gardening /09

[redring]

This weekend warmed up so nice I can see the green in my yard. I got soo excited I went outside and looked at my frail attempt at a garedn. I was superised to see many things are green!!

my lavender, ireses, thyme (not a superise)and century plants. I want to get started on this years plans. i have a garden map made and a plant dictionary of what plants i have (taken froms daves garden site) I also am starting a list of what plants I want to put in.

Have some flower seeds I would like to trade if anyone is interested. daves garden trade list

i plan on doing as frugal a garden as posable. checked out the frugal gardener book from the library. am planning on takeing the city up on the free mulch and compost they offer.

i am planning on rain barrels if i can get any barrels. i also plan on tradeing for plants and seeds. much less costly.

anyone else have plans for this years garden? also can anyone tell me what your starting years budget were like? dh and i are haggleing over this.

i gave my self $200 But he may be right. that may just not be realistic.

[JoAnn]

Quote:

i also plan on tradeing for plants and seeds

i would like to ask how and where you will be trading plants. i’m interested in doing some trading myself. they have a local plant swap where i live but thats not until may.

[redring]

I have traded online a few times with others. There are sites available online. Daves garden is one.

Garden web is another. I need to find a local swap here. Sounds fun!

When you trade seeds online the shiping is verry small cost. I would be happy to swap too with anyone who wants to here on budget. I only have a few things for now. two are on my daves garden trade list in the first post. I also have some marigold seeds but no idea what typ as they were given to me.

There are others but I am not sure what am going to use yet. I will post the rest to my daves garden “Have” list when I know I have what I need started.

[tsgal]

I love to garden veggies. I have many different flowers, but no roses. This year I will be getting some.

Tea roses are my favorite, they smell so good. Wish I could help you on the budget thing, but we’re still working on trying to figure ours out. It’s a challenge.

[JoAnn]

Quote:

wish i could help you on the budget thing, but we’re still working on trying to figure ours out. it’s a challenge.

thanks for the tips, i’ll have to look thur my seeds as well.

[redring]

no problem joann! If you have any you wish to trade just let me know. I have extra cosmos and fanfare blankets and the marigolds.

Tsgal- I love the smell of tea roses. I have a small rose a coworker gave me as a house warming. Its pretty hardy.

I couldent believe how far into the cold monthes it was still green! So far I mostly have fruits. This year I wish to add blueberrys.

The house had a pear tree already and a neibour gave me two peach starts. The peaches grew about three foot last year!! I was verry superised.

I would like to add some veggies into my garden plan too. I want to mix them in though. Shouldent be a problem if i companion plant.

[brchbell]

I started learning 2 years ago about saving seeds. biennials are my problems still. think I got the carrots figured out but I really love Broccoli and I haven’t figured that one out yet!

anyway I’ve spent $86 this year on seeds from seedsavers.org and will use half of my own and hopefully next year I’ll have even more of my own. We put in raised beds last year and put a 7′ high fence around the whole thing (100’x 70′) so this year we thought we’d start grapes growing on the fence. I’ve got another $100 set aside to spend on grape vines.

My other big investment this year is canning jars to put it all up in!

[redring]

I bought a canner last yr after I saw just how many pears I had. I confess though. After the first two baches I was all canned out.

The peeling and coreing took ages. I havent quite got the seed thing figured out yet. my flowers are easy but some of the others are kinda tricky.

like lavender seeds?? Suposedly they do but I dident see any.

[JennyCup]

I am going to take it slow…since I am new to gardening. I will get a cherry tomato plant that I will hang on the patio. Next year, if my tomato makes it, I will add in another veggie/fruit and see how it goes.

[redring]

🙂 Probably a good idea. I am going to pot tomatos this year rather than planting.

[galegehl]

I love to garden and because of the recent warm up, am itching to get started. I started seeds of broccoli, cauliflower, some tomatoes.and a few flowers that take 1-3 months to germinate. I know they will need to be transplanted into bigger pots before it’s time for them to go outside, but I hopefully will have a head start on my garden.

Broccoli likes cooler weather so I’m not concerned about it. I am going to try a water wall on a couple of my tomatoes this year. Which means I will have tomatoes much earlier than usual.

If all goes as planned. I freeze and can a lot of veggies, so any headstart I can get helps.

[redring]

Try the newspaper pot tutorial Here I made mine with a bit bigger container but they work verry well. i bought some plastic pot trays and set them in one. I can then place my water in the tray and they all soak it up.

I have had mine like this for a two weeks and can still pick up the pots without them falling apart.

[brchbell]

@redring 108295 wrote:

Try the newspaper pot tutorial Here i made mine with a bit bigger container but they work verry well. i bought some plastic pot trays and set them in one. i can then place my water in the tray and they all soak it up.

i have had mine like this for a two weeks and can still pick up the pots without them falling apart.

yes! we’ve made paper pots up over the winter while watching movies. got several sizes and excited to have the free pots to fill!

[mommimk]

Look for canning jars at yard sales, all so check freecycle, and Craigs list. This funny but my saw her neighbor but 2 boxs out for trash and took them for me. Check your prices now Walmart near me has them right now $3.00 cheaper then during the summer. Debbie

[brchbell]

I’ve been collecting canning jars all winter. I thought I’d have to wait until Spring to find any but I’ve almost got what I thought I’d need and they have been cheaper than they are during the summer!

I also have Jenny Lind Cantaloupe seed if anyone wants any!

[Virginia]

I have found over the years that you never have enough canning jars when you start the actual canning process. Always seem to have more harvest than anticipated. So this year I am going to make sure I have a couple of cases extra before I start, just to be sure. Hopefully, I won’t have to run all over the place looking for canning jars in the middle of canning season. Thanks; Virginia

[Virginia]

