What's Growing In Your Garden? Horticultural Science

[Michaelangelica]

Whether the in ground tomatoes make it or not, one of them is in charcoal rich soil to a 1 foot depth; about 33% charcoal by volume & native soil the rest.

:

How did you get that much charcoal?!

[Turtle]

How did you get that much charcoal?!

 

It isn't that much as I made the hole only about 8" across. I am grinding the horticultural charcoal I bought. I use a mortar & pestle & grind a 'charge' (about 1 cup) until no particles remain bigger than about 1mm. Much of it by then is a powder & it takes 10 to 15 minutes.

For fun & brain enhancement I grind a charge first with my right hand & then the next with only my left hand on the pestle.:doh:

[Turtle]

Aha! The cukes have sprouted, a gentle rain is falling, & I just planted some acorn squash. The cukes & squash both bush variety. That is all.:cup:

[Edella]

How is every ones garden progressing?My peas are being nibbled by sparrows,what to do?(BB gun has already been suggested and rejected);)

[InfiniteNow]

How is every ones garden progressing?My peas are being nibbled by sparrows,what to do?(BB gun has already been suggested and rejected);)

 

Get a cat and don't feed it. Leave it beside the peas.

Put fencing around and above the peas.

Put high quality bird seed 15-20 feet away from the peas and hope they choose that.

Get a bigger gun.

Buy frozen peas.

 

There are a few suggestions for you. Best of luck! ;)

[Edella]

Put high quality bird seed 15-20 feet away from the peas and hope they choose that. ;)

Didn't think of that InfiniteNow,I might do that.Thanks.

 

So,its June 8th,most who planted this spring should be seeing the beginnings of the fruits of their labor.Please share your stories.

[Racoon]

Oh yes...Everything is looking good. I planted the brocolli too thick..I should have spaced it, and I will. It looks like a weed right now, and is crowding out my Bell peppers.

The Bear Grass I pulled from the forest during Tutrle and Me's Sasquatch track is about dead. That think is finicky, and hard to uproot carefully.

But the wild purple flowers and pine tree are fine.

 

Herbs are doing good. I reported that the Lemon Verbena is good to go! :shrug:

Love that herb, smells divine.

 

I would still like to get another French Lavender (mine died over winter). another wonderful herb, with pretty purple flowering stems.

 

The only major concern now are Slugs! ;) its been wet, and thats when those buggers come out and munch up everything. ;)

I have to pick my Strawberries a bit prematurely to avoid them ravaging them.

I don't want to use chemicals or anything... a saucer of beer seems to help some. They are everywhere here :shrug:

 

Of course my little Horticultural Operation is small scale.

Gardening is relaxing and enjoyable...a nice little hobby.

 

Try birdnetting too Edella, that might work. I have a few snow peas, and the birds don't seem to notice. Infinites suggestion is a good one. keep the birds fed, and they won't bother your plants hopefully...

 

Does anyone have a Green House?

[Michaelangelica]

Birds

In Europe they use a tape like the blue tape that binds big parcels together.

This is streached out until it "hums" -the wind does this.

Alternatively you can use many strips of Alfoil tied to it or to string.

The best of course is netting

 

Slugs.

 

Some slugs are OK, the Leopard Slug for example, they just eat rotting vegetable matter.

Beer traps are effective if they are placed out on damp nights with the neck of the can/bottle level with the soil. They should be re-charged ever couple of days with new beer.

Failing that just go out with a torch and squish them or put salt on them on damp nights. (See my quirky science fact on snails)

[Turtle]

Failing that just go out with a torch and squish them or put salt on them on damp nights. (See my quirky science fact on snails)

 

Note: 'Torch' in Micha's vernacular means 'flashlight'.:hammer: Do not go out & try to burn up the slugs with a 'blowtorch'.:) :D

[Michaelangelica]

Herbs are doing good. I reported that the Lemon Verbena is good to go! :)

Love that herb, smells divine.

 

I would still like to get another French Lavender (mine died over winter). another wonderful herb, with pretty purple flowering stems.

 

Try birdnetting too Edella, that might work. I have a few snow peas, and the birds don't seem to notice. Infinites suggestion is a good one. keep the birds fed, and they won't bother your plants hopefully...

French lavender is best for warm climates zone 8,9,10. You might have the right climate to grow the very many beautiful varieties of English lavender. (Too warm and humid wher I live (zone9-10)

 

Lemon verbena tea made with fresh Lemon Verbena is my favourite herb tea.

 

I was buying snowpeas at the Supermarket the other day.

A woman came up to me and said "I don't know why you buy those there is nothing in them!"

I tried to explain that you eat the pod and all and don't peel them.

She just looked at me strangely as if I was an Alien fom Mars!

The thought of her shelling snow pes is very funny though!

 

The little bit of sun in my garden is taken up with sweetpeas.

I bought a packet with 6 varieties this year.

Does anyone know how to cross them (a la Mendal)?

[Michaelangelica]

Note: 'Torch' in Micha's vernacular means 'flashlight'.:hammer: Do not go out & try to burn up the slugs with a 'blowtorch'.:) :D

 

When will the Yanks learn proper English!:cup:

 

Could be an interesting new pest control process though?:)

Michael

[Turtle]

:) My posting here of late is not reflective of my gardening activities, rather simply my posting activities. It is not the everyday work that has prompted me to post, but rather something I just observed that I found rather extrordinary.

