April showers bring May flowers. The monthly gardening thread.

[Faith-manor]

I am in Alabama after attending a wedding in South Carolina. I helped Dd plant tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, strawberries, green beans, and flowers today. We sowed radish and carrot seeds in a new pallet bed Mark made for her today.

Meanwhile, my seedlings are in the care of my mom who has never cared for seedlings. She says the lettuce looks limp, and the broccoli is green but shows no sign of growth since I left Thursday. My cucumbers, peas, and cherry tomatoes she said look very good. Fingers crossed that some things survive until I get home on the 9th.

What's up? Tell me all the things!

[Halftime Hope]

18 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

Fingers crossed that some things survive until I get home on the 9th.

Very best wishes to her and the seedlings.  Dh has care of mine while I'm in another state snuggling the cutest little girl. ❤️ 

[Indigo Blue]

Faith! My ds moved into his new house last fall. We spent all winter inside working on stuff. We both were too impatient to go through the long winter to see what popped up this spring in his yard….all the mystery stuff previous owners had planted. 
 

He’s got three types of hosta popping up galore! Beautiful deep purple iris!! We still don’t know what color his hydrangea is. His fig bush is making figs! He has an older variety of azalea budding up under his oak tree. He has several 15 to 20 feet tall camellia that have been in bloom. And beautiful tall holly trees. Several things… we don’t know what they are, lol. 
 

This is so much fun. He’s a nature, bird, and plant lover. We can’t wait to spruce these areas up with mulch and add a few small shrubs here and there. 

 

 

 

Edited April 2 by Indigo Blue

[Faith-manor]

Those Irises are so pretty, Indigo! What fun!

[cjzimmer1]

This is kind of cheating but this time of year I don't get to do any gardening stuff at home.  This picture is just a tiny portion of what I've planted the last couple of weeks at the greenhouse.

Edited April 2 by cjzimmer1

[SHP]

I built massive planters and have about finished filling them with dirt. I am letting the rain help settle all the dirt so I can add more. 

My hyacinth are about done, I will miss them. Some of my tulips are nearly a month early, while others are late. I am expecting an incredible iris display this year.

[Faith-manor]

12 hours ago, cjzimmer1 said:

This is kind of cheating but this time of year I don't get to do any gardening stuff at home.  This picture is just a tiny portion of what I've planted the last couple of weeks at the greenhouse.

Wow!!!!!!!

[Faith-manor]

Yesterday, we worked outside in dd's raised bed garden in northern Alabama. We planted tomatoes, cucumbers, mild banana peppers, basil, and mint plus marigolds, snap dragons, and petunias that our grandsons chose. Then we made a pallet strawberry bed. We found some heat treated, but not chemically treated pallets for $2.00 each. I underestimated how many plants we could put in the pallet so I need to get 4 more plants. We sowed seeds for radishes, and once the rain clears, I need to set up the green bean pallet and seed that for her. We have been double layering burlap under the pallets as a first year or two weed barrier. Some of her gourds did dry out really nicely. I am going to try to turn them into bird houses, and hang them from hooks near the garden. She gets a lot of not beneficial insects, and I am hoping that birds will come live there and keep the pesty insects down. We will see. 

Tomorrow we are setting up a 31 gallon galvanized trash can on cinder blocks, cutting and bending down spout, and fitting it into a hole in the lid to create a rain catchment system for watering the garden. Last year she had to use city water (no well here) during the dry snap, and it killed her veggies and strawberries. Since it is a small garden, and she uses drip hoses and mulch, I think this will be enough to overcome a short dry spell. The hugelkultur in the deep bed helps retain some moisture. We have mosquito dunks to keep that from being a problem.

[prairiewindmomma]

I transplanted our hydroponic tomato starts over to terracotta pots today with soil under grow lights so they can transition. Once we get them over this hump over the next couple of weeks then I will start hardening them off, with the hope of getting them in the ground in May. I should have gotten them repotted a couple of weeks ago but…life. 
 

