Garden thread

moonangel12 wrote: »

So far, after two nights of covering, things are looking OK. We got quite a bit of rain last night so the plastic ended up squishing a couple plants as puddles formed, we’ll see if those rebound (one was a watermelon, the rest mainly sunflowers and onions). A father and daughter duo from church stopped by, had a quilt frame of his moms to give me, and he said he doesn’t usually plant anything until Mothers Day... good to know for next year! Last year I got lucky... but probably won’t be as eager next year (I am learning from seasoned gardeners that many don’t plant until two weeks after the listed frost date. My husband’s grandmother was the same way).

FWIW, if your plants/rows are small, you can make quick impromptu supports for row covers out of wire coat hangers, something many of us have extras of. Cut or unwind, bend into U shape. If worried about sideways flopping, use 2 at 90-degree angles, fasten the top interection with string, twist tie, whatever. Inelegant, but functional.

Pushing the season by a couple of weeks is usually going to work, it's just a little fussy.

kshama2001 wrote: »

moonangel12 wrote: »

So far, after two nights of covering, things are looking OK. We got quite a bit of rain last night so the plastic ended up squishing a couple plants as puddles formed, we’ll see if those rebound (one was a watermelon, the rest mainly sunflowers and onions). A father and daughter duo from church stopped by, had a quilt frame of his moms to give me, and he said he doesn’t usually plant anything until Mothers Day... good to know for next year! Last year I got lucky... but probably won’t be as eager next year (I am learning from seasoned gardeners that many don’t plant until two weeks after the listed frost date. My husband’s grandmother was the same way).

Here in 6b, two weeks after the last frost date is about the date for warm annuals like tomatoes. We can plants hardened-off cold annuals like kale a month before the last frost date.

I start planting pea seeds between St. Patrick's Day (March 17) and April 1, depending on how organized I am and how much snow we have - irrespective of temperature, if the soil is too wet, the seeds can rot.

I use a kitchen thermometer to measure soil temp:

https://todayshomeowner.com/how-to-measure-soil-temperature-for-planting/

Garden Vegetable Seed Germination Temperatures
The soil temperature for planting vegetables should be:

• 40° F or warmer: Lettuce, kale, peas, spinach.
• 50° F or warmer: Onions, leeks, turnips, Swiss chard.
• 60° F or warmer: Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, beans, beets.
• 70° F or warmer: Tomatoes, squash, corn, cucumbers, melons, peppers.

The seed germination temperature is often much warmer than the plant’s growing temperature. Once established, many veggies can handle much cooler air temperatures as long as the soil is warm enough. To get a head start on spring planting, plant seeds indoors or use plastic row covers to warm the soil more quickly.

They might not grow many cold weather crops?

I did get some cold weather crops started a couple/few weeks ago, but since they are 3x8 and 4x12 beds I just tried covering the whole thing with a sheet of black plastic... other areas I used spare pots to cover individual plants such as a couple herbs I put in last week.

I killed some plants this year by having them out too early. I think a week from today will be fine for the more delicate ones (such as the tomatoes and peppers and maybe artichokes), although today is supposed to be a safe day (although it was super windy and below freezing this year). My mistake was putting more delicate plants out on Easter for seasonal reasons and letting them get snowed on.

My chives are great, they survived over the winter and I used them on some potatoes today.

moonangel12 wrote: »

MeganD1704 wrote: »

I like this thread- I am a very amateur planter compared to most here lol!
Still to cold here to plant (3b), however I have my line up ready.

I do have a question though- how do you get rid of strawberry plants? The house we bought has a contained little tree with so many strawberry plants it seems to be starving the tree those are the only thing that are currently growing so far despite the 30-low 40 temps last week. Hardy buggers.

