The Official Gardening Thread

[mikexmoran]

Re: 2012 Official Gardening Thread

Today I decided that I'm getting too old to weed the areas around my fencing where I would plant vegetables. If it aint a shrub it is going and I'm going to put down those white rocks.

 

[Facetious]

Re: 2012 Official Gardening Thread

I picked my first three tomatoes today! :clap:... It's odd that those three tomatoes happened to be the lowest hanging fruit on the vine.. surrounded by foliage... ripening in damn near complete darkness only to be in the direct path of transitory Norway Rats! :ak47:
Fuckers, why not consume the tomato they started on instead of taking chunks out of 2 leaving me with only one good tomato?


Bastards!
:o

 

[Petra]

Re: 2012 Official Gardening Thread

I've been looking at plans for small gardens and I think I might go with tiered beds on the side flowerbeds and against the shed (in those shaped bricks that can be used as individual flower pots) and then do a pyramid raised bed in the center of the garden.

Won't be able to do any big veggies with this set-up like potatoes, but I'll be able to do carrots, garlic, lettuce, herbs etc.

 

[RichardNailder]

Re: 2012 Official Gardening Thread

I picked my first three tomatoes today! :clap:... It's odd that those three tomatoes happened to be the lowest hanging fruit on the vine.. surrounded by foliage... ripening in damn near complete darkness only to be in the direct path of transitory Norway Rats! :ak47:
Fuckers, why not consume the tomato they started on instead of taking chunks out of 2 leaving me with only one good tomato?


Bastards!
:o

That's pretty typical for a transplanted tomato plant Whatever blossoms were fertilized on the plant before it is transplanted proceed the rest of the tomatoes by a week or more. I'm assuming this happens because of the shock of transplanting. Also, few fruits need to be or even prefer to get too much direct sunlight. The leaves are the primary photosynthesizing organ of a plant and people that remove leaves so that the fruit can get more sun are usually doing more harm than good.

A good terrier can keep the rats out of the garden.

 

[D-rock]

Re: 2012 Official Gardening Thread

Is anybody familiar with fruit trees? Is getting a dwarf or semi-dwarf version of a fruit tree ever worth it? The very few people I could ask haven't had much luck with them and wished they would have just gotten a normal one.

 

[jinxypie]

Re: 2012 Official Gardening Thread

Is anybody familiar with fruit trees?

Well, I planted my pear tree and my apple tree like six or seven years ago, and have yet to get any real good fruit off of 'em except the first year - got 2 pears. Since then, fruit (usually) grows, but gets eaten by squirrels or bugs before it gets ripe enough. Now, I'm not certain if they were dwarf or semi-dwarf, but my apple tree looks really short/small to me. :dunno: Yes, I know that didn't help you in any way, but it gave me a chance to talk about my fruit trees. :tongue:

Oddly enough, as I was mowing grass this evening I noticed I have about four apples still growing on the tree!!! I thought for sure they had been killed early on. They seem to have appeared out of nowhere, I hadn't seen them up until now.

 

[lurkingdirk]

Re: 2012 Official Gardening Thread

If you plant fruit trees, it is always better to plant at least four of each type that you choose. I know that's hard for space, but they will cross pollinate better, and produce way more fruit. This is a good reason for the dwarf trees, with which I have had excellent success in the past. I'm starting to get an area ready now for the fall, when all the fruit trees are on sale, and when it is a good time to plant them. I'm going to do 6 each of 3 varieties of apples (not yet decided) and pears.

I have no experience with the ultra-dwarf (or whatever) trees.

 

[Petra]

Re: 2012 Official Gardening Thread

If you plant apple trees, make sure you do your research. There are several types of trees that need another variety in order to get pollinated. Also, if you live in an area where there's orchards, you absolutely HAVE to keep up with your spraying. Otherwise pests like the tent caterpillar will get blown over to the orchard and infest it since they die only the moment of spraying, not if they end up there afterwards.

That was one of the hardest things of having an orchard, all the people who wanted fruit trees but didn't want to properly take care of them. We were always going to the county and they were forever having to warn people and pull out their trees.

 

[squallumz]

Re: 2012 Official Gardening Thread

we used to have a ton of fruit trees. i miss those. grapefruit, orange, apple, lime, guava, lemon, and the best plums ive ever had in my life.

out in az, we had a grapefruit tree. the keyword is "had." dried up, chopped up the wood.