[KungFuPanda]

I worked in the rain last week to plant lettuce plugs before my weekend trip and something ate them while I was gone. Today I started lettuce seeds in my community garden plot that does t have all the bunnies and squirrels I get in my back yard. 🙄

I also prepped an asparagus bed at the community plot. I got home, showered, and then the mailman brought my asparagus crowns. I may go back and plant them this evening we have a few cloudy/drizzly days coming so it’s a good time. 
 

The same box contained a boysenberry. I have thornless blackberries over there now and I don’t love them, so I’m thinking of replacing them with the boysenberry.

[Melissa in Australia]

Dh is starting to remove the summer crops and is planting the winter crops of lots of brassicas.

[Rosie_0801]

I've cleaned out most of my garden beds and have almost finished chopping down a glossy leafed shrub that seems not to contribute anything at all to the world. That's letting more light through to my lime tree, so hopefully it will like life much better next Spring.

Providing the snails don't beat me to it, I should have parsnips, broccoli, kohlrabi, kale (which I don't even like, but it was called 'Bear Necessities' like the song from the Jungle Book movie) and murnong eventually. 

My Jerusalem artichokes are nearly done, but not quite and I've begun weeding space to dig a new bed. I still have broad beans, snow peas and rat tail radishes to plant.

My pumpkin vine produced one single pumpkin. That's better than none, but I really do not have praiseworthy things to say to that pumpkin vine.

[Faith-manor]

7 hours ago, Rosie_0801 said:

I've cleaned out most of my garden beds and have almost finished chopping down a glossy leafed shrub that seems not to contribute anything at all to the world. That's letting more light through to my lime tree, so hopefully it will like life much better next Spring.

Providing the snails don't beat me to it, I should have parsnips, broccoli, kohlrabi, kale (which I don't even like, but it was called 'Bear Necessities' like the song from the Jungle Book movie) and murnong eventually. 

My Jerusalem artichokes are nearly done, but not quite and I've begun weeding space to dig a new bed. I still have broad beans, snow peas and rat tail radishes to plant.

My pumpkin vine produced one single pumpkin. That's better than none, but I really do not have praiseworthy things to say to that pumpkin vine.

I agree with you about pumpkins. I cannot get the stupid things to produce. I am not going to try again. 3 years of nothing. 

[prairiewindmomma]

I grew two pumpkins last year. The amount of space they require in my tiny garden has me not planting them again this year. I have seen people trellis the vine but trellises are also $$$.

[Faith-manor]

30 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I grew two pumpkins last year. The amount of space they require in my tiny garden has me not planting them again this year. I have seen people trellis the vine but trellises are also $$$.

Right!!! I will have 16 stupid, scoliosis riddled Amish Paste tomatoes to scaffold. I have decided pumpkins are NOT going to be in the mix. I am making permanent trellises for my stupid tomatoes out of 1x1x8 wood with rope grid squares. Not cheap. Maybe with luck the dumb trellises will last 2 years before my alien tomato plants have trashed them! But I can't help myself. They made the best taco/salsa/chili/pasta sauce I have ever made. I am addicted to the ridiculous monsters.

[SHP]

My white tulips are out and look incredible. I am not sure what happened to my lavender tulips but the only two looked horrible. The purple and black tulips are just starting to send up buds. I have some tulips of unknown origins still waiting. 

 

My hardscaping planning of the corner of the yard is basically me looking at the area and staring at it without any inspiration. Still. I am leaning towards maybe a covered something with TBD features, layouts and things.

[kbutton]

On 4/2/2024 at 7:51 AM, SHP said:

I am expecting an incredible iris display this year.

Two kinds of ours look like they will be spectacular, but I haven’t gotten all the way around the house to the others.

Our mini pale yellow iris is blooming—it time multiple years to finally bloom, and then we moved it last summer. I think it’s really happy in the new spot and will show its gratitude already.

No veg planted yet. The Venn diagram of being home, healthy, and it not raining has been sparse! 
 

ETA: I think we have chard from last year—mild enough winter that we covered it up for a little bit, and I think it made it all right.

