What Are Some Tips for Successful Gardening?

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Gardening is a cherished activity for many participants, with roots tracing back to childhood experiences and family traditions. Organic gardening methods are favored, emphasizing the use of natural techniques over chemicals. Current gardening efforts include cultivating perennials like blueberries and raspberries, alongside plans for vegetable and herb gardens. Participants express a desire for more space to garden, reflecting on the challenges of apartment living and the joy of nurturing plants. The discussion highlights cultural differences in gardening practices, particularly contrasting American and Spanish lifestyles regarding home and garden ownership.
  • #3,351
Astronuc said:
We have observed that squash and tomatoes do much better when grown in compost. We have had both growing in our compost bin.

Squash, yes, but my tomatoes in the compost on the porch, the beef steaks are not blooming at all, plant is all spindly and the cherry tomatoes are full of buds and fruit...
 
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  • #3,352
I set out three varieties of Blackberries; Natchez, Ouachita, and Arapaho. Here's a sample of this seasons fruit.

x1oNxMh.jpg
 
  • #3,353
WOW, how did you get those blackberries that big?!?
 
  • #3,354
Evo said:
WOW, how did you get those blackberries that big?!?
Best I can figure, it was because of all the rain. Even the canes were huge; 7+ feet.
 
  • #3,355
smiley27.jpg


What am I going to do with all the apples? I'm still working on blackberries.

Before:

rHVVNIM.jpg


Now:

4m2WzNM.jpg
 
  • #3,356
dlgoff said:
What am I going to do with all the apples? I'm still working on blackberries.
http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/blackberry-and-apple-jam

I wouldn't bother with "jam sugar". Blackberries have lots of pectin, and you don't want jam that is set so hard you can't spread it.

Or use the same mix as a pie filling. You probably want to change the blackberry:apple ratio from 1:1 to about 1:2.
 
  • #3,357
dlgoff - where do you live? I'm moving right next to you so I can get free fruit and vegetables :P

Man, I hope my sister's tree will have that many fruits. Right now it has about...5?
 
  • #3,358
AlephZero said:
http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/blackberry-and-apple-jam

I wouldn't bother with "jam sugar". Blackberries have lots of pectin, and you don't want jam that is set so hard you can't spread it.

Or use the same mix as a pie filling. You probably want to change the blackberry:apple ratio from 1:1 to about 1:2.
Thanks. I need all the help I can get. I just made a Crock-Pot "Blackberry Cobbler". I guess that's what you could call it. :confused:

sourlemon said:
dlgoff - where do you live? I'm moving right next to you so I can get free fruit and vegetables :P

Man, I hope my sister's tree will have that many fruits. Right now it has about...5?
Kansas USA. Tell your sister to take care of it and it'll do fine. Some seasons are just better.
 
  • #3,359
dlgoff said:
Tell your sister to take care of it and it'll do fine. Some seasons are just better.

A lot of varieties of apple trees produce significant amounts of fruit only every other year. You can mess with their hormones to interrupt this cycle and make them bear fruit every year, though.

Biennial bearing linky
 
  • #3,360
lisab said:
A lot of varieties of apple trees produce significant amounts of fruit only every other year. You can mess with their hormones to interrupt this cycle and make them bear fruit every year, though.

Biennial bearing linky

I'm sure this will happen even with all the wind storms we've had that helped to drop a lot. Must be mother natures way of pruning. I'm down to seven apple trees now; thank goodness.

In the "on" year too much fruit is set, leading to small fruit size. Excess weight in the main branches can be too much for their mechanical resistance, causing them to break.
 
  • #3,361
lisab said:
A lot of varieties of apple trees produce significant amounts of fruit only every other year. You can mess with their hormones to interrupt this cycle and make them bear fruit every year, though.

Biennial bearing linky
I'm wondering how your apple trees handled the recent big winds?
 
  • #3,362
dlgoff said:
I'm wondering how your apple trees handled the recent big winds?
They're barely more than long sticks at this point. Most were under a foot when they were planted almost a year ago, now they're 3 or 4 feet tall! Since they're so small, only a few blossomed. The blossoms were pinched off so that all energy would go towards developing a strong root system.

They were babied all summer: overnight drip watering once a week. They're starting to go to sleep now :), so sweet!
 
  • #3,363
I guess I was visualizing them getting whipped around and being striped of their little limbs. So it's good news to hear the babies are fine. :)

Did you guys have any of those 70 mph winds where you live?
 
  • #3,364
dlgoff said:
I guess I was visualizing them getting whipped around and being striped of their little limbs. So it's good news to hear the babies are fine. :)

Did you guys have any of those 70 mph winds where you live?
There were some pretty strong gusts, but probably not 70 mph where we live. The power flickered several times, and the internet was buggy for most of yesterday.
 
  • #3,365
The first of 3 batches:

DSC00867_zpsd81f9f7c.jpg


We have rabbit/deer problems, so I figured if they want to eat my plants, I'd give 'em hot peppers. Natch, the plants were untouched. I can handle the middle ones (Cayenne and Thai) raw, but the other ones (Habanero and Ghost) I dried for later.
 
  • #3,366
Awesome Andy, I hope I can grow some of those one day.
I use fresh/dried/pickled(?) peppers almost every day ~_~
 
  • #3,367
Nice looking peppers Andy!
 
