Here's the gardening thread!
Sat, 2007-07-14 11:58
#1
Here's the gardening thread!
Sat, 2007-07-14 11:58
#2
My garden consists of four little pots of herbs growing in my window. That's about the extent of my growing capability.
Okay, go!
Sat, 2007-07-14 14:18
#3
Boom Boom
I have a tray of herbs just inside my LR window ready to plant outside, but I don't think it's warm enough here. As I mentioned in the other thread, we've had horrendous weather for the past seven months, and only about half of my garden is doing well. This weekend it's nice and warm, but it won't last. I'm thinking I won't plant the herbs outside until [i]August.[/i] Mercy! [img]eek.gif" border="0[/img]
Sat, 2007-07-14 15:11
#4
Boom boom, maybe instead of planting your herbs in the ground, you could put them into clay pots and then bring them inside just before killing frost. Then you can have fresh herbs for longer than, like, two months. Some of 'em are probably annuals, though rosemary, for instance, is theoretically a perenial (though I can't keep rosemary alive through the new year. I suck at house plants in general).
Though we had no winter in Toronto until January, so last Christmas I was able to bring fresh sage from the garden to my mother-in-law for the turkey stuffing.
I've been planting sage in Toronto for 15 years, and this year, for the 1st time, it survived the winter.
In my big garden I have some Thai basil, regular basil, and tomatoes with which I make pesto and tomato sauce, freezing the excess. If I plant anything else, like carrots, lettuce, etc, the raccoons eat the plants as soon as they sprout. But Toronto raccoons don't seem to fancy tomatoes and basil (and they leave my herb garden alone,too).
Sat, 2007-07-14 15:45
#5
Boom Boom
quote:
Originally posted by Sineed:
Boom Boom, maybe instead of planting your herbs in the ground, you could put them into clay pots and then bring them inside just before killing frost.
Good idea - thanks!
Mon, 2007-07-16 01:34
#6
Bump!
Mon, 2007-07-16 05:01
#7
Digiteyes
I took advantage of the allotment garden system that Toronto has (my front & back garden are too shady for veggies).
For $57 a year, I've got a 20x20 foot garden. I'm only using less than half of it this year.
I've got 4 types of tomatoes growing (and 2 plants of each): Pink Caspian (big eating tomato), Black Cherry (an eating cherry tomato) and San Marzano and Roma paste tomatoes. I'm hoping to make a lot of my own tomato sauce come harvest time. I got all the plants at the organic farmers' market at Withrow Park the first Saturday it was open. The city allotment gardens are pesticide free.
Also growing some basil (gotta have basil with tomatoes!) and (I hope they'll sprout) 3 birdhouse gourd plants (let the gourds grow and harden, then drill a bird-sized hole for nesting and clean them out).
If things go well this year, I'll plant more stuff next year.
Mon, 2007-07-16 06:05
#8
My little magnolia tree out front looks the healthiest it's ever been. Still refuses to grow in hieght though.
I finally got some seeds to take from some roadside flowers I took a liking to, and it has done well this year-- although it is not quite where I would prefer it to be growing.
It's "Dame's Rocket", a non native species that one might see growing at the edge of tree lines in Ontario, and points east, from what I read. I like the colour and the hardyness. I will take seeds and try to get them growing where I'd prefer them to grow. My stand of golden rod, after many years of growing, is stunted this year. Whatever nutrients they like must be used up now. So, I will rip them out, try to get the Dame's Rocket to grow in that place, after I have revitalized the soil with compost.
The nicest surprise in the garden for me has been my weeds.
At the top of the driveway, near the gate is am obtuse triangle patch of gravel laden dirt that no one parks on, and no one walks on. In years past I had spent time trying to keep the weeds down, until it struck me that it might be easier to just encourage weeds I like.
So, I did.
I have Queen Anne's Lace growing, and it is about five and a half feet tall. I wanted Queen Anne's Lace as part of the mix because there are a couple of varieties of large butterflies that need this plant, and other members of the carrot family to survive. There is also a stand of yellow sweet clover, though it did not erupt in as large a riot of flowers as I have seen on other examples. Still, the bees and smaller butterflies appreciated them. There is also Catnip growing, and flowering now. Bumble bees like it, and I like it to use as a natural mosquito repelant.
Interspersed with this is some decorative peas that add a splash of pinky red in spots, and Black Eyed Susans that provide some nice colour.
There's also a tall weed that has small pastel yellow flowers that I like. Don't know the name of it, I must have collected the seeds from one of my walks in a woods or meadow and dropped them there last year or the year before. I think it's part of the mullin family.
