But I managed to till up a couple of strips out in the garden . I'll be
planting some lettuce/spinach/bok choy soon , I'd like to get some harvested
before it bolts this year .
I was going to plant some other stuf for the bees yesterday , but it all
wants to wait til after the last frost . I did manage to get the rose bush
and tulips I got the wife for Christmas planted , hopefully early enough the
tulips will bloom this year .
I think today I'll be setting up the shelf in the south window that I use
to start my veggies . Nothing like getting a jump start on ol' Ma Nature .
Got my plan made as to what goes where and how many of each , just gotta
implement it now . Much of this year's garden will be from seed saved from
previous years , and not a single seed from WM will be used - after last
year's debacle with the tomatoes , I no longer trust them to be what the
package says .
--
Snag

On 1/17/2015 9:10 AM, Terry Coombs wrote:
But I managed to till up a couple of strips out in the garden . I'll be
planting some lettuce/spinach/bok choy soon , I'd like to get some harvested
before it bolts this year .
I was going to plant some other stuf for the bees yesterday , but it all
wants to wait til after the last frost . I did manage to get the rose bush
and tulips I got the wife for Christmas planted , hopefully early enough the
tulips will bloom this year .
I think today I'll be setting up the shelf in the south window that I use
to start my veggies . Nothing like getting a jump start on ol' Ma Nature .
Got my plan made as to what goes where and how many of each , just gotta
implement it now . Much of this year's garden will be from seed saved from
previous years , and not a single seed from WM will be used - after last
year's debacle with the tomatoes , I no longer trust them to be what the
package says .

We're in the same mode, yesterday we cleared the frost bitten eggplant,
sweet chiles, and cherry tomatoes out of the 4X16 raised bed. Used a
rake to break up any clumping and leveled out the square foot gardening
mix. Today we're going out to buy composted cow manure, some more peat
moss, and a few other items. Still have a large bag of vermiculite and a
couple of small bales of peat moss.

I think our blueberry bushes drowned due to the shallow pits in the fill
clay we dug to plant them. As a consequence we will be deepening and
making wider the planting holes. This property has about three inches of
sand on top of five feet of gumbo clay. Rather than dig out the clay to
a depth that would help I use a steel pry bar to poke holes into the
bottom of the planting hole as deep as I can, helps the roots start
breaking up the clay.

Our seed order from Territorial should be here next week and we can
start growing out some seedlings. Most of the plants we can buy at the
big box stores, etc. don't grow properly and seldom prosper.

Also have to amend the beds dug around the back fence line. The clay we
dig out goes behind the fence to keep the fence from falling over.
Eventually will have to redo the eight year old fence as it was badly
built to start with. I was out yesterday afternoon putting screws into
fence boards that originally had really short nails somewhat holding
them on the rails. The houses here are thrown up in about a week and the
fences in about a quarter of a day. Slowly all the residents of this sub
division are rebuilding their fences, we're next.

A slight warming trend, 34F predicted for tonight, then into the fifties
tomorrow again. We should be transplanting by early March.

George Shirley wrote:
I think our blueberry bushes drowned due to the shallow pits in the
fill clay we dug to plant them. As a consequence we will be deepening
and making wider the planting holes. This property has about three
inches of sand on top of five feet of gumbo clay. Rather than dig out
the clay to a depth that would help I use a steel pry bar to poke
holes into the bottom of the planting hole as deep as I can, helps
the roots start breaking up the clay.

We also have a somewhat clay soil , but there is enough ttopsoil on top
and enough slope to the land that we don't get pooling . Sounds like you've
got a plan ...

Our seed order from Territorial should be here next week and we can
start growing out some seedlings. Most of the plants we can buy at the
big box stores, etc. don't grow properly and seldom prosper.

I'll be getting onions from the co-op , they did really well last year .
I'll be planting them in staged this year , we ended up with too many at
once last year . Any starts I buy will be from a local grocery's nursery ,
they have a very knowledgeable gal in chcharge .

A slight warming trend, 34F predicted for tonight, then into the
fifties tomorrow again. We should be transplanting by early March.

