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silicone thrills posted:Squirrels and raccoons keep digging up my seed potatoes. I'm very sad. My snap peas, yet again, are the kings of my garden in Seattle. My salmon berries and my huckleberries aren't going to fruit this year since I just planted last fall but they're lookin really healthy!
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May 10, 2020 03:33
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SubG posted:I've got a patch of bunching onions that squirrels keep digging up. They don't go after the onions themselves. They just dig everything up right where they're growing. I put chicken wire over them, and the squirrels keep going out of their way to get under it just to dig up that patch of ground. There's sugar peas growing right next to the onions and the ground there has no protection, but they leave it alone. Leave out some nuts or birdseed nearby to distract them?
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May 10, 2020 04:20
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In my experience, the more there is for squirrels to eat, the more emboldened they'll be. I made a cool seed log this year but had to stop using it because the garden was starting to be full of squirrels. They've mostly disappeared since I did stopped.
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May 10, 2020 04:29
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Fitzy Fitz posted:In my experience, the more there is for squirrels to eat, the more emboldened they'll be. I made a cool seed log this year but had to stop using it because the garden was starting to be full of squirrels. They've mostly disappeared since I did stopped. The trick is getting a neighbor a few doors down to feed the squirrels so they completely ignore your garden. This has mostly worked for me and I only occasionally find little spots where they've dug.
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May 10, 2020 05:50
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There sure are a lot of peanut volunteers in my garden. 
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May 10, 2020 06:05
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I've got neighbors who feed the squirrels peanuts and I end up with peanut shells on my 2nd floor deck alot. Cracks me up that they make an effort to carry them up there. Or maybe its the crows... either way.
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May 10, 2020 06:51
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Even covered, my basil died in that freak freeze we had on Friday night. I think I’m going to rip them up and use the container for a radish harvest while the weather warms. Today I had my first garlic sprouts! The pea sprouts are peeking through too! My radishes are doing super well and I’ve had to thin a few here and there. Beets are doing well. Hopefully I can transplant my tomatoes and peppers soon. I’ve been keeping them watered and outside but I’m still worried about them. One of the tomato plants especially is looking droopy.
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May 10, 2020 15:03
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Everything survived the POLAR VORTEX last night, that's the first time I've ever had to cover a garden in May. The end times are truly near.
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May 10, 2020 16:34
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Thanks to the stuck-at-home middle classes (it's me I'm middle-classed and stuck at home) the only seeds I could get were potatoes, cabbage, peas, carrot, lettuce and spinach beet but they're all above ground in time for the forecasted frost to execute them after literally 60 days of sunshine. Fleece deployed. In a bonus, the dairy/lamb/barley farmer next door had no seed tatties to plant in his back garden, so I gave him half of mine last week (cost: nine pounds). As a result, he just used his manitou (cost: £50k) to move three tons of compost next to my raised beds saving me a few miles of back and forth with the wheelbarrow  I spent today clearing weeds - mainly ripping up nettle roots - and it was made more fun by the two robins that are nesting in the bush next to my vegetables that constantly came in to take mouthfuls of four or five tiny worms each every few minutes. They are both kinda weird looking with an oddly tall head and strange eyes that these pictures don't show so I think there is some robin incest going on, but they're charmers nonetheless and their chicks will dine well, tonight.   This was super-useful because my urge to feed their nascent, white trash brood kept me weeding for an extra half hour or so.
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May 10, 2020 20:31
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Endie posted:In a bonus, the dairy/lamb/barley farmer next door had no seed tatties to plant in his back garden, so I gave him half of mine last week (cost: nine pounds). As a result, he just used his manitou (cost: £50k) to move three tons of compost next to my raised beds saving me a few miles of back and forth with the wheelbarrow That's a nice trade.
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May 10, 2020 21:11
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My gardening basically started at the same time my peanut allergy emerged and for the life of me I'll never understand where the hell all those peanut shells in my garden come from. Occasionally I'll voice that to someone and they'll look at me like I'm insane, so this last page of the thread just gave me a lot of inner peace. Thank you.
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May 10, 2020 23:07
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Ordered 25 trees to plant in the 1/3rd acre grassy part of our back yard. My hope is that eventually they will supply enough shade to kill or slow down the grass. Going to be fun planting them all when they arrive. Black walnut, butternut, 3 kinds of oak, sugar maple, hackberry, sour cherry and a couple of plums. Our realtor gave us a highbush cranberry plant so I planted that in the yard and wow is our soil full of clay. Now I'm glad we ordered a huge load of dirt. The trees are going to need it.