I have to get into my octagonal garden and dig out Blue Bell bulbs. They need thining in the worst way, and I want to replant them in the strip of grass between the sidewalk and the road, for early spring colour.
And there are tree seedlings to dig up and pot for friends. Elm, mostly. Some nice straight little maples. And a large walnut.
I am also constantly on a quest for meadow flowers, and try to nab seeds whenever I can when I am out and about. Along with trying to learn how to identify rare native species of trees. As I mentioned in another thread, I think I have found a Paw paw tree. It fruits in august, so I will be keeping an eye on it.
I'd love to propagate those and distribute them to friends who live in this area.
[ 16 July 2007: Message edited by: Tommy_Paine ]
Mon, 2007-07-16 18:02
#9
Last planting of runner and french beans are going out in the next couple of days. (A few days over 30 delayed things). second batch of peas were mr big, really nice compared with the little alaska peas I sowed earlier.
Last couple of peas in pots to go out soon.
grape vines are doing super.
What else?
I have been solar cooking the soil for most of my plantings this year and It has been pretty successful. Most things get started in pots now in soil that was solar cooked to about 60 or 70 degrees c. You wet the soil well first because wet heat is a better steralizer.
(I steralize the soil to kill off weed seeds and little insect grubs). I grew a new kind of spinach this year (with little berrys that havnt ripened yet) and if I do not steralize the soil, i will not know what is plant and what is weed! Tried okra and chick peas and they seem to have failed miserably. good king henry is doing good this year and new zealand spinach is doing bad. (They taste nearly exactly the same as nettles).
My scozonera has just flowered. Scozonera is a poor yielding root crop. BUT it is a perrenial which means you can leave an inch of root and grow a whole new plant after harvesting the root!
Or split the top and get 5 or 6 new plants!
It is popular in holland. the only variety available is black russian as far as I can see but i bet if you are from holland, you have access to better commercial varietys?
(Scozonera was domesticated fairly recently).
Brian
Mon, 2007-07-16 18:50
#10
Frustrated Mess
quote:
(I steralize the soil to kill off weed seeds and little insect grubs). I grew a new kind of spinach this year (with little berrys that havnt ripened yet) and if I do not steralize the soil, i will not know what is plant and what is weed!
Sorry, man, I realy admire what you are doing, but identifying weeds from what you want to grow is key. The problem with sterilizing the soil is that you also kill off the [url=http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/organic/2002114848008095.html]Microhe....
Industrial farming has been likened to hydroponics with the soil as a medium because the topsoil is so depleted and beneficial bacterias and insects basically wiped out.
So I imagine after you sterilize the soil you are amending it with fertilizers? Where do you get your N?
Tue, 2007-07-17 16:51
#11
Included in the microflora is damping off fungus.
Steralizing soil doesn't kill all bacteria.
I only get about 70 C. (And you might want to check out how quick bacteria breed too).
If you grow mesculin, you do not need any weeds.
What if one is a nightshade? Or a buttercup?
I steralize soil to kill off insects and weed seeds. (It is not my whole garden, just for pots to raise seeds).
I think your reaction is a knee jerk one.
Take the weed seeds for instance, they compete with the plant seed, even if it is for a day, it weakens them. Same with milipedes, they compete with the plant seed (by eating it).
Why do you think people buy potting soil?
I have had lots of seed failures in ordinary soil. far less in the steralized version.
for nitrogen, I add compost (before steralization)
anyway, each to his own. I am reducing CO2 emmisions because nobody else is steaming my soil in a big factory and driving it round canada to sell to me.
Tue, 2007-07-17 17:39
#12
Frustrated Mess
quote:
I think your reaction is a knee jerk one.
Knee jerk? It was a question. Talk about knee jerk. In any case there would not have even been a question had you said it was for a potting mix. I don't recall having read that salient detail. Have fun.
[i]Boy, is that guy grouchy or what?[/i]
[ 17 July 2007: Message edited by: Frustrated Mess ]
Wed, 2007-07-18 19:18
#13
I will also use the steralized soil in lines about 2 inches thick where I sow seeds.
Again, this prevents weed competition in this area. This is important at the start of the plant's life.
Away from the plant, the hoe can easily get weeds but close in it is very hard to get them.
Mon, 2007-07-30 16:11
#14
If you're going to use a neutral, non-dirt medium, then I would suggest cocc coir. Much more environmentally friendly than peat.
The big garden is doing well. I'm having a very good sweet corn season, and I've upped my prices. Hah, take that consumers. You're going to have to pay for quality.
Green beans aren't doing well. Not sure why. Onions, good. Cabbage, good. Carrots, okay. Tomatoes look epic. Sweet corn is outstanding, entirely due to irrigation.
