-
For more information on how to avoid pop-up ads and still support SkiTalk click HERE.
2020 gardening thread
- Thread starter Monique
- Start date
Soon it will be unbearably hot here...
Neighbor posted about free tomato plants on Nextdoor. Don't remember what kind, but I helped myself to two. Gonna make a mediocre attempt to keep them alive, water them between storms best I can.
Disregard the Roman Candle holder LOL
Got a bomb proof mulberry tree in the back... But that's cheating. It was there before we got here 20 years ago. Kids used to come in covered in them 1st week of May every year hahaha. Need to learn to make some jam.
Disregard the Roman Candle holder LOL
Got a bomb proof mulberry tree in the back... But that's cheating. It was there before we got here 20 years ago. Kids used to come in covered in them 1st week of May every year hahaha. Need to learn to make some jam.
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2016
- Posts
- 758
The puppy helped me get my small container garden going this year. Tomatoes, cukes, and peppers. Here are some pics from last season. The cukes did the best. I made trellises for them to climb with some copper pipe and butcher’s twine. Looks pretty (to me) and it’s easy. Same thing with the bamboo for the tomatoes - the price is right and you can build it however the plant needs it. Planning to double the size this year - the self-watering planters work great, though they turn into mosquito breeding grounds unless you keep bug dunks in the water.
The grapes haven't gotten started yet, but
oh the rhubarb is another story.
oh the rhubarb is another story.
But beautiful!
What role did the puppy play?
I'm intrigued by all of your cages, trellises, etc. I have yet to find a great way to deal with cantaloupe and cucumber plants. I had some success with having the 'lopes climb a cage and then using pantyhose to support the fruit, but it's amazingly difficult to get the pantyhose onto the fruit without damaging the plant. But I do want to grow the 'lopes in a pot so that I can "extend" their season by transferring them indoors.
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2016
- Posts
- 758
The puppy dug in the potting soil, barked at the hose, and slept under the wheelbarrow. But he was more help than the 3 kids combined.
Re the trellis, the copper is easy to make if you like that look and want it to weather. Otherwise, any dimensional lumber and a few drywall screws will work to make the basic shape. For the lopes, I’d cover it in chicken wire for the weight. Would give you plenty of tie off options for your pantyhose hammocks too.
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2015
- Posts
- 874
Looking at everyone's photos, I'm ashamed of my puny veggie garden with 5 tomato plants and 2 summer squash (zucchini and calebecitas).
I had to buy a sun shade to protect the fledgling squash plants, as it was over 90° just after I transplanted them.
I had to buy a sun shade to protect the fledgling squash plants, as it was over 90° just after I transplanted them.
Good start. Throw some mulch down around those plants and basically mulch all the remaining bare soil and you'll keep those plants cooler and moister. What's going on in the far side? Looks like leaves or wood chips; both are great mulch. If you have corrugated cardboard*, lay it down on the bare ground ( cut out for plants ), wet it and then lay 3-4 inches of wood chips on top if you can get them. Or a combo of wood chips and leaves, straw--whatever clean carbon organic matter you can get. This will cool your soil, reduce your watering needs and create the bio conditions for mycorrhizal fungi to prosper. Certain mycorrhizal fungi, such as Glomus, create symbiotic relationships with plants. The plants exude sugars from photosynthesis from their roots to feed the fungi and in exchange the fungi protect the plants from some pathogens, such as plant-parasitic nematodes. Also the the fungi can actually bring water and nutrients to the plant from areas of the soil beyond the root system of the plant through their network of mycelium. There's a lot more to this, and it's fascinating, but basically you want your soil to be alive and biodynamic, not just a dead growing medium. Your plants will be healthier and produce more.
* You don't really need the cardboard, just the mulch will do. The cardboard will add a layer of weed suppression while it is breaking down. As it breaks down it adds to the organic matter in the soil enriching the soil. Also fungi love to grow in moist cardboard. Unless you want weeds. Weeds are good too. Weeds are just plants that are in a place you don't think you want them. Most plants that we think of as weeds add to the soil composition. If they have long tap roots, they're bringing up minerals and nutrients from lower layers of soil that become available to shallower root plants. Weed roots house beneficial microbs like beneficial nematodes, beneficial bacteria and fungi. Of course they can also overrun your garden and make more work for you too.
