Garden Thread

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any of you still getting veggies out of your gardens..??

i am still getting basil (as tall as 4 feet, and wide), still getting parsley, still getting those huge Italian green peppers, still have (about) 4 eggplants left, scallions (green onions) still growing, but i pulled up my 2 (only planted 2) tomato plants, and long ago, i pulled up the sweet corn, let the stalks dry out, now they serve as a Halloween decorations on the 2 front porches. (the local farm i go to for red bell peppers and other things, are selling the dried out corn stalks for about $6 per "bundle"....)

next growing season, i will not waste space for corn, will plant the peppers again, and eggplants, basil, parsley, and try out either Road Dusts or Ricky Ricardo's idea on growing cucs, or squash on a "trellace"(sp?) type of set up. and maybe grow only 1 tomato plant, the "cherry or salad sized" as they are so easy to pop in the mouth, like grapes......

how are some of your gardens doing..????
 
pulled up the last of the eggplant this past Saturday harvested 51 in total (for the season), ranging in weights from about 3/4 of a pound up to 1.50 pounds each. still have dozens of the Italian green peppers. can't say for sure the poundage of those, but best guesstimate would be about 60 pounds, with more to go yet. basil still going strong, parsley as well as the "green onions (scallions).

all flowers still pretty much in bloom, as well

the therapist gal said she is still getting tomatoes, and a lady having p/t said she is still getting bell peppers as well.
 
Alternate use for pole bean trellis.

IMG_20141220_182813488_zpsd9f38475.jpg
 
when my plumber was over at the house a few weeks ago, he saw my remaining garden, before it was all to be removed, he said that i should put the geraniums down in the cellar, and next spring bring them back up, they grow every years, and he always does this. well i thought why not. since i cannot do any lifting, i had bro-in-law take all 3 pots in. i have given each potted set of geraniums at least 2 cups of water once a week, sometimes i go 2 weeks before they get any water. well low and behold, they are growing in my cellar. i have tall light green shoots, with tiny yellow flowers. now mind you, it's the cellar, and no lights until someone goes down there, then in the particular room they are in, there is a separate light, so technically, they are still in the dark when any other light is on.

i really did not think that they would survive in the cellar, in the dark, with so little water. i had thought that the geranium plant was an annual and only grew for one season. well, if they hold up, and survive in the cellar, which by the way the temp down there is maybe about 40 degrees, then i guess i can save about $50 next spring. up here, for a good geranium plant, i am looking at about $8 per plant, but they last so long it's worth the money spent, and they attract the bee's which all gardens need. i will be buying marigolds as well, as they too attract the bee's. my garden had a great, and i mean great amount of bee's this past season, damn, must have been (my sis and i had seen it) up to 6 bee's on the plants all at one time.

i had also planted garlic again this year. i hadn't done that in about 4, maybe 5 years. i went to this Italian grocery store where they specialize in...well Italian foods, from Italy. so i grabbed up 4 garlic heads, took the biggest outside cloves i could get, and there were many, and planted them in November. i had put a burlap on top of the planting area, to keep the frost off. most times, ordinary gardeners put leaves on top for this, however, i have a problem with cats and squirrels digging holes. one buries its crap, the other buries its nuts. they cannot dig up the burlap, it infuriates them to no end when thier tiny grubby little paws get caught up in the burlap, and they move on.

as of just a little while ago when i went out for the newspaper, i can see a "rise" in the burlap, indicating growth of the garlic. got maybe about 26 garlic cloves planted. not all will grow (some may die), and not all will have a good harvest (small cloves, not worth harvesting) which is why i planted so many this time around. i think in the past when i have planted garlic, i had about 5 total that were any good, which i why i had stopped planting them for so long. But i was told by a gardening friend of mine, that he gets the best results from the garlic that comes here from Italy. he told me to stay away from garlic shipped here from China.
 