Edited April 10 by kbutton

[Ausmumof3]

16 hours ago, Rosie_0801 said:

I've cleaned out most of my garden beds and have almost finished chopping down a glossy leafed shrub that seems not to contribute anything at all to the world. That's letting more light through to my lime tree, so hopefully it will like life much better next Spring.

Providing the snails don't beat me to it, I should have parsnips, broccoli, kohlrabi, kale (which I don't even like, but it was called 'Bear Necessities' like the song from the Jungle Book movie) and murnong eventually. 

My Jerusalem artichokes are nearly done, but not quite and I've begun weeding space to dig a new bed. I still have broad beans, snow peas and rat tail radishes to plant.

My pumpkin vine produced one single pumpkin. That's better than none, but I really do not have praiseworthy things to say to that pumpkin vine.

Last year we had two pumpkin vines and got over 20 pumpkins. This year we have four pumpkin vines and I think I have seen four pumpkins on them. 

[Rosie_0801]

1 minute ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Last year we had two pumpkin vines and got over 20 pumpkins. This year we have four pumpkin vines and I think I have seen four pumpkins on them. 

I roll my eyes at all pumpkin vines. Like this 🙄 but with more scowling.

The older leaves on my vine are submitting to mildew, but I'll probably eat the younger ones. That is my yearly threat. Grow fruits or I will eat your leaves.

Also, aren't plants supposed to grow away from shade? This vine sent an arm off right into the shade, and that is where the only pumpkin grew. That is weird, isn't it?

[Ausmumof3]

1 minute ago, Rosie_0801 said:

I roll my eyes at all pumpkin vines. Like this 🙄 but with more scowling.

The older leaves on my vine are submitting to mildew, but I'll probably eat the younger ones. That is my yearly threat. Grow fruits or I will eat your leaves.

Also, aren't plants supposed to grow away from shade? This vine sent an arm off right into the shade, and that is where the only pumpkin grew. That is weird, isn't it?

Hmm? Weird 

maybe it’s trying to escape the eye rolling 🙄😂😂

I met a Cambodian lady and she was telling me about eating pumpkin and sweet potato leaves. They blanch them, roll them up then dip them in a chilli, lemongrass and garlic sauce.  My leaves are a bit mildewy for eating I think.

They also eat the small undeveloped pumpkins in stuff as well. 

[Rosie_0801]

2 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

I met a Cambodian lady and she was telling me about eating pumpkin and sweet potato leaves. They blanch them, roll them up then dip them in a chilli, lemongrass and garlic sauce.  My leaves are a bit mildewy for eating I think.

I learned they were edible from a Pasta Grannies episode on Youtube. I haven't stirred myself to make ravioli out of them, but the Sudanese cook them with peanut butter so sometimes I do that too. 

[KungFuPanda]

9 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

Right!!! I will have 16 stupid, scoliosis riddled Amish Paste tomatoes to scaffold. I have decided pumpkins are NOT going to be in the mix. I am making permanent trellises for my stupid tomatoes out of 1x1x8 wood with rope grid squares. Not cheap. Maybe with luck the dumb trellises will last 2 years before my alien tomato plants have trashed them! But I can't help myself. They made the best taco/salsa/chili/pasta sauce I have ever made. I am addicted to the ridiculous monsters.

Have you ever done the cattle panel trellises? For about $30 (for 8 feet) and some zip ties you have a very sturdy trellis that goes up in a few minutes and lasts forever. You do need to replace the zip ties  every few years. There’s no quicker or easier way to build and arch. I can get the materials home with my minivan. 
 

Today I planted asparagus for the first time. I’ll let you know how it goes when I can eat a stalk in three years. I also put a new rosemary out in my garden. My old one didn’t survive the winter. 

[Faith-manor]

On 4/10/2024 at 8:24 PM, KungFuPanda said:

Have you ever done the cattle panel trellises? For about $30 (for 8 feet) and some zip ties you have a very sturdy trellis that goes up in a few minutes and lasts forever. You do need to replace the zip ties  every few years. There’s no quicker or easier way to build and arch. I can get the materials home with my minivan. 
 

Today I planted asparagus for the first time. I’ll let you know how it goes when I can eat a stalk in three years. I also put a new rosemary out in my garden. My old one didn’t survive the winter. 

