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.
  • #2,951
Get one of these and freeze bags of peeled apple slices for pies, apple cake, etc over the winter.

3b704310fca0d4b782785010.L.jpg
 
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  • #2,952
rhody said:
Nice Haul Borg(s) family,

Ghost apple sauce perhaps ?!

Rhody...
Astronuc said:
Lot's of apple sauce, apple crisp, apple pie, stewed apple, and/or apple cider!
turbo said:
Get one of these and freeze bags of peeled apple slices for pies, apple cake, etc over the winter.

3b704310fca0d4b782785010.L.jpg
I could use one of those. I have started looking at recipes this morning. Thankfully, we have some room in the freezer and we will be bagging apples today. Both crispers in the refridgerator are full along with the big basket from the picture. We still have three boxes to deal with. But, the price was right - free!
 
  • #2,953
Nice haul of apples Borg!
 
  • #2,954
Borg said:
I could use one of those. I have started looking at recipes this morning. Thankfully, we have some room in the freezer and we will be bagging apples today. Both crispers in the refridgerator are full along with the big basket from the picture. We still have three boxes to deal with. But, the price was right - free!
I forgot baked apples. My mom used to make them. She would core the apple and pack the hole with a mix of raisins, sultanas, spices and sugar. And then back the apple. Served hot à la mode (with vanilla icecream).


I have a few more habaneros that are almost orange.


August was the wettest month in terms of precipitation since 1895 when folks started keeping records. We had 212% of normal (average) precipitation. It did a lot of damage. Some areas W, NW and N of us received even more. One town had ~80% of homes damaged or destroyed.
 
  • #2,955
Two one gallon bags of apple pieces are in the freezer with room for about four more.
Last night, we had fish with fresh cooked apple sauce - followed by apple pie.
This morning, I made myself oatmeal with an entire apple cooked in.
Tonight we're having baked chicken with apples and rice baked with apples - followed by the rest of the apple pie from yesterday.
I'm beginning to see a theme to our meals for the foreseeable future. :rolleyes:
 
  • #2,956
Ham and apple sauce, with sweet potatoes or yams.

And pork with apples, cranberries and red cabbage, perhaps with a sweet and sour sauce are options.
 
  • #2,957
With all this talk about apples, I just ordered a new Fiskars' pruner to trim my fruit trees with. I have been borrowing my father's pole pruner, but the external lever and external actuating rope make it a real pain to use - they keep getting hung up on other branches.
 
  • #2,958
Turbo, I don't know how you can eat habaneros! Cut one open, and it is like opening one of my daughters magazines with the perfume inserts. Smells nice and fruity for a half of a second, then *GAH* you get hit with a gag me perfume smell.

I need to find a HOT pepper that doesn't smell like a perfume bottle.

My garden pickles turned out amazing though! There were green beans, carrots, parsnips, mustard tops (to replace dill) and jalapenos from the garden. Then onions, mushrooms, and garlic from the grocery store. I swear my jalapenos are much MUCH hotter than a serrano.
 
  • #2,959
It's hard for me to generalize about chilies, Ms Music. I don't know what I don't grow. I can't generalize about the strength of chilies, but I love when they have a nice sweet rich smell when I cut them.
 
  • #2,960
Borg said:
I could use one of those. I have started looking at recipes this morning. Thankfully, we have some room in the freezer and we will be bagging apples today. Both crispers in the refridgerator are full along with the big basket from the picture. We still have three boxes to deal with. But, the price was right - free!
At one time I had 16 red and yellow delicious apple trees. With apples running out of my ears, I had to find ways to use them and found that http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/applesauce/" were the best choices. Both are very fast and easy to prepare and if you have a deep freezer, you can bypass the canning process. I would freeze it in "Tupperware" containers that would keep for years.
 
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  • #2,961
I got home after dark, so I'll have to check at sunrise, but we had a sunny day, so hoping that a few more habs have ripened. I guess I'll need to bring them inside soon.
 
  • #2,962
I just cut up the remaining peppers for seeds, took almost an hour. I must have three or four hundred of them. I got about thirty peppers from my three pants. Have a half dozen new ones started as well. Now, to figure out how to grow a Ghost Tree, the pepper guy in Seattle claims his is four years old.

Rhody...
 
  • #2,963
rhody said:
I just cut up the remaining peppers for seeds, took almost an hour. I must have three or four hundred of them. I got about thirty peppers from my three pants. Have a half dozen new ones started as well. Now, to figure out how to grow a Ghost Tree, the pepper guy in Seattle claims his is four years old.

Rhody...
Methinks that one needs an arboretum.
 
  • #2,964
Astronuc said:
Methinks that one needs an arboretum.
Methinks you might be right Astro, I have this crazy idea of making some extra dollars per year to fuel my track day passion, keep the bike up to snuff and improve it, and to attend race events such as the Isle of Mann, Ulster GrandPrix, Northwest 2000, Laguna Seca, Road Atlanta etc... you get the idea.

