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The tete a tete are really cute and will spread, though not aggressively. My mom has a patch of tete a tete that she planted almost 30 years ago and they're still going strong. You just reminded me that I need to ask her to share some with me.
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Jan 12, 2014 15:46
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I planted a few rows of rapini which are doing great. So great in fact that one of them flowered before I cut it. It attracted so many bees I let a few more go and they are loving them. I like bees and I still have plenty to pick. They are also really pretty. Errant Gin Monks fucked around with this message at 17:26 on Jan 12, 2014 |
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Jan 12, 2014 17:24
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Finally got my own house and the yard that comes with it last year. Looking to get into some gardening this year. Just wondering in anyone has any experience with the Flowerhouse Springhouse: http://www.flowerhouses.com/6-x-6-x-6-5-springhouse/ I don't live in the greatest climate, and I'd like to take a crack at some squash, so a green house seems like my best option. A little one like this that's easy to take down and put in the shed at the end of the year seems ideal.
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Jan 13, 2014 12:50
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Zack_Gochuck posted:Finally got my own house and the yard that comes with it last year. Looking to get into some gardening this year. Just wondering in anyone has any experience with the Flowerhouse Springhouse: I think you would be wasting money on that. You can do a cinderblock raised bed, or just pots on the ground, and use arched pvc pipe and thick plastic wrap to make a greenhouse. http://www.pvcplans.com/pvc-greenhouse.htm
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Jan 13, 2014 17:41
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Zack_Gochuck posted:Finally got my own house and the yard that comes with it last year. Looking to get into some gardening this year. Just wondering in anyone has any experience with the Flowerhouse Springhouse: What USDA zone are you in, or where are you located generally? What kind of squash do you want to grow? One sprawling winter squash could probably fill that thing up by the end of the season.
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Jan 13, 2014 17:41
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I am giving some serious consideration to skipping my garden this time around. We've received approximately 0 rain so far this year (wine country, CA) and while our water bill is typically quite low, I feel like it'd be a bit irresponsible to be using a ton of water for what amounts to a hobby. If i do decide to skip it this year, what cover crops do best without being watered?
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Jan 13, 2014 21:10
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Cpt.Wacky posted:What USDA zone are you in, or where are you located generally? What kind of squash do you want to grow? One sprawling winter squash could probably fill that thing up by the end of the season. I'm in zone 5. I was going to grow some of these bad boys: http://www.westcoastseeds.com/productdetail/Vegetable-Seeds/Squash/Small-Wonder/#sthash.DYMiTl5g.dpbs Along with a few greens. The frost doesn't let up here till nearly June, and most of June is really foggy and rainy, so I was hoping to get an early start because of our short growing season. Would I be better off just starting the plants in peet pots indoors or something? For reference, I'm on that green and yellow island on the east coast: 
Zack_Gochuck fucked around with this message at 22:18 on Jan 13, 2014 |
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Jan 13, 2014 22:12
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If the winter/frost never actually killed my old heirloom tomato plants from last year, am I better off trying to rehab the old ones or starting from fresh again (Bay Area, California)? Last year was my first serious attempt at gardening, so I still know nothing. I walked away from the plants after the first frost expecting them to die, but it turns out the ones in the giant pots (7 gallon?) survived and thrived. The problem is that last year they spent most of their time in very undersized pots (< 2 gallon) and never actually produced more than a couple of fruits. They were transferred into the bigger pots as a desperation play at the end of the growing season to see what would happen. Right now they're both decently sized (probably a half-gallon or more worth of green material if it were pulped), but were never good producers (surely my fault as I didn't trim properly, along with a dozen other mistakes). Is it worth leaving the plants alone and seeing if they'll surprise me again by actually producing fruit? Are there pro-steps I could be taking to make this happen with the plants as-is? Should I trim them down very aggressively, abandoning the majority of green growth and trying to utilize the root ball? Assuming I don't care about "this specific" variety, would there be any advantage to taking a large/healthy cutting off of the plants and trying to do something with that? Any other option I'm not seeing? My only goal here is for this year to produce some decent amount of fruit since last year's yield was pathetic (2 tomatoes on one plant was the stand-out hero). If the best way to accomplish that is to do something with the old plants, great. If the best way is to murder them and start again, great.
