Gardening Tips Needed

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by ShortNCuddlyAm

Ummm... that's assuming we already don't...

yep... i'm pretty sure that ship has sailed.

[Nate the great]

I didn't get any lettuce this year, and I finally figured out why: local critters have been eating it. Next year I'm putting out live traps. What ever is eating my dinner will become my dinner.

My peppers have also been disappointing. I have 16 seedlings out of 120+ seeds. I don't know why, but they're just not germinating. But at least the tomatoes are doing fine. I've thinned them down to about 25 plants.

The corn is just beginning to show, and I just transplanted the various squashes and the giant pumpkins.

[kazbates]

Does anyone know anything about honeysuckle? I've sprayed for aphids already this year and now there is some kind of black stuff on the buds, so I don't have any new flowers. I am going to try a fungicide next but would be happy for any suggestions.

This is only their second year and I can't seem to get them to grow properly. I'm thinking about pulling them up and starting with something else, but I have 5 of them growing along my fence and I was really hoping to see them creep up and spread over it.

Kaz

[zelda_pinwheel]

mm, honeysuckle ! and it smells so good... i hope you can get it to grow. i can't help you ; i know nothing about gardening.

[GeoffC]

Potatoes are a good crop for Scotland - but they are hard work on the back - bit late now, though - should have been in earlier this month.
We've got green beans, tomatoes, carrots, parsnips and onions started. A few more ideas likely in the next couple of weeks - but my main problems are the cats digging and pooping where they shouldn't - and massive weeds.....


(Anyone with any experience using a large flame gun for weed control?- parrafin type not the puny Parasene gas one)...

[krisk]

put bowls of amonia out around the garden, that is one deterrent. my all time favorite pest control is (ok quit laughing) peeing around my garden. it deters most 4 legged critters.

[yvanleterrible]

Gardening is a huge topic for this place. First I'll say that as far as I remember, there's always been a garden around me to play with. It can be a chore or loads of fun depending on how you set it at first.

For a newbie, I've seen the perfect thing. In the latest Mother Earth News Wiser living series, there is a description of a gardening technique that is the simplest I've ever seen. You take platic wrapped bags of top soil, lay them flat, cut off the top and plant right in them. Put some sort of soil cover and water and tadah! Job is done. There are numerous advantages to this. You don't have to ammend the soil, you can choose a mix prepared for the planting you do, the ground cover material such as straw prevents weeds to set up, the plastic saves on watering and the roots keep to the bag.(if you choose invading species)

My wife and I use, because we live on a tiny suburban lot, a variant of the square foot boxes. It's built on hardware found a Lee Valley Tools.

I bought those corner brackets and the cheapest wooden boards I could find. Total cost 175$CAN. I like the system because at our... seniority, it saves us from kneeling and bending so much.

From the pictures, two are from 2002, the last time I took pictures. The boxes were built the year before. The other one I took this morning. Two weeks ago I've had to rebuild the boxes at a cost of around 90$can, with the same stainless steel brackets and screws. The wood, as expected had started to rot down and failed. It took 6 hours to rebuild without moving the soil but it's worth it.

[Curly]

I've spent the afternoon weeding in the drizzly rain, when I could have been here at MR. Happily we only have a small 'beginner/newbie' garden so it didn't take too long. The potatoes are in and doing well. The carrots, onions, french beans, and courgettes are up and surviving despite the constant wind and rain the past week. The tomatoes and strawberries are still in the house on the windowsill and are flourishing.

Yvan -- It looks like you have had good success with the raised beds. I have read that because you don't walk on the soil, the plants grow much better. What is your experience? Is there really a difference?

We have something called 'grow bags' here which I think is what you are describing. Next month, if it warms up, I will put the tomatoes outside in a grow bag and build a frame around them covered with clear plastic. Our soil is excellent for potatoes, but not so good for tomatoes.

[Greg Anos]

Raining currently.

Laying out PVC pipe for part of the irrigation system. Should be clear tomorrow and I'll dig it it. Oranges are still in the dropping stage. The tropical hibiscus are blooming....

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by Curly

I've spent the afternoon weeding in the drizzly rain, when I could have been here at MR. Happily we only have a small 'beginner/newbie' garden so it didn't take too long. The potatoes are in and doing well. The carrots, onions, french beans, and courgettes are up and surviving despite the constant wind and rain the past week. The tomatoes and strawberries are still in the house on the windowsill and are flourishing.

Yvan -- It looks like you have had good success with the raised beds. I have read that because you don't walk on the soil, the plants grow much better. What is your experience? Is there really a difference?

We have something called 'grow bags' here which I think is what you are describing. Next month, if it warms up, I will put the tomatoes outside in a grow bag and build a frame around them covered with clear plastic. Our soil is excellent for potatoes, but not so good for tomatoes.

Plants do really great in araised bed, exactly for the reason you said plus drainage, they never flood. But mostly the raised bed is for the comfort of the gardener. We laid pavers between the boxes so we never walk in mud and we can plant, weed and harvest standing.

As for the grow bags did you go to the link I put?

[Curly]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

Plants do really great in araised bed, exactly for the reason you said plus drainage, they never flood. But mostly the raised bed is for the comfort of the gardener. We laid pavers between the boxes so we never walk in mud and we can plant, weed and harvest standing.

As for the grow bags did you go to the link I put?

Ahh, yes, my apologies, I have now. My sister, in America, is an experienced gardener and she has recommended the site as well. I will go back and have a proper read.

I really like the idea of building a frame of some kind as the garden is very steep and has been terraced into narrow beds for planting. I suspect a lot of the topsoil gets washed down the hill. We are very lucky, however, as we can get free compost from the city (they compost recyclable cardboard, paper etc).

[yvanleterrible]

We have 2 composting bins that you can see in the far corner. Food vegetable scraps, some wood shavings, leaves, garden leftovers at fall time and lawn clippings provide all the compost we need.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

i think all you gardeners should post some photos of the fruits of your labours.

Here is a shot of my Dill's Atlantic pumpkin, my corn patch, and my first corn harvest. The pumpkin is currently about the size of a beach ball, and should grow to about the size of a small European country.

The corn is a lot smaller than you see in a store, but it's also a lot softer and sweeter. I'd never realized how much the corn plant had been messed with for the sake of agribusiness.

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Here is a shot of my Dill's Atlantic pumpkin, my corn patch, and my first corn harvest. The pumpkin is currently about the size of a beach ball, and should grow to about the size of a small European country.

The corn is a lot smaller than you see in a store, but it's also a lot softer and sweeter. I'd never realized how much the corn plant had been messed with for the sake of agribusiness.

There are fields of sweetcorn near where we were last week. It didn't look ready, otherwise I might have been tempted to do some scrumping...

[krisk]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Here is a shot of my Dill's Atlantic pumpkin, my corn patch, and my first corn harvest. The pumpkin is currently about the size of a beach ball, and should grow to about the size of a small European country.

The corn is a lot smaller than you see in a store, but it's also a lot softer and sweeter. I'd never realized how much the corn plant had been messed with for the sake of agribusiness.

lookin' great nate!