Random thoughts from the moose cave.

@Rockhead,

we grow spinnach, usually as a cool season crop. we use it mostly as a Leafy salad vegetable pick the leaves as you need them and let the plant grow on.
Mostly we get a new punnet of 6 seedlings about very 6 weeks.

0 Replies

farm update between bites of peach ice cream.

(yes, my schedule is all fecked up...)

we got radishes already. cute little rows of 'em. and i got the sprinklers working.

ok.

been sitting on the patio watching the fire burn, and got inspired.

ima sink one steel pole just off the patio, and attach another in the base of the planter. cross-wire it in an x to the soffet, and string a bit of wire.

then ima plant flowering vines and let them cover over my south end with colorful shade...

pix in a month.

3 Replies

@Rockhead,

Quote:

pix in a month.

Bloody pix ???? I was being nice to you so I would get free fruit and vegetables !!!!! Bloody hell!!!!

1 Reply

@Rockhead,

Rockhead wrote:

farm update between bites of peach ice cream.

You gonna tell us that you make your own peach ice cream? Wink

0 Replies

@Ionus,

I don't ship to NZ anyway, you silly kiwi...

this weekend will see the pond area expanded into the next phase.

3 trumpet creeper poles and a lattice of scarlet runners in a semi-circle behind the pond garden. (moonflowers poked their heads up this week.)

spaced far enough that my yard tractor can mow it, of course.

learned that lesson the hard way last year with the container garden...

(peach tree is next year's plan, mr reyn.)

0 Replies

@Rockhead,

That's gonna be some fancy trellis if it will cover your south end and still allow you to get up and fetch a beer and some more ice cream from the fridge once in awhile.

Just finished planting the herb section of my garden and put in some more tomato and pepper plants. The corn, beans and onion seedlings are starting to pop out of the ground. Tomorrow the blueberries and the rest of the tomato plants go in and I'll finally be done until the seedlings I started indoors get old enough to leave the nest.

Soon we'll have enough veggies to have our very own A2K farmer's market.

1 Reply

@Butrflynet,

all of my seed crops are now showing sprouts...

needa till again and get my beans in. (smoky had some lying around and said we are gonna try 'em.)

my cukes are popping spiky leaves and getting ready to jump on the trellis, and i gotta figger out my chainlink for the cantaloupes.

it's starting to feel like a farm now...

0 Replies

took two old aloe plants that had been too long in their pots in the kitchen window, and made a planter to hang off of me rogue (not rouge) elm in my shade garden.

stuck a coupla old worn out socks in the bottom to keep summa the moisture in. it looks happier already, swaying next to the empty hollow log bird abode.

gotta find some colorful shade plants to put in the csat iron hanger i got for the back of the arbor.

suggestions welcome...

off to plant beans am i...

feel kinda like that jack guy.

2 Replies

@Rockhead,

anybody been stalkin ya?

1 Reply

@Letty,

that would be unwise, miss letty...

beans are in.

got an empty row. still think i wanna grow some spinach.

nobody sane would confuse Kansas with cool weather after May.

will it grow???

1 Reply

@Rockhead,

Maybe, but probably best grown as a fall or late winter/early spring crop.

edit: Do you have a summer crop that you can till under in late Sept and replant with spinach?

1 Reply

@JPB,

prolly...

i don't want anything destined to fail. get enough of that elsewhere...

how 'bout sweet potatoes???

what's involved in that?

(i got another spot, not about 3 rows worth, and i don't think i wanna mess with punkins...but i may anyway.)

1 Reply

@Rockhead,

Quote:

Sweetpotatoes succeed best in the South, but they are grown in home gardens as far north as southern New York and southern Michigan. They can be grown even farther north, in sections having especially mild climates, such as the Pacific Northwest. In general, sweetpotatoes may be grown wherever there is a frost-free period of about 150 days with relatively high temperature.

A well-drained, moderately deep sandy loam of medium fertility is best for sweetpotatoes. Heavy clays and very deep loose-texture soils encourage the formation of long stringy roots. For best results the soil should be moderately fertilized throughout. If applied under the rows, the fertilizer should be well mixed with the soil.

In most of the area over which sweetpotatoes are grown it is necessary to start the plants in a hotbed, because the season is too short to produce a good crop after the weather warms enough to start plants outdoors. Bed roots used for seed close together in a hotbed and cover them with about 2 inches of sand or fine soil, such as leafmold. It is not safe to set the plants in the open ground until the soil is warm and the weather settled. Toward the last, ventilate the hotbed freely to harden the plants.

The plants are usually set on top of ridges, 3 1/2 to 4 feet apart, with the plants about 12 inches apart in the row. When the vines have covered the ground, no further cultivation is necessary, but some additional hand weeding may be required.

Dig sweetpotatoes a short time before frost, on a bright, drying day when the soil is not too wet to work easily. On a small scale they may be dug with a spading fork, great care being taken not to bruise or injure the roots. Let the roots lie exposed for 2 or 3 hours to dry thoroughly but not in direct sunlight during the hot part of the day; then put them in containers and place them in a warm room to cure. The proper curing temperature is 85F. Curing for about 10 days is followed by storage at 55 degrees to 60 degrees.

From here.

1 Reply

@JPB,

hmmmmm.

i'd hafta hurry.

and get some horse crap...

0 Replies

my tomatoes have turned a deeper shade of green, and are starting to look upward.

the broccoli has stiffened up and dropped it's brown leaves (it was discounted)

and the cukes are taller every time I visit.

now I should go put a transmission back in...

0 Replies

I'm trying to figure out the name of a tool used by landscapers and state highway crews when they're cleaning up litter from the sides of the roads.

Sometimes I've seen it as a long stick with a big pointy spike in the end for spearing paper. Other times I've seen a more industrial version of those reach extender things to help get stuff from tall cabinets. It usually has a claw and a graspy thingy that is operated at the top of the stick and is good for picking up soda cans.

Anyone have a clue as to what you'd go to the hardware store and ask for by name if you wanted one of those thingys?

2 Replies

@Butrflynet,

Litter stick?

1 Reply

@Butrflynet,

Assuming the hardware store has patient staff simply say that you want a long stick with a big pointy spike in the end for spearing paper or a more industrial version of those reach extender things to help get stuff from tall cabinets and with a claw and a graspy thingy that is operated at the top of the stick and is good for picking up soda cans or carrying your husband's underpants to the washing machine.

0 Replies

@Ticomaya,

So simple and obvious! Yep, that's it. Thanks. One of these will help me reach between the prickly climbing rose branches to spear all the trash that is constantly blowing into our yard from the busy street a block away.

http://ezee-reachersupply.com/shop/images/litterstick%20long.gif

http://ezee-reachersupply.com/shop/images/pickupgator%5B1%5D.gif

1 Reply

@Rockhead,

Quote:

gotta find some colorful shade plants to put in the csat iron hanger i got for the back of the arbor.

suggestions welcome...

Fuschia?

No idea if it would be suitable for your climate though

0 Replies

Random thoughts from the moose cave.

Quick Links

My Account

able2know