any gardeners?

“I think so too TH, but if you know any particulars about gardening in your own region than information can be easily adapted. I think it is a very good resource.”

“I only did the blue tarps over firewood a couple years, then found the time and money to build a leanto on my storage shed. Since I built the garage, the shed got moved and is now my woodshed. Hated digging for wood and it being a little wet anyway, found out the third year that the tarps are only good for two seasons. All I have to do now is keep a path shoveled thru the snow to it.”

“Birch - one thing i've been thinking about doing is building a rain barrel(s) on a cart or trailor...then you could just move it to where ever you need it”

“The cart idea sounds interesting, i'll toy with that.

Yep the tarps suck. I can get unistrut for free so I am leaning towards using it for the frame and using T111 for the siding.”

“it would, of course, need to be sturdy enough to hold the weight and have big tires to keep from sinking in soft ground”

“I wish I could afford a large tank to run drain water off my roofs ? to store for summer.”

“like this:

725 Gal. Original Rainwater Pillow Complete Kit with Remote Control



http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&productId=202020147&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_sku=202020147&ci_src=14110944&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googlebase-_-D28X-_-202020147&locStoreNum=1950”

“Pricey, hows it gonna fit under a deck? Too many piers at least here in snow country. Those big plastic tanks gotta be cheaper than these, but then a tank can't be hidden too well, but I have an acre to place it on.”

“Hikerduane...Dig a cistern and use a butyl rubber liner (or a pool liner) to make it water proof buried below frost line. Use PVC run underground from your downspouts Or even from drain tile for ground water and have a small submersible pump you can lower down a shaft or use a well point.”

“I will be very interested to see this woodshed. Will it hold ALL the wood? If so it's gonna be more like a wood pavilion!”

“Finally sat down last night and looked thru my seed catalogs, will only be ordering from two. Made my lists, so now need to sit down and write the orders out. Seeds have gone up quite a bit.”

“I noticed that too, HikerDuane. Unfortunately, the number of things I'd like to try and grow, or some of the "gear," has gone up a bit.”

““I have a lot of books about gardening that I like, but if you can find a region specific guide, that would be your best bet.......”
treebait
12:42:24 PM

Word”

“I'm kind of cheating with Laurel's part of the garden this year. She said she only wanted flowers and pretty things. Okay, loads of gladioli on tap, and now they're interplanted with "bright lights" Swiss chard. It's lovely and tasty! Can't beat that.”

“treebait I think I will invite you to come and establish my new garden in VA. You seem to have a green thumb !”

“That's funny, you call Mangold "Swiss Chard"?
I never had mangold before I came to Switzerland, but here it is quite commonly sold on the farmer market. A local speciality of Kanton Grischun is "Krautwickel". Soft noodle dough, mixed with parcley and finely cubed smoked sausage (Landjäger)is rolled up in the leaves and boiled in very little water.”

“treebait, what are you doing with the swiss chard?”

“Usually I just lightly saute it in a ittle olive oil with garlic, salt and pepper just until it wilts. It also gets tossed in the soup pot.”

“Gawd, Euro, I just checked my air miles. A few more and I'd be there for dinner.”

“Not 'Gawd', for you 'Godess', please.
...sheeesh”

“You're welcome for dinner though.”

“i got a call from my neighbor last night...he wants to talk to me tonight about a project he's working on...he's applying for a government grant to start up a neighborhood csa and wants my help on it”

“Groan. Was out shoveling snow around my place last weekend. Should be melted off by the end of the month. I plan on starting maters later than usual and transplanting a bit earlier or the same time to avoid shock and see if they respond better this year. Hard for us set in stone older folks to change.”

“Thrifty. Big in the UK are what are termed 'Allotments'
rented from local authorities (Councils) these areas have become almost a co-operative amongst the gardeners, swapping and trading produce.
The Allotments became very important during both world wars when the Brits were basically on starvation rations. Many neighborhoods collectively worked these gardens to sustain their communities.
There is lots of info on the web about these places. Search UK Allotments.”

“yeah, i won't know all the details until tonight but it kind of sounds like it's more like that than a CSA...plus he's talking about giving surplus to food banks”

“Depending on how many in the organization I don't think there will be too much surplus. Modern preservation and storage methods, anyone with sense would stock up for themselves! World news does not bode so good recently.”

“HikerDuane - Do plant those ovely little yellow ones? Those are better than candy!”