Last year I put my tomatoes out on April 15th , supposed to be past frost
danger . They all got bit that night . This year they'll be left in the hot
box (yet to be built , but I have everything I need on hand) until I'm
certain . They'll also be bigger , I just bought 100 4" pplastic pots for my
seedlings . I'll start them in toilet paper tubes , then they'll go into the
pots until planting time - I expect they'll be a lot bigger too .
Note to self , pick up some potting soil today !
--
Snag

Terry Coombs wrote:

....
I was going to plant some other stuf for the bees yesterday , but it all
wants to wait til after the last frost . I did manage to get the rose bush
and tulips I got the wife for Christmas planted , hopefully early enough the
tulips will bloom this year .

i hope the tulips do ok, but i'd be uncertain with
this late of a planting. may take another year or two
to sort themselves out. if the rose bush wasn't dried
out or otherwise damaged it will probably do ok as long
as you don't get frosts from now on. those tender new
growths are easy to damage.


I think today I'll be setting up the shelf in the south window that I use
to start my veggies . Nothing like getting a jump start on ol' Ma Nature .
Got my plan made as to what goes where and how many of each , just gotta
implement it now . Much of this year's garden will be from seed saved from
previous years , and not a single seed from WM will be used - after last
year's debacle with the tomatoes , I no longer trust them to be what the
package says .

good luck!


songbird

George Shirley wrote:

....blueberries...

arg! sorry, i sure hope they are ok in the end.
i'd perch them up higher on more organic materials
as they'll need that acidity anyways.


....
Also have to amend the beds dug around the back fence line. The clay we
dig out goes behind the fence to keep the fence from falling over.
Eventually will have to redo the eight year old fence as it was badly
built to start with. I was out yesterday afternoon putting screws into
fence boards that originally had really short nails somewhat holding
them on the rails. The houses here are thrown up in about a week and the
fences in about a quarter of a day. Slowly all the residents of this sub
division are rebuilding their fences, we're next.

is a fence required by the HOA?


A slight warming trend, 34F predicted for tonight, then into the fifties
tomorrow again. We should be transplanting by early March.

we'll be above freezing today for the first time in a
few weeks. no complaints on my part...


songbird

On Sat, 17 Jan 2015 09:31:05 -0600, George Shirley
wrote:

On 1/17/2015 9:10 AM, Terry Coombs wrote:
But I managed to till up a couple of strips out in the garden . I'll be
planting some lettuce/spinach/bok choy soon , I'd like to get some harvested
before it bolts this year .
I was going to plant some other stuf for the bees yesterday , but it all
wants to wait til after the last frost . I did manage to get the rose bush
and tulips I got the wife for Christmas planted , hopefully early enough the
tulips will bloom this year .
I think today I'll be setting up the shelf in the south window that I use
to start my veggies . Nothing like getting a jump start on ol' Ma Nature .
Got my plan made as to what goes where and how many of each , just gotta
implement it now . Much of this year's garden will be from seed saved from
previous years , and not a single seed from WM will be used - after last
year's debacle with the tomatoes , I no longer trust them to be what the
package says .

We're in the same mode, yesterday we cleared the frost bitten eggplant,
sweet chiles, and cherry tomatoes out of the 4X16 raised bed. Used a
rake to break up any clumping and leveled out the square foot gardening
mix. Today we're going out to buy composted cow manure, some more peat
moss, and a few other items. Still have a large bag of vermiculite and a
couple of small bales of peat moss.

I think our blueberry bushes drowned due to the shallow pits in the fill
clay we dug to plant them. As a consequence we will be deepening and
making wider the planting holes. This property has about three inches of
sand on top of five feet of gumbo clay. Rather than dig out the clay to
a depth that would help I use a steel pry bar to poke holes into the
bottom of the planting hole as deep as I can, helps the roots start
breaking up the clay.

Our seed order from Territorial should be here next week and we can
start growing out some seedlings. Most of the plants we can buy at the
big box stores, etc. don't grow properly and seldom prosper.

