What Are Some Tips for Successful Gardening?

[Evo]

Here are my squirrels (taken from my bedroom window). There are nine of them. This picture is from a couple of weeks ago.

I started to put their food out on the rocks when I got home today and there was not a squirrel in sight. Suddenly the trees came alive and the thundering of tiny feet racing through the thick mat of dried leaves at the bottom of the ravine became deafening. Then tiny gray bodies started popping up all over the rocks. They didn't mind that my dog, a.k.a. the "Fruit Bat" was with me. These were squirrels on a mission and nothing was stopping them.

 

[baywax]

Here are my squirrels (taken from my bedroom window). There are nine of them. This picture is from a couple of weeks ago.

I started to put their food out on the rocks when I got home today and there was not a squirrel in sight. Suddenly the trees came alive and the thundering of tiny feet racing through the thick mat of dried leaves at the bottom of the ravine became deafening. Then tiny gray bodies started popping up all over the rocks. They didn't mind that my dog, a.k.a. the "Fruit Bat" was with me. These were squirrels on a mission and nothing was stopping them.

Wow that is so cool... or disturbing... don't know which.

I've never seen that many squirrels in one spot like that, except maybe in Stanley Park.

They are aggressive though, with sharp teeth! My cat will chase them but keeps his distance. They don't really mind that.

The gene pool among them here is more varied... black ones, grey and brown.

 

[turbo]

Today, the temp is above normal for this time of year, but yesterday was just gorgeous - sunny and ~45 deg F most of the afternoon, so I spent the afternoon pruning my apple trees. It's amazing how many vertical suckers the trees can throw off in a single year. They leaf out and shade the more productive branches while stealing nutrients from the fruit-bearing branches, so off they go! Hopefully, next spring is a little warmer and drier than last, so the blossoms get better-pollinated.

 

[baywax]

Hopefully, next spring is a little warmer and drier than last, so the blossoms get better-pollinated.

Any news on the bee colony crisis?

 

[turbo]

Any news on the bee colony crisis?

I had a few (VERY few) honeybees show up toward the end of the summer, but none in the cold, wet spring when my apple trees needed to be pollinated. Small bees (solitary mason bees) and wasps did some of the pollinating, though the bulk of that fell to the bumble bees.

There are lots of hollowed-out trees on properties near here, and I have hopes that a wild honeybee population will establish itself, for the sake of my trees and garden.

No definitive word on CCD, but I suspect that it is a man-made problem. Lots of corn now has been genetically modified to produce the toxin secreted by bacillus thuringiensis. The absolute lack of monarch butterflies this year and the lack of honeybees may be attributable to the use of such strains of corn. Bees have been found to have problems in the gut, when autopsied, and that's exactly where BT acts on insects. It paralyzes the gut and renders them unable to eat and unable to process the food already eaten.

 

[baywax]

I had a few (VERY few) honeybees show up toward the end of the summer, but none in the cold, wet spring when my apple trees needed to be pollinated. Small bees (solitary mason bees) and wasps did some of the pollinating, though the bulk of that fell to the bumble bees.

There are lots of hollowed-out trees on properties near here, and I have hopes that a wild honeybee population will establish itself, for the sake of my trees and garden.

No definitive word on CCD, but I suspect that it is a man-made problem. Lots of corn now has been genetically modified to produce the toxin secreted by bacillus thuringiensis. The absolute lack of monarch butterflies this year and the lack of honeybees may be attributable to the use of such strains of corn. Bees have been found to have problems in the gut, when autopsied, and that's exactly where BT acts on insects. It paralyzes the gut and renders them unable to eat and unable to process the food already eaten.

Perhaps we need to get the Monsanto execs running around in the fields naked, pollinating our crops for us.

 

[Evo]

It's snowing outside, but it's 36F, so it's not sticking to the wet ground, at least it's nice to watch.

 

[turbo]

It's currently 41 deg and sunny and the snow from yesterday is slowly melting. I don't mind this part of winter so much. When northeasters dump 12-18" of snow on us at a time, that is another thing entirely.

 

[baywax]

Its not snowing below 1500 ft here (lots of mountains). But we've had two large meteors make it to the ground out in Western Canada. That makes them meteorites. Everyone is running around looking for their remains. Well, not everyone!