Can I include the chickens in my garden. Next year parts of some of these composted chickens will be ammended to my garden. Even better than coco coir.
Mon, 2007-07-30 17:14
#15
Must be the year, our green beans are crap. They need consitent temps and good moisture. This year is a write off for that.
We had a good run on some of our lettuces, however the first crop suddenly bolted overnight. Too little rain I expect. Four variety of radishes. First crop great - next crop all top and no bulb.
Best crop so far has been spinach - out of this world. Same with the rainbow chard. Tomatoes looking sporadic. Some vareities doing great, others well they may just get ripped out and feed to the pigs.
Going to have to invest in more irrigation next year. Never mattered, but the local climate is definetly changing over time. Now summer seems to be big stretches of dry with a big dump of rain all at once, that a lot runs off, then dry again.
Farmpunk never apologize for charing a reasonable price for your products. We are not food giver aways, we are farmers, we should be able to make a profit. Never see a mechanic apologizing for the cost of his skills do you?
Mon, 2007-07-30 17:36
#16
I should mention that I've been irrigating the big garden, too, in rough rotation with the corn. Otherwise there'd be trouble. This is measured use of water, by the way. I'm not slopping it on there willy-nilly. I know the value of water, and the fuel that pumps it.
Life, I've never had luck with lettuce, or brocoli or cauliflower. Cauliflower is just too much work, and prone to bolting in seconds. We've switched more to cabbage, a very tough plant, for leafy greens.
Beets are good, too. I love beat tops. Better than spinach, in my opinion. And I like spinach.
Life, irrigation is everything anymore for veggies in SWO. In good years you might not need it, but in others it's totally necessary.
I've had a good intro to pastured poultry. Looks promising. There's green grass where there should be no grass.
Thu, 2007-08-02 16:11
#17
It's a tad dry in these parts, ain't it Farmpunk.
I have been spot watering with salvaged grey water. My rinse water from dish doing isn't very soapy, so I have been filling a large watering can and wandering out to the more fragile or wilting plants.
I grow golden rod as an ornamental plant. I think we all know how hardy that is. I had to water the stand of it the other day, and if I hadn't I would have lost the lot. As it is they are stunted, and a few did die.
How dry is it?
It's so dry, we had to water the weeds.
Fri, 2007-08-03 17:56
#18
It's so dry that T-P had to water his weed.
I read the other day that our area, T-P, is having it's worst rain year since the '30s. I think I remember the amount being somewhere in the range of nine cms since early May. That's not enough.
Then again, last year was wet, and farmers complained about that.
One thing that does hearten me is that the trees here don't appear to be suffering. They're working on last year's rainfall. It's a bad feeling to watch the forest suffer.
Fri, 2007-08-03 18:06
#19
Heard on the radio today that Maitland Valley Cons Auth. is saying the watershed has only had 30% of the normal rain amount. If last fall hadn't been so wet, it would be write off. We spot irrigate a fair amount already, but every year it seems like we need more and more.
Shape of climate change to come I think. Weird thing is that the heritage french watermelon is going gangbusters. We'll see when we crack them open in a week or so though whether it is all rind or not.
Fri, 2007-08-03 18:28
#20
quote:
Originally posted by Farmpunk:
[b]It's so dry that T-P had to water his weed.I read the other day that our area, T-P, is having it's worst rain year since the '30s. I think I remember the amount being somewhere in the range of nine cms since early May. That's not enough.
Then again, last year was wet, and farmers complained about that.
One thing that does hearten me is that the trees here don't appear to be suffering. They're working on last year's rainfall. It's a bad feeling to watch the forest suffer.[/b]
It seems to me that back about... I'd say ten years ago we had a drought the nature of which we hadn't seen since the summer of 1969, which I have memory of. They said the drought ten years ago was a "40 year drought". Seems we've now had two of them in a matter of ten years.
All the little trees I planted last year at my niece's place are surely dead now. lack of time, and lack of water means they had to fend for themselves.
The exceptions are two small ash trees I found growing in the back yard, likely from the seeds from the boulevard trees the city plants. They have grown fantastically.
I have a plan though, so the replacement seedlings I give them this year might survive. I will give them large empty plastic containers with a pin hole in the bottom. If they manage to fill them once a week or so, the slow drip should keep them alive. I've tried it with a fern I have growing at the back of the yard, and it is working great. The fern is quite happy.
I'm not sure the established trees and trees in forested areas don't suffer. We may not see the results this year, but we may in years to come. The trees will be stressed, and more open to infestations.
As far as farmer's complaining, it dawned on me years ago that due to the wide variety of crops grown in southern Ontario, it will always be a bad year for someone, no matter what the weather.
