General Discussions 2009 - Chapter 28

I sure hear you Russ. A year is a long when you don't get anything done out there. That's ok, no hurry. Just cut down on the size of the garden this year. No need to bust your butt to get produce to Gary this year. Take it easy and enjoy the fact that you can get out and grow some stuff to put up.

Decide now what your priorities are. The stuff you appreciate most in the winter. Make your list and then decide how much of what you can do. My mom used to call that "armchair gardening". She started right after the holidays and had it all figured out by the time it was time to put those seeds in the ground.

Goin' to bed, one more day of this 2009, and hope the next one will be better for all of us.

(((hugs)))) Jeanette

Hi, everyone . Just checking in . Only have a second to say I miss all of you . Digger

Digger, Sally, I have been thinking of you. I bought an Excalibur dehydrator this fall. Next year in tomato season you are going to have to give me some pointers. Have a good new year.

Jeanette

I too will be dehydrating some of the produce. Mix them up and store them in ziplocs, I think! so they are ready for soups and such. Oh I will can some as well, just have to try some dried.
Our friend who is house bound, gave us some fresh oranges, her nephew had sent a whole crate. I will be taking her some canned pears and a jar of pickled beets. She appreciates all we bring her and it's a great way to check in on her.
We have started getting seed catalogs and are searching through them and deciding we need to save more seeds.

I am getting those too Russ. And I see there are a lot of sweet potato plants in them. Mostly Vardiman and Beurogard. I think that is how you spell them. probably not tho.

Think they are recommending the first ones for the northern climates.

Jeanette

TO ALL: in case I fall asleep - Happy New Year!!

Looking forward to 2010 and a new gardening season!!

LOL, before we ALL fall asleep, the same to you and everyone else on here Kent.

Jeanette

I did fall asleep!!!! so a little late, but I wish You all a happy and prosperous
New Year.
Jeanette, If you can get an area of garden warmed up, and the plants in early enough, and cover them if the temp is going to get down in the lower 30s, you may be able to raise them. I remember you ran out of season before they were really ready. I loved the flavor of the Vardaman but I had a short season too. Mine were kind of small. I didn't have to deal with excessively long vines. I think my beuregards had too much shade as well as more nitrogen than they needed. I just had them in the wrong area. The O Henry is an easy grow but I don't care for the flavor. Of course I love the flavor of the Centenial but they do vine out a long way, around 15 to 20 feet. If you watch them and see that they set roots out away from the main plant, you could cut that vine near that point and have another plant. I like to try keep them from putting out all those new roots. I think they will make larger sweet potatoes without those long vines trying to get the sun's energy to that set of roots too. But what do I know.
I tried to mount a tire and rim on my head. LOL
Russ

Russ, it is so good that you are able to joke about your terrible accident.

Even the ornamental sweet potatoes are pretty tough. I have had pieces of 2 different ones in pots that I hadn't gotten around to throwing out, that all of a sudden started growing and one is about a 2 foot long vine now. Climbing up another plant. Just in the last month.

I'm wondering if it is making tubers.

Do you have snow? It is 30 degrees this morning, snowing, and we have about 5 inches. We haven't had 30 degrees in over a month now.

Jeanette

I do not think there would be any tubers yet. Although some of the storage roots ie, tubers, may be really tiny at that point of growth.
By snow I am sure you mean the 20" that came with the blizzard. and is now in big drifts. I have taken your suggestion of not trying to carve out a castle of the big pile of snow that came from my drive way. yeah I think we have snow ! lol
The temp got up to 5 F today. The weatherman is warning us that tonight's temp will be around -20 F, but not much wind. I run a extension cord, down to the goat shed, this afternoon, to give them a heat lamp for the night. I'd like to put 2 lamps in there but that is 175' of extension cord. I don't think it would carry the load. I will need to run a # 10-3 down there if I want to have a better setup and run a tank heater to keep their water from freezing. For now I carry fresh water every morning and if the bucket is frozen solid I trade buckets.
I have begun to warm up but my feet are still cold. I sure could stand some of that global warming about now. Ah I guess I'm just complaining a little but we only have 2 more months of really cold weather then March it will start warming up. It may not stay that cold though as what was predicted was a mild winter with heavy snow fall. That will be a wait and see.
Russ

Russ, the last month or more we had what you are getting now. Would you believe the last 2 days we got about 5 inches of snow and it was 39 degrees today????? Yup, the snow is down to about 2 inches. Nice.

It has been cold, but you know what, I will take this weather over last year any time.

