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Posted: 5/31/2007 4:53:55 AM | one of the things i remember as a kid was mother making mint jelly from the mint we had growing in the back yard...i think we used to just have it on toast or ice cream...
i am happy...i was out in the garden the other day and i found that the horseradish i planted...(and thought had died)...has come back to life...WOOT WOOT...now i gotta cage the little monsters before they take over...
on a sad note...about 5 of my poor little tomato plants that i nurtured from seed...have died... ...now i only have about 30 tomato plants...(wtf was i thinking?...oh yeah...green tomato pickles)...
rsx11s...your mom seems to have been the gardener of the family...tap her resources for me if you will...i have googled this until my fingers ached and cant find a solution...
many moons ago...my dad planted comfrey for its alleged healing properties...all well and good...but the &^$(##@@ stuff is very very prolific...it will spread worse than rhubarb...they say the only way to eradicate it completely is to dig it out from the root up...but some of those bastids have roots that are 3 feet long...i dont really want to exfoliate them...i just want them gone...they are interwoven with my lillies and a few other perennials which i cant recall the names of...
i would appreciate any help on getting rid of the suckers...
also if anyone else decides to plant these things...dont...or contain them if you do...
rhubarb and horseradish also must be contained...even if they are contained...dont let them go to seed... | |
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Posted: 5/31/2007 5:14:38 PM | | Anyone know anything about growing brocoli? I get lots of leaves, long stalks... not so much heads... Tips would be great. Thanks! | |
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Posted: 5/31/2007 9:54:26 PM | I don't think you ever really do get much broccoli. One good head and a few smalll is all I ever got! If you ever do celery keep it tied as it grows or it opens and you end up with all those stringy things even in the heart of it. So...........keep em tied while they grow!
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Posted: 5/31/2007 11:03:20 PM | I grew "Green Comet" broccoli one year and had the same luck, not much for heads. Never did keep trying after that, easier just to buy it. I know it is a huge feeder, loves nitrogen. You could put a tablespoon of household ammonia in a gallon of water and give them that once a week to supplement their nitrogen requirements. Lemon ammonia will help keep away insects. Just stop doing it a week or two before harvest or wash well.
"...i was out in the garden the other day and i found that the horseradish i planted...(and thought had died)...has come back to life...WOOT WOOT...now i gotta cage the little monsters before they take over..."
Fistncuffs: One reccomendation said cut out the bottom of a five gallon pail and plant that in the ground with the horseradish. I just plant my horseradish and rhubarb in the shade -- keeps it growing slower and easier to manage. It also utilizes an otherwise dead space. I have dug up horseradish and ended up chasing roots growing totally horizontal, about pencil thickness, that must have went over almost FOUR FEET!
As to your comfrey plants, the best natural easy way to kill plants is to use hot boiling water. I don't know if this will help you because you mentioned they are interwoven with other plants. But it works great on things like weeds in concrete cracks and whatnot.
But I am in the opposite position now, wanting to proprogate the rhubarb. What is the quickest or best way to get more rhubarb from just one or two plants? (without buying more)
I planted basil and two kinds of lettuce today, black seeded simpsom and some other bolt resistant variety.
This seasons mystery in the front flower area is why one peony has two blooms and the other has over a dozen. The one with less blooms seems more in the sun so I expected it the other way around. Anyone have any peony care tips? Anything I could do better? | |
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Posted: 6/1/2007 3:07:00 AM | thanks for the horseradish tips random... | |
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Posted: 6/1/2007 7:23:43 AM | My dad is really the gardnerer, mum just picks out plants and tells him where to put them.
She did plant comfre onece, and lovage. After 3 years of trying to get rid of it they ended up just moving. I agree with the hot water thing. Or black it out wth some heavy black plastic although that doesn't sound like an optin for you if you have other plants nearby. | |
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Posted: 6/1/2007 6:08:04 PM | ta hell with it...imma load the .22 and sit on the back porch...first one of them suckers that moves...KAPOW!!!...right between the eyes...
seriously tho...i think i got them...i used a dandelion digger thing and got as much of the root as i could...then i got a piece of small diameter pipe about 3 feet long andpushed it into the ground where any remaining root shoulda been...the very carefully poured in a bit of diluted weed killer...the lillies and peonies dont seem to have suffered but only time will tell about the damn comfrey...
rsx11s...did your folks hafta drop the asking price of their house? | |
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Posted: 6/1/2007 6:23:06 PM | Does anyone potato garden?
