In article ,
Jim Elbrecht wrote:

I guess if Billy wants to talk about gardening I'll take him out of
the bozo-bin.
Can you say,"Coup d'etat"?

Anyway, in this gardening group, it is a good idea to tape up a roll of
dimes (careful, it is illegal) to keep in your pocket (You never know
when they may come in handy.), and be sure to have a date for Beltane
(hope it's a warm day:O).

Hope this isn't a fluke-- it is the start of a good trend,

On Sun, 10 Apr 2011 13:57:30 -0400, "Steve Peek"
wrote:


"Billy" wrote in message
-snip-
Steve, what are you doing different this year in your garden? What
problems are you trying to fix. Fran, how did your garden do this year?
What did you learn? What will you do different next year?

It almost made me ill yesterday to be pulling potato plants out of the
bed in which they grew last year. I had no idea that potatoes could be
so invasive. They have been moved to another bed that is less ideal, but
that is where they will remain. Growing so many varieties of Solanaceae
(potatoes, tomatoes, peppers) that it's difficult to get any kind of
crop rotation going.

Our tomatoes have germinated, as have the squash (zukes and crooks), and
brocolli. Peas are in the ground and we're about to plant more to fill
in one trellis and start another. Some of the peas have died. Not sure
if it's lack of water, or insects, but most are fine. Had our first
serving of Swiss chard. I think I over did it with my attempts to gussy
it up with bacon and onion.

Need to do some weeding today. It's mostly henbit. I'm hoping to make a
salad from some of the kill, along with dandelion and stinging nettle.
My other weeds are also mint (spear & pepper). They make my tisanes
(hawthorn, yarrow) taste more drinkable as I don't use honey.

OK, who's next? Don't be bashful. We got a gardening group to run here,
right? ;O)

-snip-

Well, let's see. The fall planted garlic is about 18 inches tall. I've never
grown hardneck garlic and am greatly looking forward to the scapes. The
Candy onions from Dixondale Farms are growing well. I planted 2 bunches.
There were supposed to be 60 plants per bunch & I ended up with 234 plants.
(if you grow sweet onions & don't deal with these folks you're messing up)
I've got a 40 foot row of spinach that's starting to get true leaves. I've
always had germination with spinach, but not this year! The beets are just
starting to show, no sign of the parsnips yet, Cabbage is growing well & I'm
still waiting on the mache to sprout. This is my first time ever for mache,
so I don't know quite what to expect.

I've got the prettiest row ever of sugar snap peas. They're only a couple of
inches tall, but I see a trellis in the near future. The tomatoes under the
grow light are just starting to show the first true leaf. Only a few peppers
have sprouted, I'll start more peppers and eggplant next week. I've got a
whole flat of bibb and romaine lettuce ready to go in, but it rained last
night and the ground is too wet.

I don't know if I've ever posted here, but I'm an advocate of eating your
weeds. Like Billy, I have henbit in the garden now along with chickweed,
upland cress and violets. I occasionally teach an edible plants class and am
always amazed at the number of people who would starve while sitting in a
patch of food.

I got a great buy on some thornless blackberry plant early this spring &
they are starting to grow. The apples are blooming, The bees are working
like mad, the blueberries are about a week out. I picked about 2 pounds of
morels yesterday and will go for some ramps (wild leeks) this week. Life is
good (if way too busy) this time of year!



Meanwhile, up in zone 5. . . I put some onion sets in yesterday. I
plant some chard when I get to it.

My second set of peppers are starting to sprout in the basement. A
mouse got the first sprouts. [and I got 2 mice so far] I'm trying
to come up with a plan to warm those seedlings up a bit.

I tried one of those eaves de-icer cables on a thermostat. Epic
fail-- it got hot enough to melt the styrofoam it was sitting on--
and blew a couple holes in the insulation where it was near some
metal. I have an old heating pad-- but it shuts off after 2
hours. I'd like something that will cycle with the lights-- and
don't want to pay the $50 that I see for seed starting heaters.
When it comes to heating pads and Epson Salts avoid nurseries. They
seriously over charge. Go to a local pharmacy (preferably local). They
have much better prices.

The war on rabbits has begun. The live trap has removed one and
another is taking the apple from in the trap-- but not past the
trigger.

I have some onions and scallions sprouting in the basement.

Need to plant tomatoes in the basement-- I got lots of colored cherry
tomatoes to play with.

The watercress in the tiny-pond is starting to look edible-- but not
enough of it to keep the algae down. I need to put the UV light in
again.

No weeds in my garden yet-- I miss the purslane that used to be
prolific there.
You probably know that Purslane contains more omega-3 fatty acids
(alpha-linolenic acid in particular[4]) than any other leafy vegetable
plant.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portulaca_oleracea
It is conjectured that hunter/gatherers had a 1 to 1 ratio of omega-3 to
omega-6 fatty acids. Today that ratio is more like 1 to 10.

In general, the advice is to eat more leaves and less grains.
Unpolluted, non-toxic fish are also a good source for omega-3s as well,
because the fish eat grass (algae) or things that eat algae, or
phytoplankton (krill).

Jim


"When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not
a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily,
it is a valuable plant."
- Anon

-
--
- Billy
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 16 April 1953
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/8559254-11yearold-takes-on-genetically-modified-food-producers-video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_vN0--mHug