collapse

* Member Info

 
 
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?
I saw some cross-eyed people, I saw a man was so cross-eyed that when he cried tears ran down his back. I saw a man, Bill, with his eyes so near the top of his head, when he get ready to see he had to pull off his hat - Sonny Boy Williamson on cross-eyed people

Author Topic: Gardening  (Read 13527 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Cleoma

  • Member
  • Posts: 275
  • Howdy!
Re: Gardening
« Reply #15 on: June 17, 2009, 11:22:34 AM »
We have a big yard and always wanted to have a veggie garden but there was too much shade.  So this spring, my husband Eric took down a big old plum tree -- he did it with a pruning saw, just a little at a time (it costs a lot to have a professional come in and cut down a big tree!) and then he build a raised bed with the logs, filled it in with a rich mixture of our soil (very clay) and several big buckets of compost from where our daughter Corrina rides horses, plus some compost that we've been making ourselves.  Now he's planted a bunch of stuff -- tomatoes, squash, herbs, radishes, arugula, chard, and there will be more.  He's planted pole beans in pots, with poles made out of old tent poles that someone was throwing out and left on the street.  Myself, I have a black thumb but Eric is pretty good with plants. One time, he took little trimmings from a plum tree and used them as stakes when he was shoring up our front yard -- those little trimmings took root and sprouted!!!   He also forages in the neighborhood, for lemons, oranges and (in the fall) persimmons. Having grown up in the Northeast, I still find (even after 35 years) it amazing to be able to grow stuff all year round here! 
Suzy

Offline bmore

  • Member
  • Posts: 33
  • Howdy!
Re: Gardening
« Reply #16 on: June 17, 2009, 02:00:11 PM »
I've been living on a boat now for better part of 15 years, so can only grow some Rosemary, and thyme on the back deck... But years ago I used to do high intensity sq foot gardening, where you pack lots of fast growing crops (leaf lettice, radishes, beets, peas...) in small raised areas, and harvest and replant as soon as possible. This took lots of compost and care, but the crowded conditions kept weeds out and gave good production out of a small area all season long. Wish I still had access to a area where I could have a garden, it almost gives the same satisfaction as figuring out a new song.

Brian
bmore

Offline Mike Brosnan

  • Member
  • Posts: 376
Re: Gardening
« Reply #17 on: June 18, 2009, 11:28:49 AM »
I live on the side of a mountain in Arkansas and we grow ROCKS in our garden.  Every year I dig out big giant rocks and then the next year a whole new batch appears.  Seriously though, in between the rock picking I grow almost a years supply of vegetables for us to eat(we are vegetarians).  Love Mother Nature and she will show you her love in return.
I lived in Southern Missouri for  a long while.  Picked rocks for a rich well digger once.  Crappiest job I've ever had....
I spent several years traveling around working on organic farms all over the U.S. (and a lil' bit in Central America and Europe).  Now I live in the city and have no place (and no time) to garden.  Words can't describe how much I miss it...  But my 32 year old body feels like it's 60...

Offline RobBob

  • Member
  • Posts: 288
  • Blues is truth.
Re: Gardening
« Reply #18 on: June 18, 2009, 02:32:21 PM »
I learned to garden from my father, who was taught by his father.  We have a very large garden and grow garlic, onions, corn, potatoes, squash, cucumbers, beets, lettuce, carrots, peas, southern peas, okra, melons (when we get them planted) herbs, sunflowers, several kinds of peppers and tomatoes, asparagus, tomatillos, all kinds of beans and flowers.

We do it all organically and build soil every step of the way.  I eat good for ten months of the year, who am I kidding, I eat good all of the time!

Can sure cut into playing time though when you get as carried away.

