Garden Talk

[Honeybee]

We had a nice run a few weeks ago talking about tomatoes and planting and such. It's my spring break, and I'm planning for a small garden. I live in a row house, and so I don't have much actual yard space. But I do have a patio. I ordered big cedar planting box, in which I plan to plant tomatoes once it gets warm enough. Herbs too. For now, I might put some pansies in a corner.

[crystalswolf]

I love this time of year. I try to squeeze as much into my garden as I can possibly grow.

Did learn something last year. For a quick and endless crop of scallions, buy some at the store that look very fresh and healthy with some roots still intact. Plant them in soil then water to settle the roots. I did this during mild weather, so not sure what happens during cold weather. You may want to start them in a pot indoors until the weather warms. When you see them growing new leaves, that means they took root and ready to harvest, cut off all but one leaf in the winter or all of them in the summer. They will grow back.

[Honeybee]

I planted scallions that way in a pot once, it turned out very well!

I've always wanted to try worm composting. I don't really have the space for a big regular composter outside, but I've got space for a small worm bin in my basement. You can do this on the cheap, you've got to get the right worms and the right bin if you are going to do it inside.

I think I'm going to give it a shot.

You can also compost dog poop with worms, however it requires a separate bin. So, I'll try that later!

[Kathy Rose]

I can't wait to put our garden out, but considering it's only 35 degrees right now...

We usually buy plants at greenhouses and transplant them right in the garden, but we couldn't find any zucchini last year. So, we bought one of those little starter greenhouse thingies and planted zucchini seed. Wow! They did so much better than what we've ever bought at local greenhouses, I couldn't believe it.

Normally we can't plant any vegetables until the beginning of May, because we occasionally will get a late frost.

[Honeybee]

So, I ordered a small worm bin. It will be useful for freaking mom out too.

I am not twelve, but freaking one's mom out with worms is a universal pleasure.

[Kathy Rose]

So, I ordered a small worm bin. It will be useful for freaking mom out too.

I am not twelve, but freaking one's mom out with worms is a universal pleasure.

Having two children who are more freaked out by worms than I am, I've never had that problem.

Then there's hubby, who a few years ago ran in (practically) screaming terror when an itty, bitty bunny rabbit hopped out of the flower garden near where he was standing. Of course, his reaction makes sense if you know that, the previous year, he'd been hospitalized for 10 days for tularemia, commonly known as rabbit fever. Poor bunny! Hubby got it from an insect bite, not the bunny.

[Glory1863]

I'm waiting to hear from the Foundation at the community college down the road. The Foundation sells shares in the "community farm" they have on campus since the college no longer supports it monitarily, just lets them use the land. All produce grown is donated to the food pantry where I volunteer. I bought a share last year in memory of a volunteer I worked with, but can't afford to do that this year until I get my hospital bill paid off which will be too late. I'm hoping they'll just let me work without being a shareholder.

[Kathy Rose]

I'm waiting to hear from the Foundation at the community college down the road. The Foundation sells shares in the "community farm" they have on campus since the college no longer supports it monitarily, just lets them use the land. All produce grown is donated to the food pantry where I volunteer. I bought a share last year in memory of a volunteer I worked with, but can't afford to do that this year until I get my hospital bill paid off which will be too late. I'm hoping they'll just let me work without being a shareholder.

Surely they wouldn't turn down that kind of help, would they?

[Glory1863]

Found this while looking for something else and thought it might be of interest to gardeners here:
Star Trek Garden.

By the way, the author is a published Star Trek and Babylon 5 author. I took her class on Philosophy Through Science Fiction many years ago through the community college down the road.

[Kathy Rose]

How neat, Glory! I had no idea that there were plants and flowers named after characters, etc. I totally get where the name for "Spock's Ears" came from, after seeing what it looked like.