March 20
Cukes and squash - April 25

Other crops can be put outside earlier, such as cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, chard, kale, etc.  Here they can be started indoors in February and planted out mid-March or later.

The real limiting factor I've found is supplying adequate light to the seedlings.  They need more than you think, as in, I put 2 rows of shop lights 4x40 watt bulbs as close to the seedlings as possible without touching them, and gradually raise the light as they grow.  Without adequate light, you'll get leggy, spindly seedlings that won't hold up well, and won't grow adequate leaves to get a really good head start when they're transplanted.

1967mama

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #418 on: January 13, 2015, 01:20:17 AM »
Totally noob question: why do people buy seeds from a catalog instead of from the local Home Depot or locally owned gardening store? Is it for better prices? Or is it for variety?

Bonus Question: Do local stores sell seeds that grow well in my zone or is that random too? would a catalog sell seeds by zone?

deborah

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #419 on: January 13, 2015, 01:26:29 AM »
I buy seeds from a catalog because I want other varieties or uncommon seeds. I get other seeds from local stores. Plus, online seeds cost less.

Stores sell the seeds that the distributors distribute, not necessarily those for your zone.

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #420 on: January 13, 2015, 07:11:31 AM »
Totally noob question: why do people buy seeds from a catalog instead of from the local Home Depot or locally owned gardening store? Is it for better prices? Or is it for variety?

Bonus Question: Do local stores sell seeds that grow well in my zone or is that random too? would a catalog sell seeds by zone?

Variety, and I like to support the independent companies that are maintaining heirlooms and developing new strains that are suited more for the home gardener than the commercial producer.  If you check out Baker Creek's site and look at some of the amazing melon, winter squash and eggplant varieties, you'll see what I mean. Growing interesting and beautiful produce I can't buy at the store or farmer's market is half the fun! I always end up grabbing a few packs off the Burpee rack or whatever, but just as a convenience.  Many of the bigger seed companies are owned by Dow or Monsanto, etc. and while I don't boycott these companies, I understand that commercial agriculture is their main interest, and they don't have the interests of the home gardener in mind, much less one who might want to save seeds and/or grow organically.  If you shop heirloom varieties enough, you can also hone the varieties to grow strains that originated in your area or one with a similar climate - generally not the case with a mass-produced or hybrid variety.

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #421 on: January 13, 2015, 07:31:53 AM »
Big box store seeds are often not stored properly and you'll get poor germination.

But primarily I buy online for the greater selection, and typically much better cultivation information than the back of the seed packet provides.

I had mixed results with my Pinetree order last year, FWIW.

1967mama, what area are you in? If I guess correctly, you're somewhere in of near the PNW, in which case Territorial might be a good vendor for you.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #422 on: January 13, 2015, 08:09:46 AM »
Also, some varieties do better in some soils - I have seen a few tomato varieties that can cope with heavy clay, but you won't find them in the big box stores.  A good catalogue will give lots of growing information as well - is it an heirloom, or open pollinated, or an F1? Plant size. Days to maturity from planting or transplanting. 

And it's not just vegetables - herb choices (I love Richter's). Flower choices.  There are masses of flowers out there that won't be at the local nursery/big box store nursery.  I was growing cosmos and lavatera long before they became popular.

And if you get into fruits (bushes and trees), online nurseries have so much more choice and information, and that really matters - I have seen so many apple trees at local big box stores that are not hardy for our climate - even if the tree survives, the flower buds won't, so there go the spring flower show and the summer/fall harvest.

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #423 on: January 13, 2015, 11:38:19 AM »
Anyone have a good online source for buying seeds?  I'm skeptical about buying from home depot/lowes, and not excited about my local garden shop's seed prices.

Also...as a newbie...when should I plant my seeds indoors?  I live near Boston.  I'm assuming ~Feb?

Baker Creek Heirloom seeds...hands down the best place out there.  Trying to resist the urge to pre order figs and purple sweet potato plants at the moment.  I've had great germination rates with their seeds over the years.

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #424 on: January 13, 2015, 11:42:25 AM »
Totally noob question: why do people buy seeds from a catalog instead of from the local Home Depot or locally owned gardening store? Is it for better prices? Or is it for variety?

