What Are Some Tips for Successful Gardening?

[Evo]

Which tomatoes are those? You'll need plant stakes and ties, even if they are 'bush' types.

 

[lisab]

Nice garden, peng! Amazing how many tomatoes four plants will produce.

 

[feathermoon]

I like the natural rock look, myself:

http://www.gardeneureka.com/-Newsletter/RockWall_2.jpg

But brick can be very nice too. I'm not sure where you live, but in North America these are common:

http://www.boralbestblock.com/resources/files/customImages/Photo_Album/Keystone_2/PICT0034-1rs.jpg

They can be pretty good, and don't always have to be as formal as in that pic.

I would love to do this natural rock retaining wall. I am in 'merica, live right by a small stream with lots of sandstone like those pictured. It'd just be a LOT of hauling. Might have to make it a long term goal (until I can find someone with a truck and a free afternoon anyway).

 

[Ouabache]

In our yard, we have two plants with similar leaves - garlic mustard and anise hyssop...

Garlic mustard is an invasive species and is one of the first greens. It takes a bit like mustard greens and faintly like garlic.
http://www.nps.gov/plants/ALIEN/fact/alpe1.htm

The mustard garlic (Allaria petiolata) is growing vigorously in our low hedgerows this time of year. It is interesting that one link in particular casts such a harsh picture (get out the organic vapor masks, soak it down with paraquat ..

It is an ecological threat in the U.S. But it does have a positive side too.
Did you know, like cattail, most parts of this plant are quite edible. Our European settlers in mid 1800s brought them over and planted as a spring vegetable. This was in an era where people were relying on their root cellars to provide them with vegetables all winter. As you point out, it is one of the first greens to come up in spring and was a welcome vegetable at the dinner table.

This video clip illustrates its uses far better than i can describe.

 

[Ouabache]

It's a fungus called peach leaf curl, my peach tree had it too. Unfortunately you can only treat it at the end of the growing season. My tree did fine the following year.

http://www.umass.edu/fruitadvisor/factsheets/leaf_curl_sheet.htm

(As your reference explains), in addition to autumn spraying, you may alternatively treat for fungus in spring before the buds swell. I sprayed my peach trees with Bordeaux mix (sans slaked lime), and hopefully get some nice peaches this summer

 

[turbo]

I can't wait to start tilling and hilling my garden this year. We've had a lot rain lately (including today) and I'm reluctant to drive my Kubota over the lawns and tear them up just to get a jump on the season. I hope my new MA neighbors come up for a visit soon, so I can have another couple of people handling that big PTO tiller to install it on the Kubota. Also hope they had good luck with heat-mats and grow-lights to get Rhody's ghost peppers going. That would be fun to compare what she can pull off down in Weymouth with what we get for quality and yield here in Maine.

 

[rhody]

PENG IS GARDENING!

BEWARE![/size]

You don't need no stinking bell peppers, those are for woosies...

If you dare, PM me and I will send you some ghost seeds, then we will see what the Pengwinator is made of.

The gauntlet has been thrown.

Rhody...

 

[rhody]

You don't need no stinking bell peppers, those are for woosies...

If you dare, PM me and I will send you some ghost seeds, then we will see what the Pengwinator is made of.

The gauntlet has been thrown.

Rhody...

OFFICIAL NOTICE !

Peng hasn't taken me up on the offer, so I will open it up to first timers, anyone want some ghost pepper seeds ?

Rhody...

 

[Astronuc]

OFFICIAL NOTICE !

Peng hasn't taken me up on the offer, so I will open it up to first timers, anyone want some ghost pepper seeds ?

Rhody...

I'm finally going to start mine, but you can send more, just in case.

It's finally warm enough - no danger of frosts/freezes - I hope.

Regarding mustard garlic (Allaria petiolata), we have some, but not too much. However, we found out that it is edible and actually tasty, so we eating it. It does taste with a hint of garlic flavor.

 

[turbo]

My Mass neighbor was up this weekend with her husband. The ghosts took longer to germinate and sprout than normal chilies, but apparently the germination rate was very good, and she has separated the seedlings (planted in 3s) into slightly larger pots. We are looking forward to comparing/contrasting the performance of the ghosts here in Maine and in coastal Mass. Extra seeds are in her freezer, but it sounds like we should have plenty to plant in our gardens.

