What Are Some Tips for Successful Gardening?

[turbo]

Perhaps a squirrel emulation of a Klein bottle?

 

[Evo]

I don't think it's stuck. Squirrels are pretty smart critters.

Did you notice if it unstuck itself, or did it go running off with its tail aournd its waist?

This was the second day, no change.

 

[turbo]

At our last place, there was a grey squirrel that was missing his left front foot and his right hind foot, probably from sleeping next to a nice warm fan/radiator at night. The whole lot was covered in white oaks and he built and maintained a large nest near our front stairs. We called him "stumpy" (don't know why...) but that little rascal was as tenacious as can be, and held his own against other greys.

 

[lisab]

This was the second day, no change.

Very strange! In your pic, it seems to be eating. Can it climb and walk easily?

 

[Evo]

Very strange! In your pic, it seems to be eating. Can it climb and walk easily?

He's a bit awkward, I didn't see him in the treee, but I would imagine with his tail in that position, he might not have as much balance. I'm just trying to imagine how that could have happened.

 

[Astronuc]

He's a bit awkward, I didn't see him in the treee, but I would imagine with his tail in that position, he might not have as much balance. I'm just trying to imagine how that could have happened.

The tail has to work behind the squirrel going side to side to balance.

I wonder if he had an encounter with notagoshawk?

He's definitely a candidate for notagoshawk food.

 

[lisab]

The tail has to work behind the squirrel going side to side to balance.

I wonder if he had an encounter with notagoshawk?

He's definitely a candidate for notagoshawk food.

I think it's notarealsquirrel.

 

[Astronuc]

I think it's notarealsquirrel.

Certainly notanormalsquirrel.

 

[baywax]

For a couple of days. Actually we had warm weather for about 2-3 weeks - and a few days actually got up into the low 90's F. But it certainly was no where near as hot as it has been most summers during the last decade - when out backyard temps would routinely get into the 100's F for a week or two straight.

That's odd. Although Toronto (eastern Canada) really didn't warm up until toward the end of summer. Like I said, we (Western Canada) had 30 C - 40 C heat that lasted weeks on end. No one felt the need to go anywhere for summer since it was like the tropics at home. We have several homes sporting palm trees now ($10,000 a pop) and we're slowly getting Californicated all to H E double toothpicks.

Evo... the split tail, as has been suggested, may be a result of an attempted snacking by a bird of prey or someone just missed grabbing the poor little guy. At least he/she's got a nice stole for the coming winter.

We've got the 2010 Winter Olympics here this year and I hear there's going to be rain instead of snow... wouldn't be the first time. Last year was the year for snow.

 

[Astronuc]

Some squirrel experts indicated that it's probably a birth defect. Probably an indication of the chemicals in the local environment.

Gardening season is officially over - we have snow. The temps are about 15-20F below normal, and we shouldn't see this weather until the first or second week of December. Well - while Kenya and Australia have record drought - we have cold weather and lots of precipitation.

 

[turbo]

Cold for us too, Astro, but the last two winters started this way only to end up warmer than normal overall, with record snowfalls. Tomorrow, I'm going to harvest some more leeks and make up a nice soup for my wife to take to her mother's place in the afternoon. "French soup" (leeks, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, and rice, primarily) is a nice winter treat, and her mother liked the last batch. Easy meal to heat and serve.

 

[Moonbear]

Snow? Already? Brrrrrrr! We have unseasonably cold temps too, but it's still not terribly cold. It would be better if it wasn't raining though. The wet weather is what makes it feel miserably cold. I was afraid of this after such a cool summer, but was hoping that temps would be more normalized instead, and we'd have a warmer winter.

The garden is indeed, dead and buried. A couple weekends ago, I got in my fall bulbs, which is when I plucked the few tiny peppers off my pepper plants (all of them together, including the jalapenos, was enough to make one serving of peppers and onions to go with some Italian sausage) and added all the plants to the forming compost heap. If the deer hadn't munched everything down earlier in the season, I had some chance of a decent garden. So, next year it will all be fenced in, complete with a chicken wire roof, to keep the deer out.

 

[Astronuc]

My habs have several peppers just starting to bear lots of peppers - the fruit just set. I'm going to try and grow them indoors in pots. I also rescued 3 jalapeño plants which are still producing.

I'll probably take them to work, put them in the south facing window and see how long they survive. If I leave them in the living room, the cats will probably chomp on them.

 

[Ms Music]

I'll probably take them to work, put them in the south facing window and see how long they survive.

Best of luck! I have had a cherry tomato at work all summer. I just polinated a few dozen flowers today, and snacked on several tomatoes. I am expecting it to last a few more months at least.

