What Are Some Tips for Successful Gardening?

[Evo]

Shiploads, yes, but not of Black magic (Tantau 1997)

This for instance:

That's awesome.

 

[Evo]

here's another color of lily that opened:

Oh, I love that one!

 

[Evo]

Here's a rosebud on a miniature rose. It's about half the size of my tiny thumb.

 

[Astronuc]

For those interested in raspberries - here is what's happening in NZ:

http://www.hortnet.co.nz/publications/hortfacts/hf057008.htm

Note the soil and fertilizer requirements.


Except for Japanese beetles, our raspberries don't have any pests.



Some information from the US:

http://www.raspberries.us/

http://www.raspberries.us/varieties.htm

 

[turbo]

Here are my cultivated raspberries. The biggest cane is probably 8 feet, and this year for the first time the root system is big enough to start throwing off new growth from rhizomes - some 6' or more from the central planting. This started out a couple of years back as a handful of canes my my wife's co-worker gave her when thinning her patch.

 

[Evo]

Here are my plum tomatoes and a "twin" eggplant blossom.

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/2826/plumtomatoes1jt5.jpg

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/4273/eggplantdoublebloomfa2.jpg

 

[Andre]

Nice pictures, Evo

 

[rewebster]

yeah--lookin' good there evo---gardens on patios take special attention---and you're doing it

those eggplants blooms are nice---especially the two growing together like that---



funny, I was trying to think what other flowers had a texture like that--and then...(in that photo how the two composed)--if they were 'colorized' more toward the gray/black/brown-- they'd almost look like one of those close ups of a bat's face--one of those with a wrinkled face and nose.

your eggplant
http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/4273/eggplantdoublebloomfa2.jpg


bat

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15954125

your eggplant (colorized)
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd236/rewebster/eggplantdoublebloomfa2.jpg

 

[turbo]

Here's a shot of my garden from earlier today. Amazingly, given the almost daily drenching that we've been getting for weeks, most of the stuff is doing OK. I've had to replant the cucumbers and green beans, and had to replant the squash twice. Seeds don't germinate well in mud. I have made it a habit to hoe my rows up to help excess water run off, and it has definitely saved the garden this year.

 

[baywax]

Amazingly, after about 11 months of rain, my garden is doing well too... Here's a micrograph of some of very healthy Stachybotrys Mold.

 

[rewebster]

Here's a shot of my garden from earlier today. Amazingly, given the almost daily drenching that we've been getting for weeks, most of the stuff is doing OK. I've had to replant the cucumbers and green beans, and had to replant the squash twice. Seeds don't germinate well in mud. I have made it a habit to hoe my rows up to help excess water run off, and it has definitely saved the garden this year.

my, my...


that really is nice---is that a row of asparagus in back?

 

[rewebster]

Amazingly, after about 11 months of rain, my garden is doing well too... Here's a micrograph of some of very healthy Stachybotrys Mold.

you grow Stachybotrys Mold? ----what?----a 'culture' garden?----not enough room for tomatoes then?





(I guess evo didn't like the reference to eggplant fruitbat)

 

[turbo]

my, my...that really is nice---is that a row of asparagus in back?

There is asparagus along that weed-line. I should expend the time and energy to improve that bed, but asparagus is pretty low-yield, and I try to spend time, money, and labor for high-yield vegetables that we can freeze or can. My wife and I made pesto out of some of the garlic scapes and it is wonderful on fresh pasta! I took the recipe to my neighbor who got me into garlic-production, and he invited me to come harvest all the scapes I want. He has a very large garlic crop, so my wife and I will probably make up lots of pesto and pack it in small air-tight containers and freeze them. It might not be as good as fresh-made, but it feels great in the dead of winter to pull treats like that from the freezer.

 

[Andre]

The highest yield I ever had on any crop was http://home.student.uva.nl/pepijn.uitterhoeve/boerenkool/boerenkool.htm , an excellent winter hardy cabbage, which can be cultivated as second crop in the second half of the growing season. It's also high quality food.

Hint.

 

[rewebster]

do you know about throwing rock salt on your asparagus bed?

I haven't tried to grow garlic yet, but a friend gave me one of his elephant garlics one time.

