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Post by Gianna on Dec 30, 2017 13:19:55 GMT -5
Blueberries! And Basil! Sounds like all you need is a nice wedge of cheese and you have a perfect little snack. Plus a small glass of bubbly to prepare for the new year.
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Post by daylilydude on Jan 5, 2018 5:29:10 GMT -5
Blueberries! And Basil! Sounds like all you need is a nice wedge of cheese and you have a perfect little snack. Plus a small glass of bubbly to prepare for the new year. Yes...
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Post by Gianna on Jan 5, 2018 10:51:13 GMT -5
Yesterday I trimmed back low-growing perennials (mostly lantana, and Mexican sage) in the strip next to the front street, pulled out a couple gopher casualties, trimmed back a few branches of drought-ravaged, older Citrus trees (which will never fully recover).
With patches of soil now available to plant, I put in a row of pineapple guava, with the intention that they will grow into an informal hedge. When they get larger in a year or two, I'll start removing the Citrus trees. The guava is an evergreen with gray/green bicolor leaves, drought tolerant, and bears wonderful fruits. This should look pretty with the yellow and orange flowered lantana, and the blue-flowered Mexican sage.
Tucked into any gaps, I'll plant some Mexican marigold, which I'm starting from cuttings now. Those bloom in fall/winter and really are pretty at this time of year.
If everything grows as hoped, it should look quite nice - and give me more privacy in front.
Today, in anticipation of rain next week, I'm going to plant into a prepared bed, some annual flowers I've started. Yellow cosmos, blue bachelor buttons, and multicolored Scabiosa. I have no clue if these will survive, but they germinated and are large enough to put out. It's been a warm winter so far, so they might make it and bloom.
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Post by september on Jan 5, 2018 10:58:02 GMT -5
Harvested a lemon from my potted dwarf to make honey lemon tea for my sore throat and cold. There are about 10 more lemons on the tree, but only one is of a size that might be used in a few weeks, the others are all only ping pong ball sized.
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Post by ladymarmalade on Jan 6, 2018 18:53:20 GMT -5
I suppose technically, this is not from my garden, but it's from my seed stash for sure! Alfalfa sprouts! Seed from Jung Seeds. I followed the directions on the packet and went ahead and tucked 1/4 cup of seed into a mason jar. It was waaaayyy to many seeds for a quart jar! So we'll be eating sprouts for a few days. Here are tonight's, tucked into a leafy green salad and topped with Sunset Wild Wonders tomatoes.
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Post by daylilydude on Jan 6, 2018 18:55:56 GMT -5
It's just so nice to see such beautiful vegetables like that being eaten in all this cold weather we are having...
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Post by Gianna on Jan 7, 2018 19:27:09 GMT -5
Before tonight's and tomorrow's rain (hopefully), I got my last guava planted, and the bed of cool season annuals tucked in and watered. The rain should be good for all of them.
I forgot to hook up the last rain gutter to direct the water to the pool.. need to do that now before it gets dark. Should only take a few minutes.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jan 11, 2018 9:34:42 GMT -5
Yesterday I planted scallions (3 types), snap peas (2 types), and radishes (2 types), plus I cleaned the frost-killed plants out of a raised bed and several Earthboxes, and removed the lower leaves from the Brussels sprouts. Today I hope to get another type of radish, some leaf lettuces, spinach, mustard, collards, carrots, and turnips planted, and clear out some more more Earthboxes...not necessarily in that order. I might plant a few kohlrabi or Asian greens as well - I am playing the planting by ear a bit, and I need to see how the space goes, especially the space for crops that need more than 6-8 weeks to harvest. (I'll need to clear out the bulk of my Earthboxes for peppers and tomatoes in early or mid-March.) It's not as much planting as it sounds like because I have a small garden and I am only planting a few of most types of things. For example, I am the only one in the house that actually likes mustard and collards, so just a few plants of each will give me all the greens I can eat. I might plant a few extra mustard plants, though, since my MIL likes those. We're expecting rain tonight and into tomorrow, so that will water everything in... if the rain actually comes. The last couple of times rain was forecast we only got a bit of drizzle or mist. Hopefully we'll get actual rain this time. The garlic looks good so far, and the Brussels Sprouts are coming along. A couple of the very biggest sprouts on one plant are almost as large as the tiniest ones I've seen for sale. Most are in the pea to marble size range, though. They are sloooooow, but they are growing, and they seem healthy. I'm not sure I'll grow Brussels Sprouts again because of the space they take up and the length of time they require compared to the harvest they provide, but it has been fun to grow them once. Hopefully they will stay healthy until harvest time so I can see if home-grown Brussels sprouts really are that much tastier than store-bought.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jan 12, 2018 11:32:47 GMT -5
Ironically, not too long after posting that, I fell in my kitchen. (Seriously, this has happened to me throughout my whole life, as long as I can remember. Usually once every few years.) I didn't suffer any significant injury except to my pride. But my left ankle and knee bothered me afterwards, and I managed to strain some other muscles in a failed attempt to land gracefully. So...no garden work got done yesterday. Considerable grumbling and propping up my left leg occured instead. Today is better; I am a little stiff and sore but not as bad as I thought I would be. Should be back to normal in another day or two. One of these days I will learn not to post about what I am planning to do.