Offline Bill Roggensack

  • Member
  • Posts: 551
  • Not dead yet!
Re: Gardening
« Reply #19 on: June 21, 2009, 03:05:16 PM »
I wish to add my gardening zeal from Edmonton in the frozen north, where the growing season is short. With a quarter acre to absorb hours every day, I devote myself each spring to the exciting challenge of harvesting tomatoes from the vine at the earliest possible date. My record is the third week in July, and if the warm nights persist, I might just beat that date this year. JohnM - my "old reliable" for this cooler climate is the Starfire variety, which is early maturing and delivers large juicy fruit. This year, I have thrown in some heirloom varieties  just to see what will happen - Black Krims and Mr. Stripeys. So far, they are doing well - responding to Jobe's tomato stakes and a healthy dose of composted sheep manure, which I add in generous quantities every year. Don't water too often, and heap clean sand in a shallow depression around each plant. As the ground dries a bit and cracks, the sand runs down and provides a conduit to carry water down and promote deep roots. I learned that trick from my old Greek neighbor.
As Guy Clark wrote in "Home Grown Tomatoes":
"There's only two things that money can't buy
 That's true love and home grown tomatoes!"
I gave up on all other vegetables (except for various types of squash) and for the past decade, have focused on flowers (perennials and annuals), including a large planting of gladiolas.
Gardening is a fine passtime, whether producing food or beauty or both. It gets you off your butt, outdoors doing work that often leads to perspiration, and is not very mentally demanding - so you can think empty thoughts, or process complex problems. Or try to recall song lyrics as you hum away to your tomato plants! I refer to the flowers as "my girls" - just so that my wife will understand their attraction.
Cheers,
FrontPage

brotherfrancis

  • Guest
Re: Gardening
« Reply #20 on: June 22, 2009, 11:00:24 PM »
last garden we had was in the 70's at the parents farm. Since then we've spent 24 years in the Willamette Valley hillside woodlot without enough sunshine to have daffodils bloom.

This year we found out that our neighbor bought the 80 acre farm across the gravel road and we embarked on the garden adventure. As he said;"well, you got deer, gophers and rabbits to feed"

we thought we'd have a small salad garden....just some lettuce and chard maybe....

here's the link to what's turned out to be a 20*60 8' high antibambi fenced 2" square wire fencing. I cut the poles, bucked the poles, peeled the poles, planted the poles and that was the easy part...

the album is at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2014553&id=1197035754&l=ce1105c13e

the best part is other than the original tractor rotovator opening up the fescue field is that I'm working the business end of a shovel and hoe. Already have lost 13 lbs this spring.. and there's more to do... course fingerpickin is a little bit more problematic now..

brotherfrancis

Offline Parlor Picker

  • Member
  • Posts: 1672
  • Aloha
Re: Gardening
« Reply #21 on: June 23, 2009, 12:57:50 AM »
Nice photos brotherfrancis.  I think a well-tended veg. plot is just as attractive as a flower garden.

Some people would think we Weenies were crazy, waxing lyrical about photos of vegetable gardens and vintage (and modern) guitars.
"I ain't good looking, teeth don't shine like pearls,
So glad good looks don't take you through this world."
Barbecue Bob

Offline Slack

  • Administrator
  • Member
  • Posts: 9213
Re: Gardening
« Reply #22 on: June 23, 2009, 04:21:20 AM »
Welcome brotherfrancis - nice garden!

brotherfrancis

  • Guest
Re: Gardening
« Reply #23 on: June 23, 2009, 06:56:06 AM »
Thanks for the comments, the garden does have it's own pulse and path and I'm content in finding that spot within me that really enjoys tending the plot. We run water across the gravel road from the house and into the 55 gallon drum for spot usage. I usually do a soaking every third day early in the day. Fortunately between 5:00a.m and 6:30a.m there might be one car coming down the road..

On a more musical note (assuming my attempts at singing could be classified as  musical expression) I found myself laughing one day at the fact that the song Went Down In the Valley to Pray is an amazingingly effective field worksong when you have shovel in hand and are looking at a large plot of sod to turn over.

Now if I just could have the clarity of voice of Doc when he sings it.. and I guess if I'm going to ask ... I might as well ask for some of his fingerpickin and flatpickin skills too...

I tried to use BBB"s Hey,Hey as a worksong and liked to kill myself with the shovel...but right now I can't get that song out of my head...

bf

Offline Johnm

  • Global Moderator
  • Member
  • Posts: 13190
    • johnmillerguitar.com
Re: Gardening
« Reply #24 on: August 19, 2010, 03:39:08 PM »
Hi all,
It's been a busy summer, and I've not had the time to do things as I should in the garden, but Ginny and I have had a good yield in some areas:  a huge raspberry crop, probably five to seven gallons, lots of wonderful lettuces and greens (kale and chard mostly), peas (still coming in mid-August, a first for here) and beans.  Blueberries are just starting to come in and I think we'll be picking them the next month to month-and-a-half.  Cauliflower, cabbage and turnips are soon to be harvested.
I spent a couple of hours this morning on blackberry abatement.  The neighbor to the back has blackberries adjacent to our back fence, and they grow over and through the fence and attach to our apple tree.  It's a devil of a job hacking them back and getting them out of the tree.  In previous years I've kept after them better and they've not gotten so in-grown with the tree.  Due to my neglect this summer, some of the vines were as thick as a big toe and of course they have those thorns.  It took a while, but they're all hacked back now.
As I approached the potato patch, I was pleased to note that no one had been digging my potatoes, nor trampling on my vine.  For picking them, I had a special plan resting on my mind.  Last year, through clumsy work with a fork, I had marred several beautiful spuds in the course of digging them.  I thought this year to dig them with my bare hands.  It worked a hell of lot better, and after going through the patch with my hands, I gave it a second run-through with a fork (more carefully) and found I had missed only a few of the potatoes.  Despite best efforts, still managed to mess up two of them.  Another casualty of lax garden maintenance was failure to mound the potato plants.  As a result, several of the potatoes ended up being exposed to the sun and getting that sickening shiny green cast that lets you know they don't bear eating.  We had a couple of the russets baked for lunch, and God, they are good right after they're picked.
Any other gardening tales out there?
All best,
Johnm 