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May 10, 2020 23:59
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Squibbles posted:Ordered 25 trees to plant in the 1/3rd acre grassy part of our back yard. My hope is that eventually they will supply enough shade to kill or slow down the grass. Going to be fun planting them all when they arrive. Black walnut, butternut, 3 kinds of oak, sugar maple, hackberry, sour cherry and a couple of plums. The black walnuts won't need the shade to kill everything under them, they just do that. And when any of them get big enough they will just suck all the water out of the soil and kill everything. I can't imagine putting 25 trees on 1/3 acre. You'll be cutting half or more of them down in 10 years unless you are buying them on dwarf rootstock and aggressively trimming hem.
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May 11, 2020 00:37
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Motronic posted:The black walnuts won't need the shade to kill everything under them, they just do that. And when any of them get big enough they will just suck all the water out of the soil and kill everything. Yeah the walnuts are going against the edge of the yard. I'm expecting not all of them will make it. Also here in Halifax it's quite windy so trees tend to stay smaller than in a lot of other places. Or so I hear
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May 11, 2020 01:20
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Black walnut is good to sell. I've still got a few to go but yeah, if I had any kind of green thumb I wouldn't plant more. That's a hateful (but pretty) tree.
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May 11, 2020 01:46
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I love black walnuts—on others’ land.
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May 11, 2020 01:50
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On the plus side we have 1.5 acres total and the back of our property and the sides backs onto basically unfinished/unmaintained land so the neighbours won't care that all the walnuts are rolling down the hill away from our land. Also the previous owners added a ton of fill to our yard so it's up higher than the surrounding land. The down side is it's absolutely chalk full of clay.
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May 11, 2020 02:06
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Squibbles posted:On the plus side we have 1.5 acres total and the back of our property and the sides backs onto basically unfinished/unmaintained land so the neighbours won't care that all the walnuts are rolling down the hill away from our land. Also the previous owners added a ton of fill to our yard so it's up higher than the surrounding land. The down side is it's absolutely chalk full of clay. They are pretty trees for sure. But the other posters are wise when they urge caution. Don't plant them near anything you wish to see in 10 years still, they're very good at killing everything that's growing around them. Keep them as far away from any fruit trees as possible if you want to get fruit from those trees. My parents have a lot of clay too, and they've not had issues with trees for the most part. You just might want a machine for digging holes if you don't have one already. That stuff gets really heavy quickly, especially if you're working it with any soil. Also, don't add sand to the clay. It goes hard like concrete and will mess with the drainage you do get. It's not a good thing to learn from experience.
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May 11, 2020 02:44
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Jhet posted:They are pretty trees for sure. But the other posters are wise when they urge caution. Don't plant them near anything you wish to see in 10 years still, they're very good at killing everything that's growing around them. Keep them as far away from any fruit trees as possible if you want to get fruit from those trees. My parents have a lot of clay too, and they've not had issues with trees for the most part. You just might want a machine for digging holes if you don't have one already. That stuff gets really heavy quickly, especially if you're working it with any soil. Yeah, we're going to follow the planting guide from the place we bought them (http://www.hardyfruittrees.ca/tutorials/2014/01/26/how-to-plant-a-bare-rooted-tree) Apparently some plants don't mind the black walnut. e.g. supposedly butternut is not affected by the black walnut plague. I'm going to plant the walnuts on the north-west edge of the property and any fruit trees on the south-east end, opposite from them so yeah I'll be keeping them far away. The literature I found specifically mentioned Black walnut, and sugar maple not minding black walnut presence so They will be providing a buffer from everything else
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May 11, 2020 03:23
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Not veggie related but are you sure those are robins? They almost look like odd barn swallows or something.
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May 11, 2020 16:56
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BaseballPCHiker posted:Not veggie related but are you sure those are robins? They almost look like odd barn swallows or something. op is in the uk and you're in america, when you say 'robin' you probably each mean a different type i'm from neither of those places so when you say 'robin' i think of batman
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May 11, 2020 17:06
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Shifty Pony posted:Black cherry, just getting completely worked over by spider mites. This is tragic! Black Cherry is one of my favorite varieties and I hope you win the war. Rather than/in addition to spraying, if you can prune off the most affected areas it might give it a decent chance at recovery. That ugly stuff in the middle isn't going to come back, so treat it like cancer surgery and cut that infestation out. The new growth on top looks pretty healthy and seems like it's still putting out blooms so I don't think it's a lost cause. It's only May, after all.