Sat, 2007-08-04 06:36
#21
It's odd how some plants do better than others in certain conditions. I really like cabbage for an overall drought resistant and generally hardy vegetable. And there are many strains of cabbage availible. Savoy cabbage salad is better than lettuce.
T-P, for tree watering check into Lee Valley. They sell an innertube like water-er that goes around the base of a tree and drip irrigates.
Occasionally I feel guilty for irrigating. Then I see urbanites watering their lawns, as well as golf courses, sod farms. I wonder how much water a chicken barn uses in their cooling systems? A friend of mine who drills wells did a couple emergency wells for a large chicken producer who uses a water mist cooling system to keep the birds from dying in hot weather. Without some form of cooling I've heard that the birds wouldn't live 15 minutes when the temps climb into the 30s.
Sat, 2007-08-04 15:58
#22
From what I understand, it's not the heat the kills the chickens, it's the drop in oxygen. With so many birds crammed together, it doesn't surprise me.
In a year like this, I wouldn't feel guilty about irrigating. But, if irrigating is to become the norm for s/w Ontario, then some thought has to go into it. We can't just keep taking from the aquifers.
I think the climatologists are saying that these dry ( if not quite this dry) summers are to become the norm. But at the same time, our autumns and winters are supposed to be wetter. While our yearly precipitation isn't going to change, the timing of it, as we are seeing, is.
It means that storage systems for irrigation will have to be utilized. Wish I owned a back hoe.
My niece and nephew's well is above the retard, and not below it where a good well should be. Consequently, they are forever hauling water.
Outdoor watering, for them, is usually done with a pail on a rope thrown down into the pond. ( It looks like a small version of a typical irrigation pond) and with two small and energetic boys to watch over, watering the trees is, well, catch as catch can.
Going to Lee Valley is cheating. [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img] It robs one of the feeling of inventiveness.
And speaking of some plants doing better than others, my weeds in the corner of the old driveway are unaffected by the drought. And, I have never watered them. I think their height shades the ground and prevents it from drying out. But it's pretty crappy ground. Mostly gravel, packed from it's former use as a driveway, and what "soil" there is amoungst the rocks has little to no organic matter in it. And below that is five feet of fine sand before you hit a bed of fine sticky light brown clay. "Well drained" would be an understatement.
I wonder, though, if the few showers we have had soak into this ground quickly, where weed type plants like golden rod, sweet clover, black eyed susans and others can utilize it before it evaporates.
The golden rod that is stressed is in very organic soil.
[ 04 August 2007: Message edited by: Tommy_Paine ]
Sun, 2007-08-05 04:21
#23
Some further extrapolation on irrigation.
One of the neat things about not owning a farm is fantasizing about owning one. This way, one is free to imagine the possible without the constraints of economic realities.
So, along those lines, what I would do would be to dig an intercepting trench at right angles to drainage tiles that most farms seem to have.
I'd slope this trench down to an irrigation pond of appropriate size. This way, runoff from our wet autumns, and snow run off would be captured.
It would also capture excess pesticide and herbicides, and if they are as biodegradable as advertised, give them even more time to break down in the pond, instead of running off into a nearby creek or river.
I would try to make the irrigation pond long and narrow as opposed to square. This way I could plant trees to block the sun and keep the water temperature down in the summer to prevent evaporation. A shaded pond could also use duck weed to further reduce evaporation. A pond in full sun could utilize water hyacinth. An invasive species in the Southern U.S., the water hyacinth can't over winter here. The water hyacinth pulls a lot of nutrients out of the water that would foster algae blooms, and blocks sunlight due to it's phenomenal growth rate.
And in the fall maybe it could be harvested for compost.
I'd also, if geography co-operated, try to hook up all the out building's eaves troughs to the pond. And maybe have a modest well, and one of those old fashioned wind mill pumps to take a small, but constant amount of water from the aquifer above the retard.
I'd also take a good look at the land not under cultivation. Gone would be the big lawn, and grassy strips along field edges and roads. I would have trees planted where ever I could.
Driving around the province, it strikes me that there is too much sun exposed land that increases the rate of evaporation in the summer, and deprives the aquifers of their former supply. This is just a guess on my part, but it seems to make sense.
Sun, 2007-08-05 06:19
#24
Tommy, you've just described a lot of the irrigation ponds in my area, including the one we use here.
Tile drainage is not lost water, however. Most tiled land drains into ditches and is diverted towards municipal drainages or natural water pathways. Many of the municipal drains become micro-climates, or support marshes and watersheds.
Fri, 2007-08-10 22:28
#25
I ate my first fig today. It was ok a brown turkey.
