BS: Gardening, 2009

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Bobert
Date: 31 May 09 - 08:19 PM

Janie,

Have you considered acubas... I think they will flourish where yer new house is... A little morning sun or late afternoon sun and they are good to go... The gold dust is real nice and need almost no direct sinlight at all to thrive...

Barry,

Get the gun... Groundhogs are vegetarians and will eat anything and everything that is green... But they are aslo very smart and know when yer out to get them...

maeve,

30 tomato plants, pray tell??? Whatja gonna do with 'um??? Too mnay to eat and too many to can unless you can day and night...

Everyone,

Never got the asparagun fewrtilized 'cuase of a blasted party we had to go to... Politics... Did get the first 5 of the 37 posts set before the party... Gonna use up a couple hundred rocks before this little part of the adventure is over settin' the posts...

Ya' know that I been so busy of late that I haven't gotten the first cannibus seedling started... Better get on that, too...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: maeve
Date: 31 May 09 - 08:49 PM

Bobert- Besides what I freeze or dry for winter, we sell veggies, veggie seedlings, perennials, sustainably-grown wildflowers, spring bulbs, herbs, and home-grafted fruit trees at our farm stand. Down the road is a food pantry, up the road t'other way are neighbors who could use help with food.

I reckon 30 will be enough for now.

m

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Barry Finn
Date: 31 May 09 - 10:05 PM

Janie, Bobert, they could be groundhogs. Are they just as bad?


I don't own a gun

Barry

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Janie
Date: 31 May 09 - 10:46 PM

We don't have gophers around here. I googled them and could not determine if you are likely to have them in New England or not, but I tend to think of them as midwestern and western animals. Big holes suggest groundhogs to me, but google images of groundhogs and see what you think. They are not generally aggressive toward humans, but have vicious bite - don't go sticking your hand in a groundhog hole.

If they are groundhogs, you might try box traps baited with apples. They are pretty smart and can be hard to trap. They can also get into about any garden unless you go to a lot of trouble to bury metal chickenwire or turkey fence. You have to dig down about a foot and bend the bottom of the fence into an L shape, facing outward. The flat part underground will need to extend outward from the fence line at least 2 feet, and 3 feet is better. As you can tell from the burrows, they are fabulous diggers.

Hate to say it, but a .22 bullet through the head is the only sure control. If you have fenced backyard and a decent dog that has the run of the yard, that may help deter them or encourage them to move on if the dog can't actually catch them.

Lastly, groundhogs will occasionally turn up with rabies. I don't know how common rabies is where you are, but it is quite common here. They are not often carriers, but it can happen.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: GUEST
Date: 31 May 09 - 11:13 PM

Thanks Janie
I'm not about to go through all that fence stuff & digging. I might just wait till they go to bed then pour cement down their door I ain't feeding anyone or thing that didn't come in the house across the welcome mat.

Barry, on another computer

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 01:13 AM

My dogs would love to take on gophers or a ground hog. Not that I encourage it, but they're outdoor dogs who patrol the grounds, and if something like that turns up, they make sure it stays away or they kill it.

This evening I finished the work on the newest bit of the veggie garden. I put my soaker hoses on a Siamese fitting to split the water two directions for good coverage. I repaired the longest piece of a soaker hose (hit with the mower a couple of years ago--I kept the parts for just this kind of use) and arranged it around the new area in a way that the curls in the hose won't kink. I ended up with a good arrangement and I tossed coastal hay over the top for the time being just to make it look finished. I'll pull it back and put in seeds this week. I'm planning more onions, some leeks, and probably come cucubits that I'll let grow out over the lawn to get a larger growing area (and kill some grass while they're at it. Good!)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 02:56 AM

Humph... you spend hours getting the garden to look nice for company, and when they come over, they say it's too hot to go outside! Ah well.

Next door over the back fence have been pruning. They replaced the rest of their fence (my back fence is their side fence) over the weekend and have taken out a lot of big shrubs that blocked the light. They have also pruned my trees that overhang the fence, which I'm having mixed feelings about. Firstly, they should have asked me if I minded and secondly I'm pretty sure it will improve my light more than theirs...

