23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
Snake gourd. There are two species, but your photo appears to be that of a Lagenaria sicraria. It is a form of bottle gourd commonly used as a zucchini substitute. A shorter variety is often vended as Cucuzza/Italian squash.
Here is a link that might be useful: snake gourd
Spinach is all around not easy to grow. It bolts very easily and is finicky about soils, as per previous posters. The yield is also not really worthwhile unless you are eating it raw. I prefer to grow beets and chard they are a bit more flexible.
Too bad those bastards Mc Veigh and Nicols did what they did or we'd still have NH4NO3 to use, an excellent, flexible N source fertilizer when used properly.
I use urea on veggies and berries always keeping in mind 2 things - 1) it takes time for the urea to get converted to No3 in the soil and 2) that NO3 can leach so, I spoon feed it, so to speak. It has a higher salt index than ammonium nitrate but oh well, can't get that anymore.
Speaking of leaching N, it all comes down to responsible, informed use of whatever source you use. Manure can be abused, I saw it first hand in FL at a community organic garden where some folks used it at upwards of 800,000 lb/A and they poured 5 gal buckets of piss on top of that all to grow greens. Geeze, that was nuts, especially in a sandy soil.
Improve soils by amending with organic matter, absolutely! Some benefits may include improved tilth, aeration, micronutrient availability and soil structure. Heavy clay soils will have improved water penetration.
All "chemical " fertilizers are salts, NOT salt, sodium chloride.
Hey PN I know what you mean about the FL sand. I did about 8 years of vegetable crop nutrition research for the U of FL many years ago. We did research from coast to coast. I always snicker at the idea of FL having soil except for the muck lands down south, talk about organic, MAN! And then there's the Marl way down south, that's just hydroponic growing.
Really, with drip fertigation on the sand lands, those are hydroponic systems too.
I prefer mineral soils with sand, silt, clay and about 5% OM.
Natty, be sure you soak your veges in salt water for awhile to kill all those extra protein guys!
I don't tell my daughter how many "friends" I find in the salt water bath! LOL
Then a good rinse with plain water is in order!
Buck up, girl! If you're going to eat veges from your garden, you're going to encounter some little visitors! Nancy
Ok,
I am buying a long-day onion sampler from Dixondale
12 Slips of Beauregard from Steele (though I doubt I will be able to plant all of them)
and 2lbs of Kennebec, I haven't decided from where yet, probably from Fedco.
I've also picked out my peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes, among other things, that I will be ordering from Johnny's and Burpee.
Now if only it were March :)
In my experience neither egg shells nor coffee grounds make any difference at all to slugs and snails if you live in an area where they are a real problem. I've tried both many times. Note the egg shells around this hosta which is also growing three feet off the ground.
You likely are better off getting potatoes in March that are not so soft and sprouted.
Potatoes like a loose sandy loam soil. Really heavy soils are not good potato soil. Potatoes also do best in the cooler regions of our country, but if all other things are right, they will still do fairly good in Indiana...especially the northern part.. Ohio too.
I put the potatoes out in some light and warmth at the end of March. Ideally they should have only short sprouts that quickly green up in the light.
I dig a trench about 6 inches deep in the middle of April and scatter some slow acting organic fertilizer [Tomato Tone] in the trench and till that up. I plant either medium whole potatoes or cut up larger ones in two pieces. I place these down a bit into the loose soil. I also put a ring of faster acting fertilizer in a circle around and slightly below the seed piece. I very lightly cover the piece at this time due to likely heavy rains here at this time and so that they can emerge quickly.
If you have a hard frost after the sprouts are starting to show, pull a bit of soil over them. Depending on the weather, you can flick the dirt off when it is safe
I pull some dirt around the 5 inch plants. Later I pull some more around them making a ridge...if planted deeply enough, you don;t need or want a high ridge.
Let the plants fully die off before digging unless you are so jumpy that you steal a few early...but don't dig up the plants at that time. Leave the potatoes in the ground until you need them to eat. Finally, they have to be dug before the ground freezes. Spray wash and dry them a few days and store in the darkest and coolest place that doesn't freeze.