Depending how good I get at doing what I do, with a little ingenuity, a little luck, I might be able to pull it off. I want to do things that have never been done before, one of a kind, again, that's just my style. So will see what becomes of it over the winter. Right now it is an idea in my head. I might be able to pull it off. Who knows, even maybe to inspire others to take some risks of their own for their passions if I succeed.

Rhody...
 
  • #2,965
The trees and flowers don't even know it's Fall yet, but the temps are supposed to go down to 30F tomorrow night.

010ag.jpg
 
  • #2,966
rhody said:
Methinks you might be right Astro, I have this crazy idea of making some extra dollars per year to fuel my track day passion, keep the bike up to snuff and improve it, and to attend race events such as the Isle of Mann, Ulster GrandPrix, Northwest 2000, Laguna Seca, Road Atlanta etc... you get the idea.

Depending how good I get at doing what I do, with a little ingenuity, a little luck, I might be able to pull it off. I want to do things that have never been done before, one of a kind, again, that's just my style. So will see what becomes of it over the winter. Right now it is an idea in my head. I might be able to pull it off. Who knows, even maybe to inspire others to take some risks of their own for their passions if I succeed.

Rhody...
Maybe PF needs a botanical research facility and gardens, a race track like the one at Daytona, . . . .
 
  • #2,967
Oh dear, the squirrels are shoring up their nest for the winter. The bottom has started falling out due to the windy weather we've been having. Last year when they started working on their winter fortress, they ended up knocking the whole thing out of the tree and never recovered.

This one is looking pretty risky, a heavy rain, ice, or snow could knock them all down, about 30 feet. :cry:

My neighbors and I have been discussing going to Home Depot and building them a nest. Since we're all old and can't climb trees, I'm thinking that discussions over coffee will be as far as this project will ever get.
 
  • #2,968
Evo said:
Oh dear, the squirrels are shoring up their nest for the winter. The bottom has started falling out due to the windy weather we've been having. Last year when they started working on their winter fortress, they ended up knocking the whole thing out of the tree and never recovered.

This one is looking pretty risky, a heavy rain, ice, or snow could knock them all down, about 30 feet. :cry:

My neighbors and I have been discussing going to Home Depot and building them a nest. Since we're all old and can't climb trees, I'm thinking that discussions over coffee will be as far as this project will ever get.
Our gray squirrels have lots of spruce branches/twigs to make their nests out of. Those twigs are spiny and tend to lock together easily, and once the squirrels have a large sphere of those wrapped around a large tree-branch, they stuff it with nice dry oak leaves. Other leaves soak up water and get soggy - oak leaves (especially white oak) don't, so they are a nice water-resistant covering to keep the squirrels toasty. I don't mind gray squirrels so much, but up here we have all red squirrels. Red squirrels tear up your house, rip out insulation for nesting materials, and chew on electrical wiring insulation "just because". I'd rather shoot those little creeps than die in the middle of the night due to an electrical fire.
 
  • #2,969
Well, I drove home in a mix of rain and snow. I pulled into the driveway, and there was snow on the cars and porch.

I guess I need to bring my pepper plants inside.

It seems well have an early winter. It will be interesting to see what the snow will be like this winter.
 
  • #2,970
Just hung up the last of the peppers. I still had quite a lot of habaneros, cayenne, hot Portgual, and jalapeños, and a few cherry bombs left. A few cayenne and Portugals were red, but the rest were green.

The night at 25 froze the plants and killed the tops. And now it's snowing.

The kale however is still doing well and will survive the winter.

Surprisingly the fennel and other herbs are still doing well.
 
  • #2,971
Astronuc said:
Just hung up the last of the peppers. I still had quite a lot of habaneros, cayenne, hot Portgual, and jalapeños, and a few cherry bombs left. A few cayenne and Portugals were red, but the rest were green.

The night at 25 froze the plants and killed the tops. And now it's snowing.
That's about what I got this year, Astro. I sent a jar of mild, green habanero relish to rhody as a favor. Last years's jalapeno relish was hotter, and I still have a few jars of that in the pantry. I really need a decent year for peppers, so that I can make up some hot relish, and I won't be so stupid as to give it away because the next growing season (or two) may be crappy. I have cases and cases of canning jars in the cellar and in the garage, so I'll plan ahead (like the grasshopper) and not get short again.

I Won't Get Fooled Again.

 
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  • #2,972
I was having such a bad today today, then the UPS guy showed up and...a dear foprum friend had sent me a bonsai cherry tree! It's gorgeous! Just when you least expect it, someone does something unexpected and lifts you up.

They wish to remain anonymous.

