111 replies to this topic

[Daniel]

We had the tulips in this year.. We purchased them from a store as flowers and stole a basket of nearly dead tulips, left over from Easter, from our friend's house. We pulled the tulips from the ground.. Cut the stems down to the bulbs.. Except in some cases where there were like two or three tiny stems growing along side the major one.. We lined them up in a different way and put them in a row... They wont bloom again this year will they? And will these guys rot or return next year.

[mongo_jones]

hey gg, are these all planted from seed? how easy are peas?

Yes, all from seed. Ever hear the term 'easy-peasy'? If you can draw a straight line you can plant seeds. For carrots and beets, make a furrow (a small trough) about .5" deep and .5" wide. Most instructions tell you to seed all along the row and then thin the plants. I just sprinkle a little cluster of seeds every 3" for carrots, or one single beet 'seed' (which is actually a cluster of seeds) every 4", then cover over with about .5" of dirt. When the plants are well-established (when they have two or three good string secondary leaves showing and they're about 2" tall) thin out all but the strongest of the seedlings.

For peas, make a furrow about 1" x 3" and drop single peas in a sort of zigzag pattern about 2.5" apart, then cover with about 1" of soil. No need to thin them, but unless you plant a dwarf variety, you'll need to provide some kind of trellising as they get taller.

For all of these, water well right after planting and keep the soil very moist until the seeds germinate. Beets will germ. in about 3 – 4 days, carrots may take a week or more, and peas as long as a few weeks. Cooler soil temps. will mean longer germination times.

This is a great time for you to plant this stuff in your climate. And it will help with your antsiness to get started planting something.

yes, i should take this to the "idiot's guide to vegetable gardening" thread, but since i'm here: when you say "drop single peas" do you mean peas as bought from the grocery store?

[Rail Paul]

I stopped at cross country nurseries today, and picked up a few basil plants (spicy globe leaf, compact genovese, etc), some cilantro (calypso and slow bolt), and chile peppers. Jamie (the owner) mentioned this has been a superb season for her, so far.

The stock gets marked down to $1 each around May 15 or so, if they follow previous practice. I paid $1.75 for most items.


Chile Plants

[Daniel]

Wow, what an impressive list of peppers on that website.

[Rail Paul]

Wow, what an impressive list of peppers on that website.

They've got an incredible supply of peppers, probably 100 feet by six feet of flats, and a lot of basil. They've been adding eggplant and cilantro products, as well.

I enjoy just browsing their tented greenhouses, they're huge. It's a temptation not to just buy everything.


I'll probably head up to Well Sweep Farm later this week. They specialize in rosemary, cilantro, basil, oregano, etc. Also, a lot of ornamental plants. Cy and Louise Hyde started Well Sweep shortly after dinosaurs departed the area. They also have wonderful chicken manure. Perhaps 10 different species of chickens in multiple colors.


Catalog

[GG Mora]

hey gg, are these all planted from seed? how easy are peas?

Yes, all from seed. Ever hear the term 'easy-peasy'? If you can draw a straight line you can plant seeds. For carrots and beets, make a furrow (a small trough) about .5" deep and .5" wide. Most instructions tell you to seed all along the row and then thin the plants. I just sprinkle a little cluster of seeds every 3" for carrots, or one single beet 'seed' (which is actually a cluster of seeds) every 4", then cover over with about .5" of dirt. When the plants are well-established (when they have two or three good string secondary leaves showing and they're about 2" tall) thin out all but the strongest of the seedlings.

For peas, make a furrow about 1" x 3" and drop single peas in a sort of zigzag pattern about 2.5" apart, then cover with about 1" of soil. No need to thin them, but unless you plant a dwarf variety, you'll need to provide some kind of trellising as they get taller.

For all of these, water well right after planting and keep the soil very moist until the seeds germinate. Beets will germ. in about 3 – 4 days, carrots may take a week or more, and peas as long as a few weeks. Cooler soil temps. will mean longer germination times.

This is a great time for you to plant this stuff in your climate. And it will help with your antsiness to get started planting something.

yes, i should take this to the "idiot's guide to vegetable gardening" thread, but since i'm here: when you say "drop single peas" do you mean peas as bought from the grocery store?

No. A pea 'seed' is just a dried pea, but you do have to buy dedicated pea 'seeds'.

There's no such thing as an idiot when it comes to learning about gardening. I could tell you stories about my early efforts that would make you feel like Eliot Coleman.

[flyfish]

GG, do you use inoculant on your peas?

[flyfish]

Woke up to this. I know it won't last, but blech.

[GG Mora]

GG, do you use inoculant on your peas?

No, never have. The whole garden gets fed pretty heavily, amended with dried blood and cottonseed meal at the start of the season and watered-in with fish emulsion every few weeks, so they don't seem to lack for nitrogen. I suppose I should try inoculant at some point just for comparison.

I think we're far enough south to be spared the snow this time. And thank god – I don't think I could bear it.

[Rail Paul]

(snip)

I think we're far enough south to be spared the snow this time. And thank god – I don't think I could bear it.

Yeah. The local news here in NY said there would be a foot to 18" of new snow in Adirondacks Monday night through Tuesday night. That's a lot, this late in the season.

[Daniel]

We cut down some of the dogwood branches to bring light in. We brought them in the house.. It looks pretty for now.. Happy there were no squirrels hiding anywhere..

[Daniel]

The mighty owl..

[Daniel]

Little head of cauliflower popped up.. We have three or four of them..



We had some family over for mother's day last night. Nobody fell for it when I took a bunch of cauliflower from a crudite we were eating and placed them around the garden..

[fantasty]

Do we need to be worried about the overnight temperature drop to 45 degrees? We have 23 baby tomato plants in the ground, along with nearly a dozen kales and a half dozen chards.

[SLBunge]

Do we need to be worried about the overnight temperature drop to 45 degrees? We have 23 baby tomato plants in the ground, along with nearly a dozen kales and a half dozen chards.

I'd say no. The real problem with cold temps is freezing the water in the plant tissues (particularly buds). Cool temps that are above freezing may slow growth but shouldn't really damage the plants or affect overall yield.