:eek: I frequently see the Venus Flytrap referred to as the "fastest" plant in terms of moving parts. Having cared for them myself, I have observed the almost lightning reflex of the mouth-like leaves. What I just saw a plant do amazed me by how nearly as "fast" it reacted in comparison to the Flytrap; that humble plant, contributor to science & social advance alike, is the Pea.

What I observed was the immediate curling of the Pea's straight tendril as I brought it into contact with a nearby wire fence. First forming a small hook on the tip in the direction of contact, the Pea then proceeded to coil that hook as well as start coiling further down the tendral at another "node". Within seconds the entire Pea plant was so secured by that 1 tendril that I was able to release the pressure I applied to bend it toward the fencing without it letting go & springing back.

This concludes another irregularly scheduled horticultural report.:cup:

[Michaelangelica]

:) the Pea.

What I observed was the immediate curling of the Pea's straight tendril as I brought it into contact with a nearby wire fence. First forming a small hook on the tip in the direction of contact, the Pea then proceeded to coil that hook as well as start coiling further down the tendral at another "node". Within seconds the entire Pea plant was so secured by that 1 tendril that I was able to release the pressure I applied to bend it toward the fencing without it letting go & springing back.

This concludes another irregularly scheduled horticultural report.:)

PS Edit: Pea picture put per post

 

You may be growing the Killer Pea.

Watch for tendrils under your door, especially on dark and stormy nights!:)

 

Cool here, but still a mild winter. Hasn't dropped below 2c yet. Most days 15C+. Have had a fair bit of rain. Still severe Council water restrictions.

I have a self sown tomato fruiting which is amazing I just hope I don't get a late frost.

 

Put in a stack of bulbs (Bought some cheap at end-of season sale) and quite a few cuttings stolen from neighbours, frangipanni etc. Planted some interesting violas and more parsley. I scored a "half-dead-plant"(their words) of Snail Creeper (A beautiful fragrant vine in the bean family) from the local hardware shop. Don't you love it when hardware shops don't know about deciduous plants! :)

Most stuff is in pots with home-made potting mix which includes cheap $3 a bag potting mix, charcoal, Kitty litter, coir and a little chicken and horse poo ( down the bottom of the pot so it does not burn)

Seems I'm starting a nursery again:doh:

[Racoon]

Well, the Garden is good, but not great. I'll try to upgrade.

 

The Brocolli didn't pan out at all.. It just flowered, looked like a bunch of weeds, and got eaten alive by bugs and slugs! :evil:

 

The Raspberries and Strawberries did great! :) but the plants are about berried out. (early season fruit) I had fun picking them.

 

The Tomatos and Peppers are doing good so far. Its still early for them yet.

 

I've lost a couple potted plants. The weathers been relatively warm and sunny, and if you do not water the ones in full sun, they can quickly die.

But, I've replaced them with a few new ones.

Feverfew is what I am going to "Tincturize" this year!

Its gonna' be "Rac's Headache Medicine" :) (Vodka w/ Feverfew)

 

I'll try and get a picture up of my Basil Box... I planted a nice trio, and they smell divine.

 

And theres a few others...

[TheBigDog]

We had our first dish made from our garden grown veggies tonight. Yellow squash! Seasoned with some basil that we grew too. It was delicious. The garden is coming up beautifully. And the flower garden is running wild! We have hollyhocks with 8 different colored blooms standing as high as nine feet in front of the house. And a dozen or more varieties of other flowers at their feet along the path. All blooming, all beautiful, and buzzing with bumble bees!

 

This is going to be a tasty summer and fall.

 

Bill

[TheBigDog]

And a picture tour of the garden as post 1700...

 

Here is #4 and me unloading the dirt into the garden beds. Everyone helps!

Here is a better view of the four garden beds we built. And you can see the ball field in the background. #3 is raking the dirt as I shovel to make sure it is filled level. He helped me with every load of dirt, taking seven trips to the garden place that filled half a yard at a time into the bed of my "girl truck".

Next is a picture of the garden with eerything coming up well. I am not sure what is what, but I know they are healthy. Shannon is the gardener, I am the laborer.

In the front of the house we planted a bunch of flowering plants. They got so big that you cannot see the iron hangar for the bird feeders. I am 6'4", and I cannot reach the top of the hollyhock by the front door. They are only supposed to grow 5 feet high. They are even taller now and all of them are blooming! I am holding my arm funny because I am racked with pain in my neck and shoulder for those couple of weeks. I am in the attractive swim trunks because no amount of pain is enough to keep me from swimming - and the hotties at the swimming pool really dig em :).

I think these are really cool flowers. I am not sure what they are, I should ask Shannon. I am always amazed at how nature finds a purpose for such an intricate pattern. Whatever they are I think they are beautiful.

And finally this picture, but only because you can see a bee in the big flower. Not too clear, but it is in there doing what bees do. These flowers have so much pollen that it sits in piles knocked down by the bees.

Here is a picture of the pollen piles in some of the red blooms so it shows more clearly.

This is the first time we have had any success with a garden. Whatever the reason for that, it is very cool!

 

Bill

[Racoon]

1 word Big Dog.

 

AWESOME!