Gardening

What are you still harvesting from your garden?

Cinnamonhuskies — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:38:34 GMT

All I have left is potatoes to dig, and 2 little bushes of chili peppers that I'm letting turn red. Most of my tomato plants are done except for 2 of them that still have green tomatoes.

Anything left in your gardens?

A tip on Brussel sprouts

seaturtle — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:37:48 GMT

I read this on a garden forum, and it's working. They said to strip off the leaves and cut off the very top of the Brussel sprout plants - the leaves are now taking the hourishment needed by the maturing sprouts. I did it, poor things look naked, but my sprouts are growing much faster.

I've harvested maybe 10 pounds so far, and the stalks are still 3/4 full (I have 12 plants).

heirloom apple

littlepitcher — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:13:38 GMT

One of my old bosses used to purchase bushels of an heirloom dessert apple from a New England orchardist who brought his crop to the Atlanta farmers' market. It had a paper-white skin with a pink blush when ripe, an amazing fragrance which made it a pleasure to keep, sweet flavor, but stored badly. He called it a strawberry apple and said that it wouldn't grow in the South.

Tossing this one out so you Yankees can search this one out and grow it. It may have another name, but by any name, it's worth growing and eating. Haven't had one in fifteen years, and my mouth still waters.

Can I eat these bean seeds?

budgetwise — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:22:46 GMT

My friend grew some pole beans this summer. Their appearance is very long and flat, similar to an Italian green beans. She did not like them, but I am harvesting the seeds for planting next year.

The seeds are white, much like Great Northern dried beans in shape, color and size.

I am wondering if they would be good to soak and cook, just like any other dried bean. Or do they have to dry for some certain period of time?

Doing garden projects in economic stages

zohnerfarms — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:16:55 GMT

Does anyone else find themselves doing landscaping or gardening projects in stages that are dependent on the amount of $$ available?

I put in two tiers the first year & the 3rd tier the next year to get the 3 tiers in the garden, because I couldn't afford all the lodgestones at once. Doing it that way left me with less garden space than I needed the first year when $$ was very tight after we moved, & I still have one tier that doesn't have as much "good dirt" made as the others.I can make great garden dirt with a little bit of icky dirt, aged manure, fall leaves & grass clippings, plus kitchen waste, but I have to have a place to put it!

Since the steers are eating the strawberry bed again, I am moving it, but I can only afford about half the number of lodgestones that I need. So I moved half the bed. That means I still have this project "in the works" next year, & only half as many strawberries as I wanted to move.

In the front yard with landscaping, "North Side Project, Phase One" is completed, but Phase Two should have been done this year & wasn't, due to $$. Instead of completing the enlargement of the bark bed to make a triangle along the house & short front fence instead of a wide rectangle next to the house, I replaced 2 bushes that died.

The prune-plum tree I ordered from Stark Bros & planted in a new front bed at the end of the driveway died. They will replace it in April of 2010, but now that tree is a year behind, fruit-wise.

It seems like everything takes twice as long as it needs to. Does anyone else have this problem? Has anyone found a solution?

Next year's tomatoes and late blight

seaturtle — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 01:03:08 GMT

Greetings, everyone,

A friend told me that she would avoid late blight next year by removing 6"-10" of soil from her containers and replacing it with new soil. Does anyone know if this is true? It seems to me that the kind of late blight that overwinters would be in the soil and not just on top, but I may be wrong.

Thanks,

Seaturtle

Amazing pole beans

seaturtle — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 01:44:14 GMT

Today I harvested easily 5 pounds of Romano pole beans. These beans just keep on coming and coming. They are dwindling now, but each time I got out, I'm sure there cannot be any more - I come back with bags full.

I am also in love with these plants, the colour of the flowers, the strong, strong vines, the way they grow 2x2 and hang. They are so beautiful.

Zucchini was hiding

Darlene — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:00:27 GMT

I found a zucchini on top of my cupboard. Seems a neighbor brought one over about 2-3 weeks ago. Someone in the house set it up on the top of a cupboard and fogot to tell me. It is still very green, hard with no soft or rotting spots at all. Experienced growers please help me out. I want to shred it in the food processor and put remains in freezer bag. Would this be safe to use later in bread/muffins? Should I just throw it out instead? Thanks for your input!

Darlene*

Lemon Tree

Brandy — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:40:42 GMT

I planted some seeds from a lemon just to see what it would do in my experimentation with plants.

I have green leaves popping up! I have no idea what to expect or how to care for a lemon tree in a planter. Anyone have some tips to share?

potatos

beckyJo — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 20:09:06 GMT

does anyone have experience growing redskins.... they did so great at the beginning of the season the plants were growing good and looking healthy but now that everything thing else is starting to produce the plants died we dug up a dead one and it only had 2 potatoes under it so im not sure if the tomotatoe and watermelons that i planted the between are choking them out or they arent getting enough nutrients or what

canning question

babs — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:46:55 GMT

Anyone ever can fruit in half pints jars? I have a lot of peachs and a lo tof half pint jars. That size would be good for my Mom. Anyone done this? If yes, how long did you water bath them? Babs

Tomatoes

Virginia Needlewoman — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 13:46:12 GMT

I didn't get my tomato plants. I didn't get my act together and I missed out on buying the plants for sale.

Everyone I know is having their tomato plants die because of some blight. Normally the people at the beauty shop have lots of tomatoes, but this year they don't have any.

