any gardeners?

“Dude!

It's 15 degrees out and the ground is frozen solid!

Why on Earth are you starting seeds in early March?



Oh yeah...”

“I can't believe my whole garden is in bloom already. My daffodils have started dying already. My weeping cherry tree is in full bloom as well as my Quince bush that has hummingbirds in it. It attracts them.”

“I just read that quince trees have nasty thorns. Is the bush any different. Mostly I just get Anna's hummingbirds here(CA) but I like to plant to attract. The daffodils are near done in but the Fresia is just getting going.”

“My little lime tree that I thought for sure would kick it this winter has unbelievable amounts of new growth, flower buds, and a heckuva lot of thorns that it never had before. I found out about the last part the hard way. Those suckers sting.”

“jvz, I'm in WA and my Quince bush has thorns. I see Anna's Hummingbirds too. I am standing a few feet from my Quince bush, but I still use binoculars to get an upclose look. They are so tiny and move so quickly. This bush becomes filled with them when it's in bloom. I think there are other kinds of hummingbirds that are here for only part of the year and the Annas are more year round.”

“We'll be having kohlrabi straight from the garden tonight to accompany a roast chicken. Yummers.”

“I covered over the bin I put my seed starters in with some clear plastic, so it's like a little greenhouse in there now. When I checked it this morning, it was 70F in there, which is way better for starting peppers than 55F.”

“Well, in addition to growing kohlrabi for the first time, this is also my first time cooking it. So I had to consult the old standby, "The Joy of Cooking." Too bad I already chuffed the tops; so now it's the stems, with a nutmeg laced white sauce per their instructions. Here's hoping the 2.5 year old will eat it. She was a little upset watching me yank the plants out of the ground and ripping off all the leaves. Of course, there's more broccoli going into the spots where I just cleared the kohlrabi. Broccoli; a little girl's favorite pet. Sheesh.”

“My daughter tried some stir-fried broccoli for the first time the other night and like it.”

“G-danged evil chickens!!!!
That stupid bird's been roasting in a 350 degree oven for 1.75 hours, and the effer is still not cooked! When I put it in the oven it was room temperature throughout. It must be a tough old bird or something. Must be why it was 75 cents a pound.”

“tree, you're supposed to cook chicken at about 10-15 min per pound. That means your chicken is 11 pounds or more not to be done by now. That' some big chicken, more like a small turkey. Are you sure you didn't buy a turkey?”

“My tomatoes, okra, and squash have sprouted, only 5 days after I started them. The peppers have yet to sprout, but they took a few weeks last time.”

“I went to my arboretum this past weekend. All the pink cherry trees are in bloom. They are way ahead of themselves since we are getting very warm weather early in the season.

My weeping cherry tree is already starting to lose some of it's blossoms. I'm watering my pink dogwood early this year since it's probably needing water with it's growth starting sooner this year.”

“My little greenhouse is full! All kinds of little plants! The green frog who lives in there is quite happy! I've been putting out some herbs and sweet pea starts. Next, i will get in the onions and start my Earth Boxes. I love Spring!”

“Yeah, it's a little early for that here; we're still dealing with the last remnants of old man winter's snow...”

“We never really had a winter here, this year. I miss the old howling wild winter coastal storms. It shouldn't be Spring here, either. But it seemed to start in February, this year. I'm afraid we are in for a drought this summer. Southern California got all our rain! Wish we had a little of your snow!”

“Here in the WNC foothills, my onions, peas, potatoes and various greens, all up and growing are snow covered at this moment

good for'em.
last edited: 3/17/05 12:15:25 PM”

“I have blooming crocus. =)”

“i still have 1' iced-over drifts in my backyard.
oh - and a big snow fort too!
not a speck of open soil or grass to be seen anywhere yet :(
last edited: 3/17/05 12:16:31 PM”

“My squash are growing so fast I had to transplant them into larger peat pots last night. Some are already 3-4" tall.”

“Snowed again last night.
The Easter bunny's bringing seeds for a kid's garden this year and garden gloves.”

“I had a few blooming crocus this morning too.

Some of my plants came yesterday but the ground is still pretty frozen.

Soon... soon...”

“That's a great Easter basket Sass!

I need to get a couple of yards of soil/compost for my raised beds. I'm thinking it's a bit too early to arrange that yet. Still pretty frozen.”

“We're waiting patiently for the last frost down here. A couple weeks and we should be okay.”

“One of my lettuce plants is blooming, so I'm letting go to seed so I can collect them. I'm harvesting the last of the kohlrabi today, some is going with me to the Smokies and some to my mom, who's never eaten it before, let alone handle it. I'm taking some green onions to, to experiment with cooking. I'm making beef teriaki lo mein with homemade jerky and the green onions, maybe a carrot or two. I don't know if I'll bring any of the swiss chard though. It'll travel okay for a day or two, but it'll need a lot of washing once I get there. Dang sand. Eh, hell, I'll bring some. I like the stuff too much. Lightly sauteed in olive oil, with sliced garlic. Yummers.”

