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Levi
Guest
Lucky for me my lady tends the garden when I'm off at work, if not it would be haggard!
Gardening - Growing Your Own.
- Thread starter MasterBlaster
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FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
I found that too Rich. A nice clean garden with no weeds has a lot of bare ground. Bare ground evaporates water much faster, is hotter and does not harbor good bacteria and fungi.
Trick is to cover the ground with good plants, not weeds. Even different species of plants in the same row can help. I call it shotgun gardening. Scatter seeds like a shot gun blast. They help each other grow, shade weeds and conserve moisture. Looks like shit, but effective.
When the ground is bare and hot, upwards of 90 percent of the water that would be available to grow your veggies is lost to evaporation.
As an authority on the subject I suggest you do as I say, not as I do. I have nice straight rows, bare dirt, AND weeds!
Trick is to cover the ground with good plants, not weeds. Even different species of plants in the same row can help. I call it shotgun gardening. Scatter seeds like a shot gun blast. They help each other grow, shade weeds and conserve moisture. Looks like shit, but effective.
When the ground is bare and hot, upwards of 90 percent of the water that would be available to grow your veggies is lost to evaporation.
As an authority on the subject I suggest you do as I say, not as I do. I have nice straight rows, bare dirt, AND weeds!
treebilly
Student of the Jedi. OH-7106A
It's a lot of grass. Not nice lawn grass either. I'm half tempted to mulch it next year and take the mulch away before tilling in the spring.
My wife usually tends to it but she's ready to pop at the moment. Another couple of weeks and neither one of us will have time ( or the energy) to deal with the garden.
My wife usually tends to it but she's ready to pop at the moment. Another couple of weeks and neither one of us will have time ( or the energy) to deal with the garden.
FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
How much longer does she have?
treebilly
Student of the Jedi. OH-7106A
July 13 is what the docs say. I think by the size and her downright nasty temperament, it will be next week. We have a wedding reception to attend Saturday. That's my guess on when it'll happen. At least it's at the local bingo/ fire station
L
Levi
Guest
I have always done the "shotgun garden" Jim. I am accustomed to the look, I like flowers in there too. I've tried the corn, beans and squash several times but I can't grow corn for shit.
Best make a big push before the baby comes Rich, ours is definitely not as good as years past with a 4 month old around... Best of wishes for you guys and your new roommate.
Best make a big push before the baby comes Rich, ours is definitely not as good as years past with a 4 month old around... Best of wishes for you guys and your new roommate.
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
Mulch is for keeping moisture in, I use grass clippings, leaves, or spent compost. If you plant through black plastic sheeting punched out to take the seeds or plants, it saves a lot of effort keeping the weeds out. The black plastic also warms the soil during spring planting. Everybody uses it here, it works great. Comes in big rolls and cheap enough. Bare rows for walking and tending the plants is all you need without the covering.. For squash and things that really spread out, people put out carpets of hay so the fruits don't sit on the ground. Helps keep the weeds down as well and moisture in. Zillions of gardens around to see how people are doing it.
Plants get sluggish I give them a shot of tea that I make from soaking compost and fish emulsion with some micronutrients added (a little molasses and epsom salts). It really gives them a jolt and very noticeable spurts of growth, They really shoot up and it seems to much encourage putting out what you can eat. Some plants are heavy feeders, love to feast now and then.
Plants get sluggish I give them a shot of tea that I make from soaking compost and fish emulsion with some micronutrients added (a little molasses and epsom salts). It really gives them a jolt and very noticeable spurts of growth, They really shoot up and it seems to much encourage putting out what you can eat. Some plants are heavy feeders, love to feast now and then.
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
Finally started to eat the Kale that I planted from seed, never had consumed it before. The most nutritious vegetable, but I am under the impression that a lot of people don't like the taste. Fried up with some chicken it was very tasty, the thick hard leaves became very soft and sweet, a deep green. Nothing not to like! Best grown with netting over it until fairly mature, some moths and who knows what really like to chomp on the leaves. The plant is said to be most tasty when grown during cool to cold months. Apparently even will grow in snow if managed right. I planted the dinosaur type, it's called.
squisher
THE CALM ONE!!!!
Cool. I get regularly poisoned with kale. Bleh. Not bad when properly disguised.
If I grew it I might feel differently about it.
If I grew it I might feel differently about it.
Al Smith
Mac Daddy
I avoid kale,swiss chard and the like .In other news the tomatoes are about 7 feet tall and full of green with lots of blossums .Little squash on the plants,about two weeks on that .Another picking of green beans about weeks end .
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #237
,
I love this thread.
I love this thread.
Jay, Kale or as we call it Grønkål is what kept the vikings alive during the winters.
The plants ability to withstand even strong frosty winds, means it was literally the only green thing they had to eat during winter.