We are ready for Spring–Gardening is our way of life around here, winter is a hard time.
We have a sweet potato plant growing in a pot. It was sprouting so we potted it up about a month ago, it is now about a foot and a half tall and looks really healthy and green. A couple of weeks ago we planted Jumbo Pink Banana Squash, in the pot with the sweet potato, to check the viability of the seed and had 100% germination. I guess the seed is good. We transplanted the squash plants the other day giving them their own pots. They are healthy and dark green with quite large leaves, already. Hope we can keep them alive and healthy until time to put them in the ground, but know that that is not likely. Neither Sweet Potatoes nor Squash are cole crops so they have about 7 weeks to go before it would be safe to plant in the ground without covering them. Might try putting them out and placing plastic jugs on them (depending on the weather) in 4 or 5 weeks, but they may be to big by then. Oh well, it is nice to see them growing, we will just hope for the best.We knew it was way to early to plant them but just couldn’t wait.
Now the Irish Potatoes can be planted in about 4 weeks here. We try to plant them on the 100th day of the year or on Good Friday–this year it appears to be one and the same day. Hopefully the weather will allow us to plant. We planted 4 varieties last year; Red Norland (an early potato), Pontiac (late Red), Kennebec (late white) and Yukon Gold (mid to late potato). Averaged among the four varieties grown we harvested approximately 50 to 55 pounds of potatoes per every one pound of seed potatoes planted. Not a bad amount. We still have a huge amount in the basement. The Yukon Gold potatoes seem to be storing the best, as they have just recently began to sprout. Hopefully we will have as good a harvest this year as last.
Planning lots of other stuff for the garden. Still to early for much yet, but will be planting seed inside for Tomatoes and Cabbage and other veggies in the near future.
We live out of our garden year round, (eating fresh in season, storing the harvest for the rest of the year.) so it is very important to us.
Thanks; Virginia

[brchbell]

@Virginia 111312 wrote:

We live out of our garden year round, (eating fresh in season, storing the harvest for the rest of the year.) so it is very important to us.
Thanks; Virginia

Virginia,
This will be the first year we have a big enough garden to cover us for the full year. We’re putting in a root cellar this summer for the root crops and my husband is finishing up the basement storage room now building special shelves for all my can goods. With you living mostly from your garden how much do you spend at the grocery store? I’ve began making my own soaps and learning as many skills as I can so we will be able to make it on our own and maybe only pick up a few things once or twice a year. Just wondering how well we’ll do at the grocery store in the future!

Thanks!
Cherlynn

[LynneRoCo]

I’m a newbie here, but a very active member of a gardening forum site that hasn’t been mentioned here. I don’t know what the protocol is for that, so I won’t write it until someone lets me know.

I did want to tell you all, that if you go to Home Depot’s website and join their gardening club, they will send you emails with gardening info PLUS coupons – usually 3 coupons in an email. They just started up again for this season this week, and I’m excited to go use my “buy one get one free” bulbs coupon. Not bad, huh?

[brchbell]

LynneRoCo,
Thanks for letting us know about the Home Depot Gardening Club! I’ve never noticed it before and no one at Home Depot has ever mentioned it to me. I semi live at their garden center! LOL!

[Virginia]

Cherlynn:

We are small farm people and grow nearly all of the foods that we use. We have lived out of our garden for many years and I have not been to the grocery store in over a year. So, last year I spent nothing. Now, the last time I went I spent $178.68 (one time that year) stocking up on salt and some herb/spices, rice, oats and other odds and ends–stuff we do not grow ourselves, yet. My goal is to grow some rice and oats as well, but would need to be hulless as we do not have a machine to remove the hulls with. (Would love to find one of those machines but have looked and can not seem to find one–would only want a small one not a big commercial monster.)
As to the amount of savings, from what I hear of the prices of veggies and fruits in the store it would seem to be an astronomical amount, but everyone would be different.
Some people say we are crazy others say we have always been strange but it is our way of life, and we a relatively happy. Thanks; Virginia

[Virginia]

We were surprised yesterday with the delivery of two boxes–gifts from my sister-in-law. One box was a Gourmet Portabella Mushroom Growing Kit and the other was a Button Mushroom Growing Kit. I followed the directions in the boxes and now have mushrooms seeded hopefully to harvest later this year. How neet is that?!! I love mushrooms but we generally only have them if we wild harvest.

My sweet potato plant had to be transplanted to a bigger container, but is still healthy and strong. Four of my five Jumbo Pink Banana Squashes are thriving, but sadly the fifth one died.

Worked outside most of yesterday, trying to cleanup the yard/garden. The wind and ice storms have downed a lot of our trees, must get them up and out before we can garden. Still have lots to do, but we made a start.

I think we have all the seed for this years garden–we save most of our own seeds. We try to have 5 to 7 years worth of seeds stored in case a crop fails. We do add to our list of growing things each year–this year we will be growing Cranberries. We ordered a plant for that.

Thanks; Virginia

[lcove2000]

I would like to trade too. Went to Dave’s list but haven’t gotten any good responders yet.

[cyndisctrr]

my budget for my garden is under $50.00!!! most seeds i buy at rite aid, were $.10 a package. noticed this year are $.20 a package. still a big savings! i try to start my own tomatoes, broccoli, and other long season plants. but the last few years i’ve gotten plants at k-mart, walmart, etc. it’s now march and i still have green beans and hubbard squash from last years garden! my garden is roughly 10 ft X 20 ft. and my summer therapy!

[Virginia]

Got part of the garden area tilled and planted 200 feet of Onions yesterday. It is official GARDEN 2009!!! I hope everyone has a great growing season and a harvest that will keep them fed all year. I LOVE to garden and see the plants growing. Thanks; Virginia

[arleneb]

I bought one of those gizmos to grow tomatoes upsidedown, can’t wait to try it, I hope it works!!! :bounce:

[brchbell]

I got all my peas and spring carrots planted. I’ll put out my broccoli plants later this week. Got my tomato and pepper plants started that will go out in mid May. I’ll start my salad bed next week. We’re so excited to get things growing again! Working hard to finish up our last 15 garden beds. We’ll be gone for a week and a half in late April so hoping things will be at a stage the boys can handle while we are in Florida on Business. We’ll stop through in Arkansas on the way home and pick up our last load of rice hulls to finish the rest of our soil mix for these last beds. I’ll plant most of my carrots and broccoli in the fall garden so just got 2 (4’X16′) beds of carrots and one bed of broccoli (64 plants) for now.

[Virginia]

I found some Hulless Oat seed and ordered it, we received it the other day and yesterday we tilled up a small area and planted it. We have grown regular Oats in the farm field before, but not Hulless so this is new. (I only got a small amount so we could test them this year and see what they will do.)
Also, got some Fava Beans Planted. With cleaning more of the downed limbs and working on the yard buggy (garden tractor used to pull a wagon), that was all we got done in the garden yesterday.

The wind is 30 mph here right now and it doesn’t look like we will be able to do much outside today. Oh well, we will take it slow (one day at a time) and it will eventually all get done. (Hopefully!) Thanks; Virginia

[brchbell]

Let us know how your oats do and whether you think the hulless ones or the regular ones work best! I’ve never planted oats, will have to try it someday.

thanks!
Cherlynn

[JoAnn]

Cherlynn,
I was thinking about planting broccoli–you said

I’ll put out my broccoli plants later this week.