 

[turbo]

I'll have to watch Duke next summer. He has taken a really strong liking to tomatoes, and even though the garden is pretty much put to bed, he managed to find some green ones that we hadn't transferred to the compost pile. He loves them!

 

[Astronuc]

My habaneros are doing rather poorly, but there are five small peppers slowly ripening. The plants didn't like being yanked out of the ground and brought in doors - and the leaves are wilting.

On the other hand, my three jalapeño plants seem to be doing well.

Apparently stressed plants produce very hot fruit, so I'm expecting the peppers on my plants to be roaring fire!

 

[Equate]

My habaneros are doing rather poorly, but there are five small peppers slowly ripening. The plants didn't like being yanked out of the ground and brought in doors - and the leaves are wilting.

What he heck were you thinking?

You can't yank annuals out of the ground, it's a death sentence.

Poor peppers...

 

[NeoDevin]

You can't yank annuals out of the ground, it's a death sentence.

Frost is a death sentence, yanking them out of the ground is just torture.

 

[lisab]

Frost is a death sentence, yanking them out of the ground is just torture.

We shouldn't advocate pepper torture here.

It's not in the rules, specifically, but certainly it's in the spirit of the rules.

 

[NeoDevin]

We shouldn't advocate pepper torture here.

What if they're terrorist peppers; then is it alright?

 

[lisab]

What if they're terrorist peppers; then is it alright?

Absolutely not, despite what Dick Cheney says!

 

[Equate]

All peppers belong in Guantanamo.

 

[NeoDevin]

Absolutely not, despite what Dick Cheney says!

But it's un-American to not support the torture of peppers!

 

[lisab]

But it's un-American to not support the torture of peppers!

Many of the peppers accused of being terrorists have been turned in by their fellow peppers, as they try to settle disputes that go back many growing seasons. We should not get involved in pepper-on-pepper violence, if we want to convince future peppers that they should grow big and fat and hot...so we can eat them.

 

[Equate]

But it's un-American to not support the torture of peppers!

So what are you suggesting? Waterboarding them?

I think peppers should be banned. They ran their course.

 

[NeoDevin]

So what are you suggesting? Waterboarding them?

Waterboarding peppers is not torture, it is "enhanced interrogation".

 

[NeoDevin]

Many of the peppers accused of being terrorists have been turned in by their fellow peppers, as they try to settle disputes that go back many growing seasons. We should not get involved in pepper-on-pepper violence, if we want to convince future peppers that they should grow big and fat and hot...so we can eat them.

We can persuade them to grow big and fat and hot using waterboarding.

 

[lisab]

We can persuade them to grow big and fat and hot using waterboarding.

What if it makes them soggy? Who wants soggy, watery peppers? You might as well eat...well...Bell peppers.

 

[NeoDevin]

What if it makes them soggy? Who wants soggy, watery peppers? You might as well eat...well...Bell peppers.

Ok then, we can coerce them into revealing the locations of the fattest, hottest peppers.

 

[lisab]

Ok then, we can coerce them into revealing the locations of the fattest, hottest peppers.

Ahahaha...nice.

 

[Equate]

I have come to take a new liking to peppers - in a way. Just opened a jar of them to get re-acquainted, and alas, I feel quite comfortable eating them again.

They are crunchy!

My plan is to eat every last one of them. Wipe 'em out. Eradication.
PS My bowels might not agree though...

 

[lisab]

I have come to take a new liking to peppers - in a way. Just opened a jar of them to get re-acquainted, and alas, I feel quite comfortable eating them again.

They are crunchy!

My plan is to eat every last one of them. Wipe 'em out. Eradication.



PS My bowels might not agree though...

Peppers are yummy .

 

[Equate]

Someone should open a "Pepper" thread.

So much potential...

 

[NeoDevin]

I'm pretty sure we had one, once upon a time.

 

[Astronuc]

We shouldn't advocate pepper torture here.

It's not in the rules, specifically, but certainly it's in the spirit of the rules.

I didn't torture them - I just over-stressed them.

The habs have pretty much lost all there leaves. The definitely did not like change in environment. I can't tell if it was due to being dug out of the ground, or brought in doors. The jalapeños had the same experience, but they seem to be doing just fine.

Guantanamo would be a great environment for peppers and tomatoes.

 

[Astronuc]

Someone should open a "Pepper" thread.

So much potential...

See - Turbo-1's HOT STUFF

 

[Borek]

We shouldn't advocate pepper torture here.

You mean torturing peppers, or torturing with peppers?