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Jan 13, 2014 23:58
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Of all the information in that link I simply can't find "days to maturity" anywhere........
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Jan 14, 2014 00:38
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ixo posted:I am giving some serious consideration to skipping my garden this time around. We've received approximately 0 rain so far this year (wine country, CA) and while our water bill is typically quite low, I feel like it'd be a bit irresponsible to be using a ton of water for what amounts to a hobby. I'm just over the hill in Yolo County and am dealing with the same plight. I bought some Soild Builder cover crop early in the fall and planted them in one of my empty beds in my green house. After a watering the bed a couple times they've sprouted up quite well and are looking pretty hardy. I think being in Napa you'll still get the marine layer and over night moisture that it should do OK with a few regular waters. Motronic posted:Of all the information in that link I simply can't find "days to maturity" anywhere........ quote:Small Wonder spaghetti squash stores particularly well.
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Jan 14, 2014 05:05
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Anybody have any familiarity with "Bam Basil", Burpee's new cultivar? http://www.burpee.com/herbs/basil/basil-bam-prod003503.html A truely non-flowering variety would be pretty amazing. I'm trying to get a huge Basil crop this year but I'm currently just gonna grow a lot of Genovese.
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Jan 15, 2014 00:15
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Speaking of basil, does anyone else grow it inside this time of year? I can't resist having a little pot around because it is delicious. I eventually want a whole, self contained, indoor herb garden so that I can have them fresh year round. This is sweet basil, chillin in my window, waiting to be lunch.  I also have some Siam Queen Thai basil waiting its turn.  On a different note, does anyone want to trade seeds or plants? I have a huge collection. PM me or post here
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Jan 15, 2014 00:51
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Pardalis posted:Speaking of basil, does anyone else grow it inside this time of year? I can't resist having a little pot around because it is delicious. I eventually want a whole, self contained, indoor herb garden so that I can have them fresh year round. With basil you've got to think bigger though. How else are you going to make enough pesto for a four people dinner?  These were plucked virtually bald two weeks ago, so sorry for the paltry size of the leaves. Have been going strong for nine months, which I think is pretty cool. Had to cut their heads off because they became spindly in the few hours of sunlight they got in the last two months. Some of them tried to bolt, don't know if it's just the age or if that's due to the season as well. Anyway, pesto with lots of cashews is heavenly and so goddamn easy to make. Hold off on the cheese and it freezes pretty well in ice cube trays too. The poo poo they sell in stores here is salty beyond belief and absolutely inedible after tasting the homemade one.
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Jan 15, 2014 23:33
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My neighbors are awesome and leave tall paper bags full of leaves out on the curb for free. My compost is full so I'm just mulching the whole the backyard in with leaves now.
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Jan 16, 2014 00:05
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You can keep basil going for a while by topping it repeatedly but I find it always eventually goes to poo poo even if it doesn't successfully bolt.
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Jan 16, 2014 00:32
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I have a bunch of ~fancy~ basil cultivars if anyone wants to trade a few seeds. The lime basil in particular is wonderful and zesty fresh. Basil makes amazing microgreens, btw. If you haven't tried microgreens on a sandwich, I heartily suggest it.
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Jan 16, 2014 00:34
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Same Great Paste posted:If the winter/frost never actually killed my old heirloom tomato plants from last year, am I better off trying to rehab the old ones or starting from fresh again (Bay Area, California)? I'm next door in Solano county. I always use fresh tomato starts each spring, so if the plant doesn't make it from last year, no biggie. Tomatoes can easily grow 6-8' in one season. If you need soil for potting or raised beds, Napa Compost, will fill up the back of your pickup truck with good compost for just $8. Sonoma Compost will do the same, with a higher grade compost for $25.