But I did manage to get my hanging baskets up (swallow nest variety) and now I'm off to the garden centre to find liners and plants to put in them.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: maeve
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 07:46 AM

Barry, check your PMs. Woodchucks/groundhogs are very aggressive when cornered. We have dealt with them effectively without fences or guns, but it takes some planning.

maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Bobert
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 08:12 AM

As Janie suggeste a large box trap is the best answer...

Now here's the tricky part... What to do with Mr. G-hog once you have him trapped??? Hefre in Virginia it is against the law to take him off and release him... But that what I do anyway with racoons and groundhogs... I just make sure that I put trap and all in the back of my Toyota station wagon so that the cops don't see me transporting said animal in the back of the pickup truck which has no tailgate....

Shy of that, the .22 is next best and fast...

But a groundhog in yer veggie garden even for one night means an entire 30 foot row of beet demolished... These animals will go thru yer veggie garden like Grant thru Richmond...

Si I trap them... My trap is about 4 feet long with a 18"X18" opening... That's the size you need...

Animal shelters will sometimes lend them out to you...

Apples, peaches and just about anything that has a sweet odor will work as bait...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Bobert
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 11:50 AM

Let's see... 9 more posts set this morning + 5 yesterday = 14 posts...

37 minus 14 is, ahhhhhh, 23 posts to go + 4 twelve foot gate posts = 27 posts to go...

Hmmmmmm??? This project is going to take awhile...

But this afternoon I'm going to actually do a little, yes, gardening!!! Going to plant my seigie azalea and plant all the seedlings in the veggie garden and hopefully get it mulched...

And maybe get the maure on the asparagus patch...

Nice to take a day off...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 01:46 PM

Wow! I complain about snails taking out a row of beans in a day, but a groundhog is major devastation!

Dogs are still a pretty good answer. Either scare them away or confront them.

The plumber is here replacing the thermostats and top valve on the water heater. It has been dribbling scalding water out in the side of the house, and I realized the moisture wasn't the typical amount from my condensation pump from the heat pump on that side of the house. The ground is really wet and very hot because the thermostat wouldn't turn off. It probably came close to cooking my Texas star hibiscus, we'll have to see how they do this summer. Anyway, the job is about finished and we'll have reasonable water temperature in the house now. The way it was, it was like having a 50 gallon insta-hot tank. The cost of replacing these is about half of replacing the entire tank, and I'm taking the gamble that the tank will last a few more years and make this repair worthwhile.

It's such an annoyance, when I'm struggling to make an efficient water delivery system for the yard, which is a big draw as the season progresses, only to realize that elsewhere it has been just running out at will, and I've been paying to superheat it to boot. Water and Electric bills next month will be high.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: maeve
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 06:00 PM

I got half of the tomatoes planted and rebuilt several raised beds. I'm staking most of them this year, rather than using wire cages.

The big news is...(Hran roll, please)****************************

The first rose is in bloom. Its a fragrant, blushing pink single shrub rose in our hedgerow. The wonderful scent made it worthwhile to weed out the witchgrass from beneath it! It's the first time it bloomed so early.

maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Janie
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 06:51 PM

Ain't that first rose a blessing to see, maeve?


The first animal I ever skinned was a groundhog. (roadkill.) The first wild game I ever ate was groundhog. (Killed but not mauled by the dog. Their hides make great drumheads, Barry. But the biggest groundhog ever was would still be too small for a bodhran frame. (And they are the hardest animal I've ever skinned. They like to hang onto their hide, even in death.)

I kinda like groundhogs that are not anywhere near a garden. Really smart and courageous animals. They won't pick a fight, but, as maeve noticed, if they can't avoid it they are fierce.

We had groundhogs down along the creek at the old house. The young ones were pretty easy to trap in the box traps - unless they had seen another one caught in a box trap. Then they wouldn't go near it.   

If you do not get the adults out of there, there will be a new litter every spring to contend with. Cement in the hole may not work. Like I said, they are fabulous diggers and will simply dig out somewhere else.   I suspect you have one den. They always have at least 2 entrances to their burrows. They are also territorial and are not likely to nest closely together.