Had runner beans and french beans and rasberrys and a nice strawberry and some plums.
Plums are almost ripe (the little purple ones).
I get nice jam from the little ones by getting all the stones out. First you stew them up slowly until really soft and then get a spud masher (with a cup or container that is same radius)
You mash the stones to the bottom of the cup, save the plum pulp and juice that got through and throw out the stones. (Otherwise you will be a million years stoning them).
They make really nice jam and pies and you can freeze them too.
I have other plum trees too. 2 produce plums the size of peaches. Beautiful eating plums.
There are also yellow yucky tasting plums. But you know what, they make super jam! Quite different from the other plum jams, half way to marmalade in my opinion.
Sun, 2007-08-19 03:57
#26
Well I was out and about yesterday, to attend the birthday party given for my grand nephews on the edge of the Ekfrid forest, south of Appin, Ontario.
One could tell which corn fields were irrigated, and which ones fended for themselves. The difference was dramatic. There were a few fields that looked like either white or soya beans that looked as if they had been napalmed.
I was close to being certain from my last visit that I had found a paw paw tree, but closer examination yesterday showed that I had fooled myself. While the leaves were long and very oblong, like members of the magnolia family, these trees turned out to be young shag bark hickory. too young yet to show the characteristic shaggy bark, leaving me only the leaves to go by previously. Leaves, and hope.
As far as the Paw Paw quest goes, next time I am by the Springfield conservation area near Aylmer, I will go for a walk there. They have paw paw there, and by looking at them I will know exactly what they look like, and be better able to identify them. It strikes me, thinking about it, that a likely place to check might be around the banks of Medway Creek here in London, or around the Attawandaran museum. Paw Paw is thought to be brought up here by native peoples in trade from what is today the southern U.S.
The trees I planted on my niece and nephew's place last fall are, surprisingly, clinging to life. Barely. I will be surprised if they survive the stress of the winter though.
As far as my garden grows, my weeds still flower nicely, and Rebecca West has added soil and a few more plants to the arid west facing garden at the front of the house.
Sun, 2007-08-19 07:59
#27
Hey, I lived in Springfield briefly, when I was too young to remember it. We lived in a farmhouse, apparently renting there, if I remember correctly what I was told by my parents. We also lived in Aylmer, I think.
My parents weren't farmers, though. My mother grew up in a rural farming area in SW Ontario when her family came to Canada (the Petrolia area), and I think they might have done some farming while she was growing up. And my grandparents always had huge "kitchen gardens" where they grew just about every vegetable known to humankind. I think they might have kept some chickens at some point too.
Sun, 2007-08-19 12:48
#28
Digiteyes
Lots of organic heirloom tomatoes in my little allotment garden this year. I put 8 plants in. Last week I harvested about 2 kilos worth; this week, a little over 3 kilos.
Paste tomatoes I'm washing and freezing immediately -- when I have lots frozen I'll thaw them and make a big pot of tomato sauce with fresh basil.
I've got about a kilo (that's 4 tomatoes) of Caspian pinks... one of those with a bocconcini or two and some basil makes a wonderful dinner (add a drizzle of olive oil and basamic vinegar).
Have about a kilo of black cherry tomatoes, too. Think I'll have to give some to some of my neighbours.
Sun, 2007-08-19 23:12
#29
Well my runner beans survived whatever it was eating the leaves. I bought some 10-10-10 fertilizer from Canadian Tire and some bug powder made from natural stuff, and I can't tell if the fertilizer did anything positive. They've got red flowers all over but no beans yet. My neighbor next door has regular pole beans, and they've got huge leaves and have grown higher than the fence already while mine are just approaching five feet in climb.
The round tomatoes and cherry t's are doing good, about 15 plants altogether but not ripe yet. I thought I had five rhubarb plants, but as it turns out they're beets. I wouldn't have known until someone told me.
Mon, 2007-08-20 05:37
#30
quote:
Originally posted by Tommy_Paine:
[b] As far as my garden grows, my weeds still flower nicely, and Rebecca West has added soil and a few more plants to the arid west facing garden at the front of the house.[/b]
Weeds...wildflowers...basically the same thing. It's been an interesting experiment, but I think I'd like to cultivate that patch a bit - not enough to "tame" it, but just enough to encourage more dense growth of the flowering plants and control the scraggly weedy types.
