Sally's GF3 thread

[Iluveggers]

Hey, if it works it works!
Looks like the straightened scape coincides with 3-4 dead leaf sets.
I've always cut scapes off earlier to maximize head size.

I cut scapes off earlier, also, but I find one skinny stem that I know will probably be a small bulb, and leave it on that one as a guide to around the best time to harvest.

 

[Sally PB]

Hey, if it works it works!
Looks like the straightened scape coincides with 3-4 dead leaf sets.
I've always cut scapes off earlier to maximize head size.

That's what I heard, plus...garlic scapes...

I cut scapes off earlier, also, but I find one skinny stem that I know will probably be a small bulb, and leave it on that one as a guide to around the best time to harvest.

I'm going to remember this for next year. Maybe tie a string around one as the designated scape.

 

[Sally PB]

I've been hunting Japanese Beetles for the past 2 weeks. On our morning walks with Freya, we pass a weed that is has leaves that look like this:

I caught this many this morning:

That is the most, the fastest, I have caught so far this year. I'll be taking my bug jug on our walks from now till JB season is over.

Those particular bugs are in my freezer now. Mid-winter bug snack, when there aren't any bugs around. If they don't defrost to mush and the chickens turn up their beaks at them.

Does anyone know what kind of weed this is? It seems to be a great trap plant for JBs!

 

[aart]

It seems to be a great trap plant for JBs!

This takes me back to long ago when I was growing some special radish to gather seeds from for a master gardener project. They got decimated by flea beetles, researched an organic solution, radishes were the favorite suggested trap plant. <facepalm>

 

[Sally PB]

for a master gardener project.

Are you a Master Gardener? I really, really want to take the class.

 

[aart]

Are you a Master Gardener? I really, really want to take the class.

I passed the class years ago, I learned a lot but do not call myself a 'master'...
...found it all to be a bit of an ego stroking marketing ploy(but I am a bit of a sneering misanthrope with a sensitive BS meter).

 

[Sally PB]

I passed the class years ago, I learned a lot but do not call myself a 'master'...
...found it all to be a bit of an ego stroking marketing ploy(but I am a bit of a sneering misanthrope with a sensitive BS meter).

A friend of mine just took it this last spring. She said it was definitely worth it. I'll have to see if Grand Rapids is going to run one this fall. They have in years past, but I never could do it while I was working. Then Covid came along.

We need more people with sensitive BS meters!!!!

 

[Sally PB]

I just looked. Michigan State University is running their class differently now.

"Starting in 2023, MSUE has a new structure for providing garden education to the public in combination with those who wish to apply to become MSU Extension Master Gardener® volunteers. Foundations of Gardening is a non-volunteer gardening certificate course. Alone, it is not the MSU Extension Master Gardener (MSU EMG) training class. However, it is one pre-requisite to becoming an MSU EMG. Anyone, including those wanting to later apply to become an MSU EMG, can take this course."

$350, completely online, 10 weeks.

A 2.5 hour live session each Tuesday, in addition to the class material. So when our high speed data runs out for the month... hmmm. Really wish it were book larnin' as I do better old style. This is probably not going to work for me with our boonies internet.

 

[aart]

MSU Extension Master Gardener® volunteers.

They really pushed the volunteer thing....while not using it in the 'title' bestowed.

However, it is one pre-requisite to becoming an MSU EMG.

See sounds like a ....bunchobullsh!t.

$350, completely online, 10 weeks.

Is that for the full fledged or just the pre-req?

I don't remember what the cost was, it was ~20 years ago, but it was pricey.
Did get a huge binder of info/textbook, probably still have it around here somewhere.

 

[Sally PB]

Is that for the full fledged or just the pre-req?

Oh, that's the pre-requisite. Anyone can take the class. But you have to take this class to get any farther in their program.

I like hard copy. I suppose I could print all the lessons out, but that would be expensive.

My friend lives in Springfield, IL, so her class was through U of Illinois. She said it was about 50-50, online and textbook, and a lot of reading.