If, on the otherhand, you have gophers - I haven't a clue. Never seen one up close and in person.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 07:00 PM

Janie, I skinned out one also, one I picked up in the Smokeys one year. I didn't keep that collection, after time they kind of crumbled, but I had a variety of animals I used in interpretive programs, picked up on our nation's highways (only if they were very very fresh). I stopped doing it when I learned about some of the really horrible diseases some of these critters can transmit to humans.

How are you staking your tomatoes, maeve? with tall bamboo poles or something? Twine? Some kind of cord? How will it make a difference? I have most of mine in cages, but this year I just left a few to grow on the ground to see what happens.

Bobert has a method of thinning the tomatoes that he described last year and I'm still not quite sure I understand. Something about taking out every other branch? Are you doing it again this year, Bobert?

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Bobert
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 07:45 PM

It's called "suckering", Maggie... Think of... No, hold up three fingers... The tomato plant will have lots of these where there is the middle of those three fingers (quit laughin', this is serious stuff here...") What you have to do is take out the middle finger becaquse it will no flower nor bear fruit... All it will do is take away strength from the plant... It's kinda like pinching out the middle of, oh, a mum so that it will branch out wide and not get leggy... You'll find lots of these in tomato plants if you look inside them as they grow... They are all worthless... Just pinch or cut them out with sizzors... Makes for better fruit...

Well, hoorya for me... I actually did some gardening today... Planted 4 azalaeas, one camilla where another wasn't doing too well and moved that one into the healing bed... Weeded hald the veggie garden and helped the P-Vine plant her new raised bed with 3 other azaleas, a huckera, a couple ferns, a white lirope and a few other "ditzy plants" (my mom's term for small plants)...

Didn't get any more poles set cause they are extremely tiring... Maybe tomorrow after work I'll get another 5 ot so set...

That's 'bout it for today other than the some of the azaleas that are in bloom now are gortgeous... "Neptune" is a dark purplish/lavender and absolutely glows.... It is so hot!!!

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Janie
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 08:30 PM

Indeed, hurray for you Bobert!

Don't know what happened to my last post - maybe I forgot to hit submit and wandered off and then refreshed.

Anyways, it was thread drift related to roadkill.

Hubby and I used to make and sell drums. We collected hides from taxadermists and local hunting clubs, soaked them in big trash barrels with a lye solution made from wood ashes and water, then scraped and dehaired them. Both of us nearly lost fingers from infections incurred doing that work.

The good doctors knew what to do about the cellulitus (cellulitis?) but none of them were accustomed to dealing with the germs we acquired. We were infectious novelties that all the medical residents got brought into see on the several occasions over the course of several years that we showed up in the ER.

(Not sorry I lived that life, but wouldn't do it again.)

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 09:49 PM

But are you taking off branches or simply leaves at the growing in batches of three at the end of the branches? I have a few strange tomatoes this year, the plants are almost curled up on themselves. I bought two or three varieties, and on all of them any of those groups of three seem to have minute flowers forming. Are you saying these flowers won't be viable or won't respond to pollination? Or should I go further down the branch and trim out some of the beefier branches? Or is this something you do when the plant is still very small and near the ground?

Sorry to be so dense, but I can't really see where it is you take out this middle plant digit, so to speak.

The first eggplant flower has appeared and is in full bloom. The tomatoes are covered with blooms. The oregano is blooming big time. The beans are blooming and the vitex in my front yard is spectacular in the sweet smell and blue color. When the plumber was here and had to feel for the hot water at the overflow valve, I told him to be careful, and as he started into the garden, "you're standing on an onion." "Oh!" was the answer, and tells me this guy doesn't garden or he'd have easily recognized the magnificence of these plantings. He managed to check out the spout without knocking down my Texas star hibiscus along the wall. I think. Sometimes they're pretty fussy and will fall down a while later if they decide they've been insulted in some way. Then the continue to grow, from that prostrate position, sending all new branches up from the recumbent stem. They can take up a lot of space if they do that. They're considered native, people are pretty sure about it, and they're different enough from the ones they sell that I think this is true. A few of these dinner plate-sized flowers really brighten up the yard! I one time counted 19 open simultaneously on one plant. I had to move that plant and it didn't survive, it was my best bloomer, but these others have gotten more established now, so I hope for a good year. Each flower is only open for 1 day.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Janie
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 10:44 PM

Stilly, look at the main stem or main two stems of your tomato plants. Follow the line of that (or those) two stems. There will be short branches off of the main stems. In the axil between the main stem and the short branch will be another branch. This is what is called a sucker.