Use tires or such to contain them? | |
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Posted: 6/1/2007 8:30:44 PM | | Tires work wonderful for containing potatoes, put in your seed taters and cover with bunches of straw!! | |
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Posted: 6/1/2007 8:44:07 PM |
rsx11s...did your folks hafta drop the asking price of their house?
Mercifully the buyer didn't notice as he bought it in early early spring before it came up. I think he paved over the garden anyway, not that that would absolutely stop it of course. But it's a start.
Should the .22 fail, try explosives. They don't work on mint but at least they're fun.
One good head and a few small is all I ever got!
Too much information! | |
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Posted: 6/2/2007 4:16:07 PM | I used to grow tomatoes but I can buy them now like 99 cents a pound..I eat them like crazy, at least 2 per day on salad for myself, so I dont think a plant could supply me enough of them..At least they never used to..
I have grown pumpkins and had a pumpkin patch in my back yard..They were cute, and of course, they slowly disappeared, I think some kids were taking them which was ok with me..Just in time for Halloween..
I like peppers but havent grown them..I've tried corn and carrots, they didnt work too well not sure why.. | |
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Posted: 6/2/2007 4:18:10 PM | | Oh yea, has anyone grown onions before or garlic? I cant get enough of those..Constantly buying them. | |
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Posted: 6/2/2007 4:39:12 PM | | Onions and garlic are extreamly easy to grow.. just put you sets out and water. My garlic is currently taking over the world! | |
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Posted: 6/2/2007 5:02:36 PM | we have a garden where i work, most of it herbs (of course). this year, i did large leaf basil, purple basil, holy basil and curly basil, lemon thyme, variegated thyme, english thyme, creeping mother-of-thyme, juniper thyme (of course), calendula (great in salads), sage, pineapple sage, loads of lavender and a few pots of rosemary. the dill reseeded from last year, as did the monarda, chives and lovage. lovage, btw, has a hollow stem and an intense celery-like flavor. it makes the best straw when mixing bloody marys.
we have loads of comfrey, catnip, other mints and angelica.
the roses just started blooming ~ nice, deep reds for rosepetal jam.
now we just need a good, long soaking rain.
i have recipes for all the herbs i mentioned, if anyone's interested. | |
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Posted: 6/3/2007 12:48:55 AM | potatoes... the main key is to mound them, momm2, in your climate even the most prolific ones should not need containing... if that is what you are getting at. They're easy but it pays to slowly add soil regularly. I grew the yukon golds before they were available in the supermarkets. Easy, but keep them covered with soil because a green potato is toxic.
onions and garlic ... the key with those is to match your climate, there are long and short day ones, also garlic has hard and softneck, again, depending on climate. Super easy to grow. I stick them in, weaving a zig zag back and forth between the flower plants just to keep the rabbits from eating the flower buds. If you are going to fuss with it, though, my recommendation would be to grow shallots instead. More of a gourmet ingredient that combines the flavor of onion and mild garlic. Highly prized by chefs.
The thing I enjoyed the most from shallots was making fresh buttermilk/mayo/wine vinegar/parsley/honey dressing with a fresh shallot. Green and white, everything diced fine -- this is just a gourmet upscale version of storebought Ranch dressing. Much subtler flavors with the shallot.
Green onions, though, drop them in anywhere amongst your flowerbeds. Onions, IMHO, are more trouble than they are worth unless you are down south and can grown the sweeter varieties... the burmuda and the vidia and the walla wallas... all 'long day' varieties.
Believe it or not you know that garlic that sprouts in the fridge? Plant it, it will grow out there, it just may not be the best possible variety for your climate but later you usually will get a whole head from one clove. They overwinter well and can be left from year to year. I have a onion coming up I must have missed from last year.
If you plant an onion that sprouts you will just get seed. Nothing is slower than starting onions from seeds. It takes like two years to really get an onion, at least in my climate. Go with the shallots, and some green onions, you won't be sorry you did. | |
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Posted: 6/8/2007 11:10:40 PM | | Thanks compuchick01 I would love it if the garlic would take over! I will eat it almost everyday..Love it! | |
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Posted: 6/8/2007 11:54:00 PM | Growing heirlooms is very rewarding. Something like 90% of all vegetable varieties grown in household gardens in the US around 1900 are now extinct.
Peppers brought into New Mexico by the Spaniards hundreds of years ago were on the verge of extinction, but are being brought back, like these Chimayos. These are incredible for flavor not to mention their history.
http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/34097.html | |
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Posted: 6/9/2007 3:22:09 AM | Agreed, the over commercialized mindset has people thinking they need new seeds every year from a big company. Often hybrids that will produce only sterile seeds.
