In article , (dstvns)
wrote:

On Tue, 30 Sep 2003 10:46:08 -0400, wrote:

What are your gardening goals for next year?

1) Make it rain less

2) Keep the sun out longer

3) Make the sun warm things up before June 21st (summer solstice high
this year - 62°F and clouds/rain)

Or else get the rice seed ready...or the cactus, who knows

Dan


And it only rains after sundown..... sound familiar?

simy1 said:

(Pat Kiewicz) wrote in message
news:P-ScnfXWYuWMN-eiU-KYgg@comc
ast.com...

So next year I hope to be ready, willing, and able to work all summer long.

And I think I will have to sew some cotton bags to put over the corn ears this year,
as the birds have learned to rip into the paper bags I have been using to protect
the ears.

Hope you are recovering well.

I seem to be; when I saw the in late August she said 80% healed. I hope
when I see her again in November she says 100%.

It is my experience that it is furry
critters that rip into paper bags, and not birds, unless you have
caught them in the act. How do I know it? I use the bags for grapes
(bumper crop this year), and it is only the lower branches that get
victimized.

Nope; no furry critters bigger than a mouse. None of the ears are ever pulled
down away from the stalks. And there were lots of little bird scritches and poo
all over the corn plants. I'm convinced it's the birds that finally learned
to rip up the bags.

Odd thing is, none of them has figured out that the purple millet is edible!
--
Pat in Plymouth MI

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

On Thu, 02 Oct 2003 00:53:19 GMT, Steve
wrote:



I was lucky enough to get to hear Eliot and his wife in person. They
gave a talk on how they grow all year long using a movable hoop house.
Interesting talk from interesting people.
If you ever meet Eliot in person, what ever you do, don't ask him "what
about the story that greens grown in cold weather have too much nitrogen
in them to be healthy?" Someone asked him a question about like that
and he got a little riled up. His answer convinced me that there is
nothing to worry about but it's been too long to remember exactly what
he said.


He covered this in his book ('Four Season Harvest') and I
don't remember the details, but I'm not going to worry about
it either.

Pat
--
To email me, remove the trap and type my first
name in its place.

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Phaedrine Stonebridge wrote:

And it only rains after sundown.

And spring exits march the second on the dot.

My "plans" are more personal than garden, though the garden figures large
in them. I'll add to the thread when I've written something coherent
(POST-Caffeine!).

Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at www.albany.net/~gwoods
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1200' elevation. NY WO G

wrote in
:


What are your gardening goals for next year?

Just a few things (we're in zone 3a):

1) Finally lay the second path in the garden (it's only been two years,
you know.)

2) Attempt peppers again. Now that I have the hothats they can be
planted early enough that we might actually get some peppers.

3) Just buy tomato seedlings from the nursury. Starting them from seed
is too much work for too little payoff.

4) Grow more kidney beans. Those were good!

--
Atara
"Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus."
http://www.50degreesnorth.com/garden/index.html
***What doesn't fit in my email addy? NADA.***

from durham, NC (we've been in our new house for a year and we're on a strict
budget):

1. continue to purchase bulbs and plants in bulk from places like terra ceia
2. expand the small planting beds started this spring
3. start oodles of plants from seed
4. tackle the backyard, which is now a mess; create a bird-friendly paradise
and raised-bed planters for fruits/vegetables
5. learn how to pot up container gardens that look as lush as those in
magazines and on TV

pat

(Patskywriter) wrote:

5. learn how to pot up container gardens that look as lush as those in
magazines and on TV

Understand that those are pretty bogus, and bear the same relationship to
real life as an anorexic "super model" does to a real woman.

#endrant

And mine, after some ill-considered thought, and a lot of walking in the
sun:

I will stop feeling sorry for myself; the sudden changes of two years ago
aren't personal, and I'm doing pretty well anyway.

I will spend more time in the garden that's really too big for me to manage
well (Tom Jefferson did the same; I'm in good company), not because the
weeds are an embarassment, but because I feel better when I'm outdoors
pulling weeds and getting dirty than almost any other time.

I will spend the winter testing stored seeds, researching that solar
greenhouse project, and doing the redecorating that's thirty years overdue.

I'll get the peppers and tomatoes planted on time this spring. Promise!

Actually, spring has already started; I'm preparing the garlic bed for
planting within the next couple of weeks. It's amazing how much better
things look with a couple of passes of the rototiller and a good dose of
compost!