when my plumber was over at the house a few weeks ago, he saw my remaining garden, before it was all to be removed, he said that i should put the geraniums down in the cellar, and next spring bring them back up, they grow every years, and he always does this. well i thought why not. since i cannot do any lifting, i had bro-in-law take all 3 pots in. i have given each potted set of geraniums at least 2 cups of water once a week, sometimes i go 2 weeks before they get any water. well low and behold, they are growing in my cellar. i have tall light green shoots, with tiny yellow flowers. now mind you, it's the cellar, and no lights until someone goes down there, then in the particular room they are in, there is a separate light, so technically, they are still in the dark when any other light is on.

i really did not think that they would survive in the cellar, in the dark, with so little water. i had thought that the geranium plant was an annual and only grew for one season. well, if they hold up, and survive in the cellar, which by the way the temp down there is maybe about 40 degrees, then i guess i can save about $50 next spring. up here, for a good geranium plant, i am looking at about $8 per plant, but they last so long it's worth the money spent, and they attract the bee's which all gardens need. i will be buying marigolds as well, as they too attract the bee's. my garden had a great, and i mean great amount of bee's this past season, damn, must have been (my sis and i had seen it) up to 6 bee's on the plants all at one time.

i had also planted garlic again this year. i hadn't done that in about 4, maybe 5 years. i went to this Italian grocery store where they specialize in...well Italian foods, from Italy. so i grabbed up 4 garlic heads, took the biggest outside cloves i could get, and there were many, and planted them in November. i had put a burlap on top of the planting area, to keep the frost off. most times, ordinary gardeners put leaves on top for this, however, i have a problem with cats and squirrels digging holes. one buries its crap, the other buries its nuts. they cannot dig up the burlap, it infuriates them to no end when thier tiny grubby little paws get caught up in the burlap, and they move on.

as of just a little while ago when i went out for the newspaper, i can see a "rise" in the burlap, indicating growth of the garlic. got maybe about 26 garlic cloves planted. not all will grow (some may die), and not all will have a good harvest (small cloves, not worth harvesting) which is why i planted so many this time around. i think in the past when i have planted garlic, i had about 5 total that were any good, which i why i had stopped planting them for so long. But i was told by a gardening friend of mine, that he gets the best results from the garlic that comes here from Italy. he told me to stay away from garlic shipped here from China.
Geraniums will come back each year as long as you "overwinter" them properly. I'm not quite sure how they can be blooming with no light, but many gardeners will put them in a cool dark place with miminal water over winter. They normally go into dormacy until Spring.
 
Geraniums will come back each year as long as you "overwinter" them properly. I'm not quite sure how they can be blooming with no light, but many gardeners will put them in a cool dark place with miminal water over winter. They normally go into dormacy until Spring.




they are in the cellar, and in the pics, they sit to the left of the boiler. the room is not hot by any means, and not stone cold. i would like to say it is comfortable. they get (as i had said) about 2 cups of water (each pot) once a week, sometimes i skip a week. there is a total of 3 potted geranium plants, at least 2 plants per pot. by the way, i have not even attempted to give them any Miracle Grow. just "tap water".

in this pic, you will see the "shoots' coming off the main branches, they are tall, thin and light green, with a little yellow "flower" at the tops. the main branches by the way are the usual green color, not dried out, just like they would look out in the garden, you know, "pliable"..???

(i am not sure these tall shoots are how geranium,s look when they grow from seeds, this is my very first time "wintering" them.)




in this pic, the last geranium, and this other planted flower( don't know the name of it), for the schlitz and giggle factor

 
they are in the cellar, and in the pics, they sit to the left of the boiler. the room is not hot by any means, and not stone cold. i would like to say it is comfortable. they get (as i had said) about 2 cups of water (each pot) once a week, sometimes i skip a week. there is a total of 3 potted geranium plants, at least 2 plants per pot. by the way, i have not even attempted to give them any Miracle Grow. just "tap water".

in this pic, you will see the "shoots' coming off the main branches, they are tall, thin and light green, with a little yellow "flower" at the tops. the main branches by the way are the usual green color, not dried out, just like they would look out in the garden, you know, "pliable"..???

