What Are Some Tips for Successful Gardening?

[Astronuc]

Anyone know where to find more varieties in Edmonton? The store I went to only had 4 varieties. I want some varieties that are hot and have a very strong garlic flavour.

(Or if anyone out there has some to spare that fit this bill, you could send a couple bulbs my way)

Funny you should ask that.
http://www.seedsanctuary.com/garlic/index.cfm

http://www.seedsanctuary.com/garlic/detail.cfm?ID=31 = Ukranian hot

One would probably have to order online or drive to a farm.

Perhaps one can try - http://www.Earth'sgeneralstore.ca/ - they have Music Garlic as of Sept 17.

If you are up for a fall day trip, think about the town of Andrew, which is hosting its 12th annual Garlic Festival on Saturday, Oct. 16. This festival generally attracts some 500 to 700 participants — impressive, considering the village, located about two hours’ drive east of Edmonton, only has 500 residents.

A number of local garlic producers with their fragrant bulbs will be there, as well as all the regular produce booths that are at Andrew’s farmers market every week throughout the summer. A garlic cook-off is in the works, as well as local arts and crafts sales and all-day entertainment. To amuse the children, look for a bouncy house, a garlic-peeling contest and a game of find-the-garlic-in-the-haystack. The whole shebang ends with a garlic-inspired Ukrainian banquet.

Read more: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/life/Food+Notes+Preserves+Andrew+Garlic+Festival+Blue+Pear/3525579/story.html?cid=megadrop_story#ixzz10dJKdWv5

 

[turbo]

Last night, I called the fellow that I buy gravel, sand, manure, etc from. I gave his wife and her friends garlic this year (I gave her some last year too) and when my wife envisioned a front lawn that is ALL flowers, herbs, and walkways, I asked him to quote me on a load (16 yards) of mixed clean coarse sand and pea-stone a month or so ago. He told me that he and his wife thought I should get that load of material for free (it would have cost me an easy $250 from other suppliers). I told Mike that when his wife had cleaned out their garden, he should dump a load of that nice rotted manure next to the garden and I would use my tractor's loader and tiller to top-dress and till the garden. All he has to do is come over with a heavy truck/trailer combo with chains and binders to transport my tractor there and all the time and labor will be free. They live so far from here that it would probably take at least an hour traveling at my tractor's top speed to get there, on some heavily traveled (speeding nuts!) roads.

 

[baywax]

Last night, I called the fellow that I buy gravel, sand, manure, etc from. I gave his wife and her friends garlic this year (I gave her some last year too) and when my wife envisioned a front lawn that is ALL flowers, herbs, and walkways, I asked him to quote me on a load (16 yards) of mixed clean coarse sand and pea-stone a month or so ago. He told me that he and his wife thought I should get that load of material for free (it would have cost me an easy $250 from other suppliers). I told Mike that when his wife had cleaned out their garden, he should dump a load of that nice rotted manure next to the garden and I would use my tractor's loader and tiller to top-dress and till the garden. All he has to do is come over with a heavy truck/trailer combo with chains and binders to transport my tractor there and all the time and labor will be free. They live so far from here that it would probably take at least an hour traveling at my tractor's top speed to get there, on some heavily traveled (speeding nuts!) roads.

Try the new and improved super dragster tractor!

 

[turbo]

Another frost coming tonight. Here is the last crop of peppers (of all kinds).

 

[Astronuc]

Another frost coming tonight. Here is the last crop of peppers (of all kinds).

I just picked a handful of habeneros this morning. There's dozens more on the plants. There are more flowers.

We don't expect frost until ~10-12 days or about Oct. 15. Today it's sunny with temps in the 60s up from nightly temps in the 40s (F).

I'll end up making more green hot sauce (with green habs and jalapeños) than red or orange sauces.

 

[lisab]

My garden is growing a bumper crop of spiders this year .

 

[OmCheeto]

My garden is growing a bumper crop of spiders this year .

Ditto. We're going to have to figure out how to make spider stew.