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Post by brownrexx on Jan 12, 2018 11:39:58 GMT -5
Laura_in_FL, sorry to hear about your fall but glad that you didn't really hurt yourself badly. I remembered this thread from reading it yesterday and wanted to tell you that home grown B. sprouts definitely excel over the taste of store sprouts although when I grew them they were much smaller. Tasted better but smaller. I also wanted to ask if you had ever tried beet greens? I usually grow red beets and last year hubby asked me to try cooking some of the greens. He absolutely loved them and declared them to be his favorite greens. I don't like cooked greens myself but these are better than some in my opinion. They have a mild beet flavor and I like growing them because they do not have the insect problems that other greens here have and then later in the season I get beets too so it's a doubly productive crop.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jan 12, 2018 11:44:36 GMT -5
Beets are one of the vegetables that I consistently fail at growing. Which is ironic, because Swiss chard grows beautifully for me. I just don't really care for the flavor.
I do see beets with greens in the store from time to time. Should I assume that the beet greens are also much better home grown?
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Post by brownrexx on Jan 12, 2018 11:49:47 GMT -5
Should I assume that the beet greens are also much better home grown? Everything is better home grown. You could always give them another try. Seeds are cheap. Maybe the problem is when you are trying to grow them. Beets like cooler weather and you should eat them when they are small. When the plants are exposed to cool/cold weather they beets become sweeter and better tasting. If the ones that you tasted were bitter then they were probably grown when it was too warm or they were too large or old. I would try them again whenever your cool weather is. Maybe now? I grow them in the spring and fall. I like Detroit Dark Red.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jan 12, 2018 12:05:55 GMT -5
You're right; this is the time of year to try to grow beets. UF says beets should be planted between Aug and Feb in my area.
If memory serves (it's been a few years since I last planted them) I planted them the beets about this time of year. They actually started pretty well and I could have gotten baby greens at least, but I left them because I was hoping for roots. But their growth stalled and the roots stayed skinny. Eventually it did get warm and pests holed up the leaves. Then off to the compost bin they went. The same thing happened to me a couple of different years and I gave beets up as a bad job.
I haven't been all that motivated to troubleshoot the problem because after that, I bought beet roots to try and no one in my family really liked them. I also tasted too much of that "earthy" taste to really enjoy them. I put them in the category of, "foods I wouldn't turn down if really hungry, but that I won't seek out on purpose." (I never had beets growing up because Dad hated them, so Mom never cooked them.)
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Post by aftermidnight on Jan 12, 2018 13:01:41 GMT -5
Laura_in_FL, Try adding some potash to your soil. I failed miserably at growing beets, all tops no bottoms until someone suggested I add some potash to the soil. I did and Urika!!! it worked. Annette
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aqua
Pro Member
Posts: 295
Zone:: 8b9a
Favorite Vegetable:: all of them
Joined: March 2012
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Post by aqua on Jan 12, 2018 13:12:26 GMT -5
Laura_in_FL, - same problem here w/beets. All leaf, no beet. Which is a shame because if you cut them into french-fry size and put'm in a 425º for about 30 minutes, they get these sugary-sweet brown edges and are SO soft and tasty inside - Today in the garden, I pulled all the peppers that lived thru Irma (I have no idea how they survived as they were leafless sticks afterwards, but they were determined little buggers and kept bearing more peppers until a week ago) but the recent freeze killed them. Also pulled out the rattlesnake pole beans cause the freeze killed them, too. But that's ok. Also we're expecting rain so I threw some Black Hen around the kale and broccoli, and some bone meal (thanks Laura) around the peas. Isn't it GREAT to be past solstice and know that each day has more sunshine? love it, love it- the hope and anticipation of life renewed-
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Post by tomike on Jan 12, 2018 16:54:19 GMT -5
Today in my garden, because of all the rain and very mild weather..... much of the snow cover has melted...... I sure hope that my garlic will survive..... Now, we are having a period of freezing rain that will change to snow as the temperature continues to drop..... I think that things will be fine..... very strange weather this winter......
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Post by daylilydude on Jan 12, 2018 17:48:47 GMT -5
Ironically, not too long after posting that, I fell in my kitchen. (Seriously, this has happened to me throughout my whole life, as long as I can remember. Usually once every few years.) I didn't suffer any significant injury except to my pride. But my left ankle and knee bothered me afterwards, and I managed to strain some other muscles in a failed attempt to land gracefully. So...no garden work got done yesterday. Considerable grumbling and propping up my left leg occured instead. Today is better; I am a little stiff and sore but not as bad as I thought I would be. Should be back to normal in another day or two. One of these days I will learn not to post about what I am planning to do. I hope you are alright... here is a lil hint... if your gonna fall... just fall... grabbing for air just makes everything hurt in the long run...