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/video/128

 

[Borek]

It was white here, but temperature get up to about 7 deg C yesterday, so all snow is gone now.

 

[Math Jeans]

Its not snowing below 1500 ft here (lots of mountains). But we've had two large meteors make it to the ground out in Western Canada. That makes them meteorites. Everyone is running around looking for their remains. Well, not everyone!

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/video/128

Really? I actually saw one hit the ground here in Phoenix last night.

It was pretty much a streak of light that hit a mountain (I saw it while in the car on my way home from seeing a movie).

 

[Moonbear]

Its not snowing below 1500 ft here (lots of mountains). But we've had two large meteors make it to the ground out in Western Canada. That makes them meteorites. Everyone is running around looking for their remains. Well, not everyone!

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/video/128

Maybe it's the lost NASA toolkit.

 

[turbo]

Maybe it's the lost NASA toolkit.

If NASA has developed canvas tool-bags and grease-guns that don't burn up on re-entry, we should think about cutting their manned-mission budgets.

 

[turbo]

I would love to have a nickel-iron meteorite plow into my garden (spare the garlic bed, please)! I'd give it to Jerry Rados and have him make me a fantastic patterned damascus hunting knife. He could keep the remainder and make and sell other knives at ridiculous prices.

 

[baywax]

Really? I actually saw one hit the ground here in Phoenix last night.

It was pretty much a streak of light that hit a mountain (I saw it while in the car on my way home from seeing a movie).

You might want to look for it yourself... could be up to $10,000 in it for you to find it.

 

[baywax]

Maybe it's the lost NASA toolkit.

Some backyard astronomer in Ontario has tracked the orbit of the tool kit.
He had a nice telescope to find it with. NASA said that he had actually found it and were using his coordinates to track it themselves...

The guy said it will be re-entering in Spring 2009.

 

[thinkgreen95]

What are some types of decaying plant leachants? (maybe nitrates, phosphates, ammonium, ammonium nitrate, potassium, nitrites) Just wondering. I can't seem to find it anywhere.

 

[Evo]

I can't take winter anymore, I want spring. I want to open the windows and smell fresh air.

I want to start my garden.

 

[turbo]

I can't take winter anymore, I want spring. I want to open the windows and smell fresh air.

I want to start my garden.

My wife and I are looking at seed catalogs and planning our garden for this summer. It will be another 3 months before we can think of planting, though. Blah!

 

[hypatia]

I started some chives and Sweet pea seeds in my window today. I needed a bit of hope that spring will come.

 

[Ouabache]

On the berry side, I've been harvesting raspberries and ...

... I find Japanese beetles eating the sunflower leaves rather than the vegetable leaves. They like these giant sunflowers, leaves of fruit trees, and leaves of our raspberry bushes.

How cold hardy are your raspberries? My raspberry fruit-bearing-canes, die back without fruiting 4 years out of 5. Do you know of any cold tolerant varieties? I've heard of the Canadian cultivar 'Boyne', but I also hear they are very susceptible to Fire Blight (Bacillus amylovorus), so if there are apple trees nearby, that could be a problem.. I'm in planting-zone 5b, but willing to try varieties for zone 4.

 

[ZapperZ]

My amaryllis have gone flowering crazy this past few weeks. All 3 of them have been putting out at least 2 flowering shoots each, with the daddy of all of them putting out FOUR flowering shoots this year, which is a record. I'm already planning on separating each one of them out of their pots because many smaller bulbs have grown alongside the major one. They are just multiplying way too fast.

Anyhow, this is the front window where they all live. You see all 3 amaryllis plants flowering, with the daddy already done with 2 of them already about to start on the other two. My orchids are also about to bloom. If you notice just in front of the two amaryllis by the window, there's a white (freckles) one and a purple one. This was taken about 2 weeks ago, and Purple has opened up a couple more flowers. I'll take a picture of Purple when she's in full bloom, which will be for another 3 or 4 weeks. The bloom usually lasts almost a month, and from what I've seen, this is going to be a BIG one.

Closeup at the Daddy amaryllis.