 

[squallumz]

Re: 2012 Official Gardening Thread

im still waiting on my bell peppers to make some food. and the broccoli. theyve been in the ground since spring and still waiting! the broc, i get but the bell pepper needs to shake a damn leg.

also..why the fuck do carrots take a million years?

 

[bobjustbob]

Re: 2012 Official Gardening Thread

My spinach didn't make it. I used the food and tried planting more. No good. I must have gotten a batch of bad seeds. The herbs and mesculun are thriving. Thought I lost my parsley but after I cut the dead ones little ones started popping up. I think I'll do a 3rd planting of the mesculun. I know it's late but I can always bring the pots inside when it starts to get cold.

 

[squallumz]

Re: 2012 Official Gardening Thread

we were able to get some spinach on my side. good shit too! we still have some survivor tomatoes too. every year, we learn more and more. cant wait til next spring.

 

[jinxypie]

Re: 2012 Official Gardening Thread

Anyone have experience with grapes or muscadines? I thought about getting some, even though it'll be a few years before they really get going.

 

[lurkingdirk]

Re: 2012 Official Gardening Thread

Anyone have experience with grapes or muscadines? I thought about getting some, even though it'll be a few years before they really get going.

I don't know anything about muscadines (nice link, interesting to read!), but I'm looking to put about a half-acre of grapes in. I have a clear area to do it, it's the right kind of soil, and I'm in a part of the country where grapes do really well. I hope to make a couple hundred bottles of wine a year, both to drink and give away. What do you think, lurkingdirk has a nice ring for a bottle of wine, no? I just have to choose the grape.

What I do know about growing them is that it is best to have a slight slope to the area where you plant them. They don't like to have wet roots/bottoms. If you can ensure there will never be standing water (ie. put them on a slope), that's good. You also want southern exposure - the more sunlight hours, the better. Sun is what fills the grapes with sugar. Nutrient-poor soil will produce large bunches of small grapes. Nutrient rich soil produces larger, juicier grapes. Figure out what type of grape will be suited to your area before you buy.

 

[squallumz]

Re: 2012 Official Gardening Thread

we ate some of our harvest collard greens last night.

ohhh man they were good. and without all the ham and shit. just simmered them with some veggie stock. good shit.

 

[bobjustbob]

Re: 2012 Official Gardening Thread

So I decide to dump the rest of my mesculun seeds into the deck box and spread a thin covering on them and hope for the best. BANG! 3 days later they are coming through. Note to self: Buy more mesculun.

I don't know about where you are but here in NJ, just when you think the tomatoes have run their course you will still be picking them for weeks. I might try some next year. Only 2 each of jerseys, plumbs, and grape. Just have to ready myself for making a shit load of sauce once they start going nuts.

 

[lurkingdirk]

Re: 2012 Official Gardening Thread

So I decide to dump the rest of my mesculun seeds into the deck box and spread a thin covering on them and hope for the best. BANG! 3 days later they are coming through. Note to self: Buy more mesculun.

I don't know about where you are but here in NJ, just when you think the tomatoes have run their course you will still be picking them for weeks. I might try some next year. Only 2 each of jerseys, plumbs, and grape. Just have to ready myself for making a shit load of sauce once they start going nuts.

No kidding. I thought I had gotten pretty much all of what I was going to from my tomatoes, but it looks like I'll have a couple bushel more. I got canning jars today, we'll be having our own tomatoes well into the winter this year.

 

[bobjustbob]

Re: 2012 Official Gardening Thread

Years back when my Dad had his garden we did the canning thing. What a pain in the ass. I figure that if I am also growing herbs then make some different sauces and ziplock them into by little chest freezer. The best $150 I ever spent. That thing has paid for it's self 25 fold.

 

[lurkingdirk]

Re: 2012 Official Gardening Thread

Years back when my Dad had his garden we did the canning thing. What a pain in the ass. I figure that if I am also growing herbs then make some different sauces and ziplock them into by little chest freezer. The best $150 I ever spent. That thing has paid for it's self 25 fold.

Absolutely!

Here's something I do. I spend a few weeks at the end of the season harvesting all of my remaining herbs. Use ice-cube trays to freeze them with just a touch of water, and, once they are frozen, you have easy to use portions of all your favourite herbs. Just keep them in a freezer ziplock, and use a cube as you need it.

 

[squallumz]

Re: 2012 Official Gardening Thread

my tomatoes have mocked me this year. i still have a plant hanging on. its a stupid plant with no tomatoes.

im blaming the bee disappearance.