2022 Garden Thread

[Dan Freeman]

So much stuff to do and you people really have the "know how"--fun to read about the different plants and ideas...and since you have so much energy to start this year I am surprised that you don't have some sort of "bee" raising culture and would not this be good?...You people truly need more work to do--lol Thanks for sharing and those pictures are neat to see... clancey

I would love to raise bees for the honey and wax, and have often thought about it, but there are so many hours in a day.

 

[clancey]

As you slide around in the ice why I think you should start with "Bees" today...lol....There is a real neat small business that trains people about bee tending and they have been into it for years and I will try to locate the web page for you and I believe it is in Montana . clancey

 

[Dan Freeman]

As you slide around in the ice why I think you should start with "Bees" today...lol....There is a real neat small business that trains people about bee tending and they have been into it for years and I will try to locate the web page for you and I believe it is in Montana . clancey

Thanks!

 

[clancey]

Getting Started

Visit the post for more.

flatheadvalleybeekeepers.club

 

[Dan Freeman]

Thanks for that link, Clancey.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

We’re having quite a warm (ahem, perhaps hot is a better word—85 so far) day down here in Texas. It should cool off later in the week again, but it was a nice treat as I walked through the back yard to see honeybees busy on some apple blossoms.

There’s nothing to show in my potato bed but a layer of leaf mulch. I filled my originally planned bed with seed potatoes but had enough to fill an additional smaller bed as well as parts of a planter and a third bed. Now it‘s time to wait for sprouts.

 

[clancey]

neat pictures especially the bees and the beautiful little blossoms and you got your potatoes lined up--enjoyed.. clancey

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Yesterday was another hot day down here, but the forecast was for cold and damp coming in. I decided it was time to take advantage of the warm and dry soil in a large planter on my deck and get some sprouting sweet potatoes from my pantry in the soil. For large tubers, I just cut the portion with the sprouts and planted it. For very small tubers I planted the whole thing. Once everything was covered up, my husband helped me bring the container inside to the room where we do our garden starter plants this time of year. The windows primarily face west (with some tree shade), and one is south facing where the sun is just beginning to come in in the photo below. After it was in place I gave it a good watering. I think there are 37 slips in there, but I’m hoping for more to have an abundance to share with my next door neighbors. They are going to try to start some of their own, too, though, after I introduced them to sweet potato growing last year.



After being hot for two days, a cold front came roaring in last night, and the temperature dropped below freezing this morning and stayed there all day. I’m very glad that this container came in when it did, as the soil was still 75 degrees this morning. The room where it is located is very open to our woodstove, so the sweet potatoes should be happy with the temperatures.

 

[clancey]

I liked growing that tomato plant so much I miss the routine of checking on it..lol..I am thinking of buying a very small piece of land maybe an acre or less just so I could have a small green house--just thinking along these terms..Sometimes its fun to dream especially in these days..How are all the plants coming along in this weather especially that tree did it do okay when you put it in the ground? Just wondering..clancey

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Mrs. Clancey, you don’t need a whole acre to have a greenhouse, just so you know. You could probably put a little pop-up greenhouse in the back yard where you live now if you wanted to, but you don’t need a greenhouse at all to grow plants. I do agree about how it’s fun to dream, though. We have a little shed with a leaky roof, and I dream about pulling off the shingles and walls and turning it into a greenhouse. I worry about a greenhouse being too hot, here, though, even in winter.

If you were asking about my little satsuma mandarin orange tree, I’m very happy to report that it seems to be doing well. I can’t see what’s going on below the surface, of course, but I assume that it is rooting in well because it has developed a flower bud. I need to pinch it off, but here’s a picture I took of it yesterday while it was enjoying some time outside.



I’ve moved it back inside for a bit because we’re having some fierce winds blowing in a cold front. I haven’t decided if I’ll try to put this back in the ground later in the spring or if I’ll let it size up some more in the pot and try for early fall.

Saturday morning my husband and I put our tomato seedlings in some nursery bags. They didn’t look so good immediately after transplanting, of course, because I had to tear some roots, but they have perked up a lot now. They had spent several days outside, but they’re inside now again because of our cold front. I’ll try to get them outside during the days this week, but it will be too cold at night for them. Thankfully I only have one tray right now, so it’s easy to move them. I do have some peppers and eggplants starting, though, and I need to think about when to get cucumbers and the like going (probably once I’ve potted up the peppers).

