Gardening: (2016– )

[kayb]

My garden is not nearly as expansive as Shelby's, but it's coming along. I was repotting herbs today until a sudden shower ran me in off the porch. Will get back to that later, hopefully, if it lets up, and then tomorrow's project is to build a plant stand for the herb pots.

 

Meanwhile, here are the raised beds:

 

Tomatoes are thriving.

I have several blooms.

 

Green beans are looking healthy. Upside down tomato cages sub for poles for these to run on.

 

Watermelon, canteloupe, cucumber, zucchini.

 

Got flowers on the crookneck squash.

[Shelby]

All of it absolutely gorgeous Kay!

[TicTac]

I too am envious of Shelby’s massive garden!  Love the raised beds.  One day I will have a nice piece of land with some water source on it...but Until then...my slow but expanding (this years growth brings it to 14’ x 18’) frond yard - overtake the lawn/grass! - project. 

I apologize - I even tried to edit the orientation on this darn iPhone .... it just wouldn’t take in eg...give yer necks a stretch!   😝

 

Edited May 29, 2020 by TicTac
I think I broke it (log)

[heidih]

Nice! Lawns are now considered a "dirty in a bad way" word. 

[rotuts]

@TicTac

 

DownUnder garden got me dizzy :

 

so :

 

[TicTac]

Thanks @rotuts

 

No idea how you managed that.  Certainly not feasible from my iphone!

 

I used to be techy....then I had kids.  lol.

 

Garden doesn't look nearly as nice as kay or shelby's but I think I am late to the game (good old Canadian climate) but I will update with far nicer (and healthier) looking garden shots in the coming weeks.

 

 

 

[Eatmywords]

Ok, jumping in to the garden thread!  I have four 4'by 8' beds and about 15 potted herbs (in front of the house). Varying results over the yrs as you can imagine.  Tomatoes have done pretty well regardless of variety (aside from occasional chipmunk and black spot/end rot when too much rain) , peppers, string beans, salad greens and cukes too. Zucchini iffy also impacted by too much rain.  Eggplants have never done great but keep trying. Usually 1 or 2 per plant.    Although I tried to grow from seed w some 60 starter pots indoors, I had horrible results with seeds from last year and before.  Just a few tomatoes (roma, beef and cherry) came up and too small to include now. (I'll try in pots in a cpl weeks).  Only string beans made it to the garden.  Below from nursey and Lowes.  All about a foot high.

 

6 tomato varieties; Bonnie Centennial, Better Boy, Huskey Cherry, Juliet hybrid, beefsteak and Cherokee Purple spread out over 2 of the beds, 8 in one 10 in another.  (It sounds crowded but the spacing has worked ok in the past). Other 2 beds; white and black eggplant, zucchini (Blk beauty), string beans, red romaine, collard greens, cukes - boston pickling and straight 8, jalapeno, cubanelle and purple bells.  Herbs; sweet and thai basil, rosemary, taragon, oregano, cilantro, rosemary.  Come-back tenants; sage, thyme, mint and chives.   Will report on progress.  Not happy about upcoming cool weather 😒.    Advice q, we have a gallon of  unopened spoiled milk.  I read it's good for the garden.  Anyone every try it and on what plants?  Thank you!  

[heidih]

9 minutes ago, Eatmywords said:

   Advice q, we have a gallon of  unopened spoiled milk.  I read it's good for the garden.  Anyone every try it and on what plants?  Thank you!  

 

 

Well tomatoes are notorious for calcium deficiency so???

[Eatmywords]

Is now ok, not too young? A cup each? thank you!

[heidih]

9 minutes ago, Eatmywords said:

Is now ok, not too young? A cup each? thank you!

 

Well ya gotta pitch the milk now so can't hurt. Maybe 1/2 cup if full fat. Won't hurt the others either. During drought here I have poured many liquids into the planters. Waste not...

[Shelby]

1 hour ago, Eatmywords said:

Is now ok, not too young? A cup each? thank you!

Can I pour sour milk in my garden?

Any type of milk, including fresh, expired, evaporated, and powdered, can be used in a garden as long as it's diluted properly. Stick with reduced-fat (2 percent) or low-fat (1 percent) milk, rather than skim or whole options. Mix the milk with water in a 50-50 ratio and pour it into a spray bottle.Oct 9, 2019

 

-----------------

I googled.....  

[Eatmywords]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

 

Well ya gotta pitch the milk now so can't hurt. Maybe 1/2 cup if full fat. Won't hurt the others either. During drought here I have poured many liquids into the planters. Waste not...

 

Why pitch now?  Unless you're saying it shouldn't be too expired, there's no rush.  It's in the outdoor garage fridge not impeding our space and it is whole milk.  I'll try the 1/2 cup on a few and let you know if you are an accessory to muuuuuuuurder.  

 

Curious if folks use the Miracle Grow soluble solution and when?  thank you!

[rotuts]

@Shelby 

 

you can pour anything you like into your garden.

 

but as Chas. Darwin said in a book a long time ago :

 

its about Natural Selection .

 

might not have been that Popular in KS some time ago ........

 

unless you bury that you want to add to the garden , just deep enough 

 

Critters are gong to come around and HelpTHemSelves.

 

re calcium :  save your egg shelf , if you have eggs

 

dry them out , and pulverize them . use them.

 

there was another far simpler method for enough Ca ink the tomato area 

 

blossom end rot  

 

but Ive forgotten.

 

this is a really good time to do your own composing 

 

if you have a garden , then you have dirt.

 

just keep the non-animal stuff in some sort of container in

 

your kitchen , then dig a hole and bury it.