Can you give some tips on the storage that you use. I didn’t realize that broccoli could go out this early.
I’ve also had no luck in growing carrots ummm.
By no means do I garden on such a large scale. But certainly I could use some tips from everyone here.. I have a larger back yard and certainly could use some of the space there..
Thanks everyone in advance….

[JennyCup]

So far my tomato plant is still alive. It sure drinks up a lot of water though! My MIL says her plant has flowers on it already. I am thinking that I should have some cherry tomatoes by late April/early May. I can’t wait o make fresh tomato sauce!

[brchbell]

I grow my own broccoli plants but if you are just starting out you’ll probably want to buy your plants the first time. You should be in about the same zone as I am but I went to the Ohio site to find you a Ohio planting guide: Ohio Vegetable Production Guide, Bulletin 672-09
Carrots must have very loose deeply tilled soil to grow correctly. We made raised beds using cement cinder blocks instead of boards so they’d be permanent. I’ve taken several garden classes and settled on the raised beds as best for our family. You can check out one of Mel Bartholomew’s Square Foot Gardening book’s at your local library to find out more about this type of gardening. He uses untreated lumber and makes 4’X4′ beds but we make ours 4’X16′. We have some smaller ones also for things like herbs and a salad bed with different types of lettuces and radishes. Our ground is very, very rocky so we don’t use our dirt and it was also commercially farmed for many years. We use equal amounts of peat moss, rice hulls and compost mixed together for our soil mix and it works very well! When I harvest I put a scoop of compost back into every square foot to replenish the garden bed. Our local Ag office has labeled our garden 100% totally organic. They come and inspect and test it 4 times a year. I work with two of my Amish neighbors and we produce 20 large baskets of organic food each week for subscribing customers in the city. We all provide produce and I deliver and they made these beautiful baskets to use. We are thinking of increasing next year as we have several others who want to join us and plenty of folks calling wanting to subscribe. I could never grow a garden and finally decided we really needed to know how to do this to provide for our family. It’s taken me most of 10 years to get to where I am but I am able to save my own seeds for about 75% of our garden now and hope we can figure out the rest of it in the next few years. Virginia who is also on this list is a much more experienced gardener than I am! So don’t be afraid to ask her questions also! You can find all kinds of gardening guides and info online also.

Cherlynn
NW MO

[JoAnn]

Cherlynn,
Thank-You very much for taking the time to look up some information for me. I really appreciated the time you took to explain about the growing of carrots also..I’ll also have to look up information about rice hulls.. I’ve done alot of reading on backyard gardens, it certainly helps to read here about the experiences that so many have had.

[Virginia]

Raining here again today but yesterday we did get our Irish Potatoes planted–4 rows each 100 foot long. a couple of days after we planned to but you have to go with what the weather will allow.

The test sweet potato plant and the 4 squash amazingly are still going strong–might just be able to actually plant them. Still a few weeks to go, but they have lasted this long so maybe.

Thanks; Virginia

[tsgal]

We where going to start our garden on good friday. But with the weather going crazy on us, we decided to wait a little longer. We are looking at another hard freeze tonite. So maybe by the end of April we can get going with things. Really looking forward to getting everything going this year.

[brchbell]

My kids said they planted 10 fruit trees over the weekend and had Sunday off of course. We never work except to feed animals on the Sabbath. They told me they had hoped to get the grape vines in but it has poured all day and the creek is out of it’s banks and they think they will become an island unto themselves by night fall. They said they hope to finish those tomorrow and start filling the 5 beds we made last week so they’ll be ready to plant next week. They are excited to plant green beans next week.

[jkpjohnson]

I hear everyone saying they save their own seeds and use these for future gardens. Is there a site out there that tells you want to save, how to save, for how long to save ?

Mushrooms that would be fun to grow, do you need a kit? Never heard of people growing their own ?

Also, the root veggies, do they really last in your cellar all winter? When I buy potatoes or carrots or onions, they normally only last a month.

[brchbell]

I’ll have to wait until I get back home to find my books on storing root veggies and web sites on saving seeds and storing root veggies. Maybe someone else can answer before next week.

[Virginia]

The mushrooms that I have came in what they call a kit. It is a cardboard box with a plastic bag filled with sterilized composted horse manure that has been inoculated with the mushroom spawn; and a bag of what they called casing material (Peat Moss and lime) to which you add water then pour on top of the manure. Both of my kits are now growing mushrooms, the button ones are still at the pin head stage but the Portabella look like small mushrooms

I have seen in catalogs where you can get the plug spawn and inoculate stumps or logs with them, but it takes a couple of years for them to produce the mushrooms.

The potatoes and onions are still keeping in our basement from last years harvest and we are still using them. Some started to sprout now–but that is to be expected as it is time to plant.

Seed Potatoes–When you dig your potatoes in the fall, store all of them in the basement or root cellar. Eat the largest ones and save the ones that are the size of a small chicken egg. Plant those ‘chicken egg’ ones back in the spring. These are all clones of each other. The size of the potato you plant back won’t affect the size of spuds you will get from it. I don’t believe in cutting potatoes for planting unless you have to. If you don’t have any small ones, cut the large ones. Make sure you have at least one eye (I like to have at least 3 eyes) in each piece that you plant.

Here are some simple directions on how to save seed from some of the most commonly grown garden vegetables:

Only save from your best plants. Always harvest mature seed. Choose seeds that are open-pollinating and non-hybrid. If at all possible, gather seeds on a dry, sunny day — and preferably before the weather gets too cold. No matter what kind of seed you’re collecting, be sure to pick it when it’s dry, not green. Even seeds that look and feel dry when you pick them should be spread on newspaper to air-dry for up to a week before packaging. Large seeds like beans and corn benefit from several weeks of air-drying before storage.

TOMATOES – Allow the tomato fruit to thoroughly ripen on the vine. Cut the tomatoes open and remove the seed by squeezing or spooning out the pulp with seeds into a non-metal container such as a drinking glass or jar. Set the container aside for one or two days. The pulp and seed covering will ferment and a layer of fungus will begin to appear on the top of the mixture after a couple of days. After three days fill the seed container with lukewarm water. Let the contents settle and begin pouring out the water along with pieces of tomato pulp and immature seeds floating on top. The clean, viable seeds will drop to the bottom of the solution, allowing the sediment to be poured off. Repeat this process until water being poured out is almost clear and clean seeds line the bottom of the container. Pour these clean seeds into a strainer that has holes smaller than the seeds. Let the excess water drip out and invert the strainer onto paper towel or piece of newspaper, then spread the tomato seed out. Allow the seeds to dry completely (usually a day or two) before putting in envelope to store.

