2022 Garden Thread

[Dan Freeman]

Cloudy, drizzly day. Couldn't really work outside, so I transplanted all the shasta daisy, blackeyed susan, and yellow fern yarrow plants from their 3.5" pots into 9" pots. Once they grow a bit more, I will start transplanting them around the perimeter of the food forest. I also have other mature shasta daisies and purple cone flowers to transplant down there. I still have a lot of yellow fern yarrow and blackeyed susan seeds left, so I may start another round of them in the greenhouse.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Rainy here too. I got the quote for my patio. Ouch. They also want me to take the peach tree out.


I got my seeds today. I’ve never seen packages like this before!

 

[Dan Freeman]

Cute little packages. What company?

I am waiting for a landscaper to give me a price on a curved staircase/steps from our backyard down the hill to the food forest. Like your patio, I'm sure I'll be saying "ouch", too.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Hudson Valley Seeds.

It was double what I thought it’d be. But to be fair, I wanted a fairly specific product. I’m on clay like you, so I knew it’d heave. I wanted a 6” slab instead of 4. Instead of just fiber reinforced, I want rebar and mesh. A bit of extra work now will save grief when it heaves. I want to do anything I can to stop it from cracking.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Hudson Valley Seeds.

It was double what I thought it’d be. But to be fair, I wanted a fairly specific product. I’m on clay like you, so I knew it’d heave. I wanted a 6” slab instead of 4. Instead of just fiber reinforced, I want rebar and mesh. A bit of extra work now will save grief when it heaves. I want to do anything I can to stop it from cracking.

Smart thinking. Pay up front, but no grief later on.

 

[begreen]

If it's a good producing peach tree I would have them work around it. They are also nice for shade.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Today I ran the 4 strands of electric wire around the entire food forest and began the hookups from the energizer. The entire fence is now energized except for the two gates. I will run the jumpers to the gates tomorrow, weather pending.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Egads! I am glad I don't build bamboo trellises for a living! I spent 4 hours today on the front porch making 1 - 7 x 7 trellis for the Magnolia Vines. There are 64 joints. I got 47 of them tied off; another 17 to go. The worst is the first row or two as the bamboo keeps "jumping" around as it is being tied. Also, the thin, waxed twine not only coats your fingers with wax, but wreaks havoc on your hands trying to keep it tight. My fingers are going to be sore tonight.

All in all, I am pleased. I should be able to finish the joints on this one tomorrow and start the other one on another rainy day.

Here are a couple of pics of my work today.

 

[clancey]

Such intricate work and yes sore fingers tomorrow..I am wondering about the electric wiring and how much of a shock goes along with that electric fence. Let me know when you decide differently on the gating in a few years" maybe" for I don't like them--lol---you already know that for I already questioned them--lol Just saying...Wonderful work and its really coming along--good for you....clancey

 

[Dan Freeman]

Such intricate work and yes sore fingers tomorrow..I am wondering about the electric wiring and how much of a shock goes along with that electric fence. Let me know when you decide differently on the gating in a few years" maybe" for I don't like them--lol---you already know that for I already questioned them--lol Just saying...Wonderful work and its really coming along--good for you....clancey

The fence delivers 1 joule of energy at 10,000 volts every 1 second. It's enough to give any animal (including a bear) quite a shock but will not cause any damage. An electric fence is not designed to cause damage (like electrocution) but to act as a strong deterrent and something to avoid even when what's on the other side of the fence is highly desirable. (The pain outweighs the pleasure.)

Just curious. What is it about the gates that you don't like. They actually work quite well for this set up.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I’ve always been able to hear an electric fence as it powers on and off. It’s a nice backup to seeing the insulators on the post, lol

 

[clancey]

I just don't like all those tie lines on it and wanted it more flush but I guess the soil or something is not proper for that or maybe could not secure it good. I wanted you to dig fence posting to make it flush without anything streaming outside of the fence distance for it seems like it would interfere with grass cutting or something and I just do not like that kind of support wires stretching out but no big thing--just me--lol...You should hear the discussions when I get to talk to my carpenter of over 25 years---you would laugh---but your food forest is beautiful and all you hard work shows it..
Opinionated clancey--lol

 

[Dan Freeman]

No, by all means, I understand what you are saying. Those right-angle supports are necessary when using T-Posts since t-Posts are not set in cement. They are simply driven into the ground 18-24 inches. I could have used wood posts to support the weight of the gates and keep them from sagging, or the posts from moving when opening and closing, but it would have meant digging a hole of about 3 feet and setting the posts in concrete. Too much work, especially in this rocky soil. I was lucky enough to get my t-posts in as far as I did.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

We got some rain this week! About six or seven tenths in a storm on Wednesday night. I am very thankful for the moisture for the soil, the additional water in the rain tanks, and that we didn’t have super high winds or hail. I did shelter my last transplants (some cucumbers I’m growing for my pastor’s family) under the table on our deck as the storm was moving in. I didn’t want them to blow off as I had had happen to some tomatoes earlier in the summer when it was really windy. They still got moisture from rain splash and water dripping through the table top and looked happy for it.

I try to fill the ollas in my garden every Saturday (and mid-week, too, during the summer). I did it a day early this week, though, to try to beat the heat. We’ve been cloudy and cool(ish)—80’s—this week until today when the sun returned, and it got well in to the 90’s. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for a high of 102, and we have three days with heat like that. I have some okra seeds on soaking now for seeding tomorrow morning.