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Jan 16, 2014 04:28
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I'm also in the Bay Area and I'm jealous because my tomatoes got seriously frostbitten that one time it got cold here and I had to scrap them. (Seriously it's already spring here and I'm wondering why I bothered trying winter crops. We don't have winter here.) For compost I'd also check out your city's recycling program to see if they have deals. Some cities will sell you compost cheap if you're a resident, or even an actual composter. Sunnyvale will even let you haul off a certain amount of compost for free. I've been wanting to make use of that, but I don't have a vehicle suitable for hauling bins full of compost around. 
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Jan 17, 2014 00:36
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Mizufusion posted:For compost I'd also check out your city's recycling program to see if they have deals. Some cities will sell you compost cheap if you're a resident, or even an actual composter. Sunnyvale will even let you haul off a certain amount of compost for free. I've been wanting to make use of that, but I don't have a vehicle suitable for hauling bins full of compost around. This is worth checking out but be sure to investigate the source material so that you don't unknowingly get stuff you would find unacceptable. Our local muni-compost is basically all the yard waste containers (with whatever pesticide/etc sprayed stuff my neighbors toss in), commercial landscaping waste and 25% sewage sludge from the sewage treatment plant (which includes whatever ends up in the sewers. We have a combined sewer system so a certain amount of runoff from streets and parking lots ends up there as well as stuff that people flush down the toilet like old meds. They do a good job of hot composting the piles with a forced air system but that's only going to kill seeds and bacteria, not chemicals and drugs. When people ask me about it in the community garden I explain what goes in to it and recommend that if they want to use it then only put it on ornamentals or woody perennial edibles like fruit trees and berry bushes, not annuals where it will be in direct contact with the part you eat. They market it as "Garden Glory" which I've always felt is a bit deceptive. Another problem I've seen occasionally is people getting animal manure when the feed has come from fields that have been sprayed with herbicides like clopyralid and aminopyralid. They think everything is great until they realize none of their seeds are sprouting. I don't think there's much that can be done about it except removing all the soil.
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Jan 17, 2014 01:18
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Comb Your Beard posted:Kinda annoyed. I bought a heat mat from Amazon and for some reason thinking it came with a tray but it doesn't. Then I see that I can have more all-in-one solutions for practically the same price. I used peat pucks last year and really wish I had not. The tomatoes that sprouted were stringy as hell in them. I may get a heat mat for my grape cuttings. The strategy is to warm the roots while allowing the cold to stunt aboveground growth. Tomatoes this year I will be buying from local greenhouses. It just gets so late in the spring to transplant here, and I did not enjoy trying to micromanage the sprouts indoors for so long. In regard to zukes and cukes, direct sow were healthier and grew just as large as the sprouts I started indoors. The sprouts were a complete waste of effort. Once we start to warm up I plan to remove the sides of our large boxed in bed and reform it into simply raised soil rows. Drainage was a bitch last year. Multiplied with the compactness of the existing soil. Will be dumping a bunch of sand in to help "air out" that stuff. Compost I have simply been piling up on top of one of the small box beds. Will remove to a new location on the property. I am counting on the soil beneath the pile will have soaked up a bit of the nutrients. Not nearly deep enough to be warm enough for earthworms, but it is what it is. That box will have the beans. Here's to hoping this year is more tomato friendly than last.
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Jan 17, 2014 20:21
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I go straight into a set of cells that I fill with soil. The trick here is getting decent potting soil, but that isn't hard if you have a decent seed company around, like we do. Pro Mix isn't cheap, but it's worth it. This year, I'm starting less tomato and pepper seeds for sure, and I think I'm going to mix it up with a few more local type tomato varieties. Beans peas and carrots are all going into the new bed that I didn't really use last year, it should work out well. And, last but not least, I'm not starting up my transplants till end of February, early March. Last year they took over the kitchen. 
SpannerX fucked around with this message at 20:28 on Jan 17, 2014 |
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Jan 17, 2014 20:26
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So, spearmint. I've been wanting to grow some for a while to make Taureg tea and I've finally got the the space. Wikipedia tells me that Moroccans use a specific cultivar of spearmint called mentha spicata 'Nana,' but some various UK garden sites tell me that its name is mentha spicata var. crispa, but thats ALSO the name of some other variety of spearmint called "curly mint?" But it doesn't even matter because I can't find ANY of these for sale, either seeds or plants, from any US supplier.  Does anybody know where I can get this poo poo or should I stop being such a drat snob and just buy some plain old regular spearmint?