CUCUMBERS – Let the fruits hang on the vine until ripe (skin becomes yellowish and hard). Split the fruit open, scoop out the seeds and wash and dry on newspaper, paper towel, or cloth.

SUMMER SQUASH – Summer squash is at the seed-saving stage when you cannot dent the squash with a fingernail. Allow to cure 3-4 additional weeks after harvest to encourage further seed ripening. Cut it open, and scrape the seeds into a bowl, wash, drain, and dry.

WINTER SQUASH – When the outer covering of the squash has become hardened, the seed are generally mature. Allow to cure 3-4 additional weeks after harvest to encourage further seed ripening. Split the squash fruit open, scoop out the seed and wash until all pulp is removed. Spread out on newspaper to dry.

EGGPLANTS – When the eggplant fruit has obtained maximum size and shows some evidence of browning and shriveling, it is ready to be harvested for seed. Split open, remove the seed and wash thoroughly to remove all pulp. Spread out in the sun to dry quickly, as moist seed will begin to germinate overnight if left in a damp condition.

PEPPERS – Pepper should be allowed to ripen until they become red. Cut the pepper pod in half and scrape the seed from a cavity onto a piece of paper. Spread the seed out and let dry thoroughly. NOTE: wear gloves when working with hot peppers.

BEANS (all kinds) PEAS, and other LEGUMES- Allow the seed to thoroughly mature on the plant, usually indicated by size of the seed in the pod or by the color of the pod (about six weeks after eating stage). If frost threatens– early in the morning pull entire plant, root first, and hang in shady, cool, dry location until pods are brown and dry. This will prevent the pods from splitting open and the beans from shattering. Remove beans from pods and allow to dry.

LETTUCE – Goes to seed once the weather turns warm. First the heads elongate. Leaves turn coarse, dull and bitter. Then they will bolt and put up a seed stalk emerging from the leaf crown and soon bears clusters of small yellow flowers. After two or three weeks, when the blossoms change to tufts of fluff, pull off the down with its attached seeds. If is getting icky outside, pull the whole plant and hang upside down over newspaper with the names of the plant varieties written on the newspaper.

SPINACH – Harvest yellowed or browned plants when the seed has matured. Rub off the tiny seeds while holding the stalks in a grocery bag.

CORN – Leave seed ears on the plants until they’re quite dry—about a month after they’re good for eating. Then pick, peel back the husks, and hang them up (leave air space between each ear) to dry for several more weeks.

OKRA – Okra pods should be left on the stalk until brown and dry (well matured) and begin cracking. Remove the pods and place them in the shade until thoroughly dried then split open to remove seeds and finish drying.

MUSKMELONS or CANTALOUPES – Pick melons for seed-saving when the tendril nearest the melon is completely dried, then store the harvested melon for 3 weeks before removing and cleaning the seeds. Simply rinse seeds clean, spread on a tray and completely dry. Seeds are ready to store when they break instead of bend.

WATERMELONS: Watermelons should be allowed to ripen to past the eating stage before harvesting, since seeds do not continue ripening significantly after melons are harvested. Pick after the tendril nearest the melon has completely withered and dried, then store an additional 3 weeks before removing and cleaning the seeds. Wash seeds from ripe melons in a strainer and dry. Seeds are ready to store when they break instead of bend.

CARROTS – Dig up carrots in the fall before a hard frost. Clip tops to 1 -2″ and store at 35-40° F. in humid location over the winter. In the spring, transplant the entire carrots to their original depth, 6″-12″ apart in rows 18″ apart. They will grow in height and eventually flower. Seeds are ready to harvest when they are dry. They can tend to shatter when ripe, so take care in harvesting. hand pick each umbel as it dries brown. Large amounts of seed can be harvested by cutting entire flowering top as umbels begin to dry. Allow to mature in cool, dry location for an additional 2-3 weeks. Clean by rubbing between hands.

RADISH – Annual radishes that are sown in the spring will produce seedpods by summer. For biennial radishes such as Japanese daikon and China rose, Harvest roots in fall. Select desirable roots and trim tops to within an inch of the roots leaving small, new leaves. Store at 40° F. in humid location. Replant in early spring at 9″ intervals and cover with 1″ of soil. Harvest 3′ tall stalks containing seeds pods when pods have dried and turned brown. Pull entire plant and hang in cool, dry place if all pods are not dried at the end of the growing season. Open pods by rubbing between hands and collect the seed.

BEETS – Harvest roots in fall. Select desirable roots and trim tops 1-2″ above root. Store at 40° F. in humid location. Replant in early spring at 18″ intervals with tops just showing above the soil. Cut 4′ tall tops just above the root when the majority of the flowering clusters have turned brown. Tops can be stored in cool, dry locations for 2-3 weeks to encourage further seed ripening. Strip the by hand as seed matures.

CABBAGE – Do not harvest heads on plants you intend to save for seed. Carefully dig the plants and pot them in sand. Store plants between 32-40° F. Plant back out in early spring and allow to bolt. Harvest seed pods when dry and clean by hand.

BROCCOLI – Do not harvest heads on plants you intend to save for seed. Carefully dig the plants and pot them in sand. Store plants between 32-40° F. Plant back out in early spring and allow to bolt. Harvest seed pods when dry and clean by hand.

CAULIFLOWER – Do not harvest heads on plants you intend to save for seed. Carefully dig the plants and pot them in sand. Store plants between 32-40° F. Plant back out in early spring and allow to bolt. Harvest seed pods when dry and clean by hand.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS – Carefully dig the plants and pot them in sand. Store plants between 32-40° F. Plant back out in early spring and allow to bolt. Harvest seed pods when dry and clean by hand.

TURNIPS – Carefully dig roots in the fall, trim tops to 2″ and store for the winter in humid location with temperatures 35-40° F. Replant best roots in early spring with 2′ spacing. Turnips grown for seed should not be trimmed for eating. Pull entire plant after a majority of pods have dried. Smash unopened pods in a cloth bag with mallet.

GARLIC – Save healthy bulbs and replant individual cloves separately.

ONIONS – Harvest in the fall and select the largest bulbs. Clip tops to 6″ and store at 35-40° F. in dry, airy location. Replant in early spring with 12″ spacing. Cover bulbs with 1/2″ soil. Clip umbels as soon as majority of flowers have dried. Seeds will start dropping from some flowers at this time so check often. Allow to dry in cool, dry location for up to 2-3 weeks. Fully dried flowers will drop clean seeds naturally. Rub remaining flowers to free seeds.

CELERY – Dig several plants carefully, pack them loosely in a box or bag and store in a cold humid place. Replant in late spring. It will grow three to four feet tall, and have lacy white flowers. The flowers will produce the seed. Rub the seeds off by hand into a container.