Many people choose to pinch off those suckers to allow the main branches to bear larger tomatoes. The suckers will also bear, but what can happen is that the plant will develop so much fruit that the fruits will be as large as they otherwise would be. If you do not sucker tomatoes you get more fruit, but smaller fruit. More recent research has indicated that you will probably get the same over-all yield in poundage whether you pinch off the suckers or not.

One advantage of pinching off suckers is better airflow and possibly less desease as the result.    If you are wanting big slicing tomatoes or to impress the neighbors with the size of your tomatoes, sucker them. Or if diseases related to poor airflow are a major problem, sucker your tomatoes. (they are also easier to stake and keep off the ground, or to keep from tobbling over cages or stakes if you sucker them. You will get more tomatoes but smaller tomatoes if you do not sucker, and the vines will probably succomb more quickly to disease or fungus if you do not sucker. But where I live, the heat and humidity of full summer are going to result in disease no matter what. I'm better off starting a second planting about 4-6 weeks after the first if I want tomatoes up to first frost in October.

I may sucker tomatoes early in the season, for no good reason, but have not routinely suckered them for a number of years. If I lived in a cooler climate with a shorter growing season and fewer disease problems that could be effectively controlled by attending to air circulation, I might be more inclined to go out weekly and pinch out the suckers.

Where there is a long growing season and high humidity, such as you and I have, and where disease is likely to limit tomato production late in the season (that is an issue here, and I'm guessing where you are in Texas,) you can also root some of the early suckers, using rooting hormone and vermiculite and/or perlite, and plant them early to mid summer to bear in late summer through fall, and take out the early tomatoes when disease begins to seriously reduce production, or to limit the spread of disease.   Rooting the suckers is faster and less labor intensive than starting seeds to plant mid-season.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Janie
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 10:56 PM

uhmmm.....fruits will not be as large as they otherwise would be.

ie, you get more tomatoes but smaller tomatoes.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Janie
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 10:58 PM

I'm not just doubly redundant, I'm triplely redundant.



Bet ya'll love me anyways....

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 03:02 AM

People came last night.. my garden was admired, my arums were commented upon, I am, happy.. but I never did get to the garden centre to get the basket filler plants!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: maeve
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 05:39 AM

Maggie, I am using wooden stakes this year, and will use whatever I have on hand to tie the plants up as they grow. In other years we've used cages and we've let them all sprawl, but I want good air circulation and I hate having to damage plants and fruit pushing my way between plants when we harvest, so it's stakes this year. I'm planting my salad crops under and between the tomatoes for the most part.

I also prefer to pinch out the suckers as Bobert and Janie describe. They are little stems, by the way. Lots of sucker pictures for you!

Janie- Yes, those first sweet roses made the whole difficult day worthwhile.

maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Janie
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 07:32 AM

Walked out to poppies in bloom this lovely morning!

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Bobert
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 08:19 AM

Better post than mine, Janie... Kinda hard to expalin suckerin' without piccures...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Maryrrf
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 11:23 AM

Well things are coming along nicely. Here are the latest pics:

Mary's Garden Pics June 1, 2009

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 01:27 PM

Thank you Janie--I'd found those suckers in that position but wasn't sure how far back to go, I was looking at the branch ends and wondering how far back one started. I have some big bushes now so won't try to do much to those but on the smaller ones I'll give this a try.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: maire-aine
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 03:16 PM

The landscapers arrived this morning, and they've been working all day. They've already hauled away a truck-ful of branches and weeds. I'm just watching from the window, but it looks better already.

Maryanne

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Bobert
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 05:39 PM

Maryrrf,

May I offer a suggestion??? Seein' as you have worked hard at keeping the weeds down yer garden will do better and require less maintenance if you mulch it now with about 6 inches of loose straw... This will keep the moisture in and the weeds down... Yer veggies will love you...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Bobert
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 07:41 PM

BTW, I gave in and took my employee, who is an animal, off the hotel renovation today and together we finished with the posts!!! Plus he finished painted the outside of the P-Vine garden house while I weeded and mulched the veggie garden... All in all, a good day...

