Gardening: (2016– )

[sartoric]

2 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Wait, aren't you going into winter?

 

The climate here is sub tropical, and we're only a few kilometres from the Pacific Ocean. The coldest I've seen it get here in winter is a minimum of 5C, days are often around 18C, perhaps a max of 14C on really really cold days. The next batch may not do so well, I'll let you know in a month or so !

[HungryChris]

I took my little trailer to a local farm that sells composted cow manure on Saturday mornings. I got 2 yards and spread it on the garden and shrubs. When it get a little drier I will till it in. It worked wonders on the garden last season.

HC

 

[KennethT]

My basil "tree"...

 

[Okanagancook]

Things are very slow here due to cool weather.

My seedlings are keeping warm in the greenhouse and the skies have been so overcast I have the grow light on most of the time too.

The garlic is doing well.  My lettuce/spinach bed is slowly coming around and the onion sets are poking up.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

16 hours ago, HungryChris said:

I took my little trailer to a local farm that sells composted cow manure on Saturday mornings. I got 2 yards and spread it on the garden and shrubs. When it get a little drier I will till it in. It worked wonders on the garden last season.

HC

 

 

I had a horse at a boarding stable where we piled the manure trucked out of the stalls far away from the barn in the pasture behind the levee of a man made pond. This killed the bugs in it from the heat generated, and we could take as much as we wanted for free in the spring for our garden. Anyone who wanted it was welcome to carry it off for free too. It works a treat.

 

I'm a bit surprised to see it for sale, as most places that have an excess would be more than glad to have it carried away. I was living at the time in Memphis, which is in Shelby County, TN, and had at least at the time, the highest per capita horse ownership in the country. Oh well, times change, and everything is commercialized now.

[HungryChris]

On ‎4‎/‎23‎/‎2017 at 5:06 AM, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

I had a horse at a boarding stable where we piled the manure trucked out of the stalls far away from the barn in the pasture behind the levee of a man made pond. This killed the bugs in it from the heat generated, and we could take as much as we wanted for free in the spring for our garden. Anyone who wanted it was welcome to carry it off for free too. It works a treat.

 

I'm a bit surprised to see it for sale, as most places that have an excess would be more than glad to have it carried away. I was living at the time in Memphis, which is in Shelby County, TN, and had at least at the time, the highest per capita horse ownership in the country. Oh well, times change, and everything is commercialized now.

I worked on a horse farm as a kid. We cleaned out the stalls every day and spread it on the hay fields, but it was free to anyone who wanted it. Oddly enough, this farm I get the compost from, buys it from somewhere else and sells it in the spring. They do load it with a loader for you, which is worth something. The difference it makes in the garden is remarkable. I tilled it in this morning. I don't normally park on the lawn, but we are having a garage built behind the house and it seems like we are always in the way. I think you can see the evidence  all over the driveway!

HC

[Naftal]

The rains have lessened-slightly-so now my mint has started to grow. I planted a creeping mint last year, and it ended up drowned in my yard.So, this year, I planted spearmint and chocolate mint, and the came up when it was safe.

[kayb]

Got outside to scope out the garden in between rains; progress is being made!

 

Cucumbers.

Watermelon on the hoof!

Green peas. 

Tomatoes.

And my new morning coffee drinking, afternoon wine drinking spot, complete with 30 bucks' worth of plastic furniture from WalMart and an overly chubby puglet who is allergic to straw and itching tremendously.

 

 

[rotuts]

@kayb  

 

love your garden , and the mulching

 

sorry about Mr(s) Pug

 

like the Personal Beverage Stations.

 

I used to have a wonderful garden and 7 ft tomatoes based on the initial Victory Garden

 

then my two Labs , one then the other moved on  with two wonderful cats

 

and the bunnies , woodchucks  etc hovered my garden.

 

still and the tomatoes for a while.

 

Im going to have to look into a new tiller that has PlugIn Electric start as my Toro Snow blower does ....

 

I miss those days.

 

I used to grow  Bibb  i.e. Boston lettuce  ( BOS is not far away )

 

I used to start from seed in batches   at least 12 types  and planted 12 of each.

 

some Bibb seeds had to be  plated on top of the soil  ( seed 6 packs ) and needed light to germinate

 

much water spraying involved

 

but  so nice.

 

nice you picked Red Furniture !

 

might be a nice place for the MR ?

 

icy cold ?

 

[kayb]

I have of late discovered a nice, cheap dry rose, which I can assure you is oft enjoyed there. As is a good cold bottle of Yuengling.

 

It's Ms. Pug. Lucy, in fact. My very favorite damndawg.

[kayb]

On 4/23/2017 at 4:06 AM, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

I had a horse at a boarding stable where we piled the manure trucked out of the stalls far away from the barn in the pasture behind the levee of a man made pond. This killed the bugs in it from the heat generated, and we could take as much as we wanted for free in the spring for our garden. Anyone who wanted it was welcome to carry it off for free too. It works a treat.

 

I'm a bit surprised to see it for sale, as most places that have an excess would be more than glad to have it carried away. I was living at the time in Memphis, which is in Shelby County, TN, and had at least at the time, the highest per capita horse ownership in the country. Oh well, times change, and everything is commercialized now.