Jeanette

The furnace was running non stop this morning. I got up at 4 something to check on it. Looked at the thermometer while I was up. Brrrrrr, 24 below. Knew I should have shut off the upstairs, so I did that and went back to bed. Got up about 7:30, looked down toward the goats, they were not out yet. So I made breakfast before going down there. Barb turned on the news. When the weatherman said the temp, he must not have looked close. He said -2 degrees, I nearly barked a WHAT! Went in the other room and looked at the temp yup he goofed. It was -22. So much for accurate weather reporting .
After breakfast, went down to feed and water the goats. They didn't stir until I dumped the feed in the trough, Don't think they are too dumb. The heat lamp must have helped too. If I keep them another season, I may build a better shed so I can give them feed and hay inside. Determine that later!
Think I may spend the rest of the day going through the seed catalogs, lol.

Sounds like a good idea in temps like that What does Barb do with her days? Does she knit, crochet, sew, etc? Good time to find things like that to do when it is so cold out. Just have to stay in and stay warm.

Glad the goats were dong good enough to go find their food. Poor little guys. Another thing for you to do while sitting there in your nice warm living room. Drawing plans for their house to build in the summer.

Barb does a lot of reading, if it isn't for bible study or lessons for christian wim'in group, it's a novel of some kind. We try to study some together, more interesting that way. She used to knit, done some afghans for the girls but hasn't done knitting for some time now. Guess I keep her busy just checking up on me. Depending of course on what I'm doing.

The house was almost warm enough. I almost turned the oven on and put my feet on the open door. However I got by with wearing a pair of heavy boot liners.
The temp, did a steady climb today however it was slow. By this evening it had increased to a balmy -2 and now at 7:40pm it has gone down a tiny bit -3.5.
At least the furnace can keep up now.

Talk about balmy, we almost hit 40 today!! Yes, when it gets down real low it is hard for the electric furnace to keep up. That is when Bob uses the wood furnace. The wood kicks it way up.

Ask Barb if she has ever done any felting? I just heard of it for the first time. My daughter made a few bags, like tote bags felted. Real different I guess. I am going to make one.

Well, get busy drawing up and planning that garden. Don't forget the tomatoes. Did the elderly people miss theirs this summer? They probably didn't tell you, but I'll bet they did.

Well they didn't get as many but I made sure they got some. Same thing with the sweet potatoes, I gave them some of the larger ones, tried to use up the smaller ones for ourselves.
Just checked the temp again. It come back up a little it is now at -1.5. Do you suppose that global warming is kicking in?????????

If you're lucky. You might get our weather in a week or two. What we re having now.

It's 7:10 pm here and 20 degrees and dropping. I'm comfortably settled in the house and getting started on painting on a gourd. I've got to get these 8 finished.

It's soooo cold here. We hibernated all day yesterday and scratched out some design ideas for this years garden. We are expanding from twelve bales to twenty-four bales. And my girls asked me to put in a couple of raised beds too. So looks like our simple bale garden is going to be about triple the size of last year! ;-)

Now all I have to do is decide where everything goes... probably put out thirty tomato plants in fifteen of the bales.

I think we are going to try to plant from seed this year. At least some of the plants, I have a lot of heirloom tomato seeds on hand.

Won't be long now! ;-)

Jeff

Jeff; I know what you mean; when you say so cold! Sat. morning we had 24 below. Sun, it was 4 below this morning it was 22 below. I am sure you are in this same weather pattern or very soon will be. Sorry to say it but we will just have to grin and bear it. The only outside chores I done for those days, not counting going to church, was to carry some feed and water to 3 kid goats. The snow really squeaked under my boots, and the air fairly burned the inside of my nose with each breath. The goats really didn't want to come out of their shed but their desire to not let any of the three get their share, won out. However they were back inside after satisfying their initial craving.
That was it for the outdoors. We then were looking at the seed catalogs, trying to see who had the seed we didn't have. I even down loaded a garden planner. The only planning I had done before was just to think about where which veggie be planted and next to what. This year I'm going to put it down on paper?????
Okay I know it won't help with how fast the garden will produce but it is something to do. LOL
I usually start tomatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli and cabbages. Sometimes a special flower.
I do not think I will have all the bales I would like, due to lack of finances , so most of the garden will once again have to be in dirt. However I believe the Lord will provide with enough mulch between the rows, for weed control. That he will bless us with an abundance of fresh veggies.
Russ

So Russ, what seeds are you missing? I mean that you would plant if you had them? You know, there are so many seeds people have because they don't plant entire packets of them and they are left over.

There seem to be plenty of swap sites for flower seeds, I wonder if we shouldn't start one for vegetable seeds??? Maybe you don't want any more seeds, but have some left over from last year that someone else might be able to use??

