What Are Some Tips for Successful Gardening?

[Proton Soup]

forsythia, eh? i think we call them yellow bells.

i actually have some asparagus spears coming up, but it's only their second year (from seed) and they are tiny, spindly things. probably needs some kind of fertilizer, too, i suspect.

 

[Proton Soup]

As it's well before spring, I'd like to plant something which will florish over the summer, while surviving next winter when I port them back inside.

Any suggestions? The pots are about 3 liters in size.

how about some christmas/thanksgiving cactuses?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holiday_Cactus

just be careful to let them adjust a bit when you return them outside next year. full sun right away will be bad.

 

[PhaseShifter]

This year, I left my strawberry plants out in the snow and ice since they always die when I move them indoors.

For once, I won't have to buy new plants in the spring.

 

[rhody]

As it's well before spring, I'd like to plant something which will florish over the summer, while surviving next winter when I port them back inside.

Any suggestions? The pots are about 3 liters in size.

mug,

How about these, http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...ge=1&ndsp=25&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:0&tx=77&ty=73" ?

Rhody...

 

[Astronuc]

turbo reminded me - it's time to think about seeds and spring planting

http://www.fedcoseeds.com/seeds.htm

http://www.fedcoseeds.com/ogs/covercrop_chart.htm

 

[Borek]

Seeds I have, time to think about planting them.

 

[rhody]

turbo reminded me - it's time to think about seeds and spring planting

http://www.fedcoseeds.com/seeds.htm

http://www.fedcoseeds.com/ogs/covercrop_chart.htm

Astro,

I did too, hehe... bring it on, the heat (in peppers that is).

Rhody...

 

[turbo]

I guess I need to plant more garlic for the next season. My wife took a couple of small bags of garlic to the artisan butcher shop/deli. She bought sliced cheese, herb-garlic smoked bacon, and a large sub with vegetables and ham and she still ended up getting money back from the exchange. The garlic is a big hit, and the deli's customers are now stopping in and requesting it. Good thing for Tracy, because the more times people stop in for special foods that they can't get in supermarkets, the more incidental purchases they will make, including $$ deli meats, cheeses, and specialty foods. I might end up being the "garlic man" for real. Last year, I stopped in at the local community garden to give some seed garlic to a friend, and one of her co-volunteers stopped working long enough to come over and introduce herself, and say "you're the garlic-man!" She's a cute little thing, and I gave her enough garlic so that she could start her own self-sustaining crop. I have to reconsider giving away too much garlic from this season because it appears that I have an eager retailer for organically-grown, properly-cured hard-neck garlic.

 

[Ms Music]

Is regular grocery store garlic hard neck? I have some that had started to sprout, so I planted it and brought it here to work. I still have 3 monstrous bulbs at home that I intend to plant at home, just in case my work experiment fails... (none have yet!) I have no experience with garlic...

 

[turbo]

Is regular grocery store garlic hard neck? I have some that had started to sprout, so I planted it and brought it here to work. I still have 3 monstrous bulbs at home that I intend to plant at home, just in case my work experiment fails... (none have yet!) I have no experience with garlic...

I think most supermarket garlic is of the softneck persuasion (ones with tops that can be braided). My German white and Russian red garlics are quite flavorful, and they are very popular. Once Tracy started offering them in her deli, she got a a following that will pay a premium (she charges $1/bulb) for really high-quality garlic. I could easily sell my garlic as seed for other growers, but I'd rather help friends build their business.

My White German garlic is top-quality. She sells it for food at $0.95/bulb. FedCo co-op sells the bulbs for $3 each.

http://www.fedcoseeds.com/bulbs/search.php?item=222&index=1&listname=

 

[Ms Music]

White German, huh? I will have to see if I can find that on this side of the continent... So outside of the fact that it is organic, and YOURS, ;) what is so special about this garlic? This is the first year I have thought about growing it as my brother uses TONS. I intend to get the hard neck for storage purposes, but I personally don't know much about garlic... Also, do you have any suggestions for softneck?

ps - I just perused my favorite local seed catalog, and they don't have White German... *sniff* I will have to go through all my catalogs this weekend. Need to order anyway!

 

[hypatia]

Garlic is garlic,and onions are onions, but its the soil that makes a difference. If I planted Turbos garlic here, it would not taste the same.

 

[Ms Music]

Yeah, I kind of figured that... I went through my catalogs this weekend, and none of the local ones sold those varieties. His favorite varieties probably wouldn't even grow here, as we have such a short, cool summer. () So I guess I will stick with the ones that sounded good when I went through the catalog a month or so back. Best stick with what growers know perform best locally!

But I still would like to know if his garlic is so desired because of something like size, or heat, or something else. Not that I would sell mine like he does, its just that having the bulbs be really REALLY good is probably the only thing that would encourage me to make space to grow them year after year.

 

[turbo]

But I still would like to know if his garlic is so desired because of something like size, or heat, or something else. Not that I would sell mine like he does, its just that having the bulbs be really REALLY good is probably the only thing that would encourage me to make space to grow them year after year.