I haven't done any here because I was afraid that it would be difficult to harvest. My crazy Amish paste make this half-3/4 lb fruits that I have to reach into the jungle of plants to harvest. I was worried that this would be difficult if the openings in the grid were not large enough to accommodate my arm up to at least my elbow if not my shoulder. So I was going to try to customize the trellis to hopefully be ble to get into the center.

I have thought about aspargus. Mark loves it. But I have gardening impatience, and barely tolerate the 2-3 year wait on 3 year old semi- dwarf fruit tree stock to produce anything. I think asparagus might push me over the edge. 😱😜

For all my fellow gardeners, I saw this picture and decided to post it for fun.

[Melissa in Australia]

On 4/10/2024 at 4:22 PM, Rosie_0801 said:

I've cleaned out most of my garden beds and have almost finished chopping down a glossy leafed shrub that seems not to contribute anything at all to the world. That's letting more light through to my lime tree, so hopefully it will like life much better next Spring.

Providing the snails don't beat me to it, I should have parsnips, broccoli, kohlrabi, kale (which I don't even like, but it was called 'Bear Necessities' like the song from the Jungle Book movie) and murnong eventually. 

My Jerusalem artichokes are nearly done, but not quite and I've begun weeding space to dig a new bed. I still have broad beans, snow peas and rat tail radishes to plant.

My pumpkin vine produced one single pumpkin. That's better than none, but I really do not have praiseworthy things to say to that pumpkin vine.

I am guessing the glossy leafed shrub might be what a now deceased relative called shining leaf Molly. Apparently they were popular in the 70s as a low maintenance shrub. The relative thought of them as a pest 

[Melissa in Australia]

Wish we could get cattle panels in Australia 

Dh and I are going to try make some arches with Concrete Reo ( the wire mesh used in concreting)

[SHP]

On 4/2/2024 at 6:51 AM, SHP said:

I built massive planters and have about finished filling them with dirt. I am letting the rain help settle all the dirt so I can add more. 

My hyacinth are about done, I will miss them. Some of my tulips are nearly a month early, while others are late. I am expecting an incredible iris display this year.

I have moved so much dirt. I am not sure if the planters will ever be filled. 

[KungFuPanda]

4 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

I haven't done any here because I was afraid that it would be difficult to harvest. My crazy Amish paste make this half-3/4 lb fruits that I have to reach into the jungle of plants to harvest. I was worried that this would be difficult if the openings in the grid were not large enough to accommodate my arm up to at least my elbow if not my shoulder. So I was going to try to customize the trellis to hopefully be ble to get into the center.

I have thought about aspargus. Mark loves it. But I have gardening impatience, and barely tolerate the 2-3 year wait on 3 year old semi- dwarf fruit tree stock to produce anything. I think asparagus might push me over the edge. 😱😜

For all my fellow gardeners, I saw this picture and decided to post it for fun.

 

I do mine like this. I weave the vines in and out of the cattle panel and secure them as they grow and I can get to them from both sides. Last year I grew cucumbers on a cattle panel arch. It gave me done safe at the garden and they were easy to pick. This year I’m putting melons and Malabar spinach on the arch. 

[Faith-manor]

3 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

I do mine like this. I weave the vines in and out of the cattle panel and secure them as they grow and I can get to them from both sides. Last year I grew cucumbers on a cattle panel arch. It gave me done safe at the garden and they were easy to pick. This year I’m putting melons and Malabar spinach on the arch. 

Cool. I will see what cattle panels would cost us. I am going to have 20 Amish paste tomatoes planted 24" apart with basil and marigolds scattered between. The raised bed will be 16 ft long with a 3 ft x 3ft square bed on the corner to form an L. So I need a lot of running feet of trellis.

I saw a picture of a drying rack used as a trellis for cucumbers. Looked cool a efficient. But then I priced out good, sturdy ones and thought, "Nope, I need to make my own." My 4 cucumber plants were rather feral last year and tried taking over the chili peppers next to them while also crawling down the sides of their raised bed and trying to spread into the yard. They were like the aliens from a Sigourney Weaver movie.

