23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
I planted garlic in the Spring about 3 years ago. Major fail. Then I planted garlic two times so far in the Fall. The scapes were awesome to munch on. The garlics I planted were from local grocery stores, and some from Costco. They all had scapes.
I'm in zone 5, in Ontario. I plant the first week of October. I would not just leave your spring planted garlic in the ground. When 1/3 to 1/2 of the leaves have started to turn brown, dig it up and let it cure. You probably won't get full sized bulbs, but it will still be edible garlic.
I bought my initial planting stock about 5 years ago from a little organic grocery store that was selling "locally grown garlic." I figured if someone else was growing it locally, it would probably grow for me as well. That was the last time I ever bought garlic. Each year I plant in October, harvest in late July and then plant the biggest cloves back again in October. It is some variety of hardneck and we get lots of lovely scapes each spring.
Also, toddlers are not usually allowed to forage at will. Plus, we are taught to never eat anything in the yard without parent's permission. I grew up surrounded by Yew shrubs with those toxic 'berries ' yet was trained to be afraid to even touch them.
You can raise children to be safe in the garden. You'd be horrified if you knew how many toxic plants grow in the typical landscape.
Sounds like hornworms. Look for their frass (poop) on leaves - just above the frass you will likely find the worm. Blends in very well with tomato foliage. Pull off and drown in a soapy bucket of water. They start out quite small but grow rapidly as they eat tomato (and pepper) foliage and fruit.
Get 'em off as soon as you see the damage. I just had quite a go around with them - pulled off probably 20 in a few days. Looks like they are done for me...hopefully.
Spraying with BT was not an option for me because it never stopped raining until very recently. I also have about 30 tomato plants.
Thanks CethK - so would it be okay just to spread directly over the vege garden (and then cover it up with compost that im already making, top soil, etc) or should I add it to the compost pile for breaking down first. I'm guess I'm a bit unsure about how invasive agave plants are.
I tried that trick with a Farmer's Market bought celery recently and had zero luck. Finally bought a four-pack of celery plants and was surprised at how well they grew without a swamp or any special care.
Celery root (celeriac) is altogether different. It is easy to grow but takes a long growing season to size up and is slow to bring up to planting-out stage from seeds. Seedlings are miniscule for a long time--not the sort of things I would try sowing directly.
Sure, dried grass clippings is a very commonly used mulch with one provision, well two. First avoid direct contact with the stems as it can burn. It remains high nitrogen even when dried. And second, it has to be multi-layered to block weeds.
Dave
PS: no herbicides or lawn chems allowed. They can kill the plants.
Thanks for the advice - I guess I will look a little closer at the flowers and squash. We have had so much rain the last few weeks I just wasn't sure if that might be causing something different than I've seen before. I have tons of 2-3 inch squash and lots of flowers so maybe all is not lost.
This is my first year growing a garden my yellow summer squash is doing great but I have realized that I was not getting full grown squash! It would get about 2-3 inches an dies! Well after doing research I don't have very many male flowers! I have self pollinated all I can but so far I only have 1 squash an 22 dead little baby squash! Is this normal?
I would suggest using all the cardboard moving boxes in addition to the paper. Multiple layers of cardboard laid down first is a common practice when making a new bed and is one of the best weed suppressors. Put it down and then top with the paper and compost.
Then skip the tilling and just keep adding alternate layers of compost and soil on top - each several inches thick - and let it decompose down. Much easier and you end up up with weed-free beds and good rich soil. The cardboard will decompose over time and then you can till in a couple of years if you wish.
Examine the local compost carefully first. Talk to other users first. There has been a sharp increase in herbicide contaminated compost issues over the past couple of years and some of them will survive the composting process for as much as a year.
Dave
I've really gotten turned on to growing different kinds of potatoes and love their vivid flowers. Ck out Tom Wagner's site for an interesting read and lots of pix: http://tatermater.proboards.com/
Well, I missed my window of opportunity, and they were bitter today :(.
I cut them all, and stuck them in boiling water for 3 minutes. Still bitter. But 4 minutes worked :).
They have made lovely large beets, and I m still wondering if I'm doing the right thing, leaving them in the ground in hope of more leaves (which will presumably make the roots woody and icky),
Thing is, I still have beetroots in the fridge from the winter crop...
farmerdill, I agree that Merit isn't very sweet, but I don't really like the super sweets! I grew up eating field corn, it didn't have an actual name just a number, that I don't remember!
My Silver Queen is almost ready, I'm hoping for a little more flavor from it.
A guy that I work with and lives close to me brought in some Hybrid Super-sweet Corn last week and we grilled it. It wasn't sweet either.
One of my neighbors, that has a dairy, has sweet corn for sale. I stopped by and asked him about how his tasted. He knows that I grow my own and wasn't buying any. So he knew he wasn't losing a sale. He said his was bland too.
I asked him if I could buy a dozen ears of the field corn he was growing next to his garden for silage. He laughed and said that it tasted better than his sweet corn. He gave me a dozen and it was better! LOL
I am kinda new to gardening. (well, anything more than sugar snap peat and tomatoes)
I Just got back from vacation- it was really rainy while I was gone and rainy before I left.
My butternut squash and watermelon- which were young/small- all seem to be rotting. thankfully, there are more flowers and the hope of drier days. (my zucchini is very HAPPY in this rain! I have frozen shredded zucchini to keep me swimming in zucchini muffins all winter!)