“sandyann, I've grown them in past years. The weather has been too cool the last four years or so. I've tried different heirloom maters, back to some I've used before, no long growing season ones.
Off tomorrow for a snowcamp trip close to home, plan on hiking a few miles from home and setting up. Headed to Pt Reyes April 8-10.”

“Point Reyes? That sounds nice.”

“Only two of us guys going, Don can't make it. Interested? Andy has permits already for the two of us, headed to Sky Camp. I have Friday off, he'll come in Friday evening before dark he says. An extra hour in the evening now with the time change tonight.”

“I am supposedto go car camping in Yosemite and while I love Yosemite I'd rally like to go on a bp trip to Point Reyes. If you don't mind me crashing your party I will try to get a permit.”

“Great, someone besides me to give Andy a bad time. Not sure when I'll get there Friday, April 8. Shooting to get to Sacramento around 10AM I guess, another few hours to the Center. Never been there, so had to write directions down and I was able to print out a map of the Seashore area. He may have B along, not sure if dogs are allowed.”

“I don't believe dogs are allowed. If I can get a permit I would probly be at the trailhead by :6:30pm.”

“have fun...wish I could be there”

“I plant swiss chard in the perenial garden, along w/ sage, oregano, chives, strawberries (they actually planted themselves there). The edibles look pretty in there.

Euro, I fry a piece of bacon or pancetta, deglaze the pan w/ balsamic vinegar and then toss in the chard and let it wilt. tasty stuff!”

“Mmmmmm...Balsamic Vinegar!”

“Mmmmmm...Balsamic Vinegar!”

“Mmmmmm...Balsamic Vinegar!”

“Wow. iPhone strikes again.”

“I just thought you were having a seizure...;)”

“My daughter was trying to type spagetti and the iPhone spell check changed it to alacrity. WTH?”

“Lots of seed starting today, and more weeding. Today is 74 and sunny, tomorrow is supposed to be 52 and raining. Love this Carolina weather.”

“sandyann, no luck gettin my email addy? Songbyrd, Paige, Naviguesser, mtnsteve, all who you might know. If they don't have it would know who does, so we don't have thread drift. Andy oughta be there by then and gone, he works till 5 I believe, lives in Santa Rosa. Sky Camp.”

“Shallots are already popping up in the garden. The onions finally look like they're going to do something other than snuff it. Stupid yard cats think they're toys, and pluck them out one by one, again and again. THbbpfft. I've given up a bunch of gardening space to flowers and a bigger, better compost pile this year. It could backfire, but we'll see how it goes. Personally I like looking out at the big patch of bachelor's buttons, growing like gangbusters.”

“treebat - have you tried planting some catnip in corner of the garden? My friend did that and found it worked by keeping his cats occupied and so happy that they left the other things alone.”

“Catnip is an extremely invasive weed for me. I planted it once, right after we moved in here in 2007. I've been fighting to get rid of it since. Whatever variety it is, it attracts cats from all over the dang place. I pulled out a bunch this weekend, and within 10 minutes of even starting the cull I had 3 neighbor cats drop by. The onions were in the bed next to the catnip btw. I think pulling up onions leaves them laughing like Beavis and Butthead.”

“Oh...Sorry. Kinda like California Poppy. Beautiful when in bloom but quite an ugly dried up weed when past season. Also it will take over the entire yard. Thankfully, even though they are the state flower we ca still cut them out.”

“The catnip is cute when it's small, but one plant will quickly cover 6 square feet and sprawl up around 4 feet if you give it half a chance. It also reseeds like crazy. Smells really good though, and makes a great tea for when you have a cold.”

“I've thought about growing Ca. poppies, but they don't like my clay around here.

I put a couple of La. irises in floating pots and put those in the koi pond this weekend. Just since Saturday they've shot up 5 inches.

I had to clean out the front yard water feature (35 gal. pond form with a fountain) because the pump clogged up with string algae. In the process of clearing it I pulled out 7 bullfrogs (temporarily set up in another water feature) who were still hibernating (and looking surprisingly hung over) and way, way too many bloodsuckers. I think that's the one thing that really gives me the willies, is realizing the itchy sensation is the blood being drawn out of my hand. Ick to the extreme! I cleared all the gook form the bottom, refilled it and added a 1/2 cup or so of bleach. That should kill those little bastiges. I dechlorinated it the next day.”

“The image I am getting of your yard is great. But there is just no way I would have something where I have to clean goo or have nasties touch me. Yes, I am a baby when it comes to stuff like that.

I planted Snap Dragons before and those are reallly pretty and do come back the next year.”