Gardening: the beets must go on

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Gardening: the beets must go on

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

I've been slowly hand tilling our new 25'x10' garden plot in 5'x10' sections and it's almost finished. The topsoil is amazingly dark and pungent, but very thin and over some lovely red clay. Finish busting up that last section, add some organic material to make the best of the clay I can, and cover it for a week is all I have left until I can start getting some of the early plants in the ground since our last frost date is nearly a month away.

I've got an arrangement for free fishing at a nearby paylake so long as I catch bluegill and remove/kill them to keep them from killing off the species they actually want. Since I can easily annihilate 100+ a day, I'm thinking about putting them to use for the organic material I need. My only concern is six inches of soil above might not keep the smell down if there are 250-500 fish spread evenly over 250sq. feet.

Does anyone know if I'm in for my backyard reeking like a brothel, or if it's going to work as wonderfully as cheap fertilizer as I'm thinking?

TheFuglyStik fucked around with this message at 14:54 on Mar 19, 2009

# ¿ Mar 19, 2009 14:51

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 24, 2024 07:39

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

kid sinister posted:

The only composting that I've heard of regarding fish was of just their skeletons. And that was with a proper compost pile, not just lumping dirt on top of them. I bet a whole fish would take quite some time to decompose entirely.

Still, putting that much fish in your garden would pretty much guarantee that you'd have pests trying to dig them up: raccoons, possums, even neighborhood dogs and cats.

Good point on the pests, we have plenty of coyotes around and I haven't had to fire off any warning shots in a while. A mass grave from a fish holocaust would draw them back around in no time.

I really need to get a good bin for starting some compost, which I would definitely use fish for, but no aquatic graveyard for now.

# ¿ Mar 19, 2009 16:20

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

The place is stocked monthly with channel and shovelnose catfish, which usually wind up being in the 60+ pound area there, so heavy feeding is pretty much required. Algae and vegetation isn't a problem, just more bluegill larger than the catfish can reasonably eat that have wiped out the smaller catfish species that were there.

Back to gardening since I came across a dilemma. I'm looking to keep the harvest paced out so that I don't wind up with three buckets of something and nothing else by the time it all spoils. Plants that keep producing for a good while won't be much of a problem, but things I plan on planting like onions, cabbage, and spinach could use some staggering in when individual plant are put in/seeded. Since I have a ~180 day growing period, would a 10 day or week staggering in planting these be advisable?

# ¿ Mar 19, 2009 19:29

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

I'm getting a late start by a few weeks, but I'm starting my pepper (tam jalepeno, serrano, and california wonder) and tomato (a brandywine variety bred to grow in the region) plants in peat pots under grow lights.

Making the 75 mile round trip to load my grandma's rotary tiller in the back of my lovely station wagon since the pitiful amount of soil I've prepared by hand is heartbreaking, and I really don't feel like breaking my back with a spade while things start to germinate.

I've still got a lot of work to do, but hell if I don't want some wong bok, long beans, peppers, and onions to make stir fry, burgers, and steaks on our lovely houseboat to go along with piss brew beer this summer since I've got some work supervising the nearby campground this summer. :clint:

Also, anyone else into harvesting greens from the yard (young dandelion, plantain, violet blooms, etc.) for salads?

TheFuglyStik fucked around with this message at 09:30 on Apr 5, 2010

# ¿ Apr 5, 2010 09:19

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

/\/\/\
Along with the beer idea, I'm saying gently caress it and spending $100 on a lovely .22 since a pellet gun doesn't kill rabbits so well. They're hellacious in my neighborhood. Unless TFR's resident BB gun expert and current thread regular Nosmoking has a great suggestion for under that $100 price point. Ammo is expensive.

