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HistorySleuth

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Dang it, I'll be at work. :( AND I totally forgot about the seed swap at the book store on Friday. :(

They did have a box of extras, so I picked up some odd tomato seeds I never heard of to try. :Shrug:
 

sunandshadow

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All my hyacinths are in full bloom and perfuming the yard now. :) The squill don't have much scent but they are also blooming cheerfully. I'm amazed how little damage the plants took from the big hailstorm we had - a few crocuses got shredded and a few tulip leaves have holes or splits in them, but other than that there was no sign that ice balls bigger than dimes pelted everything.
 

Ari Meermans

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I've never had a green thumb—not like dear old dad—but this year, after a lot of hard work, the veggie garden is amazing. Everything is up and healthy and the tomatoes are in bloom. Blackberries and strawberries are bearing, the plum tree and peach trees are loaded with fruit and the pear tree is looking okay, too. I'm ecstatic. lol
 

Fenika

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I have discovered a lovely home potting soil mix that looks to be very promising. Will post pics of my garden soon, hopefully.
 

sunandshadow

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I was at one of the local greenhouses today and they had gooseberry and currant bushes. Anyone have any of these? I'm thinking about getting one or two.
 

Fenika

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Nope. I really want some blackberries and raspberries. And maybe some blueberries and strawberries :(

Can't go wrong with fruit if it's reasonably easy to care for.
 

Ari Meermans

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My blackberries and raspberries have been really easy to care for, but the blueberries keep dying.

I used to have a problem with my blueberries dyin' 'til I found out the suckers need sandy, well-drained soil and a gallon of water a day per plant. That's the case down here, anyway. Once I made the soil change from our native hard packed clay and installed a soaker hose, they began to thrive.
 

icerose

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My blackberries and raspberries have been really easy to care for, but the blueberries keep dying.

When are your blueberries dying off, that'll help narrow down the problem. Also what type of soil do you have (Clay, loam, sandy) and what's the PH of your soil (Alkali -acid)
 

shakeysix

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i have a weird but true garden story. a teacher friend is renovating a flower bed at her house and she has been asking my help. this weekend while planting shasta daisies she and her husband came across a flint knife and some pieces of pottery. they contacted fort larned, a historical site about twenty miles away. the knife is at least 3,000 years old and they are still working on identifying the pottery style. the daisies have to find a new home and i get to help them look for more stuff in the bed. i always wanted to be indiana jones!---s6
 

JanDarby

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I found a set of dentures (not mine or anyone who lives in my house) in the vegetable garden a couple years ago. Still can't figure out how they got there.

I prefer finding garlic. It grows like a weed in my vegetable beds, everywhere that a bulbil (from the garlic's flower head) gets dropped. And then I harvest "all" of them, and the next spring, more come up. It's like magic.
 

Fenika

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That's neat, Six.

I've got to replant my peppers and broccoli soon. I've also got to stop planting things- I'm running out of pots. But I'm moving soon- hell or high water.
 

sunandshadow

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When are your blueberries dying off, that'll help narrow down the problem. Also what type of soil do you have (Clay, loam, sandy) and what's the PH of your soil (Alkali -acid)
They seem fine in fall but don't come back in spring. Soil in my area tends to be a bit acidic and iron-heavy; typical local recommendation is to add lime, magnesium, and phosphorous.

I had several raspberry and blackberry canes fail to come back this year too - these would have been second-year canes, they ought to be flowering right now. Had healthy leaves in fall, pretty mild winter, no digging around the bases... they just turned dead orange instead of leafing out when the other canes and bushes did.
 

shakeysix

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my friend's flower bed gave up a stone pestle--at least it looks like a pestle, but nothing else. she says the soil is in great shape thanks to all the digging. she plans to plant the daisies this weekend. i'll see if i can't get a clear photo of the knife and pestle to post.--s6
 

Uncarved

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Finally! I've two smallish ebooks, 60-75 pages each, that I created from published articles I had rights too. Got them for kindle for 99cents each :)
Indigenous also has some on creating seed swaps:)

Drought Tolerant Gardening: Plants for Desert and Water-wise Gardening
Indigenous: A Collection of Native Gardening
 

HistorySleuth

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i have a weird but true garden story. a teacher friend is renovating a flower bed at her house and she has been asking my help. this weekend while planting shasta daisies she and her husband came across a flint knife and some pieces of pottery. they contacted fort larned, a historical site about twenty miles away. the knife is at least 3,000 years old and they are still working on identifying the pottery style. the daisies have to find a new home and i get to help them look for more stuff in the bed. i always wanted to be indiana jones!---s6


How awesome is that!

I find stuff mostly from the late 1800s, early 1900s. Except for a rock with a cone shaped indentation, you know the base for the pump drill.

I'm jealous of all you starting your gardens. I think we are going from winter to summer, or the weather is late in general. Heck, we had flurries in the air last week. Now it's been raining for days.
 

