New bees chit chat thread...Seed Junkies welcome 09/08-09

There's a little bit of crazy in all of us, some folks just don't admit it as easily as the rest of us.
Don't you think?

I gathered seeds of this vine and can't remember what the name is. Do anyone of you know. It's purple and the size of morning glories. Has larger size seeds than MG.

Never mind- I got it. Lavender moon vine- Ipomoea turbinata
I had forgot the name and was putting seeds in packs and wanted to put correct name on there.

mekos, it is very pretty.

Hey at least it's a good kinda crazy, lol. There are so many WORSE types of crazy we could be... huh, tell them THAT! lol

Thanks, they bloomed so nice. I had blooms out there everyday for several months and now making seeds. I gathered some a few days ago to dry out before putting in bags, but just couldn't remember the name. I put it on plant ID and they got it fast. Then I remembered.

So far today I got all of my EE (colocasia) together and planted them in a big pot to keep on the front porch. Planted Var. wand. jew in hanging pot on the porch. Took hardy geranium out of hanging pot, planted in the ground, planted 6 of my little baby cedar trees. 10 more to go I think.. Found 3 little Christmas ferns in the ground and put them together in a big clay pot to see what I or they will do.. Found another cluster of Red Spider Lily bulbs when I dug the hole for the geranium, Oh yeah, planted my new red, pink, and tropicana cannas.. Was gonna plant some seeds today but can't decide which ones I want to plant, lol.. To be continued I'm sure... lol and I do believe we are gonna start one heck of an awesome veggie seed auction tonight ladies.. I don't have a lot of seeds to start us out, but there will be SURPRISES for heirloom veggie seed bids...

Hello everyone...

Just wanted to stop in for a few minutes...

Hope you guys are all starting to feel better....

The sun is shining today ... Finally... I have to go out nd make sure my irises arent watterlogged, then I have some japanses irises I need to move to a sunnier spot...The yard needs to be mowed after 8 days of rain... sigh maybe i can mow the high spots ...Hope you all are having a blessed day ttyl...Trish

OH my NOID daylilies are reblooming.... yeahhhh I didnt know they even rebloomed lol so a nice surprise... They never rebloomed at Moms...But they got very little sun there so maybe thats the key... lots of sunshine lots of blooms...

Hi huneybunch, haven't seen you on for a while. Good to see ya

Hi Everyone

Out in the yard today! Nice, overcast, 88 degrees. LOL We should start a thread "How crazy are you". I have 1000 sq ft of tropicals to unplunge and dig up. Not counting the bromeliads, orchids, ferns and plumerias that have to find a winter home. A garden that needs to be broken down and moved to a sunnier spot. A huge screened lanai I haven't cleaned out and up fully yet. Did I mention the hostas that need planting in that lasagna bed I'm not quite finished with or the 9 oakleaf hydrangeas that need to go in the ground. And then there's this: LOL I'm sure I'm not the only one!

hey Chelle my computer crashed and im just now getting it back up and running properly then it was raining for 8 days and have broadband so you can get online during the rain ....



Do you guys need another addiction???

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1007584/

Look at these beauties...

omg im going out to move mine right now lol I stuck them where they are (under a tree) because I didnt have time to plant them properly that day and they have stayed there.. SO im out to rescue them today and give them the sunshine they prefer....

Hi Huneybunch

I saw these last week. Aren't they Gorgeous! She has a fantastic garden. I'm hooked. We'll have to find a good source for them. Start hauling more manure Mechelle for your next lasagna bed. LOL

Oh Seray that sounds like alot of work.... Im thankful most things I grow here can stay in the ground ... Seldom gets below freezing....I'll have to dig my mandevilla if it want it to survive and a few hibiscus that arent hardy. I have been moving some hosta around hoping to fill in around some trees for next summer....

I moved these when I moved from FL. They just keep getting bigger and bigger. LOL I good tractor with a front end loader and very sharp clippers will get them down to size in no time. :) Don't mind the work. :) I am beginning to add things that don't need moving that's for sure.

I think Im gonna try my hand at Sq. Ft. gardening. combined with lasagna gardening.. and see what happens...


just thought i would randomly throw that out there

hey cue..... I feel like I am gardening by the acre here... yet many aches left unturned... guess that means alot more work... Definetly want things I dont have to move every year ...

Doesn't your twin do square foot gardening Cue?

O.K. do you have instruction on Sq. Foot Gardening?
New one to me.

Loca told us once, I think, how she did it. Give us the goods Cue. I know you've researched it.

HI Everyone Looks like a busy day for just about all of us today. I've pulled weeds, crocheted, pulled more weeds, crocheted, went with hubby for a ride to the persimmon tree where he picked about a gallon, then down to the bottom field to check for hazelnuts.found alot of bushes but not that many nuts, he showed me a plant with seed heads on it can't remember what he called it but told me it has pretty flowers and he's watching the seed heads for when they are dry to bring to me. Then he found an old hollow tree with honey oh boy he's happy now going to call a beekeeper he knows to help him with that later and to help him set up hives closer to the house. Then back to the house to crochet a bit then dishes. He's fixing his own supper so I don't have to cook tonight.

