Gardening: (2016– )

[heidih]

8 minutes ago, chromedome said:

I think more that you would appreciate the farming process.  I was reading a piece from 2017 on Driscoll's the berry mega narketer, breeder and labor shortage from loss of immigrant workers is a huge concern to them.

[chromedome]

2 hours ago, heidih said:

I think more that you would appreciate the farming process.  I was reading a piece from 2017 on Driscoll's the berry mega narketer, breeder and labor shortage from loss of immigrant workers is a huge concern to them.

We have large blueberry and cranberry sectors in the local agricultural economy, and in 2020 when COVID hit our provincial government - in its state of ignorance-is-bliss - assumed that, if they weren't letting foreign workers in to do the harvesting, there would be a large body of un/underemployed locals willing to take up the challenge.

 

This ignored a couple of salient points that might have registered, had said govt been collectively in better touch with reality: 1) most of the un/underemployed locals live in urban areas and/or lack their own vehicle/the kind of budget necessary to drive out to the berry farms, especially given the wages involved vs. the price of gas; 2) the locals stopped doing that kind of work about, oh.... 60 or 70 years ago, which is why the farmers started bringing in migrants in the first place; and 3) THERE IS A FRICKIN' SKILLSET INVOLVED, and the farmers work with the same group of laborers year after year so they don't have to retrain it constantly.

Given that the current government could not hold power without the rural vote, it was quick to rectify this error in the ensuing berry seasons.

Edited June 6, 2023 by chromedome (log)

[heidih]

@chromedome on a related note some of my 2nd or 3rd cousins from Sudbury, Ontario came to the US South one year to pick tobacco! Hard hard work - they were teenagers and did it for the $ and adventure. Once was enough.

[chromedome]

15 minutes ago, heidih said:

@chromedome on a related note some of my 2nd or 3rd cousins from Sudbury, Ontario came to the US South one year to pick tobacco! Hard hard work - they were teenagers and did it for the $ and adventure. Once was enough.

There's tobacco farming in southern Ontario as well, but I guess that would probably have been less of an adventure (probably less money, too!).

[Paul Bacino]

last call for Arugula   

 

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

The last time we drove through the coastal region of Nayarit, a state in Mexico north of Puerto Vallarta, we noticed the return of tobacco fields. Not many, but still noticeable. Years before the entire region was full of tobacco plants, but slowly over the years they were replaced by watermelon, beans, corn and pineapples. Tobacco is an attractive plant--too bad it's not just decorative.

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

Cape Breton has been having a unusually cool spring with the last frost advisory last week.

Garlic and parsley flourishing.

Radishes and snow peas.

Sugar snap peas and a mixed bed of lettuces.

Potted herbs for the deck.

 

[Shelby]

Best onions I've ever grown this year.  Don't know why except possibly the weather.  Starting to pick a few each day.  I clean them and store them in the fridge--they last a long time that way.

 

 

 

[KennethT]

14 hours ago, Shelby said:

Best onions I've ever grown this year.  Don't know why except possibly the weather.  Starting to pick a few each day.  I clean them and store them in the fridge--they last a long time that way.

 

 

 

I'm surprised you don't have a root cellar.  They're really hand for storing, ahem, root vegetables for a long time... and apples.  I made a (very small) root cellar out of a corner of our wine fridge - 55degF and slightly humid - onions, garlic, ginger and limes last a lot longer than anything else I've tried.

[lindag]

55 minutes ago, KennethT said:

I'm surprised you don't have a root cellar.  They're really hand for storing, ahem, root vegetables for a long time... and apples.  I made a (very small) root cellar out of a corner of our wine fridge - 55degF and slightly humid - onions, garlic, ginger and limes last a lot longer than anything else I've tried.

You're brilliant.

[chromedome]

1 hour ago, KennethT said:

I'm surprised you don't have a root cellar.  They're really hand for storing, ahem, root vegetables for a long time... and apples.  I made a (very small) root cellar out of a corner of our wine fridge - 55degF and slightly humid - onions, garlic, ginger and limes last a lot longer than anything else I've tried.

I'm mildly surprised the allium flavors/aromas don't penetrate the corks. Though I suppose the bottles in your wine fridge are probably the ones earmarked for near-term consumption, so it probably doesn't much matter.

