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Gardening 2014

Discussion in 'Food and Drink' started by Toothpick, Apr 12, 2014.

  1. MotoMike

    MotoMike Founding Member

    Man that is some hard scrabble looking ground there. I'll be interested to see how they turn out.
     
  2. Toothpick

    Toothpick #2 since day #1 Founding Member

    Yup terrible rocky ground. Last time I tried to grow the only thing that survived was 2 tomatoes plants and they never bloomed. Most pitiful tomato plants I ever saw. BUT the small patch I had was in a shaded area. Probably only saw sun 1-2 hrs a day. I still blame the clay.

    Fingers crossed the adding of the garden soil will help.
     
  3. Lucretia

    Lucretia Founding Member

    Looks like the easter bunny left us colored eggs on stems...

    Tulips2.jpg
     
  4. Toothpick

    Toothpick #2 since day #1 Founding Member

    It sure does! Tulips?
     
  5. Christopher

    Christopher Founding Member

    Jason. Have you planted everything yet? 5 gallon and the smaller buckets make for great planters. You can control the soil and move them in and out of the sun if necessary.
     
  6. Toothpick

    Toothpick #2 since day #1 Founding Member

    Only planted one zucchini plant as a tester. It rained really hard last night and will be sunny and in the 80's the next few days so that baby should grow like wild fire. If it doesn't then I know I got a problem and will seek other options. I did think of the 5 gallon idea first, but the landlord said I could go 2-3 feet off my patio so I went with that.

    It's hard to grow anything in this clay
     
  7. Jim

    Jim Old Curmudgeon Founding Member

  8. I have avoided reading this thread. I miss my garden.

    For over twenty years I had a wonderful herb, vegetable and flower garden along the west side of our house. There were three vacant lots to the west of us, where old victorian houses once sat. A nearby business owned the lots and their employees parked there. They sold the vacant land three years ago. It now has a five story parking garage on it, with some apartments stuck on the front. Even weeds won't grow in that much shade.

    Need to investigate container gardening. I miss putzing in the dirt.
     
  9. MotoMike

    MotoMike Founding Member

    I noticed my asparagus is coming up. This is the first year I can pick it. :) Every one around me is planting, but so far I have only radishes in the ground. I have a 5x5x3 pile of compost almost ready to use, so am hopeful as I've been improving my soil for the last couple years.
     
  10. Lucretia

    Lucretia Founding Member

    Yep, tulips. They're about done, but the irises are about to start, and the crab apples and dogwoods are starting to bloom. I love spring!

    The tomatoes, however, have leaf spot, and when I grabbed my bottle of fungicide it had dried up. So no telling if the tomatoes will surivive long enough for me to remember to pick up more.
     
  11. Lucretia

    Lucretia Founding Member

    Crab apples are in full bloom:

    Spring8.jpg



    Chives have just started blooming--time for chive blossoms on eggs, grilled chicken, smoked salmon...
    Spring9.jpg

    Best to just accept the weeds and try to find a good recipe for dandelions...

    Spring10.jpg
     
  12. Jeffery Hunter

    Jeffery Hunter Founding Member

    My uncle makes a mean Dandelion wine
     
  13. Toothpick

    Toothpick #2 since day #1 Founding Member

    If you can find a use for them they will no longer be weeds!
     
  14. Lucretia

    Lucretia Founding Member

    I've had scuppernong wine (served in a washed out tin can--high class stuff) but never dandelion. How does it taste?
     
  15. MotoMike

    MotoMike Founding Member

    My grandfather used to make dandelion wine. I suspect his was not representative of what could be accomplished. He was not a scientific wine maker and used baking or brewers yeast. He liked sweet wine, so would keep adding sugar until the alcohol content got high enough to kill the yeast. Was almost like a syrupy dessert wine or flavored brandy. His was potent and administered to us kids for sore throats and the onset of colds. I think it helped us sleep;)
     
  16. MotoMike

    MotoMike Founding Member

    Here is my compost facility. the current batch should be ready for use in a week or two. coincident with the majority of my planting.

    IMG_20140504_170648_871.jpg
     
  17. Toothpick

    Toothpick #2 since day #1 Founding Member

  18. Mrmnms

    Mrmnms Founding Member Gold Contributor

    I had a major problem last year in particular squash bugs, squash beetles and squash vine borers. Wiped out all my cukes, zucchini , squash and eggplants. Any body have effective treatment? I try to go chemical free but nothing has worked yet.
     
  19. MotoMike

    MotoMike Founding Member

    Man, Mrmnms... You had bugs bad. I was under the impression that squash bugs liked yellow squash and refraining from planting them would solve many problems, but you had trouble by the numbers. I'm somewhat a novice gardener and don't have the answer for you bug trifecta...:oops:
     
  20. Toothpick

    Toothpick #2 since day #1 Founding Member

    I'm clueless on non chemical treatment. But my mother has had a garden her whole life and always used Sevin Dust. I can't remember having any problems with bugs.

    http://www.gardentech.com/All-Products/sevin-ready-to-use-dust/labels
     

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