 

[clancey]

That Satsuma I think (what do know--lol} looks good for it got I think 2 more leaves on it...Wondering how Freeman's "nut tree" is coming along and I could say more but I won't and I will be good for now...He has done a lot of work and I hope he is okay with all his greenery and stuff. Kind of missing his reporting.. Yea I saw those pop ups and small greenhouse but I am trying to get to a less populated place in order to solve some of my other problems But for now I am looking at my wood shed seriously for a little plant holding area--maybe taking the cheap roof off of it and making it better "somehow" so that It can get the sun and have protection from my squirrels visiting as well. They did not bother my tomato and I was surprised at this...If you want I can save you some fertilizer that I am making and could ship a box to you if you find the need for it..Keeping busy and just figuring things out for now...and pipe dreams as well--lol clancey

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I keep looking at prices and wondering if I should double the seeds I put in the ground this year. It can easily become too much to tend to, but if the wheat futures are any indication of what were going to see... yikes!

 

[clancey]

Yea I believe that we are in for a "ride"...plant the extra seeds maybe neighbors might need help...clancey

 

[DuaeGuttae]

That Satsuma I think (what do know--lol} looks good for it got I think 2 more leaves on it...Wondering how Freeman's "nut tree" is coming along and I could say more but I won't and I will be good for now...He has done a lot of work and I hope he is okay with all his greenery and stuff. Kind of missing his reporting.. Yea I saw those pop ups and small greenhouse but I am trying to get to a less populated place in order to solve some of my other problems But for now I am looking at my wood shed seriously for a little plant holding area--maybe taking the cheap roof off of it and making it better "somehow" so that It can get the sun and have protection from my squirrels visiting as well. They did not bother my tomato and I was surprised at this...If you want I can save you some fertilizer that I am making and could ship a box to you if you find the need for it..Keeping busy and just figuring things out for now...and pipe dreams as well--lol clancey

It must be a trick of the camera angle, Mrs. Clancey. There aren’t any new leaves on the Satsuma, but a new bud is still a sign that it’s on the road to recovery. I sure hope it will get some more growth this year. It needs it.

Thank you for your kind offer about fertilizer, Mrs. Clancey. There’s no need to send any, but if you want to share your secret recipe for fertilizer with me, I’m all ears (or eyes). You can even send it via private message if it’s really secret. I’d be happy to learn from you as you did have an amazing tomato plant last year. I’m getting excited about possibly getting mine in the ground at the end of this month if it’s looking to be consistently warm enough by then. It cooled back down enough today that I lit the woodstove once again.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

I keep looking at prices and wondering if I should double the seeds I put in the ground this year. It can easily become too much to tend to, but if the wheat futures are any indication of what were going to see... yikes!

I certainly understand how one can have too much to tend to. Maybe you shouldn’t double everything you plant but decide where you’ll save good money at the grocery store and increase that. I figure as a rule of thumb that if I get one good harvest/meal out of a particular vegetable for our family of six, that usually covers the cost of an average seed packet for me, and usually I can get a lot more than one harvest. (So far I haven’t managed with rhubarb, sugar snap peas, or artichokes, but I’ve got all of them growing in the garden now, so we’ll see if this season is better.) Often when I harvest a vegetable I weigh it, then compare it to the current price per pound at the grocery store (and I don’t even use the price for organic since that’s not what we buy most frequently even though it’s largely how we grow). We saved a lot of money last year not having to buy green beans, and I saved seeds from that variety, too, so I don’t even need to get a new packet for this year. Shishito peppers were also a big hit, (and I wouldn’t buy them at grocery store prices). We ate a lot fresh Shishitos but also froze some as a bell pepper substitute. I just ran out of frozen peppers. I only had three plants last year. This year I plan to go up to five.

 

[clancey]

Your posting picture was posting #110 and I can see maybe 3 or 4 leaves on it and it looks good...at least I thought that was the orange tree starting..--with my mind anything is possible--lol lol...Well if you need any of it I will be sure to send it for you to try and it does have one drawback that I would be worried about but that's for private messaging ----thanks..I believe you are going to get more rain as well....nice...clancey

 

[old greybeard]

Just pulled the plastic off last year’s kale and spinach in the garden. Came thru pretty well. Was a cold pa winter. Turned the garden over and seeded spinach kale and lettuce. Putting in onions and snow peas today. Broccoli and cabbage started inside will be transferred soon. Time to start tomatoes and peppers.

