it being so warm and due to be for a
week at least (in the 80sF tomorrow forecast)
perhaps i can get some sprouts up of plants
that i have many seeds for. i need to cover
some bare dirt.

first i planted one third of the onion seeds
i harvested last year. i'm going to plant
another third in a few weeks and then the last
a few weeks later.

then turnips which say to plant in early
spring. we'll see how they do. first time
i'm trying these. will plant the rest in a
few weeks.

last i put in peas to cover the side of a
small raised bed. don't expect them to do much
at all, but if they go they'll be welcome if
they can survive any remaining frosts. last
year the peas in the late summer/fall went quite
far past the initial cold spells so i'm hoping
that these will come up and have enough strength
before some cold returns.


songbird

On Mar 16, 1:46*pm, songbird wrote:
* it being so warm and due to be for a
week at least (in the 80sF tomorrow forecast)
perhaps i can get some sprouts up of plants
that i have many seeds for. *i need to cover
some bare dirt.

* first i planted one third of the onion seeds
i harvested last year. *i'm going to plant
another third in a few weeks and then the last
a few weeks later.

* then turnips which say to plant in early
spring. *we'll see how they do. *first time
i'm trying these. *will plant the rest in a
few weeks.

* last i put in peas to cover the side of a
small raised bed. *don't expect them to do much
at all, but if they go they'll be welcome if
they can survive any remaining frosts. *last
year the peas in the late summer/fall went quite
far past the initial cold spells so i'm hoping
that these will come up and have enough strength
before some cold returns.

* songbird

I am really trying to resist the temptation to plant. Our actual frost
date is April 15 but I am usually planted by the 1st.
Onion question, I put out a bunch of sets. They have grown well for
the amount of time they have been out there but the few I have pulled
are mush. It has been very dry so I don't know what would have made
them rot.
MJ

wrote:
....
I am really trying to resist the temptation to plant. Our actual frost
date is April 15 but I am usually planted by the 1st.
Onion question, I put out a bunch of sets. They have grown well for
the amount of time they have been out there but the few I have pulled
are mush. It has been very dry so I don't know what would have made
them rot.

sorry, i cannot claim onion expertise as
this is the first season i am trying to
grow them from seed.

usually we put rooted plants out (not sets)
that are in a flat at a time, like plugs,
around the last week of May and have nice big
fat onions by mid-summer that we pull up and
eat as needed. we know they are done when
the tops start falling over.

i've wanted to try onion sets (the small
bulbs that are dry with no roots or green on
them) for several years now, but haven't yet.
we'd like to grow more than one variety this
year.

is the whole plant mush or just the bulb
part?

my guess (hey, this is usenet ), is
that you have green on top and roots below.
the bulb has served it's purpose and will
degenerate until the leaves and roots can
form the new bulb. so unless you are really
wanting a green onion for eating this isn't
the time to pull them yet.

if they've fallen over early, then
something else is going on. if the complete
plant is mush then i dunno what has happened.
we haven't had that trouble here yet. the
trouble we have is with the raccoons digging
up the plugs of soil the plants were grown
in because the greenhouse must have used
a fertiliser that smells like food to a
raccoon...

planting the seeds and sets, we hope,
will eliminate the problem, but we'll still
likely put in the plug type onion plants again
as they have been good for us.

oh, and i'm planting bunching onions for
green onion eating too as we do like them but
i've not put them out before. package says to
plant them after danger of frost so that will
be a bit yet.


songbird

Billy wrote:
....
Good luck.

thanks!


songbird

songbird wrote:
wrote:
...
I am really trying to resist the temptation to plant. Our actual
frost date is April 15 but I am usually planted by the 1st.
Onion question, I put out a bunch of sets. They have grown well for
the amount of time they have been out there but the few I have pulled
are mush. It has been very dry so I don't know what would have made
them rot.

sorry, i cannot claim onion expertise as
this is the first season i am trying to
grow them from seed.

usually we put rooted plants out (not sets)
that are in a flat at a time, like plugs,
around the last week of May and have nice big
fat onions by mid-summer that we pull up and
eat as needed. we know they are done when
the tops start falling over.

i've wanted to try onion sets (the small
bulbs that are dry with no roots or green on
them) for several years now, but haven't yet.
we'd like to grow more than one variety this
year.

songbird

I've tried the white onions Walmart sells in the bag , small bulbs that
can either be planted 3" or so deep for greens or shallow for regular onions
..
Plant 'em deep , they haven't been all that great for bulb onions . I'm
going to try some of the other types they have this year , along with
another bag of the little whites . I'm also going to try garlic if I can
find some sets .
--
Snag
Learning keeps
you young !