Heirlooms are so easy, if you keep your own stock going. Take one tomato at the end of theyear, take the seeds out, let them sit in the sun in a small pot of water for 3-4 days to ferment. When done discard the plant matter that may be around them and place them on paper towels to dry. Put those in quart mason jars. If they stick to the paper towel that is fine. A desicant wouldn't hurt (like one of those packs they use for electronics... silca gel.... or even just some rocksalt), if you want to get fussy or store them for years.
Remember a few years ago we found a wheat seed that was over two thousand years old and it was successfully sprouted and grown! | |
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Posted: 6/9/2007 10:50:49 PM | Because the average backyard garden only has so much space, we started a neighborhood seed bank for the unusual heirlooms. Everyone can grow something different year to year. You would be surprised how many people, from all walks of life, want to get into doing this. It's really interesting.
And some species, like the capsicums, will cross-pollinate like crazy so you can either create Frankenstein varieties at will (African Fatalii crossed with New Mexican Chimayo was an unintended gem though!), or to grow the strain pure, we have to make sure no one is planting them within several blocks of each other. | |
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Posted: 6/14/2007 4:31:41 PM | Of course it is loo late for broccoli now(in MOST places) but at summer's end.......try using lots of compost and making sure the soil is not too dry, nor over fertilized. They also like cool weather, but do need sun. I once bought the hoops for row covers and it was amazing how much more yield I had with the broccoli and cauliflower, bc the cabbage worms couldn't get in. You can buy varied weights of netting, to allow more sun, to protect from frost, etc.
I always liked cherry tomatoes..........they will do great in a big pot too..Sweet 100 believe yields masses of SWEET ones.....yum yum. Mine even reseeded by surprise one year.
I am in an apt now and DYING to buy a house. I am an avid seed saver and well, delivering mail has it's benefits! Also in GA many things that are annuals up north grow back( or reseed) here in the south. I still favor perennials though, no throwing my money away and they endure the heat as annuals generally wither in our heat. I do love Petunias though and the million bells ones are SO nice..no dead heading.
Would love to swap seeds as I gather some. I snatched some passion flower seed pods last fall and am anxious to see how they grow (they came up, and are growing). I THINK they will bloom next year, can someone give me a yay or nay on that? They were encased in a funky looking pod and also sort of a waxy covering. Should I have nicked or soaked those...THANKS, as not as many came up as I had hoped.
Gotta love things that grow!
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Posted: 6/17/2007 2:53:41 PM | | Anybody help with a recipe or two for turnips? Mine seem to have gone mad this year..........is it possible to freeze them??? | |
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Posted: 6/17/2007 4:09:47 PM | what do I plant -
Tomatoes of course and eggplant
Basil and mint for Mojitos-LOL!!
Italian frying peppers and the rest are flowers.
Thats about it. I cant bothered-LOL!!
Yes and zuchini and the long light green zuchini-I get the seeds from
my neighbor- you have to dry one out to get the seeds. We make soup
with it. My Mother calls it gagootsa(?) | |
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Posted: 6/17/2007 5:57:20 PM | I love square foot gardening because weeding is against my religion!
I've also mulched between rows (when rows were necessary) with paper grain bags (helps to have lots of grain eating critters so the bags are a biproduct). Again, did this because weeding is against my religion!
Comfry- haven't tried planting it, was going to tho, because a friend had some for her chickens and goats to nibble....it never got away from her probably because of the critters. fist probably what you did will work, if not, take coarse salt and put it on the areas where the comfry is overtaking. (not too close to the keeper plants). too much salt is a good way to kill many unwanted plants w/o poisons.
Rhubarb, see if you can get some FRESH (from the farm) cow manure, and steeply bank around the rhubarb. Seriously- next years crop will be a bumper crop! | |
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Posted: 6/17/2007 6:12:21 PM | | Don't know how to get rid of comfrey, but I used to grow it in my compost pile. It worked perfectly. | |
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Posted: 6/18/2007 12:42:31 PM | Hi ALL,
At the end of the day , I stand with my hands on my hips and look out at what I have sown . I am so proud and humble at the same time.Norman Rockwell, I am ready to be in your paintings!
On a serious note folks , I now have 6 varieties of tomatoes, spaghetti squash , peppers, broccoli, mixed lettuces,egg plant, cucumbers, cantaloupe , melons , and watermelons . I still have a few greens to plant as well as onions and garlic. Maybe after supper tonight. My flower boxes are mostly finished but I am being creative with the containers.I have come up with some really neat looking displays . Thanks to all for answering my questions . Enjoy your gardens, Debbie | |
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