ASPARAGUS – Once the fruit is red and ripe the seed is ready for collection. Pick them and let them dry well. When they are dry, crush the berries by rolling them between your hands. (NOTE: Once you plant the seed it take at least four years before you will have a harvest of eating asparagus)

NOTES:
Plants are pollinated in three different ways: by wind, insects or by what is known as self-pollination. Plants from the same species can cross with each other producing mixes of the parent plant. Plants with pods, like beans, are ready when the pods are brown and dry. Plants pollinated by wind (such as corn and spinach) and those pollinated by insects (such as squash and cucumbers) may produce a next generation that resembles a parent, or they may cross with other varieties to turn up something entirely unique.

Small garden seed saving presents a unique challenge. In a larger, more conventional garden, you simply plant the varieties far enough from each other to minimize (in many cases, eliminate entirely) cross-pollination. However, in small gardens you do not have the space to place (lettuce varieties 25 foot apart, for instance) the varieties far enough apart. Some suggest that you only plant one variety but there is a way to plant close together if you want (like most of us) to have more than one variety that could cross. Use physical barriers. — A physical barrier can be a wood-framed cage of window screen, a length of row cover or a paper bag. The more upright the growth habit of the plant, the more likely it is you will need to build something. (Like tomatoes) Low-growing vegetables, (beans) can be protected by putting row-cover material over them and carefully securing the edges. (keep an eye on the temperatures, don’t let it get to hot.) Crops grown vertically on a trellis or other support (squash) require a bit more time and trouble, since covering the entire plant is not practical. For such crops the trick is to enclose just the flowers. If you have some pieces of row cover cut it into suitable sizes, wrap it gently around the flower, and tie it off with string. Not too tightly! (NOTE: you only need to wrap up the female flowers on squash, those that open with the miniature fruit at the base of the petals.) you can also use small paper bags to protect flowers from unwanted pollination. (if you can wrap the material around the flowers and the material allows for the passage of air but not insects, you can use it to isolate individual flowers.) You can also wrap up individual flowers or flower clusters in upright plants such as tomatoes if you wish, instead of cages. Another method is timing. Time can be as effective a barrier as a physical barrier. Plant varieties at long enough intervals between plantings that they do not bloom together, or that any such overlap is minimal.

When spring planting time comes I follow the rule of the seed keeper: Always save a portion of your seed (I try for at least 5 years worth), no matter how old it is. Then in case of a crop failure, you can replant. A single plant or two from that reserved seed supply can restart your seed collection. And you will never run out of seed.

Hope this helps. Thanks; Virginia

[jkpjohnson]

WOW Thanks for the info. I will need to print this one out. Thanks again

[jkpjohnson]

I think it was explained sooooo well, that the whole gardening thing JUST made sense to me. It is more than just planting a seed, watering, and eating/viewing. A few years back, I had some HUGE staks sprout out from nowhere (in the same area), I mean HUGE. Waited, waited, and waited for something to grow (I thought maybe BEANS, like Jack and the Bean Stock), finally we just pulled them at the end of the season (tough buggers to pull out they were almost as tall as me 5’6). It is making me laugh now, because no one knew what they were (birds loved to play in them), they were like no weed in MN, are weeds get maybe 6 inches tall and 2 years prior, it was grass. ****I think I had way to much coffee today, I am laughing outloud******** Time for another pot, since I cannot sleep anyway.

[Virginia]

Harvested three pounds of Portabella Mushrooms today. Looks like we will be having a feast tomorrow. I think I might dehydrate some of them also. Thanks; Virginia

[Virginia]

Harvested a pound of the Button Mushrooms from the Mushroom kit yesterday. They look really good. Hopefully, more will grow.
Had some fresh from the garden Asparagus for Supper last evening. All of the crops that have been planted outside in the gardens look to be coming up (so far so good). Seeds started in the cold frames are making little plants and should be ready to plant around the first week of May. Thanks; Virginia

[Virginia]

Received the 4 year old, ready to produce Cranberry Plant I ordered today. Will put it outside in its bed as soon as I can. (It is Raining here today, water everywhere.) Hopefully, we will have fresh homegrown Cranberries for Thanksgiving. Thanks; Virginia

[brchbell]

Sure hope my Asparagus pops up real soon! Need to get it moved soon to the new garden beds but sure wanted to harvest this years crop first! so far no sign of it but maybe with all this rain and warmer temps it’ll pop up in the next few days!

[redring]

Just recived some MORE seeds from the swap sites!!! They just keep comming! At this point I think people just decided to send me some extras. 🙂 That is just awsome! I have two tomatos and a pepper, cilantro, dill, all kinds of basil, corn, some flowers. all new this year. Just re set up my arrow grow with oakra, another tomato, 4 more hott peppers (for the salsa garden) and some flowers. Trying not to over do it because I dont have all the beds finished. I havent spent much so far at all. Ill have to add it up and share. Good luck everyone!!!

[JennyCup]

So my MIL is already picking fruit off her tomato plant and mine has yet to even start thinking about growing tomatoes. Sure it had 2 small (3 to 4 blooms) clusters, but that is it and that was a couple weeks ago. It has doubled in size since I got it but still nothing. I have been watering it frequently and I added those food granules when I planted it. I just hope to get something off of it…

[tsgal]

I bought some Topsy Turveys for my tomatoes. I’ve never used them before, so I thought that I would give it a try. Last year my tomato plants were so heavy that they kept falling over. Even using the tomato cages they fell over. So I’m hoping that if I use this method it will solve the problem. I’ll let everyone know how they work out, I have them hanging on the back porch, in full sun light. I hoping to also get some tomatoes soon. I thought about try a topsy turvey for cucumbers too. Easy to get to from the back door.

[pjtmay]

Several years ago we grew tomotoe plants in buckets hanging upside down. We used 5 gallon buckets with a metal handle to hang from. Cut a small hole in the bottom and stuck the plant up thru the bottom and filled with dirt/planting mix. They were easy to water like this also. That was the only year we planted any like that. So if you have an extra bucket….give it a try!

[redring]

sometimes it depends on the typ of tomato , area, how much sun ect. you may just get fruit a bit later. I still have a ways to go on mine. The bucket idea is awsome!! i bet you could find a substatute at the dollar tree for these too.

