let's talk dirt...

PJaddicted · August 2009

Leave some weeds, especially if you are lucky enough to have Milkweed in your yards, they are the preferred food of Monarch butterfly caterpillars. This guy will be maturing into an adult soon, and he will be making the long journey to Mexico.

stuckinline · August 2009

thanks justam and decides2dream, i'm pretty excited about the watermelon, but i don't know when to pick them.

decides2dream · August 2009

PJaddicted wrote:

Leave some weeds, especially if you are lucky enough to have Milkweed in your yards, they are the preferred food of Monarch butterfly caterpillars. This guy will be maturing into an adult soon, and he will be making the long journey to Mexico.

awesome catepillar!
i don't have room to grow weeds

....just a small suburban lot. however, i do try and grow some plants that are butterfly friendly such as rudebeckia, salvia and bee balm. either way, amazingly, we DO get a nice amount of butterflies in our garden

....and ladybugs

.....and worms

.....and sadly, mosquitos. :evil:

stuckinline...i have no idea. :? it looks good enough to pick right in your picture, but wtf do i know? :P

stuckinline · September 2009

i finally picked the watermelon.

decides2dream · September 2009

stuckinline wrote:

i finally picked the watermelon.

omg, that looks gorgeous!
hope it was delicious!

our garden is pretty much kaput for the season. we had a couple of green tomatoes, one small yellow squash, still growing.....but the squash got nabbed by squirrels and nibbled and left for dead, and the tomatoes i just don't think will ever ripen now. hubby already canned about 5 jars of sauce, and he probably froze enough tomatoes to make another 5 or so jars. yummm-mmmmmyyyy!

we still are getting habaneros tho, so many this year gve em away like candy! those and the thai peppers! crazy! had a nice amount of poblano peppers and our best eggplant crop yet. i think we're finally going to give up on the red and orange bell peppers. we gorw em every year, and they do well as green peppers, but as soon as they start to change color, they either rot immediately or the bugs get em. eh well.

hubby started composting and he is loving creating his 'black gold'....hahaha.

stuckinline · September 2009

the watermelon was so good!!!

my garden is done for the season as well. interesting, my red bell peppers didn't do well either.

decides2dream · September 2009

stuckinline wrote:

the watermelon was so good!!!

my garden is done for the season as well. interesting, my red bell peppers didn't do well either.

i don't think we have ever actually gotten a red bell pepper off any of our plants, any year, for the reasons i listed. i think finally we may've learned that lesson, and will simply stop growing them. now all the spicy peppers do wonderfully well, b/c bugs apparently don't like spicy peppers, but they love the sweet peppers such as the red, orange and yellow bells. i probably have 5 peppers on my bell plants still, and guaranteed, when they start to turn red or orange, they will be ruined by bugs immediately. eh well....thankfull all else does wonderfully well. it was a good garden year!

embrace · October 2009

Everyone's booty looks fantastic!!! I love looking at the progression of this thread from the beginning until now

We are still going, though thinned out a bunch. I have a funny...well not soo funny story :oops: We picked up a yellow pepper from a local grower and the markers must have gotten mixed up- they are the hottest peppers I have ever had- I scooped the seed out to make a pepper jelly and my nail beds stung for hours!

decides2dream · October 2009

embrace wrote:

Everyone's booty looks fantastic!!! I love looking at the progression of this thread from the beginning until now

We are still going, though thinned out a bunch. I have a funny...well not soo funny story :oops: We picked up a yellow pepper from a local grower and the markers must have gotten mixed up- they are the hottest peppers I have ever had- I scooped the seed out to make a pepper jelly and my nail beds stung for hours!

i never got around to posting pics of my bounty..... :oops: hahaha.
i still have not even organized my pics from baltimore either. i have just been utterly lazy with all my photos this year, period.

that said, wow.....still growing? well, i guess you ARE south of me, but i didn't realize it made such a difference. our garden is pretty much kaput. think we'll pull the last of the stragglers out this weekend and put them in the composter.

and....making pepper jelly? you are one of those renaissance women....career, wife/mother...domestic goddess....aren't ya?

impressive!

HeyWayne · October 2009

How have I missed this thread until now!?