Bonus Question: Do local stores sell seeds that grow well in my zone or is that random too? would a catalog sell seeds by zone?

My favourites in this area are
http://www.saltspringseeds.com/
And
http://www.westcoastseeds.com/

They specialize in varieties for this region.

I have definitely seen West Coast Seeds at stores like Garden Works, but you can also order online.

Writing these down...thanks.

jlu27

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #425 on: January 13, 2015, 10:38:05 PM »
I have a small garden and a weird way I deal with snails/slugs is: during the night esp after a rain I take a torch, and I manually pick them up (plastic spoons, chopsticks etc) and kill them by dropping them into a container of hot water.

In Wellington, New Zealand things that I have had good experience with:
- tomatoes, pumpkin (these have grown by themselves through old leftover pumpkin seeds I've put into the compost bin), rosemary, spring onions, lettuce, onion, lemon, thyme, mint (although watch out this becomes a weed), chilli, radish (from seed)

So so or bad experiences (although maybe the area that I've grown them in)
- spinach (didn't grow big), sugar snap peas (also didn't grow much), shanghai bok choy (bolts too quickly), fejoa (i'm sure its my soil), figs (something gets to them before me), strawberries (my lack of skill I suspect and I have too many runners), lemon grass (died in winter due to the cold).

Things I still waiting to see on:
- zucchini, passion fruit, plum, capsicum

1967mama

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #426 on: January 14, 2015, 01:40:34 AM »
Thanks so much for the tips on seeds and where to buy/why to buy online! Most helpful!

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #427 on: January 14, 2015, 05:47:42 AM »
Its windy and its blown my corn down. It was looking so good :(. Will have to see if I can resurrect it in the morning.

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #428 on: January 14, 2015, 08:50:40 AM »

I have a small garden and a weird way I deal with snails/slugs is: during the night esp after a rain I take a torch, and I manually pick them up (plastic spoons, chopsticks etc) and kill them by dropping them into a container of hot water.

One method I use is to place an overturned beer bottle (with a little beer left in the bottom) in the garden. The slugs are attracted to the beer, crawl into the bottle, and drown. I imagine that they drown happy?

I also learned as a child to paint vegetable oil on the fresh tufts of young ears of corn. This prevents pests from getting inside when the corn is young.

"overturned" bottle...meaning on its side? upside down it would just spill out, right?

does the veggie oil on the corn interfere with the tassles pollinating the corn cobs at all?

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #429 on: January 20, 2015, 10:09:49 PM »
Hope I haven't posted this already...

This is my second year making seed mats.  It's a good project for the middle of winter, and pays off for succession planting with a minimum of effort during the busier growing season.  They're really good for root vegetables and greens that you'd normally direct-sow in the garden at close spacing.

I've seen this done with strips of toilet paper, but I prefer to plant in squares, so use the cheapest paper towels I can find, and then pull them apart to make single-ply papers for the smaller-seeded species like carrots and lettuce.  Put dots of Elmer's school glue at the desired planting spacing, and 1-2 seeds per glue dot.  Write the variety right on the paper, dry and put in an accordion file until ready to use.


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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #430 on: January 20, 2015, 10:48:47 PM »
Horsepoor, Thank you SO much for posting this! I've never seen this done before and I think it would be an excellent homeschooling project for the kids and me! Fun! This will be my 2nd garden growing something from seed.

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #431 on: January 21, 2015, 05:36:02 AM »
Huh, basically DIY seed tape, only in square foot planting. Neat.

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #432 on: January 21, 2015, 08:21:36 AM »
Horsepoor, Thank you SO much for posting this! I've never seen this done before and I think it would be an excellent homeschooling project for the kids and me! Fun! This will be my 2nd garden growing something from seed.

Cool, have fun!

One thing I forgot to mention is the paper will tear if you try to write on the single ply.  A marker will bleed right through both ply though, so write the variety before pulling the sheets apart (assuming you want 2x sheets of that variety).

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #433 on: January 21, 2015, 09:45:39 AM »
Brussels Sprouts . . . anyone here that lives in Northern Illinois that has successfully grown Brussels Sprouts?  I've tried every which way I know but no luck.

We love them and they are so expensive. 

I've talked to them, petted them, pulled off the lower leaves as recommended, left them out till the end of November.  Just nasty little stalks.  No sprouts.

