What did you do in the garden today?

[CNJ]

I got freaked out with my indeterminate local cherry tomato for nothing. All I had to do to control them was to take off their suckers, so each plant may have up to 4 stems. I also zipped tied two 10ft fence post on my fence pegs, so there is lot of room for them to grow.

In this Kratky experiment, I drilled a hole at about 1/2 an inch above the bottom of a 5 inch net cup and refilled it daily until the hydroponic solution came out the hole. I notice that the roots stop growing and are near the surface level. In comparison to when I let the solution level drop 3 inches below the 5 inch net cup, the roots got longer and went all the way to the bottom of the bucket.

In conclusion I will drill a hole 3 inches below the net cup and use a plug to bring the water level up for the plant introductory phase. I'll take the plug out after the solution level drops to the level of the hole and start the refill cycle. I will do this on my new food grade buckets. However, If I use a reservoir and float valve and string multiple buckets together, just the end bucket would need a rain over fill hole.

The plants are flowering and setting fruit with the high solution level, so I will leave it as is......................

 

[igorsMistress]

Good afternoon all. I’ve been watering today, will have to continue into the work week. After we have a couple of cool days and minor rain chances it’s supposed to get up near 70 again. Yay! Tomorrow I’m going to fertilize a few things and do some trimming. I have an ornamental grass that I transplanted not too long ago. It’s looking really rough, but I can see some green stuff in the middle. I’m hoping the dead stuff protected the middle from the cold and it’s ok. One of the Arabian lilacs is struggling a bit still. Might need to fertilize it next weekend. Our temps were briefly in the freezing range a few mornings and I didn’t cover anything We sent the cockerels to freezer camp recently and the plant that’s near the kill area seems to enjoy the blood that dripped on the ground. That always creeps me out! Anyway, I’ve been experimenting with Sous vide egg cups lately and finally found a base recipe I like. It’s a good way to use a bunch of eggs and make breakfast for the week. The beauty is that you can make them all different so your breakfast isn’t always the same. Also, I just leave them in the jars and eat them that way so limited dishes. Right now my favorite is smoked salmon with a little smoked Gouda.

 

[Fishychix]

I found more seedlings have popped up I need to find my power cord for my light though. Theyre getting a bit leggy already chasing the sun.
i used a 72 cell unit, but think I'll use the smaller dozen cell units for the next seeds.
i have spurred snapdragons, calendula, sweet william pinks, lovage, catnip, borage, dill and verbena in this one. The verbena was an oops as its germination rate is over 20 days and all others are 7-14. Not sure what will happen with those, but thats one reason im doing the smaller ones for the other seeds.

 

[WthrLady]

I started lentils in jars for the hens on the window ledge.
Went to buy grass seed, none to be found yet. Lentils it is.
Daytime highs below 15 degrees all week, and brutal windchills. Then back to 40 by saturday.

 

[Sally PB]

I should get some barley sprouts going for my chickens. Gotta find the seeds...

 

[BReeder!]

I started lentils in jars for the hens on the window ledge.
Went to buy grass seed, none to be found yet. Lentils it is.
Daytime highs below 15 degrees all week, and brutal windchills. Then back to 40 by saturday.

Dumb question, but will just regularly lentils I buy in the grocery store sprout?

 

[jerryse]

Freezing rain overnight and a cold week ahead. Need to put out some ice melt today.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Snow is still trying to melt here. I thawed out frozen sugar snap peas and ran then through the handy chopper before giving to the chickens. They seemed to enjoy that. I shoveled some more in the chicken yard so hoping that combined with more melting today will expose more grass. I need to do some rearranging in the sunroom so I can set up the heat mats and starter trays to get the leeks going. I bought grow light bulbs to put into the three arm lamp in there. DD wants to plant blueberry bushes and I would like to plant a strawberry patch. I have bug netting and hoop frames in my Amazon cart right now. DD also wants to grow lima beans. I didn’t have good luck with them 2 seasons ago so any advice for growing them in zone 5 would be appreciated.

 

[Acre4Me]

Snow is still trying to melt here. I thawed out frozen sugar snap peas and ran then through the handy chopper before giving to the chickens. They seemed to enjoy that. I shoveled some more in the chicken yard so hoping that combined with more melting today will expose more grass. I need to do some rearranging in the sunroom so I can set up the heat mats and starter trays to get the leeks going. I bought grow light bulbs to put into the three arm lamp in there. DD wants to plant blueberry bushes and I would like to plant a strawberry patch. I have bug netting and hoop frames in my Amazon cart right now. DD also wants to grow lima beans. I didn’t have good luck with them 2 seasons ago so any advice for growing them in zone 5 would be appreciated.

Me too- I need my racks up do I can start leek seeds.

Lima beans. Many years ago I grew Christmas Lima beans (red and white beans inside green pod), and we were pretty successful. We grew them on a short fence along the garden patch. That was zone 6A. They seemed to grow pretty fast. Here, in my zone 6A, my bean sprouts get chomped by something - it’s a bug that does it. So, when I see them poke up, I spray with Sevin, and might spray again one more time. I’m not sure what bug it is, and I’d rather not use the pesticide. But if I don’t, at the sprout/seedling stage, I have many that get chomped. My only other advice would be to buy shorter season ones, if possible.

 

[Grandmas Coop]

Me too- I need my racks up do I can start leek seeds.

Lima beans. Many years ago I grew Christmas Lima beans (red and white beans inside green pod), and we were pretty successful. We grew them on a short fence along the garden patch. That was zone 6A. They seemed to grow pretty fast. Here, in my zone 6A, my bean sprouts get chomped by something - it’s a bug that does it. So, when I see them poke up, I spray with Sevin, and might spray again one more time. I’m not sure what bug it is, and I’d rather not use the pesticide. But if I don’t, at the sprout/seedling stage, I have many that get chomped. My only other advice would be to buy shorter season ones, if possible.

I "WILL" master turnips this year