Not sure if you want to get rid of them entirely, or just tame the patch, but came across this video and thought I would pass it on (disclaimer, I have not watched it, but skimmed the article).

https://lovelygreens.com/reviving-overgrown-strawberry-patch/

Thank you so much! I couldn't find the thread again- favorite'd now lol. It snowed here this weekend of course so looking like late late may before we can plant.

My parents planted some alpine strawberry plants... if they ever make it across the country for a visit (they were supposed to be here a couple weeks ago, boo Covid ) I am hoping they can bring me a couple plants... the ones I planted last year, including the runners, look fantastic this year! Here’s hoping I can get to them before other critters do (ants and birds were the main issue last year... going to put something under them to keep them off of the dirt and they are covered with wire mesh baskets now).

MeganD1704 wrote: »

moonangel12 wrote: »

My parents planted some alpine strawberry plants... if they ever make it across the country for a visit (they were supposed to be here a couple weeks ago, boo Covid ) I am hoping they can bring me a couple plants... the ones I planted last year, including the runners, look fantastic this year! Here’s hoping I can get to them before other critters do (ants and birds were the main issue last year... going to put something under them to keep them off of the dirt and they are covered with wire mesh baskets now).

That is one of the other problems with ours- the birds get to them faster and we end up with berry poop all over the deck -I put wire mesh over top for now considering the weather is still to cold to do much at this point,

I use modular fencing that I cover with bird netting once the berries start to ripen.



I had to put bird netting over my 12 x 2 bed that my cat recently discovered he liked >.< I had hoops with mesh to keep the cabbage worms off my kale, and during the cold spell covered it with a sheet, which became his preferred outdoor spot for the next few days until I netted it.

Here's the fencing: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NB1EECB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

kshama2001 wrote: »

MeganD1704 wrote: »

moonangel12 wrote: »

My parents planted some alpine strawberry plants... if they ever make it across the country for a visit (they were supposed to be here a couple weeks ago, boo Covid ) I am hoping they can bring me a couple plants... the ones I planted last year, including the runners, look fantastic this year! Here’s hoping I can get to them before other critters do (ants and birds were the main issue last year... going to put something under them to keep them off of the dirt and they are covered with wire mesh baskets now).

That is one of the other problems with ours- the birds get to them faster and we end up with berry poop all over the deck -I put wire mesh over top for now considering the weather is still to cold to do much at this point,

I use modular fencing that I cover with bird netting once the berries start to ripen.



I had to put bird netting over my 12 x 2 bed that my cat recently discovered he liked >.< I had hoops with mesh to keep the cabbage worms off my kale, and during the cold spell covered it with a sheet, which became his preferred outdoor spot for the next few days until I netted it.

Here's the fencing: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NB1EECB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thank you so much! going to look into this option if we decide to keep them.

Sharing because I find this funny: A couple of years back, my next door neighbor asked if he could use my veggie garden area, which I was not planting. Of course, I said "sure". What he didn't say was that he planned to plant, um, ample? amounts of rhubarb, a perennial (comes back every year, very robustly in its case). He planned to make rhubarb wine, but would let me cut what I want, too.

Now, my neighbor, who's a dear man but a little bit of a fibbertigibbet, has decided not to make rhubarb wine (as far as I know, never did make any). He will maybe plant some other things out there (still fine), but called to let me know I should cut whatever rhubarb I want, up to and including all of it. This is enough rhubarb for at least 20 normal (non-rhubarb-obsessed) families, I think. I don't even like the stuff all that much, I mean, it's OK, but I'm not going to cut it by the bushel, and freeze/can it.

This is like a 30-foot row of rhubarb.

@AnnPT77 - that is a LOT of rhubarb! Wow! I would bundle it up and sell it or even give it away?? I planted 3 plants this year (one is battling the hosta for growing space, forgot they were there), mainly for jellies and jams since they were family favorites when my uncle made them.

@AnnPT77 that is so much rhubarb. Not sure if you have a farmers market in your area but you might have someone at one who likes to make Jam that would take it off your hands lol!