Last years crop: September 20th, 2009

This years crop: October 3rd, 2010 (same number of plants)

And what did I find in the little wicker basket before I filled it up so fully a few minutes ago?
You guessed it.
A spider and it's web.



And don't even ask about the Thai Hots. I'm thinking they might ripen by x-mas.

 

[baywax]

My garden is growing a bumper crop of spiders this year .

We had to relocate a mother bear and her 2 cubs from my garden. One cub was spooked by the RCMP and their shotguns (until the conservation people arrived) and ran away. The remaining cub and mother were relocated (so they tell us). That's what I do with spiders in my garden... relocate. Otherwise, as you know, if you kill a spider it'll rain the next day, and we get enough of that as it is!

Excellent photos of crops you guys! Bountiful in most instances

 

[rhody]

Nice pickings everyone. I have about 5 ghost peppers, one ripe on my vine and put my plants in pots and will bring indoors for the winter. I can't bear the thought of frost killing them.

I will take a pepper or two (just picked) and share it with a few friends and report back.

I took as bite of one of the ornimental tiny peppers from my last post,they are pretty hot, not as hot as habanero's though. I started four more ghost peppers from seed, maybe by next spring I will have a few more peppers to experiment with.

Rhody...

 

[Astronuc]

We are supposed to have a frost tonight. Most of the peppers are still green. I could pick the jalapeños, but I'd like the habaneros to be orange. There are a couple of orange habs with a few green to yellow. They are nicely hot.

I think I'll cover them with clear plastic tonight.

 

[turbo]

We are supposed to have a frost tonight. Most of the peppers are still green. I could pick the jalapeños, but I'd like the habaneros to be orange. There are a couple of orange habs with a few green to yellow. They are nicely hot.

I think I'll cover them with clear plastic tonight.

Good luck! If you buy a roll of thin poly "painter's dropcloth" and tent the plants with that when there is some sun shining, you'll get and keep enough residual heat to prevent frost damage until you get down into the mid-20's - at least that's my experience. Windy nights are generally not the frosty nights here, but we're in a cold snap with some impressive gusts, so tenting would be nigh impossible. We gleaned a few gallons of green and orange tomatoes yesterday. Broccoli will be OK, as will the root vegetables, but the garden is on its last legs.

 

[Astronuc]

I should have planted some kale and chard this summer. We are about 20 inches (51 cm) behind on precipitation. We had 3-4 week dry spells punctuated by heavy rain (with high winds) in short period of time (usully a few hours), so much of the water simply ran off. We've only had decent rains in the last two weeks. The maple tree lost one branch during a heavy downpour (about 2-3 inches in one hour). The force of the falling rain snapped the branch at the trunk. I've got see tree pruning to do this fall - and I've got to remove several fir trees on the on the border of our property so that they don't drop branches on the neighbors driveway or cars. I took the top off one last weekend since it was leaning toward the neighbor's cars.

We tossed some old beets into the compost pile, and darned it they didn't start growing.

We've got flowers out front, but not too many bees. It's time for them to start heading south or go into hibernation.

 

[turbo]

We tossed some old beets into the compost pile, and darned it they didn't start growing.

We've got flowers out front, but not too many bees. It's time for them to start heading south or go into hibernation.

We didn't plant cherry tomatoes this year, but we harvested them - growing in the compost pile.

No bees left around here, to speak of. The yellow-jackets are pretty aggressive right now, though. If you are outside, don't eat anything sweet or fruity, or you'll be bothered. I took a piece of Swiss sourdough bread out to my father when he stopped to drop off apples. The bread was a bit sweet, spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, and contained raisins. Cold as the weather was, he had yellowjackets bothering him in seconds.

 

[Evo]

Ditto. We're going to have to figure out how to make spider stew.

Last years crop: September 20th, 2009

This years crop: October 3rd, 2010 (same number of plants)

And what did I find in the little wicker basket before I filled it up so fully a few minutes ago?
You guessed it.
A spider and it's web.



And don't even ask about the Thai Hots. I'm thinking they might ripen by x-mas.

That's so sad, kind of like my last couple of summers.