[KungFuPanda]

19 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

Cool. I will see what cattle panels would cost us. I am going to have 20 Amish paste tomatoes planted 24" apart with basil and marigolds scattered between. The raised bed will be 16 ft long with a 3 ft x 3ft square bed on the corner to form an L. So I need a lot of running feet of trellis.

I saw a picture of a drying rack used as a trellis for cucumbers. Looked cool a efficient. But then I priced out good, sturdy ones and thought, "Nope, I need to make my own." My 4 cucumber plants were rather feral last year and tried taking over the chili peppers next to them while also crawling down the sides of their raised bed and trying to spread into the yard. They were like the aliens from a Sigourney Weaver movie.

🤣

I paid around $20 for 8 feet of trellis. It’s cheaper if you buy 16 foot trellises. I cut those in half (Tractor Supply keeps bolt cutters in their yard) so I  one get them home on my minivan roof rack then zip tie them back together to make arches or use them flat like in the photo. I also zip yie them to the roof rack. It’s the t-posts and zip ties that make putting them up so fast. It takes me less than ten minutes to put up a new trellis and I do it all by myself. 

[Rosie_0801]

12 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

I have thought about aspargus. Mark loves it. But I have gardening impatience, and barely tolerate the 2-3 year wait on 3 year old semi- dwarf fruit tree stock to produce anything. I think asparagus might push me over the edge. 😱😜

Eating asparagus right out of the garden is a very happy thing to do.

I think Mark should bribe you to grow some.

[Faith-manor]

13 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

🤣

I paid around $20 for 8 feet of trellis. It’s cheaper if you buy 16 foot trellises. I cut those in half (Tractor Supply keeps bolt cutters in their yard) so I  one get them home on my minivan roof rack then zip tie them back together to make arches or use them flat like in the photo. I also zip yie them to the roof rack. It’s the t-posts and zip ties that make putting them up so fast. It takes me less than ten minutes to put up a new trellis and I do it all by myself. 

You talked me into it. Our local Family Farm and Home store has the16ft panels for $28 right now. This is about the same cost as the $50 in wood and $15 in rope for the do it your self big project I was going to try.

Thanks for the tip!

Mark is afraid to take me with him to go get them because I want to go into the store to look around, and I was already at TSC today and bought two more blueberry bushes when I was just supposed to be going in for raids seeds. 😂😂😂😂😂 Poor man. Oh well. He has model trains. I have gardening.

[KungFuPanda]

56 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

You talked me into it. Our local Family Farm and Home store has the16ft panels for $28 right now. This is about the same cost as the $50 in wood and $15 in rope for the do it your self big project I was going to try.

Thanks for the tip!

Mark is afraid to take me with him to go get them because I want to go into the store to look around, and I was already at TSC today and bought two more blueberry bushes when I was just supposed to be going in for raids seeds. 😂😂😂😂😂 Poor man. Oh well. He has model trains. I have gardening.

Once you put up a trellis in a few minutes you can’t go back. Just make sure your t-posts have holes in them. I accidentally bought some without holes once (because I didn’t know they existed) and it wasn’t AS easy to secure the posts.  $28 is an awesome price. I’m jealous. They’re a bit more at tractor supply. 
 

How are you getting them home? I would rather have not cut the 16ft panel in half but I didn’t have a big truck. 

[Faith-manor]

31 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

Once you put up a trellis in a few minutes you can’t go back. Just make sure your t-posts have holes in them. I accidentally bought some without holes once (because I didn’t know they existed) and it wasn’t AS easy to secure the posts.  $28 is an awesome price. I’m jealous. They’re a bit more at tractor supply. 
 

How are you getting them home? I would rather have not cut the 16ft panel in half but I didn’t have a big truck. 

Mark is taking his tools and cutting them into 8ft sections in the parking lot since they won't fit in the Sienna, and we don't have a rack on top. We are towing an 8 ft utility trailer because we are picking up 25 bags of top soil and 4 bags of completed cow manure. So he will strap the panels down on top of the soil. We have a lot of those wratchet strap things.