Fenika

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My garden is all tucked away under the gooseneck trailer due to possible hail today (why risk damage when I can pick up the potted garden and move it). But between the rain and the shelter it won't be getting much sun at all today.

The lettuce is really looking good though. I should have a baby lettuce salad with the thin-ings.

I also am almost out of compost, and totally out of rotten wood, so I'll be making a trip to lowe's for garden soil, a trip into the woods for wood to mix with it, and then I have more plants to transplant and I want to buy tomatoes this weekend. But mostly I need to cut back and stop planting so many things!

Btw, many bakeries give away their large white buckets (plus lids) Add some holes, place the lid underneath and you have free pots.
 

icerose

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They seem fine in fall but don't come back in spring. Soil in my area tends to be a bit acidic and iron-heavy; typical local recommendation is to add lime, magnesium, and phosphorous.

I had several raspberry and blackberry canes fail to come back this year too - these would have been second-year canes, they ought to be flowering right now. Had healthy leaves in fall, pretty mild winter, no digging around the bases... they just turned dead orange instead of leafing out when the other canes and bushes did.

Sounds like they might not be getting a sufficient enough hardening off period before the cold of winter strikes. Blueberries need gradually lower temperatures for something like a month and a half before a hard freeze or they die. They are pretty picky. Many growers have to shelter their blueberry bushes during the winter to keep them from getting too deep of a freeze. Even cold hardy blueberrys struggle with the sudden cold that can come.

If you decide to plant more, protect them this winter and see if that doesn't fix your problem.
 

Tepelus

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Finally! I've two smallish ebooks, 60-75 pages each, that I created from published articles I had rights too. Got them for kindle for 99cents each :)
Indigenous also has some on creating seed swaps:)

Drought Tolerant Gardening: Plants for Desert and Water-wise Gardening
Indigenous: A Collection of Native Gardening


This year I've gotten the native plant bug, and I've started native plant seeds this year by winter sowing them in milk jugs. I've also ordered several native plants for my shady areas around the north and west side of our new garage. There's still more plants I want to order, and need to do it soon, but I'm running out of money! Lousy low-paying housekeeping job. Quite a few of my milk jugs have sprouted, some haven't sprouted and may or may not ever sprout, and others are just starting. I bought a bunch of little pots to plant all of my new babies in to give them a chance to grow some before I plant them out (plus, the beds aren't ready and most likely won't be for a couple of months), and whatever I don't plant I hope to sell. Or give them away. I'm so excited I've pretty much ignored writing my novel. But that's nothing new. My novel usually takes the back seat to my gardens during this time of the year, and then in the fall and winter it gets attention again.
 

shakeysix

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it has been very cold and rainy here. i hired a handy man to put in raised beds for a small vegetable garden. i have a big yard but it has bermuda grass and that makes gardening a chore because it comes up in everything.

the plan is he builds a fence around it to keep out the rabbits. then i kill off the grass and put down a weed barrier. he returns to put up the fence and make raised beds. i plan to paint the fence blue/gray with a red gate!. at one end of the garden will be an arbor with a bench built in for shady sitting. grapes for the arbor. there will be six 3x4 raised beds with herbs, carrots, tomatoes, beans and peppers. and of course a few flowers. there will be two gravel paths and a small fountain in the center.

the cold and rain is holding the project up. i'm like a kid at christmas. i can't wait! if i were a mere girl of forty again, i would do it myself but age forces me to put the strain on my savings account and not my creaky knees and back. --s6
 
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Uncarved

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This year I've gotten the native plant bug, and I've started native plant seeds this year by winter sowing them in milk jugs. I've also ordered several native plants for my shady areas around the north and west side of our new garage. There's still more plants I want to order, and need to do it soon, but I'm running out of money! Lousy low-paying housekeeping job. Quite a few of my milk jugs have sprouted, some haven't sprouted and may or may not ever sprout, and others are just starting. I bought a bunch of little pots to plant all of my new babies in to give them a chance to grow some before I plant them out (plus, the beds aren't ready and most likely won't be for a couple of months), and whatever I don't plant I hope to sell. Or give them away. I'm so excited I've pretty much ignored writing my novel. But that's nothing new. My novel usually takes the back seat to my gardens during this time of the year, and then in the fall and winter it gets attention again.


I've been shopping two new native plant books and have four bites on the proposals already. It incorporates butterfly gardening with native plants, so its tons of fun.

My camellia is looking grand, and my roses are blooming, everything is starting to look like spring and I'm hoping the magnolia starts its pledge-scented display of blooms soonish:)
 

Tepelus

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I think growing native plants to attract butterflies and other wildlife is becoming really popular. Which is a good thing, we all need to look to planting native plants to help out our little winged friends.
 

Fenika

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I just found an article about native plants and put it aside (rather than the bottom of the bird cage ;) ). Today I bought some peppermint and resisted some other buys. Tomorrow is the plant sale where I'll at least pick up some tomatoes and maybe more than I can handle :)