 

[rhody]

turbo, astronuc,

I took a ripe (red) ghost pepper to work, and sliced it, from bottom up and sampled it. Not bad (not knowing I didn't get a bunch of seeds with it). Gave a small slice to a co-worker who was a bit hesitant about the heat. He and I ate it at the same time anyway.

Can you say hot... with emphasis, my poor friend (who I later apologized to) said it was the hottest thing he ever had, and then added, "well this weekend I hiked (or attempted to) the hardest mile in the northeast, so I guess it is only fitting that I followed it with the hottest pepper in the world." He was a good sport, but I felt bad, because I ate more of the lower part of the pepper and number of seeds was a lot less, it has a bite but nothing like what we had the upper half with a lot more seeds.

If I pick these peppers while still green, will they be as hot ? I have my hot peppers in pots so I can easily bring them indoors to keep from freezing. I will say this, when chopped up fine, they will add just enough bite to salsa to be pleasant. I am going to plant some more ornamental's, they are really cool and give some as gifts for holidays, etc... Their tiny little peppers are really hot too, but not in the ghost range.

Rhody...

 

[Astronuc]

As far as I know, hot peppers are hot even when green. Jalapeños are certainly spicy when green. I have to get some ghost peppers.

My Czech black pepper plant is shutting down, but the jalapeños and habs are still going strong.

 

[dlgoff]

When I was tilling my garden for next year, I noticed this volunteer tomato plant growing in my mulch pile. It actually looked better than the plants I planted this spring that didn't do to well.

We had one little frost and it survived, so I dug it up, potted it, brought in inside and put it in my bedroom that has lots of southern windows.

It's doing so good that I had to cage it. It blooming too.

Yea. Tomatoes this winter I hope.

 

[Evo]

When I was tilling my garden for next year, I noticed this volunteer tomato plant growing in my mulch pile. It actually looked better than the plants I planted this spring that didn't do to well.

We had one little frost and it survived, so I dug it up, potted it, brought in inside and put it in my bedroom that has lots of southern windows.

It's doing so good that I had to cage it. It blooming too.

Yea. Tomatoes this winter I hope.

Ooh, put a lamp over it.

 

[turbo]

When I was tilling my garden for next year, I noticed this volunteer tomato plant growing in my mulch pile. It actually looked better than the plants I planted this spring that didn't do to well.

We had one little frost and it survived, so I dug it up, potted it, brought in inside and put it in my bedroom that has lots of southern windows.

It's doing so good that I had to cage it. It blooming too.

Yea. Tomatoes this winter I hope.

No bees inside, so if you want tomatoes, you might want to get a soft sable artist's paint-brush and swab the insides of all the open blossoms from time to time. Good luck, dlg.

 

[dlgoff]

No bees inside, so if you want tomatoes, you might want to get a soft sable artist's paint-brush and swab the insides of all the open blossoms from time to time. Good luck, dlg.

Thanks turbo. It's time to brush now.

 

[Astronuc]

The habanero peppers have some damage from a recent frost, and the fact that some ants took advantage of the soft tissue to get in and eat some of the mushy flesh.

Also the deer have gotten aggressive and broken through the mesh around the pepper plants. The deer have eaten what they could. Half of the Czech black pepper plant is gone.

 

[dlgoff]

Also the deer have gotten aggressive and broken through the mesh around the pepper plants. The deer have eaten what they could. Half of the Czech black pepper plant is gone.

Deer have been my major problem with my garden for several years now. I think a 7 foot fence is in order now. Damn things.

Edit: Well maybe 9 feet would be better.

 

[turbo]

The habanero peppers have some damage from a recent frost, and the fact that some ants took advantage of the soft tissue to get in and eat some of the mushy flesh.

Also the deer have gotten aggressive and broken through the mesh around the pepper plants. The deer have eaten what they could. Half of the Czech black pepper plant is gone.

