23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
glib -- yes, as zeedman mentioned, they definitely turn orange when mature. And I like the flavor much better than when immature. (as in, I'd rather grow zucchini for summer, and trombocino as a "we went to the beach and the zucchini got huge" kind of squash)
good luck with the chips, zeed!
You seem to be raising them in fortified potting soil. Therefore you will have to feed them like potted plants. Granted, you will have less weeds. I prefer to raise them in soil amended with good things. Strawberries are shallow rooted and they get thirsty quickly.
Putting straw over them during winter is good and it is good to leave lots of it around the plants in the spring.
" I tried the meals they make with those corn. The corn kernels are larger than sweet corn and may be also larger than regular "
IF you liked the meal it made, you may plant some for meal...remembering that it can cross with your sweet corn if not managed with timing.
Onions (all types) are normally planted much earlier, months before last frost date. Even when using transplants. Direct seeding is even earlier. Like most alliums they are very cold tolerant so last frost date isn't really relevant to planting them.
I start my plants from seed in late Nov. and plant transplants in the garden in late January.
It may seem over-simplified as all types will grow anywhere when planted at the correct time. But the type classification is geared toward "best bulb size", DTM, color/flavor (important to many), and storage life, NOT planting dates.
Dave
Months before the last frost the ground will be snow covered and frozen. Even 4-6 weeks before the last frost the ground will not be workable. They will have to be transplanted as soon as the ground can be worked, which will be around April 1st. (That still gives only 30 days to grow greens for a 14 hour onion)
I pulled the trigger on the long-day sampler, Lancelot Leeks from Dixondale, Beauregard Sweet Potatoes from Steele, and Kennebec from Potato Garden. I've got all my seeds picked out but waiting until next month to order those.
This post was edited by Peter1142 on Sun, Dec 28, 14 at 12:49
zeedman, I used 3 inches of mixed sizes of sand...mixed with 4 inches of local peat moss [90% sphagnum]. This was all mixed into the top 7 inches of topsoil.
My county soil survey says that in my area it is mostly Blount, Pewamo, and with tads of Morley, Brookston, and Crosby. Most of these soils are productive but slow draining. They are silt loams with silty clay loam in the lower and darker soils. I probably have Pewamo and maybe Brookston in the lower ends of 2 gardens. These are great soils if drained and even better when 'lightened'.
This post was edited by wayne_5 on Sat, Dec 27, 14 at 10:20
I can see dumping logs deep in the pit that the backhoe makes, but if you're going to be growing that season, keep those logs well under the topsoil that the plants are actually growing in. In my view, hugelcultur is a long-range proposition. In fact, after those logs have been down there for a few years, that's when to get the backhoe out and stir them up.
There is little sense in using a backhoe for routine (as in seasonal) tillage. But it may be the only way to develop the soil deeply in the long run.
I don't see see any contradiction, and I guess I'm not sure if you're agreeing or disagreeing.
Chalker-Scott says that "One of the most frustrating myths is that wood chip mulches rob your soil of nitrogen. Absolutely not true!" That's correct. In fact, the nitrogen retention in compost is highest in high C/N mixes (aka wood chips/sawdust). But the soil microbes are using that soil nitrogen at the same time that your plants are trying to. So indeed they're not robbing the soil of nitrogen, they're robbing the plants of nitrogen.
She also says that "A mulch is simply a topdressing. An amendment is worked into the soil." So she's not talking about tilling wood chips into the soil. She's saying that woodchips make a fabulous mulch=top dressing, which is exactly what we're all saying.
ZACKEY, I give potatoes to my family and all my friends.
You should get some COVINGTON sweet potato slips
for next year. Here in North East N. C. I try to get my slips
planted by the 1st. week of MAY. This Covington is the
type that all the commercial growers here in N. C. plant.
They are very productive, look pretty in the grocery store and they taste great. That's what its all about for the big
growers. I always have extra slips left over if I can help.
You might have just had the bad luck of a couple sucky heads of cabbage too. I've had it happen with produce where suddenly for a couple purchases it wasn't good as expected- regardless of where it was bought from. Then just as inexplicably, it was good again.
The dense heads are the sweet ones. I pick mine by how heavy they feel relative to size. A really dense head is usually good. The light ones aren't worth buying. I'm pretty sure cool growing conditions lead to the denser, sweeter cabbage.
LOL... nice to see this thread get so much attention.
I'm with the side that says deterrents are worthless. Poison works. Beer works. Chickens(geese, etc)(no room for fowl though). I was just wondering if I could use my overabundance of yeast on them. I made a couple yeast traps and they did attract and kill some of those spirally snails. They look like decollate snails(which are supposed to eat slugs), but as many as the sprallies I have, one would figure that there wouldn't be a slug problem at all.
Seysonn: I suspect that the POISON you add to your eggshells et al is what's working. Not the actual eggshells and coffee grounds.
Kevin
Seysonn: I suspect that the POISON you add to your eggshells et al is what's working. Not the actual eggshells and coffee grounds.
Kevin
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Maybe so. But the other stuff at least works as a substrate so i just use a little bit of the poison. That also lasts longer because of the drainage. So I get a big bang for the buck, at least. Next year I will experiment methodologically .
Seysonn
I've found varieties but can't find 1 vendor that carries all. I went order 4 pkg. from one vendor and they wanted $8+ for mailing.
Yes that is the reality of the situation. You won't find just one vendor that has everything you want and need.
But the seed packets store almost indefinitely so it is a one time expense.
Dave
Concur; It is difficult if not impossibel to find a single vendor who carries all the varieties one may want. While folks grow all types of regular size vegetables in containers by growing vertical ( trellis) small compact plants are desirable under many conditions. The two categories that need this are cucubits (squash melons and cucumbers) and solanums (tomatoes eggplants and peppers) Corn is not a great container plant but shorter >5 ft plants will work.
Several vendors carry Bush cucucumbers either pickling or slicers. There are lots of bush melons and even a few bush watermelons). Most summer squash wil work, even tho zucchini plants can get a bit large. The round types like Cueball, One Ball, Eight Ball, Lucky 8 are a bit more compact.. Winter squash, look for bush types. As for tomatoes, regular indeterminates pruned to a single or double leader and trellised work well. If not the there are lots of compact varieties available ranging from Patio to Arbason. As for eggplant Hansel and Gretel are popular but there are other compact varieties available. Peppers should not be a problem.
Here is a link that might be useful: Container tomatoes
jeanwedding - That is actually quite an interesting idea. Not very natural looking but definitely functional. I personally would place boards under each box row rather than using just landscape fabric to hold in the soil, but it certainly would not be necessary to have all that extra work and expense.
A person could also place the pallets vertically in a chevron pattern by attaching the two pallets together on the vertical side. Running a horizontal brace, say a 1x4, between the two open ends would lock it together. Might be sun issues on the back side but would be easier picking all around.
I am tempted to try this next season just to test out the concept, as I know a few people who have space issues but would love to have strawberries.
Called "pallet gardening" there is lots of info on the web about it. Kind of a fad things for those with limited space at first it has caught on well and is even used to make in-ground beds if space permits. When laid flat on the ground no backing is required. Some lay them on cardboard, some on landscape fabric. But if you use boards they will need drain holes or will become water-logged. Of course not all plants will work in them but many things will.
How To Pallet Garden
Pics linked below give lots of ideas.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Pallet gardening