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ChaoticSeven, I'm seething with jealousy over all that amazing land. I can only dream of having that kind of garden space. I have the shadiest yard imaginable, and the only spot with any decent sun is right up against the street. Still, I dug out a couple of beds and I'm ready for tomato time! I even built a little woven branch fence to deter people from letting their dogs on the beds. Gotta make do with what we have...but oh, for all that land and hours to spend gardening...that's really my dream.
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Mar 31, 2009 17:15
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I love seeing the variety of gardens in this thread--krushgroove's containers, the various allotments, ChaoticSeven's motherfuckin FARM. It's really cool to see people using the space they have to grow food, even if it's just a little bit. On another, sadder note, this blog post really struck a chord with me. Gayla Trail is a really cool and talented gardener/author in Toronto, she wrote a really easy to follow book for new gardeners geared towards young women; I picked it up a few years ago and it's a great read and a good resource. Anyway, the post is about the destruction of her street garden that she has been keeping up for twelve years in her neighborhood. Just a sad story of how people don't respect nature or beautiful things and end up trashing it so it's as dirty as they feel inside.  But it's also a testament to the power of gardening, and the reasons why we keep going, despite the many setbacks a gardener has to face throughout the season. So in that sense, I found it rather affirming.
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Apr 17, 2009 21:36
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I killed the poo poo out of my borage seedlings and possibly my green goddess eggplant because I am an impatient dumbass who never remembers to test new insecticides on ONE LEAF ONLY. I wanted to try pure neem oil this year, instead of buying the pre-mixed pricy sprays at the garden center, so I picked up a couple of bottles at the Indian grocery. I didn't bother to check the dilution ratios and just dumped it in with some water and a few drops of dish soap, and hosed down the borage and eggplant to try to get rid of some caterpillars. Well, woke up this morning to dead, brown borage and a very damaged eggplant. I'll have to start over with the borage, and hope that the eggplant makes it. Ugh. I did this last year with baking soda for powdery mildew. I never learn.
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May 14, 2009 17:51
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Neem oil is kind of the wonder drug for plants. Just about any and all diseases or pests can be eliminated with it. If it's used correctly, that is. :P
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May 14, 2009 18:33
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Aero737 posted:Hi, This isn't really veggie or herb related, but there is no general landscaping/gardening thread so here it is. Well, this isn't exactly what you're aiming for, but I've always liked the idea of themed gardens based on plant usage. The Chelsea Physic Garden is a great example. It's divided up based on medicinal plants, apothecary's gardens, scented gardens, and so on. Just an idea if you might be interested in other themes.
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May 18, 2009 21:44
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SKeefe posted:My peppers are doing the exact same thing. We've had tons of rain, cloudy days, and too many cool nights. The past weekend when it was in the high 80s with plenty of sunshine has perked them right back up, the leaves have almost completely straightened out and there are now little baby peppers on them.
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Jun 1, 2009 15:27
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HeatherChandler posted:My lettuce is bolting, but oh well when there are tomatoes. Be careful when you lovingly fondle your little baby tomatoes. I broke off one of my romas yesterday while I was admiring it and I felt so bad. I buried it for worm food.
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Jun 8, 2009 17:50
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Oh god. I think I have some kind of wilt in my soil. My mortgage lifter tomato, covered in big beautiful green 'maters, is showing all the signs--yellow, wilting leaves, brownish wet looking spots. It may also be affecting the Cherokee Purple and Roma. Pray for me. And tell me what I can plant in that bed next year that isn't affected by F or V wilt, because I think that's what I got.
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Jun 20, 2009 18:17
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Zeta Taskforce posted:Your best bet is to grow resistant varieties next year, of which there are many. Look for varieties that have V & F after them. That will probably mean planting a newer hybrid variety; no more heirlooms. No more heirlooms?? I am weeping forever. Is it all right to plant resistant varieties in the same bed next year? I have very limited garden space, unfortunately.
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Jun 22, 2009 16:43
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HeatherChandler posted:With limited space, I'd say go the container route. Don't give up on heirlooms, just don't grow them in the ground. I did have good success with heirlooms in large rubbermaid containers last year; the problem was they got so big they eventually fell over when the wind was strong! ETA: Nevermind! Wikipedia is my friend. FuzzyDunlop fucked around with this message at 16:40 on Jun 24, 2009 |
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Jun 24, 2009 16:24
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Neem oil for the hornworms. Add a few drops of dishsoap to a liter of water, then maybe a teaspoon of neem (which you can get in the beauty section of Indian groceries.) Shake it up good, then spray the poo poo out of the leaves and tomatoes. Just make sure to test on a leaf or two first, and don't do it during the hottest/sunniest parts of the day. Otherwise you might end up with a dead plant. Seriously though, other than picking off the hornworms and smashing them, this is the best method of control I've found. And it lasts a good long while because the plant absorbs the neem, and bugs hate the taste. VVV try neem oil! Seriously, most bugs can't stand the stuff. It's organic, all natural, all that poo poo. I hear they use it for abortions in India. FuzzyDunlop fucked around with this message at 17:39 on Jun 29, 2009 |
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Jun 28, 2009 16:56
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I hate to admit it, but I'm starting to get tired of the tomatoes. Not eating them, of course, but rather the worrying that always seems to accompany growing them. Every year, it's some new blight or fungus or wilt, every year I wrangle to keep my huge heirlooms (probably eight feet now) confined in my tiny garden space, every year I feel like I stop enjoying them around this time of year and just worry, worry, worry. So I'm thinking next year, maybe I will switch things up, go with only determinate. Something hardy and bred to fight off disease that I can find easily at the garden center. It's not as flashy as growing heirlooms, but honestly, I am getting tired of dealing with all the problems they have. I'm also thinking about planting some squash and zucchini in my big containers, now that the tomato production has slowed due to disease, and since we'll be boiling hot well into October. I will have to get creative with the garden space, though. But now that the borage is blooming its rear end off and the bees are abundant, at least I wouldn't have to worry so much about pollination like I did last year. I need some new baby plants to coo and fawn over.
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Jul 24, 2009 14:48
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Banana Factory, I'm really into putting up my tomatoes as sauce and salsa, so the issue with determinate production doesn't sound entirely terrible to me. We're lucky to have some good farmer's markets around, so I could easily satisfy my heirloom craving in the meantime. I did have my heirlooms in containers last year, the trouble was 1.) keeping them upright and 2.) they still got a shitload of fungus diseases. I have thought of ways to keep them from falling over, like using wire and stakes to pin down the containers, but they still grew just as large last year as my ground-planted ones this year. But the fungus...oh the fungus. I've been spraying milk like crazy, but these Georgia summers are just awful for disease.
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Jul 24, 2009 15:25
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I had bigger pots than that, if you can believe it. Giant Rubbermaid containers, with cages and stakes. A few days in August we had strong winds, and that tipped them right over. By that point the plants were around 8 feet, so even with the million pounds of soil in the containers, they were top-heavy. And I prune my suckers, oh yes. I think that's part of the reason why my tomatoes get so tall. Georgia summers are incredibly humid, which is why fungus can be a problem for us. And hot as loving balls. NC doesn't seem to get that bad, which is why I'm usually running for the mountains this time of year. 
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Jul 24, 2009 16:17
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