What am I doing wrong?

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #434 on: January 21, 2015, 06:41:25 PM »
Last year's garden was a total bust!!  Chickens kept eating my tomatoes!  They're gone now, so we're planning tomatoes, strawberries (alpine type)  raspberries -I ordered a new variety- Rosanna to replace the Heritage.    and salad greens.  I use a US website called mysquarefootgarden.net   which tells me the date to start my tomatoes in my region is on  Easter Sunday. 

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #435 on: January 22, 2015, 10:59:26 AM »
This thread continues to be a great resource for a fledgling gardener such as myself. Thanks to all.

Hopefully I can get some answers regarding a few issues I am having with a few of my fruit trees. In short, I need to move a couple of trees (an apple and a plum tree) from one end of my property to the other. I have talked in the past about this gigantic redwood tree growing on our land - I keep meaning to track it's yearly growth - but suffice it to say it is PROLIFIC. And the shade it is generating is really starting to negatively affect the two aforementioned fruit trees. My question is, how will these trees react to being dug up and moved? Sure death sentence?

Here is a picture of what my nieces and nephews refer to as the "Ewok tree" (we are a Star Wars family) with the two sunlight starved fruit trees to it's right - though the fruit trees are bathed in sunlight in the picture, this is about the only time of day (approx. 10 am) that they get direct sun.


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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #436 on: January 22, 2015, 11:18:22 AM »
Not an arborist, but I think you'd need a commercial tree spade to even think of attempting that, and probably only when the plants are dormant. Otherwise it would be impossible to get enough of the roots to keep the trees alive.

And at price it would take to even rent one, I'm guessing you'll be best off just getting new trees and starting over.

But for your sake I welcome being corrected :)

deborah

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #437 on: January 22, 2015, 12:37:02 PM »
Your fruit trees look like they are deciduous - the kinds that are often sold bare rooted here. The official way to move such trees is to dig a ditch around the tree in summer about a foot deep and keep it watered. This breaks the spreading roots and develops new rootlets. Then in winter (it doesn't snow here so you would need to adjust slightly) you dig up the rootball at the ditch line. Then you move the tree to where it needs to be.

I usually forgo the ditch, and just dig it up in winter. Fruit trees are quite tolerant of being moved, even after several years, and I have successfully moved at least half a dozen over the years. Yours don't look too big, so it should be easy. Just do it all in one day, and have a wheelbarrow handy to transport the tree ball.

1967mama

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #438 on: January 22, 2015, 05:09:44 PM »
@Jon_Snow,

We are in a forested area as well. We have "limbed up" our cedars and douglas firs. We used a tool that was kind of like a mini-chain saw on the end of a long pole.  It took 2 men about 3 hours to do 4 trees. Let A LOT more light into our acreage. YMMV

10dollarsatatime

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #439 on: January 22, 2015, 05:34:59 PM »
Time to start planning this year's garden!  Ok... I'll be honest... I had the list of what I wanted to grow this year written down before the last of my tomatoes were canned.

February is supposed to be super mild in Utah, so I'm planning on getting peas into the ground around the 15th.  I also need to decide on varieties of peppers and tomatoes so I can get them started earlier this year.  My excuse last year was that I was putting in a completely new garden, so I didn't finish planting until the first of July.  I still did pretty good, but lost out on peppers.  And most of my tomatoes ripened in the kitchen because I had to pick them green so the frost didn't get them.

My biggest experiment this year will be 3 sisters planting... I need to choose a super tall corn.  I'll be planting Anasazi beans*, and probably sweetmeat and spaghetti squashes.  I know I won't be able to save the seeds from the squash, unless I do the rubberband thing, but I'm pretty ok with that.

*These particular Anasazi beans are mottled purple and black and measure between 3/4 to 1" long dried.  They are huge raw.  A few years ago, my dad bought 15 of these beans at $1/bean from a local nursery.  He was told that the owner's son had gone on a dig in some ruins in Southern Utah.  They found a big clay pot full of beans.  As an experiment, they brought some back and planted them.  And some of them grew!  After a couple of thousand years!  Which is super cool.  The owner's kid gave some to his dad, who planted a bunch and then started selling them to his customers.  I've tried googling these things, and have yet to find beans like them on the internet.  My dad says they'll never get too popular commercially because they are too big to fit through the screens in the... something something tractor words... I admit, I zone out when my dad trails off into tractor things.

deborah

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #440 on: January 22, 2015, 07:37:28 PM »
Yeah! My first tomatoes for the season were picked (and eaten) today - in a month I guess I will be complaining about the glut (like the zucchini glut I currently have).