Building a greenhouse

Pat — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:31:43 GMT

Here's a question from a reader

I'm thinking of creating a greenhouse for winter growing. Where do I start, and is it necessary to buy a pre-made kit? Where do I place it in my yard?

Do you have any advice? I've never used a greenhouse, so I have no clue.

Has Anyone Ever Grown Bletilla ?

Virginia Needlewoman — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:12:58 GMT

They look like orchid blossoms and they are gorgeous.

I was thinking that they would look great in my planters. The initial expense would be worth it because the blooms look just like a miniature orchid blossom. They are hardy in my Zone 7.

Tulips are beautiful, but rodents eat the bulbs here. We have voles, shrews, mice, squirrels, and other wildlife. Step-father did the poisonous peanuts trick to thwart the rodents attacking the tulip bulbs. It just made the rodents even healthier.

has anyone grown peanuts?

RAO — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:29:20 GMT

We go through a lot of peanut butter at our house. Was wondering if it could be made at home, and whether peanuts would grow in the Chicago area. Looking for some advice.

Brussel sprouts malady

seaturtle — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 02:54:26 GMT

My Brussel sprouts plants, quite large now with sprouts about the size of a nickel to a quarter, are starting to have wilting leaves. The lower leaves are becoming limp.

Any idea what causes this - or what to do about it? Before this, they were completely healthy.

Growing onions

latenightleader — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 02:55:56 GMT

Can I grow onions with onions that have started to sprout?

Fungus on squash plants?

ArielDawn — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:49:59 GMT

My squash plants have a white mottling on some of their leaves. I had this same problem last year. We've had a lot of rain but I've been good about not over watering and have been hoeing around the plants to help the soil dry better.

Any idea what it is and what I can do to treat it? My squash, zucchini and cuke crop was virtually non existent last year because of this and because of some weird bugs. I don't see any bugs. I used the diatemacious (sp?) earth and that got rid of the tiny black bugs that were munching the leaves.

Do I need some kind of fungicide? Thanks for any advice

Would It Be a Deer or a Groundhog That Has attacked the Basil ?

Virginia Needlewoman — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:51:54 GMT

We've got groundhogs in my area. I also have deer. Yesterday I saw a deer in the field next to my house. I also have rabbits.

What animal would've attacked my basil plants ?

How Do I Keep Rabbits From Eating My Plants in the Planters ?

Virginia Needlewoman — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 05:21:22 GMT

We decided that it was a rabbit that attacked the basil plant.

Since I will be planting herbs, etc., next summer, I would like to know how to deal with rabbits. These rabbits are most likely related to the rabbits that ate Mom's expensive Gumpo azaleas in the past.

These are wild rabbits. You know....the kind you could use in Brunswick Stew. Since I do not like to eat rabbits even in Brunswick Stew, I won't shoot the rabbit. I am not good at poisoning things either.

How Does Your Garden Grow? Summer 2009 Garden Club!

jennylyn — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:17:53 GMT

Would anyone like to keep a regular report going about what you are planting/growing, how it's doing etc? There was a thread that developed into something like kind of like this last year and I learned a lot from it!

If anyone is interested, would love to read your reports of what you're planting, how much and when, what you are doing to help your plants as they grow and establish themselves (pest control/water issues/fertilizing/etc), and of course, what you are harvesting, how much and what you are doing with it (what you coooked from your garden, what you preserved, etc).

I know we are all in different areas and zones, which makes it even more interesting! I know some haven't started yet and some are in full swing. I still have lots to learn and can't wait to hear your stories, celebrate your successes and gather new tips I can use in my own gardening adventures.

Happy Gardening!

Fall Planting

Brandy — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:43:39 GMT

I know some things are meant to be planted in the fall. What are they?

Storing compost

cfisher2008 — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 03:44:15 GMT

Hi! This is my first post! I am new to gardening.

I have been reading about composting. What I have not found much info on is how to store compost until I am ready to use it. What has worked for you? Also, what composter do you use?

Any other tips on composting?

Devastated at my garden

seaturtle — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:32:33 GMT

It was going so well. Zucchini coming, yellow squash, full crops of peas and snow peas, tomatoes growing fast.

Until it rained again, and again, and again. The soil is soaked and doesn't get a chance to dry out, little sun. All my squash plant sare covered with powery mildew, the stems are rotting and all squishy. It's gone so far that removing leaves would remove them all, and the roots are rotting, too.

U feel just awful - all that hard work and needing the produce to feed me summer and winter. After last year, I am ready to give up. I pulled a lot of plants today to create air spae, but as long as it's raining every day, I'm shot down.

I really need raised beds in my location, but can't afford them So discouraged and sad that I am tempted just not to even look at the garden.A lot of people are saying the same thing if they don't have raised beds.

Bugs on zuchinni plant

Carmina — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:35:35 GMT

I came back from vacation to find the zuchinni plant (which was gorgeous) wilted but not completely wilted. I thought it needed more water but I couldn't figure out why (the sprinkler reaches fine). After I gave it water, I found lots of beetles (black and orange) on the plant!. I don't know if there is hope. The flowers and leaves are intact, just wilted, not the flower. I have another plant next to it and I'm terrified of the same result. I looked online but it only refers to bugs that are "yellow and black" and the picture doesn't look like the bugs I have.

Please help me if you know these creatures.

I have seen these bugs before but never in the garden. I don't know the name of their species or if they are harmful. The zuchinni I picked was intact.

Thanks

Carmina