I don't know how to thank you for the thought and care behind this undeserved gift. :cry:
 

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  • #2,973
Evo said:
I was having such a bad today today, then the UPS guy showed up and...a dear foprum friend had sent me a bonsai cherry tree! It's gorgeous! Just when you least expect it, someone does something unexpected and lifts you up.

They wish to remain anonymous.

I don't know how to thank you for the thought and care behind this undeserved gift. :cry:
Well someone thinks one deserves such a gift. :smile: Cute tree, or shrub. I imagine there is a mutual appreciation of plants.
 
  • #2,974
Evo said:
I was having such a bad today today, then the UPS guy showed up and...a dear foprum friend had sent me a bonsai cherry tree! It's gorgeous! Just when you least expect it, someone does something unexpected and lifts you up.

They wish to remain anonymous.

I don't know how to thank you for the thought and care behind this undeserved gift. :cry:

Wow, it's beautiful :!)!
 
  • #2,975
i had my first success with gardening this past summer, grew hot peppers, tomato, and garden beans well into fall.

now i have garlic and chinese cabbage grown in the yard and they're doing pretty well
 
  • #2,976
I finally got around to planting the seeds sent by Rhody. I planted 15 of them, and 5 have sprouted so far. I can see a little white speck under the soil in 2 more, so I have somewhere between 33% and 50% so far (still hoping for more). I put them in peat pellets under a lamp to start them.

I'll pot them and post pictures when I get a chance.
 
  • #2,977
NeoDevin said:
I finally got around to planting the seeds sent by Rhody. I planted 15 of them, and 5 have sprouted so far. I can see a little white speck under the soil in 2 more, so I have somewhere between 33% and 50% so far (still hoping for more). I put them in peat pellets under a lamp to start them.

I'll pot them and post pictures when I get a chance.

A little spritz of water morning and evening helps too, once a week, a weak application of miracle grow helps them get started, try to keep the top of the dirt as dry as you can, keeps down fungus and possible aphid's, they are looking for moisture. Be patient at this point, unless you can keep daily temps in 80's Fahrenheit, it is going to take the next 60 days to get them about this big. Here is a picture of my most robust Trinidad Scorpion pepper plant, it has the biggest stem, leaves and most developed root system. I would suggest the double clear cup method when transplanting, drill holes in the inside cup, water the outside one, place inside cup inside to absorb the water, the top of the soil stays dry that way. Water these when cups are dry and plant just starts to wilt, about 1/3rd of a cup in the outside cup of water is all that is needed, let it absorb. This works well. You do realize if you get ten full size pepper plants to maturity this summer if you play your cards right you are going to get over 500 peppers from them.

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/8563/scorpion60days.jpg

Rhody... :-p
 
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  • #2,978
I'll give that a try.

I certainly won't complain about 500 peppers next summer. No way I can have temperatures in the 80s here, I keep my house ~64F. I was a little worried that it would be too cold for them to sprout, but a few of them did at least.
 
  • #2,979
I'm starting to select my plants for this summer. I'm going to take a chance and try a variety and hope the summer doesn't turn out cold again.
 
  • #2,980
It's still quite cold here. We had a day where the afternoon temperature approached ~70F, but then the next day the temperatures plummeted.

Just picked up this guy's book - http://www.felderrushing.net/

He has a garden in his truck! http://www.felderrushing.net/EnterTitletruckposters.htm

He travels with Rusty the Brown Dog. :smile:

He's different - http://www.felderrushing.net/easywatergardens.htm

His front yard - http://www.felderrushing.net/frontyard.htm - and
the backyard garden is at the bottom of the page.
 
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  • #2,981
I hope my garden grows well this year. Amy is going to take all the ghost seeds and see what she can do with them with a heat-mat and grow-light. She was very pleased with the Savina plants that I gave her last season, so I hope we do well with the ghosts. If I have excess garlic (beyond starting them for our needs), I'll get her started on garlic, too.
 
  • #2,983
Duke is a gardener. I have to watch him so that he doesn't help himself to the produce.

dukegarlic.jpg
 
  • #2,984
turbo said:
Duke is a gardener. I have to watch him so that he doesn't help himself to the produce.

dukegarlic.jpg

How did you train that fly to sit on his nose like that?
 
  • #2,985
lisab said:
How did you train that fly to sit on his nose like that?
I am a consummate fly-trainer. Flies don't live too long, so the time-windows for training are short.

Those rows behind Duke are filled with Red Russian and White German garlic. He'll help himself to raspberries/blackberries, but he is very good about not stealing produce from the garden. Though when you give him a garlic scape, you should count your fingers afterward.
 
  • #2,986
Astronuc said:
It's still quite cold here. We had a day where the afternoon temperature approached ~70F, but then the next day the temperatures plummeted.