(i am not sure these tall shoots are how geranium,s look when they grow from seeds, this is my very first time "wintering" them.)




in this pic, the last geranium, and this other planted flower( don't know the name of it), for the schlitz and giggle factor

Are those flowers or are they little leaf buds opening up? It kinda looks like leaves. They would be a pale yellowish color like that without sunlight. I would cut back on the water some. I had some mint grow like that once. I just stuck the pot in the shed thinking The mint was dead and I would deal with it in the Spring. Well, when spring came the plant had long skinny, pale stems with tiny yellow leaves. The stems where growing long searching for sunlight.
 
yes, looks like leaves..what do i do with them?? cutting back on the water i can do, i only give each pot 2 cups of water once a week. so cut back to one cup a week?????

thanks
 
yes, looks like leaves..what do i do with them?? cutting back on the water i can do, i only give each pot 2 cups of water once a week. so cut back to one cup a week?????

thanks
If you have a really sunny place in your house, you can just let them grow through the winter and water them regularly. Otherwise, you can keep them in the dark, but you need to let them go dormant. There are different ways to do it. Some people put them in a dark place and withhold water all winter, some give just a trickle of water when the soil dries out completely, and some even take the plant out of the pot and hang the roots upside down till spring. Good luck!
 
Been getting my new seed catalogs in the mail! It won't be long!


i have only gotten one seed catalog. which doesn't matter to me anymore. years ago, i'd get nearly every gardening/seed catalog there ever was. but still could not buy as much as i wanted, as i would have run out of room!
 
i have only gotten one seed catalog. which doesn't matter to me anymore. years ago, i'd get nearly every gardening/seed catalog there ever was. but still could not buy as much as i wanted, as i would have run out of room!
Same here but I still get excited about them. I enjoy browsing through the pictures on a cold winter day and plan for the new season. There are so many new varieties and I like to try something a little different each year. I seldom order from a catalog but I do get new ideas from them.
 
Same here but I still get excited about them. I enjoy browsing through the pictures on a cold winter day and plan for the new season. There are so many new varieties and I like to try something a little different each year. I seldom order from a catalog but I do get new ideas from them.

This is so true about browsing thru the seed catalog's on a cold, dreary, snowy day, and dream about spring time. Here, we have had nearly 6 feet of snow now. It will not be till labor Day when it all melts away. At least i had planted some garlic, and i have those geraniums down in the cellar, "wintering". I venture to guess how my Aborvate (spell check not working), will look after all the snows are gone. each year, i have to tie up branches to the trunks, due to the winters of past, bending those branches, and they never straighten up on their own.
 
Been since Feb 22nd, since anyone's been here, so what I did was go downstairs to mom/dad's apartment and took some pics of the plants I bought them.

in the first pic, is a typical Christmas plant many of us buy, a Poinsettia. When I bought this at the local Super market, the container was so over filled with water, I had to let it sit for about nearly 2 full weeks to dry out. It now measures nearly 9 inches tall, and the center is growing green leafs with red veins.

I told mom that I will take care of the watering, she has a habit of watering plants daily. I have found that once a week watering's and by the way, NO plant food, are working very well. I use tap water, but I fill a 2 liter bottle, and let that sit before I use it. By the way, this plant only cost $3.99



the plant in the upper left corner, is a Fittonia, Mini Pink

the plant to the left is Fittonia, Red Anna.

$2.50 each at Lowe's, got them in September. Dad likes the red one.

I can't say we have ever had a poinsettia ever live past New Years Day.

Probably cause mom drowned them..............??????
 
Let's get back to our Garden Thread.

I had started my new garden earlier this spring, as we had really up here quite a nice spring indeed.

I had my bro-in-law turn over the garden, as my back does not allow me to bend much.

This years garden will be less in the amount of veggies planted, but probably just as many flowers as we had last year.

I have some new pics, and hopefully will put a description with each, then near the end, I will include a non-garden pic of my front sidewalk, and you'll see why..


ok, in this first pic, it is from the top front porch.

Near the red fence, you can see some garlic along that fence, then following along the fence, you can see what looks like lettuce, but is actually Escarole which is used in soups. Coming away from the garlic, I have one cherry tomato plant at the far left. then a row of those tall Italian green peppers like I had last year, and those are in rows of2 (going left to right). The 3rd row is Cubenella peppers, which are a different variety of Italian green peppers. The next 2 rows are the egg plants. and you can see bamboo sticks, which I will explain later





this next pic, is at ground level..in this pic, you see on the ground, all the smaller flowers, in fact, just this morning I had sis take then from the top of that wall you see, as those tall plants were covering them. Now at least, those taller plants give cover to the garden, not that anyone doesn't already know that I plant a garden.