Back to the hotel tomorrow but, hey, it's sposed to rain anyway and we're almost caught up... The P-Vine needs to get the pepper seedlings in tomorrow before the rain but that oughhta give us some breathing room for a day ot two...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 11:01 AM

Yesterday morning we had a heavy thunderstorm pass over the area at school time so I drove my son to school. An even heavier storm rolled over the top of us starting at about 1am--the kind that feels more like an artillery bombardment, with rapid-fire lightning, continual thunder, and heavy rain. The kind of storm that has you wandering carefully into the yard the next morning to see what fell over, broke, or got knocked down.

Yesterday morning's storm tipped over (gently) a large tomato plant that I was able to reposition with no harm done. The veggies survived last night's storm, but the creek rose over the bridge and dropped debris and mud in the street at the bottom of the hill. The yard will be way-too muddy for mowing for a couple of days at least and it will be a longer wait for any more digging.

Later I'll walk out back and see how the trees are doing. A couple of years ago one of mine dropped a very large limb in the neighbor's shade garden, and barely missed taking out their garden shed. They have a tree that is most potentially a fence or shed-breaker at the far back part of the yard, it's a huge and rotted hackberry.

Let's hope these storms pace themselves. Problem with rain in this climate is that most of it comes all in a few days and runs off before it can be useful. Seattle doesn't get much more rain than North Texas, it just gets it in a gentle form and paced out to get the optimum watering use out of it.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Maryrrf
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 12:00 PM

Hi Bobert - hadn't thought about straw but maybe I'll try it. Thanks for the suggestion!

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 07:15 PM

I buy bales of coastal hay for about $10 a bale and spread it around (I also use this for cushioning in the dog houses). You could probably buy a few bales and take care of your entire garden, but start with one or two and see how far they go.

I found bagged decomposed granite at Home Depot last weekend, and today I opened it up to take a look at it. (About 40 pounds, measured it is .5 cubic foot of crushed stone, cost about $4.50) My organic guru recommends it as part of the mix when you're making potting soil or improving the garden soil. I sprinkled it around my gardens sparsely, just to get the feel for handling it, and this will work it's way down through the mulch during the season. I regularly use lava sand and green sand as amendments. This is a little different, it is for consistency, not minerals, as far as I know.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Bobert
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 07:58 PM

Maryrrf,

Yeah, greatest mulch for a veggie garden out there... Gotta put it on deep... Minimum of 6 inches... You will be amazed at how it will do exactly what it is supposed to do in keeping the weeds down and moisture in... Plus...

...in the late fall when winter is comin' you can just till it into yer soil and it will act as humus in the soil and next years soil will be better than ever... We are lucky enough to have a tractor and plow which we use to turn everything under and then come spring when we till out soil is very happy... And so are out plants...

I don't know anything about coastal hay that maggie is talking about... Hay generally has the tops in it which is almost all seed and produces grass but maybe in Texas it ain't got not tops... Straw is readially available in the Richond area fir $4.00 a bale... Look like about 5 bales will do yer garden right nicely...

BTW, you ever go to Glen Allen to the "Little Five Azalea Farm"... It's off Rt. 1 about a mile north of Parham... Great plants for cheap...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Janie
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 11:29 PM

I just use shredded leaves. Now I have them in super abundance, but even at the old place, there were plenty. Everyone raked or blew their leaves to the curb for the town to vacuum up every fall, so I'd go grab them before the town got to them. I shred them by putting the bagger on the mower. Wash out the city provided wheeled garbage can to drag along with me, and dump the bag into that until full. Then go pile them where ever I want them.

Great soil amendment as they break down and the worms work them into the soil. But slugs and earwigs also find leaf mulch quite wonderful shelter.

Whatever you use, Mary, mulch, and mulch well. Conserves water, suppresses weeds, keeps roots cool in the withering heat of summer, and adds organic matter to the soil as it breaks down.

Without a tractor or substantial tiller, straw is hard to work back into the soil as it has so much cellulose in it that it doesn't chop easily. But it is cheap and effective, doesn't break down as quickly as leaves, and therefore functions longer as mulch, and will eventually break down on it's own for the worms to till into the soil as they see fit.

