What did you do in the garden today?

[jerryse]

I was 11 this morning. Had half inch of snow yesterday. There's some canine tracks outside of the poultry yard...either dog, exsmall coyote or exlarge fox.

What I read on baking soda and corn meal, said 2 weeks.

I guess I am impatient. However I have been mislead before.

 

[WthrLady]

65 degrees the other day, and we dropped to 7' last night and even now at 1pm we're only at 20'. Our windchill dropped to -17 last night. It's ok. It won't last.

I spent the morning in the shop building a screech owl house. I'll put it up in a couple of weeks.

It was just 74 degrees a few hours ago.... Now it FEELS LIKE 18 DEGREES!

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[Molpet]

I guess I am impatient. However I have been mislead before.

I waited 2 wks and no bodies...then put out bait. Started finding dead mice in 5 days.

 

[jerryse]

In the early 70s someone sent a tip into Mother earth news. Instant mashed potato flakes killed mice. One fell into a empty feed barrel. I feed him instant flakes and water for a month. He got fat. At one time it was said chewing gum would kill moles. I swallowed gum as a kid with no ill effects. Figured a mole could too. Moles are said to only eat insects like worms and grubs. Yet the mole poison is grain based. Hmm something does not add up.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I pulled out a bunch of old seed that I had from my mom's gardening shed - bulb onions, bunching onions, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, and cabbage... All from 2017 or earlier. Going to chuck it around the farm in places where it can either become bird feed (almost certainly) or, on the astronomical chance it actually germinates, it can grow relatively undisturbed... Of course between the chickens, goats, and horses, it is extremely unlikely that any of it will actually get to maturity even if it germinates... Oh well.

It did get me nosing through my Seed to Seed book. I've decided that I want to try to collect seed this next season from everything I grow. I've done this with a few things in the past - squash, zinnias, etc.. Of course, looking through my seed book got me thinking about other seeds I'd like to have so I ended up with yet another Baker Seed order. I should just buy stock in that place... Smh.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I went out for a little retail therapy this morning. I found seed starter pots made out of coir. I bought 2 packs of the 4 inch pots. Has anyone found/ used these?

 

[cj2024]

I can vouch for this product from amazon, it makes pineapple plants flower. I put some pieces straight out of the can on the tops of two pineapple plants and drizzled a little water on top. The water makes the calcium carbide fume and smoke, so if you put too much water it will run off. Furthermore, it also burns the leaves, so too much calcium carbide is not good. I put about 3 to 4 small pieces on each pineapple top.

The top center will look burnt, but it recovers, and a flower forms. It took a couple of months on just one application.

 

[akroberts1085]

Husband and I are in Roseville looking at vehicles for our daughter. Boring

 

[gtaus]

I went out for a little retail therapy this morning.

Therapy is good.

I found seed starter pots made out of coir. I bought 2 packs of the 4 inch pots. Has anyone found/ used these?

I used some compressed seed starter pots like those a few years ago. Maybe even the same kind. I was not very successful. I overwatered the plants and the pots got moldy. Totally my fault, but there you have it.

I like the idea of the peat pots. The ones I had you could plant in the ground when transplanting. If I had not killed all my starts, that would have a good deal. Because of all the mold damage from overwatering, I ended up having to compost everything.

Since then, I moved on to using net cups with slits in them and so far, have not drowned any more plants. I just bottom water the tray, the soil soaks up the water, and the slits help to air out the plants. Even if you overwater the plants by putting too much water in the tray, all you have to do is take the net cups out for a little while and they will drain out to a safe level. When I used the coir pots, they stayed too wet too long after overwatering and that is when I got the mold. It was totally my fault with coir pots, but the net cups are almost idiot proof and that is my level of gardening, unfortunately, I admit.

I bought the heavy-duty net cups and they can be reused year after year. I am trying to reduce or eliminate the plastics I use in my gardening, but the bottom line for me is to have some success in growing the plants and I had failed with the peat pots. I was very successful with the net cups last year and will use them again this year for seed starting.

The theory behind the net cups with slits is that the plant's roots will air prune themselves when they hit a slit and therefore will not spiral around in the net cup causing the plant to get root bound. Indeed, that is what I experienced. The plant will then start growing new roots and you end up with a stronger plant for transplanting, full of lots of healthy roots. That was my experience last year and my transplants were the best ever coming from the net cups.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Husband and I are in Roseville looking at vehicles for our daughter. Boring

That's what we did today too, for our oldest son.