The raised bed has wood posts so we will use long zip ties to secure the panels to the wood posts. We had scrap lumber when it was built so Mark made posts for securing trellis when he finished it. The posts are built into the sides and corners of the bed with screws.

We got lucky. They go back up to $32.99 tomorrow. This is the last day of the sale, and they still had a bunch in stock so Mark made a curbside pick up order, and we are just waiting for the text that says it is ready.

[KungFuPanda]

If you have a trailer or pick up truck, you may be able to curve them to get them in like this:

 

 

[Faith-manor]

8 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

If you have a trailer or pick up truck, you may be able to curve them to get them in like this:

 

 

We have the trailer, but we don't have a pick up truck. Mark has bent them before, but since he wants 8 ft sections anyway, and it was just a better price to get them in 16s, I think he will cut them. But who knows. The best part of gardening is I leave him with the heavy lifting and engineering end of it! 😁😁😁

[prairiewindmomma]

16 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

🤣

I paid around $20 for 8 feet of trellis. It’s cheaper if you buy 16 foot trellises. I cut those in half (Tractor Supply keeps bolt cutters in their yard) so I  one get them home on my minivan roof rack then zip tie them back together to make arches or use them flat like in the photo. I also zip yie them to the roof rack. It’s the t-posts and zip ties that make putting them up so fast. It takes me less than ten minutes to put up a new trellis and I do it all by myself. 

Wow! You got a fantastic deal on the trellis! I just googled where the nearest tractor supply is…I am going to plan a hiking trip a few hours away and sneak in a trip to Tractor Supply on the way home. The local places are about x5 for cattle panels….

[Faith-manor]

3 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Wow! You got a fantastic deal on the trellis! I just googled where the nearest tractor supply is…I am going to plan a hiking trip a few hours away and sneak in a trip to Tractor Supply on the way home. The local places are about x5 for cattle panels….

5x???? Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch! That would probably make a 100 ft roll of wire fence cheaper than just a couple panels. Our local TSC was $35.99 for the panels. I wonder if they have a price match? Then again, if you don't have a Family, Farm, and Home store in your state, the price match probably wouldn't work. I kind of wonder if we shouldn't have purchased more than 2. Hmmmmm. I could still get more and then put them away for future projects.

[Halftime Hope]

2 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

You talked me into it. Our local Family Farm and Home store has the16ft panels for $28 right now. This is about the same cost as the $50 in wood and $15 in rope for the do it your self big project I was going to try.

Thanks for the tip!

Mark is afraid to take me with him to go get them because I want to go into the store to look around, and I was already at TSC today and bought two more blueberry bushes when I was just supposed to be going in for raids seeds. 😂😂😂😂😂 Poor man. Oh well. He has model trains. I have gardening.

@Faith-manor I missed all the fun and was also going to recommend cattlepanels. I have the equivalent of three panels, all cut into 5 foot pieces (four per 20 foot panel) that I use for either tent style (2 pieces) or vertical (1 piece) in the center of the bed. Our cattle panels have slightly smaller openings along one edge and openings for the majority of the panel, and since it's harder to reach through the smaller rectangles, I place those facing the end of the bed, so I'm reaching into the tent from the end rather than through the smaller rectangles further down the bed. I use the sticking-out-wires (cut halfway into an opening) intentionally to press into the soil, and I have yet to have one blow away, in spite of notorious spring storms in my area.

I've trellised everything from peas and cucumbers to pole beans and sugar baby watermelons, on them. I have two that are permanently framed with cedar on the ends of two beds close to the house for trellising morning glories. That's my concession to folks who aren't wild about looking at a messy garden. I have cedar verticals and cross bars over the beds, periodically, that allow me to suspend shadecloth over the beds. A week ago when we were expecting 2 inch hail, I laid the trellis panels over the top of all the vertical pieces, then put 4 layers of frost cloth over the trellises and clamped it all down, so that if we did get hail, all my plant that are blooming would be shredded. We didn't get hail, but I think it really would have protected the majority of the garden.

