What did you do in the garden today?

[Artichoke Lover]

Onions. planted 4 types of onions last year - bought the little bulbs for 2 varieties (from TSC), and bought 1 variety from the local garden store, which had no real bulb at the bottom, but had some greenery above the root end. Then also bought some Burpee seeds at the garden store for "bunching onions". Several of the bulbed ones rotted. Some grew, but none grew very big at all. The bunching onion seeds didn't grow at all - weird bc I planted them in June, when it was hot. All were planted in all day full sun areas.

I posted a pic of my recent Territorial seed order that arrived. There are two types of onions seeds I purchased. They had some good info on the website about onions and daylength, and which ones are good for which areas, in general. So, that will be my onion experiment this year.

Also, I looked up companion plants for onions. Apparently good with the Brassica family - repels those irritating cabbage loopers. Also good with other plants, but NOT good with beans or peas or sage. So, maybe I'll space them out this year among the plants like I do with carrots.

Could it have been too hot? Onions are generally a cool season plant. We can’t plant them during the summer where I live. They also have a tendency to rot if it’s rainy. As I found out when I tried to overwinter. them

 

[Acre4Me]

Just don't let them get completely shaded out! I've tried planting mine by the tomatoes and they end up getting so shaded out that they die and disappear.

true for toms. I can plant them near the edge of the raised bed if I go that route. But, usually stick to carrots in the tomato bed. So, I'll try to plant the onions with the brasiccas. Still, they leaf out and get pretty big too, so I'll have to keep that in mind. Maybe a mix of onions and mustard greens.

 

[Acre4Me]

Could it have been too hot? Onions are generally a cool season plant. We can’t plant them during the summer where I live. They also have a tendency to rot if it’s rainy. As I found out when I tried to overwinter. them

Well, we are in Ohio, and the summer wasn't too bad this past year - some heat, but not as intense as some years have been. They never bulked up like they should have. The ones that rotted probably were too wet, but it was sporadic as to which ones rotted - so maybe there was something already there (in the seed bulb) that began the rotting process. They were planted in a raised bed, which drains well, gets first light of the day all the way to around 5 pm. Yes, it would definitely be too wet to overwinter them here, but too cold as well.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

I planted some cauliflower today. The lettuce I planted earlier this week has come up. Not much going on today. Going by the store later I’ll pick up some seeds if they have some.

 

[karenerwin]

If anyone wants Marigold seeds PM me with your name and address and I'll send you some! I have a lot that I saved from last year's plants and even more that I just didn't bother with.

 

[jerryse]

Good morning all. I guess we lucked out last night and only got about an inch and a half of new snow. Not worth shoveling as the temps are supposed to "zoom" up to near 40F today. The Christmas trees are down and boxed up, still need to get the outside decor and put away. The painter is coming back this week hopefully and finish up. He'll be painting my living room ceiling so I don't sling paint all over the hardwood floor. Next up, I get to remove the wallpaper and paint the living room. I'm contemplating planting Jerusalem artichokes this year. Has anyone here grown them? I don't grow onions since I use a lot of onions and I just don't have the space for that many. Spring onions grow quicker and last longer in the refrigerator than store bought so I plant those.

I have grown them . Get the yam type . Smoother root . I no longer grow them since I moved 20 years ago . I do fight the wild ones which have small roots . I still sometimes eat these . They make me gassy .

 

[BReeder!]

Good afternoon gardeners. Nothing outside for me today. I do need to water the cilantro but it’s too close to dark now for that so will do it in the morning. Got my grocery shopping done and all the animal dishes were run through the dishwasher. The spices are measured for Norwegian meatballs for dinner tonight, making some gravy from scratch for mashed potatoes to go with. The ducks will be in the mini coop by next weekend and I’ll be working on their pool area a bit after work each day this week. Our highs are supposed to be around 70 so good physical labor weather. I also need to get everything in a single pile for bulk trash next month and get hubs on the burn pile soon. I’m having trouble visualizing the pool area for the ducks and that’s bothering me! I need it to be accessible for cleaning but I’d like it to have at least a little bit of cover while be visually appealing. Can’t put it under the tree in that yard because it’s a very messy tree, so I’m still thinking about it. Anyway, sorry to ramble, have a great day all!

Have you considered a raised bed type of pool? Basically a raised garden bed with a liner. Being above ground it would be easy to drain if you attach a valve with a bulkhead at the bottom of one side.

 

[BReeder!]

I have 3 compost piles going for the spring garden... My husband made me a side by side bin that I filled BOTH sides up completely within a month. We had a corner spot in the pasture where I had a big round bale that had composted down. Each time I'd clean the coops and barn, I just started throwing the waste in that corner spot. Now I have a big compost heap that is probably 15' x 15' full of hay, pine shavings, straw, dead leaves, and manure (goat, chicken, horse, and duck).

Today when I cleaned the coops, I stuck the pitchfork to the bottom of the corner spot to look at how it was progressing. Two words - black gold. About 4 inches deep so far that's already completely composted. That's not counting the other 4+ inches that is still composting. It's gonna be a good year.....

So the 15'x15' pile is only 8" deep? Or did I read that wrong? It would compost faster if you pile it higher.

 

[BReeder!]

Somebody mentioned Territorial Seed. I just looked them up. Their catalog is impressive. I requested one in the mail. I might fill in the gaps of my seed supply this year through them.

 

[TJAnonymous]

So the 15'x15' pile is only 8" deep? Or did I read that wrong? It would compost faster if you pile it higher.

Yes and no... The side-by-side bins (each side measure 30" square) are piled about 3 ft high. But the big compost in the corner of the pasture is more spread out. There are areas in this 15' x 15' pile that are 12" deep and areas that are 4-6" deep. Every week when I clean out the coops and barn, this is where I've started dumping everything so some areas are deeper than others. It just depends on where I pull the cart in. Every time I dump a cart load (typically once a week), it adds 4" of material in a 2 ft square area.

I've left some areas around the edges a little "thinner" (4-6") because the chickens like to go in there and scratch for bugs. This is the area that I used the pitch fork to see how well the material was composting and what the soil looked like beneath.

I'll have to take a picture the next time I go out there....