Also have to amend the beds dug around the back fence line. The clay we
dig out goes behind the fence to keep the fence from falling over.
Eventually will have to redo the eight year old fence as it was badly
built to start with. I was out yesterday afternoon putting screws into
fence boards that originally had really short nails somewhat holding
them on the rails. The houses here are thrown up in about a week and the
fences in about a quarter of a day. Slowly all the residents of this sub
division are rebuilding their fences, we're next.

A slight warming trend, 34F predicted for tonight, then into the fifties
tomorrow again. We should be transplanting by early March.

Yesterday I started my Granex onion seeds in the greenhouse. Planning
a lot less this year. I was out of commission a good part of last
year and still not up to par. Everything in the garden and planter
boxes has been overrun with weeds. I did cut back some dead herb
foliage in one of the boxes. DH has decided to burn off all of the
weeds in the asparagus bed. He figured that the rhubarb was too close
to the surface to try to burn it off.

I am going to put as much as I can in the boxes. Beans did well there
a couple of years ago. Maybe I will put a few rows of lentils on one
of them. After I harvest the spinach I plan to put in one of the
boxes.

Now back to the greenhouse with a large garbage bag to get rid of the
mess.

The Mexican and Key Limes are blooming right now in the greenhouse.
The Meyer lemon hasn't started yet. They will go onto the deck when it
gets warm here.

Think I will see about making a pie from the last Key limes I picked.
--
USA
North Carolina Foothills
USDA Zone 7a
To find your extension office
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/index.html

songbird wrote:
Terry Coombs wrote:

...
I was going to plant some other stuff for the bees yesterday , but
it all wants to wait til after the last frost . I did manage to get
the rose bush and tulips I got the wife for Christmas planted ,
hopefully early enough the tulips will bloom this year .

i hope the tulips do ok, but i'd be uncertain with
this late of a planting. may take another year or two
to sort themselves out. if the rose bush wasn't dried
out or otherwise damaged it will probably do ok as long
as you don't get frosts from now on. those tender new
growths are easy to damage.


I think today I'll be setting up the shelf in the south window
that I use to start my veggies . Nothing like getting a jump start
on ol' Ma Nature . Got my plan made as to what goes where and how
many of each , just gotta implement it now . Much of this year's
garden will be from seed saved from previous years , and not a
single seed from WM will be used - after last year's debacle with
the tomatoes , I no longer trust them to be what the package says .

good luck!


songbird

I checked with the gal at the nursery , she felt the tulips stand a pretty
fair chance of blooming this year - the bulbs have been stored out in my
unheated shop and that's in my favor . The rose bush came from that nursery
, and has been out in an unheated greenhouse until I brought it home just
before Christmas . I had it up close to the house and had a blanket over it
during our recent near-zero event . The foilage is mostly gone , though
there are a few green buds and a tiny bit of bud growth . I'll be watching
the weather , if it looks like a really hard freeze I'll cover it with
straw - it's got one of my tomato cages around it for just that possubility
.. We have about another six weeks or so before the weather warms up very
much . I hope they bloom this year , but if they don't , all the daffodils
and iris I planted earlier will be enough color .

--
Snag

On 1/17/2015 11:19 AM, songbird wrote:
George Shirley wrote:

...blueberries...

arg! sorry, i sure hope they are ok in the end.
i'd perch them up higher on more organic materials
as they'll need that acidity anyways.
Planning on using a lot of rotted pine bark compost plus putting pine
needles down as a mulch.


...
Also have to amend the beds dug around the back fence line. The clay we
dig out goes behind the fence to keep the fence from falling over.
Eventually will have to redo the eight year old fence as it was badly
built to start with. I was out yesterday afternoon putting screws into
fence boards that originally had really short nails somewhat holding
them on the rails. The houses here are thrown up in about a week and the
fences in about a quarter of a day. Slowly all the residents of this sub
division are rebuilding their fences, we're next.

is a fence required by the HOA?
Oh yeah, can only be six feet tall, several other rules on fencing. Lots
of rules in this HOA, run by an idiot who was elected, most people
dislike him and, I hope, this will be his first and last term. The
covenants are state approved and must follow rules. I may be bitter
because this is the first time we've ever lived in an HOA. I'm used to
doing what I want with my property. If you repaint you have to fill out
a form and add paint chips and it must be approved by a committee. As
you would expect there are a lot of white or tan houses here. When we
repaint I want to try for red. G