Jon_Snow

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #441 on: January 22, 2015, 09:11:02 PM »
Chief, deborah, and 1967mama thanks for the advice. What I will probably do is reap the fruit from the trees for one more year in their current location (surprisingly, they produce fairly well) and then next winter I will attempt to move them - shouldn't be too hard, as it hardly gets below freezing here. Hopefully the root ball structure isn't too big...

I will plant the trees at the opposite end of the clearing, where some other fruit trees (planted at the same time as the runts) are flourishing in their sunny locations. In the picture below you can see some of the healthier trees to the left, and my future garden area to the right. Nothing but sunny southern exposure at that end of the property. COME ON SPRING!!!!


Knapptyme

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #442 on: January 22, 2015, 09:58:08 PM »
Every year we add to our garden. I'm not very good at it yet, but I try to get three growing seasons in Florida. While annual fruits and veggies are nice, my preference is to find bushes or trees that produce with less effort than sowing seeds and weeding beds. Thus, we have the following trees--two apple, two pear, two orange, two peach, one grapefruit, one lemon, one lime, one fig, one banana, one cherry plum (really tart little fruits with huge pits--didn't plant it, but I eat some of them), and several avocado (they're still really young and were grown from seeds that sprouted in our compost pile). In addition, we have bushes--ten blueberry (more to come), four blackberry, rosemary, oregano (ours looks like a bush).

I'm always interested in growing more and different stuff, and I'm still learning the climate/growing seasons. The usual suspects have been radishes, tomatoes, peppers, beans, cucumbers (not very successful recently, some pest/fungus killed them), squash of many varieties, onions, brussel sprouts, broccoli, strawberries, various greens, and other herbs. We're also part of a CSA, but we will cut back on that if I can get my act together and grow food more consistently. Some are grown from seeds, some are plants for the local nursery.

deborah

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #443 on: January 22, 2015, 10:28:25 PM »
Four blackberry bushes!!! In Australia they are a weed, and they sucker so easily that one bush is more than enough!

Astatine

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #444 on: January 23, 2015, 03:19:47 AM »
Yeah! My first tomatoes for the season were picked (and eaten) today - in a month I guess I will be complaining about the glut (like the zucchini glut I currently have).

Awesome! We've had about half a kilo of cherry tomatoes per week for a week or two now. Sadly, the variety I planted in late Oct is neither super productive (very small bushes, despite water and fertiliser) nor particularly tasty to eat raw. So we're roasting and cooking the ones we get, and any we give away come with that caveat. I got my 4 plants from a local fete. Won't do that again next year. But we have a self sown one coming out the side of the compost and another small one near the feijoa tree (well, it's not waist height yet - more shrub than tree atm).

DH sheepishly found 3 oversized zucchinis tonight (to add to the glut in the fridge). He's on zucchini picking duty cos the leaves tend to give me a bit of a contact rash. I consoled him by saying maybe it was the OTT rain we had yesterday evening that made those ones grow even faster than usual. I'm dealing with our glut by eating some and giving a lot away to friends and colleagues - if you don't grow food, a homegrown zucchini or two appears to be much appreciated. I don't want to pull any plants out cos one plant has already carked it (don't know why).

