23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

Maybe it's just that there is no such forum for english-speakers (opportunity knocks?).

By stand-offish I merely mean that english speakers and northern europeans in general are much more reserved than latin language-speakers, as a generality. In brazilian portuguese they refer to this latter attribute as "calor-humano".

Regarding the situation between Mestizos and the more pure Colonials, yes, I think what you encountered is normal. No doubt what I see on that Spanish forum for the most part is Colonials interacting with Continentals.

I now return y'all to our more sheltered lives and gardens.....

Hi Blicky, and welcome.
I got a grin out of you defining Stonehenge for us. That is actually one of the things they do teach us about :)
Sounds like winter solstice 2012 there was quite a celebration! Cool to live so close.

I enjoyed your blog -- great photos! And very nice greenhouse.

Elisa

Now is a good time to take your borings and send them in, since now is a good time to add some of the ammendments mentioned. My county extension office offers soil tests for free, but I really like the UMASS testing laboratory as it gives more info about the soil (like mineral levels) They charge $10.00.

Here is a link that might be useful: umass soil testing

As I said above, contact your local county ag extension office - every state has them - for soil tests. The costs differ slightly state to state, here it is $15 for a full profile and $10 for just pH and basic NPK.

Bone meal is sold most anywhere that garden supplies are sold but it is only one of many sources of phos available.

Dave

eeeeyew on the cole slaw!!!!!!! rofl

"Flat" hose nozzle setting is like a power washer and gets all the dirt off my nails and hands. Best to do it when dirt is fresh and not dried on.

I thought those little white butterflies were nice and innocent. I used to let them fly freely and land on the plants.
NOT ANYMORE!

Aside from the new discovery of some worm, I still believe that the damage on the leave of the pak choy, SHOWN IN THE PHOTO, is environmental. Just look very closely to the big leaf on the left side. There are 4 tiny holes on it. it cannot possibly be the work of any worm, caterpillar, slug, snail,(maybe only flea beetle)... But it can be due to some object falling from a nearby tree (pine needle, just example). If this incident happens when the leaf is smaller, the holes will grow bigger as the plant tissue are pulling. I have personally, observed and monitored such things on eggplant leaves. The flea beetles make small holes and as leaves grow, the tiny holes get bigger and if it happens to be near the edge, the leaf would look like as if it has been torn.

Harsh water jet can also do similar damage on tender leaves, especially if there was some debries on the leaf.

I use my paper mulch (just a roll of Kraft paper) to suppress weeds and because I thought it'd be more breathable (not retain as much moisture) and not plastic, which I'd have to pick up at the end of the season.

I tried black paper a while back and it definitely warmed the soil.

~emmers

I live in cool summer climate Pacific NW at 500' in a clearing in the woods. Shade from tall trees, lack of air circulation from woods blocking airflow, wet spring weather, and lack of direct sunshine until sun position heightens in early summer = cool, wet spring soils that dislike mulch, tilling, or germinating seeds.

To combat this I add lots of organic matter in the fall, do not till in spring, wait until tulips drop petals to mulch the strawberries and spring planted vegetables.

Prewarm soil for heat lovers by removing mulch, adding black plastic, or red plastic for tomatoes. I do not direct seed any heat lovers, but do transplants waiting until soil is 60 degrees as well as day & night temps. Before then they need cold frame protection.

Hope it helps.

Oats can be raked into the soil if you want to plant it now.

In my zone 7 Red Russian Kale, Corn Salad (mache lettuce), and flat leaf parsley do a good job of covering until I can plant again in spring. All reseed, but are easily smothered with mulch. I don't know if they'll reseed in your area.

Sheet mulch with a layer of newspaper topped with your choice of veg garden mulch. I like dried grass clippings or partially composted shredded leaves. Both are lightweight & make a nice carpet. Mixed with coffee grounds they become nearly invisible from a distance if that matters.

So I got a very late start on my fall lettuce last year...so my cover crop ended up being black seeded Simpson. In early spring I tilled that bed heavily and racked out the dead lettuce and thoroeghly cleaned the bed... Three weeks later I am harvesting volunteer lettuce...very early, a welcomed surprise and oh so good.

Well, y'all, I'm not sad a-tall:

Apples are everywhere, cider is hardening in the kitchen, peppers and tomatoes are overflowing, the sun chokes are flowering, corn is getting close to bread-stage, more green beans than can be eaten....