Is anyone out there interested????

Let me know and I will talk to Admin and see what we need to do.

Jeanette

Sounds interesting Jeanette, I have noticed many people have listed what plants or seeds they have or want. I haven't searched those to try find what I wanted. Nor have I listed my haves and have not-s, guess I should.
Just in case though I'll check again what I would like in the line of seeds and try to list what I have extras of and see what happens.
That is as soon as I get back to checking, later.

Where are you seeing these Russ? Just in the seed swap or trade threads?

In the plant guide, when you look something up it will sometimes say two or more members have or want this plant. Usually it will be a want but not always. Haven't seen many for veggie seeds though.

Well, maybe nobody else is interested. But, now would be a good time to do it. Just between you and me then, what kind of plants are you interested in?

I would love some veggie seeds. The only problem is I don't have any to trade at this time. I have some I'm ordering, 8 ball zucchini, grape sized tomatoes, snap peas, green beans, and blackberrys, and garlic.

Well, I doubt that you will plant them all, so that is what I am talking about. They put so many seeds in each pack and charge so much for them.

I will get out my seeds and see what I have and make a list for anyone who wants them. And, say I have 25 seeds left in a pack and someone wants some, maybe I will send them half in case someone else wants some of the same seeds. Or, maybe they would plant them all. In that case I would send them all. I personally would not want any in trade because I have so little room for them that I just buy what I want.

Jeanette

Thats a good idea. I know some of the things I've ordered say there are 25 to 100 seeds in the package. Depends on what it is. I've ordered some herb seeds and they have 100 seeds in a package. Trading some for other things I'd like is the way to go.

Have you guys looked at ValueSeeds.com, site? These are Thompson & Morgan seeds (re-packaged) that were left over from last season. Good seeds, and nothing for over 99 cents. And shipping is $1.99 no matter how many you buy. It's worth checking out. I always end up with a big order, most of which I don't end up planting. They are not fancy packaging but are good seeds.


Here is a way to check your old seeds:

Check Old Vegetable Seeds for Viability

Some vegetable seeds do not store well. Corn, onions and parsley are several. An easy test exists to determine if saved seeds are viable. Lay down three or four sheets of paper towels, place a number of seeds (10 or 15) on them, and then cover with several other paper towels. Dampen the paper towels with water. Don’t apply too much water. The paper should feel like a wrung out sponge. Take everything and place it in a plastic bag and put it on top of the refrigerator. Check the paper towels every few days and add water if needed. After a week or 10 days, open the package and see how many seeds have germinated. If less than 70 percent of the seeds germinate, it’s probably time to throw the remainder of the seeds out and buy a new supply of seeds.

Read more at Suite101: Starting Fall Vegetables from Seed: Autumn Gardens Offer Quality Produce http://desertwaterwisegardens.suite101.com/article.cfm/starting_fall_vegetables_from_seed#ixzz0bsPExgKl

Here is an easier way: http://www.hillgardens.com/seed_longevity.htm

Jeanette

Here are some seeds if anyone would like them. I do not want any in return but if you have extras of some vegetable seeds it would be nice to list them and share. It is ok if you want seeds in trade for yours. I just don't.

Vegetable Seeds

Cucumber (slicers) packed for 2008
Beets, Jewel-toned, Red, Gold & Candystripe
Packed for 2006
Bush Beans (Blue Lake) Think 2008

Tomatoes , Totally Tomatoes (grower)

Campbells, determinate, packed for 2008
Heinz 1439, determinte, packed for 2009

Tomatoes, Seeds Trust (grower)

Galina, Siberian 59 days, packed for 2009 (yellow cherry)
Perestroika, Siberian 67 days, packed for 2009
Stupice, Heirloom, 52 days, packed for 2009

Okra Red Burgundy, T&M, packed for 2009 I think

These are the seeds I can find, and know I have another bag somewhere. If any of you are interested in any of these, let me know. If more than one wants the same seed, I think most of them have enough they can be divided.

Viability:

Beets 3 to 4 years
Beans 3 to 6 years
Okra 1 to 2 years
Tomatoes 4 to 7 years
Cucumbers 5 to 7 years

I think I can handle the postage, so don't worry about that.

Jeanette

edited to add Bush Beefsteak tomatoes




This message was edited Jan 9, 2010 1:47 PM

Forgot to say this will be on a first come first served basis but can divide packs too unless too many want the same ones. Jeanette


edited to add:

D-mail me if you want any.

This message was edited Jan 9, 2010 1:48 PM

Let's start a new Chapter!

GO TO Chapter 29 - click here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1069846/