 

[clancey]

My gosh where do you people find the energy..? I thought a little bit about snow peas this year and just wondered how they would do?..clancey

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Only 1 way to find out how they'd do!

 

[clancey]

Is to plant some--lol----your right...clancey

 

[DuaeGuttae]

I took some garden pictures to send to my mother today, so thought I’d share them here, too.

An Adirondack Blue Potato popping up.


Lettuce, broccoli, and sugar snap peas


Red Creole onions (and radish seedlings in the background)


A mystery sprout that I’m thinking could be rhubarb. I had planted a couple of rhubarb seeds in the fall and had a little plant growing in this spot when the temperatures went from 80 to 24 in one day at the beginning of January. It froze, and there’s been nothing there for two months when all of a sudden this popped up. I’m wondering if the rhubarb root somehow had the strength to put up a new shoot. Does it look like rhubarb to anyone?

 

[Dan Freeman]

I went and bought 10 new raised beds, each 4' x 8'. I wanted cedar, but it has gotten so expensive, so I opted for stainless steel. I bought one last year and was so pleased with it, I decided to get more. I got a good price of $67 per bed. The worst part is putting them together. Each one takes 48 small nuts and bolts. I have placed them down in the food forest area and ordered 10 cubic yards of soil (1/2 top soil - 1/2 mushroom compost). I hope to start getting them filled next week. I was hoping for this week, but we got 3 inches of snow yesterday and more is expected on Saturday. They will give me another 320 square feet of planting area.

I also got the greenhouse all cleaned up and set up with my heat mats and grow lights, so I am all ready to get my seeds started which I will do on March 21st. I start everything I grow from seed. This year I am growing (not all started in the greenhouse)
Tomatoes
Peppers
Eggplants
Potatoes
Cabbages
Turnips
Beets
Squash
Cucumbers
Onions
Garlic
Melons
Basil
Parsley
Carrots
Various flowers
and probably some more.

I also bought more-than-usual organic fertilizers since they keep talking about fertilizer shortages.

 

[clancey]

That's just beautiful freeman and you and the other gardeners are so so very good at these things and I just think of all the work and shiver but I will get my few plants growing when I see them in home depot and they say "buy me" I'll be a good plant and have plenty--lol...Really enjoying this little gardening thread and so glad it is on this website---so that I can just enjoy it and learn as well. You got a good price on those metal holders but so so many screws--wow...what a job..clancey

 

[Dan Freeman]

In anticipation of starting my seeds, I went out to the shed and filled nursery trays with 120 - 4" pots for vegetables and 108 seed cells for flowers. Here's what I am figuring so far:

5 San Marzano Tomatoes
5 Tiny Tim Tomatoes
5 Early Girl Tomatoes
5 Early Treat Tomatoes
5 Gardener Delight Tomatoes
5 Rapunzel Cherry Tomatoes
5 Mountain Magic Tomatoes (aka Compari)
5 Beef Steak Tomatoes
10 Shishito Peppers
10 California Wonder Bell Peppers
10 Detroit Dark Red Beets
10 American Purple Top Turnips
5 Acorn Squash
5 Sierra Gold Cantaloupes
5 Copenhagen Cabbages
5 Early Gold Acre Cabbages
5 Black Moon Eggplants
5 Early Purple Eggplants
5 Market Moore Cucumbers
3 Genovese Basil
2 Big Italy Parsley
36 Marigolds
36 Zinnias
12 Shasta Daisies
12 Forget Me Nots
12 Assorted Butterfly Wild Flowers

and who knows, maybe some more. The bean, peas, carrots, potatoes, corn and wheat, etc. I'll direct sow.

 

[Montanalocal]

Dan,

Your beets, turnips and parsley can also be direct seeded. I direct seed mine at 5000 ft. elevation in northern Montana with a 90 day growing season. Parsley is one of the hardiest garden plants there is. I plant mine ( along with carrots) in the late fall. The seed lays in the soil all winter with the hard seed coat slowly becoming permeable, and they come up early in the spring. I let my first year parsley stay in the garden over winter, and they come up in the spring as second year plants and flower and set seed.