In this pic, my lone rose plant. and to the right, you can see one of those taller plants (that are on the wall??) which is a Daylilies
I had actually pruned off he 3 roses that were wilted away, when I took this pic.



In this next pic, at the far left you see my only other tomato plant, then to the right, you see (in order) Scallions (or green onions) then 1 oregano, 2 parsley plants, 2 Basil plants.




this pic, is the hanging flowers and a Japanese beetle trap



ok now in the DUH dept of life. many years ago, my city in it's infinite wisdom, hired some sort of traffic engineer to help alleviate the problem of idiots using my street as a race track. So that idiot "devised" these tree planters that take up not only parking spaced, but the traveled portion of the street. The corners of these planters are SUPER SHARP and as such, blow outs used to happen nearly daily. Each "planter now, I should point out, HAD tree's planted in them.

As you can plainly see, no tree's exist in my 2 planters. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find more than say 6 tree's in total along the entire street. ALSO, each planter had ONE square metal pole for "decoration". You'd be hard pressed to find ANY still standing along the street.

Ever watch the tv show, "Duke's of Hazzard" and the high flying car jumps.>??

Well when these things were first planted, had Hollywood been here filming, they would have had DOZENS of high flying footage.

A car would hit the curbing, then run up the metal pole, then flip over onto it's roof....no shyte.....

The tow companies made a killing on my street for about 3 years straight..!!

So what I do to keep the front of MY house looking presentable, is I planted many of those daylilies and I use the red cedar mulch for cover.

oh yeah when the contractor finished the job, my city was SUPPOSED to round off all the SHARP pointed corners.....well somehow, someway...all that money.............wasn't available anymore....

So now in this pic, you see one planter in the foreground, and one way back, so both are in front of my house. You can just barely make out the orange daylilies in the rear planter

 
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wow, nearly 9 pages down, this thread.

in any event, my garden is done for the season, save for 2 basil plants, 2 parsley plants, and assorted flowers.

this year, i did not have as many bumble bee's as last year.

my yellow jacket trap, caught many yellow jackets, so much so, i had cleaned it out and re-loaded it with the bait, 5 times this season.

for anyone that has arborvitae tree's or bushes, (i have mine trimmed down to hedge height), there is a worm/moth that takes up residence in there, called the bagworm.

they spin a cocoon, and they eat some of the leaves, killing either a branch, or the entire tree. they hatch in or about JUly/August, the males at least from what i have read, and seek out the females, still in the cocoons.??

females hatch, lay eggs back in the arborvitae, and winter there, till around May/June, when the eggs hatch, and feast again.

as the articles will say, spraying in the early spring may kill off many.

since it was way too late for me to have known any of this, i simply searched for the cocoons, and pulled them off the tree's. and stepped on 'em.

next spring, i will be sure to use the pesticides that are recommended. i think Sevin is one of them.



as i cleaned up the garden of the veggie plants, i laid down some lime, this may be of no practical use now, but the lime i have is timed release pellets.

i had a very good harvest, of the eggplants, Italian green (sweet) peppers and 2 tomato plants. but my Cubanella's(??) (another type of Italian green pepper-sweet), did not take hold in the garden, and the crop was poor, so next year, i will not be planting those again.

in fact, next year, my garden will be much less in the amount of plants i grow. as you all know, i have an issue with my back, (still on workman's comp) and it was a bit harder this year to work the garden. next year, who knows, as i still await yet another back operation, possibly a total of 2 i was told, and only God may know the outcome of that, and any future garden i''d like to have.
 
No garden for me this year. I was to move in June and have my house up for sale by now. Didn't even settle on the new house until late in August. The deer population here is ummmm, errrr, eeeee, quite remarkable to say the least so I'm not so sure a garden is in my future. But the quality of purchased produce is a real disappointment so I may consider installing some serious wildlife defenses here. Happy winter everyone.
 
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