A slight warming trend, 34F predicted for tonight, then into the fifties
tomorrow again. We should be transplanting by early March.

we'll be above freezing today for the first time in a
few weeks. no complaints on my part...


songbird

We bought some composted cow manure and some more peat moss today, it's
being blended in today and tomorrow. Seeds should be here early in the
week and we can start some seeds. I use a shop fluorescent light, two
tube, four feet long. Put in a daylight tube and a sunlight tube, cheap
at the big box store, run the light sixteen hours a day. Been doing that
for years and also have a hot pad under the trays.

On 1/17/2015 11:36 AM, The Cook wrote:
On Sat, 17 Jan 2015 09:31:05 -0600, George Shirley
wrote:

On 1/17/2015 9:10 AM, Terry Coombs wrote:
But I managed to till up a couple of strips out in the garden . I'll be
planting some lettuce/spinach/bok choy soon , I'd like to get some harvested
before it bolts this year .
I was going to plant some other stuf for the bees yesterday , but it all
wants to wait til after the last frost . I did manage to get the rose bush
and tulips I got the wife for Christmas planted , hopefully early enough the
tulips will bloom this year .
I think today I'll be setting up the shelf in the south window that I use
to start my veggies . Nothing like getting a jump start on ol' Ma Nature .
Got my plan made as to what goes where and how many of each , just gotta
implement it now . Much of this year's garden will be from seed saved from
previous years , and not a single seed from WM will be used - after last
year's debacle with the tomatoes , I no longer trust them to be what the
package says .

We're in the same mode, yesterday we cleared the frost bitten eggplant,
sweet chiles, and cherry tomatoes out of the 4X16 raised bed. Used a
rake to break up any clumping and leveled out the square foot gardening
mix. Today we're going out to buy composted cow manure, some more peat
moss, and a few other items. Still have a large bag of vermiculite and a
couple of small bales of peat moss.

I think our blueberry bushes drowned due to the shallow pits in the fill
clay we dug to plant them. As a consequence we will be deepening and
making wider the planting holes. This property has about three inches of
sand on top of five feet of gumbo clay. Rather than dig out the clay to
a depth that would help I use a steel pry bar to poke holes into the
bottom of the planting hole as deep as I can, helps the roots start
breaking up the clay.

Our seed order from Territorial should be here next week and we can
start growing out some seedlings. Most of the plants we can buy at the
big box stores, etc. don't grow properly and seldom prosper.

Also have to amend the beds dug around the back fence line. The clay we
dig out goes behind the fence to keep the fence from falling over.
Eventually will have to redo the eight year old fence as it was badly
built to start with. I was out yesterday afternoon putting screws into
fence boards that originally had really short nails somewhat holding
them on the rails. The houses here are thrown up in about a week and the
fences in about a quarter of a day. Slowly all the residents of this sub
division are rebuilding their fences, we're next.

A slight warming trend, 34F predicted for tonight, then into the fifties
tomorrow again. We should be transplanting by early March.

Yesterday I started my Granex onion seeds in the greenhouse. Planning
a lot less this year. I was out of commission a good part of last
year and still not up to par. Everything in the garden and planter
boxes has been overrun with weeds. I did cut back some dead herb
foliage in one of the boxes. DH has decided to burn off all of the
weeds in the asparagus bed. He figured that the rhubarb was too close
to the surface to try to burn it off.

I am going to put as much as I can in the boxes. Beans did well there
a couple of years ago. Maybe I will put a few rows of lentils on one
of them. After I harvest the spinach I plan to put in one of the
boxes.

Now back to the greenhouse with a large garbage bag to get rid of the
mess.

The Mexican and Key Limes are blooming right now in the greenhouse.
The Meyer lemon hasn't started yet. They will go onto the deck when it
gets warm here.

Think I will see about making a pie from the last Key limes I picked.