On Mar 17, 9:59*am, "Snag" wrote:
songbird wrote:
wrote:
...
I am really trying to resist the temptation to plant. Our actual
frost date is April 15 but I am usually planted by the 1st.
Onion question, I put out a bunch of sets. They have grown well for
the amount of time they have been out there but the few I have pulled
are mush. It has been very dry so I don't know what would have made
them rot.

*sorry, i cannot claim onion expertise as
this is the first season i am trying to
grow them from seed.

*usually we put rooted plants out (not sets)
that are in a flat at a time, like plugs,
around the last week of May and have nice big
fat onions by mid-summer that we pull up and
eat as needed. *we know they are done when
the tops start falling over.

*i've wanted to try onion sets (the small
bulbs that are dry with no roots or green on
them) for several years now, but haven't yet.
we'd like to grow more than one variety this
year.

*songbird

* I've tried the white onions Walmart sells in the bag , small bulbs that
can either be planted 3" or so deep for greens or shallow for regular onions
.
* Plant 'em deep , they haven't been all that great for bulb onions . I'm
going to try some of the other types they have this year , along with
another bag of the little whites . I'm also going to try garlic if I can
find some sets .
--
Snag
Learning keeps
you young !

I bet I didn't plant mine deep enough and that is why they have gone
soft and mushy. damn

Billy wrote:
....
Good luck.

the weather has been 40 degrees F or more above
normal (low 40s). the turnips and peas have sprouted.
onions i expect soon. forecast looks fine. another
week and i won't worry as much if the sprouts can
withstand a light frost or a bit of snow.

a little rain last night, good deal, i was going
to have to water again and i'd just gotten a few
yards of shredded bark and leaves spread out and
some dug in. that garden is starting to look nice
and is ready for planting.

hm, think i will take it easy today and do some
light weeding and frog around randomly.


songbird

songbird wrote:
Billy wrote:
...
Good luck.

the weather has been 40 degrees F or more above
normal (low 40s). the turnips and peas have sprouted.
onions i expect soon. forecast looks fine. another
week and i won't worry as much if the sprouts can
withstand a light frost or a bit of snow.

a little rain last night, good deal, i was going
to have to water again and i'd just gotten a few
yards of shredded bark and leaves spread out and
some dug in. that garden is starting to look nice
and is ready for planting.

hm, think i will take it easy today and do some
light weeding and frog around randomly.


Are you saying that when you bend over to weed you get offers to play
leapfrog?

D

David Hare-Scott wrote:
songbird wrote:
....
hm, think i will take it easy today and do some
light weeding and frog around randomly.

Are you saying that when you bend over to weed you get offers to play
leapfrog?

haha, right.

i usually sit when weeding. if there
are any frogs involved in that they
would likely regret it.


songbird

songbird wrote:
Billy wrote:
...
Good luck.

the weather has been 40 degrees F or more above
normal (low 40s). the turnips and peas have sprouted.
onions i expect soon. forecast looks fine. another
week and i won't worry as much if the sprouts can
withstand a light frost or a bit of snow.

forecast change, now frost likely.

onion sprouts showed up yesterday.


songbird

songbird wrote:
....peas, turnips, onion seeds...

as it goes, the frosts, heavy freezes
and snow/sleet/hail/wintrymix have knocked
the turnip sprouts back, yet there are plenty
of seeds still sprouting. the weather went
from mid-80s to mid-20s and we've had ice in
the birdbaths a few times. funny to see a
blue jay drinking from one today.

the peas look like nothing has happened
at all. growing well. garlic also doing
well.

the onion sprouts are also doing ok. not
growing fast, but they are sprouting and
sticking their knee above the soil waiting
for some sunshine. a little sun out now
and nice to see.

the next day i can get out and plant i'll
be putting in the second round of onion seeds,
the first round of bunching onion seeds, a
second round of peas. the second try at
turnips i'll hold off on for another two or
three weeks. see what the weather does and
what the forecast looks like.