Leaves are free, but pretty labor intensive to shred and then move to where you want them. And you do not want to mulch plants with unshredded leaves - they are big enough that rain can run off of them and not reach the soil as well as it needs to.

I had a neighbor who every couple of years talks the street department, at leaf vacuuming time, to blow a truckload of the leaves they had just vacuumed and shredded into a huge pile next to his garden, which was fairly close to the street.

Your garden looks like it is coming along quite nicely. From the pictures it looks like you have sandy soil, and not clay. Is that right?

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Bobert
Date: 04 Jun 09 - 08:21 AM

Yes, leaves are great source of mulch... You'll need to use lime on yer garden with them becasue they are also somewaht acidic... We use them under acid loving shrubs and any shady woodland plants... The P-Vine, bless her heart, has a 30 year old shreader we bought for a hundred buck and it works great... Instant mulch....

Glorious gentle rain here for the next two day's... Gald I got my posts set before it... I got a message from my brother that a tornado touched down in Stanley (that's the closest town to us) so I'm kinda looking forward to stopping in the local general store to get my newspapaer this morning which also serves as to get the poop on it...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: MMario
Date: 04 Jun 09 - 09:35 AM

The truck farm I worked at during my HS and collega years - we mulched about two acres every year with "salt hay" - which isn't truly salty, nor is it hay....mostly. the tidal marshes are filled with what we call "marsh grass" - but I think it is actually some type of sedge....over the winter the long stems break off and the wind and tides pile it in deep layers around the edges of the marshes. So Every spring we would load the truck up multiple times.(with pitchforks) and spread it on the fields (again, with pitchforks)   
The asparagus beds; the raspberry beds and most of the vine crops would all get a nice 6 inch layer. (That;s the cukes, the zuchinni and summer squash, the ornamental gourds) Some years the field tomatoes got mulched as well - though not the winter squash or the trellissed tomatoes.

The boss always had us spread a truckload in the greenhouse as well.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jun 09 - 10:44 AM

Leo may be onto the answer--this hay doesn't have seed or heads. It's not as tough and flat as straw, it's softer for the dogs, that's how I got started using it.

Okay, I just called the feed store to ask about this. The hay I use is a coastal Bermuda, and it isn't grown from seed. To grow this hay they plant root sprigs, and when it is mowed there aren't seed heads in the picture. I don't know that it means this hay produces no seed, but the reproduction used commercially is by planting sprigs.

Of course, now that I've looked into it, I can see I'll probably make a switch for some of my use. Here is an Ag Extension PDF the describes how to start it. Lots of chemicals. I found that link from here.

Ironic that I battle the Bermuda in my turf all year (it gets into the gardens like nobody's business) and then I would use a close relative in the garden. :-/ It does work, though, to grind it back in and I don't get it growing in the garden, so it doesn't seem to bring along any seeding or sprig parts in the bale.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: katlaughing
Date: 04 Jun 09 - 11:50 PM

I thought the eastern redbud tree we planted last year had escaped the baby quilt-making bee this year. It has been all leafed-out and so pretty, growing well. Well, guess what? She's b-a-c-k! Quite facsinating to watch, she does a very thrifty C-shaped edging, then flies away to tuck it in a hole of her hive. She is also very fast and greedy. We will have to build a frame for cheesecloth over it by the weekend or she will mar each leaf! My brother said he'd kill her, but I just can't do that. Anyone know if dusting it with baby powder would repel her like it does ants?

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jun 09 - 12:33 AM

I tried looking up that bee (is it a true bee?) but can't find anything. Do you have more information to go on?

Diatomaceous earth might be better than baby powder. There could be other things, depending on killing or repelling. More later.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: maeve
Date: 05 Jun 09 - 06:33 AM

Leaf Cutter Bee

The redbud

cookie cutter leaves


I'd suggest using a barrier cloth, Kat. What about some net curtains; would that be enough for a shirt time? Otherwise, just use compost and regular watering to help your little redbud cope with a need for increased leaf production. We need all the pollenators we can get!

maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: maeve
Date: 05 Jun 09 - 06:39 AM

"short time"

Sorry- sore hands don't type well. Tired eyes don't proofread well.