Pssh. Yours are already planted - I'm jealous!
And snow has shown up in our forecast. 
I'm not planting any earlier than May 15 regardless. Been burned too many times.
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2016
- Posts
- 2,129
Oh geez...where to start?
I should state that I’m not a gardener per se, I moved in with a gardener who has lived on her 10 acre property for quite a while before I showed up 10 years ago. However I have invested in a chain saw, riding mower, wood chipper and other tools, had different type and thicknesses of garden gloves and am getting better at identifying plants. Half the property is woods and I maintain several trail loops that I have built through cedars, alders, hemlocks, Douglas firs and lots of salmon berries. Another acre and a half is pasture that is not being used,
Most of the trees you will see were planted by Shamora over the time she’s lived here (there was literally nothing on the property when she moved in, other than a large elm and several Douglas firs).
These is right outside the dining room, with the pump house (we’re on a well))/garden house/tool shed building. some of these plants will remain in pots, others will get planted somewhere, at some time, unless a new shiny plant comes along.
More of the same, under a Hinoki Cypress that used to go all the way to the ground until I limbed it up a couple of years ago.
The other side of the Hinoki, several more trees we’ve picked up and are debating where to plant.
A planting bed that until recently was covered with invasive vines. A plum tree on the left was split by a snowstorm years ago, I cut it down to a stump and it’s like a hydra growing new branches and just starting to produce fruit again.
Side of the barn. This was an old overgrown chicken run until 2-3 years ago.
Leading to a Doug Fir with a fern and hotsa bed planted around it. The fir used to have blackberries, morning glory and other unwanted stuff growing under it.
View of the house, the arbor on the left is covered with hardy kiwi vines that produce fruit the size of olives. Apple tree on the right just starting to blossom and you can see the ornamental cherries above the apple to the right of the house.
This bed is being expanded.
More to come....
I should state that I’m not a gardener per se, I moved in with a gardener who has lived on her 10 acre property for quite a while before I showed up 10 years ago. However I have invested in a chain saw, riding mower, wood chipper and other tools, had different type and thicknesses of garden gloves and am getting better at identifying plants. Half the property is woods and I maintain several trail loops that I have built through cedars, alders, hemlocks, Douglas firs and lots of salmon berries. Another acre and a half is pasture that is not being used,
Most of the trees you will see were planted by Shamora over the time she’s lived here (there was literally nothing on the property when she moved in, other than a large elm and several Douglas firs).
These is right outside the dining room, with the pump house (we’re on a well))/garden house/tool shed building. some of these plants will remain in pots, others will get planted somewhere, at some time, unless a new shiny plant comes along.
More of the same, under a Hinoki Cypress that used to go all the way to the ground until I limbed it up a couple of years ago.
The other side of the Hinoki, several more trees we’ve picked up and are debating where to plant.
A planting bed that until recently was covered with invasive vines. A plum tree on the left was split by a snowstorm years ago, I cut it down to a stump and it’s like a hydra growing new branches and just starting to produce fruit again.
Side of the barn. This was an old overgrown chicken run until 2-3 years ago.
Leading to a Doug Fir with a fern and hotsa bed planted around it. The fir used to have blackberries, morning glory and other unwanted stuff growing under it.
View of the house, the arbor on the left is covered with hardy kiwi vines that produce fruit the size of olives. Apple tree on the right just starting to blossom and you can see the ornamental cherries above the apple to the right of the house.
This bed is being expanded.
More to come....
Back to the side of the house, this is right outside the living room, which has large picture windows.
Around the corner. This was where a new septic system when in 2 years ago, so we expanded the planting beds. Still a work in progress, as you can see a maple in a pot in the background where we plan to create a maple and small conifer bed.
This is the view of the other side of the last pic. The dry stream feature came about when Shamora as me to dig a hole to plant a tree. I unearthed several large rocks that were apparently piled there decades ago and covered over with dirt to create a berm. We moved the large rocks around, added more and created a dry stream feature (I take credit for that idea, it was easier than moving some of the rocks).
Just to the side of that, I used some birch branches than fell in a storm to make this bed next to a cedar.