You likely are better off getting potatoes in March that are not so soft and sprouted.
Potatoes like a loose sandy loam soil. Really heavy soils are not good potato soil. Potatoes also do best in the cooler regions of our country, but if all other things are right, they will still do fairly good in Indiana...especially the northern part.. Ohio too.
I put the potatoes out in some light and warmth at the end of March. Ideally they should have only short sprouts that quickly green up in the light.
I dig a trench about 6 inches deep in the middle of April and scatter some slow acting organic fertilizer [Tomato Tone] in the trench and till that up. I plant either medium whole potatoes or cut up larger ones in two pieces. I place these down a bit into the loose soil. I also put a ring of faster acting fertilizer in a circle around and slightly below the seed piece. I very lightly cover the piece at this time due to likely heavy rains here at this time and so that they can emerge quickly.
If you have a hard frost after the sprouts are starting to show, pull a bit of soil over them. Depending on the weather, you can flick the dirt off when it is safe
I pull some dirt around the 5 inch plants. Later I pull some more around them making a ridge...if planted deeply enough, you don;t need or want a high ridge.
Let the plants fully die off before digging unless you are so jumpy that you steal a few early...but don't dig up the plants at that time. Leave the potatoes in the ground until you need them to eat. Finally, they have to be dug before the ground freezes. Spray wash and dry them a few days and store in the darkest and coolest place that doesn't freeze.
Hi ray, here's my idea, in case you like it (easier on the knees, harder on the back -- requires periodic tilling). My raised beds are on the ground, though -- I guess if you have wooden frames, it might not work to till between them?
In the early spring (about every other year) I till (or hire someone to till) my paths and perimeter. Then I rake it smooth and broadcast clover seed, tamp it down a little, wait for rain. The clover forms a nice carpet (no mowing needed) and shades out weeds. I've used white clover with good success. Also crimson clover, though that can get taller (but it has gorgeous flowers!) The idea first came from my AG extension office.
I've scoured the gardens I inherited from the previous homeowners for their massive flagstones. I use the flagstones to "pave" my garden pathways. This severely cuts down on the weeds but does require an athletic hand (the lifting and moving, and turning). Every Spring, I pull up the stones and level them off from the previous Winter's erosion. Then, creeping thyme (or some weed that's extremely similar) grows up through the "grouting". It helps hold the stones in place, is easy to walk on, is VERY easy to pull if it becomes a nuisance.
As for my garden beds/ like others mine are in the ground (not raised). I purchase lots and lots of salt marsh hay from the local farms with estuarine property. The layer helps insulate in the summer time and the weeds that do grow through are leggy/easy to pull. I also do this mulching in the Autumn, just in case; my area is on the edge of zone 5a/6b, so during milder winters the weeds grow ravenously.
Tomatoes do not need much nitrogen, if they have it, they grow very bushy and green, but do not produce well. I always rotate tomatoes with zucchini, cucumbers or corn(just for rotation purpose), where LAST year I applied manure, and do not apply anymore nitrogen whole season long, and they still grow a bit bushy to my taste, but at least they produce).
I have not tried it with tomatoes, but last year I tried it with onions, letting clover grow between them instead of mulching them with hay. (can you say "lazy"?) I got small onions, and the info above has explained to me why, because of course the clover was still growing.
Maybe if I'd mulched heavily over the clover and killed it, then it would have helped? Though I've also heard that clover only fixes N in its second year of growth? Oh, if these plants only knew how detailed we get in taking care of them!
Thanks farmerdill and nugrndnut (sp)
My soil is loose and can handle any long carrots... For both Spinach and carrots I am more concerned about the weather being winter.
This post was edited by shayneca25 on Sun, Dec 21, 14 at 21:26
Spinach is one of the most cold hearty plants you could grow. I don't imagine your winters are an issue but I really dont know your climate.
Carrots supposedly tolerate light frost only, but the ones I grew were extremely hardy no problem to the teens.
If you want a more reliable thing for cold temps it is spinach. But you really don't get a lot... it vanishes when cooked. But it is also faster maturing generally.