I've got all of this that I plan to cram into 340 sq. feet that I just tilled the gently caress out of:

25 peaches and cream sweet corn
12 Waltham butternut squash
13 long zi noodle bean
12 Alaska pea
24 taichung snow pea
18 improved tendergreen garden bean
8 brandywine tomato (developed specifically to grow in the county over :woot:)
8 California wonder pepper
4 tam jalapeno pepper
4 serrano pepper
10 wong bok (one successive planting per week)
8 India mustard (one per week)
10 Paris Island cos lettuce (oohrah! one per week)
8 Arugala (one per week)
20 round leaf spinach (five per week)
No telling how many Nantes half long carrots
No telling how many sweet Spanish yellow Utah jumbo onions (I like fried onions)
No telling how many bright lights chard
2 burpee hybrid II cucumbers (gently caress these overproduce, so only two)

Lots of poo poo for grilling, burger dressing, stir fries, and general deep frying that would go great with cheap beer. I'm living on a houseboat this summer yet again due to work managing a campground half a mile from where my parents keep their houseboat, so guess who's getting cirrhosis and artery clogging from a poo poo load of my own lovely cooking this summer? :toot:

# ¿ Apr 20, 2010 07:46

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

NosmoKing posted:

about keeping critters out of the garden

Fencing is something I'm considering due to all that waiting and watching. I'm going to be away for a few days at a time a lot this summer. It may not help much with the squirrels and deer, but it's better than letting every animal that wants easy food at my expense have their way. Two dogs don't do that much when we bring them in at night.

I'll be on the lookout for a Benjamin 392. We've got plenty of firepower at my house, but extremely overkill .30-06, 5.56 and 7.62 flying around at 5AM might not go over so well with the neighbors.

# ¿ Apr 20, 2010 18:54

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

Got an early start this year with a 30"x8" planter box on my desk for salad greens. I'm missing the arugula that I accidentally naturalized to my parents' yard a few years ago.

Trying out containers on both decks and square foot gardening this year since I'm a renter. Two 4'x4' beds should be plenty to keep me busy this year. I'm going to give the method a try and see how it works out for me, because why the hell not?

Added 40lbs. of manure/humus to a 32 gallon compost tub tonight, so hopefully the ashes, newspaper, and straw I'll be adding on Saturday will get the whole pile cooking off. My pitiful little bucket of kitchen scraps had gone anaerobic despite all of the turning I could muster, and goddam did it stink. :barf:

Lesson learned.

I'll be adding worms to the bin after the anaerobic pockets have dissipated, so hopefully my only remaining challenge will be finding a cheaper source of perlite and peat moss (preferably coconut fiber) than loving Lowes.

# ¿ Feb 1, 2012 03:57

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

Socratic Moron posted:

Why do you prefer coconut fiber?

Loads of environmental issues with peat moss harvesting, but they are debatable. I'm wanting to try something besides peat moss just to see if there is any real difference in the end result.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2012 01:11

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

If you're really cramped for space, you could try those shoe organizers that you hang on the door. I've seen quite a few of those used for herbs and such. I've seen gutters and shipping palettes used as well.

# ¿ Feb 3, 2012 01:23

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

Hanging CD's, mylar tape, or anything else highly reflective from a tree, post, what have you, scares them away as well. Just make sure it can blow around in the wind.

# ¿ Feb 4, 2012 05:07

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

I seeded the planter box on my desk on Wednesday with greens, and I've got sprouts already reaching up 2-3" already. Never had that happen so quickly with potting soil, so I'm absolutely sold on that whole Mel's mix recipe so far after this little experiment.

And the narcissus on the side of the road are already pushing up here in KY. That usually doesn't happen until the end of the month. Going ahead and getting my beds made and started with onions is really tempting right now, but I'm holding off since the frost date is still quite a bit away.

# ¿ Feb 5, 2012 20:42

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

Cpt.Wacky posted:

I've never seen anything that claimed why particular plants were good or bad companions. Most everyone seems to copy a table of companions and antagonists from a magazine by Rodale written in 1972.

I did find this article on the general reasons for companion planting: https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/summary.php?pub=72

This other site has a lot of other interesting articles that are a scientific debunking of common myths. I haven't read all of them yet to see how much I agree with them though. http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/index.html

My guess is that most agriculture research is funded by commercial interests and they grow huge fields of single crops, so knowing which plants work well together in a home garden isn't even on their radar. So we end up relying on basic concepts like heavy-feeder/light-feeder, nitrogen loving/fixing, plant heights, insect behavior, personal experience and "folk wisdom" like that Rodale table.