 

[turbo]

The highest yield I ever had on any crop was "boerenkool" (Curly cabbage), an excellent winter hardy cabbage, which can be cultivated as second crop in the second half of the growing season. It's also high quality food.

Hint.

Thanks, Andre. I may have to try that sometime. I like the tightly-packed heads of conventional cabbage, but it sells so cheaply around here (like potatoes and yellow onions) that I prefer to buy it and save the garden space for high-yield stuff that is expensive, or that keeps really well. Some things (cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, etc) do not store well, but I have struck a reasonable balance of volumes and make lots of sauces, pickles, etc, that I process and put up in sealed jars. We have cupboards and pantry shelves that look like this:

 

[turbo]

do you know about throwing rock salt on your asparagus bed?

I haven't tried to grow garlic yet, but a friend gave me one of his elephant garlics one time.

Rock salt on asparagus? I never heard of that. Have you got a reference for that?

As for garlic, it's really easy. Wait until winter before the ground is frozen, separate the cloves from a bulb and plant them in rich Earth pointy-end up. Mulch heavily with clean straw, and pull the mulch away a bit in the spring when the tops start emerging. When the central stalks (scapes) emerge and start to curl or develop seed-pods, snap them off and chop the tender part below the seed pod to use in salads, soups, stir-fries, etc. Yum!

 

[rewebster]

Rock salt on asparagus? I never heard of that. Have you got a reference for that?

As for garlic, it's really easy. Wait until winter before the ground is frozen, separate the cloves from a bulb and plant them in rich Earth pointy-end up. Mulch heavily with clean straw, and pull the mulch away a bit in the spring when the tops start emerging. When the central stalks (scapes) emerge and start to curl or develop seed-pods, snap them off and chop the tender part below the seed pod to use in salads, soups, stir-fries, etc. Yum!

well, it (the salt) stops all the grass and weeds from growing up around the asparagus, without hurting it. I can't tell you how much salt though, but most around here that I have heard about do it. You can get some info by google (no doubt).

It takes a year and half for garlic, right?

 

[turbo]

well, it (the salt) stops all the grass and weeds from growing up around the asparagus, without hurting it. I can't tell you how much salt though, but most around here that I have heard about do it. You can get some info by google (no doubt).

It takes a year and half for garlic, right?

Garlic takes about 6-7 months. You plant cloves in the winter, snap off the scapes when they emerge in June, and harvest the bulbs when the leaves start dying back. When you dig the bulbs, you wipe the dirt off them and spread them out in a protected place to air-dry. Select the largest, healthiest-looking bulbs for next winter's planting and use the remainder in cooking.

German garlic only has about 4 cloves per bulb, so it's tougher to propagate rapidly. Russian garlic has more cloves per bulb, so fewer bulbs can yield more cloves, which turn into more bulbs next summer.

 

[Evo]

yeah--lookin' good there evo---gardens on patios take special attention---and you're doing it

those eggplants blooms are nice---especially the two growing together like that---



funny, I was trying to think what other flowers had a texture like that--and then...(in that photo how the two composed)--if they were 'colorized' more toward the gray/black/brown-- they'd almost look like one of those close ups of a bat's face--one of those with a wrinkled face and nose.

your eggplant
http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/4273/eggplantdoublebloomfa2.jpg


bat

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15954125

your eggplant (colorized)
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd236/rewebster/eggplantdoublebloomfa2.jpg

OMG![/URL] I missed that! I LOVE IT! Thanks Rew!

<except now I am afraid of being alone in the dark with my eggplant>

 

[rewebster]

OMG! I missed that! I LOVE IT! Thanks Rew!

<except now I am afraid of being alone in the dark with my eggplant>

(maybe think of your flowers as a pupating vegetarian bat)

 

[baywax]

you grow Stachybotrys Mold? ----what?----a 'culture' garden?----not enough room for tomatoes then?

No, the stuff grows itself! I don't know where all the global warming is but we could use some! Just yesterday a guy broke his leg snow shoeing... in the last days of June.

 

[rewebster]

did the mold growing in the snow cause the accident?

