2023 Garden Thread
- Thread starter mcswny
- Start date
No on the seeds, but I did find two bags of tulips when cleaning the garage yesterday that I forgot to plant back in the fall. Threw 'em in the ground cause why not.
I imagine they’ll still sprout?
Dr. Magill
Life of the Party
You could force them in the freezer for 6 weeks and grow them on in containers
They will bloom
They will bloom
Trimmed the dead canes from last year’s blackberry vines. New vines for this year are still on the ground and will be threaded through the trellis in late winter/early spring. It was 45 degrees this afternoon in the Tri Cities and it felt good to be working outside in the yard.
Tying in my raspberries from last year is on my list for this weekend.
Capt Insano Emeritis
Legend
Ihave a lot of stuff growing it will take off in the next 6 weeks…tatsoi, corn salad . Red brussel sprouts , purplr sprouting biennial broccoli and various alliums onions garlic and shallots. My parsley root and herbs are still at it though a bit rough looking. Seed starting in 6 weeks. Got to order a heat mat upgrade in the next couple days. Rightnow i have 4 pepper plants fruiting in the greenhouse… chiltepin and a few aji plants
Capt Insano Emeritis
Legend
That soil needs a lot of compost added!
ThomasM
corvus ossifragus
As I mentioned in last year's thread, our garden is a collection of rare rhododendron species (not ornamental hybrids although we have some of those too) from around the world. We're looking to expand the collection the previous owners put together from it's current 200+ and make the experience something like the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden at Weyerhauser with walking trails and such. Right now the collection is spread over 5 acres of natural forest and it's hard to see them all. It'll likely be my retirement in a few years before I can really get into it but we'll get started this year.
To that end, I got a tractor as a holiday gift to myself along with a mower deck and a grapple. I never thought of myself as a 'tractor owner' but I'm looking forward to not having to move mulch and gravel by wheelbarrow any more...
One interesting thing for the plant/nature lovers - as I've been combing the forest trying to survey and update the collection records, I'm coming across a fair number of naturally reproduced rhodies. They have no provenance so I can only call them "R. unknown hybrid" and it's a bit of a detective game to guess at parentage. None of them are natives as we don't have any of Washington's native R. macrophyllum in our collection or close by which is admittedly weird. Looking forward to seeing what the flowers look like when they get a little older. Here's a cool one overlooking the Sol Duc.
To that end, I got a tractor as a holiday gift to myself along with a mower deck and a grapple. I never thought of myself as a 'tractor owner' but I'm looking forward to not having to move mulch and gravel by wheelbarrow any more...
One interesting thing for the plant/nature lovers - as I've been combing the forest trying to survey and update the collection records, I'm coming across a fair number of naturally reproduced rhodies. They have no provenance so I can only call them "R. unknown hybrid" and it's a bit of a detective game to guess at parentage. None of them are natives as we don't have any of Washington's native R. macrophyllum in our collection or close by which is admittedly weird. Looking forward to seeing what the flowers look like when they get a little older. Here's a cool one overlooking the Sol Duc.
O clarkii lewisi
Steelhead
No on the seeds - I stick with my farmers market starts. I know that seeds are cheaper but I love the stuff I get from my farmers. My garlic is doing well and is such a fun crop that comes up in December for July harvest.
I am digging up my asparagus to make room for more tomatoes. The asparagus spears are the best that I have ever eaten but it takes up so much room that the quantity of edible spears is not a good tradeoff. But dang it is one of the hardest roots that I have ever dug up. I hate to see it go but with my limited space - I gotta have more tomatoes. Anyone else doing asparagus on a scale large enough to serve up for dinner?
I am digging up my asparagus to make room for more tomatoes. The asparagus spears are the best that I have ever eaten but it takes up so much room that the quantity of edible spears is not a good tradeoff. But dang it is one of the hardest roots that I have ever dug up. I hate to see it go but with my limited space - I gotta have more tomatoes. Anyone else doing asparagus on a scale large enough to serve up for dinner?
We have tried 2 times to get asparagus going in grow bags, because it is invasive. And it had not worked, do we might just buy from a local farmer.
We are expanding our garden area and adding several berry plants. We also, expanded the variety of garlic for this coming year since it did so well last year!
Happy New Year!
O Clarkii got me thinking. What are your favorite crops/varieties of garden vegetables in terms of edible produce per space?
I have a limited amount of space (maybe 100ish square feet) of raised beds and want to maximize the output.
I'm going into year 3 of gardening and have learned a lot so far, but have a lot more to go.
I have a limited amount of space (maybe 100ish square feet) of raised beds and want to maximize the output.
I'm going into year 3 of gardening and have learned a lot so far, but have a lot more to go.
Carrots are great as you can keep them in the dirt and harvest them all Winter. Radish are fast and can be planted anywhere you have vacant dirt. The white Icecicle(iceberg?)are big and mild tasting. Mustard greens grow fast and make good greens when trimmed small. Bush green beans can be planted tight together and still produce....also, try to plant two crops in the same space, an early Spring crop followed by a quick late Summer variety in the same spot.
Check out square foot gardening. It is a popular book/ method for beginners and those with limited space to maximize the production of garden crops.
Lots of info on line about this.
I have never done it, but know folks who have.
Question
seeds vs pelleted seeds. What seeds and why would you use them. Is there an advantage?
seeds vs pelleted seeds. What seeds and why would you use them. Is there an advantage?
Dr. Magill
Life of the Party
Some seeds small as dust
Pelleted are easy to handle and sow
They are normally sowed on top as most really small seeds are
The coating helps keep them hydrated
Some pelleted seeds have more than one seed per pellet
Pelleted are easy to handle and sow
They are normally sowed on top as most really small seeds are
The coating helps keep them hydrated
Some pelleted seeds have more than one seed per pellet
That looks a good deal like an R. sinogrande, a very slow grower that I have in a shady spot. I was told to expect a bloom once every 15 or 20 years if it really likes its location.