Taking notes on these articles right now, since I'm always open to clearing up any bad advice I might have gotten in the past. Thanks for posting these.

But I will argue to the death that tomatoes grown with basil are absolutely heavenly. :colbert:

# ¿ Feb 8, 2012 01:02

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

Socratic Moron posted:

Do tell more. Do tomatoes pick up the flavor of basil or something?

Not enough to be as strong as fresh chopped basil dumped on top of the slices, but I've had no trouble telling the difference. My grandmother's tomatoes had more noticeable results with cherry instead of beefsteak. I've heard the basil is better too, but I've never been able to test that theory out.

# ¿ Feb 8, 2012 01:18

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

So tonight I'm seriously toying around with the idea of using a buddy's land to grow enough to sell at the local farmers' market. The one here is lots of awesome cheese and bread, but the vegetables are the same stuff you can buy from the store, so I'm wanting to go with some less common heirlooms, just to set myself apart. More of a trial run this year than anything.

Oh and I threw together a 24"x66" vertical banner for said hypothetical stand just for shits and giggles.

e: square thumb so as not to break size rules

TheFuglyStik fucked around with this message at 05:24 on Feb 8, 2012

# ¿ Feb 8, 2012 05:21

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

Quick update on the Mel's mix experiment one week on before I start thinning everything out tonight.

Fastest I've had any kind of green germinate and shoot up several inches at the tallest, so it's kicking regular topsoil's and potting soil's asses so far. My only complaint so far is the price of the ingredients.

Speaking of prices, I'm holding off on the market garden for this year. After calculating all of the costs involved, there's no way in hell I'd be able to keep a market booth stocked with what I could afford to get started in a couple of months. Setting money aside to give it a better planned go next year seems a hell of a lot more prudent. If anything, I'll get some berries planted in beds so they can start getting ready for full production next year.

TheFuglyStik fucked around with this message at 02:37 on Feb 9, 2012

# ¿ Feb 9, 2012 02:35

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

Socratic Moron posted:

I missed this. What's Mel's mix?

http://www.mysquarefootgarden.net/mels-mix/

Interesting stuff and I'm liking it so far, but it's expensive to get started with it. After the first grow with it, just add more compost to replace what was depleted.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2012 03:35

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

Bought one of those topsy-turvey tomato planters this week since they were marked down to $2.50 at Big Lots. I may go back this weekend and buy out the store here and in the next town over since I don't trust plastic bags to hold up to the weight as well. I plan on dumping the provided seeds and trying things like hillbilly tomatoes, bush beans, and whatever peppers I finally decide on in them.

I've determined that one or two 4x4 SFG plots, gutters for herbs on the deck railing, and whatever containers I can muster are going to be all I can do at home this year due to renting. The borrowed farm is just going to get some prep work and needed plantings for next year.

I plan on keeping records of the weight and grocery store value of what I grow, along with the expenses and time involved, just to shut up a few folks who tell me it's a waste of time and money. If anyone's interested, I can post that data here as well once it starts coming in.

If anything, it'll all be an excuse to get my grandmother to finally show me how to can things.

Alterian posted:

I've been saving my cat litter containers. The ones like this http://www.tidycats.com/Products/Scoop/InstantAction.aspx in the plastic jug, not the container. I'm thinking about cutting the tops off, drilling holes through the bottom, and planting stuff in them. Would strawberries be a good idea?

I've been saving 2-liter bottles for seed starting with the exact same idea in mind. Just trim off the top half, and there you are. Now that I've found seed starting pots at literally $0.06 a piece locally, it's more out of a recycling ideal than anything else that I'm still doing it.

# ¿ Feb 11, 2012 01:23

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

With my little lettuce patch on the desk, I'm finding a spray bottle for watering is quickly becoming my best friend. I fully intend on getting a pump sprayer this year for the same purpose outdoors. Going to test out compost tea and milk baths this year with it as well. The trick will be filtering the particles so the nozzle doesn't clog up.

Molten Llama posted:

I get the distinct feeling I'm going to be giving seedlings away to anyone that'll take them. Either that or buying a lot of new containers.