This Daddy has spawned 8 separate bulbs, 2 of them are the other two you see flowering in the picture. The rest have been given away to good homes.

Zz.

 

[Astronuc]

It looks like the amaryllis have a happy home.

We have our plants indoors waiting for the freezing weather to be over. It was 24F this morning, and now it's 34F and supposed to go down to 20 overnight. This seems to have been a cooler spring than the last several.

 

[turbo]

We have planted things that are cold-hardy. I planted my garlic last winter, and I planted the scallion-sets on Friday. We ripped out some perennial herbs that we just never seemed to use much, and planted stuff that we know that we'll use - spinach, lettuce, and a mix of greens. They're in what used to be a little herb garden bordering the foundation, so the ground gets warm there early and we ought to start getting baby spinach in a few weeks and nice leaf-lettuce soon after.

 

[Evo]

We're having a colder than normal spring also. The stores have been advertsing their spring annuals for a month now and they're all dead due to several really hard freezes. The nurseries are suffering, no business.

I can't wait for spring to get here! I'm going to try spring onions again when it gets warm enough.

 

[turbo]

We're having a colder than normal spring also. The stores have been advertsing their spring annuals for a month now and they're all dead due to several really hard freezes. The nurseries are suffering, no business.

I can't wait for spring to get here! I'm going to try spring onions again when it gets warm enough.

Onions are fine, now. Mulch lightly with some straw and they'll be fine, even with some frosts. The bulbs have stored energy and if the tips of the onion-tops get frost-damaged, they will still continue to grow. We cut back scallions (bunching onions) all year long as needed and then either trim the tops close to the ground before winter, or dig up the bulbs, dry them and store them in a cold place until spring. We'll be getting hard frosts off and on until the middle or end of May, and the garlic and onions will be fine. Now is also a fine time to plant Swiss chard and spinach. They can get tough in hot weather, but they are nice and tender when grown in colder conditions.

 

[Dadface]

We have planted things that are cold-hardy. I planted my garlic last winter, and I planted the scallion-sets on Friday. We ripped out some perennial herbs that we just never seemed to use much, and planted stuff that we know that we'll use - spinach, lettuce, and a mix of greens. They're in what used to be a little herb garden bordering the foundation, so the ground gets warm there early and we ought to start getting baby spinach in a few weeks and nice leaf-lettuce soon after.

I have never been successful with scallions(I am assuming they are spring onions),I have tried to grow them from seed but only a few come up.I wasn't aware that you could get them in sets so I shall now look out for them.Perpetual spinach is nice ,its a cut and come again crop.If nobody has tried them may I recommend curly kale and swiss chard.

 

[turbo]

I started my scallions (Johnny's Selected Seeds calls them bunching onions) from seeds the year before last and they came up just fine. I needed to re-space some rows and beds last fall, so I dug up the bulbs, dried them and re-planted them as sets a few days ago on the end of a row of garlic. Once you have a good bed of scallions established, they're good for years.

Spinach and Swiss chard are wonderful - keep cutting and they just keep coming. Another prolific green for salads is Black Seeded Simpson leaf lettuce - cut them as needed, and they keep growing. A 10" wide row 6' long is too much for two people to keep up with, and we like salads.

 

[Evo]

Onions are fine, now. Mulch lightly with some straw and they'll be fine, even with some frosts. The bulbs have stored energy and if the tips of the onion-tops get frost-damaged, they will still continue to grow. We cut back scallions (bunching onions) all year long as needed and then either trim the tops close to the ground before winter, or dig up the bulbs, dry them and store them in a cold place until spring. We'll be getting hard frosts off and on until the middle or end of May, and the garlic and onions will be fine. Now is also a fine time to plant Swiss chard and spinach. They can get tough in hot weather, but they are nice and tender when grown in colder conditions.

These are seeds, too cold to germinate right now. Last year they all came up, then withered and died.

 

[turbo]

These are seeds, too cold to germinate right now. Last year they all came up, then withered and died.

Do you have a sunny window? You could get a flat of those little rascals sprouted and move them outside. My neighbor built a little mini-greenhouse last fall using some aluminum-framed windows and an old glass storm door, and he's starting our leeks in there from seed. When they're big enough, I'll set those in the ground, too.

