What did you do in the garden today?

[Liz Birdlover]

You guys all get so much done, I'm just gonna sit over here in the corner and watch. It's embarrassing how little I garden next to y'all, lol.

Ditto! Between work & the crazy weather, then these ole bones just pooped out...what I wanna do & what actually gets checked off of the "To do" list...yeah, I'm embarrassed

 

[jerryse]

He have ask at Sunbirds yesterday they had male asparagus
plants so do you need female?
Will they make their own?

Male plants make bigger - thicker spears. Females are slimmer due to seed production. You do not need females for a crop of spears.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

No Goats, no Ducks. All the chickens I want!

Sounds familiar...DH says no Mules, no Donkeys, no Horse, no Goats, no Sheep, no Dairy Cow, no Turkeys, no Waterfowl, no Peacocks, no more Guineas, no Dogs or Cats right now & I've reached my Chicken & Pigeon & Dove capacity. Rescues...well, I can't say what tomorrow may bring. Lol

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

He have ask at Sunbirds yesterday they had male asparagus
plants so do you need female?
Will they make their own?

I started with Mary Washington (female) crowns 5 years ago. I added the male Jersey Knight last year. From what I understand you need male and female to produce viable seed. But either one will grow by themselves but not produce seed. Does this help?

 

[Molpet]

Sounds familiar...DH says no Mules, no Donkeys, no Horse, no Goats, no Sheep, no Dairy Cow, no Turkeys, no Waterfowl, no Peacocks, no more Guineas, no Dogs or Cats right now & I've reached my Chicken & Pigeon & Dove capacity. Rescues...well, I can't say what tomorrow may bring. Lol

No dogs or cats or turkeys
DH is Ñot a keeper

 

[Liz Birdlover]

Well, I am pleased with tomato seedling progress, but Dang I am very bummed out disappointed with the Brussel sprout seedlings. See them both here...not happy Brussel sprouts, nope, not happy at all. What the heck happened? Bad seeds?



Also, the tomato seedlings doing great are from ones I saved myself. The tomato seeds I purchased however, look like crap. What the heck!

My grow light arrives sometime today from Amazon. Cloudy & rainy this morning. Getting eggs to market & see knee doc & the chiropractor, pick up some feed. This afternoon should be clear. I'd love to plant seeds, but we do have frost warnings Thursday night, so I will do some weeding, if my aching back permits. One tough weed is Johnsongrass, what a PITA it is, & I've got clumps of it here & there, seeds blown in from neighboring fields.

There are several groupings of Lamb's Ear in various oddball places in my yard, that sprung up on their own...I'm going to move some & plant around an ugly utility box. Gotta remove the nutsedge 1st.

I have another weird plant that showed up & is spreading. I'm not hating it, as the Swallowtail Butterflies love it. It's called Cow Parsley or Goutweed. I've heard both positive & negative things about it. Well, there's no getting rid of it here, there's just way too much, surrounding the house foundation, which actually looks nice. There's a spot by my 1 coop, too, but chickens leave it alone & don't bother the butterflies either. Anyone deal with this stuff? I know it's invasive & not native...but neither are those damn European fireants, & they're here to stay, too.

https://www.thespruce.com/bishops-weed-plant-care-5082962

 

[Liz Birdlover]

No dogs or cats or turkeys
DH is Ñot a keeper

Uh...yeah...no comment on that right now...lol...he was on the proverbial "poop list" last night . He has his good points, but believe me, if I can afford & care for a critter properly (have the means, energy, desire, dedication, room, funding & time) Then I do go ahead & add to the family. Unfortunately, I truly am at my capacity right now & at least I do realize it.

 

[Sally PB]

I love collards cooked slow and southern style, I need to find another recipe minus the bacon/hamhock, DP is wary of the processed meat factor.

Here's how I make them in my Instant Pot pressure cooker:

Instant Pot Collard Greens

Ingredients

¾ - 1 pounds collard greens
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Separate the stems from the collard green leaves. Dice the stems, and cut the leaves into thick ribbons.
Turn the Instant Pot on Sauté and heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the onion and diced collard green stems and sauté until tender, about 7-8 minutes.
Add the garlic and Cajun seasoning and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Turn the Instant Pot off, and stir in the apple cider vinegar, water, honey, salt, and black pepper. Stuff in the collard green leaves.
Put on the lid, lock, and cook on high pressure for 16 minutes, then release the pressure.

 

[lagrange chicks]

Well, I guess the net pot method is not for everyone. For me, it was the best method I have ever used. My roots did indeed air prune, the potting soil stayed inside the net pots, and they were the healthiest transplants I ever had. I think my tomatoes and peppers were 8 weeks old when I transplanted them, and I had no root problems at all.

Anyways, I am using the 3-inch net pots again this year and, so far, no problems. I am using potting soil that does not fall through the slits in the net cups. I do not use the very fine seed starting media, so maybe that makes a difference?

I was all excited about using soil blocks a few years back, but I never got the mixture quite right and my blocks did not hold together. That's why I moved to using the net cups. For me, I was much more successful with the net cups.



I did the paper towel in the baggie method for seed germination a few years ago and it worked for me as well. The only thing I did not like was that I could not see if the seeds had started to sprout, or not.

Thanks for your response. I love to get all kinds of feedback. I don't pretend to have much experience with gardening, but every year I seem to learn a few more lessons. And I understand that what works for one person might not work for another. That's why I like to try to different methods.

I have a bunch of old seeds that I think I will try sprouting in the "petri dish" method in that video. I just don't want to take the time and effort of putting those old seeds in starting pots and then risk having nothing germinate. I don't have that much room on my starting shelf with lights. I mainly like the ability just to look into the plastic container and being able to see if the seeds have sprouted, or not, and if they are ready to pot up.

I never tried it but have herd hydrogen peroxide helps old seed to germinate, might be worth looking into.

 

[Grannys Backyard Chicks]

I think I understand how the wicking pad works. I have several sub-irrigated planters and they work great. I like the whole water reservoir concept which is used in my sub-irrigated planters.

But, back to my original question, if the wicking mat is keeping the soil in the seed starting packs moist, is there any difference between that wicking mat and just having a small amount (1/8 to 1/4 inch) of water in the tray all the time? In both cases, I would think, the potting soil will absorb as much water as it can until it cannot hold any more. I don't see any method that only allows the water up to seeds when needed. It's just a matter of if the soil can absorb more water, then it does.

I could be wrong. Maybe there is a difference.

In any case, the way I first was introduced to bottom watering the net cups was to fill the tray to about 1/4 inch full of water and stop. Then you leave the net cups in the tray for a few days as they drink up all that water. When the tray is dry, you wait another day or two for the potting soil in the net cups to dry out a bit, then refill the tray with 1/4 inch of water again to repeat the cycle. Each cycle is about 5 days for me.

That's the way I did it last year and was successful. I am doing it that way this year as well and my plants are growing well.

I have been interested in making my own self-wicking seed starting trays. There are a number of YouTube videos on this DIY project. If you have some of material laying around, you might not have to spend much money at all to make your own self watering seed starting trays...