A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Landscape trials and triumphs What Did You Do In The Garden Today?? #8

I wouldn't worry about staking them. Just keep laying the top of the plant down and covering it with dirty.

Bobbie, I find that hilling your potatoes in stages at every 4 to 6 inches works better.

I hilled my potatoes for the first time last night, weeded and planted a slip off my grandmothers green rhubarb..hope it takes.

Well this morning I managed to cut and rake a small part of the lawn about 1/6th of the back yard and turn the compost. Get the rest of the finished compost out of the pile and then screen it. It filled the two pots that are on hangers on the shed. It filled the big container on the deck that I haven't quite decided how I'm going to use and then it topped off the rest of the containers. It's lovely stuff as you might imagine. I'm sorry it's all gone for the year.

I planted the orangy-red rose. It is so pretty. And that's it for the morning. Hard to believe that took an entire hour isn't it?

Well last night I weeded a bit and then I transplanted 2 small trees, that my DH found to pots. The one is about 2 inches high (an Oak) & the other is about 12 inches (a maple of some kind).

Rod thinks we should put one of them in where we had a type of Cherry tree that got a Bore & died. Really ?? I say they are good in the pots they are on for some years yet--

Sounds like bonsai volunteers to me lol. I guess I'm trying to get more people to try it.

Good luck with the weeding.

Well I got a slow start out there this morning. I couldn't really get into it. I cut another 1/6th of the back yard so that makes a total of 1/3 lol. Then I raked up the grass and put it in the compost pile. Then I gathered rocks to add to the edging around the birdbath flower bed. It's a start. That's about all i can say about it.

Good Luck with the bonsai volunteers! I will not be one of them

Been working on my compost every day. It does make a difference, keeping it stirred up and watered. Maybe it'll actually compost now!

I did end up staking my potatoe plants...there just isn't room to mound them any more, or to even let them lay on top of the soil. This bed is 18" wide, 32" tall....so I had dug a trench down 12-14 inches and planted my potato eyes that deep, then when they would start poking throuh I would put some of the dirt on top, did that 3 times and they still grew 3-4 feet above the soil. The trouble with just letting them go is that they want to fall over the edge of the raised bed and many of the branches broke when they did it the first time. I am afraid the main stem would break if they were to drape themselves over the side again. So I got creative and they all seem to be "contained" in the raised bed without falling over the side, and one of them flowered yesterday, so hoping they all start to bloom soon, then they will stop growing up and start growing potatos??? I think next year I am going to put them back outside. I have a few extra 55 gal plastic barrels we may cut in half and fill up for growing vegies. I never seem to have enough room!

I have more room than I can handle and still I start new beds and plant new things. It's an addiction isn't it?

I seem to have that problem also...gardening and quilting my two most severe addictions! I might have to add chatting on the Gardener's Forum

Today I planted my rhubarb...too wet for anything else.

I love rhubarb but I can't eat it anymore, no teeth. That's one of those foods that so remind me of home and childhood.

I went to Wal-Mart yesterday and couldn't pass up the well grown pepper plants. So now I have two pepper plants with lots of peppers on them. It is an interesting pot in that it has a built in plastic cage on it. I like it.

I seem to be having trouble with my cucumbers. I started them in the house and transplanted them to the green house, probably 3 weeks ago. They already had a few cucumbers growing on the small vines. The tiny new cucumbers coming out turn yellow before they are even an inch long. The cucumbers that were already on the vine are still doing great. It is only the new ones. The vines seem to be growing ok. Do you think the soil is lacking in something? I use a web page called Companion Planting and this is what they had to say about tomatos and cucumbers: "Tomato allies are many: asparagus, basil, bean, carrots, celery, chive, cucumber, ....." These cucumbers were planted where I had the tomatos last year. I have peppers in the same bed, they aren't near ready to have blossoms, but they are growing fine. Any suggestions will be greatly appriciated!

I've never grown cucumbers so I can't help you with that one. Hopefully someone will come along who can or maybe a separate topic in the veggie section?

For me it was a productive morning. I've over half way with the back yard lawn cutting yeah. And then I raked up the cuttings and mixed them into the compost. I'd say my compost is probably 90 percent browns and 10 percent greens right now but I'm working on it. It's early in the season. Then I went out and cleaned the birdbath and filled it with clean water. The water has already turned the birdbath bowl red from the rust around here. But it looks ok.

I'm so pleased with my compost lately, been turning it almost every day and getting more water to it and it is finally doing what it is supposed to do! Got a few more carrots planted and more radishes, weeded and watered a little more. Got out early cause it is going to get hot today, the green house was already getting up there. I opened the front door of the green house early and then when I went back out a bird had flown in! She just kept hitting herself on the top of the greenhouse. I finally got the other door open and she finally found her way out. Now it is back to work

I plant my cuke seeds directly in the ground.