[brchbell]

@JennyCup 118317 wrote:

So my MIL is already picking fruit off her tomato plant and mine has yet to even start thinking about growing tomatoes. Sure it had 2 small (3 to 4 blooms) clusters, but that is it and that was a couple weeks ago. It has doubled in size since I got it but still nothing. I have been watering it frequently and I added those food granules when I planted it. I just hope to get something off of it…

So where is MIL picking these tomatoes at? I got baby ones out that I’m really having to baby along, just isn’t quite warm enough here yet on some days. I had hot houses over them but we’ve had such strong winds they all blow right away so they are limping along right now and hopefully they’ll perk up and take off soon! Eventually we’ll have supports up so we can cover our beds in the Spring and Fall but right now we’ve worked hard and finally got the last bed built and got some other stuff to finish up before we get supports up. Hope to get at least 5 beds with supports before Fall sets in to extend our season but we’ll see.

Green beans and potatoes are looking great and strawberries are covered with blooms. The peas and carrots came up great but just seem to be sitting there hibernating instead of growing! Hopefully they’ll take off soon too!

[Virginia]

We wild harvested about 30 or so pounds of Morel Mushrooms last week.

Finished harvesting my kit mushrooms, probably got another 2 pounds from them.

We harvested strawberries from the old beds the other day, a week or so late this year.–We usually harvest about the first of May. [Used to be tradition to have Strawberry Shortcake as birthday cake on the 2nd (my father-in-laws) and 4th (my Dad’s) of May.] [When I think of Strawberries I always think of them. I sure miss both of them!] The two year old beds are blooming like crazy, and the newly planted beds have blooms as well.

Still harvesting asparagus here and there. The new beds look to be growing, as well.

Onions and potatoes are doing really well. Peas are growing and blooming–slow this year. Spinach is coming up, won’t be long before it is ready to harvest. Oats and turnips are growing as well. Fava beans and greenbeans are growing.

The squash plants we had growing for our germination test are still alive in pots and have blossoms on them. Strange! Also, the greenbeans in pots have blooms and yesterday I saw an actual bean on one. Have some tomatoes, peppers, egg plants, cabbages and even a melon or two planted out (as they were too big to keep inside any longer) — had them covered with plastic jugs but they got too big for them as well, so they have to make it on their own now. They look like they might have gotten a little cold the other night when the temps were down to almost freezing. Some of their leaves shriveled — but hopefully, they will be alright.

The ground is ok on top but when you get underneath where you would plant it is really wet and cold. (In traditional fields/gardens and in the raised bed gardens.) Still too cold for lots of plants and seeds. Cold frames are full of plants bursting to get out.

Lilacs are gone for this year, but they sure did put on a pretty show.

The Iris flowers are opening now, they are so beautiful and most smell so sweet.

I just love flowers!!

Each year for Mother’s Day we plant a new Rose bush. This began the first Mother’s Day after Sonny and I were married. I had just miscarried our first baby (first miscarriage of many), and needless to say it was not a happy day–My father-in-law gave me a branch of an old (probably over a hundred years old) Rose bush which had several really beautiful flowers (the bush wasn’t doing so good, that branch was the only flowers the bush had!) He said that even though I couldn’t hold my baby, I was still a mother! my baby was just in Heaven waiting for me! and we should celebrate the day!! We planted the branch and with loving care the rosebush still lives and reminds us that life is precious and beautiful, even in the darkness of our grief. Each year since, my husband has gotten me a rosebush for Mother’s Day–We plant it in a special bed reserved for the Mother’s Day Roses (It now contains 31 Rose Bushes, each a different kind). I have other Rose gardens also, but this one is the most special.

We have been working on cleanup from the storms, still lots to do. Hopefully, it will dry out enough soon to get the rest of the plants and seeds out in the ground.

Happy Gardening!! Thanks; Virginia

[lcove2000]

Haven’t even started planting yet except for a some lettuce in a large pot. Woodchucks got it all last year and I am hoping if I keep the pot near high activity like near my back door he won’t be interested. Virginia, I am so sorry to hear about all of your losses. I too lost my mother in 1996 and everytime I see my lilac bush blooming it feels as if she is right here with me. You must have so many little angels watching over your family. Happy Gardening! Lisa

[redring]

Virgenia whear are you located? I only have some shoots on most of my editables. The strawberrys i reclaimed from my mills this year are in a baskit and blooming. I have wiled strawberry all over here too. we are actually plant rich for being in the city. I find all kinds of things growing on my lot. The local squarles planted chestnut trees from a neibors tree. 🙁 unfortunantly they dont have good tast in whear to plant and I killed it transplanting. I took advantage of my bad veggies this year and planted my growing garlic. garlic is actually pretty. The yard is really comming along!! I want it to be a mostly editable garden. So I have mixed flowers,herbs and veggies togather. I would like to get my hands on a companion planting book with lots of pictures. Some things make more sense when you see it. Ill have to post picks. Its a good start.

[Virginia]

We are in the central part of Illinois. Picked strawberries from the two year old beds this weekend, we had to cover them with netting to keep the birds out. The birds around here don’t like to share, they want it all! We still have some planting to do, but have gotten a lot of it done. Things seem to be a little late this year, but maybe the fall weather will be late as well and it will all work out.

Looks like most of the fields are planted now, or are being planted. Some had to be replanted as the rain came and flooded some of the fields.

Happy Gardening!! Thanks; Virginia

[redring]

I am really behind. Been sick with a sinus infection that spread to my lungs. Still have to do all my chores and work but I just want to drop. havent had the hart to work with the garden. Brought my self some peonys in to enjoy though. They smell so nice!!! Bearded ireses bloomed too but im missing them. tomatos are in a bad spot and need to get mooved. Any editables that can handel low light?? the bed behind the house only gets light in the evening or second half of the day. Tomatos dont seem to think thats enough. they are growing so slow. Virginia your not too far from me.

[pjtmay]

I have 3 rows of corn and beans hip high. 2 1/2 more rows knees high and just planted 2 more rows last night. We have 30 cabbage plants that are getting really big! Lots of yellow squash that will be ready to pick this week. 56 tomatoe plants some with maters the size of golf balls! Onions have been ready for a while. I like to get them big and hang to dry to use all year. Several other plants like okra, many different peppers, watermelon, cantalopes, and cukes.
Can you tell I am soo excited about our garden! I even love to hoe and take pics of it! Yesterday we were out there and about 30 ft the other side of the fence was a deer.
She stood there for a long time while we worked. I think she has a baby there and its hay cutting time!
Can anyone share some ideas what I can do with all this cabbage? Also, I need your best recipe for canning tomatoes, salsa, etc. Thanks for all your suggestions!
Patty
ps…I’m soo glad I found this site!

[Virginia]

It got hot, humid and sticky outside yesterday–kind of hard to breath out there. Had sever thunderstorms, heavy rain and high winds last evening and during the night. The biggest tomato and pepper plants (that were budding) are now cut off at the ground and laying flat.