I haven't tried tunnels yet; when we get somewhere permanent, I probably

One final pro-tip: use an angle grinder and take off the sharp edges before you use them. It'll be the best 10 minutes of prevention you'll ever invest.

 

 

Edited April 13 by Halftime Hope

[Faith-manor]

TSC people!!! I have a tip.

I just looked online and the panels were also 28.99 at two locations in the city, but not out here in our 3 rural locations within a 25 mile drive. It seems to be location dependent. Maybe you could do a search on their website for each TSC within a range you are willing to drive to see if they have them at the lower price.

Meanwhile, Mark is eyeing me with deep suspicion. I think he believes I am pricing out supplies for either a bunny run (I have been missing having a lap bunny recently) or a chicken coop. 😂😂😂😂😂😂 Is it wrong to manipulate your better half by saying something like, "I won't get a bunny if I can have that $100 mosaic planter at the nursery?" That's just the art of negotiation, right? 😁

[Faith-manor]

4 minutes ago, Halftime Hope said:

@Faith-manor I missed all the fun and was also going to recommend cattlepanels. I have the equivalent of three panels, all cut into 5 foot pieces (four per 20 foot panel) that I use for either tent style (2 pieces) or vertical (1 piece) in the center of the bed. Our cattle panels have slightly smaller openings along one edge and openings for the majority of the panel, and since it's harder to reach through the smaller rectangles, I place those facing the end of the bed, so I'm reaching into the tent from the end rather than through the smaller rectangles further down the bed. I use the sticking-out-wires (cut halfway into an opening) intentionally to press into the soil, and I have yet to have one blow away, in spite of notorious spring storms in my area.

I've trellised everything from peas and cucumbers to pole beans and sugar baby watermelons, on them. I have two that are permanently framed with cedar on the ends of two beds close to the house for trellising morning glories. That's my concession to folks who aren't wild about looking at a messy garden. I have cedar verticals and cross bars over the beds, periodically, that allow me to suspend shadecloth over the beds. A week ago when we were expecting 2 inch hail, I laid the trellis panels over the top of all the vertical pieces, then put 4 layers of frost cloth over the trellises and clamped it all down, so that if we did get hail, all my plant that are blooming would be shredded. We didn't get hail, but I think it really would have protected the majority of the garden.

I haven't tried tunnels yet; when we get somewhere permanent, I probably will.

One final pro-tip: use an angle grinder and take off the sharp edges before you use them. It'll be the best 10 minutes of prevention you'll ever invest.

 

 

Thanks for that tip about the angle grinder!! 

[Halftime Hope]

1 minute ago, Faith-manor said:

TSC people!!! I have a tip.

I just looked online and the panels were also 28.99 at two locations in the city, but not out here in our 3 rural locations within a 25 mile drive. It seems to be location dependent. Maybe you could do a search on their website for each TSC within a range you are willing to drive to see if they have them at the lower price.

Meanwhile, Mark is eyeing me with deep suspicion. I think he believes I am pricing out supplies for either a bunny run (I have been missing having a lap bunny recently) or a chicken coop. 😂😂😂😂😂😂 Is it wrong to manipulate your better half by saying something like, "I won't get a bunny if I can have that $100 mosaic planter at the nursery?" That's just the art of negotiation, right? 😁

Hehe! I've been mentioning bunnies a lot recently. Can't have chickens in our suburb.

BTW, my guys drove our tiny pickup to TSC, and they cut up the panels with bolt-cutters in the parking lot. Apparently people do it. all. the. time.  I'm five years into these pieces, and they are indestructible. The cut ends have been overwintered in dirt, and they haven't rusted, even where they were cut.

[Faith-manor]

1 minute ago, Halftime Hope said:

Hehe! I've been mentioning bunnies a lot recently. Can't have chickens in our suburb.

BTW, my guys drove our tiny pickup to TSC, and they cut up the panels with bolt-cutters in the parking lot. Apparently people do it. all. the. time.  I'm five years into these pieces, and they are indestructible. The cut ends have been overwintered in dirt, and they haven't rusted, even where they were cut.