Yesterday I put in the rest of my veggie garden....This year I have potatoes, beets, turnips, beans, carrots,lettuce, onions, celery, peppers, tomatoes, cukes and pumpkins.

I hate it when the birds get trapped. It's so sad. I'm glad you were able to provide her a way out.

My roommate and I were just discussing dicon radishes. We both love them but neither of us have teeth so we were considering what we would have to do to eat them. Puree on toast maybe?

Congrats on all the planting.

yes puree of anything---I was thinking like with rhubarb---make up the pie ingredients sans the rhubarb--then measure o ut the rhubarb, then cook & pureee it-----then add to the other ingredients & then cook---the only thing I could see you needing would be perhaps some extra corn starch.

or for that matter if you were just going to eat it as a veggie, just cook it until soft & either puree it or gum it.

why not

My grandmother had rhubarb sauce on her table most of the year. Like applesauce, only rhubarb. Good stuff. She canned it that way.

Interesting I've heard of rhubarb chutney but not sauce. Considering how stringy rhubarb is did she strain it after cooking it down?

No, sliced it and cooked with sugar and a little water. The strings were there but short and manageable. Good on toast or bread or just as a side.

We had rubarb sauce when I was a kid also. We also used it on meats, or as a side, like applesauce... In a few years I'll be getting some rubarb too! I got some tubers(?) from a friend, she called them strawberry rubarb and says they are really red. She got some starters from her grandmother who homesteaded here in WY, and this friend is 75, so these have been around a while! I got them last fall, didn't get them in the ground until this spring, but they all have little leaves so I'm happy about that!

I got out and completely turned over my compost heap, took some good stuff off the bottom, mixed it with top soil and added it to one on my perennial flower beds, then got the coreopsis planted, that has been wanting to get in the ground for a week now. Put in a new soaker hose in the green house that I got from town yesterday, picked more sugar snap peas and radishes, weeded and now I need some breakfast!!!!

wow you did great, and all before breakfast. Any time you want to come visit let me know lol.

We have 2 dog pens that re put 1 ft pavers in to be the floor---(much easier than pouring concrete) BUT now a few times a year I have to lift the pavers and weed around them--(I pull them up by the roots)

well, that is what I began doing today (my in the garden work for today) for the 2nd time this year. Some of the weeds are just going to get trimmed & then We will put round up on them. although I hate to do that too much in case the dogs come to stay before a few weeks have passed---

it was "warm" outside today

I think I would use a pre-emergent the next time I had to lift those pavers. That is a lot of work.

yea Rod said that---I thought to get the main part done & then use something to get rid of the surrounded area---That and we let it get away, Rod said he would have to weed eat it down first--and that would have been a mess (for me) to clean up.

But thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. Rod will be so pleased that you agreed with him.

yikes, that sounds like a lot of work, Carol! I had a friend tell me just today that a 10% solution of vinegar would kill weeds. the solution we get in the store is only 5%, so not sure where you might get a 10% vinegar solution. I wouldn't think that would hurt the critters?? Not tried and tested, but I am going to keep it in mind.

Well it is a lot of work but it is satifying.
I tried the vinegar thing---it didn't work for me--but then perhaps what I used was not strong enough.

BTW: when I went out to water (the weather man said it was not going to rain after all tonight) it was so much cooler so I weeded for another 45 minutes. now half of the larger pen is done.

Vinegar off the shelves will only kill off the tops of plants but they will come back from the roots ( my kid's science project 1999). I have never found the stronger stuff. But the vinegar is safe to use around pools on weeds in cracks in the sidewalks, etc. If used consistently it works well. And safe around pets and kids. But you need to keep at it at least weekly.

I used ammonia for weeds here but wouldn't recommend it for use around pets. Have you thought about lifting all the blocks, putting down a good heavy duty weed barrier then putting the blocks back in place. Alot of work at the time but would last for many years.

I weeded for a bit last night...the weeds grow faster than the vegetable seedlings.

and you know, I even have some weed barrier already bought---I have it left from my old garden.---perhaps I can lay it down in Dante's pen--that one gets used more. Thanks for the idea

So I was looking on-line and found a 10% solution and a 20% solution at a company called Marshall Grain Company. Not sure what shipping would be. But I am going to look into this. We have an area where we don't want anything to grow and I hate using insecticide, but nothing else will get rid of the weeds, which is the only thing that will grow in the area. It is our frustrating issue, to fight the weeds so the pretties can grow!

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