 

[physics girl phd]

We unfortunately don't have a plot of land (we live in an eighth floor apartment downtown to accommodate P's wheelchair, largely for better-maintained sidewalks and accessible activities like arts festivals and concerts).. but joyfully one of my current students is managing an organic farm this summer and starting to organize to sell farm shares (info to come in the next week or so). I'm probably going to buy at least some form of share (although probably not a full share, since I'm really the only one in the family with consistent veggie-love). She keeps updating me on HER plantings, and today she affirmed my hope that she is planning to transport her produce downtown for local pickup... Huzzah!

 

[turbo]

We unfortunately don't have a plot of land (we live in an eighth floor apartment downtown to accommodate P's wheelchair, largely for better-maintained sidewalks and accessible activities like arts festivals and concerts).. but joyfully one of my current students is managing an organic farm this summer and starting to organize to sell farm shares (info to come in the next week or so). I'm probably going to buy at least some form of share (although probably not a full share, since I'm really the only one in the family with consistent veggie-love). She keeps updating me on HER plantings, and today she affirmed my hope that she is planning to transport her produce downtown for local pickup... Huzzah!

Good for you! A harp-player in a blues band that I have known for years had a back-to-the-earth girlfriend for years that gardened all summer and waited tables all winter to make ends meet. A few years back, she had saved up enough money for a tractor and 25 acres of land. Now she sells "shares" so people give her some money up-front when she needs $$$ for seeds, fuel, compost, etc, and they reap their rewards when they pick up boxes of vegetables all summer. Bobbi is a sweetheart, and I hope she can make a good go of this - certainly she's not afraid to work hard enough to make her way.

 

[Moonbear]

I can't wait to start gardening at my new house. I don't expect to get a lot to grow this year though. I will probably just start with the landscaping this year, mostly because I have several friends already offering me bulbs and plants that need to be thinned in their gardens (one has even marked the locations of a bunch of daffodils with my name on tags so she can tell me which colors they are when the blooms are gone). I'm going to need to focus on deer-resistant plants though.

There currently is no garden at all, and the soil looks very poor and sandy in the spot that I've already eyed up as the most likely to get sun for the longest time during the day. I'm going to need to do a lot of supplementing, but sandy soil isn't terrible to start with since it'll drain well. Deer-proofing will be a challenge, so I'm not sure I can tackle that in year one. I might just plant some tomatoes closer to the house...ooh, or maybe I'll do an herb garden instead of a flower garden on one side of the house.

Okay, this is the real reason I probably won't do a lot of gardening this first year...I need to figure out what I want to do first.

 

[ViewsofMars]

I don't know how many PFer's garden, but I have done gardening ever since I could walk.

Me too! My mother was my inspiration. Right now, my garden is in full bloom. The days are sunny, the roses are fragrant, the orange poppies dance with the breeze, and all the flowers bursting with color are displayed throughout my house. The vegetable garden has been planted though there isn't anything to pick. The backyard is full of doves and hummingbirds, and the bees have recently appeared. I could go on and on . . . I just love it!

 

[Ouabache]

As the weather warms, it feels like time to put in some spring vegetables.
I planted sugar snap peas 10 days ago, and they are just now popping up. I raised a nice sturdy wire fence, so they will have something to grab ahold of. The rhubarb is already forming rosettes but no sign of asparagus yet.

I see you talking about scallions. I planted onion sets in a pot inside a few weeks ago and as they grow I snip off the green tops for stir fry.

Today I planted spring greens (mustard, collards, , mesclun, arugala, & turnip). With all those nice tender spring greens, not sure how i will keep out the deer, chucks & coons. I will probably start off with 'Liquid Fence' (contains rotten eggs, garlic, surfactant), and see if that deters them.

 

[Astronuc]

The garlic has sprouted and stalks/leaves are about 6 inches tall. It looks like the cloves survived the winter.

 

[Evo]

The garlic has sprouted and stalks/leaves are about 6 inches tall. It looks like the cloves survived the winter.

Whew, for a second there I saw the word "cloves" and my heart stopped. Ok, garlic cloves.

