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Post by Valerie on Apr 3, 2014 21:06:05 GMT -5
I thought we used to have a thread for this, but maybe we wore it out.  Anyway, Dave helped me build a raised bed yesterday with concrete blocks. Soon as I amass enough cardboard to fill up that much more space, I'm building another one. I shoveled compost from the winter lasagna beds to fill up the first one, and have plenty enough for the second. Maybe even enough for a third, especially if I layer it with more peat and chicken bedding (lasagna bed style). I had to put up poultry fence around those lasagna beds to keep the chickens out. It kept out all but two, who used it for their private playground and ate up all the collards and dug up everything else. Anyway, I think I'll leave the fence up, and use it for a composting area. I can throw stuff in their that needs composted, and leave the little gate open, and the chickens can do the work on it! Also, I got my bucket garden all fixed up, and have quite a few tomatoes, squash, melons, peppers, and eggplant planted in them. And some herbs that came back from last year. Today, Ms. Norma brought me a lemon tree! It's the old fashioned kind that gets the big lemons. They do well here. My friend Mr. Robert, in Folkston, has a couple of them, and he brought me some of those lemons one time. They were soooo good. Anyway, Ms. Norma didn't want to plant anything else, so she brought me the lemon tree. And she's going to dig me up a wisteria and a wild azalea, as payment for feeding her kitties when she was at the hospital. She tried to give me money, but I told her I'd rather have one of those wild azaleas! Oh, and my MIL sent me home with a bag of pink begonias she had dug up out of her flower beds because they were spreading too much where she didn't want them. |
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Post by Granny Smith on Apr 4, 2014 9:02:44 GMT -5
Valerie, I unpinned the old thread so we could start fresh this year. It's still here if you need to refer back to it~ www.grandmaw.proboards.com/thread/3034/garden-growingI'm jealous of you being able to grow lemons. That would be wonderful! I hope your tree grows well for you. We haven't done anything in the garden yet. Dan DID pull out the black stuff he used to keep the weeds down around his tomatoes last year, but there's still an RV in the garden, so we can't do anything till we get that moved. We plan on getting it moved to the hay field within the next couple of weeks. Tim is planning on living in it once he gets it set up. |
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Post by Valerie on Apr 4, 2014 9:31:22 GMT -5
Well, at least you still have plenty of time for this year. That's OK about unpinning that thread. I figured it was probably time for a new one anyway. I don't think I could find anything in particular in it, but it's good to know it's still out there to pop up in our searches, should we need something. That lemon tree is one of those kind grown from seed. It's about 2 1/2 feet tall, and has thorns about 2" long on it. It's probably 10 years out from making a lemon, my luck, but I'll plant it anyway and see what it does. |
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Post by Granny Smith on Apr 4, 2014 20:36:23 GMT -5
Lemon trees have thorns???
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Post by Valerie on Apr 4, 2014 21:03:08 GMT -5
Yeah, the wild ones, do. So do orange trees if they're not grafted onto a good rootstock.
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Post by BigM on Apr 5, 2014 5:38:13 GMT -5
Our orange tree doesn't have thorns, but there is a sucker on it that has them. I found out when I tried to break it off one day! Oww! lol
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Post by Granny Smith on Apr 5, 2014 12:02:22 GMT -5
I had no idea that any citrus fruit trees had thorns. You learn something new everyday!
I have hawthorn trees. Dan hates them and was disappointed that the tornado didn't get 'em. He says they eat him up when he tries to mow around them. They don't bother me, though. I can walk right up to then and hug them (for demonstration purposes only. I'm not THAT weird)
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Post by joanfromzone6 on Apr 7, 2014 8:04:51 GMT -5
it's foggy but i do seem to remember from our years in north florida that nearly all citrus needs to be grafted - and it works well even with branch grafting in larger trees where you prune away original growth in stages after your graft portion is doing very well -
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Post by joanfromzone6 on Apr 7, 2014 8:06:54 GMT -5
They don't bother me, though. I can walk right up to then and hug them (for demonstration purposes only. I'm not THAT weird) we can say "demonstration" - but when kids do it we call it "showing off" - |
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Post by Valerie on Apr 7, 2014 8:29:09 GMT -5
it's foggy but i do seem to remember from our years in north florida that nearly all citrus needs to be grafted - and it works well even with branch grafting in larger trees where you prune away original growth in stages after your graft portion is doing very well - Joan, you're right. Oranges that aren't grafted are NASTY! They call them sour root or bitter root. The lemons are sour, but lemons are supposed to be, so they do OK. They get huge, with really thick skins. Make lots of lemon rind. All the other citrus fruits have to be grafted, too. I guess they graft them onto the wild root stocks for durability. |
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Post by Valerie on Apr 7, 2014 13:02:13 GMT -5
Brent and I stopped at the IGA on the way home from town today and got a BUNCH of cardboard boxes. A bunch of them had already been flattened! Less work for me!
So..... as soon as I get some office work done here, I'm heading out to start working on raised bed #2! Yay!
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Post by Granny Smith on Apr 9, 2014 18:11:47 GMT -5
They don't bother me, though. I can walk right up to then and hug them (for demonstration purposes only. I'm not THAT weird) we can say "demonstration" - but when kids do it we call it "showing off" - I DO like to show off the thick skin I developed from years on forums.  |
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Post by BigM on Apr 23, 2014 14:14:04 GMT -5
My peach trees have blossoms!! Woot!!!
In addition we have squash, pumpkin and two kinds of sunflowers Sprouting. I also transplanted three sweet potato plants, three pineapples and all of my kitchen herbs. (I don't think they liked the partial sun they got in the house.) I'm still waiting to see if the onions are going to come up and I started a mess of green beans the other day. Oh! the cacti are starting to re-grow, but I have no idea how long they take to fruit or how often. (The previous owner cut the fruit off the day before we closed on the house.)
Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can grow on top of my fish tank? I really don't want one if I have to replace filters and clean the stupid thing all the time. What if I added a small fluorescent light to it?
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Post by Valerie on Apr 23, 2014 18:19:08 GMT -5
M, I have better success with herbs in my aquaponic bed than with plants that bear fruit, because I put it on the shady porch. Even grow lights weren't strong enough to get my tomato plant to bloom last year. It was huge, but never did get a flower. Sounds like you have a good start on stuff! I can't believe my peaches bloomed before yours! Mine have little peaches about the size of shooter marbles. I hope you get a bunch! |
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Post by Granny Smith on Apr 23, 2014 18:22:19 GMT -5
M, here's a list of plants that are suited to growing over an aquarium. Don't let this list limit you, though~
Vegetables
Romaine lettuce
Arugula lettuce
Green leaf lettuce
Red leaf lettuce
Buttercrunch lettuce
Spinach
Swiss chard
Bell peppers
Jalapeno peppers
Cherry tomatoes (this will grow large, so keep it pruned!)
Herbs
Basil
Chives
Dill
Thyme
Oregano
Catnip
Mint
Lavender
Parsley
Flowers
Petunia
Zinnia
Snapdragon
Daisies
Gazania
Marigolds
Baby’s breath
Coreopsis species
Brachycome species
Other Plants
Coleus
Golden pothos
Philodendron
English ivy
Peace lily
Dracaena plants
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