I am so jealous. It is been dry here for months. I expect we will have watering restrictions next year. The photo is my Tumbleweed collection, just before I put a match to it. I watered my trees and bushes while I had the garden hose hooked up for the fire.
Does look dry. I can see where those things could be a fire hazzard. I can only imagine how hard gardening would be there. Do you harvest water in some kind of catchment system or is it against the law there. I still can't fathom that. I read about it on the sustainability forum. I wouldn't want to live where I couldn't catch rain water if I wanted to. That's just too much government IMHO.
I saw them battering zuke blooms on the food network. What kind of texture do they have after they are fried?
I feel terrible for you Pollen Garden. My best friend wants me to move to Arizona where she now lives. I just can't do it knowing that I wouldn't be able garden like I do now. I hope that winter storms make their way to you.
The whole Western US tends to be dry, and I live in one of the drier spots. But I have lived all over the US and I can't really complain about the weather. The Rocky Mountain states have the best weather - Summer's are hot without being too hot, Winters are cold without being too cold. Our dry air means that is Sunny almost every day and the sun is intense - plants requiring "full sun" only need 6 hours per day here. My only complaint with Gardening is that the soil in my yard needs a lot of improvement for vegetables - but that is true of a lot of places I've lived.
Storing Rainwater is illegal here - but a lot can be done to improve the soil absorbtion, and storing it in the soil is legal. Restrictions on sprinklers usually do not apply to vegatable gardens with soaker hoses. Also, I have found that I can cut my water use in half by mulching the garden, that helps if they increase water rates. I am planning on decreasing the size of my lawn and using a more effecient sprinkler heads. The lawn & my teenage kids are the biggest water hogs.
Drthor:
What kinda bell peppers did you grow? Any tips on getting the plants to produce would be appreciated, too. What's your growing medium for the bells? I've got 6 plants I started from seed last January that are still alive. I pulled some ripe peppers off on New Year's Day. I think I can repot all the plants, but I'm suspecting I might have too much nitrogen in my potting mix (eBuckets), which is why I have lush greenery and few fruits.
Pollengarden: Why is it illegal to store rainwater there?
Linda ^^_^^
Gymgirl, Bell peppers are still not my best !
I am still looking to find the better variety for here.
But I cannot complain. I did harvest more peppers than I did last year.
Thsi year I have started:
Gian Marconi,
Corno di Toro Rosso and Giallo
Blush Beauty
Atris
Romania Sweet
and others I don't remember ...
I have started 18 four inches pots. 6 didn't germinate ... I think the seeds were too old.
I will start again tomorrow on 6 pots. Tomorrow and the 5th is the day that the Moon says to plant above ground crop.
The media I am using and loving is from Roots Organics
http://www.texashydroponics.com/shop/product.php?productid=2930&cat=102&page=1
Here the description:
Its recipe enables better drainage and encourages a vigorous root structure. Created with only fine natural and organic ingredients: coco fiber, peat moss, perlite, pumice, premium worm castings, bat guano, kelp, fish, bone meal, soy bean meal and much more. Aurora Innovations has spared no expense in designing the ideal soil for rapid growing plants.
Little expensive, but my seedlings are growing amazing.
here my tomatoes started on December 10th
more tomatoes ....
and those are the peppers, but still smaller than the tomatoes
Drthor,
Your tomatoes look wonderful. Where's your light source? I don't see evidence of artificial light. Are they outside somewhere?
I bought the light from TX Hydrophonic: http://www.texashydroponics.com/shop/product.php?productid=2986&cat=0&page=1
It is 12" from the seedling. It is amazing.
I was never able to start anything from seeds untill I got this light
One of these days I'm gonna have to make a trip to Texas Hydro and get some things. Yet another thing for my to-do list. :) BTW just looked them up on company page. What's with all that negative exchange?
This message was edited Jan 4, 2011 8:26 AM
TX_gardener I just read some mean comments about TX Hydro and I am totally shocked. Some people can really be mean !!
I had only good experience with them. I went to the store in Dallas in Manana Dr.
This is just a hobby for me, I don't have a degree on gardening. All the people there were always so nice to me and patience to explain stuff.
I owe to them my last increased harvest of 50%.
Don't they have a store on Deep Ellum? My #1 son (college student) goes there to eat at the Twisted Root (hip burger joint) occassionally. I'll have to ask him to check it out for me....
Edited 'cus I got the restaurant name wrong....
This message was edited Jan 6, 2011 12:58 PM
I think that is a new store. The Manana Dr. is closer to me, even if in a "shady" area.
Pollen Garden Colorado's restriction on saving rainwater is horrible. I can't imagine what business it is of their's if someone has a couple of drums of rainwater. This has to be some sort of nanny state issue. Have you considered using grey water from the washing machine or possibly your teenager's showers?
Water law in the western states evolved because there has never been enough water to go around. Where I live, we average less than 12 inches of precipitation per year, in 2002 we only got 3 inches (a rain barrel wouldn't have helped much). Colorado has the headwaters of more rivers than any other state. In theory, if we stored all the rainwater before it got to the river; then stored all the river water before it left the state; then a lot - a LOT!! - of people downstream would be adversely affected. The real flaw in the law is that to keep your water rights, you must put the water to "beneficial use". That can be interpreted as "use it or lose it" and does not encourage conservation.
Mark Twain said something about the difference between the East and the West is that in the West "whiskey" is the stuff one drinks and "water" is the stuff one gets into a brawl over.
