want to chat with fellow shiitake growers
everettFL
20 years ago
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everettFL
20 years agoRelated Discussions
WANTED: anyone out there in so cal????
Comments (94)So funny...I am the one who started this thread back in 2004 (and we shortly thereafter moved to Colorado). We moved back to So Cal last September, and just now moved into a home on a huge horse ranch in San Timoteo Canyon. Our yard is a blank slate (except for having mature pepper and birch trees)...no grass, so I am on the lookout for anything drought tolerant and rabbit proof. I don't have a lot to trade at this point, as I am starting all over, but I do have some seeds and can get my hands on some great succulents (as my mom and dad's succulent garden is always in need of trimming). And if anyone is in Redlands or thereabouts, let's see about having some get togethers to do some trading!...See MoreWANTED: part 4:Sprinbank Park,London On plant exchange
Comments (180)I have a spot at my place . it is dry dry dry 365 days of the year as it is shaded by cedars and gets no rain to speak of . Now Vinca is a good ground cover for dry sun or shade and that is what i have growing there . Bonus it has flowers in the spring . Now I wouldnt recommend it if it is in a spot that you are constantly walking thru as it is a ground cover that operates by runners as most are . The other thing icould offer is creeping buttercup . again good in dry sunny spot . Has brilliant yellow blooms in spring ( varigated so leaves are pretty too) Let me know if either of these interest you . signet...See MoreOklahoma Forum Seed Swap - Thread 2
Comments (47)OK, y'all, this thread is so active I can hardy keep up, but I am going to try. Melissa, We are so glad you stumbled across this forum too. Containers are a great way to garden but they do require very careful attention to watering. Also, the soilless mix to fill them is expensive (often, when filling up my containers, I mix up my own soilless mix for far less than I'd spend buying a name brand soil-less mix/potting soil). The size/productivity of your plants is limited by the size of your container so for most things, the larger the container, the better. Also, during periods of hotter weather, containers may need to be watered daily and in the hottest 100-degree-plus weather, perhaps twice a day. The easiest way is to hook up a drip irrigation system and put it on a timer, especially if you are away from home a lot. Container gardening could be a whole thread in itself. I'll start a container gardening thread today or tomorrow and try to lay out some of the basics. Containers do not have to be fancy containers though....I use Tidy Cat litter buckets, which I have saved and used the whole decade-plus that we've lived here, and I spray paint them dark green using Fusion paint made especially for painting plastics. I also use Sunleaves grow bags. With clay soil, it takes years of constant amending to get it into really good shape. In the past I have only expanded my garden a little at a time....by adding an area maybe 40 to 60 feet long by 5 to 6 feet wide. Gumbo clay needs all the help it can get but it can be turned into great soil over a period of time. Our formerly red clay in the garden area is now a nice brown clayey loam because we've added organic matter to it for ten years, so I finally feel ready to start another garden spot....in three different places. However, they all will get fairly minimal improvement this winter (because I'm going to be working on 3 fairly large areas at once) and then every year I'll improve them more until they finally have pretty good soil. With clay the issue is that the particles of soil stick together and the prevents water from soaking in as well as it should, it also ensures that when the soil dries it is as hard and impenetrable as concrete so water just rolls off the surface and doesn't soak in, and it makes it hard for plant roots to grow. Technically, plant roots do not grow in soil. Rather, they grow in the air spaces between soil particles. Clay soil particles clump together so tightly that there are no air spaces for roots to grow in, and that's why we have to add tons of organic matter....to break up the particles of gumbo clay. The reason raised beds work so well with clay is that they put your plant roots in improved soil above the regular grade of the surrounding area. That allows water to drain down out of the beds to a certain extent. When 12.4 inches of rain fell here at our house in one day last year, I expected to lose my entire garden. You cannot expect ANY vegetable plant to survive that kind of flooding rainfall in clay soil. What did I lose? Only some onions and potatoes and a few corn plants that were not in a raised bed. Had I not had raised beds, I would have lost everything. George, We get more of the bermuda grass out by hand tools too, but in certain areas the ground is so