12 pages to catch up on, back soon...

embrace · October 2009

Hah...its the root veggies that are still in the ground- so technically the fall bounty- sweet potatoes, carrots (few left) peppers (even the HOT ones) and the pumpkins are still flowering, but I think we have picked all of them for the season. Raspberries and ground cherries are hanging on as well but I have got to harvest everything.

As for the renaissance- hardly, but I better put all my years in the kitchen to use or I'll lose it right???

Would love to see your pics- if you get around to uploading! I'll work on mine too-

Hope to see you in Philly!

decides2dream wrote:

embrace wrote:

Everyone's booty looks fantastic!!! I love looking at the progression of this thread from the beginning until now

We are still going, though thinned out a bunch. I have a funny...well not soo funny story :oops: We picked up a yellow pepper from a local grower and the markers must have gotten mixed up- they are the hottest peppers I have ever had- I scooped the seed out to make a pepper jelly and my nail beds stung for hours!

i never got around to posting pics of my bounty..... :oops: hahaha.
i still have not even organized my pics from baltimore either. i have just been utterly lazy with all my photos this year, period.

that said, wow.....still growing? well, i guess you ARE south of me, but i didn't realize it made such a difference. our garden is pretty much kaput. think we'll pull the last of the stragglers out this weekend and put them in the composter.

and....making pepper jelly? you are one of those renaissance women....career, wife/mother...domestic goddess....aren't ya? impressive!

decides2dream · October 2009

embrace wrote:

Hah...its the root veggies that are still in the ground- so technically the fall bounty- sweet potatoes, carrots (few left) peppers (even the HOT ones) and the pumpkins are still flowering, but I think we have picked all of them for the season. Raspberries and ground cherries are hanging on as well but I have got to harvest everything.

aha, yes. you have a much bigger garden than i do, so far more variety. i'll take some raspberries and sweet potatoes.

i do still have peppers growing, forgot about them...as well as some herbs, but the big beds are all done for. just need to pull out the tomato plants.

embrace wrote:

As for the renaissance- hardly, but I better put all my years in the kitchen to use or I'll lose it right???

perhaps you trained as a chef at some point? i have no time in the kitchen at all, let alone years! so yea....hahaha. that's all on hubby. i just grow the stuff.

embrace wrote:

Would love to see your pics- if you get around to uploading! I'll work on mine too-

maybe before the holidays...give this thread a bit of a revival with pics!

embrace wrote:

Hope to see you in Philly!

me too!
10.30 and 10.31....i'll be there!

HeyWayne · October 2009

Ok, very impressed by the gardens, produce and photos. Also ever so slightly envious of the weather.

Would love to grow some of the stuff you guys have been growing. Love that pond!!

Who Princess · February 2010

I'm reviving this thread after finding a nice surprise in my garden.

These plants are hellebores (Lenten Rose). A week and a half ago they were covered with more than a foot of snow. They look kind of ratty right now.

When I got up close to them I was very surprised to see that they were full of buds and even a few blooms!

Temps in the 30s and below freezing at night, but flowers in the dead of winter!

FenwayFaithful · February 2010

I didn't even know this thread existed. I got into gardening a few years ago. I have four large hibiscus plants in pots that bloom fantastic flowers in the summertime and stay dormant in my front window in the wintertime. My babies. Here in New England, they can't be left outside unless overnight lows are 50 or better, so they need a few more months in the house.

Heatherj43 · February 2010

decides2dream wrote:

in the garden!

since we seemed to turn justam's avatar thread into a gardening thread, let's move the convo here and discuss anything and everything desired about gardening, plants, flowers....what you love, tips and tricks....whatever!

living in zone 7, not quite temperate enough here to start digging in the dirt, yet. my daffodils and muscari are bursting to bloom - i've given up on tulips b/c the squirrels just love them TOO much and i end up with beheaded tulips that are far more befitting the adams family garden. :P

anxiously awaiting may 15th when i can plant up all my flower boxes, pots, hanging baskets....put some extra shots of color in the garden....and start our veggie garden! LOVE the fresh produce we get bureid in at the end of the summer....and most especially all the yummy things hubby makes with the bounty!

for a good tip:
in containers and the like:
for really large containers, i add crushed soda cans at the bottom to take up space, use less soil and keep em lighter. also, i swear by hydromats - which i purchase the gardener's supply catalog - that 'hold on' to extra water so you water less, and your plants don't dry out and stay healthy!