Snow peas are coming to the end. Two plants have finished and died off, two are giving us a couple every day or two.

deborah

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #445 on: January 23, 2015, 03:56:35 AM »
Speaking of plants carking it, my perpetual spinach appears to be doing so - one plant started to have floppy leaves, and now the one next to it also has floppy leaves

I think I have three, but it's difficult to tell, as my raised vegetable garden beds are a bit overgrown. The tomatoes have escaped, as has the pumpkin (I trimmed it back severely in preparation for pulling it out, but didn't). The zucchinis are overrunning the beans, which are fighting back. The onions are losing. I'm not sure what's happening with the eggplants and capsicums - I thought they were being smothered by tomatoes, but they appear to be winning through. And it's all too much for the climbing beans, which have decided to abandon the tomatoes, and overrun the grapefruit.

happy

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #446 on: January 23, 2015, 04:34:42 AM »
My tomatoes are slowing…a bit of a relief because I'm sick of cooking them up - have about 13 containers of pre cooked mix for pasta in the freezer. The volunteers have out shone the 7 I planted: 5 Grosse Lisse, 1 Tommy toe and a unnamed heritage tom I grew from seed. These have done well but I've lots of volunteers - I had a ripper last year, so I've taken to utilising any that pop up - the biggest problem is that they had not been in the netted area. I got a wapsipinicon peach tomato thats done brilliantly, a little pear shaped red tomato, a couple of generic ordinary ones, and surprise, surprise a huge egg tomato which I reckon from the descriptions is an Amish paste. Not sure how this came about since I've never grown them or had any fresh.

The potatoes, garlic and clumping onions are all harvested. The silver beet is dying off - happens every year - I think it is just too hot and humid for it.  Corn not yet set. Capsicum growing but not flowering.

I ended up with 2 butternut pumpkins - they're going ballistic so far I've 4 pumpkins growing. I have to do the flower sex thing for them.

The one Zucchini trombocino is like a triffid. Interestingly it made female flowers before any males. Anyway, its taking over but I've no actual trombos yet.

Cucumbers have failed - only got a few, so I've planted some more seeds which have just germinated - hopefully there's still time for a second go.


Astatine

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #447 on: January 23, 2015, 04:56:25 AM »
happy, if you've got freezer space, did you know you can just chop up raw tomato and freeze? DH and I are both quite lazy at times and we've experimented with freezing raw tomato. Best used in stews or soups or spag bol. Worked well!

I've also found I can freeze raw fresh herbs for similar uses.

And homemade pesto made with homegrown basil freezes well too, although not as good as using it fresh. A friend put me onto that one.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #448 on: January 23, 2015, 09:43:33 AM »
happy, if you've got freezer space, did you know you can just chop up raw tomato and freeze? DH and I are both quite lazy at times and we've experimented with freezing raw tomato. Best used in stews or soups or spag bol. Worked well!

It's also a very lazy/convenient way to slip the skins off if you don't want to blanch or use a food mill.
Quote
And homemade pesto made with homegrown basil freezes well too, although not as good as using it fresh. A friend put me onto that one.

Definitely! I'm down to one jar left from the summer. Still mystifies me why basil is so expensive at market. Except for being a bit nitpicky about germination (at least for me), it's extremely hands-off unless you have a bad fungal disease year like we had in my area. Only got one big cutting before all the plants became disfigured.

happy

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread
« Reply #449 on: January 23, 2015, 04:43:45 PM »
happy, if you've got freezer space, did you know you can just chop up raw tomato and freeze? DH and I are both quite lazy at times and we've experimented with freezing raw tomato. Best used in stews or soups or spag bol. Worked well!

It's also a very lazy/convenient way to slip the skins off if you don't want to blanch or use a food mill.
Quote
And homemade pesto made with homegrown basil freezes well too, although not as good as using it fresh. A friend put me onto that one.

Definitely! I'm down to one jar left from the summer. Still mystifies me why basil is so expensive at market. Except for being a bit nitpicky about germination (at least for me), it's extremely hands-off unless you have a bad fungal disease year like we had in my area. Only got one big cutting before all the plants became disfigured.

I'm just using my fridge freezer so I have to  watch space. Nevertheless, I'm not so short of space I'm motivated to get a chest freezer. I'll remember that about tomatoes, it might come in useful sometime I have too many ripe tomatoes and no time.

Interesting about the basil GC. Last year I grew some easily and it was prolific. This year I tried twice - no germination at all. Third time lucky , later in the season and its going well. This year I grew it in mushroom compost and it didn't germinate. I changed to  ordinary potting mix and its going fine. Maybe it doesn't like the mushroom compost: I think this is on the alkaline side. I don't grow huge amounts because I just can't grow it in the garden: gets eaten. I grow it in a netted polystyrene container with copper tape around it near the house. My maximum security bed for things that won't grow anywhere else!