Life is good.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at www.albany.net/~gwoods
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1200' elevation. NY WO G

On 13 Oct 2003 15:12:38 GMT,
(Patskywriter) wrote:


4. tackle the backyard, which is now a mess; create a bird-friendly paradise
and raised-bed planters for fruits/vegetables

Judging from my experience, you won't be sorry that you did
the work to get raised beds! I'd never, never go
back...never. NEVER. (Can you tell I really love
raised-bed gardening?)

5. learn how to pot up container gardens that look as lush as those in
magazines and on TV


You know, I always wonder how long they'll survive?

I've not had good luck with mixed plantings in small to
medium-sized containers. I think some plants like more
water, some like less, etc. Some grow aggressively and
crowd others out. The mixed containers you see on TV only
need to look good for one day...

Pat





--
To email me, remove the trap and type my first
name in its place.

CLICK DAILY TO FEED THE HUNGRY
United States: http://www.stopthehunger.com/
International: http://www.thehungersite.com/

On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 12:48:13 -0400, Gary Woods
wrote:

I will spend more time in the garden that's really too big for me to manage
well (Tom Jefferson did the same; I'm in good company), not because the
weeds are an embarassment, but because I feel better when I'm outdoors
pulling weeds and getting dirty than almost any other time.

It's too bad you don't live closer to us: you can pull LOTS
of weeds here.

I will spend the winter testing stored seeds, researching that solar
greenhouse project, and doing the redecorating that's thirty years overdue.

Sounds like fun (except the redecorating part).

I'll get the peppers and tomatoes planted on time this spring. Promise!

Actually, spring has already started; I'm preparing the garlic bed for
planting within the next couple of weeks. It's amazing how much better
things look with a couple of passes of the rototiller and a good dose of
compost!

Life is good.


I forgot to buy garlic.

I'm planning my next year's 'selling garden' which will
mainly be miniature vegetable plants.

And I do mean miniature PLANTS, not miniature fruit -
tomatoes such as Red Robin, where the plants get about one
foot high, Spicy Globe Bush Basil (small), mini-pepper
plants and mini-eggplant plants.

I'm growing various types of these this winter in our big
bay window to test them.

I hope to sell them - already potted in 6.5" azalea pots,
and hardened off - at our local farmers' market, and
possibly the farmers' market in Nearest Small City in New
York State (which is much larger than the local one).

We don't know if they will sell, but we hope so. Everyone
who comes to our house and sees them wants them - this is a
good sign. They really do fruit and they're cute little
things!

I'm hoping to produce and sell about 240 plants. Hoping.
Producing them is OK, that I *know* I can do. Selling is
the only iffy part.

Pat
--
To email me, remove the trap and type my first
name in its place.

CLICK DAILY TO FEED THE HUNGRY
United States: http://www.stopthehunger.com/
International: http://www.thehungersite.com/

pat, i've always built raised beds for my veggies/fruits. i'd never consider
NOT using raised beds!

can't wait to start getting my backyard together—we can grow a lot more stuff
here in durham NC than we could in chicago!

pat

Patskywriter said:

5. learn how to pot up container gardens that look as lush as those in
magazines and on TV

One big secret to keeping them looking good:
Use Osmocote as the fertilizer

Some other things:
Get a good potting mix. The best, most consistantly high quality mix I get
I mail order from Gardener's Supply Company.

Limit the flower color palette to closely match colors or to two related colors (ex:
deep yellow and scarlet orange), with different foliage or, go with two contrasting
colors (blue-violet and orange).

Try to have a trailing plant, a low plants, mid-height plants, and a tall plant.
I like 'spikes' (Dracena) or grasses as the tall plant.

It's best if they look just a *little* skimpy at the start.

Water them faithfully.
--
Pat in Plymouth MI

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

thanks, pat, for all the suggestions!!! i'm guessing when you say osmocote,
you're talking about the slow-release fertilizer? i actually use that now, when
i pot up pansies and whatnot. your suggestions were great, and i'll follow them
faithfully this coming spring.

pat

In article ,
Atara wrote:

4) Grow more kidney beans. Those were good!


Doncha just love these kinds of beans fresh of the plants? I just love
planting shell beans and wish we had more room for them.

Patskywriter said:

thanks, pat, for all the suggestions!!! i'm guessing when you say osmocote,
you're talking about the slow-release fertilizer? i actually use that now, when
i pot up pansies and whatnot. your suggestions were great, and i'll follow them
faithfully this coming spring.

Yes, Osmocote is the slow-release fertilizer. Very good for potted plants.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)