Our soil is clay. And where it isn't clay, it's sand, so I have to add and replace soil regularly. A friend of mine who lives in the Yarker/Camden East area, has gorgeous raised beds, and she gave me more plants for our parched front garden. Seedum (can't kill that stuff) and a couple varieties of non-invasive mint have nicely filled in the back of the garden along with a variety of grasses that've done very well in those conditions. The middle section of the bed has varieties of artemesia, lavender and dianthus,and in the front and throughout are varieties of groundcover-like plants; snow-in-summer, rockcress, stonecrop, and thyme, all interspersed with craggy limestone rocks. It still needs a lot of work, but I think after two years of work, the result is better than I expected when I first started in spring 2006.
Mon, 2007-08-20 12:12
#31
I've got mint growing along a shallow trench for about 100 feet at the edge of the property. I'm trying to get some to grow next to the basement walls and doorways. Someone said ants don't like mint.
Mon, 2007-08-20 16:14
#32
Sounds like some good gardening happening out there.
Rained, finally. I think we got an inch. Haven't had anything approaching that since early April in my area. Might be a little late for the field crops. Some bean fields are already being worked up and will likely be planted with, I would guess, wheat, which a nice price right now.
Digiteyes, I've never had luck with heirloom tomatoes. Maybe they like organic ferts better. The peppers are yielding heavy this year. But for whatever reason I've always had luck with peppers. Cabbage is getting massive. Onions doing well, too. We grow mainly storage onions, for winter use. Nothing like a garden grown red onion come February.
The sweet corn is doing okay. Been a little tricky with bug control. Instead of slopping on spray I've been holding off and grading the corn more carefully, because the bugs have been pretty bad. I should put up a Reduced Pesticide Sign but I don't want to do that. I've found a great variety of corn.
Mon, 2007-08-20 17:23
#33
earwigs eat the leaves at night.
Once they get high enough, they don't seem to be effected but they can really slow down the first growth! I have a pic somewhere of about 10 earwigs on one leaf munching away. The diatom earth seemed to work in keeping them away.
Beans do not need nitrogen firtilizer because they have growths on their roots that fixes nitrogen to produce nitrates for the plant to use. 0 10 10 is better because it gives the beans the potasium and phosphorus that they need.
And the weeds cannot compete so good cos they have no N! (nitrates)
The other pole beans usually produce first but the runners (Usually) outlast and out produce them.
I grow about 3 varietys of each type of pole bean. I made sour beans last year, because i had so many. Like sourkraut except with beans.
Might try canning this year because i have many again.
quote:
Originally posted by Fidel:
[b]Well my runner beans survived whatever it was eating the leaves. I bought some 10-10-10 fertilizer from Canadian Tire and some bug powder made from natural stuff, and I can't tell if the fertilizer did anything positive. They've got red flowers all over but no beans yet. My neighbor next door has regular pole beans, and they've got huge leaves and have grown higher than the fence already while mine are just approaching five feet in climb.The round tomatoes and cherry t's are doing good, about 15 plants altogether but not ripe yet. I thought I had five rhubarb plants, but as it turns out they're beets. I wouldn't have known until someone told me.[/b]
Mon, 2007-08-20 20:19
#34
Digiteyes
quote:
Originally posted by Farmpunk:
[b]Sounds like some good gardening happening out there.Rained, finally. I think we got an inch. Haven't had anything approaching that since early April in my area. Might be a little late for the field crops. Some bean fields are already being worked up and will likely be planted with, I would guess, wheat, which a nice price right now.
Digiteyes, I've never had luck with heirloom tomatoes. Maybe they like organic ferts better. The peppers are yielding heavy this year. But for whatever reason I've always had luck with peppers. Cabbage is getting massive. Onions doing well, too. We grow mainly storage onions, for winter use. Nothing like a garden grown red onion come February.
The sweet corn is doing okay. Been a little tricky with bug control. Instead of slopping on spray I've been holding off and grading the corn more carefully, because the bugs have been pretty bad. I should put up a Reduced Pesticide Sign but I don't want to do that. I've found a great variety of corn.[/b]
My Dad's having problems with his peppers down in Nova Scotia... there's been lots of rain, not too much sun, and he fertilized with sheepo. Might have too much nitrogen, methinks.
I didn't fertilize at all. Maybe I'm just lucky with the varieties of heirloom tomatoes I bought as young plants at Withrop Park this spring.
My veggie garden is an allotment garden that I acquired last summer. The soil seemed pretty good. I planted a bunch of soybeans, just hoping they'd add some nitrogen into the soil. Was disappointed when, in early September, all the leaves had been eaten off the plants (I only got the garden at the beginning of July, and it was almost August before I got it cleaned out and planted the soybeans.
I gave up too easy on the soybeans: they recovered from the rabbits, it seems, and went on to grow. This spring when I went to clear things out, I was wondering what all these hollow silver-gray sticks were on my lot. Maybe they did add nitrogen; maybe there was a good combination of N, P and K from previous tennants of the lot.