That's too bad! The first year we were here one of my sisters-in-law gave me a large habanero plant that she had potted and over-wintered. I planted it in the garden, and the next morning it was eaten down to a stump - deer tracks all around it. I thought I was in for an uphill fight, but I bought a couple of noisy plastic sprinklers triggered by adjustable motion-detectors, and have not had any more damage from deer. Vigilance and willingness to cull pests have helped save the garden from groundhogs and others. One of my neighbors fought the groundhogs by burying welded-wire fencing around the garden. He failed to understand that groundhogs are excellent climbers. If the fence is short (his was) and they can't dig under it, they will simply climb over it.

 

[Evo]

No bees inside, so if you want tomatoes, you might want to get a soft sable artist's paint-brush and swab the insides of all the open blossoms from time to time. Good luck, dlg.

Most tomatoes are self-pollinating, a gentle shake of the plant is usually sufficient for pollination, if grown indoors.

If you want to get more aggressive and hand polinate, here is a cool tip.

http://greenculturesg.com/articles/mar06/march06_feature_2.htm

 

[turbo]

Most tomatoes are self-pollinating, a gentle shake of the plant is usually sufficient for pollination, if grown indoors.

If you want to get more aggressive and hand polinate, here is a cool tip.

http://greenculturesg.com/articles/mar06/march06_feature_2.htm

I wouldn't rely on a gentle shake to pollinate most tomato varieties. Many of the heirloom varieties won't bear well without cross-pollination, and even hybrids that don't absolutely require cross-variety pollination still need outside help. There is a huge greenhouse a few miles from here (Backyard Farms) that grows and sells quite a few types of tomatoes, and they rely on bumblebees to do all the pollinating. Those are some BIG bees, too, though docile enough for people to work around them comfortably.

 

[Evo]

I wouldn't rely on a gentle shake to pollinate most tomato varieties. Many of the heirloom varieties won't bear well without cross-pollination, and even hybrids that don't absolutely require cross-variety pollination still need outside help. There is a huge greenhouse a few miles from here (Backyard Farms) that grows and sells quite a few types of tomatoes, and they rely on bumblebees to do all the pollinating. Those are some BIG bees, too, though docile enough for people to work around them comfortably.

Bumblebees are preferred, apparently due to sonification.

I don't have bees, none, zip. That is why I can't grow cucumbers, squash, etc... that require manual pollination. I read that in order to fertilize a cucumber, the blossom needs repeated hits. That's why attempting to hand pollinate them is usually not successful. But tomatoes, peppers, eggplants can be pollinated by simply shaking the pollen loose, outdoors this would be from wind. They are the only things I can grow successfully due to the lack of insects.

 

[turbo]

If you want to grow squash and cukes, you need buzz-pollinators (bumblebees are best) to dislodge the large pollen grains from the blossoms and transport them from flower to flower. The best way to encourage health bumblebee populations is to provide nice nesting-sites for them. Get some cheap terra-cotta plant pots and drill a bumblebee-sized hole in the side of each using a carbide bit. Put a handful of loose cotton batting in each pot for nesting material. Bumblebees like using old mouse nests, and they are often lined with soft stuff like feathers, thistledown, etc. Get some flat rocks and some heavier rocks. Invert each pot/nest on a flat rock, and put a heavy rock on the pot to weight it down. This helps protect your bumblebees from insectivores like skunks. That's it. Pretty simple bee-houses. If you have lots of flowers and/or fruit trees around to keep the bees happy, they will gladly take care of your squash and cukes.

 

[Evo]

This Indian Summer we're having here is producing a bumper crop of peppers. This would have been a great year for cubanelles and poblanos. Last year they set tons of fruit right before the first freeze.

The hawks have been terrible the last month. This was one of two hawks attacking the birds and squirrels out back. These are small hawks, they are not the NotAGoshawk.

The baby squirrels, born this summer, stay in a large nest when they are not looking for food. A damn hawk was sitting on top of their nest the other day, I scared it off. Shortly after it left, there was a flurry of nest fortification, they added a roof and created a side entrance near the bottom of the nest. Smart squirrels.

 

[turbo]

Looks like you have a Krider's red-tail hawk there.

 

[Evo]

Looks like you have a Krider's red-tail hawk there.

That's a good guess. Aaargh, where did I put my Birds of Kansas Book?