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May 11, 2020 18:07
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MY BABIES ARE FINALLY HOME. Picked them up in what will go down in history as the strangest plant sale I've ever been to. The Scarlet Sunrise are strong and healthy. The Ramapo has such pretty leaves! Kinda purply veins. And a bitter gourd, because we love bitter gourd curry. Potted them up into temporary homes for the next week, as it's still going to be in the 30s overnight here x.x  Ignore the trump vape it's not supposed to be there. And hello little spidey pup you have neighbors now. edit: eeew, my majesty palm... disolved? It started looking terrible the last week, and I was trimming some browning fronds, and they just came out. The middle was completely pulped. RIP Palm, you tried. But now I have a spare 8 gallon pot to grow food in. Suspect Bucket fucked around with this message at 21:53 on May 11, 2020 |
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May 11, 2020 19:57
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A Pack of Kobolds posted:This is tragic! Black Cherry is one of my favorite varieties and I hope you win the war. Rather than/in addition to spraying, if you can prune off the most affected areas it might give it a decent chance at recovery. That ugly stuff in the middle isn't going to come back, so treat it like cancer surgery and cut that infestation out. The new growth on top looks pretty healthy and seems like it's still putting out blooms so I don't think it's a lost cause. It's only May, after all. I went ahead and aggressively pruned them, worst case they don't make it which is exactly whats going to happen if I don't do anything. Even the new growth is covered but taking out most of the older stuff makes it easier to spray at least.
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May 11, 2020 20:33
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Shifty Pony posted:I went ahead and aggressively pruned them, worst case they don't make it which is exactly whats going to happen if I don't do anything. Even the new growth is covered but taking out most of the older stuff makes it easier to spray at least. Good luck! One other thing you might try is to use your nitrile-gloved fingers to physically squish/remove the eggs with a sweeping motion from the undersides of the leaves before you spray. It doesn't take much pressure, and anything you can do to disrupt their reproduction cycle will likely be beneficial. You'll want to shower and change clothes before you go near the rest of your garden, though. You're gonna have some hop-ons, and they should die instead of finding new homes in your healthy plants. Please post updates regardless: I want to see if they'll bounce back, and I hope that you get some distinct and delicious tomatoes out of it!
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May 11, 2020 22:13
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My mom planted a garden at her new place and offered me some extra herbs she didn't have room for. I haven't taken them yet because I don't really have a set up for anything but I was doing some research and I think I could definitely set some stuff up for sub-irrigated planters. Found a nice video and it seems very doable, and it seems like it doesn't take up a TON of space which is ideal. Not sure how to deal with having it on our balcony, we don't really get any direct sunlight on the deck but it's still fairly warm outside, we're right on the coast in san diego and it's around 80ish now that summer's starting to roll in. I'm thinking definitely cilantro and parsley, and maybe grabbing some seeds for zucchini and maybe spinach although tbh i have no idea if that'll work now since apparently that's more of a cool season plant. Any help is appreciated, I'm looking into materials and stuff now. For reference here's the video I found the other day.
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May 12, 2020 00:00
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Spinach does not like heat and will bolt. All those herbs should do very well in containers but I imagine you'll need some big rear end pots to pull off zucchini. That's a big plant.
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May 12, 2020 00:10
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mischief posted:Spinach does not like heat and will bolt. All those herbs should do very well in containers but I imagine you'll need some big rear end pots to pull off zucchini. That's a big plant. Was planning on like 5 gallon buckets although that seems like a waste for herbs, maybe one five gallon and a few smaller ones, idk how much of a yield i can get from just cliantro or parsley. not even sure where to get seeds for those TBH
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May 12, 2020 00:29
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Cilantro will appreciate the shade and parsley is generally pretty prolific in nature. Really most herbs are surprisingly tough and you should be able to grow a useful amount in containers.
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May 12, 2020 00:38
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A 5 gallon bucket is crazy overkill for herbs. Look for something shallower with more surface area, like a little trough or windowbox. You could do a very decent tomato plant in that bucket, though.
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May 12, 2020 00:38
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I am told you can do curbits in 5gals, it carefully managed. That's what I'm trying at least!