[TicTac]

Been trying a new technique of starving plants for 3-5 days then gorging them on water.  Recent heavy rains have helped as well…most plants pictured, in pots or not- are edible.  
 

 

 

[heidih]

33 minutes ago, TicTac said:

Been trying a new technique of starving plants for 3-5 days then gorging them on water.  Recent heavy rains have helped as well…most plants pictured, in pots or not- are edible.  
 

 

 

 

I've done that successfully with edibles and ornamentals. When I teach I call it "training your plants".  A big deal during our Southern California drough years. Water is not always the answer. We say "water wisely, water well".  You can kill them with kindness. Same with fertizer. The saying with some plants is "fertilize weeky weakly" - so diluted minimalism plan.

[KennethT]

On 6/22/2023 at 9:42 AM, chromedome said:

I'm mildly surprised the allium flavors/aromas don't penetrate the corks. Though I suppose the bottles in your wine fridge are probably the ones earmarked for near-term consumption, so it probably doesn't much matter.

At 55F, onions/garlic have no detectable aroma that I can tell. Plus, they're on a different shelf so proximity, dispersement etc

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

12 hours ago, TicTac said:

Been trying a new technique of starving plants for 3-5 days then gorging them on water.  Recent heavy rains have helped as well…most plants pictured, in pots or not- are edible.  
 

 

 

 

Not watering is as important as watering. It's also dependent on the plant.

A good specific example would be indeterminate tomatoes. Give them lots of water and fertilizer and they'll happily grow lots of foliage and few tomatoes. The trick is to continually stress the plant by pruning all suckers (thereby restricting it to one or at most two vines) and starving it of water until the leaves show signs of wilting. You're training the plant to react to a challenging environment and if it wants to produce seed it must put energy into fruit production.

Another good example is garlic cultivation. During growth and until scape removal they should be well watered. When the bottom leaves start browning it's time to limit watering for good bulb development. 

 

[TicTac]

18 hours ago, heidih said:

 

I've done that successfully with edibles and ornamentals. When I teach I call it "training your plants".  A big deal during our Southern California drough years. Water is not always the answer. We say "water wisely, water well".  You can kill them with kindness. Same with fertizer. The saying with some plants is "fertilize weeky weakly" - so diluted minimalism plan.

 

6 hours ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

 

Not watering is as important as watering. It's also dependent on the plant.

A good specific example would be indeterminate tomatoes. Give them lots of water and fertilizer and they'll happily grow lots of foliage and few tomatoes. The trick is to continually stress the plant by pruning all suckers (thereby restricting it to one or at most two vines) and starving it of water until the leaves show signs of wilting. You're training the plant to react to a challenging environment and if it wants to produce seed it must put energy into fruit production.

Another good example is garlic cultivation. During growth and until scape removal they should be well watered. When the bottom leaves start browning it's time to limit watering for good bulb development. 

 

 

One thing I love about gardening is that it is a lifelong journey and that we are always (least I am) learning!

 

Both responses above are spot on.  I watered far too much last year (watching an old timer do it daily, I thought I would too!) and did not get the fruit production that we should have, even though the plants were super healthy.  This year, I am trying to make the plant search for water and in turn, get stronger and want to reproduce. 

 

And I must say, these fabric cloth pots are amazing.

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

1 hour ago, TicTac said:

 

 

One thing I love about gardening is that it is a lifelong journey and that we are always (least I am) learning!

 

 

I've been at it for forty plus years and I'm always learning something new.

 

[heidih]

5 minutes ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

 

I've been at it for forty plus years and I'm always learning something new.

 

Especially for me as we adapt to weather change extremes and to new varieties.  Dates in The Farmers Almanac may not apply and various pests keep evolving. I tell people "listen to your plants" but also "listen to your soil". 

[TicTac]

20 minutes ago, heidih said:

Especially for me as we adapt to weather change extremes and to new varieties.  Dates in The Farmers Almanac may not apply and various pests keep evolving. I tell people "listen to your plants" but also "listen to your soil". 

Speaking of soil...one of my goals with these fabric pots was to create a LSO environment, whereby there is no need to fertilize. 

