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Old 08-01-2007, 10:37 PM posted to aus.gardens
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Default help! potato emergency!

"0tterbot" wrote in message ...
"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote in message
...
i'm thrilled that you think so very highly of me that you think

i'd
keep a
notebook. bg!


Snort! I thought everyone had at least one garden notebook! How

else
do you keep notes on what works or when you put on white oil or
planted X tree or where you pasted your plant labels for that

exotic
tree whose name you can never remember?


i use my abysmal memory, of course!!!


I used to do the same till the frustration of not being able to
remember what I needed to, when I needed to, drove me to pick up an
exercise book in the supermarket one day. I now call my books 'Zen
for gardeners' - the peace it brings!!!!!

kylie (being organised really isn't my strong point!! i can't

emphasise that
enough!!!!)


I'll bet I can beat you hands down for being disorganised (I can

lose
a shopping list between the kitchen and the car door) but I do

keep up
my garden notebooks. I have 2 "notebooks' and lose one or the

other
on a regular basis (that's how disorganised I am) but I can always
find at least one of them - that's where I keep my recipes for

making
sprays of what works for what diseases etc. The other book that I
keep and never lose, is an "Any Year" diary and in that I write on

the
appropriate date what year it is and what I've just planted and

where
and what's in flower when (if I remember to do the flowering bit).


it sounds wonderful (except the bit where they get lost).


You know the story, under a pile of books that need to be put away,
under hats or clothes dropped on the table as you come
inside............... It's always only temperary.

i'm going to start
one, really. some time after that, i'll also weigh everything from

fruit &
veg plants, for my heirloom seed-saving records of

harvest-weight-per-plant
titter.
no, i will. one day.


Now THAT, I know I'll never do - too anal by halves.



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Old 09-01-2007, 01:33 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default help! potato emergency!

"Stuart Naylor" wrote in message
...

A wisp of a gray moustache and mostly gray shoulder length hair?
That sounds like someone I know.


doesn't sound like anyone _i_ know. i'm a girl, really ;-) (i take it
you're
not, though).


Correct, I'm not.


.... although stuart would be a loverly name for a girl, don't you think? g

I said "That sounds like someone I know" because I'm married to her.


does your wife mind you discussing her moustache on usenet? :-)

They even made a song about us.

"Darling we are getting older
Silver threads amongst the gold"

gd&r

I don't usually buy potting mix, this is my first year trying it and
so far I've been quite happy. My usual habit was to use well matured
home made compost which also works well.


i have problems getting _quantity_ of compost... any tips?


Tips, where do I start?

You need to have patience because you don't get compost overnight, but
eventually you will have heaps of terrific compost and you will be in
here asking how to get rid of it all.

it took me about
2 years to make enough to make cucurbit mounds this year (which are
brilliant!! i love them!!! and i've got volunteers sprouting away like
mad,
which isn't as much fun as i thought it might be...)


Start in the kitchen by having a container to place your vegetable
peelings, skin from fruit, crushed up egg shells, small bits of paper
and cardboard, coffee grounds and tea leaves etc. which are all good.
Empty regularly in the compost.

Depending on what you pick up with the vacuum cleaner it can usually
be emptied in the compost too.

Long gone are the days when our groceries, bread & milk were delivered
by horse and cart and when the horses left manure behind there was a
race between neighbours to see who would get it.

*Don't throw out anything which could be placed in the compost.*


hm. see, i do all of that. one thing might be, we eat the skins of almost
everything, so tend not to make all that much kitchen waste, and now we've
got chooks _they_ get half the stuff that used to go into the compost, (so i
suppose i'm making even less now!!) ... although one is amply rewarded with
pooey straw (my newest gold mine) so that is all right.

perhaps what i need to do is switch around containers - i only use one, & it
just never "fills" (so i've never organised another one ;-), so maybe i just
need to learn to leave it alone after a while & start another one instead.

When you brought your compost with you what type of container was it
in?


i turned my (plastic) compost bin upside down, taped it all around so it
wouldn't come apart en route (ick), and shovelled the compost back into it!
when we got to this end, dh set it all up again (i'm not interested in the
details ;-) but i put teh compost into a pit i found, just to finish it off.
voila!

i'd LOVE a tumbling composter - i'd make special collections for it if i
had
one of those. sigh....


I'd love a tumbling composter too if it was donated and I didn't have
to pay for it.


they are pricey!! i'm just thinking the expense would be well worth it in
the long (or even medium) term. one can make them from old metal drums, but
sadly for me i can't weld. i might ask a friend of mine who can weld if i
could make it up to him somehow if he'd do the appropriate welding for me.
or i might just go & buy one & be done with it!

I have 2 compost bins (once the first is full I start
putting compost suitable items in the second).