in other news, daffodils, tulips up and
at'em, cold weather has damaged a lot of tulip
blooms so i'll have to keep an eye on things
there (for botrytis). still looks nice from
a distance. daffodils hold up a little better
to the cold. hyacynths, many blooming, some
damaged by the cold. still some bright and
providing notes of color here or there to at
least keep some cheer. grape hyacynths, gonzo
as usual. nothing does them in. and funny,
a lone crocus, with the cold returning it
made this one think again it was ok to bloom.

rhubarb coming up, looking good. strawberries
tried to flower but were frozen. last year
first strawberry bloom date was May 11th or
so. this year March 26th. some everbearing
plants will bloom again several more times. an
early freeze won't completely put off production.
all look good, the cold might upset the blooms
but the leaves are nice and green and they are
putting out new growth.

that's about it for now. not too much outside
work getting done. hope this week shapes up and
i can get out there. it was nice getting ahead
of the list for a change.

peace,


songbird

songbird wrote:

....

how it went or is going...

the peas and onions are doing fine. peas started
flowering a few days ago. onions are on th third
round of planting by seeds. supposedly these will
be edible size by fall. if so i will be very
impressed. i'm also guessing that i will have to
thin them somewhat for that to happen. otherwise
i'll have sets for next year (which is what i
was expecting). hmmm.

seeing the peas flowering (these have white flowers)
reminds me how much i've missed fresh peas and pods
from last season. seems ages ago now even after a mild
winter.

the turnips which suffered the most frost damage
and i was wondering if i'd lost all of them. there
were enough seeds planted that i have a nice patch
of them and didn't have to thin. i'm contemplating
a few leaves to give them a taste for fresh/cooked
greens soon. the second turnip planting in another
space was last week. sprouted fine, will have to
thin these if the bunnies don't find them.

only one frost the past week so i'm thinking we
are getting close to being ready for me getting
the rest of my seeds in the ground other than the
okra. i'll wait a while longer on that since we
still have somewhat cool nights here or there.

overall though, it's been a good spring season
with some rain here or there that i'm not having
to water all the time. but the past week has been
dry. cloudy today but no rain.

in other news, the swiss chard is coming along
ok, onion sets are doing well (worm poo for those
we'll see how they compare to previous seasons when
we've done this differently), rhubarb is still
ready to be picked, strawberries blooming and
putting some fruit on, garlic doing well...

for critters it's been an ok year so far, we've
heard a pheasant calling for the first time in several
years out back. had to take a grackle nest out of
the top of the lighthouse. always fun. decided to
fill it up with sprayfoam crack filler to keep them
from doing it again. once by accident, two no longer
a charm, won't let them get a third try. it's too
high up to be fun to check. spray painted the foam
so it doesn't stand out so much visually when looking
up. by keeping after them with the air rifle to
discourage them and keeping the nests out of the
cedar trees we've cut the grackle invasion force by
quite a bit, yet when they come through in the
spring and fall they are in the thousands so this is
purely a local turf control effort that is pointless
longer term, but it does keep them from regurgitating
poop from their nests in the birdbaths.

the rest of the smaller birds around and the many
other species of birds do much better when the grackles
aren't so numerous either. three years ago it was a flock
of twenty something grackles, now it is four or five. that
means a steady effort at discouraging them because they
don't go away or stop building nests just because you take
one nest down... usually it takes until mid-june and then
it slacks off, but even then they can still put a nest in a
surprising place. two weeks ago we had a nest in the wheel
of a propped up wheelbarrow, much easier to deal with than
the top of the lighthouse...

had a muskrat half way up the pathway to the house
yesterday. gave it a gentle nudge with the air rifle. bunnies
have already had their warning shots... i hope the hawks or
feral kitties will get them before i do. same with chipmunks,
but will also put some rat traps with peanut butter out for
them soon. it's no fun and i would like it much better if
the snakes could eat them all, but that isn't how nature works
sometimes... we do have a good snake population all around.
something about all these rocks... keeping the chipmunk
numbers down is the only way to keep the strawberries from
getting raided. i've increased the strawberry plantings all
over to compensate, but i'm hoping those actually end up as
jam and not chippie food. we'll see how that goes.

ok, so how is your gardening season going? any new
adventures paying off well or frustrations you are figuring
out?


songbird