Idle curiosity -- what is the furthest north you can grow corn?
denninmi
11 years ago
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Ginny McLean_Petite_Garden
11 years agoUser
11 years agoRelated Discussions
what vegetables will grow in acidic soil?
Comments (24)[quote]Posted by fertilizersalesman z6 PA (My Page) on Mon, Apr 28, 08 at 12:42 "Most all plants grow best with a soil pH in the 6.2 to 6.8 range because that is where most all soil nutrients are most readily available. A soil well endowed with organic matter will allow plants to grow in a wider pH range because that OM buffers the plants growing in that soil." "I also agree with the others that increasing the organic content of that mineral soil will allow your plants to grow well in a wider pH range than they would with no organic matter." The concern in low pH soils is not nutrient availability, it is aluminum toxicity. Compost will not alleviate this toxicity unless it actually raises the pH (which it may very well do depending on what was composted), if so it is not "allowing the plants to grow in a wider pH range" it is changing the pH. Some vegetables that grow well down to pH 5.5: Kale Potatoes Pumpkins [/quote] Hi, Im in a similar situation here as the original poster. I moved into a new house and the first couple years of growing stuff in the garden was amazing. But then productivity tailed off massively, for the past two years we had pretty much a total failure of crops. I attributed this to the fact the soild may have turned acidic as everything else was right. The lack of things growing in the soil of late probably leaving the soil even more prone to becoming acidified by the rain and having nutrient wash-out. I tested with an electronic meter which has been very inconistent but showed spots as low as 5.0 but majority around neutral. It is very much planting season now here, and Im at a loss as what to plant after last years total crop failure. Squash-pumpkins are my favourite thing, but they failed completely to establish in the ground last year. So am wondering if they are really suitably for slighty acidic soil? I have some more well rotted horse manure but am scared to apply in case it turns things more acidic. I grw broccoli last year which were great to begin with but then lost all the leaves and became woody. So I suspect soil is too acidic to grow brassicas. I like Kale and would love to grow it but am worried that it just would not work. I do not have access to buying lime, but can have very small wood fires in garden to collect wood ash. Would it be worth collecting some and applying it directly before planting something like kale or chinese cabbage?...See MoreDo you find canning is solitary?
Comments (26)I'm very happy with solitary canning. It's kind of a Zen interval. I grew up in a canning family (though now I cringe at some of the unsafe methods). I was one of the "canning serfs" which means kids did the peeling, pitting, all the labor of preparation, but never actually made jelly (which my step-mother was wonderful at) or canned pickles or fruits or green beans themselves. But everyone canned. And even now, many of my relatives and in-laws and people around town at least make pickles or freezer jam or venison sausage or something. So if there isn't the intensity of the old-time canning, there's still a respect and understanding of it as an important adjunct to daily life. People here never question the value of home food preservation or gardening. They admire it. My home town has a population of Old Believer Russians who pickle and can. They're traditional. I doubt they've read a Ball Blue Book in their lives. But they consider food preservation integral, as do the Mennonites. My DH comes from a family which survived for a number of years (following their father's injury) on salmon, venison, all the veggies from their garden, so he's the pressure-canner expert. I learned pressure-canning from him since my family didn't hunt and didn't can meat. We butchered and froze meat and made soap, which is another aspect of home preservation. Since DH's disabled and can't stand on his feet for long periods, I can on my own. But I don't mind it at all. Canning is peaceful. He's proud of my skills and if he can't assist physically, I always feel he's "in my corner" so-to-speak. He never doubts the value of what I do, praises my preserves and appreciates my salsa. He's also the person I turn to whenever I have a PC question because as a chemical technician he spent years working with steam boilers and such. I feel very fortunate. I live in an area where pressure canners and jars are easily available every canning season. Now that it's just two of us I have more supplies than I need. And even if my neighbors don't preserve foods themselves, they understand and appreciate what I do. Here I'm not an oddball. I'm a guru. Carol...See MoreSummer is FINALLY here! How 's your garden growing?
Comments (68)It IS taking a long time to load, Bonnie. I was able to fold half a line of clothes waiting . . . Does starting a harvest thread make sense? I had lettuce in my lunch sandwich today but we are definitely down to the last of it. We'll see if the most recent transplants can overcome the dog days of Summer. Three beds of peas have been ripped out so far. I harvested the shallots from sets this week! A little early but it was either get them out of the ground or allow the weeds in the bed to run to seed! What is with the onion family? They offer ZERO resistance to weeds and trying to pull a weed beside an onion at almost any stage of growth means taking a 50/50 chance of ripping the onion out of the ground along with the weed! Fortunately, I've still got the shallots-from-seed left in the bed, uh well, 50% of them. I think they'll be able to grow to be sets that can survive a Winter. I'd be pleased to get another variety going. All onions are doing well where more attentive weeding prevailed. Altho' I am a little worried about my leeks. I blamed the American Flag variety for being so scrawny last year and went back to Lancelot . . . they seem rather scrawny, themselves. It looks as tho' sweet onions from seed will continue "bulbing-up" sufficiently not to embarrass me in o8. The sweets from plants are HUGE! The little leeks will get more fish emulsion tomorrow and maybe they can catch up. The 1st zucchini came off a vine nearly 10 days ago. Not much sign of anything else in the cucurbit patch with the exception of small Fastbreak cantaloupes forming! Oh, and it looks like I'll have a good sized pun'kin for Halloween. The earliest of the sweet corn has started to tassel. And hey, I've got the 1st Dusky eggplant for tomorrow's lunch!! Somehow, it seems like we should be later in the season . . . Maybe that's because we went from a cool Spring, to very pleasant warm weather, to some Summer HEAT, to today. Whereas it was 91° mid-afternoon yesterday, it was 63° with a smattering of rain showers at the same time today. Makes it seem like Autumn. digitS'...See MoreNew things we're all growing (or attempting to) winter '15/spring '16
Comments (32)A few more updates.. Within the last couple of days, two sapodilla seeds have sprouted, and just today, I saw that two of the Peruvian apple cacti had sprouted, but they were right behind the plant tag, and I didn't see them until moving the tag. I've also got some white pitaya (dragon fruit) seedlings that have been sprouting over the last week or so. I'd all but gave up on many of these things, but I guess there is some hope for things that haven't sprouted so far. Still hoping for some A. Reticulata, A. Squamosa, Mexican cream guavas, purple star apple, blackberry jam fruit, phalsa berries, and jujubes that I'd recently planted (after cracking the shell and soaking in hot water for several days, with several water changes) from a seedling tree I had. So far, I've also had 4 out of the 7 chestnut seeds sprout. So, the final number that will have sprouted will be between 4 and 7. I'll probably propagate them in larger numbers next season, as long as I can verify the type and where they were grown. If nothing else, I could use them as rootstock for grafting. Lastly, I planted out the new unframed no-till (back to Eden) raised bed with two cassava plants and five sweet potato plants. I'll probably go back in after all of this rain and flooding and fill in the area with peanuts as well. It has a higher sand content than any of my other beds....See MoreSlimy_Okra
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