I still have onions in the bed where I plan to plant out sweet potatoes, and my slips are thriving in their planter on the back deck. I had worried when I was first starting to grow them that I wouldn’t be able to get enough for myself and the neighbors, but I’ve already helped them plant two dozen over two raised beds, and this one planter will be more than enough for the space I have. I’m trying to decide if I should cut the ends off and try to find ways to give more away, or if I should just let them keep on growing and plant huge slips. I’m sure I’ll have more than I need. Anybody farther north want me to mail some? They’re either Beauregard or something very similar.

 

[Dan Freeman]

We had rain all day today and will have it most of the day tomorrow, up to 3". Glad you got some relief. I couldn't imagine being that dry. I heard this weekend is supposed to be scorching hot in Texas. Very healthy-looking plants.

 

[clancey]

That's sweet of you just like those slips growing...They are very pretty and they look like house plants of some kind growing...You will enjoy them and if too many you will figure out something of this I am sure..Tomorrow we are going to have 87 degrees and your temperature sounds "just a bit too hot"--lol....But we are going to get wind too..Lime and Freeman do you think that fencing will hurt the birdies? clancey

 

[Dan Freeman]

No, it will not hurt the birds even if they land on it because they will not be grounded. In order to get a shock, you have to touch the wire and the ground at the same time. The electricity flows into the ground and back to the ground rods completing the circuit, causing the shock. That is why you can see birds sitting on high voltage wires with no harm. The high voltage wire is usually the topmost wire between electric poles, the one that is not insulated.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

We had rain all day today and will have it most of the day tomorrow, up to 3". Glad you got some relief. I couldn't imagine being that dry. I heard this weekend is supposed to be scorching hot in Texas. Very healthy-looking plants.

It was scorching hot today in my opinion. It wasn’t too bad in the morning, but it was 90 degrees by noon and went up to 101. The sun was intense. My husband and I do a lot of outside work on Saturdays, but we called it quits pretty early in the afternoon today. We needed to vote in two different elections, and walking across those asphalt parking lots in the heat was something. Even my six year old was commenting on it.

Before it got too hot this morning, we did some work spreading compost. I also made some five-gallon bucket planters for my pastor’s family. We have two 7-foot-tall, four-foot-wide trellises that we aren’t using this summer, so we’ll be loaning them out for the cukes to climb. I was a really glad to get these into more soil before the afternoon heat hit today. They were getting big, and big plants can use water quickly, so this gives them access to a lot more.



I think my sweet potatoes slips grew another foot just today. They’re a good crop for this area because they enjoy the heat.

I also harvested my bolted onions today. I had been letting them flower for the pollinators, but I have some other plants that are coming into bloom, so I pulled these out so they wouldn’t take water from the rest of the crop that’s still maturing. I need to chop up the onions and freeze them, but not tonight. I think I’m worn out from the heat.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Sounds like you are roasting in Texas, and it is so cold, windy and damp here after the two days of rain that we have a fire burning in our wood stove tonight. Great looking cukes. Like the inverted water bottle idea.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Just added 4 new berry bushes to the food forest. They should be arriving this week.

2 Indigo Gem Haskap (Honeyberry)

2 Cumberland Black Raspberry

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Perennial vegetables to plant this season

Dave Scandurra is a landscaper in Barnstable who focuses entirely on edible gardens. But instead of annuals that need to be put in from seed every spring, he prefers perennials — plants that keep coming back on their own.

www.capeandislands.org

I tried to grow sea kale, it didn’t take off. Someday I should buy more seeds. They had a huge shell on them. Got horseradish already.

Im surprised they didn’t mention good king Henry which is growing in a few places. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blitum_bonus-henricus

I tried to plant stuff in the beds to encourage fungi. It worked in some beds, not in others.

 

[kennyp2339]

I noticed at tractor supply that the price of 48" x 100ft metal mesh fencing went down, I bought 2 rolls for $100 ea ( yea I know its expensive) my idea it to prep and possibly plant a new vegetable garden (30x40) in the next few weeks, the long term plan is to shift the current garden to the new spot and then plant pare tree's at the current garden spot, The new spot seems easier to work and closer to my hose line for watering, sun light is about the same, soil drainage is about the same, its all about getting the soil ready for next year.

 

[clancey]

Kenny your garden area is larger than my house and yes I would put the garden right next to the water supply...good thought and I will be looking at mesh fencing too and glad the prices are lower now..(making a gate and not all wood so the wind don't blow it down like it did my solid wood gate.) My carpenter does not know about this new idea of mind just yet---lol...I looked up the difference between perennial and annuals and that was interesting but the pictures were so pretty so I thought I would share it on here--especially because it is Mothers Day. So I am sending you two pretty pictures DuaeGuttae. You know those water towers that stick up in the air and they are for the storage of water would this be possible for holding water--just an idea here---lol... maybe just a small one--anybody thought of that especially in the dryer climates...I never liked the taste of asparagus not for me...too green....I would like the plants that come back every year and are they harder to keep ? Why look at grass and all you have to do is cut it down so that it is pretty--just a thought here...My three plants will go into the garden this week and its been really windy here and for now and all week very dry and fire danger areas. Can't win for losing for we got rain but everything grew and now dry and too dry especially with all the wind..I put horseradish in my bean soup for it gives it a "zip" for flavor. I love Black Raspberry but the seeds get in your teeth but so pretty...enjoyed...clancey

What's the Difference Between Perennial and Annual Plants?

Spring is officially here at Garden Heights Nursery! As plant and plant care experts, there are some questions that we commonly get from customers, one of the majors ones being, "What is the difference between perennial and annual plants?" Today, we'll answer that very questions here, on our...

www.gardenheights.com

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Convenience is more important as I get busier. I started tubs on the little deck I have so I could just step out the back door for food.

 

[clancey]

Sounds good to me I would put it "right next to the icebox" if there was sun..lol lol clancey