my market garden facts 2008
kritzmicrogrow
15 years ago
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trianglejohn
15 years agodiggerdee zone 6 CT
15 years agoRelated Discussions
2008 Garden Resolutions
Comments (22)I don't really make resolutions, but I have plans. 1. I am going to begin killing off the elms that border the garden. I know this sounds mean and destructive, but they have incredibly invasive roots and have strangled and nearly killed a number of my plants, and the possibilities for peaceful coexistance with them are nil. Meanwhile we continue busy planting acorns and all the oak and flowering ash seedlings we stumble across (young nursery-grown trees we tried all died) to replace the terrible elms, and keep and enlarge our strip of woodland. We have a lot of four-inch tall oaks, while the ashes grow faster and are excellent trees. We need trees in general and work at getting more going in our difficult ground. 2. Pruning my roses harder. They're a few years old now and ready to have their oldest canes removed. I tried hard pruning on 'Louise Odier' last year and was really pleased with the results. Also a couple of flourishing Teas just need to be reduced in size, and the Noisettes will be more floriferous with harder cutting back, I do think. I really want a good flowering from my lovely 'Duchesse d'Auerstaedt'. 3. Continue digging the worst garden ground. The Rose Road and the Biscione: heavy compacted stony clay and pure clay respectively. Two to three years of heavy mulching have finally improved the ground to the point that I can get a shovel into it. So I pull out a shovelful of dirt, clean it of Bermuda grass roots (greatly weakened by the mulch), wild onions, and bindweed roots, and layer it back again with hay, compost, and whatever other organic matter I can find. I think healthy pruned-off canes are going to go in the bottom. 4. Keep an eye open for disease. I don't mind blackspot and mildew, and haven't seen rust, but I am seeing two worrisome illnesses. One is a canker (?) that forms on canes at joints, and I'm not sure how dangerous it is. The other caused rapid die-back of whole canes and has killed a couple of plants, caused heavy damage to a couple of others, and shown up on still others. For now I'm watching. These are new problems for me. 5. I'm still thinking about a large order of shrubs and ornamental trees from a nursery in Rome that has a most delicious catalog. I wanted to get all our new plants in the ground by Christmas, and succeeded with the three rose orders (hurray!), and these would be late. However, we are having a decently wet winter so far, thank Heaven. The last two years have been very dry. 6. Take more cuttings of aromatic sub-shrubs: lavender, thyme, sage, etc. They root easily and I need them in abundant quantities. 7. Figure out a way to supply a more humid environment when summer comes for my cuttings rooting in pots and my 'jungly' Sansevierias. Melissa...See MoreViolet Barn display at GardenScape 2008, Rochester NY
Comments (15)How to decide, indeed! Perhaps easy for those of you with large collections, who already have many that they sell. But for me, it was a combination of exhilaration and nervous breakdown. After looking at their site, I compiled a wish list. But some of the plants that were "out of stock" on the site were at the show, some looked prettier than on the site, etc. etc. I did not stick to the list. Couldn't. I had a very hard time choosing, because they all looked great. Everyone was laughing at me because I brought the little cart that I take to the farmer's market to haul melons and corn. I brought along 2 boxes that fit perfectly in the bottom, so I could protect the violet babies from being crushed by other things that I would buy (lilies, garden ornaments). It is still winter here, so boxes were a good idea to protect against the weather outside, too. Somebody suggested that I should take a picture of the cart, and I wanted a picture of Olive. She more than obliged. Olive got out her wad of $$$ and said something like "See, now I have all of your money" to mug for the picture. Contents of box #1 Contents of box #2 I have more pictures of her booth if anyone is interested. I keep looking at them and sighing. Heaven on Earth (for me!) ~Bunnycat...See More2008 garden
Comments (8)Jim, the short answer to your question is I don't know. The long answer is a bit of a story.. Last year I purchased a Burpee variety packet showing 4 varieties of eggplant. These were a trial to add to my proven Rosita and Ichiban. One of these trial plants produced an eggplant that did not match anything on the seed packet picture. Clearly it was a substitute. It resembled Ping Tung and produced so well that I decided to let 2 eggplants go to seed and give them a run this year. What you see in the foreground are those plants. They seem to have produced fairly close to what I had last year. Although, there is a bit of variability from one plant to the next - basically some are a bit darker than the others. I don't plan on keeping any seeds from these plants but I definitely will plant some of last years seeds again next year. (By the way, there are 8 or 9 Rosita plants not visible in the picture. These are at the other end of the eggplant row.) Regarding the Colorado Potato beetle question, I don't have too much of a problem with this pest. I actually had to remind myself what these looked like. (See link below.) However, I do have a problem with the flea beatles and spider mites. If I treat the flea beatles with Sevin then the spider mites tend to get out of control. I have found that spider mite control to be blasting the underside of the leaves with a hose nozzel and/or spraying with a soap solution to be the best control... After a while the spider mite problems seem to eventually subside.. which happens to be the case now. (I guess for now I'm winning the battle.) Here is a link that might be useful: Eggplant Fact Sheet from OSU...See MoreMarket Gardening- WOW, what a tough sport!!
Comments (8)I freely admit I have a very different climate and different bugs, but in general, healthy soil and good post harvest clean up give you much less carry over and much less trouble. A lot of bugs have to come from a lot of parents and their procreation. clean up keeps the generation problem to a minimum. Healthy soil makes healthy plants that are better able to resist insect invasion although some bugs aren't stopped by even the healthiest plants. and clean healthy beds tend to benefit a range of good beneficial life. I have tried to modify turn-the-soil methods for organic and never did well. I have had good success with mulch beds. I honestly can't tell what all the reasons are. Although I have studies in college, learned from others, and been a keen observer, there is such a wealthy complexity to a no-till, soil horizons soil, I can't fully detail all the reasons it works. It just does. for large scale, flail hammer mowers, rakes, and drill planters can do 90% of the work in 10% of the time, but you still have to walk every row often and tend and fuss. You have to become an integral part of the soil and the life it supports. Then it supports you too. as to marketing flawed produce. samples and talking to folks. If they taste the difference and understand the product, you got 'em....See Moresteve22802
15 years agokritzmicrogrow
15 years agogponder
15 years agocanuckistani
15 years agonorcalconifers
15 years agogardenerwannabe6
15 years agonorcalconifers
15 years agoflowermanoat
15 years agokritzmicrogrow
15 years agotulsacityfarmer
15 years agogardener1908
15 years ago
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kritzmicrogrowOriginal Author