Kat, I see you said you plan to use cheesecloth. that sounds fine.

m

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Janie
Date: 05 Jun 09 - 06:51 AM

maeve,

Do we need to tell you to take good care of yourself, or do we need to come up there and help you out so you have time to ake care of yourself?





Rain, rain, and then more rain. Stalled front. Ground saturated and flash flood watches everywhere. (I'm not in a flood plain.)

No gardening for me this weekend.

Old-fashion orange daylilies are blooming.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: maeve
Date: 05 Jun 09 - 06:56 AM

Janie- "do we need to come up there and help you out so you have time to take care of yourself?"

Yes, please. :>

You have rain, rain, rain. I have gotta do, gotta do, gotta do. My Truelove is still down with pneumonia and now back pain. So, I "Gotta do" to get the veggies in and house mucked out, and so on.

Thanks for the laugh!

maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Bobert
Date: 05 Jun 09 - 07:27 AM

Boy. oh, boy...

That reminds me that I need to go down and get something over my blueberrues 'er the birds will wipe them out...

More rain here today... Gonne be real late veggie garden 'cause the peppers some of the tomato plants we have grown from seed aren't in yet... Maybe Sunday...

The poor P-Vine has hours posted at the gerden center and has to be there but with the rain there probably won't be any customers to speak of... How do you spell boring???

Ordered 1400 feet of heavy duty deer fence yesterday... Oh, boy... That's gonna be alot of fun down in the woods... Gonna take all summer to finish this project 'casue there are downed old pine trees down there that I'll have to cut up and get out of the way in order to string the fencing from good health hardwood to the next good health hardwood... But it's a mess down there right now...

I could use a little help with that, too, Janie (wink)...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jun 09 - 11:10 AM

Bobert, if you'll fix up that double decker bus with a few comfy passenger seats and the rest with sleeping berths, a bathroom and kitchenette, the Mudcat Gardener's not-so-Express can hit the road. Roving gypsy gardeners running up and down the east coast helping out in various yards and gardens along the way.

:)

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Alice
Date: 05 Jun 09 - 11:42 AM

I had a row of overgrown junipers removed from the north side of my house this week. These prickly shrubs were so huge they grew from the side of my house to the property line, with no room left to walk along that side of the house. They needed to be removed so I could reach the house to paint it and reclaim that part of the yard. I kept one juniper there next to the deck steps, a nice mature Japanese bonsai shape. Around it I put Siberian iris and a dry creek bed arrangement of river rock, repeating what is by my pond.

Still planting to do, and more pruning.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jun 09 - 12:26 PM

With that passage open now your yard will feel a lot larger! It's probably better for the house also. Plants up against it make it to easy for bugs to crawl into the siding materials.

Hot out, but I've been working in the house. My son has a guest over. As soon as they're fed, I'm heading outdoors with my tankard of ice water strategically located for frequent drinks.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: katlaughing
Date: 05 Jun 09 - 03:58 PM

Cutter bee, that's right, thanks maeve for the links. It has been breezy here today so no sight of her. I jiggled the tree yesterday and she left, so I figure I need to hook up a motor that keeps it in constant motion or hire Morgan 24/7 to stand there and shake it.**bg** I hope I can get Rog to build a frame this time for the cheesecloth. I thought about the diatemacious(sp) earth, but I don't like using it when I read all of the caveats.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jun 09 - 04:24 PM

DE is very safe, but you want to get the kind for gardening, not the kind used in pool filters. That is a problem variety. There is a brand that comes in a bottle with a long straw you poke into the end (kind of looks like a huge hypodermic) and puff it onto the plants.

Soil Mender crawling insect killer is the brand and type. This type of DE is commonly used in animal feed. You just don't want to go inhaling a huge gob of it. (You don't want to inhale a gob of ANY powder, though!)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening, 2009
From: Janie
Date: 06 Jun 09 - 08:49 AM

Something magical this morning, that I don't know if I can rightly describe.

The low angle of the morning sun is showing long, glinting lines of spiderweb all across the backyard, some running for 30-40 feet. Then, I thought I was seeing very small flying insects light enough to kind of drift with the light breeze. Suddenly, I realized I was seeing hundreds of tiny spiders allowing the wind to carry them - just like in Charlotte's Web.