Just dug out a vine maple and moved it to another location on the property. This is in between the pear-quince on the left and the apple on the right. In the center background there’s a crabapple blooming, and some Fuki (Japanese rhubarb, perennial that gets monster sized and will take over if you let it.
It’s apparently not enough to garden, now she’s propagating, will sell plant starts as the season progresses. There is a lot more of this.
The other side of the Fukiville. There’s a small path I made in the last year or two, hacking back blackberries and removing salmonberries (there are still plenty of those).
This is the entrance to the main entrance we use, which is not the main entrance to the house that we never really use.
The arbor with the kiwi again.
Side of the house.
Around the corner. This was where a new septic system when in 2 years ago, so we expanded the planting beds. Still a work in progress, as you can see a maple in a pot in the background where we plan to create a maple and small conifer bed.
This is the view of the other side of the last pic. The dry stream feature came about when Shamora as me to dig a hole to plant a tree. I unearthed several large rocks that were apparently piled there decades ago and covered over with dirt to create a berm. We moved the large rocks around, added more and created a dry stream feature (I take credit for that idea, it was easier than moving some of the rocks).
Just to the side of that, I used some birch branches than fell in a storm to make this bed next to a cedar.
Just dug out a vine maple and moved it to another location on the property. This is in between the pear-quince on the left and the apple on the right. In the center background there’s a crabapple blooming, and some Fuki (Japanese rhubarb, perennial that gets monster sized and will take over if you let it.
It’s apparently not enough to garden, now she’s propagating, will sell plant starts as the season progresses. There is a lot more of this.
The other side of the Fukiville. There’s a small path I made in the last year or two, hacking back blackberries and removing salmonberries (there are still plenty of those).
This is the entrance to the main entrance we use, which is not the main entrance to the house that we never really use.
The arbor with the kiwi again.
Side of the house.
Attachments
Last edited:
There used to be a cottonwood tree in the front yard. Well the root system is still there, and Morrell mushrooms grow under cottonwoods. So we’ve got Morrells growing in the front yard. People go out far and wide to forage for these things, and we have them growing about 20 feet from where I park my car. Go figure. Another reason not to mow the lawn right now. We allow the grass to grow and especially where there are concentrations of dandelions, which are good from bringing nutrients from the lower soil to the top layer. Comfrey is particularly good at that as well, also the bees forage through these until there’s other flowers blooming. So we have a messy lawn. I’ve start mowing paths through the grass (usually with some creative/artistic design to it), leaving some areas to develop wildflowers.
Last edited:
Laziness spurs innovation!
And then there’s indoors. This is the dinning room, with plants on half the table.
Succents.
Living rooom
Top of the stairs.
This is supposed to my study area.
I do love this Cook Island Pine. I’ve got a couple of smaller ones in my counseling office.
The rubber plant loves the sun light and now reaches the top of the cathedral ceiling.
If you stay in the guest room, you are sharing with plants.
Succents.
Living rooom
Top of the stairs.
This is supposed to my study area.
I do love this Cook Island Pine. I’ve got a couple of smaller ones in my counseling office.
The rubber plant loves the sun light and now reaches the top of the cathedral ceiling.
If you stay in the guest room, you are sharing with plants.
There’s more, I haven’t even gotten to the greenhouse. Maybe another time.
I don't understand how these all get enough water ... let alone fertilizer, repotting, etc ...
Sponsor
Members online
- dbostedo
- xiskiguy
- Andy Mink
- Calvin & Hobbes
- Zirbl
- AlexisLD
- FlyingAce
- Wade
- easterner
- SKI-AJM
- PMorenus
- my07mcx2
- deewoo
- smv
- coldski
- Turoa Kiwi
- Matt Merritt
- Nomax
- saboteur
- da-cat
- angstroms
- blackke17
- KimJongTr1ll
- JibingDownhill
- TexasStout
- Skeeze
- mikes781
- Chris V.
- AltaSkier
- Ryan Perham
- charlier
- cosmoliu
- COSkier87
- BeiJiHu
- Rod9301
- Bad Bob
- Dean
- Larry
- Dr.T
- geepers
- Yepow
- David
- Vinnie
- Juliufs
- chris_the_wrench
- Mike Rogers
- ted
- KevinF
- horsetwist
- dan ross