I might be losing 5% of my tomatoes to things-that-eat-them... some nibbles look obviously done by teeth, maybe bunnies or racoons or squirrels. Some nibbles are obviously insects.
Given how dry the summer is (and the fact that I've been strictly watering one gallon per plant per week -- using my watering can for measure, no hose for me because I can't tell how much I'm watering)... definitely no blossom-end rot this year. Have harvested about 10 lbs of tomatoes between last week and this.
Mon, 2007-08-20 23:38
#35
quote:
Originally posted by Brian White:
[b]0 10 10 is better because it gives the beans the potasium and phosphorus that they need.
And the weeds cannot compete so good cos they have no N! (nitrates)[/b]
Aha! You're a genus, Brian. Thanks ever so much. I'll be better prepared now for next season.
[img]http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/ren0026l.jpg[/img]
![http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/ren0026l.jpg[/img]](http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/ren0026l.jpg[/img]){kind=link}
[ 20 August 2007: Message edited by: Fidel ]
Tue, 2007-08-21 06:53
#36
I visited a friend's kitchen garden in Halifax a few days ago and was impressed by how well it was thriving. The cucumbers and tomatoes in particular are growing in large numbers. She experimented with a variety of hot peppers this year (jalapeсo, she thinks) and those are doing really well by the side of the house. I was especially surprised by the four stalks of corn that she planted, which look like they'll produce about 10 ears of corn altogether. A few stalks like that, separate from large, swaying fields of corn, are an unusual sight! They're looking tall and healthy though, and will likely provide her with enough corn for a mini corn boil. [img]biggrin.gif" border="0[/img]
Tue, 2007-08-21 09:56
#37
I am convinced that raised beds are what I need next year. My little plot is next to two 75 foot tall scrub poplar trees, and I know the spider roots from those trees have grown back and are sapping nutrients from the soil. Thank you everyone for the good gardening advice. Thanks Brian
Tue, 2007-08-21 16:14
#38
Raised beds have always interested me. The problem I see is that you'll have to create soil conditions unless you have access to topsoil or a skidsteer. I would suggest a soil-less mixture (peat, coco coir) with organic additions. That would be an awesome raised bed garden.
Having a total farm dinner tonight. BBQed chicken, corn, and tomatoes. Oh, and Franks hot sauce, salt and pepper.
Tue, 2007-08-21 17:34
#39
Sounds good to me, FP. I have two composters ready to go. I don't relish the thoughts of carrying peelings out to the composter all winter long though. The coco coir and peat sounds interesting. I'll try it.
Tue, 2007-08-28 04:59
#40
quote:
Six days after Deborah Dale gave a city-sponsored seminar on growing natural gardens filled with native species, the garden that is her front lawn in Scarborough was razed – clipped to the stem by the city after neighbours complained the plants were weeds.Dale, a biologist and past-president of the North American Native Plant Society, spent 12 years nurturing the garden. It contained about 200 species of plants.
[url=http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/250460]One person's weeds....[/url]
It reminds me of a person in a snooty suburb of London who planted his front yard with clover, because it was environmentally friendly. His neighbors went ballistic.
I can understand the control of genuinely noxious weeds like poison ivy, hog weed, poison oak and rag weed, but many of our so called "weeds" are in fact flowers.
Aside from the rotting carcass of the raccoon, I think this is an egregious invasion of someone's property and liberty.
Not only should the city pay, but charges of vandalism should be made against the workers and their supervisor, and the manager of that particular department.
A little research tells me that while common milkweed is on Ontario's list of noxious weeds, control is only recommended if it threatens agricultural land. The commom milkweed can be poisonous to live stock.
I doubt there are many horses or cows likely to brows gardens in Scarborough.
There is a difference between noxious and invasive. The list of invasive herbaceous plants is much larger than the noxious list. I doubt there is a property free of invasive species in southern Ontario.
There is a garden at the foot of London's Pioneer Village that is all native species of plants. The butterfly activity there is astounding.
[ 28 August 2007: Message edited by: Tommy_Paine ]
Tue, 2007-08-28 05:43
#41
[url=http://www.cbc.ca/soundslikecanada/features1.html]Sounds Like Canada[/url] has released it's list of the seven most invasive weeds.
They all look pretty to me, but I don't know a thing about gardening!
Tue, 2007-08-28 05:56
#42
Looks to me that the compiler of that list owns a cattle farm.
Meanwhile, in the Carolinian zone, the garlic mustard weed is sending it's chemicals into the dirt, killing off a fungi that hardwoods like maple depend on to live. I never knew that until today, bumping around on the net looking at sites about invasive and noxious weeds.