“I love kolrabi! My grampa used to grow it. Does it take up much space in the garden?”

“Nope, it's fairly compact. The leaves make each plant about a foot wide, but the leaves are shaped so it's problem if they're close together. I put the plants 6-8" apart, in rows 1 foot apart. They're happy this way.”

“Cool, maybe I'll try and get some going this year. Birch made cedar log beds last year so we're shorter on space this year.”

“I grow all my plants in raised beds or containers. The sand/soil here is beyond pathetic. Swiss chard does beautifully here in raised beds. Although next fall I may plant it differently, to better admire it's colorful stems and leaves. I love this "Bright Lights" variety.”

“We grew swiss shard last year and I never picked it because it was so lovely. I also like broccoli flowers, lol. Our garden got alittle out of control last year. I'm really looking forward to having more time to take better care of it this year. Can't wait to have dirty knees and fingernails,(crap, I guess I'll have to start wearing gardening gloves now since I'll be working with my hands on people's skin), or not. I hate gloves.”

“I used to never wear gardening gloves until I kept encountering scorpions and fire ants in disturbed soil. No thankies, I keep my Martha Stewart brand deerskin garden gauntlets nearby at all times!”

“Reasons number 13 and 14 to not move south, lol.”

“Sass, move to Tenn..no scorpions here”

“Violin
I was watching "Victory Garden" on Saturday afternoon and they were talking palms. There's a variety called a Chinese windmill palm that's cold hardy to -14°. It will keep it's foliage until 0° and survive to -14°. It has a fuzzy, fibrous bark covering left by the old, dead palm fronds. In warmer climes it can be removed to make it look neater but in our zones it has to stay. It grows nice and tall too. You were the one asking about tropical plants for cold zones right? There were a few others but none as cold hardy as the Chinese Windmill.”

“There's -15 degree hardy hibisci now, too. Gotta love them gmo's!

There's a company called Oregon seed or something; they import the really exotic stuff, like orange trees that can be grown in Canada, and are native to northern China.
They'd be a good bet for finding the exotic and cool stuff.”

“All of my stuff is going great guns now. So far I have 9 squash plants, 6 okra, and countless jalapeno, bell pepper, poblano, and roma tomato plants.

I meant to separate my sprouts into their own individual starter cells this weekend, but fishing happened.”

“All my perenials are coming up, pond plants are growing, tulips, crocus and dafs are going to town. I hate to say it (it's almost a sure fire way to guarentee at least two more snow falls) but I think spring is sprung! =D”

“It was so hot here today I had to turn on the A/C in my truck...”

“...while I was out buying dirt for my veggie pots...”

“bit - no fair rubbing it in! I see growth but everything is just nubs. Not a lot of green yet in my yard. Annuals are a month away. :-(”

“My potatoes are over 3 feet tall already. All of my broccoli and lettuce are now relegated to the pretty flower category. The swiss chard is still doing well. I need to harvest a big bunch real soon. The onions, garlic, and shallots are happy, though not booming. That's fine. My lemon and lime trees are covered in the most beautifully scented blossoms I've smelled in a long time. The bay laurel is covered in new shoots, too. Nothing beats fresh bay leaves. All of the trees are experiencing boomer level growth, I think in part due to the stresses of last hurricane season. That, and the organic fertilizers I've been putting around the yard. I'll be looking into getting the tree canopies thinned a little this year, to allow more air flow and less tree/ branch damage, in case of more big storms.”

“I'm jealous treebait.”

“You're jealous now. Just wait until July. I'll have to do all of my yardwork at night or before sunrise to avoid the heat. Bleah.”

“Poor you!”

“treebait what type of fertilizers are you using?
We've tried fish emulsion (pee-u!) and some pretty nifty little alphafa pellets we found at a garden store.”

“Algoflash all purpose formula at 1/2 to 1/3 strength, Sea magic seaweed extract, and some vitamin thing in a little bottle I get at the nursery, 1 drop per gallon of water. I also use neem products and hot pepper extracts to deal with most bugs and pests.”

“Without reading way back on this thread - you're into organic gardening?

I've had good luck with Espoma's fertilizers.”

“Oh cool! I just went back a few days and saw your post about the Chinese Windmill palms, Sass. My wife will be thrilled. Thanks. (We've already got hardy hibiscus.)”

“hmmm... This says the chinese windmill is only hardy to 10 degrees. That wouldn't work.”

“I'm sort of practicing organic gardening. Algoflash isn't organic, but the soil here is so poor all the plants and trees really need an occasional extra boost. I'm trying to find several varieties of "greens" that can stand a Florida summer without bolting or anything like that.”