  • #3,368
Evo said:
Nice looking peppers Andy!
If his avatar is any indication, it looks like they're plenty hot too! :w
 
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  • #3,369
Those peppers look wonderful. I'd love to have them.

The weather is cooling, so it's time to plant garlic for next season. I always wait until the soil is cool before planting garlic, then mulch heavily with straw. Garlic is very tough, so the crops are reliable.
 
  • #3,370
turbo said:
Those peppers look wonderful. I'd love to have them.

The weather is cooling, so it's time to plant garlic for next season. I always wait until the soil is cool before planting garlic, then mulch heavily with straw. Garlic is very tough, so the crops are reliable.
Turbo!
 
  • #3,371
turbo said:
Those peppers look wonderful. I'd love to have them.

The weather is cooling, so it's time to plant garlic for next season. I always wait until the soil is cool before planting garlic, then mulch heavily with straw. Garlic is very tough, so the crops are reliable.
Turbo!
 
  • #3,372
Turbo!

Good timing.
A friend of mine just went on an extended vacation, and gave me a grocery bag full of peppers from her garden.
I have not a clue what they are, nor what to do with them.
I generally only grow hot peppers for drying, and turning into chili powder.

Here they are:

pf.2014.11.04.0813.pattis.peck.of.unpickled.peppers.jpg


Should I:

a. Stuff them with cheese and roast them
b. Pickle them
c. Dry them and make powder
d. Attempt to make a salsa
e. Eat one a day, and see what happens
f. Leave them out as ornaments. They are very shiny and colorful.​

Thanks!

ps. The third pepper from the left is 7" long.

pps. I promise one of these days to do a report on my gutter garden. It was very successful. And the reproductive rate of strawberry plants will make a very interesting math problem on exponential population rates and how long it will take until my entire property is covered by them.
 
  • #3,373
OmCheeto said:
Turbo!

...

Never mind. The long ones started rotting, so I started pickling them. Which for me, as an amateur, means throwing the un-rotted bits in a half-empty pickle jar from the store. I dried the rest in the oven last night. The smell was heavenly.

ps. I love pepper powder.
 
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  • #3,374
I dried some peppers last week, I bought a little much. I did dry them by stringing them up and leaving them above a spaceheater.
Did the trick in about a week.

Does anybody know whether green peppers turning orangy-red during drying are still usable?
I don't really find info on google :-(
 
  • #3,375
JorisL said:
I dried some peppers last week, I bought a little much. I did dry them by stringing them up and leaving them above a spaceheater.
Did the trick in about a week.

Does anybody know whether green peppers turning orangy-red during drying are still usable?
I don't really find info on google :-(
Yes - they are still usable - as long as they are not soft or have fungus growing in them.
 
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  • #3,376
Thanks, I read about the fungus and that's not in there.
They are all crunchy so now all I need to is figure out where to use them. I was thinking of making my own curry paste.
 
  • #3,377
This last weekend, I planted soooo many garlics. My husband and I would like to have a part-time farm when we retire, and since it would be difficult to start a farm from scratch when when we're in our 60s we figured we'd start now.
 
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  • #3,378
lisab said:
This last weekend, I planted soooo many garlics. My husband and I would like to have a part-time farm when we retire, and since it would be difficult to start a farm from scratch when when we're in our 60s we figured we'd start now.
ME ME ME! I want to come help you farm! Do you have a shack I could live in?

Spawn of Evil is moving to Portland in May. :L

Actually, the trunk of my car is the size of a small bedroom, I could live in there. :D I'd just need a few extension cords, or some batteries. I grew up around farms and have extensive farming knowledge. Right now I have a citrus orchard in my bedroom.

Om, how close are you?

:p
 
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  • #3,379
Evo said:
ME ME ME! I want to come help you farm! Do you have a shack I could live in?
Maybe you could you be her hard cider tester.
 
  • #3,380
Can anyone identify this plant. I bought it last summer at Lowes. It had a little tag on it which is long gone. It struggled all summer with the heat here in AZ. I put it in a spot where it only got the morning sun. Then fall came and winter didn't until recently. We had a lot of days with the temps running from 70's to 80's and that little plant started growing like a weed. It is definitely a climber. The blooms are unusual in that they last so long.

They blooms last so long they start to fade for from the few hours of sunlight that they do get. I am wondering if this is a perennial plant. If it is I would like to protect it from freezing because winter is eventually going to get here. I love plants I just can't tell one from the other.

243n96r.jpg
 
  • #3,381
edward said:
Can anyone identify this plant. I bought it last summer at Lowes. It had a little tag on it which is long gone. It struggled all summer with the heat here in AZ. I put it in a spot where it only got the morning sun. Then fall came and winter didn't until recently. We had a lot of days with the temps running from 70's to 80's and that little plant started growing like a weed. It is definitely a climber. The blooms are unusual in that they last so long.

They blooms last so long they start to fade for from the few hours of sunlight that they do get. I am wondering if this is a perennial plant. If it is I would like to protect it from freezing because winter is eventually going to get here. I love plants I just can't tell one from the other.

243n96r.jpg

Mandevilla vine?
 
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  • #3,382
lisab said:
Mandevilla vine?

Ding, ding, ding that rings a bell. I am pretty sure that is it. The big box stores and big nurseries have a lot of varieties of the same plant and they distribute to large areas. We get a lot of plants here that really belong in Southern California.

Thanks
 

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