I'm starting from new seed stock this year due to losing my old collection while moving, and I'm a big seed saver. This mean's I'll be in the same boat, but just to hand out seedlings to get other people gardening. I can only plant a few of the seedlings in my own space, so the rest are going out to whoever the hell wants em'.

# ¿ Feb 13, 2012 01:51

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

In on week two of my desktop gardening project, and things are still progressing. I've been slowly culling out the weakest sprouts, but it's still got a way to go on the thinning.

I'm starting to get some burgundy coloration on some of the lettuce and microgreens, and the first true leaves of some of the lettuce. I'm hoping to have the first true harvest at the end of the month, but I've already been adding the culled seedlings to meals.

As a side note, I've worked out with the landowner I'm bumming a patch from a final deal. "Do what you want with what I'm not using, so long as you're not growing weed." :350:

# ¿ Feb 16, 2012 03:12

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

I'm adding some long white bunching onions to my desktop gardening experiment. I got a 1'x1'x6" plastic container for take-out that I thought would be perfect, so off I went looking for another shallow rooted plant that requires little space. I thought about planting some of the wild garlic we've got all over the place, but I'm the only person in my house that will eat it.

# ¿ Feb 18, 2012 01:22

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

I'm going to be dealing with rabbits, deer, & birds in the plot I'm preparing. One area has wire fencing already in place, but it's for a cattle operation that the previous owners abandoned. Plus the barn is to the south of the plot, blocking light for most of the day.

Driving fenceposts into the ground, while installing deer netting up top, hog panels from the ground up, and chicken wire in the bottom 18" is probably going to be my fencing solution. I'll have to work up dimensions to get bird netting to work. I don't trust electronic owls, fox piss, and sonic deer repellents to do it all for an extended period of time. After all that fuss and expense, I still have to figure something out for insect pests. :gonk:

At least I've got a full year to get the site ready instead of diving headlong into it this year. I may plant a few test beds out there this year to see what pests wind up being a problem.

# ¿ Feb 21, 2012 00:59

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

Socratic Moron posted:

Since I measure my e-penis by the yard, here's my 18 yards that were recently delivered:

That was in anticipation of today. I had an excavator dig a ton of holes around my property so the next round of fruit trees can go in.

God I love farming

gently caress, I'm jealous. I wish I had a place for some fruit trees.

After looking over fencing options, it's looking like 2' and 4' high strands of electric fencing for deer and chicken wire for rabbits is going to be my cheapest option if I go above 100' of fencing. Solar power supplies have gotten really drat cheap in the past couple of years.

# ¿ Feb 23, 2012 01:38

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

I made it out to the borrowed farm today to take some measurements, and the situation out there is far better than I thought. I've got a 200'x120' field surrounded by an electric fence that just needs a power source and some repairs. There's plenty of scrap timber in the barn for raised beds, as well as some chicken wire I can salvage to keep larger rodents out. This just cut my expenses dramatically.

I don't plan on using all 24,000 square feet, since that it simply insane for one person to undertake with the amount of time I can invest, but it's a drat good starting point to expand slowly. I'm planning on using the 4800 square feet up the hill and adjacent to the barn for berries. Another area directly adjacent to these areas within the fence is occupied by a massive pile of limestone boulders, and I don't feel like borrowing the owner's Bobcat to clear out land I couldn't get fertile, even if I wanted to.

The soil there is incredibly rocky, this being cave country in KY, and one of the neighbors stands behind her house watching every time someone goes out there. Those are the only real problems. Luckily, the neighbor can't say a thing, and using raised beds is going to negate the rocky patches. I'll just have to keep the beds sitting on top of outcrops marked so I don't try planting carrots or potatoes with bedrock less than a foot below.

Fluffy Bunnies posted:

Hi gardening thread!

I'm in a desert. My yard looks like.. well, it's not sand. But it's certainly dirt. Really boring dirt. And we have about a billion of these:

Now, I've spent all winter clearing up every last seed I could find out there. I'm sure there's still some out there. However, I imagine they will be less numerous this year. I'm here for approximately three years and my landlord/the owner of the house doesn't give a poo poo what I do with his yard.