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Post by Gianna on Jan 12, 2018 23:53:00 GMT -5
Sorry about your fall, Laura. I tripped and fell a number of months ago, and that is a very jarring experience.
Today in the garden, I did a little watering of seedlings. And in front, didn't do any work, but did take an appreciation walk enjoying the sight of the veggies prospering after the natural rain of last week. Collards, kale, cabbage, basil, and now broccoli ready to pick. Also the bed of flower seedlings planted last week all look good too. Snapdragons in another bed are beginning to bloom.
It's been an unusually warm winter here. But there is still the end of January, Feb and March to come, so we might still have some more usual winter weather.
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Post by brownrexx on Jan 13, 2018 8:35:35 GMT -5
Nothing growing but I can see that the tarp blew off of my artichoke bed and I have to go re-cover that this morning.
I grew them from seedlings last year and am trying to overwinter them by covering with about a foot of straw and then a tarp.
Last night severe winds arrived and half removed one of the tarps.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jan 13, 2018 18:17:51 GMT -5
It's not the garden per se, but I cleaned out my front flower beds today. They had a lot of dead annuals and dead tops from the some of the perennial flower that die back to the ground each year (caladiums, lilies, dahlias, gladiolus, etc.). Most of those plants had made it through the first light frosts in December, but the cold we had the first week of the year did them in.
It was a bigger job than it sounds like, because (a) there were a lot of annuals and (b) the annuals included three BIG roselle plants. So now there is a pile of plant debris at the curb to be picked up Thursday and the flower beds in front of my house look really bare. There are a few daylilies that may stay green all winter, a couple of gladiolus that are still dying back, and a couple of hostas that haven't quite died yet. Oh, and some weeds and grass...grumble. The cold weather we get this week should finish killing back everything except the daylilies.
Next week or next weekend I hope to put down more compost and mulch, and then plant some more bulbs - more caladiums and dahlias, mostly. I need to so see what pretty things I can find in the nurseries. I know it sounds weird to folks up North, but January and February are the best months to plant summer-flowering bulbs here, so I need to get busy with that.
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aqua
Pro Member
Posts: 295
Zone:: 8b9a
Favorite Vegetable:: all of them
Joined: March 2012
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Post by aqua on Jan 15, 2018 18:31:18 GMT -5
Today I cut three kohlrabi that had been seeded on Sept 24. They were about the size of billiard balls. Also brought two kitty-litter buckets to work for a co-worker to fill them with cow-poo, from his father's cows.
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Post by brownrexx on Jan 15, 2018 19:00:27 GMT -5
Also brought two kitty-litter buckets to work for a co-worker to fill them with cow-poo, from his father's cows. Are you adding this to compost or planning to use it in the garden? Manure should be aged before using directly in a garden. Most experts recommend aging for 3 months prior to use on non-root crops and 4 months prior to use on root crops to prevent the transfer of pathogens like e.coli to vegetables. I add chicken manure to my compost pile all of the time but it does not get used for several months.
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Post by Gianna on Jan 15, 2018 19:35:20 GMT -5
Filled the large green can for morning pickup. Partially pruned the apricot tree. Picked some collards and some broccoli. Broc first picking. I steamed it and, dang, it was good. Clean too. Snapdragons starting to bloom nicely too. Two pinks, two pale yellows. Surprisingly sturdy.
I hadn't realized I needed to water the guavas I planted a week ago. It had rained 2 inches just after planting. But today they looked slightly wilted, which was a surprise, so I reformed their basins and watered. Don't think any damage was done.
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Post by ladymarmalade on Jan 15, 2018 19:51:58 GMT -5
Today I cut three kohlrabi that had been seeded on Sept 24. They were about the size of billiard balls. Also brought two kitty-litter buckets to work for a co-worker to fill them with cow-poo, from his father's cows. Tee-hee, this gave me a nice giggle, as I imagined this exchange going down in the parking lot after hours...
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aqua
Pro Member
Posts: 295
Zone:: 8b9a
Favorite Vegetable:: all of them
Joined: March 2012
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Post by aqua on Jan 16, 2018 8:31:07 GMT -5
brownrexx, I requested dryer, older stuff. That way I can add it to my compost, or bury it deeper in my sandy garden. Not fresh steamy stuff. ladymarmalade, yeah my coworkers tease me about looking for $*** on Craigs list, hahah
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Post by brownrexx on Jan 16, 2018 11:28:42 GMT -5
aqua, that's good. You may have seen on other threads that I ride horseback weekly but I do not own a horse so sometimes I used to take a couple of 5 gallon buckets to the stable on riding day and bring home some horse poo for the compost pile. I have not done that for a while though since I have chicken manure and my garden is bordering on excess nutrients per my soil tests.
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