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May 12, 2020 00:41
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A Pack of Kobolds posted:A 5 gallon bucket is crazy overkill for herbs. Look for something shallower with more surface area, like a little trough or windowbox. You could do a very decent tomato plant in that bucket, though. I just happen to have a few 5 gallon buckets sitting around, but I'm not very picky. Might use two of them for zucchini and some other vegetable, maybe onions or something? Not sure if I could really do onions, i've heard those need a lot of horizontal space. I'll try and get something flatter for the herbs though, good suggestion. Figured the 5g was way too much. Actually I'd LOVE to get some wheatgrass growing because my rabbit destroys wheatgrass like there's no tomorrow and he'd love more of it, but i've heard it's similar to mint in that it will completely take over my entire setup unless I'm really careful with it. Looking at my balcony I'm actually not sure it EVER gets direct sunlight. I'll need to check I guess. this should be step 1 probably lmao Thumbtacks fucked around with this message at 01:10 on May 12, 2020 |
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May 12, 2020 00:49
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Does anyone have any idea what is making these holes? I've never seen them before, but they are ALL OVER my yard now. I also have a poo poo ton of anthills, if that may be related. The anthills I've had every spring now though. I've thrown down ant-bait each year and they are mitigated, but these holes are new and mysterious.  
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May 12, 2020 01:11
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SouthShoreSamurai posted:Does anyone have any idea what is making these holes? I've never seen them before, but they are ALL OVER my yard now. I also have a poo poo ton of anthills, if that may be related. The anthills I've had every spring now though. I've thrown down ant-bait each year and they are mitigated, but these holes are new and mysterious. I'd wager one or more moles.
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May 12, 2020 03:13
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BaseballPCHiker posted:Not veggie related but are you sure those are robins? They almost look like odd barn swallows or something. Yep, they're robins (erithacus rubecula) aka "Robin Red-Breast" in the UK. They're pretty smart, feisty, opportunistic birds that quickly get used to humans and that you see a lot of if you garden in Britain. If you google "robin on a fork handle" you'll see hundreds of pictures: if you disturb the soil for three days in a row you'll find you have one for a companion and if that doesn't make you happy then you have to register as a foreigner in our brave, post-Brexit future because they're as British as roast beef and thinly-veiled snobbery. My picture sucked because it was evening and I should get a new phone.
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May 12, 2020 10:57
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SouthShoreSamurai posted:Does anyone have any idea what is making these holes? I've never seen them before, but they are ALL OVER my yard now. I also have a poo poo ton of anthills, if that may be related. The anthills I've had every spring now though. I've thrown down ant-bait each year and they are mitigated, but these holes are new and mysterious. It's a cicada year
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May 12, 2020 13:15
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Speaking of birds, looks like I've got some eating a few seeds/seedlings in my garden. Might could also be squirrels or other small animals, but either way I probably need to build some netting around them. I wish there was a way to only attract birds that eat the things I don't want in my garden, like various grubs, beetles, and such that eat my plants, while leaving the seeds, plants, and good bugs/worms alone.
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May 12, 2020 14:13
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poeticoddity posted:I'd wager one or more moles. They're not really big enough for moles (they're all like an inch across). Also there are literally hundreds of holes. NomNomNom posted:It's a cicada year  This looks exactly like what it probably is, though. Nature is weird.
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May 12, 2020 21:13
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Arrgytehpirate posted:Even covered, my basil died in that freak freeze we had on Friday night. I think I’m going to rip them up and use the container for a radish harvest while the weather warms. I also just lost all my basil to an unexpected cold snap. Basil is the one supposedly easy plant that I always manage to kill. It's definitely the first plant to make me take temperature seriously as a somewhat new gardener. My tomatoes also suffer from the British weather outdoors but I just plant enough of them to accept the attrition. I'm on my second year of amateur urban vegetable growing, and once again attempting to grow a ludicrously unsuitable variety of vegetables in plastic pots. Thankfully all my seeds are free so I can go nuts on futile endeavours like trying to grow aubergines outside in 5°C because if I just plant enough one or two might make it. Parsley is the true super herb though, it survives winters outdoors in little pots no problem and carries on producing the following year. I'm just going to lean into that and have fresh parsley with every meal from now on whether the recipe calls for it or not. My potatoes, courgettes and onions also do brilliantly which takes the sting out of everything else.
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May 12, 2020 22:22
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Captain Mediocre posted:Parsley is the true super herb though, it survives winters outdoors in little pots no problem and carries on producing the following year. I'm just going to lean into that and have fresh parsley with every meal from now on whether the recipe calls for it or not. My potatoes, courgettes and onions also do brilliantly which takes the sting out of everything else. Mint will sidle up to your parsley, suffocate it in its (flower)bed, then continue to take over the garden like a tastier version of Japanese Knotweed.
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May 13, 2020 08:45
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