The father of my eldest grandchildren has a Meyer and gave us a big bag
of lemons the other day. I made lemon marmalade from them. I had one of
the original Meyer lemons 25 years ago and cedar rust got it. Went to a
Ponderosa lemon after that, very prolific and pretty much cold
resistant, left it behind when we moved, it was ten feet tall. I
probably gave away over a hundred of the Ponderosa's I started from
seed, all were true and are out there producing today. Supposedly a
sport between a grapefruit and a lemon. Nice product.

I'm looking for a bigger property within an hour's drive of this house
but SWMBO says this is where we're going to die. G

On 1/17/2015 1:01 PM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote:

I think our blueberry bushes drowned due to the shallow pits in the fill
clay we dug to plant them. As a consequence we will be deepening and
making wider the planting holes. This property has about three inches of
sand on top of five feet of gumbo clay. Rather than dig out the clay to
a depth that would help I use a steel pry bar to poke holes into the
bottom of the planting hole as deep as I can, helps the roots start
breaking up the clay.
Blueberries have shallow roots and "drown" very easily, as you
discovered. Are you growing a southern highbush variety? Save for
frost tolerance, blueberry culture is generally the same as for azaleas.
Yup, highbush they were, four varieties. The year they were planted we
harvested about a gallon of berries off the four, the following year we
got so much rain they died. Will plant on mounds next, I think.
I live in an region of commercial blueberry farms and assisted a
neighbor in expanding his in 2002-2003. Native soil here is
finely-textured "blackjack" sand with little-to-no topsoil and few
available nutrients. Here, blueberris are grown above grade on mounded
rows of pine bark as it comes from the sawmill. Each spring,
immediately after pruning, the rows receive pelletized slow release
commercial acidifying ("azalea" or "citrus") fertilizer, a saturating
spray of humic acid, and a topcoat of additional pine bark. I had good
success growing "dooryard" berries in 25-30 gallon containers adapting
the same method. It might work for you, too. I buried the containers
to about 2/3 their depth (easily done in this sand) in order to sort of
stabilize the root temperature and prevent overheating. If one leaves
plenty of headroom in the containers, the plants can grow for many years
before they need root pruning and re-potting. I eventually repotted
mine into the dumpster because I don't like blueberries all that much,
anyway.

Derald wrote:
....
spray of humic acid, and a topcoat of additional pine bark. I had good
success growing "dooryard" berries in 25-30 gallon containers adapting
the same method. It might work for you, too. I buried the containers
to about 2/3 their depth (easily done in this sand) in order to sort of
stabilize the root temperature and prevent overheating. If one leaves
plenty of headroom in the containers, the plants can grow for many years
before they need root pruning and re-potting. I eventually repotted
mine into the dumpster because I don't like blueberries all that much,
anyway.

wow! "not like blueberries" does not compute in my
noodle. some years we nearly live off them for weeks
at a time and that's even when we don't grow them.


songbird

songbird wrote:
Derald wrote:
...
spray of humic acid, and a topcoat of additional pine bark. I had
good success growing "dooryard" berries in 25-30 gallon containers
adapting the same method. It might work for you, too. I buried the
containers to about 2/3 their depth (easily done in this sand) in
order to sort of stabilize the root temperature and prevent
overheating. If one leaves plenty of headroom in the containers,
the plants can grow for many years before they need root pruning and
re-potting. I eventually repotted mine into the dumpster because I
don't like blueberries all that much, anyway.

wow! "not like blueberries" does not compute in my
noodle. some years we nearly live off them for weeks
at a time and that's even when we don't grow them.


songbird

I just wish we could get some before the critters do . They're all over
the woods here (these are actually huckleberries) but the squirrels , coons
, birds , and deer get them as fast as they ripen . Which reminds me , the
wife made me a blackberry cobbler (from wild berries picked on our
property)yesterday . I think I'll get me some right now !