I plant my garlic cloves in the late fall or early winter. Keep your soil well-fertilized with composted manure and/or well-rotted compost, and your garlic will thrive. It's important to mulch the beds with mats of clean straw, IMO, to keep the soil-temperature up in the spring. I get early crops, and get summer heat (in shaded shelter) to cure the garlic. Curing is really important. Leave the fronds on, and hang the garlic to cure it so that the goodness from the foliage gets taken up by the bulb.

 

[dlgoff]

I have a common Silver Maple tree like this,

and just noticed it is blooming. And low and behold...Honey Bees.

Yea!

 

[turbo]

Yeah, I kind of figured that... I went through my catalogs this weekend, and none of the local ones sold those varieties. His favorite varieties probably wouldn't even grow here, as we have such a short, cool summer. () So I guess I will stick with the ones that sounded good when I went through the catalog a month or so back. Best stick with what growers know perform best locally!

But I still would like to know if his garlic is so desired because of something like size, or heat, or something else. Not that I would sell mine like he does, its just that having the bulbs be really REALLY good is probably the only thing that would encourage me to make space to grow them year after year.

FedCo Bulbs has an on-line presence, so you can order from them. Our growing seasons are short and generally cool, but that's not a problem with German White or Russian Red hard-neck varieties. Order the bulbs in summer for fall shipment. Separate the cloves and plant them in well-fertilized (manure and compost) beds before a hard frost, and mulch them well. They will be one of the first plants to emerge (though crocuses can beat them to the punch), and they will mature by July, probably so you can hang them in a shady warm place to cure.

The bulbs are kind of pricey, so you might have to hold off on eating your first years' crop and save those bulbs for propagation and planting next year's crop.

http://www.fedcoseeds.com/bulbs.htm

 

[Borg]

I've been trying to get my wife to grow vegetables in our garden for several years. I know that once she sees how much can be grown, she will be hooked.

Because of the increasing food prices at the store, I finally convinced my wife to let me have a small container to grow some lettuce. After that, she decided to also grow some dill and arugula also. We planted them yesterday.

 

[turbo]

I've been trying to get my wife to grow vegetables in our garden for several years. I know that once she sees how much can be grown, she will be hooked.

Because of the increasing food prices at the store, I finally convinced my wife to let me have a small container to grow some lettuce. After that, she decided to also grow some dill and arugula also. We planted them yesterday.

Another herb that does very well in containers is basil. Get the Italian bush variety for the best yield. Fresh basil is wonderful for cooking, and you can make pesto out of it, too. We also plant Thai basil, which is nice too. Still, try the traditional Italian variety first.

 

[physics girl phd]

mmm... specialty garlic. I used to saute varieties from our farmer's market in butter and used the mix in popcorn.

I'm wondering what I'll plant in one of the herb pots that our landlord left in the front porch. The rosemary in one of them didn't make it through the winter. The chives are coming in nicely though.

 

[Borg]

Another herb that does very well in containers is basil. Get the Italian bush variety for the best yield. Fresh basil is wonderful for cooking, and you can make pesto out of it, too. We also plant Thai basil, which is nice too. Still, try the traditional Italian variety first.

Yeah, I wanted to plant basil but she doesn't like it. The main goal is to get her interested in growing food so it's not a big deal.

 

[Astronuc]

It's almost gardening season. We may have snow tomorrow though.

In the meantime, think about food, the land and good stewarship.

http://farmproject.org/content/food_matters_for_stewardship

If one doesn't have a garden, join a local CSA.

 

[dlgoff]

I did a light till today to get the goodies (ash & chicken pop) distributed and to remove small weeds wanting to start. It shouldn't be too long before I begin planting some cold crops.

 

[turbo]

CSA farming is catching on here, in more of a formal fashion that it had been in years past. A lady that I knew casually gardened, sold produce, waitressed, and worked other extra jobs in the off-season for years to save money to buy farmland. She now has her own 25-acre farm and some well-worn equipment, and she sells shares to consumers. She gets money for seed, diesel, fertilizer (organic), etc, and in return, her consumers get weekly boxes of fresh organic produce. If yields are good, her production far exceeds her generous shares, and she can make extra money at the local farmers' markets. In a bad year (we've had a couple, recently) things can get real tight, but she's still hanging in there.

If my wife should pre-decease me, I'd will my Kubota and accessories to Billie. She deserves the help.

 

[physics girl phd]

We just had a friend (about 4 years younger than me) buy a 6-acre farm last summer in an auction in Yellow Springs OH (where I used to live when I worked for the Air Force Research Labs). She's got her work cut out for her.