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Jan 19, 2014 00:44
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You usually don't grow specific mint from seeds since it doesn't always seed true.
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Jan 19, 2014 01:23
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Pretty sure that only holds true for hybrid mints, like peppermint, which is a cross between spearmint (mentha spicata) and watermint (mentha aquatica). My mythical "Moroccan mint," if it even exists  , would be a true breeding spearmint. Not that it HAS to be from seed, that's just the cheapest option if I have to order it online.
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Jan 19, 2014 01:48
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/\/\ Huh. This year, we grew (grow; I have no reason to think it won't come right back) something that was labeled as "Moroccan mint" that we got from a local farmer's market. Funny, we grabbed it by accident--it was sitting in a tray of "Mojito mint" and we didn't pay that close attention to the stick. Honestly, it's growth habit is a bit different from other mints we have, (smaller leaves, closer to the ground, not quite as leggy and creepy as most of the others), but smell/taste wise I have found it to be unremarkable. Not bad, just not notable. Maybe I don't have a refined palate for mint variatals though.
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Jan 19, 2014 17:03
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I just picked up my containers for my blueberrry bushes: A little work with the sawzall and I'll have 6 30 gallon containers for $45, not too shabby.
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Jan 19, 2014 20:44
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Shifty Pony posted:I just picked up my containers for my blueberrry bushes: I planted them in 50% peat and 50% acid loving soil.
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Jan 19, 2014 23:13
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cowofwar posted:Nice, I used half wine barrels and my blueberry bushes are doing really well. Did you do one bush per barrel, or were you able to pack in 2 or 3?
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Jan 20, 2014 04:33
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Fozzy The Bear posted:Did you do one bush per barrel, or were you able to pack in 2 or 3?
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Jan 20, 2014 04:37
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I just bought a house last fall, and we have a fenced in tiny area that we want to make into a flower/herb garden. It faces the patio so we want to make it something beautiful to look at while chilling but also functional for cooking. I'm kind of freaking out about what we should be doing to prep the soil before this spring. The previous owners were not very attentive and the soil is very hard and bare, with a really tacky and poorly done gravel path going through it, so there's a lot to be done. I've been following this thread for awhile and reading up when I can, but most of the resources seem to be for people who already know what they should be doing. Is there some easier reading, or should I just buy some soil, plug in some plants, and see what happens? edit I'm in the NC area (hardiness zone 7b, I believe). NC State has a great agricultural website that proceeds to fly over my head like nothing else.
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Jan 20, 2014 14:29
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cowofwar posted:Nice, I used half wine barrels and my blueberry bushes are doing really well. A person near me has their blueberries in peat mixed with very light amounts of other soil and they are doing quite well, so I may ask them for the exact mix they used. I'm excited about them!
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Jan 20, 2014 15:38
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Rurutia posted:I just bought a house last fall, and we have a fenced in tiny area that we want to make into a flower/herb garden. It faces the patio so we want to make it something beautiful to look at while chilling but also functional for cooking. I'm kind of freaking out about what we should be doing to prep the soil before this spring. The previous owners were not very attentive and the soil is very hard and bare, with a really tacky and poorly done gravel path going through it, so there's a lot to be done. I've been following this thread for awhile and reading up when I can, but most of the resources seem to be for people who already know what they should be doing. Is there some easier reading, or should I just buy some soil, plug in some plants, and see what happens? Flowers and herbs are not usually very demanding on soil. I'd remove anything you don't want in there like the gravel first and then try to loosen the top 6" of soil and work in a bit of compost. Mulch with some wood chips and you should be good to go. What kind of flowers and herbs are you looking at putting in?