My lawn is still too wet. I mowed yesterday, and that little Cub was ripping stuff up. I policed the lawn of sticks and stones with the UTV (Duke-mobile) and even being as careful as possible, I rutted the lawn and leach-field a bit. We have rain forecast for the rest of the week until Friday, so it will be a while before I can get the Kubota down there and till. I also promised an older neighbor a whole bucket-load of composted cow manure for his garden-spot, but I can't get to that pile until the ground dries out some. Also don't want to tear up that bit of lawn between his gravel drive and his garden. A 30 hp (nominal) diesel tractor can get a lot of stuff done pretty fast, but its weight can also complicate stuff for land-owners.

 

[feathermoon]

Ghost pepper seeds?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7FNNFjMHaI&feature=related

I'm in!

 

[turbo]

Ghost pepper seeds?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7FNNFjMHaI&feature=related

I'm in!

Ghost peppers are quite nice. Reasonably hot, but not real snarly,with a sweet rich taste. If Amy and I get good crops this year, we may be able to set aside a bunch of seeds, so I can send you some. We'll have to see. Rhody has been quite generous, and I'll be happy to pay it ahead forward if we can get lots of seeds.

 

[rhody]

Ghost pepper seeds?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7FNNFjMHaI&feature=related

I'm in!

PM me.

Rhody ghost pepper...

 

[feathermoon]

Cool guys. I'll PM Rhody and see; else check back later in the year!

Maybe we should start a PF seed bank. :p

Speaking of, do you all plant heirloom, hybrid, gm, doesn't matter mainly? Sorry if the topic has been covered in the near 200 pages of topic. Personally I plan to order heirloom seeds this year because my friend keeps pestering me about not feeding the monsanto-machine.

 

[Evo]

Cool guys. I'll PM Rhody and see; else check back later in the year!

Maybe we should start a PF seed bank. :p

Speaking of, do you all plant heirloom, hybrid, gm, doesn't matter mainly? Sorry if the topic has been covered in the near 200 pages of topic. Personally I plan to order heirloom seeds this year because my friend keeps pestering me about not feeding the monsanto-machine.

The seeds of newer varieties that you buy at the store or order from a seed catalog are naturally hybridized to develop resistance to disease, have less seeds, more flesh, larger size... they are not genetically modified.

But heirloom tomatoes can be fun for different colors, odd shapes, etc... Let us know how they turn out!

Oh, and heirloom tomatoes are also hybrids. The original tomato was the size of a berry.

 

[dlgoff]

The seeds of newer varieties that you buy at the store or order from a seed catalog are naturally hybridized to develop resistance to disease, have less seeds, more flesh, larger size... they are not genetically modified.

But heirloom tomatoes can be fun for different colors, odd shapes, etc... Let us know how they turn out!

Oh, and heirloom tomatoes are also hybrids. The original tomato was the size of a berry.

Do you know what verity of tomato plants who's vines are good for climbing trellises (say like 8 to 10 feet)?

 

[Evo]

Do you know what verity of tomato plants who's vines are good for climbing trellises (say like 8 to 10 feet)?

Just off the top of my head grape tomatoes are great climbers. I grew one last year, it quickly outgrew it's 6 foot trellis and I had to start creating string "webs" to tie it to.

Others I have let grow along the ground where I had the room. I'll look them up.

 

[dlgoff]

Just off the top of my head grape tomatoes are great climbers. I grew one last year, it quickly outgrew it's 6 foot trellis and I had to start creating string "webs" to tie it to.

Others I have let grow along the ground where I had the room. I'll look them up.

Thanks Evo. So far my Big Boy plants are moving up my new trellis but I don't expect them to make it all the way up.

Speaking of vines, I set out three different verities of Blue Berries today and one was a vine. They say it gets up to 8 feet tall and spreads to a 10 foot width. The other two verities tags said up to 10 feet tall; one spreading to 8 feet the other spreading to 5 feet.

 

[turbo]

One of my favorite vining tomatoes is the Moskvich. It tends to fruit early, and the tomatoes are usually quite firm and tasty. We had a crappy growing season last summer, so they didn't do that well, but they will perform well when they have have a 4-ft tall cattle-panel "fence" to climb on. Just check them every few days and tie them to the fence with some scraps of soft cloth when they stray. They will be fine.

I have started concentrating on the Moskvich tomatoes for salads, etc, and the Marianas (Roma variant) for sauces. Last summer, we got hit with late blight, so I was picking the sauce tomatoes and making marinara like crazy to stock the freezers. I hate to pay the agri-giants when I can make make much better foods at home and freeze them.