--
Snag

Once upon a time on usenet George Shirley wrote:
On 1/17/2015 11:36 AM, The Cook wrote:
On Sat, 17 Jan 2015 09:31:05 -0600, George Shirley
wrote:

On 1/17/2015 9:10 AM, Terry Coombs wrote:
But I managed to till up a couple of strips out in the garden
. I'll be planting some lettuce/spinach/bok choy soon , I'd like
to get some harvested before it bolts this year .
I was going to plant some other stuf for the bees yesterday ,
but it all wants to wait til after the last frost . I did manage
to get the rose bush and tulips I got the wife for Christmas
planted , hopefully early enough the tulips will bloom this year .
I think today I'll be setting up the shelf in the south window
that I use to start my veggies . Nothing like getting a jump start
on ol' Ma Nature . Got my plan made as to what goes where and how
many of each , just gotta implement it now . Much of this year's
garden will be from seed saved from previous years , and not a
single seed from WM will be used - after last year's debacle with
the tomatoes , I no longer trust them to be what the package says .

We're in the same mode, yesterday we cleared the frost bitten
eggplant, sweet chiles, and cherry tomatoes out of the 4X16 raised
bed. Used a rake to break up any clumping and leveled out the
square foot gardening mix. Today we're going out to buy composted
cow manure, some more peat moss, and a few other items. Still have
a large bag of vermiculite and a couple of small bales of peat moss.

I think our blueberry bushes drowned due to the shallow pits in the
fill clay we dug to plant them. As a consequence we will be
deepening and making wider the planting holes. This property has
about three inches of sand on top of five feet of gumbo clay.
Rather than dig out the clay to a depth that would help I use a
steel pry bar to poke holes into the bottom of the planting hole as
deep as I can, helps the roots start breaking up the clay.

Our seed order from Territorial should be here next week and we can
start growing out some seedlings. Most of the plants we can buy at
the big box stores, etc. don't grow properly and seldom prosper.

Also have to amend the beds dug around the back fence line. The
clay we dig out goes behind the fence to keep the fence from
falling over. Eventually will have to redo the eight year old fence
as it was badly built to start with. I was out yesterday afternoon
putting screws into fence boards that originally had really short
nails somewhat holding them on the rails. The houses here are
thrown up in about a week and the fences in about a quarter of a
day. Slowly all the residents of this sub division are rebuilding
their fences, we're next. A slight warming trend, 34F predicted for
tonight, then into the
fifties tomorrow again. We should be transplanting by early March.

Yesterday I started my Granex onion seeds in the greenhouse. Planning a
lot less this year. I was out of commission a good part
of last year and still not up to par. Everything in the garden and
planter boxes has been overrun with weeds. I did cut back some dead
herb foliage in one of the boxes. DH has decided to burn off all of
the weeds in the asparagus bed. He figured that the rhubarb was too
close to the surface to try to burn it off.

I am going to put as much as I can in the boxes. Beans did well
there a couple of years ago. Maybe I will put a few rows of lentils
on one of them. After I harvest the spinach I plan to put in one of
the boxes.

Now back to the greenhouse with a large garbage bag to get rid of the
mess.

The Mexican and Key Limes are blooming right now in the greenhouse.
The Meyer lemon hasn't started yet. They will go onto the deck when
it gets warm here.

Think I will see about making a pie from the last Key limes I picked.

The father of my eldest grandchildren has a Meyer and gave us a big
bag of lemons the other day. I made lemon marmalade from them. I had
one of the original Meyer lemons 25 years ago and cedar rust got it.
Went to a Ponderosa lemon after that, very prolific and pretty much
cold resistant, left it behind when we moved, it was ten feet tall. I
probably gave away over a hundred of the Ponderosa's I started from
seed, all were true and are out there producing today. Supposedly a
sport between a grapefruit and a lemon. Nice product.

I'm looking for a bigger property within an hour's drive of this house
but SWMBO says this is where we're going to die. G

Don't want to be critical but it's either a sport or it's a hybrid - it
can't be both. A sport is when a branch of an existing variety undergoes a
random mutation and produces different fruit / foliage to the rest of the
tree. Anything involving two varieties is a cross or a hybrid.

Cheers,
--
Shaun.

"Humans will have advanced a long, long, way when religious belief has a
cozy little classification in the DSM."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1)