I am going to get rid of these loving things if it is the last thing I do.

I'd also like to have a small garden.

I know rosemary will generally help to keep plants around it in check, and mint tends to strangle out other things. I loving love mint and rosemary. ...but I don't know how far out rosemary's talents act. My thought is to plant rosemary and mint slowly this year, from one corner of the lot to the other, all the while pulling the sandspur plants and gathering their seeds for a fiery roast. I'll also be improving the soil as I go along, since apparently sandspurs prefer lovely soil (from what I've read, anyway).

Do I sound insane? Or does this sound like it might actually work?

About how much precipitation do you get in your area, and if it's not much, do you have easy access to water? Mint's invasive as all hell, but it does need decently moist soil. I'm not familiar with that particular talent of rosemary, but I'd like to hear more about that myself.

TheFuglyStik fucked around with this message at 00:24 on Feb 26, 2012

# ¿ Feb 26, 2012 00:16

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

Speaking of pollinators, I've got plans on surrounding the fenced in area of my garden with a belt of a native wildflower mix to fill in where the adjacent field of gigantic goldenrods is leaving some slack. The patch between the fence and access road doesn't get bushhogged that often, but I'm still concerned about goldenrod's ability to choke out anything else that tries to grow in its territory.

I think clearing out the wealth of fire damaged cedars in the field might clear up a few good spaces, but this is my experimentation and prepwork season. We'll see how it all goes. If all else fails, there's always the option to induce a plague of blackberry canes and watch the horticultural warfare take place. :haw:

# ¿ Feb 28, 2012 02:53

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

drat Your Eyes! posted:

Ooo, I like this-- and Boyfriend's father always needs him to come over and clear the bamboo from his yard. Sounds like we need to make a visit this weekend to "help".

That cancerous plant has eat up the creeks around here, so I'll be chipping in with eradication efforts for trellising. :black101:

Another variant of the idea that the Amish are fond of around here is building a very loose teepee of bamboo around a well-driven tobacco stick.

# ¿ Mar 1, 2012 01:08

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

Start small, add plenty of organic matter to the soil, and put the garden somewhere extremely convenient that still allows for the most sunlight. These are the three things I wish I had paid more attention to early on. As far as good learning sources, online I've been fond of reading Mother Earth News for general pointers, and Pinterest of all places is a great place to learn a few things.

coyo7e posted:

You aren't doing a thing to "eradicate" bamboo unless you're physically digging it up and removing the rhizome entirely. It's a grass, so cutting it all down will not even really slow it down much more than mowing your lawn slows it down.

I know. But mowing down waves of invaders with a machete just feels good, you know. :jihad:

zeroprime posted:

Have you thought about throwing some edibles out there too? A pseudocereal like Quinoa is hardy and can look quite nice when in bloom and producing seed (which is edible). Amaranth is basically a weed with the way it grows and could fight with the goldenrod for dominance.

poo poo, I didn't see this earlier. I know amaranth leaves can be used in a salad mix and it produces grain that I've yet to try. Quinoa at the grocery store is expensive as hell too, so I'll make sure to look more into this. Thanks for pointing these out.

TheFuglyStik fucked around with this message at 03:55 on Mar 2, 2012

# ¿ Mar 2, 2012 03:49

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

I've been searching locally, and only found vermiculite in hilariously overpriced small bags at Lowes. I've found peat moss, and my compost pile has been retrofitted to have worms introduced so that it can be ready when I get my beds made sometime in late March/early April. I'm not finding it at any garden centers or nurseries in my area. Some of them didn't even know what I was talking about.

Where the poo poo can I find bulk vermiculite? :argh:

# ¿ Mar 6, 2012 01:47

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

Cpt.Wacky posted:

Kinda weird but here's the site for you: http://www.vermiculite.com/

What about farm centers or maybe you have a co-op that can do bulk orders? It doesn't weigh much so the shipping to buy it online might not be too bad either.

Are you making some sort of special soil mix with all of this?