I also have a small section of the garden dedicated for compost where
I dig in vegetable peelings and other small items that breakdown
quickly. That is a terrific little spot which I can always rely on to
get some good soil for a pot or basket etc.


we used to do that at one point. it is marvellous, i must say! (and quick,
too).

Weeds and lawn clippings are all good for the compost, small branches
are fine but avoid large branches because they take too long to break
down. I don't put dog droppings in the compost.

My dogs keep me supplied with stray cats and dead birds which all
break down fairly quickly. gd&r


do cats break down quickly?! wow!

The advantage of a tumbling composter is that the compost can be
turned over frequently and easily which is important. So whether your
compost is in a bin or just dug into the ground it needs to be turned
over with a fork or shovel, at least say once a week or so.


c'est ça. i use a big crow bar because my bin is a dumb one, deep but
narrow. i don't like it, actually (but it was free!! ;-) i really do think
if i'd a tumbler, i'd make more effort to fill it with leaves, etc. (or
rather, encourage my children to do so, perhaps).

You certainly can talk the talk. I had to use a bloody search engine
to find out what in hell a solanaceae was.


mwahahahahaha! and another humble gardener commences his education in
plant
families! vengeance is mine!!!


LOL.

Vengeance is yours!!! You win!!!


give me a full report on the umbelliferae by thursday ;-)
kylie

--

Stuart



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Old 09-01-2007, 01:39 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default help! potato emergency!

"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote in message
...

Do you have any books by Jackie French? If not they are well worth
buying or borrowing from the library. You can just grow plants in
piles of weeds if that is all you have - Jackie gave me the idea.


i've been getting through the ones available at the library (my, she is
prolific!!) her weed book was a _revelation_ to me. i'd been too anal about
the whole thing, & looking at it totally the wrong way. i really like her
books, she's great :-) another good thing is she's a "local author", so i
can directly apply things she says, pretty much.

I have some BIG weeds in my garden - giant phalaris and cocksfoot and
all sorts of other giant clumpers which got away when I had to have
cancer treatment and couldn't do any gardneing. These I just dig up
and leave lying on the paths (fully develiped seed heads and all) and
once teh roots ahve dried out I then just throw them in a pikle
somewhere and they often formt eh basis for growing spots. ATM, I've
got volunteer spuds growing in weeds - basically the weeds are being
used like the hay beds for spuds, but you could also use them for
cucurbits. any weeds tha do sprout again get pulled out or buried in
more weeds or old hay on top.

If I was running a nice neat garden, I'd have composted all these but
I currently dont' ahve the space in any of my compost bins so they are
bein used in another fashion.


excellent. the idea of weeds as mulch was wonderful for me - weeds as
growing locations even better! or weeds as foliar feed (another jackie
idea). well anyway, clearly we are both fans ;-) i might do a weed-spot
experiment, now!

i'd LOVE a tumbling composter - i'd make special collections for it

if i had
one of those. sigh....


I lusted after a tumble composter for years but was put off by the
cost. I saw the following at a firend's and she recommended them
highly.:
http://www.tumbleweed.com.au/pages/d...?page_id=20061

I now have 2 and find them fantastic and they are much cheaper than
the ones I was lusting after. Everything my friend said about them is
true - great beasties. I think thye were about $150 each.


wonderful!! i shall take your recommendation on board.
kylie (who is really pining for one now ;-)


  #19   Report Post  
Old 09-01-2007, 11:40 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default help! potato emergency!

"Stuart Naylor" wrote in message
On Tue, 9 Jan 2007 08:17:20 +1100, "Farm1"

please@askifyouwannaknow
wrote:


I'm not sure if that is right given what Jackie French has to say

on
the subject which is partly why I'm interested. Basically she says
that seeds aren't so different from the parent that it makes a lot

of
differnece - you should still get useable crops. We might be in

for
long term reporting on these wee lemons - can't imagine that

they'll
be bearing for years yet ;-))


Yes it might take awhile before they fruit.

I've sometimes read warnings about growing your own fruit &

vegetables
using seed from a previous years crop. They usually go on to mention
that the crops can develop diseases or become susceptible to

diseases.

I've not come across that sort of comment before and I'm a voracious
reader of all thigns gardening. The comment I've most often seen is
the warning about not trying to use the seeds from hybrids. I've not
had any problems with any of the saved seed I use, but then I I don't
have many that I keep either. What I tend to do is to just wander
round the garden scattering seeds from the seedheads of flowers -
thye end up growing in some interesting places. The only veg related
seeds I've used from saved seed is garlic chives and rocket - both
seem OK (and pumpkin too - also OK).

I don't know how much truth is in that or is it just to entice us

to
keep buying commercially produced seed. ;-)


Have you seen the books from the Aus and US seedsavers networks? -
well work reading as they are mines of information..



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Old 09-01-2007, 11:59 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default help! potato emergency!