Cue I was already thinking about doing that in my butterfly garden when I'm ready to plant it so any research you've found cough up right now.
Everyone, she guessed who sent that surprise so thanks to everyone who was in on it and helped me confuse her and thanks to anyone else who wasn't in on it and guessed but didn't tattle on me.

OH Mindy, sounds like you got him trained now, going flower seed hunting for you and cooking his own supper, hot dog.

LOL Mekos I didn't train him to cook he was doing that for himself and his older brother before I married him while their parents were gone shopping. Usually fixed his brother breakfast but would cook lunch or supper if he needed to. He likes to cook and doesn't like the way I fix some of his favorites so does them himself.

basically, sq ft gardening is a technique of maximizing your growing area with much less space.

yes my twin does in fact garden this way. if you have limited space, but still want that awesome veggie garden.. then this is a way to achieve that.

this is a great link for those of you that are interested. very informative:
http://www.squarefootgardening.com/index.php/The-Project/how-to-square-foot-garden.html

thanks, looks like it would work very well.

Thanks for the info!

Hi everyone - busy busy day for me today so haven't been on much... Just checking in and trying to catch up - lol.

Yup - I square foot garden. The link cue gave above is good. Get the book. I got mine pretty cheap on Amazon or check the library. Get the new one, not the original as some things have changes. The older book still has the basics though. I've got pics somewhere of my beds. Gotta find them and I'll post some.

Basically right now I have 108 sq ft of space, each square = one crop, whether that be 1 pepper plant or 16 carrots - you get the idea. I have 3 - 4' x 4' beds, 1 - 2' x 10' bed and 1 - 4' x 10' bed.

OK, here's a couple pics I found real quick . . .

As you can see, the 4' x 10' bed is not finished yet here . . .

One more view - this was about 2 months after planting these crops, approximately . . .

Learned a few things to do differently, like grow more stuff vertically. Even squash and melons - easy if you grow smaller varieties or ones designed for containers. Tomatoes really need more than 1 sq ft, but you can make it work if you cage them and cut suckers on your indeterminate ones so they don't sprawl so much.

Thanks K2!!! Looks compact and easy to maintain. What's the production like? Are you freezing or canning anything? I think you told me you rotate so you have goodies all season. Is that corn I see growing in the higher bed? :)

That's corn - the first experimental crop. The ants got more than I did - lol. Corn is tough - you need to have a lot planted close together for good pollination, or you need to go shake the stalks to drop the pollen when the tassels appear. I didn't grow enough to freeze or can this season as we started as an experiment - a little of this and a little of that. But what we did grow was fabulous, and you can grow a lot in a little space. Plus, once you get the succession planting down, year round growing is possible here. Once a crop is finished, you immediately replace it with another. It takes a little planning and getting used to figuring this out, but the true test will be the fall/winter garden which is in the works now. I have tomatoes and broccoli started inside, and will direct sow fall veggies now that the weather seemd to be cooperating.

The succession growing is the charm I think. Even with earthboxes this can be done but it takes some planning ahead. Are your boxes made like lasagna beds?

DH built the boxes and they are filled with a mix of peat, vermiculite and compost (1:1:1). When planting the next crop I just add compost before planting. The soil level in the beds drop as the compost breaks down, so I just add more. The peat helps to hols moisture and the vermiculite helps loosen the soil. The beds have absolutely amazing drainage! The last bed we did, the 4' x 10' has a mix of native soil (about 1/3) and the rest compost (2/3). Both seem to perform equally so far...

Nice. If you don't mind my asking what type of system do you use for compost?

I have an Ecomposter that we bought at Costco. We also have a couple of homemade ones we made from trash cans. The Ecomposter you just add and turn. The homemade ones we put stuff in and keep damp and dump and turn occasionally - slower process but it gets the job done over time. Some of that stuff I will use when I do my lasagna beds - it will be partially broken down. We don't have a traditional "pile" as we would have to fence it off. The terror, um, terrier puppy likes to dig and eat everything - lol.

We also purchased a truckload of compost from a farmer in Scottsdale when we first made our beds. A 3/4 ton truck packed full for like $80. We still have a big 'ol pile of that left and I gave some to my friend.

Our town offers free compost every year which is a plus. Looks like you've got it down to a science. I like your shade structure. We need one here. DH keeps threatening to put the whole garden under one. LOL We had it in FL and our plants were more productive.

Thanks! Without that shade, I wouldn't have a garden in the summer - lol. It really does make a difference!

Thanks for the education Kelly!! Now we know who to come to with questions. You can blame your twin she got us curious. LOL

You guys, we have had 16 inches of rain since friday. They were just announcing it on the weather station. There are evacuating some areas around 10-20 miles from here because roads are flooded and schools will run 2 hours late for the busses to be able to see the roads. And rain called for until the end of next week at least. We got 5 inches just since last night here at my house. My ponds are running over and the plants are water logged already. We needed rain but this is a little much.