 

[turbo]

Mother Nature "waterboarded" my chilies relentlessly during May, June, and July. Those that did not die were hopelessly stunted, and I only got a few jalapeno and cayenne peppers - no habaneros. I hope we have a real summer next year.

 

[Astronuc]

Mother Nature "waterboarded" my chilies relentlessly during May, June, and July. Those that did not die were hopelessly stunted, and I only got a few jalapeno and cayenne peppers - no habaneros. I hope we have a real summer next year.

Similar story in my backyard. It was too wet and cool. The habs didn't start producing until a few weeks ago. Right now there were a lot of hab buds starting to fruit, so I was hoping to save them inside. Well - the habs went into deep shock.

The jalapeños on the other hand did well after coming inside. I think next year, I need a mobile greenhouse to cover the habs, and I should plant them in a different location.

 

[turbo]

The jalapeños on the other hand did well after coming inside. I think next year, I need a mobile greenhouse to cover the habs, and I should plant them in a different location.

Good idea! I should start looking around for something transparent to put over them after they are transplanted into the garden. Habaneros love heat, and I don't want to have another year without a crop.

My neighbor works in my old paper mill, and he has access to long sheets of Lexan that the company discards and replaces during shutdowns. I'll have to see what transmissive properties the stuff has, and maybe make up some long wooden A-frames to mount them for row-covers.

 

[Evo]

Same here, my poblano went absolutely wild a couple of weeks before the permanent cold set it.

Fourth year now of cold summers, colder each summer.

I guess I could switch to growing cold weather vegetables such as cauliflower, cabbage and lettuce during the summer, and set up an indoor greenhouse for warm weather plants.

 

[lisab]

Same here, my poblano went absolutely wild a couple of weeks before the permanent cold set it.

Fourth year now of cold summers, colder each summer.

No poblano.

 

[Evo]

No poblano.

Ahahaha!

 

[Astronuc]

I guess I could switch to growing cold weather vegetables such as cauliflower, cabbage and lettuce during the summer, and set up an indoor greenhouse for warm weather plants.

My 4 kale plants are huge! Everything else just puttered along. The Swiss Chard just barely got started and didn't grow very much.

My berries did great this year, and for the first time, birds and other critters started going after the berries.

We usually have a great butterfly garden, but the flowers were late and few and far between.

 

[turbo]

The garlic did well in the cold, wet weather, and we got lots of cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower - all cold-weather crops, of course. We got a reasonable crop of carrots, and the leeks did well. Squash, cukes, tomatoes, peppers, peas, and green beans did very poorly.

I hope we get a drenching rain tomorrow, so I can get out to the garden with my 1/2M Btu/hr torch and burn the remaining weeds. Then, I'll get 2 14-yard loads each of coarse sand (for drainage) and rotten manure (to boost the organic content of the soil) and till those in. Next, hoe up some large beds for garlic and mulch them in preparation for winter planting.

 

[baywax]

90 million salmon just escaped from a British Columbian (private) fish farm.

That's how my garden grows.

 

[hypatia]

Swim little fishes swim!

 

[Borek]

I have read about 40 thousands only.

 

[baywax]

Swim little fishes swim!

I have read about 40 thousands only.

Oops... it was 90 percent of farmed fish are Atlantic in BC.

Yes Borak it was 40,000 escapees (last July) with all the lice they carry etc.. into wild Pacific waters. Possibly diluting the gene pool of the wild pacific salmon species' and definitely infecting them with their lice.

My bad on the mis-read, sorry!

Escapes & Alien Species

91% of the salmon currently raised today in BC’s fish farms is Atlantic salmon. The other 9% consists of Pacific species, chinook and coho.1

The decision to raise Atlantics in Pacific waters largely came from the entry of Norwegian companies into the BC industry.

The report Fishy Business: The Economics of Salmon Farming In BC notes that in the late 1980s, Norwegian companies were faced with strict environmental regulations and farm size restrictions in their own country, so they decided to expand in countries where regulations were less strict (i.e. Canada, Chile). Atlantic salmon was the farm species of choice in Norway, and for decades they had invested in developing markets for this product. As a result, Atlantics were adopted as part of the Norwegian influx of companies to BC.

http://www.farmedanddangerous.org/page/escapes

 

[turbo]

Don't wish for rain when you want to burn off mulch and weeds from the garden. It has been pouring all day. My rain-gauge holds 2" and it's overflowing. We'll easily get 3-4" if this keeps up into the evening. I got probably 300 sq ft burned off during a period of light rain, then it started coming in buckets again.

Edit: I guess I shouldn't complain too much. In another month or two, as storm like this would easily dump 2-3' of snow on us.