The farmhouse was deemed uninhabitable by her original bank (and I could see why), but she had enough in savings to buy it without them.. and did live there this past winter, probably heated as much by her two dogs as by her newly inserted woodstove. But she's put in more insulation, reroofed the house, cleared out a lot of trash and made other improvements to the two small outlying buildings, started flocks of chickens and ducks, etc... as well as taken down two "free barns" she found on craigslist and transported the lumber to her place, with plans to rebuild (at least in part) at her place (to add sheep or goats, and possibly rabbits). She's done much of this kind of thing before in helping other people with their farms, and has been a farm manager for another farm for 2-3 years, so she knows her stuff (and is stubborn), so I don't doubt she'll get it going (though I told her if things feel tight she should consider selling the lumber from ONE of the barns to a furniture-maker -- her place is starting to get called "the lumberyard" and other people with barns they want gone are calling her!). She will continue vending another farm's raw milk and cheeses at the farmer's markets along with her fresh produce, and house yet another farm's two farm-interns... so there's at least some additional income (and another local has arranged to park his camper on her property for just enough to cover her annual property taxes). She's not going to go CSA yet for a few years, to establish the crops and know how well things are going... but is looking to do so eventually.

Can't wait to see her on a drive-through this spring or summer and see her planted crops. Since she just acquired the farm last summer, she didn't have any "crops" then except for the eggs (she got a deal on her starter flocks because they were just turning one).

 

[turbo]

I just placed my seed order with Johnny's. With shipping, it's almost exactly $80. Still, I don't mind doing the work and amending the soil, etc, so the money for seed is dwarfed by the value of the food that we get out of that garden. Even in "bad" years with inconsistent temperatures, droughts, and monsoons, we get plenty of food to use fresh, can, pickle, freeze, and put into cold storage. This year, I'm going to till up another section of front lawn (almost no front lawn left - Yay!) for an herb garden. Plenty of varieties of basil, oregano, parsley, cilantro, etc to grow. Plus I ordered a low-bushing variety of ornamental (very colorful) and edible hot peppers called "Prairie Fire". My wife can use them to border her stone raised-bed flower garden.

 

[dlgoff]

Turbo. Is your ankle going to be ready in time for planting preparation? Be easy on it at first so you can make full use of the growing season.

I'm in the process of putting up a shed in my garden area to keep all my garden implements. I've already done a light leveling/spreading till; next a deep till then plant.

 

[Evo]

Turbo. Is your ankle going to be ready in time for planting preparation? Be easy on it at first so you can make full use of the growing season.

I'm in the process of putting up a shed in my garden area to keep all my garden implements. I've already done a light leveling/spreading till; next a deep till then plant.

How's my chicken?

 

[dlgoff]

How's my chicken?

I attached somed pictures in the "PF Random Thoughts" thread. You may have missed them. https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=3227664&postcount=7705"

This is was April 3rd:

[PLAIN]https://www.physicsforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=33980&d=1301871732

Now their wing feather are starting to develop. But still "cheep" and are still really cute.

If you had a cage etc., I would bring it too you. Otherwise, next summer when they start laying, I can ship you her fresh eggs. Home grown eggs have thicker shells and can last for months refrigerated and when I collect them, they get washed and go directly in the refrigerator.

 

[Evo]

I attached somed pictures in the "PF Random Thoughts" thread. You may have missed them. https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=3227664&postcount=7705"

This is was April 3rd:

[PLAIN]https://www.physicsforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=33980&d=1301871732

Now their wing feather are starting to develop. But still "cheep" and are still really cute.

If you had a cage etc., I would bring it too you. Otherwise, next summer when they start laying, I can ship you her fresh eggs. Home grown eggs have thicker shells and can last for months refrigerated and when I collect them, they get washed and go directly in the refrigerator.

I did miss them!

Awww, they're so cute! They stay in a little pile. I love you for raising one for me! I can't wait to get eggs!

 

[turbo]

Turbo. Is your ankle going to be ready in time for planting preparation? Be easy on it at first so you can make full use of the growing season.

I'm taking it real easy on the loads, and trying to work on no-load flexibility, stretching, etc for rehabilitation. One way or another, I'm going to make this all work. If I need a neighbor to help me wrestle around that big PTO tiller (lots of iron there) and attach it, I can arrange that, easy.

I'll have to watch the preliminary hand-work (hoeing, setting up my cattle-panel trellises, etc) so I don't get re-injured with unexpected footing on soft or uneven ground, but I can deal with it. I'm not unemployed/disabled. I have a full-time summer job growing, tending, harvesting, processing, canning, and freezing food. Luckily, my wife has an industrial job that provides her with 401K opportunities and health insurance for both of us.

I might have to expand my garlic production next year. The artisan butcher/deli shop proprietor wants even more hard-neck garlic than I can provide, and after the first time that my wife took a batch for them to "try out", her husband the butcher told her not to sell any of it, but to keep it for their use. My wife took a much larger batch to them, so his wife displayed it prominently with what I think are excessive prices, and it has disappeared. Their regular customers are willing to pay 95 cents/bulb for high-quality garlic and stop in asking for it. I can't afford to be certified as an organic grower, but there has never been a speck of herbicide/fungicide/chemical plant-food used on this property since we bought it 6 years ago. The quality of the food speaks for itself, though.

BTW, If I got certified organic, I could easily charge $3/bulb plus shipping for this high-quality hard-neck garlic. That's what FedCo charges, and they severely limit quantities, and sell out every year.