clayey that we have to break it first with a tiller. When we do that, I rake out/remove by hand all the grass runners and stolons I can afterward, but it is hard to get a lot of it because it has been chopped into tiny pieces. Eventually, over several years time, I mostly win the bermuda war. Melissa, For hand tools, buy the absolute highest quality tools you can find and you'll never regret it. A high quality hand tool is a thing of beauty! Jay, I have bindweed in two places here and despite everything I do, it seems impossible to erradicate. Some years it isn't as bad, and this was one of those years....or maybe I am gradually winning the war. I hate bindweed as much as I hate bermuda grass and Johnson grass. Carol, I love containers and have found them to be lifesavers in very wet years like 2007. None of the plants I have in containers come close to approaching the size/productivity those same varieties achieve in the ground, but they do well enough to satisfy me. This year, there were several tomatoes that produced exceptionally well in feed tubs....including Chocolate Stripes, Momotaro and Scarlet Red. I wish I had 100 more feed tubs (I only have six). Y'all, I have to agree that no one looks the way I pictured them but.....I am going to stay on everybody's good side by saying that every person I met at the swap that I had not met before was younger, thinner and prettier than I had imagined. The one thing I already knew though was that every one one of them had a big heart of gold beating there in their chest and that was confirmed when I met them. Dawn...See More*Second Postings Haves/Wants for the Spring 2010 MTPS*
Comments (116)so excited! i have been digging and potting and labeling since i got home from work. then when it got dark i came inside and have been reading and reviewing on here! columbiastock- could i have some orange mint cuttings? i "borrowed" some orange mint and chocolate mint cuttings from the missouri botanical gardens last june but the orange didn't make the drive back to nashville. by the way, everyone needs to go to the botanical gardens in st louis. it is beyond amazing. mtps field trip! steve- i have some ivy for you and mint and oregano. i have a bunch of chocolate mint. i consider it to be awesome since i stole it from the missouri botanical gardens. you are welcome to one if you'd like. i think i am going to have some key lime basil which is about my favorite thing ever, but not big enough to bring yet. if they make it i'll hopefully have some in the fall or can meet you with some before then. it smells so good. i was told when i bought it (in st louis at the soulard farmers market) that it is fantastic in key lime ice cream and on fish. i mostly just smelled it just about every time i stepped foot outside last summer. heather- i have a solomon's seal for you. the mexican bamboo interests me... and the scented geraniums as well. everything you have interests me! i'll probably just wander by your tent a lot tomorrow toward the wrapping up phase and see what kind of stragglers you want to donate. i saw those purple flash peppers at cheeckwood last fall. maybe i can get there some and find them and borrow some seeds. columbiajen- i have some red cannas i am bringing. at least i think they are red. let me know if you want some. mspam- i have a lot of things not yet claimed. i am still fairly new to gardening myself and love to take the leftovers people don't want to take back home at the end of the swap. i second tiffany- what is on heather's list that i don't want! i was the same way at the fall swap. i kept finding myself back at heather's tent even when i tried to stay away. it was like a magnetic field! i was drawn to her lovely plants and lovely conversation and gardening tips! and her hat was awesome, too. i actually got way more into herbs after talking with you last fall, heather. can i join the crazy plant lady in training club?!?! connie, heather, and steve always have so much i feel greedy when reading their lists! my goal is to be like you guys someday! i work for the school system and have one week until a 2 month break from work, so this summer i am going to spend a lot of time organizing and taking pictures of my yard stuff so i can show off better next year, and hopefully remember what i have better as well. see you all tomorrow morning!!! can't wait!!! rebecca i second tiffany- what is on heather's list that i don't want! i was the same at the fall. i kept finding myself back at heather's tent even when i tried to stay away. i was drawn to her lovely plants and lovely conversation and gardening tips! i actually got way more into herbs after talking with you last fall, heather. mspam- i have a lot of things not yet claimed. i am still fairly new to gardening myself and love to take the leftovers people don't want to take back home at the end of the swap....See Morefishead
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