Gardening- For those who love to grow.

[jams]

Thanks Sumas,
I'll make it a point to stop by.

[Zimm]

For people who missed it, Home Depot has a 4 day only [[4/2 thru 4/5sale) on 2CF bags of Cypress mulch for $1.48. Limit 20 bags. Outstanding savings.

you have to watch that stuff. it's often labeled as "cypress" but often contains little or no cypress. Usually there's a disclaimer printed somewhere on the bag.

i learned this one the hard way...

[Pam]

What are some dwarf veggies that are easy to grow in pots? I've done a patio tomato before but might want to try something else.

[jams]

What are some dwarf veggies that are easy to grow in pots? I've done a patio tomato before but might want to try something else.

Here's a start:
http://www.gardenguides.com/how-to/t...container2.asp

I wish my kichen window didn't face north, I'd grow lettuce in a window box, just to have it handy.

[LodgeDodger]

For us cheapies:
http://www.wintersown.org/

How timely...I had to wintersow "Kiss Me Over the Garden Gate" this year.

I love this thread. Gardening keeps me sane.

[eriedearie]

Just want to throw this out here...I had a flash back last night and remembered when we had such wonderful success one year with a huge garden we planted.

It just so happened that our three boys each got a bunny rabbit late in the fall. Mr. Erie built them an elevated house out in the back yard where they were protected from the weather through the winter months. He built it with a special floor so their waste product would fall through and it had all piled up quite a bit come spring - BTW, by spring those three bunnies had multiplied and we had eleven! So when we planted our garden we used the rabbit stuff and tilled that in with the dirt. My dad said it would be good stuff to use. And was he ever right.

We had such wonderful vegetables that year. Our tomato plants grew taller than our 8 foot privacy fence. The neighbors behind us and along the side where the garden was were able to pick all the tomatoes they wanted.

So if anyone can find rabbit manure, mix that in your garden. It works really great.

[reddog289]

Glad I stumbled upon this.The rain barrel article reminded me to start making my own. I planted my peas & some of my lettuce two weeks ago and am waiting for them to sprout.Since I get to work days for the next two weeks I thought that might be the time to drop a few things off at Cubs, Well blame me if it snows. Good luck to all this growing season.

[oladub]

reddog, My grandmother had a metal rain barrel off the back of her garage for her garden . She always put a little veggie oil in the barrel. Otherwise, the rain barrel would have bred a lot of mosquitos.

If the garden gets real dry, cultivating the soil allows the soil to breath and in turn wick ground water to the surface. it is amazing how little water established plants need if the ground surface is not hard.

[sumas]

I am an early riser and love to hear the birds singing in the morning. I recently rearranged our 2nd floor bedroom which overlooks my backyard gardens. I put a small writting table under a window that over looks my yard since that is where it fit into the floorplan. I got an unexpected bonus. Our candian field stone patio was built around a mature Sour Cherry tree. Now I get a birdseye of birds perching in the tree.

I love feeding the birds and have several feeders but I had to stop feeding them when a neighbohood cat started killing my birds. They moved about a month ago and I just realized I can start feeding my birds again.

[reddog289]

Oladub, Thanks for the veggie oil info. That is one of my concerns about the rain barrels. I like SKEETERS as much as anyone. I have a recipe for non toxic bug spray from an almamac have to find it. it too contained oil.

[Islandman]

I wonder if using neem oil in the barrels would work too? That would also give you the added bonus of it's bio-pesticide qualities. Using neem oil is very important in indoor gardens to prevent spider mite infestation, primarily.

[oladub]

Islandman, I think that neem oil is a great idea if it is cheap enough. Oil works because it spreads out on the water surface and when the mosquito larvae come to the surface for air, they run into a film of oil instead. The additional cost of the neem oil might offset its additional benefits.

When a pail is dipped into the rain bucket, some oil comes out with the water and has to be replaced every so many days. I've never tried siphoning but that wouldn't remove surface oil. Another idea that might help reduce the amount of oil might be to make a floating wood 'lid' that would cover most of the surface area requiring oil for a much smaller peripheral area. That wouldn't work out so good though if it hasn't rained for awhile and the barrel is low on water.