The cones on most of the smaller transplants blew away–will have to try to round them all up. (Not a small job as there were probably 600 of them or so.)

On a good note–the net on the strawberries appears to still be intact and doing it’s job. From what I can see the rest of the gardens are doing ok.

Sweet corn was planted yesterday. Still have flour corns and chicken feed corn and other seeds to plant.

Tomatoes like full sun but some do produce in lower light, they also like a lot of water but do not like standing in it. They grow best in loose soil.

Some of the early cole crops will grow in lower light. Most of the summer crops like full sun.

Happy Gardening! Thanks; Virginia

[redring]

cabage: cabage roles, veggie soup ( Dh calls mine cabage soup I love the cabage), Egg rolls, steamed dumplings, home made sour krout.

Salsa I do fresh. My dad always did a cooked salsa but everyone loves my fresh salsa. Just use tomatos, cilantro, hot pepper, onion, and blend them in a food processor. This salsa is one of those TO TAST ones. Everyone is difrent I love lots of cilantro in mine. hmmm I think we are going to need a garden recipe section. Also dont forget if you do a cooked salsa you will be ale to can it.

[Virginia]

Still trying to get everything planted here between rains and whatnot. Finally, got all the kinds of beans planted that we are planting this year. As well as the peanuts and cotton. Harvested enough green beans from our test beans to make supper. Harvested some peas yesterday. (This is late for first harvest of peas, usually we first harvest peas the first of May.) Most of the squash and melons are in. Been harvesting a lot of strawberries. Still have a lot of work to do–we are still cleaning up from the storms, a little at a time. The oats have some heads on them. Onions and potatoes are doing good. Still have the corns to plant (except the sweetcorn and it is coming up!) The small plants of tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant seem to be doing ok.

Roses are in full bloom, some are blooming out now.

Happy Gardening! Thanks; Virginia

[redring]

My roses are not doing to well. They have some blooms but it looks like half the plant died off through the winter. I am haveing zero luck with basil too. I supose thats not too bad considering I guess they dont survive in zone 5 and have to be replanted each year. Virgenia, what do you do with your oat??

[Virginia]

We plan to eat the oats, just as you do the ones you buy. These ones are hull-less oats, (the first time we have grown them) so all that they should need is to be rolled (for rolled, flat oats–like you buy in a box) or cooked for whole oat bran or ground for oat flour. We have grown the regular oats in the fields but they have to go through a hulling machine in order to remove the hard unedible hull (we do not have such a machine) we just combine them and send them on their way to the market. Would love to find a small hulling machine (not a huge commercial monster) so that we could use the regular oats, but have had no luck in doing so. So, this year we heard about hull-less ones and decided to give them a try. It is an experiment in a way, so far they are doing pretty good (those that the birds left alone–they ate a lot of the seed before it germinated–could be one of the drawbacks of hull-less is they do not have their natural protection anymore.)

I have the best luck with basil by growing it in containers, can keep it going all year that way.

Happy Gardening! Thanks; Virginia

[redring]

Thanks! I was wondering about the oat flour mostly.

i have heard people say befor that they grow and mill there own flours. This intrests me. I dont think I have enough space to produce much though. Ill have to see if there are any books of the subjest.

[Virginia]

Well, the gardens are finally in. This is really late for us, but will see what happens. We usually try to get things in early so that beat the bugs and main flush of weeds in the gardens. Also, the cole crops do better. We have usually harvested lots of them by this time. (Peas, spinach, etc.) We have harvested a small amount of peas and some spinach but not much. The most of the garden looks to be doing ok but it is over a month late in producing. Have harvested, cleaned and frozen a little over 70 pounds of Strawberries. Also, have eaten (used as dessert and in desserts) several pounds of them–they are really good! This year we wont have the first cabbage by the 24th of June or the first tomatoes by the 4th of July, either. This has been what we have had for the last 5 years or so–got used to it. Oh well, gardening (like life) is a great challenge. The humidity is driving me indoors now–one of the reasons we try to get as much done and harvestable as early as possible. I can’t stand it out there (can’t breath) in the heat. I still struggle but can only be out a few minutes at a time. Happy Gardening!! Thanks; Virginia

[Virginia]

Went out to see what was happening in the gardens for a few minutes yesterday-don’t take long for a person to melt out there. Saw the first two little green tomatoes on one plant–can taste them already! LOL! Have a nice day everyone! Happy Gardening! Thanks; Virginia

[redring]

🙂 My tomatos stayed small the whole season. i was worried but in the past two weeks they really grew. No tomatos yet but i have flowers. Same with my zuccini and I just planted green beans for the first time ever. We will see how iit goes. Good luck to you all.

[pjtmay]

This is the best garden we have had yet! Still keeping my fingers crossed. I have already gotten a lot of squash and green beans up in the freezer. Canned 17 quarts of sour kraut. Still seveal heads of cabbage to do something with. Tomatoes have been rippening this last week. I have canned about 5 jars of different peppers. Jalapeno, banana peppers. Still waiting for the habaneros to turn to orange.
The corn has tasseled and those little ears are growing! Can’t wait to fill up my freezer with those!
I do have a question for everyone here. I have several watermelon and cantalopes growing. How can I protect them from rabbits or whatever might try to get them before we do?
Thanks!
PJ

[lcove2000]

The only thing that has protected my garden this year from critters is ammonia. Somebody told me about this on my online gardening group. I take 4-5 cotton balls and soak them in ammonia then put it on a little plate or something. I use old plastic tupperware covers, you know, the ones with no match? LOL! anyway, I refresh them add a few more cotton balls every few days or after rainfall (which lately has been everyday). I have about 5 small plates like this in my my small maybe 10ft x 10ft garden. So far this has worked! I am so happy about this I could puke! Last 3 years the neighborhood woodchuck has grown fat and happy on my garden while I worked and worked and got nothing but little stubs. I can’t guarantee it, but it’s the ONLY thing that worked for me. And woodchucks, AKA prarie dogs, AKA groundhogs will eat almost anything. For me, it was either this or I was going to hunt him down with a shotgun and I think my neighbors would’ve really thought I lost it then. Good Luck!

[jkpjohnson]

My friendly wild rabbit (named her Cherster) had 3 bunnies this spring, they keep eating my spinach as soon as it starts to grow, they are making me soooo mad, but they are so cute. We live in an apartment building, in the city, so any wildlife is fun for us to watch. I am going to start growing the spinach inside with a florecient (sp?) bulb.

[lcove2000]

They are fun to watch, I agree…please know that I was only joking about the shotgun. I would never kill wildlife.