"0tterbot" wrote in message
"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote in message


Do you have any books by Jackie French?


i've been getting through the ones available at the library (my, she

is
prolific!!) her weed book was a _revelation_ to me.


If you liked that then try her soil food book. That is my usual bed
time reading - doesn't matter how many times I read it, I always find
something new to try or marvel over.

i'd been too anal about
the whole thing, & looking at it totally the wrong way.


Yep - I think a lot of us have come to gardening by way of the
conventional route and it takes time to unlearn all those taboos we
learned on the way.

i really like her
books, she's great :-) another good thing is she's a "local author",

so i
can directly apply things she says, pretty much.


Yes, her land at Araluan looks like its a very hard and hungry block
and that valley is prone to real heat and drought as well as some
poopful land. We were down there not long ago and things are just
dire - poor sods.

I have some BIG weeds in my garden - giant phalaris and cocksfoot

and
all sorts of other giant clumpers which got away when I had to

have
cancer treatment and couldn't do any gardneing. These I just dig

up
and leave lying on the paths (fully develiped seed heads and all)

and
once teh roots ahve dried out I then just throw them in a pikle
somewhere and they often formt eh basis for growing spots. ATM,

I've
got volunteer spuds growing in weeds - basically the weeds are

being
used like the hay beds for spuds, but you could also use them for
cucurbits. any weeds tha do sprout again get pulled out or

buried in
more weeds or old hay on top.

If I was running a nice neat garden, I'd have composted all these

but
I currently dont' ahve the space in any of my compost bins so they

are
bein used in another fashion.


excellent. the idea of weeds as mulch was wonderful for me - weeds

as
growing locations even better! or weeds as foliar feed (another

jackie
idea).


Yep - I brew my blackjack mix in an old olive barrel and I brew my poo
stew in a big plastic garbage bin - I've yet to be able to convince my
husband that it's his job to relieve himself now and then into it :-))

well anyway, clearly we are both fans ;-) i might do a weed-spot
experiment, now!


It's worth a try, but probably a bit late now for the best weed patch
growers - the cucurbits..

i'd LOVE a tumbling composter - i'd make special collections for

it
if i had
one of those. sigh....


I lusted after a tumble composter for years but was put off by the
cost. I saw the following at a firend's and she recommended them
highly.:
http://www.tumbleweed.com.au/pages/d...?page_id=20061

I now have 2 and find them fantastic and they are much cheaper

than
the ones I was lusting after. Everything my friend said about them

is
true - great beasties. I think thye were about $150 each.


wonderful!! i shall take your recommendation on board.


Wel just to encourage you: about 6 weeks ago, I pruned my box blobs -
the prunings were up to about 6 inches long. I threw them into one of
the tumblers with some poop (old cow poop which I'd stupidly let dry
out). I watered the lot from both ends (the lids come off on each
end) and tumbled it a few times each day - about a week ago, we used
it to mulch the corn and them put more mulch on top - the corn has
powered on since then sending out axial roots all over the place. The
pruings weren't completely broken down, but enough to use it on
somethign that was about thigh high like corn - its now about waist
high - perhaps we put it on a week and a half ago.

kylie (who is really pining for one now ;-)


:-)) I raided the hosekeeping allowance and we went thorugh a
vegetarian phase till it'd recovered :-))




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Old 09-01-2007, 02:03 PM posted to aus.gardens
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Default help! potato emergency!

"Stuart Naylor" wrote in message
...

... although stuart would be a loverly name for a girl, don't you think?
g


Some of the names children are given are bad enough without giving
boys names to girls. Or giving girls names to boys.
What about Christine for a boy?
He would get belted up every day while at School.
So no I don't think so. g


.... whereas if his name was angela, people would be cool with that ;-)

I said "That sounds like someone I know" because I'm married to her.


does your wife mind you discussing her moustache on usenet? :-)


No and I haven't had the silent treatment either.


perhaps she is plotting to start waxing your bum one night when you're
asleep!

Chook poo, what a terrific reward. How many chooks?


13! my three little pullets just started laying the other day, so i'm over
the moon with them. they're the most adorable little creatures. (my big
ladies we bought as big ladies, so they're a bit mental, quite frankly, love
them though i do.) i've decided i'd better make sure the littlies stay tame
& hopefully get even tamer, so today i commenced to feed them by hand.
unfortunately for me, i didn't consider my hands were covered in cuts, so it
was all fun & games until a chickie pecked a cut in my hand open again. :-/
but don't get me started about my chooks, i'll just go on & on. :-)

perhaps what i need to do is switch around containers - i only use one, &
it
just never "fills" (so i've never organised another one ;-), so maybe i
just
need to learn to leave it alone after a while & start another one instead.


You need two. Fill the first then leave it to compost and start
filling the second.


i will get two. i might stand on the street corner until i've got enough for
a tumbler.
kylie who has tumbler envy.


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