Mel's mix, so nothing really special. Thanks for the sources, which may be my only option unless I find a place in the next town over. Even the Southern States in town and the one two miles from my borrowed farm don't carry it.

Also, I will try calling the pool suppliers tomorrow during lunch. The lack of vermiculite here in southern KY confuses the piss out of me as well.

# ¿ Mar 6, 2012 06:52

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

Cpt.Wacky posted:

Are you asking these places about perlite too? It should serve the same purpose in the mix.

It doesn't seem like you have to have it for the mix, you'd just have to be more careful about overwatering, which is a good thing anyways. Too much watering is wasteful and can leach out most of the nutrients.

Personally, I dislike the idea of using peat moss too and would use coconut coir instead if I needed it.

A nursery I completely forgot existed just outside of town has vermiculite! :hellyeah:

I've also heard of using leaf mold for peat's purpose, but I'm hesitant to use it in place of peat moss.

# ¿ Mar 7, 2012 00:33

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

Not exactly gardening, but I harvested three pounds of chickweed from the front yard a few minutes ago. Tastes just like spinach, and it's loving everywhere this time of year.

Now that I'm thinking about it, if there's enough interest, I'd be willing to write up an OP for a wild edibles and foraging thread.

Baldbeard posted:

Once this happens, there's a pretty good chance the plant will never reach it's full potential because the base of the roots will always be balled up and won't spread.

This is especially true for plants with deep, sprawling root networks like tomatoes. I would at least repot them in something a bit larger than what they are in now. Even 2-liter bottles with the top third cut of and a few holes drilled/hot nailed in the bottom would work in a pinch here.

TheFuglyStik fucked around with this message at 01:50 on Mar 8, 2012

# ¿ Mar 8, 2012 01:42

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

Socratic Moron posted:

Oh god yes please.

I've got an OP and second post of a list of wild edibles in-progress in another thread. Gardening goons could find it useful by finding out that many plants removed during weeding are edible, with some being downright tasty. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3471170

In other news, I've mistaken Parris Island Cos lettuce for microgreens that bolted extremely early. :downs:

Luckily I've got a few survivors that I missed during my most recent thinning.

# ¿ Mar 8, 2012 09:47

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

Molten Llama posted:

Aaaaagh, it's only March and my garden is already full of aphids! My lettuce is more aphid than lettuce now. Except, weirdly, the red sails, which have no aphids and no damage.

I'll have to hit the garden center to buy some variety of murderous beneficial. I had great success with ladybugs last year, and they're easy to spot, but on the other hand the sound of a couple hundred ladybugs skittering through the garden is disturbing. Lacewings seem less creepy, and mantids seem more awesome, so I don't know what direction I'm going here.

All I know is i'm unleashing something on an all-you-can-eat buffet of aphids.

Soap sprays and diatomaceous earth work on aphids as well.

There is also beauvaria bassiana fungus, which kills aphids in cooler weather. Come summer, predators will pick up the slack as the fungus halts until fall. It's not cheap, but it is easy to spread in subsequent years after it has established by soaking a few fuzzball former aphids in water and applying the tea for new spore production with new plantings.

# ¿ Mar 10, 2012 09:23

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

My poor station wagon looked like a lowrider on the trip home from Lowes. Four cylinder engines aren't made for hauling cubic yards of compost at a time. Now I have to make two more trips for peat and vermiculite, all while hoping my struts don't give out on me. Luckily that first load was the heaviest by far. :gonk:

Glad to finally start breaking ground on the beds so I can get those seeds I started in the ground this week, though.

# ¿ Apr 7, 2012 21:57

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 24, 2024 07:39

TheFuglyStik: Mar 7, 2003; Attention-starved & smugly condescending, the hipster has been deemed by
top scientists as:
"The self-important, unemployable clowns of the modern age."

I threw a bunch of butternut squash guts into my compost pile this past fall, and the pile didn't cook off as much as it needed to. Now I've got squash popping up all over my garden. So cook off your compost pile unless you want volunteer plants all over the place.

On the plus side, the squash seedlings I spared are managing quite well in large containers. We'll see how they do.

# ¿ May 7, 2012 06:52

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Gardening: the beets must go on