 

[turbo]

I will have to grow some cloves. Fail-safe protection against the Evo-tooth-fairies!

 

[turbo]

My garlic is doing well and it looks like I got nearly a 100% sprout rate - perhaps entirely 100% if some sprouts are still hunting up through the straw mulch. My scallions aren't up yet, but the ground is still pretty cold and though I planted the sets a week or so ago, they need to have time to acclimate.

 

[turbo]

I am in the final negotiations to purchase a Kubota L2800 30-hp diesel tractor with LA463 loader. My wife and I want to expand our main garden, establish a new asparagus bed, and build some mini vegetable-beds and flower gardens. First order of business is to extend the lawn and clear up the blight of gravel and huge rocks that surround the nice pond in our back-yard and make that attractive.

 

[Astronuc]

I am in the final negotiations to purchase a Kubota L2800 30-hp diesel tractor with LA463 loader. My wife and I want to expand our main garden, establish a new asparagus bed, and build some mini vegetable-beds and flower gardens. First order of business is to extend the lawn and clear up the blight of gravel and huge rocks that surround the nice pond in our back-yard and make that attractive.

Nice! You could lease it out.

 

[turbo]

Nice! You could lease it out.

Let me know what kind of property you want, and I'll hook you up. I'll buy a box-blade, bush-hog, and a heavy tiller for the tractor if I have someone who wants to sign a lease agreement. I'm getting an L-series tractor because they are relatively compact, but are VERY sturdy, both critical requirements of landscapers. 30 hp may not sound like much, but when that is provided by a high-torque diesel engine, and coupled to a well-designed transmission/drive system, it's pretty amazing what 30 hp can do.

 

[lisab]

A few years ago, we tried planting "Eco Turf," which is a lawn substitute. It was supposed to be like a natural meadow with wild flowers that is drought tolerant, never needs mowing or fertilizing, saves water, gives back rubs, etc, etc. It turned out to be a weed yard, full of clover and yarrow .

So we had it pulled up (yes we hired professionals to do that part...I don't have patience for clover!). It's going to be a veggie garden. Not the traditional kind, with straight rows, but non-traditional.

Here's the starting point:

After a few hours it looked like:

And a few more hours:

Finally, we used the last of the bricks that were recycled from another project. Which leaves us here, needing more bricks:

Those kind of bricks are widely available so it won't be hard finding more.

My fingers are raw and sore, despite using gloves!

 

[Moonbear]

Very nice...that'll be a very pretty garden! What are you planning on planting?

 

[lisab]

Very nice...that'll be a very pretty garden! What are you planning on planting?

Good question...I'm thinking, at a minimum: potatoes, carrots, some sort of leafy veggie like spinach or lettuce, tomatoes, peas or beans...the obligatory zucchini I suppose. Which means I'll be sending out squash to every one I know, including PFers in the postcard club (you knew there was a little voice in your head saying "don't do it!", now didn't you?!? bwahaha!). Herbs, of course

Am I missing anything? (Turbo, I know you'll say peppers...don't know that this area is hot enough!)

 

[Ouabache]

It's going to be a veggie garden. Not the traditional kind, with straight rows, but non-traditional.
My fingers are raw and sore, despite using gloves!

Nice job on your garden setup! From the camera angle, it looks like a terraced hillscape.
Your choice of vegetables should grow well terraced liked that (akin to raised beds).

 

[turbo]

Am I missing anything? (Turbo, I know you'll say peppers...don't know that this area is hot enough!)

Peppers are wonderful, and the plants are compact and productive. I live in central Maine, and have pretty good luck with chilies and bell peppers. When frost was approaching last fall, I cleaned out the chilies, and ended up giving away two large coolers full of jalapenos, Hungarian wax chilies, cayenne, etc - probably 20-30 gallons of them. If I can grow bumper crops of chilies, it's likely that about anywhere in the continental US can do so. Chilies love sun and heat, and the sheltered nature of your garden area ought to get the temperatures up there nicely.

 

[Andre]

Looks nice Lisa, but reference Turbo's sun, wasn't your garden on the northside? So perhaps think of shady veggies as well.

 

[lisab]

Woo-hoo, making progress...

 

[Andre]

Nice looking Lisa