I've seen this garlic mustard weed [i]everywhere[/i] on my walks through wooded areas here. Matter of fact, there is some on my property.
[ 28 August 2007: Message edited by: Tommy_Paine ]
Wed, 2007-08-29 10:09
#43
quote:
Originally posted by Farmpunk:
[b]Raised beds have always interested me. The problem I see is that you'll have to create soil conditions unless you have access to topsoil or a skidsteer. I would suggest a soil-less mixture (peat, coco coir) with organic additions. That would be an awesome raised bed garden.[/b]
Black earth on top of wet newsprint makes an excellent raised bed, and if you put a layer of mulch on it after planting, the results can be really spectacular, with lower maintenance, water conservation, and very little erosion being the added bonus. I'm putting together a back garden plan that involves all raised beds of perennials.
Wed, 2007-08-29 16:15
#44
Weeds can cause huge problems in large fields. In a garden the only harm they do is to the gardener's pride and they get in the way.
Some day a study on the loss of milkweeds and therefore monarch butterflies due to round-up ready soybeans will be done and it will get messy.
Raised beds always look so nice. I'm not sure what "black earth" is, R-West. A product, or a rich soil?
Having an epic pepper year. Last year I built portable frost shades and had fresh peppers into November. Tomatoes are popping and will be turned into various canned products soon.
Sun, 2007-09-02 03:16
#45
Yeah, jrose, I feel guilty for liking those weeds so much myself. [img]smile.gif" border="0[/img] I really like daisies. I refuse to call them weeds, even though I know they are.
Someday, if I ever own (or rent) a place with a yard, I'll grow a few veggies. And then I'll deal with the frustration of squirrels and raccoons eating them all before I get to.
Sun, 2007-09-02 03:27
#46
quote:
Some day a study on the loss of milkweeds and therefore monarch butterflies due to round-up ready soybeans will be done and it will get messy.
In spite of round-up usage, I almost always see milkweed still growing in soy bean fields.
I've always wanted milkweed in my garden, and on my next visit to my niece's I am going to dig some up and transplant it at home.
Sun, 2007-09-02 08:28
#47
Digiteyes
quote:
Originally posted by Tommy_Paine:
[b]In spite of round-up usage, I almost always see milkweed still growing in soy bean fields.
I've always wanted milkweed in my garden, and on my next visit to my niece's I am going to dig some up and transplant it at home.[/b]
The flowers are very fragrant. If you're looking to attract Monarch butterflies, here's a
[url=http://www.butterflybushes.com/milkweed_information.htm]web page[/url] with some information.
[url=http://www.sweetgrassgardens.com/]Sweet Grass Gardens[/url] on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford has a few varieties. Ken Parker is a wonderfully knowledgeable speaker on native species of plants, too -- he spoke at the fall technical update session for Toronto-area (up to Lake Simcoe) Master Gardeners three years ago..
Thu, 2007-11-08 12:09
#48
Did anyone catch the CBC’s report on the Montreal Melon, connecting it to a broader trend of “heirloom gardening?” Very interesting!
There doesn’t seem to be a text version online, but I've found myself googling "forgotten vegetables" and "heirloom gardening" to no end today.
[url=http://www.montrealmelon.com/]http://www.montrealmelon.com/[/url]
Thu, 2008-03-20 09:03
#49
Boom Boom
[url=http://www.dailyweeder.com/2008/03/19/composting-the-royal-way/]Composting the Royal Way![/url]
Thu, 2008-03-20 09:36
#50
ElizaQ
quote:
Originally posted by jrose:
[b]Did anyone catch the CBC’s report on the Montreal Melon, connecting it to a broader trend of “heirloom gardening?” Very interesting!There doesn’t seem to be a text version online, but I've found myself googling "forgotten vegetables" and "heirloom gardening" to no end today.
[url=http://www.montrealmelon.com/]http://www.montrealmelon.com/[/url][/b]
I'm trying out this melon this year and a couple of other ones related to it.
I only grow heirlooms. There are so many choices out there! This year I'm trying out about 30 different varieties of tomatoes. Red, purple, pink, yellow, large, medium, cherry, grape....
In fact I'm planting the first batch later today.
Thu, 2008-03-20 10:33
#51
That sounds so fun, ElizaQ.
Thanks for bumping this! It's the perfect time to start thinking about gardening (because believe it or not, Spring is here ...Kinda!)
And there are still a few [url=http://www.seeds.ca/ev/evpage.php?lang=EN&p=5]Seedy Saturdays[/url] left through Seeds of Diversity
This is a great list of events for gardeners across the country.