What have you made with your garden produce lately?
AiliDeSpain
10 years ago
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Christian
10 years agoRelated Discussions
Have you been to your local nursery lately?
Comments (20)Come on by, Mandib! We've been getting lots of deliveries. Ten trucks or more a week (and man I feel it ~ I have to help unload every single one ;). Many of them are vegetable plants (got 350 flats of tomatoes and peppers alone last week) and perennials, but also many shrubs and trees. "Vegetable plants at the NG seemed to go quickly this year but perhaps that's because I'm fairly new to veggie gardening and don't know any better." Nope, Redthistle, they really are going quickly. It's amazing ~ half of those tomatoes and peppers I mentioned above were gone by Friday at closing (only a day or two!), along with fully 1/3 of the fifty or so flats of strawberries. If you want to get in on the best selection, sign up for the newsletter next time you're in the store (look for the stand with the clipboard to the left of the bathrooms) and be sure to come in on a Friday morning. Most deliveries are on Wednesdays and Thursdays, so best selection is on Friday morning. The newsletter goes out on Thursdays and lists what we got that week. If it's hard for you to get in on Friday mornings, it's best to call before you come just to make sure what you want is still there. And here's a tip on picking good tomato and pepper plants ~ look for the seed leaves. If they're still there and nicely green, that's a sign that the plant has been treated very well. Those seed leaves are very susceptible to mistreatment, yellowing or browning at almost the slightest thing, so if they're there you can rest assured that the plant wasn't severely overwatered, underwatered, overfed, etc. Of course if the tomato plant was buried extra-deep when it was transplanted, the seed leaves will be buried and you won't be able to tell, but it holds true on most plants. An ugly hole ~ PERFECT description of it, Lou_Midlothian. Ha! "...but unfortunately, they have been there too long last time I saw them." How can you tell, Lou? I'm not doubting you ~ I'm trying to pick up tips anywhere I can get them. And which growers use those pots? I'd love to know so I might could bring it up to the people who do the ordering. They probably have reasons for not ordering from them (they like to order from smaller, local growers, so maybe that's it), but then again it might be that they just don't know about them. Good job on planting and caring for those trees, too, Lou. They look GREAT! It looks like you avoided another common mistake ~ burying the root flare. Did you prune off the lower branches, too? I like doing that as it really does make those trees jump up out of the ground, doesn't it?...See MoreHave you checked your spices lately?
Comments (12)Check your current spices first ... if you see movement among a couple, it probably indicates the presence of livestock ... ... which, if you choose to use them for their usual purpose, will add a little extra protein to you diet, that day. On the other hand, if you spread them on a tray and put them in the oven on low for a while, the unwanted residents'll likely desert the place. It may work if you put the tray out into strong sunlight, as well, especially if you cover some pieces of cardboard with sheet aluminum and have the reflected sunlight shine on the tray, as well. Probably a good idea to drop them into a sieve and give them a shake, after the livestock 's departure, to get rid of their offloaded material, as well. I have a dim view of the claim that spices expire ... especially after a specified date. It depends on how they've been stored. I suggest that you try them to see whether they have retained at least a measure of their potency and be guided largely by that standard. As to the future regarding the ones that you decide to discard, here's what you do. Gather a dozen neighbours ... friends ... relatives ... ... well, not "gather" ... but contact them. Ask their opinion, especially of the ones that use quite a lot of spices, as to the validity of the "expiry date" project ... whether they've used old ones and what results they've had. See if they need some spices, of the kinds that you feel that you need to replace. Check out a place that you can buy them in bulk: as Linda said, they come a lot cheaper, that way. Buy some and share them with the other needy folks. While you're at it ... possibly some of your contacts may know some spicy stories which they may be willing to share ... you could pass them on ... and gain a reputation (of sorts). ole joyfuelled ... fuelled partially also by spicy stories ... but fresh out of fresh ones, at the moment P.S. If you end up with some empty bottles - they're great for holding small screws, map pins, regular pins, thumbtacks, paper clips, etc. (a bit too small to store store teeth, though). o j...See MoreWhat have you done in your rose gardens today..?
Comments (23)I had a very productive Mothers Day. It doesn't quite look that way, but its progress. When my adult children asked what I would like to do/receive/go out, I chose the best option for me. I said, "Let's BBQ and all work in the yard". That's exactly what we did. With four young men digging holes,( two sons, one SIL, and one "like a son to me"),I couldn't keep up with the planting, and I'm a bit particular about it. I rather do most of that myself when I can. One son knows what he's doing, and is allowed to plant once I have handed him a 5 gallon bucket of "a little of this and a little of that" to mix with my native clay soil into the hole. My 29-year-old daughter, (bossy little thing) kept the boys on track and put some organization to my tremendous pot ghetto. It is now reduced in numbers, as well. She cleared out a huge area of invasive bellflower punctata, although I know it will be back soon. Mine isn't even pretty. It has grayish blooms that are not attractive and they regularly take over the strawberry patch. I curse the day I purchased the stuff! Darcy Bussell was at last freed from her tangle of sweet peas, and is looking relieved. My DD did yank an entire cane off at the ground level, in the process, but I doubt Darcy will mind. Not much slows her down. That one cane provided 11 buds and blooms for the vase. My Ageratum Corymbosum has been planted into an afternoon shade position, and I hope it fairs better than the first one. I so want to grow this dark leaved beauty, yet my first specimen declined rapidly upon arrival and I don't know why. I am really hoping this one does well. Mini Rose "Diamond Eyes " went into the ground near the perennial Ageratum, as it tolerates a bit of shade and is also so very dark flowered. Impatiens sodenii 'Flash' (perennial for me) and Impatiens gandulifera candida(reseeding annual), went in there as well. These are both giant, 4' tall and wide plants. I have some empty holes, complete with gopher cages, ready to receive Iochroma cyanea 'Mr Plum' , Campanula vidalii (Azorina vidalii),and some other smaller plants. The edge of this area is reserved for my "someday dream Rose", "Annie Laurie McDowell". The plan is for this shaded corner to contain both dark and light contrasting plants. A new venture for me, as I normally stick to pastels. Marlorena, I have two verbascum 'Violetta' that need to go into the ground ASAP. I grew them from seed(somehow lost the third) . Just how tall are they for you? It will be great to know you're experience before siting them. I know our climates are quite different, but still I somehow envisioned 2-3 foot spires in front of my purple hollyhocks, perhaps not? Thanks, Lisa...See MoreWhat have you done for your compost lately?
Comments (117)I'm sorry you're going through that. (Nowadays) I would rent a trailer. I'll tell you why you should take them. They'll make you feel good when you get to your new place. You might be blue at first, but then you'll walk outside, and see those leaf bags, and they will cheer you up. I kid you not. Then, it won't be long before you're spreading them on your new beds---with new, exciting, garden plans occupying your thoughts---and you'll think to yourself, "That trailer money was the best money I ever spent." Here's what you do not want to do. You do not want to leave an especially well-balanced compost pile behind, with your failed marriage. You don't want to spend the next two months resenting that you had to leave that hard-earned bounty behind; the resentment fermenting until you find yourself in a fit of pique some day, back at your former husband's house, shoveling chipped leaves, carrot peelings, seaweed, lobster shells, eggshells, worms, and their casings, directly onto the unprotected, carpeted back of your 1984 Ford Escort station wagon....See Morecooperbailey
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