 

animal stuff will also work , but dig that hole much deeper

 

much much deeper.

[Eatmywords]

14 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Can I pour sour milk in my garden?

Any type of milk, including fresh, expired, evaporated, and powdered, can be used in a garden as long as it's diluted properly. Stick with reduced-fat (2 percent) or low-fat (1 percent) milk, rather than skim or whole options. Mix the milk with water in a 50-50 ratio and pour it into a spray bottle.Oct 9, 2019

 

-----------------

I googled.....  

 

thanks Shelby, did the google elaborate on spraying vs pour in ground?  And for whole, more than 50% water? - ehhh, I could just google too : )

Edited May 29, 2020 by Eatmywords (log)

[Shelby]

Just now, Eatmywords said:

 

thanks Shelby, did the google elaborate on spraying vs pour in ground?  And for whole, more than 50% water? - ehhh, I'll could just google too : )

Yeah if it's whole, I'd dilute more than 50%.  I've mostly read about people spraying, but I'd live dangerously and just pour it.....

[Okanagancook]

The veggie garden is slow this year...except the garlic which is about to send out scapes already.

Lots of yellow onions.  They are harvested early because they always get worms in them.

Herbs are doing well.  I made chive flower compound butter yesterday when the flowers were at their peak.

[heidih]

34 minutes ago, Eatmywords said:

 

Why pitch now?  Unless you're saying it shouldn't be too expired, there's no rush.  It's in the outdoor garage fridge not impeding our space and it is whole milk.  I'll try the 1/2 cup on a few and let you know if you are an accessory to muuuuuuuurder.  

 

Curious if folks use the Miracle Grow soluble solution and when?  thank you!

 

I have yet to murder a plant plant over a long career.  Faulty green house software notwithstanding. I still have a heart stopping flashback memory of the "tomato witch" finding out one of her guys was wearing earbuds and did not hear the greenhouse alarm go off. Fried the 'maters. She has great product. Down the road from me but I think @KennethT in NYC has ordered from her.  Links to Laurel and to one of my favorite tomato nutters. I did MG years ago but switched to seaweed and fish based.

https://www.heirloomtomatoplants.com/

https://awaytogarden.com/tomato-success-from-transplant-to-harvest-with-craig-lehoullier/

ETA: and I love Garden Betty and her fish heads. I used to toss the extra feeder goldfish (feeding mynah babes) into the veg garden.  https://www.gardenbetty.com/grow-bigger-and-better-tomatoes-this-summer/

Edited May 29, 2020 by heidih (log)

[KennethT]

Yes, years ago, I bought a single Goose Creek tomato plant to grow indoors in my 750sq foot NYC apartment.  The plant arrived in great shape and it did really well in my hydroponic setup... a little too well! Not knowing as much then as I do now, I topped the plant when it approached my ceiling (which one should not do to an indeterminate tomato plant which will keep growing and producing for almost a year) which subsequently made it throw new shoots all over - the plant completely took over a whole corner of my living room and was drinking over a gallon of water per day!  When I finally took the plant down, it was a humid mess inside the canopy, which was more like a hedge than a single plant.  There were tons of fruit I never knew about (by then a bit rotted).  It filled about 3 of those large black trash bags when I finally took it down!  But I will say that those tomatoes were by far the best I've ever had anywhere.  I still miss them....

[TicTac]

Ken - should have kept some seeds!  Anytime I have a tomato I really like I just toss a few of their seeds onto any piece of scrap paper, label it, and put it away - best storage method ever!

 

I would try the milk I guess, but as Shelby said, dilute it a fair bit.  I often will throw crushed egg shells on my roses and into the compost heap.

 

Lastly, please - stay away from miracle grow, that shit is garbage and is pure chemical nonsense!  Just get yourself some good compost or a bit of bone meal and mix that into your soil.  You can also make a 'tea' which I did recently for various...planted items....did it a few times, once with leftovers from veg stock; the other time I went all out, filled a stocking with compost and organic worm castings, suspended it in a huge pale and chucked a aquarium pump into the bottom - along with some molasses - plants seemed to quite like the stinky concoction.

 

 

[KennethT]

I did save some seeds!  It was years ago though, so I don't know how viable they are anymore...  I just don't have the space to grow it now that I have a 5x5 grow tent in the middle of my living room... and the fact that (hopefully) we'll be moving in a few months, so long as our building allows us to start renovations some time soon.  Plus, once in the new apartment (that has a 14' ceiling) I'd really like to make a hydroponic living wall filled with tropical plants... that would be really cool...

[TicTac]

I have used tomato seeds per my method above that have been stored for at least 4-5 years with success.  14' ceilings...nice, look forward to seeing the new digs. 

 

Living tropical plant wall...very cool.  Sign me up for one.

 

 

[gfweb]

Our humble garden is growing faster than we can eat. Romaine has formed heads as we've harvested the outer leaves steadily.  Arugula (which I've never grown) matures so fast!

Herbs are in planters on the wall.

 

[heidih]

11 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Our humble garden is growing faster than we can eat. Romaine has formed heads as we've harvested the outer leaves steadily.  Arugula (which I've never grown) matures so fast!

Herbs are in planters on the wall.

 

 

people grill romaine - a use? Everything looks happy

[heidih]

So back to plant murder. I was reminded of this great gardener and his poem "Why did my plant die"  https://awaytogarden.com/a-favorite-poem-to-mark-passings-in-the-garden/

Edited May 30, 2020 by heidih (log)

[chromedome]

19 hours ago, gfweb said:

Arugula (which I've never grown) matures so fast!

 

They call it "rocket" for a reason.