When I grew up it was the same, but by then freezing had been invented.
I love Kale, if you want some interesting recipes that are definitely not of viking origin, let me know.
Stir fry some with garlic, ginger and Tofu................Goood!
The plants ability to withstand even strong frosty winds, means it was literally the only green thing they had to eat during winter.
When I grew up it was the same, but by then freezing had been invented.
I love Kale, if you want some interesting recipes that are definitely not of viking origin, let me know.
Stir fry some with garlic, ginger and Tofu................Goood!
I do too, Butch.
Shitty weather has turned our garden into a not so good thing this year.
That reinforces my idea of getting a 60 square meter poly tunnel for next year and giving the weather the finger!
Somebody likes living in the greenhouse, though.
I realize this is about flowers and doesn't belong here, but bear with me for a while.
The Mail order bride has been growing Cactae for a looooong time.
Always had a struggle to keep them alive.
Well, once they went to Denmark ( Probably shivering all the way, from the tales they'd heard about the high north) they pretty much took over the green house.
Right now they are doing a payback thing by blooming like absolutely crazy for the first time in 30 years.
Only got a picture of one, but what a flower!
Attachments
FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
Wow! Thats great!
Is there native cactus in Europe?
We have native cactus here, they pop out a little yellow flower. I like them.
Is there native cactus in Europe?
We have native cactus here, they pop out a little yellow flower. I like them.
Nope.
Cactae are an American species only, like humming birds and Montana farmers.
We have some succulents , but no cactae.
Ain't that something.
Damned thing is about the size of your last kid's head and puts out a flower like that.
Got 3 more on the way
Cactae are an American species only, like humming birds and Montana farmers.
We have some succulents , but no cactae.
Ain't that something.
Damned thing is about the size of your last kid's head and puts out a flower like that.
Got 3 more on the way
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
Thanks, Stig. Good ways to eat Kale I'm interested in. We had it last night in a stir fry and it was very good. I find the dark green color appetizing. Kale soup might be interesting, different combinations there of. Eating like a viking would be cool, hope not to offend the neighbors though...
Cactus flowers sometimes appear surreal, that one is wild!
Cactus flowers sometimes appear surreal, that one is wild!
FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
Thats really cool.
I drive around the cactus here, not for fear of a flat tire, I just dont like killing them. Poor little buggers arent very tough.
They really have a tough time up here, dry and cold. Another pretty one is our native thistle. It looks like a noxious weed, but is not.
Dad's last horse got his name from eating cactus flowers. They called him Bill..........not really, they called him cactus.
Yep, thats a hell of a cactus your wife has there.
I drive around the cactus here, not for fear of a flat tire, I just dont like killing them. Poor little buggers arent very tough.
They really have a tough time up here, dry and cold. Another pretty one is our native thistle. It looks like a noxious weed, but is not.
Dad's last horse got his name from eating cactus flowers. They called him Bill..........not really, they called him cactus.
Yep, thats a hell of a cactus your wife has there.
Jim, we cut a piece of two cactae in Arizona when we went on our "honeymoon"
Sadly they didn't survive 3 weeks in the glove compartment.
We did the same thing in the cactus garden in the Kibbutz in Israel wher we met originally.
Those two are growing so well, I suspect them og having more German tendencies that Jewish: " Lebensraum und so weiter"!"
Sadly they didn't survive 3 weeks in the glove compartment.
We did the same thing in the cactus garden in the Kibbutz in Israel wher we met originally.
Those two are growing so well, I suspect them og having more German tendencies that Jewish: " Lebensraum und so weiter"!"
FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
Hmmm......labensraum........room to live right?
Thats all I got.
Thats all I got.
The Nazi's and the whole 3rd reich thing was about giving the master race room to grow.............lebensraum.
Good excuse to invade your neighbours, which are, in this case, tomato plants.
I can see the cactae getting pissed of every time we water them.
Like, "shit, now they are giving water to those "Nachtdunklen untermenschen again " how about letting it dry out so we can show who the true master race is.
Nah, just joking. I don't get a chance to show off my mastery of German too often, I think Nate is the only one here who is fluent in it.
Good excuse to invade your neighbours, which are, in this case, tomato plants.
I can see the cactae getting pissed of every time we water them.
Like, "shit, now they are giving water to those "Nachtdunklen untermenschen again " how about letting it dry out so we can show who the true master race is.
Nah, just joking. I don't get a chance to show off my mastery of German too often, I think Nate is the only one here who is fluent in it.
FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
Dirty untermenschen......
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
Yes, but all the people in Europe and parts there about have been invaded by each other so many times that they need to have diverse language skills to know what the next ruler will be talking about, or how to direct the ones that you will be ruling. Do you speak Russian, Stig, I see Putin's mugs sometimes practice invading you.
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