Just picked up this guy's book - http://www.felderrushing.net/

He has a garden in his truck! http://www.felderrushing.net/EnterTitletruckposters.htm

He travels with Rusty the Brown Dog. :smile:

He's different - http://www.felderrushing.net/easywatergardens.htm

His front yard - http://www.felderrushing.net/frontyard.htm - and
the backyard garden is at the bottom of the page.

I think I have a new hero.

Love his FAQ page:

Q: Don't you care what your neighbors think?

A: Of COURSE I do - in the big scheme of things, it just doesn't MATTER a whole lot!

I used to be so self conscious of what the neighbors thought of me, I asked them what color I should paint my house. (After all, they're the ones that have to look at it.)

His truck garden has just given me an idea of a good use for 3 of my 5 boats. :devil:

But with only 4000 ft2 to work with, I think they'll all have to go up on the roof. :redface:
 
  • #2,987
A woman who is apparently visiting her grandchildren felt that it was OK to pick the flowers next to our house as they wandered by yesterday and today. :mad:
 
  • #2,988
Borg said:
A woman who is apparently visiting her grandchildren felt that it was OK to pick the flowers next to our house as they wandered by yesterday and today. :mad:
My wife will gladly give flowers to neighbors and visitors, but wouldn't feel too great about them helping themselves without permission.
 
  • #2,989
Borg said:
A woman who is apparently visiting her grandchildren felt that it was OK to pick the flowers next to our house as they wandered by yesterday and today. :mad:
What kind of psycho would pick flowers from a neighbor's yard?
 
  • #2,990
Evo said:
What kind of psycho would pick flowers from a neighbor's yard?
My thoughts, too. My wife has been building up a collection of perennials to decorate our front lawn. She'll gladly share flowers and split plants for people who want to grow their own, but please don't steal!
 
  • #2,991
That is no excuse, but logically she may have had dementia, and didn't know any better, Borg said her grandchildren were visiting, but he didn't say they were with her or how old. Just a thought.

Rhody...
 
  • #2,992
Evo said:
What kind of psycho would pick flowers from a neighbor's yard?
:smile: OK, that made me laugh. I don't know what she was thinking but now that we've confronted her, I hope that it won't happen again.
 
  • #2,993
rhody said:
That is no excuse, but logically she may have had dementia, and didn't know any better, Borg said her grandchildren were visiting, but he didn't say they were with her or how old. Just a thought.

Rhody...
She was elderly and walking with two children about three and four. I didn't talk to her so I don't know what her mental state is. I suspect that the little girl started picking flowers and grandma may have gotten caught up in the moment. She knows better now I hope. If not, I'm pretty sure about which house they're visiting and I can have a more extensive dicussion with the homeowners. :wink:
 
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  • #2,994
Borg said:
A woman who is apparently visiting her grandchildren felt that it was OK to pick the flowers next to our house as they wandered by yesterday and today. :mad:
Maybe she figured that they were natural flowers in the wild, or that you had so many you wouldn't mind if she took a few. :rolleyes:
 
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  • #2,995
Astronuc said:
Maybe she figured that were natural flowers in the wild, or that you had so many you wouldn't mind if she took a few. :rolleyes:
Yes, suddenly she was no longer in a neighborhood, but in a mountain meadow.
 
  • #2,996
Astronuc said:
Maybe she figured that were natural flowers in the wild, or that you had so many you wouldn't mind if she took a few. :rolleyes:
They were daffodils planted around a tree next to our yard. They took them all.
Evo said:
Yes, suddenly she was no longer in a neighborhood, but in a mountain meadow.
:smile: You're killing me, Evo. You obviously have some strong feelings about flowers.
 
  • #2,997
Borg said:
They were daffodils planted around a tree next to our yard. They took them all.
OK, that's way over the line.
 
  • #2,998
Borg said:
They were daffodils planted around a tree next to our yard. They took them all.
So what was their response? Did they offer to pay you? Daffodils bloom once a year. I say cut to the quick, break their kneecaps.

One year I decided to plant dafodils, tulips. and hyacinths. I spent days digging up and de-clodding a bed all around the front of the house. I added new soil, conditioners and bone meal, I paid a fortune for imported bulbs. I finally got it all planted and put a little fence border around them.

One day before they were about to come up, I went outside and the neighbor's mutt was loose again and had dug up and chewed every last bulb, well, except the last one he was still chewing. These people were just totally clueless. If they hadn't come up yet, what damage did he do?
 
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  • #2,999
Evo said:
So what was their response? Did they offer to pay you? Daffodils bloom once a year. I say cut to the quick, break their kneecaps.
I did too much of that in my younger days. I try to turn the other cheek now.
 
  • #3,000
Borg said:
They were daffodils planted around a tree next to our yard. They took them all.[
Hmmmm. :rolleyes:

:smile: You're killing me, Evo. You obviously have some strong feelings about flowers.
Just don't pick her peppers!
 

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