 

[HallsofIvy]

By the way, the word you want is "varieties" not "verities". If you want to discuss the "verities" go to the philosophy section!

 

[dlgoff]

By the way, the word you want is "varieties" not "verities". If you want to discuss the "verities" go to the philosophy section!

 

[Borek]

So, we ate first fresh peppers today. Keeping them in pots on the window sill wasn't completely off.

 

[Ouabache]

By the way, the word you want is "varieties" ...

In academia (aggie college) they are all called cultivars. They said the old, less sophisticated,
term is variety. I suppose cultivar's etymology came from cultivated-variety.

 

[Astronuc]

Thomas Jefferson was quite a gardener and plant/seed collector. He had quite a garden at his estate, Monticello.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/20...ferson-s-garden-a-thing-of-beauty-and-science

 

[Evo]

First squirrel devastation yesterday. Found a large branch broken off my jalepeno that was laden with baby peppers. Also I am growing giant picotee begonias from bulbs, and yesterday I noticed that the soil in one pot seemed smoother than I had left it, so I poked my finger where the bulb was and nothing. The squirrel not only stole the bulb, but he smoothed and tamped down the dirt afterward. That bulb cost $3.50. I now have metal grates over all of my bulb pots.

 

[Andre]

Talking about seeds in the catalogues, you may find the term "F1 Hybrid" for less seed that's way more expensive. Trust me, go for it. You should be rewarded with big strong plants (provided of course that you do the rest right).

 

[Ouabache]

The seeds of newer varieties that you buy at the store or order from a seed catalog are naturally hybridized to develop resistance to disease, have less seeds, more flesh, larger size... they are not genetically modified.

Oh, and heirloom tomatoes are also hybrids. The original tomato was the size of a berry.

Talking about seeds in the catalogues, you may find the term "F1 Hybrid" for less seed that's way more expensive. Trust me, go for it. You should be rewarded with big strong plants (provided of course that you do the rest right).

You're right about tomato the size of a berry. When tomatoes were first introduced to Europe from the Americas, people in England planted them in their flower gardens as ornamentals, producing colorful berries and many there believed they were poisonous, being related (same family) to deadly nightshade Atropa belladonna.

About seeds, let's remind folks there are high quality open pollinated public domain, true bred seed for our home garden. They are purposely developed for high quality produce AND with the idea that you may collect and plant their seeds to obtain plants with the very same characteristics as their parent plants. There are many sources of open pollinated true bred seed (a web search will reveal). One pioneer http://www.seedsofchange.com/enewsletter/issue_63/farmer_interview_three.aspx, has devoted 30+ years producing high quality true breeding cultivars. He has a Ph.D. in molecular biology, founding companies http://peaceseedslive.blogspot.com/2011/12/peace-seeds-list-2012.html and Seeds of Change. He was http://www.fedcoseeds.com/seeds/breeder_Kapuler.htm by FedCo seed company up there in Maine (like a modern day Luther Burbank). Here is an article he penned, describing his perspective for producing garden seeds.

 

[turbo]

FedCo is a great company. They have a lot of seeds for plants that breed true, good varieties of hard-neck garlic, fruit-tree seedlings, etc. They get much of their stock from local organic farmers/gardeners, so they are giving back to the farming community. Their annual seedling sale is a community event. The parking lot fills up pretty fast, and people end up parking on the road-side and walking back maybe 1/4 mile to get their plants.

A couple of years back, one of my neighbors went there with me because I can't tolerate the fragrances in crowds and he bought 4 blueberry plants for me. He was grinning when he got back to the vehicle, because one of the plants was a variety called "Duke", and he loves my dog.

 

[Ouabache]

Glad to hear there are local outfits selling plants that breed true. Most people used to save their seeds so they could plant them in subsequent years. It is nice to know there are companies still supporting this type of gardening. How are your blueberry plants doing?

FedCo is a great company. They have a lot of seeds for plants that breed true, good varieties of hard-neck garlic, fruit-tree seedlings, etc. They get much of their stock from local organic farmers/gardeners, so they are giving back to the farming community. Their annual seedling sale is a community event..

 

[dlgoff]

I was talking to the neighbor the other day about saving seeds. I don't remember her saying what type of plant, but her father-in-law planted 35 year old seeds he had sealed in a mason jar that germinated. Some of the seeds I've saved don't seem to do well. Like my 1980s honeydew melon seeds.