Offline Stuart

  • Member
  • Posts: 3177
  • "The Voice of Almiqui"
Re: Gardening
« Reply #25 on: August 19, 2010, 07:03:12 PM »
I thought this year to dig them with my bare hands.  It worked a hell of lot better, and after going through the patch with my hands...

"Idle hands are the Devil's tools," so it's good to hear that you're staying out of mischief! ;)

It sounds like another great year of gardening, in spite of being busy on other fronts.

Offline Stumblin

  • Member
  • Posts: 520
  • Got the Blues, can't be satisfied
Re: Gardening
« Reply #26 on: August 20, 2010, 12:25:25 AM »
Living on the 11th floor with no garden here.
However, I've got several pots of mixed salad which have lasted all "summer" and a windowsill full of chillies which are just starting to look edible. Mmm... Chillies... Drool etc.
Maybe next year I'll expand my horticultural operations. Maybe plant earlier & in greater quantities.

Offline Parlor Picker

  • Member
  • Posts: 1672
  • Aloha
Re: Gardening
« Reply #27 on: August 20, 2010, 02:08:55 AM »
Since we sadly lost our cat, Stanley, last year, we've had more birds in the garden this year. Not a bad thing normally (like Wax, I'm a bit of a birder myself), but the little buggers kept nipping off young plants. So I had to plant spinach and beetroot three times - the third time under a net. Also my runner beans and climbing French beans had the tips broken off in a storm and eventually sprouted like crazy. The trouble is they're making more leaf than flower and fruit.

I'm still pretty obsessed with making as much compost as possible.
"I ain't good looking, teeth don't shine like pearls,
So glad good looks don't take you through this world."
Barbecue Bob

Offline Pan

  • Member
  • Posts: 1910
  • Howdy!
Re: Gardening
« Reply #28 on: August 20, 2010, 03:03:19 AM »
This summer we sadly only got to be in our summer cottage for a brief month, so no gardening for us. When we arrived there in mid-July, the weeds were already taller than us. What a sad sight! My wife cleared a spot to plant some pot-grown salad and herbs.
This summer was also exceptionally hot and dry in Finland, so there were practically no berries at all. And this is the first summer ever, when we haven't found a single mushroom in the woods!  :'(
Oh well, maybe next year we'll do better.

Happy gardening to all!

Pan


Offline harvey

  • Member
  • Posts: 118
  • Howdy!
Re: Gardening
« Reply #29 on: August 20, 2010, 05:42:21 AM »
I love my garden but since Northampton someone got me in to Snooks Eaglin and I have been working through that  ^-^

Anyway  :D

I am usually not a fruit and veg man in my garden and usually concentrate on my blooms (we do have a plum tree which we will be making lots of Jam with very soon !) , however trying to get decent tomatoes in the UK is a nightmare. (when I say decent I mean like the ones you get from southern Europe that actually taste like tomatoes) The supermarkets are never fresh, even the stuff they leave on vines these days, they are perfectly formed red balls of nothingness. We have to occasional farm shop or "pick your own" farms still they are a bit hit and miss, so I am forced to grow my own tomatoes if I want anything that actually tastes like a tomato.

The summer in the UK started off promising but as the norm of late it has just deteriorated into the mix of sun, rain, wind, cloud, hail and that can be all in one hour.

So my tomato plants were racing skywards and sprouting their fruits up until about early July, but since they have just deteriorated with the weather into a scraggly mess and the fruits are still green one and a half months later with little chance of ripening with the sun only out 5 mins at a time.

I probably need a green house.

Andrew

Tags: gardening 
 


anything
SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2024, SimplePortal