It's a great season this year, just too many things to be done right now is the only problem.

I'm sad that the beans, cukes and tomatoes are done as well as the second crop of peas, but the greens are in their prime. There is so much labor now, taking down vines and trellises, making compost with the grass and newly falling leaves, emptying containers of deck plants as they die in the cold.

I garden till the snow and ice keep me from opening the fence gate. I also dream of an attached garden room in my house.How much fun that would be. I get away to a warmer place for a few weeks in winter and then start seeds indoors by March. I bide my time with swing dancing, hiking and otherhobbies indoors.

Also, this time of year we have fun picking apples at abandoned or public orchards and my friends' backyards. I make fruit nectars with my juicer. I love autumn, my favorite season

This post was edited by susanzone5 on Sat, Sep 21, 13 at 12:39

What did you feed those big bruisers, soilent?

Hudson...WY - Those look like some nice Yukons...

ltilton - I did not use any fertilizer but I did till compost into the soil in that area last spring when doing garden prep.

I think that dried paint isn't much of a hazard, or else we'd all be exposed to it all the time. I suspect that breathing in paint dust isn't good for you, but that's not what we're talking about here.

Again, methylene chloride has been "linked" to carcinogenicity, but the results of those studies are by no means conclusive. So the bottom line is that OSHA doesn't consider spray paint to be necessarily a carcinogen. No question that the stuff is an irritant. It'll do nasty stuff to you if you ingest a lot.

So yes, methylene chloride did land on your Mel's Mix, but it landed in your lungs as well. In both places, it was probably gone within an hour or so.

Got it Dan, thanks so much! With all the rain we've been getting here in Houston the past two days, I'm pretty sure anything that might have gotten into my MM is long gone by now either way. Thanks for your help!

You might want to try using a trowel and digging deeper. You might be happily surprised.

-Anne

With several plants still growing, the OP may not want to risk digging into those growing tubers. Safer to wait and dig them all together.

Egg Shell(sea shell): will take for ever to break down:

Wood Ash: Perfect for root system.

Coffee Ground: Good soil conditioner.

NOTE: Garlic and onions are BASICALLY leafy vegetables. They need Nitrogen more than any thing else. Potash is good too, but there is no need for Phosphorus . "P" is for flowering, blooming and fruits.
HOW DEEP:
Although it is good to condition the soil for a good depth, BUT garlic does not need more than 8- 10" of good soil. But In case you want also plant other veggies in there (Carrots, beets, turnips, ...) You will need more depth.

This post was edited by seysonn on Fri, Sep 20, 13 at 4:12

I tried planting garlic for the first time last fall. I also was using a raised bed.

Apparently for zone 4 that is a bad idea.

I just wasnt thinking it through. My beds are deep beds - aprox 24", and I planted the cloves in the outer perimeters. Every single one of them turned to mush. There simply wasnt enough insulation to protect them from our cold WI winters.

My motto for late fall and winter: every bed must be covered.

My choices for covering:
1. growing greens under hoops and fleece, (uncover to eat during thaws)
2. hay bales over carrots and parsnips, (kick the bale over, even in snow, and dig in Jan, Feb, March)
3. heavy mulch over leeks and rutabagas,(dig during winter thaws)
4. tangles of weeds that overtook things like the squash patches, (why plant a cover crop when it's already there? I just go around with a serrated knife and cut off the seed heads.)
5. a winter-kill cover crop like oats, (if ground is bare some place)
6. lasagne layers of manure or compost, and hay.(especially for the beds that need to be ready in early April for onions, leeks, peas, greens, broccoli, cabbage, etc.)

I keep a couple of beds for winter stuff, cause I still have tomatoes, tomatillas, and a few other things going for another month or so.
I've planted lettuce, chard, celery, radishes, chard and broccholi in those 2 beds, then as the other things are ready to come out I add compost and/or leaves and cover with cardboard to help prevent weeds (stabbed repeatedly for water to get through)
This is when I pay more attention to my compost, turning and adding leaves etc It seems like too much work in the summer when it's hot! Then I usually have a pretty good batch by spring. Nancy

Thank you. I just made some garlic onion spray and will give that a try.

It'll at least flavor your salads.