Love it. We are used to doing bizarre things at farm and home improvement stores. One time Mark wanted to build a big lunar lander exhibit for a 4H themed science event at the fairgrounds. Several leaders each took a theme and went with it. We did the moon. I borrowed a bunch of those hard sided kiddie pools in various sizes from friends, and bought a bolt of grey gossamer. We arranged them to create the surface by covering the floor and wading pools with the grey fabric, and then dumped a bag of play sand in each wading pool so weigh it down. Mark put on his work boots and we made sand castings so there would be foot prints. We wired an American flag into one of the craters, and then he wanted this lunar lander. So off to home depot where he laid out the most amazing array of pvc pipe, elbows, tees, etc. on the floor. Pretty soon we had a little crowd staring at it and wondering what the heck he was doing. Finally, an associate came up and said, "Sir this is the craziest plumbing project I have ever seen." Mark replied, "It isn't plumbing. It's going to be a lunar lander when I get it all assembled. We'll cover it with aluminum foil and reflective tape." That guy's eyes went wide. He stammered and left.

It was completely awesome when it was done. The next year he was in the same HD for pvc to make a portable 3-tier puppet stage. Same reaction. We have had other equally nutty things we have done with common supplies. The local Self-Serve Lumber manager always greets Mark and asks, "So what wild thing can we help you create today?" 😂😂😂 

I have a reputation at the local hardware as the "Adhesives Woman". This is what years of rocketry does. I mean, I should have bought stock in every kind of epoxy. All the kinds. 

[KungFuPanda]

Have any of you ever grown Malabar spinach? I just impulse purchased some seeds. 

[Faith-manor]

14 hours ago, Rosie_0801 said:

Eating asparagus right out of the garden is a very happy thing to do.

I think Mark should bribe you to grow some.

He is trying. Today he made a cheesecake (one of my favorite things" with a gluten free oreo crust, and that may have greased the skids a little because if he makes puppy dog eyes to go with tomorrow's slice, I might look at some 1 year old asparagus crowns at the nursery. 😇

[Faith-manor]

2 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

Have any of you ever grown Malabar spinach? I just impulse purchased some seeds. 

I have have never heard of it. I do have spinach seeds which I have yet to try. No idea what species they are. I am just Wild Wild Westing my way to gardening at this point! Calamity Jane really.

[Rosie_0801]

My curry leaf tree is actually growing new leaves, here at the end of the growing season!

Turns out it just needed two hours more sun each day for six weeks to get it in the mood.

[KungFuPanda]

5 minutes ago, Rosie_0801 said:

My curry leaf tree is actually growing new leaves, here at the end of the growing season!

Turns out it just needed two hours more sun each day for six weeks to get it in the mood.

🤣

[KungFuPanda]

Malabar spinach is a vining spinach that is supposed to produce well when it’s hot and humid. I’m hoping I like it and it’ll fill that gap when it’s too hot for lettuce and regular spinach to grow properly. It’s kind of annoying that the lettuce is gone by the time you get tomatoes and cucumbers. 
 

My original plan was to put the sweet potato vines on my arch for some shade in the garden, but my sweet potato slips don’t look that happy this year. 

[Halftime Hope]

On 4/1/2024 at 8:57 PM, cjzimmer1 said:

This is kind of cheating but this time of year I don't get to do any gardening stuff at home.  This picture is just a tiny portion of what I've planted the last couple of weeks at the greenhouse.

@cjzimmer1  What business is this for? Are you all market gardeners? Have a nursery business? The gallon jugs are awesome; do you sell those?

[cjzimmer1]

1 hour ago, Halftime Hope said:

@cjzimmer1  What business is this for? Are you all market gardeners? Have a nursery business? The gallon jugs are awesome; do you sell those?

We are just a tiny family business that only sells bedding plants for local pickup.  But yes we sell the gallon jugs.  When they are ready to go to market (we only sell at farmer's market not from our business site), they will have flowers and often time tiny tomatoes.  Our last frost date is typically middle May and they are typically producing ripe tomatoes by July 4th, just to give you an idea of how big and full the plants will be.  Our "jug" tomatoes are our specialty and we have been selling them in jugs since the mid 1980's.