 

[baywax]

did the mold growing in the snow cause the accident?

Probably the brewer's yeast.

 

[Evo]

Here's a shot of my garden from earlier today. Amazingly, given the almost daily drenching that we've been getting for weeks, most of the stuff is doing OK. I've had to replant the cucumbers and green beans, and had to replant the squash twice. Seeds don't germinate well in mud. I have made it a habit to hoe my rows up to help excess water run off, and it has definitely saved the garden this year.

Nice garden turbo! Have the squash come up yet?

 

[rewebster]

Probably the brewer's yeast.

funny!


and there's the solution---genetically cross brewer's yeast and that algae


get it produce oil and ETOH on a 'home' level---and we will be assured Canadians will the first country to sign on full scale

 

[turbo]

Nice garden turbo! Have the squash come up yet?

Thanks. The squash (most of it, anyway) is up. Now we need some really warm days to accelerate the growth. We got some hot days in spring, but most of this month has been cool and rainy, with temps 5-10 deg below normal.

I just got back from my neighbor's place, with at least a peck of the big German garlic scapes, and a couple of gallon's measure of the smaller Russian scapes. My wife is going to flip when she gets home. She raves about the garlic-scape pesto - now we'll have to start making lots more and packing them in freezer-containers for winter. We have some basil that is big enough to start sacrificing leaves, but I doubt that she'll want to tinker with perfection, and we'll end up using the original recipe.

 

[rewebster]

a couple of this color just opened

 

[turbo]

The garden is suffering from even more rain the last few days. It is torrential at times. Saturday and Sunday, we got 1.5" of rain, which is typical of the last couple of weeks.

Today is bonus day. The garden was mucky and wet, but I needed to weed it, which I did until the skies opened up. We got 0.8" of rain in about 20 minutes, then the shower let up a bit, only to get heavy again and give us another 0.3" in about 15 minutes. The rain continues and I fully expect that we'll get over 2" for the day. I may have to start building an ark and collecting animals 2-by-2. The chipmunks would probably be happier if I didn't save red squirrels. After I started relocating squirrels, the chipmunks' scars healed up and it got harder to tell them apart - the squirrels were brutal on my 'munks.

 

[Evo]

Too much rain is really bad. not only does it leach nutrients from the soil, the diseases constantly wet foilage can contract are bad, not to mention it being too damp for blossom set, if any are at that stage.

I hope it let's up.

 

[turbo]

My tomatoes and peppers are trying to set blossoms, but cold wet weather is tough on the pollinators, as well as the plants. I'm hoping to salvage the garden this summer - my high-hoed rows and beds are helping keep plants out of the worst of the water, along with the gentle pitch of the garden-spot, but the lack of sunshine and the cool soil temps are stunting some of my highest-value plants. I don't care if the Swiss chard, lettuce, etc is crappy this year, but I'd hate to lose productivity in peppers, tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers.

 

[Evo]

What is this bug?

I thought it was bad until I saw it catch and suck the juices out of a caterpillar. Within 15 minutes and just caught small catterpillar became a shrunken black husk, and this bug doubled in size.

The Evo child took my camera because she is interviewing kittens with a friend of hers, so i had to use my camera phone.

 

[turbo]

I wish I knew, and I wish I had them. We get assassin bugs, and they can catch, kill, and eat bugs that are twice their size, including bumble bees.

 

[rewebster]

What is this bug?

I thought it was bad until I saw it catch and suck the juices out of a cat erpillar. Within 15 minutes and just caught small catterpillar became a shrunken black husk, and this bug doubled in size.

The Evo child took my camera because she is interviewing kittens with a friend of hers, so i had to use my camera phone.

I'd call it a cat sucker (until whoever finds out what it is)



(maybe some type of weevil?)

 

[Borek]

(maybe some type of weevil?)

According to wikipedia weevils are herbivores. Not that I know what they are, there is no link to Polish wiki which is usually the simplest shortcut to translate name.

I wonder if its adult form or larva. Could be the latter (hence no wings), especially this time of the year.

OK, Googled and wikied some more. Looks like assasin bug Turbo mentioned.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassin_bug

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/chatham/ag/SustAg/assassinbug.html