Those cans in the bottom mainly help drainage, which prevents root rot. I use a variety of things like other broken pots, or rocks and stones. Whatever will aid in drainage and not allow water to just sit in the bottom.
We just got a foot of snow yesterday. I don't plant flowers until the thrid week in May also. We still get some frost up til then.

Anon · February 2010

My shuttle bus driver to the airport last week told me a great website to get seeds if you are involved in any community education gardening/school teaching.

A quick google search: Herman's Garden. A great website with a sweet backstory as well.

We talked about the poor quality of our tomatoes last year, and he blamed the Chemtrails... any other (less wacky) theories so I can get some better ones this year?

Who Princess · February 2010

LoveOnTwoLegs wrote:

My shuttle bus driver to the airport last week told me a great website to get seeds if you are involved in any community education gardening/school teaching.

A quick google search: Herman's Garden. A great website with a sweet backstory as well.

We talked about the poor quality of our tomatoes last year, and he blamed the Chemtrails... any other (less wacky) theories so I can get some better ones this year?

Thanks for the source!
Here's a gardening forum that I belong to: http://davesgarden.com/aboutus/tour/
It also offers seed/plant exchanges for home gardeners, along with tons of reference information and links to all kinds of web sites. Also lots of gardening blogs and forums.
I picked up a great new term for myself here: Master Yardener. If you've got a yard and you're trying to master it, you qualify.

decides2dream · March 2010

whoprincess wrote:

I'm reviving this thread after finding a nice surprise in my garden.

These plants are hellebores (Lenten Rose). A week and a half ago they were covered with more than a foot of snow. They look kind of ratty right now.

When I got up close to them I was very surprised to see that they were full of buds and even a few blooms!

Temps in the 30s and below freezing at night, but flowers in the dead of winter!

absolutely gorgeous princess - thanks for the thread revival!
was just thinking if this thread today, getting the spring fever! i still have not uploaded any of my end of summer garden pics from last season on photobucket....but perhaps this weekend i'll finally get to organizing my past 2 years digital pics, the last of my big 'organizing' tasks this late winter and share a few here to get excited about the garden to come!

decides2dream · March 2010

Heatherj43 wrote:

decides2dream wrote:

in the garden!

since we seemed to turn justam's avatar thread into a gardening thread, let's move the convo here and discuss anything and everything desired about gardening, plants, flowers....what you love, tips and tricks....whatever!

living in zone 7, not quite temperate enough here to start digging in the dirt, yet. my daffodils and muscari are bursting to bloom - i've given up on tulips b/c the squirrels just love them TOO much and i end up with beheaded tulips that are far more befitting the adams family garden. :P

anxiously awaiting may 15th when i can plant up all my flower boxes, pots, hanging baskets....put some extra shots of color in the garden....and start our veggie garden! LOVE the fresh produce we get bureid in at the end of the summer....and most especially all the yummy things hubby makes with the bounty!

for a good tip:
in containers and the like:
for really large containers, i add crushed soda cans at the bottom to take up space, use less soil and keep em lighter. also, i swear by hydromats - which i purchase the gardener's supply catalog - that 'hold on' to extra water so you water less, and your plants don't dry out and stay healthy!

Those cans in the bottom mainly help drainage, which prevents root rot. I use a variety of things like other broken pots, or rocks and stones. Whatever will aid in drainage and not allow water to just sit in the bottom.
We just got a foot of snow yesterday. I don't plant flowers until the thrid week in May also. We still get some frost up til then.

yes of course, but they also make the pots a LOT lighter, and save on potting soil...all win-win for moving pots around and keeping some $$$ in your wallet! i use the rocks, broken pots too...but definitely heavier that way. packing peanuts are also good to use, keep em light and recycle.

and we got at least a foot on thursday, so yea......

let's talk dirt...

Comments

Categories