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Jan 20, 2014 16:06
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Cpt.Wacky posted:Flowers and herbs are not usually very demanding on soil. I'd remove anything you don't want in there like the gravel first and then try to loosen the top 6" of soil and work in a bit of compost. Mulch with some wood chips and you should be good to go. Thanks for the starting steps! Cpt.Wacky posted:What kind of flowers and herbs are you looking at putting in? Good question, hah. I know what herbs I want for cooking (mint, italian and thai basil, thyme, dill, tarragon, savory, sage). I'll probably put the mint and basil in a walled in section. Flowers wise, I'm having a hard time finding the right flowers. I want things acclimated to my area (so I won't need to do regular watering outside of unexpected droughts), low maintanence, and to have a selection that flowers with a good coverage over most seasons. Hopefully my local nursery will help with that, but I'm also uncertain as to when I should start.
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Jan 20, 2014 16:17
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Unless you want the whole garden to be mint, it would be better to put it in its own pot.
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Jan 20, 2014 16:54
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Alterian posted:Unless you want the whole garden to be mint, it would be better to put it in its own pot. This is incredibly true. My parents had to build an addition onto their house to finally kill the mint. If you would like a bit of lasting green for the winter you could put in some rosemary and lavender. They tend to be pretty low maintenance. Also perhaps a butterfly bush or two? Once they get established they bloom for a long time and the only real challenge they pose is whacking them back to a manageable size at the beginning of the season. At leas that was my experience in Asheville.
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Jan 20, 2014 17:21
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Rurutia posted:I'm kind of freaking out about what we should be doing to prep the soil before this spring. The previous owners were not very attentive and the soil is very hard and bare, with a really tacky and poorly done gravel path going through it, so there's a lot to be done. Go to your local hardware or garden store and buy some Gypsum, or Soil Buster and start sprinkling that around the garden. The rain will help water it into the ground. That should help you a lot with loosening the soil, especially below what you'd reach with a shovel.
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Jan 20, 2014 17:52
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Alterian posted:Unless you want the whole garden to be mint, it would be better to put it in its own pot. Shifty Pony posted:This is incredibly true. My parents had to build an addition onto their house to finally kill the mint. Hm, I thought putting a wall around the section might be sufficient? Will the mint also kill the basil if I put it in there? I was thinking since they display similar behaviors (being from the same family), they would coexist fairly well. Basically the idea is, we have a separate elevated section of the garden that we'll be putting a retaining wall on and I was hoping to just have a crazy lawn of mint and basil. Shifty Pony posted:
Nice, thanks for the suggestions! I was thinking about Rosemary but the ones I've seen have been gangly and ugly. I imagine lavender will be beautiful though, and definitely a butterfly bush. jvick posted:Go to your local hardware or garden store and buy some Gypsum, or Soil Buster and start sprinkling that around the garden. The rain will help water it into the ground. That should help you a lot with loosening the soil, especially below what you'd reach with a shovel. Will do. Another quick question, are clover lawns really all they're cracked up to be? Our lawn got really brown and honestly, I hate high maintenance grass.
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Jan 20, 2014 18:19
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Mint spreads under ground. Clover lawns are useless because you can't walk on them. Plant an english garden or raised beds.
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Jan 20, 2014 18:24
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Rurutia posted:Hm, I thought putting a wall around the section might be sufficient? Will the mint also kill the basil if I put it in there? I was thinking since they display similar behaviors (being from the same family), they would coexist fairly well. Basically the idea is, we have a separate elevated section of the garden that we'll be putting a retaining wall on and I was hoping to just have a crazy lawn of mint and basil. Your goal is to contain the roots. The shoots it will sprout will sprout roots too, but you can easily trim those back.
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Jan 20, 2014 18:41
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Rurutia posted:Nice, thanks for the suggestions! I was thinking about Rosemary but the ones I've seen have been gangly and ugly. I imagine lavender will be beautiful though, and definitely a butterfly bush. The gangly ones you have seen may have simply not been kept trimmed. In addition to the "prostratus" variety which tends to hug the ground you can shape rosemary pretty easily (which is why you see those little rosemary "trees" at christmastime) and as a bonus it smells amazing when you do. But your garden space and you get to choose!
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Jan 21, 2014 00:47
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