 

Lots of organic matter was added in layers in the pots and shit loads of worms were collected by my 3 kiddos after rainfalls, and saved for our garden.  I also let certain 'weeds' grow (often helping them to do so) which are edible, like plantain, wild spinach, etc.  If I do not get to it and they get too big, pull it up, rip it up a bit and back into the soil it goes!

 

Lately, I have seen 2-3 types of mushrooms popping up and always am seeing worms when I break the surface.

 

So far, so good!

[heidih]

Laurel of https://www.heirloomtomatoplants.com/  introduced me to the cloth pots when I went to an open sale day at her place. I lived down the road. She is in a residential neighborhood, deep lot with house in front and greenhouses in back. Beautiful plants. I think @KennethT may have mail-ordered from her before. She also introduced me to EB Stone which I used in my faux raised bed veg gardens (recycled kiddie pools) as my free space was clay and rock. https://www.ebstone.org/products/ Irts an adventure when you dive in

[KennethT]

I'm a huge proponent of fabric pots.  I've been using them for years now (indoors, hydroponically in coco coir) and have never looked back for any of my long term plants.  Laurel's heirloom tomato plants are great.  I did buy an amazing Goose Creek tomato start from her many years ago and it was incredible, even when grown indoors in my apartment under lights.

[dcarch]

9 hours ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

 

I've been at it for forty plus years and I'm always learning something new.

 

I learned that I am stupid.

 

I had not been able to find a sprayer that  I like. I don't have a huge garden, but my garden is big enough that spraying on a hot summer day is not a pleasant task. Also, I need a sprayer with a long wand, and an adjustable spray head that can spray upside-down (bottom of leaves). 

 

So I made my own, very proud that a motorized sprayer which can do everything I want. I filled the 2 gallon sprayer with Daconil  and gave all my (80?) tomato seedlings a thorough shower.

 

Well, a day later, all the seedlings died. I didn't realize the sprayer had some weed killer solution leftover from last season.

Good thing it was early enough. I was able to redo everything.

 

dcarch

 

Edited June 28, 2023 by dcarch (log)

[KennethT]

20 minutes ago, dcarch said:

I learned that I am stupid.

 

I had not been able to find a sprayer that  I like. I don't have a huge garden, but my garden is big enough that spraying on a hot summer day is not a pleasant task. Also, I need a sprayer with a long wand, and an adjustable spray head that can spray upside-down (bottom of leaves). 

 

So I made my own, very proud that a motorized sprayer which can do everything I want. I filled the 2 gallon sprayer with Daconil  and gave all my tomato seedlings a thorough shower.

 

Well, a day later, all the seedlings died. I didn't realize the sprayer had some weed killer solution leftover from last season.

Good thing it was early enough. I was able to redo everything.

 

dcarch

 

ugghhh... that sucks. sorry to hear it.  But, you're certainly not the only one - I think we've all done something similar at some point or another!

[lindag]

For years I've tried to grow my own herbs with no luck at all.

This year I'm growing them indoors in this.

The results have been fantastic.  I have dill, basil, Italian parsley and thyme.

I'm thinking to add another planter so that I can add chives, Thai basil, cilantro and rosemary.

Finally I have some really lovely plants.

My photos can't do them justice.

[Shelby]

41 minutes ago, dcarch said:

I learned that I am stupid.

 

I had not been able to find a sprayer that  I like. I don't have a huge garden, but my garden is big enough that spraying on a hot summer day is not a pleasant task. Also, I need a sprayer with a long wand, and an adjustable spray head that can spray upside-down (bottom of leaves). 

 

So I made my own, very proud that a motorized sprayer which can do everything I want. I filled the 2 gallon sprayer with Daconil  and gave all my tomato seedlings a thorough shower.

 

Well, a day later, all the seedlings died. I didn't realize the sprayer had some weed killer solution leftover from last season.

Good thing it was early enough. I was able to redo everything.

 

dcarch

 

Oh man, I'm so sorry.  I'm glad it was early enough to replant.  You're not alone.  Not too many summers ago Ronnie had re-planted grass for the millionth time in some big bare spots.  It was up and thriving.  Then he drove across it all dragging a container of some kind of tree killer--had to get rid of some pesky ones growing in the field.  The container was leaking and killed tons of grass.  That was the last time he ever replanted so we live in bald spots lol.