 

The Memphis Zoo raises money every year selling composted manure from its assorted critters. Marketed, of course, under the name of...wait for it..."ZooDoo."

 

[chromedome]

Urine from the big cats is prized among discerning growers for its ability to repel deer and raccoons, as well as most other pests. Even a cat from the other side of the world, apparently, smells like trouble. 

[djyee100]

 

This year's herb patch on my front deck (with some ornamentals too). French and English thyme, tarragon, Italian oregano, marjoram, Genovese basil, Italian parsley, Berggarten sage, creeping winter savory, alpine strawberry, lavender, chives. I bought six-cell packs of the basil and parsley this year, not all shown. I predict a lot of pesto and tabbouleh on the table this summer.

[helenjp]

Spring herbs! Yesterday I was trotting round the side of our house to my compost bin when the neighbor popped up and gave me a handful of Italian parsley seedlings over the fence!

[chromedome]

My lemon balm, oregano and chives are all up and running. My sage didn't make it, it seldom over-winters well in my neck of the woods. I have a bunch of things started in peat pots...we aren't moving this year as originally planned so I'll be doing a lot of things vertically and in nooks and crannies around the yard, and I'll also have a plot out at the GF's parents' place. It's a few more weeks until we can reasonably plant, here, and unfortunately there's going to be a lot of rain between now and then (pretty much all of the next week, for starters) so it might be a while before I can work the soil properly. 

 

I have two dozen cloves of my father's garlic planted. As I've mentioned elsewhere he'd been hand-selecting his garlic (Music, a hardneck cultivar) for size over a period of several years, and now routinely gets individual cloves in the 25-30 g range (about an ounce each) at the time of harvest. He passed away in March, but I'm going to keep the strain going. Mom still has lots in their original bed, too, which will be harvested before she sells up and moves into town. 

[Naftal]

23 minutes ago, chromedome said:

My lemon balm, oregano and chives are all up and running. My sage didn't make it, it seldom over-winters well in my neck of the woods. I have a bunch of things started in peat pots...we aren't moving this year as originally planned so I'll be doing a lot of things vertically and in nooks and crannies around the yard, and I'll also have a plot out at the GF's parents' place. It's a few more weeks until we can reasonably plant, here, and unfortunately there's going to be a lot of rain between now and then (pretty much all of the next week, for starters) so it might be a while before I can work the soil properly. 

 

I have two dozen cloves of my father's garlic planted. As I've mentioned elsewhere he'd been hand-selecting his garlic (Music, a hardneck cultivar) for size over a period of several years, and now routinely gets individual cloves in the 25-30 g range (about an ounce each) at the time of harvest. He passed away in March, but I'm going to keep the strain going. Mom still has lots in their original bed, too, which will be harvested before she sells up and moves into town. 

My lemon balm is doing very well, too.  It, and my onions, both came up  early.

[chromedome]

Lemon balm isn't one of the herbs I use most, but my sense of humor dictated that I had to plant some (my landlord's name is Melissa).

[helenjp]

I haven't used it for a while, but was surprised at how mellow lemonade is when a good handful of lemon balm is added at the soak peels and juice stage - you still have all the aroma, but less bite.

[Okanagancook]

It finally warmed up a bit with sun yesterday.  Looking at my arugula and spinach, I think they more than doubled in size!  Salad time.

Everything else is about three weeks behind normal and six weeks behind last year. 

 

The vines in our wine producing area are starting to bud break which is a welcome sign.  If we get some more heat and sun the process of grooming the vines will begin with bud thinning.  It could be a challenging year with us being so far behind.  

[chromedome]

24 minutes ago, helenjp said:

I haven't used it for a while, but was surprised at how mellow lemonade is when a good handful of lemon balm is added at the soak peels and juice stage - you still have all the aroma, but less bite.

I use it in lemonade, lemon curd, lemon loaf, lemon ice cream, and tisanes. It's a nice accent. 

[Anna N]

On April 29, 2017 at 1:53 PM, kayb said:

The Memphis Zoo raises money every year selling composted manure from its assorted critters. Marketed, of course, under the name of...wait for it..."ZooDoo."

 

Our zoo dispensed with the euphemism.

[Naftal]

7 hours ago, chromedome said:

I use it in lemonade, lemon curd, lemon loaf, lemon ice cream, and tisanes. It's a nice accent. 

Since tea is my passion, my lemon balm and mints will be used primarily in tisanes. I am particularly excited to see how my chocolate mint plants do in tisanes. I may even do them in a kombucha.

[Naftal]

There are black spots on the lemon balm I planted last fall. Any idea what it might be? They are in a different area of the garden than my older stuff.

[dcarch]

You will dig my redneck hack! 

 

I need to dig many holes for posts for a fence. I don't want to have to buy another tool which I will not be using much after the fence is built. So I turned my rototiller into an earth digger.

 

dcarch

 

 

'

Edited May 16, 2017 by dcarch (log)

[chromedome]

Cool. You should send that to The Mother Earth News, it's exactly the kind of thing they publish for others to be inspired by.