I was used to a 52 gallon metal barrel. It wasn't nice to look at but it worked fine. Its water became very warm in the summer. If white larvae could be seen bobbing up and down, it was time for oil. It was cleaned out and put away for winter.

[Islandman]

Thanks for the reply Oladub. Yes, it would be a tad pricy for this application. Thanks for clearing that up.

[reddog289]

I like cost effective solutions to stuff more than any thing. Thats why I'm glad I heard about the veggie oil. I plan on having at least 6 to 8 rain barrels this year. Last summer I got hit with a $300.00+ water bill and I hope I never see one like that again.

[LodgeDodger]

Well, we'll start with the composter. I have more than enough seeds of cukes, tomatos, lettuce, herbs, for my little space. I don't have any good windows for inside seeding, so we might work a tradeoff there.

And, of course, after a good day's work, beer is good.

Beer is ALWAYS good.

What else would you need, Gannon?

[Lnfant]

There was a gardening show on PBS years ago that featured home products that could be sprayed onto a garden to repel insects and for plant nutrition. I recall beer being an ingredient, along with dish soap? There were more ingredients.

[LodgeDodger]

Pam mentioned earlier dwarf plants to be grown on a patio. I'm wondering if anyone has tried those upside-down tomato plant growers they advertise on TV? I know most of the stuff they advertise is crap, but something like that might work for me. The bunnies and other creatures have been particularly aggressive the last two years. I'm looking at some alternatives for the tomatoes. I've completely given up on lettuce other than Roquette.

[GOAT]

I have scale on all of my Euonymous plants. Hoping to spray dormant oil to kill the bastards but it I don't get them all then I have to spray an insecticide which is now banned by the OnTaliban gov't in Ontario.

This is not fun because I have a lot of Euonymous in my landscaping.

If anyone else has had this issue let me know how it turned out. Thanks.

[Islandman]

There was a gardening show on PBS years ago that featured home products that could be sprayed onto a garden to repel insects and for plant nutrition. I recall beer being an ingredient, along with dish soap? There were more ingredients.

There are many different recipes, some use a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, others rubbing alcohol. The soap is used to make the solutions "stick" to the plants better, but some people even use a diluted solution of soap and water.

[LodgeDodger]

Last year, I purchased a living wreath. It's beautiful and I love it. I'd love to start one of my own, but succulents aren't something I know much about. Are they difficult to root?

[oladub]

reddog, The rainbarrel I referenced received its water supply from the backside of a garage and shed roof of roughly 500 square feet. The garden averaged about the same size and was adjacent to the barrel. One barrel was usually enough. Sometimes, after a couple of heavy rains, it overflowed. It ran dry during prolonged dry spells. The hose was then employed. If you can get away with one barrel, you will be better off. The closer the garden and barrel are to each other, the better if you use pails or a watering can.

[reddog289]

Thanks for giving me a reality check.Ola. I do need to measure my roofs. My Dad said "Son do you have any lawn left in your backyard?" Not really. I have a 3 and 1/2 car garage. If 500 sq ft of roof can provide for the same amount of garden then, I guess I have to do some math.I have at least 3 barrels for the garden.But in another way I do not want floods or to see the water that I can collect go to "waste". my whole backyard was pretty much 'wild geraniums' so I have no problem plowing them under for stuff I can eat.

[jams]

Pam mentioned earlier dwarf plants to be grown on a patio. I'm wondering if anyone has tried those upside-down tomato plant growers they advertise on TV? I know most of the stuff they advertise is crap, but something like that might work for me. The bunnies and other creatures have been particularly aggressive the last two years. I'm looking at some alternatives for the tomatoes. I've completely given up on lettuce other than Roquette.

Planting Marigolds near the lettuce patch will keep those bunnies away. For some reason marigolds to bunnies are like garlic to vampires.

[LodgeDodger]

Ahhhhhh, no wonder the neighbor has a ton of marigold lining his garden. I just thought he liked them...

[jams]

It's amazing how much you can learn about things, seemingly unrelated, but have an effect on other things, because of gardening.