[redring]

🙂 I had the stub problem this year. I think its rabits so ive been pushing the cat hair I sweep up around the house under my mulch. seems to be helping.

[Virginia]

Well, the garden is still growing–slowly, but surely. Has been hot and humid here and thunderstorms everyday or two. Had over 6 inches of rain last week, and another inch the other night. Seems to be burning up one minute and almost flooded the next. We have good drainage in the gardens so it doesn’t set on top, but it is still to muddy to get out and work in for a while after each rain.

Had quite a few turnips. Probably plant another patch of them in late August for fall harvest. Harvested part of the onions, getting them dry in this humidity is a real challenge. Been digging a few potatoes just for fresh eating.
We have been harvesting and canning green beans for the last few days.
Have lots of green tomatoes on the plants but they still have a long way to go to be ripe.
Everything seems to be growing well–especially the weeds (they are not slow growing). Bugs are being a big problem as well. Rabbits love to nibble on the little green plants. We put up an electric fence to keep them out of our edible soybeans (nothing else so far has worked). I have never seen them eat the field soybeans but they sure love our garden ones.

Happy Gardening! Thanks; Virginia

[Virginia]

Harvested the first of the eggplants yesterday. They tasted really good. Been harvesting a cucumber here and there the last week or so; yesterday had half of a 5 gallon bucket full so it looks like it is pickle making time. Still waiting for the tomatoes to ripen. Everything else is growing; the winter squash is really taking off and going toward the neighbors corn field, going to have to move its vines and tell it to stay on our side of the fence. Happy Gardening! Thanks; Virginia

[Virginia]

Been harvesting more of the onions as they are ready. Pulled up a two pound one, yesterday. It is 5 inches across and about 5 inches deep, round and blocky looking. Have several, bigger than a softball. Still have lots to go, but their plants haven’t died back yet, so will leave them until they do. Usually try to harvest all of the onions by the last day of July, they seem to keep better for us that way. Last years kept until after planting time this year, hopefully, we will have as good of luck with them this time. Happy Gardening! Thanks; Virginia

[redring]

In the past month my tomatos exploded. They have been sooo small and now the plants are trying to pass my windows. I am picking a few here and there for frying. They are compleatly coverd in flowers so whear I dident think I planted enough this year I may still be able to can sauce. Anyone have a good recipe for manara from scratch? I picked mullberrys for jelly and never made it. I need someone to can with so im less relunctant.
Pears are getting fat but have a long wait still. My neibour left me some cucombers 🙂 oh happy me! Ill cut them and let them soak in some brine I have in the fridge. I cheat and use the old bread and butter juice. They tast wonderfull that way!!! My cabages are looking a bit peaked. I had somthing eating the heck out of everything this year. I did get green beans though. Hows everyone else doin?

[Virginia]

It is HARVEST Time for lots of the garden now! Been picking cucumbers, zucchini, and yellow summer squash, egg plants, green beans and other goodies by the bushel fulls. Have way to much for our use so have been giving it away to anyone we can get to take it.
No tomatoes yet to speak of, the storms have really messed with them this year and the plants now look like they are tied together in knots–tomatoes are laying on the ground (once they touch the ground they rot.) The few we have had were really good tasting, unfortunately they will be about all we get this year. We wont go hungry without them though as we have plenty of canned tomatoes in storage from years past, just for this reason.
The storm we had last week knocked the sweet corn down, it is trying to stand back up; might have a good harvest of it, but it still has a ways to go. Looks like we might have to put an electric fence around it to keep the coons out–usually we plant pumpkins around the outside of it and crisscross inside of the block–seems to work, but didn’t get that done this year.
The beans of different kinds seem to be doing good, and are loaded with pods.
Pulled all of the onions, have a lot–some are 2 1/2 pounds and some are small as a golf ball–they are good tasting and hopefully they will be keepers again this year.
Dug the row Yukon Gold potatoes and have about 400 pounds of them. Still have to dig the other three varieties. Have dug a 5 gallon bucket full of the red norlands, that is only a small area of the row though. Got rained out while digging them the other day.
Well, there is lots more to do and more to say that I can’t think of right now, but got to go and get started–the canner is calling.
Happy Gardening! Thanks; Virginia

[JennyCup]

My MIL lives in Phoenix, AZ so it gets hot there early. I went away for a week and had someone else watch the tomatoes, but when I got back most of the plant was dead. So I decided to just let it go and try next year instead. Oh well.

[Virginia]

Been harvesting between thunderstorms around here. The canner seems to be going all the time.
The coons destroyed about a fourth of the sweetcorn before we got them stopped! We put electric fence around the sweet corn but it didn’t stop the coons, so we next added two radios turned on; again didn’t work, so next we put up a 300 watt quartz shop light–that seemed to do the trick!! The last couple nights only the fence and the light have been on (thunderstorms and rain–so put the radios away). I think the light would work by itself, but will wait until after we get our harvest done first to try it out. Will try the light a night or two just to see it it works. Once we have what people want out of the sweetcorn we will let the coons have the rest.
Dug up the row of Norland potatoes (about 300 pounds) and half of the row of Kenabecs.
The beans are doing good still have a ways to go.
The winter squash is taking over — it left the garden and is heading toward the house (some is anyway–some is in the neighbors corn field).
Happy Gardening!!!! Thanks; Virginia

[Virginia]

Well, another year has come and gone. We did pretty good on the garden. We had hundreds of winter squash some small hand size some huge 60 to 100 pound size. We have been eating squash in some form or other for what seems to be everyday since the end of September. Have lots of potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, onions, garlic all stored in the basement along with the home canned garden veggies. We have plenty to eat, and we always have enough for others–all they have to do is come get it, or come and share an already prepared meal. There is always room for one more (or more) at our table. The gardens are put to bed for this year and we are looking forward to and planning for next years gardens. Have a great, safe and happy Holiday Season. Merry Christmas!! Thanks; Virginia

[brchbell]

Yes Virginia, we’ll be starting our little seedlings before you know it!

[nomoregoldscams]

I love the smell of tea roses. I have a small rose a coworker gave me as a house warming. Its pretty hardy. I couldent believe how far into the cold monthes it was still green! So far I mostly have fruits. This year I wish to add blueberrys. The house had a pear tree already and a neibour gave me two peach starts. The peaches grew about three foot last year!! I was verry superised. I would like to add some veggies into my garden plan too. I want to mix them in though. Shouldent be a problem if i companion plant.

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[brchbell]

virginia, did you ever find a source for hulless rice & oats? Just saw an old e-mail and I have a source for that now if you need it.
Cherlynn

[Author]

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