Redwing

I have said before that I have tried growing rhubarb, without much luck here in SE TN. After 2012, I left the crowns in the ground. Last year, I had never grown so much. The only explanation I can think of is that last summer was cooler and rainier than normal.

Uncle_Bob

I've been using a handy planting guide for my county produced by the Agriculteral college at the universsity of Arizona. It tells you when you can plant, both seeds and transplants.

http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/az1005.pdf

Looks like i need to get some lettuce in this weekend before its going to be too warm before harvest time.

WEBlue

This is what I'm afraid of. Not that we have bears here (thank goodness!), but there are loads of deer and rabbits.

Last spring and summer, we were so overrun by rabbits, I planted all my vegetables & herbs in the flower beds next to the front door. Even then, a few suffered. I had lettuce in a window box but the rabbits (or some other creature) still managed to get some.

Yes, I look at the Cornell University agricultural site, which has good info for this area.

Speaking of CU, they have a page on "Three Sisters" planting, a style of growing corn, beans & squash together which the Iroquois Indians practiced all over their American range from Canada to Mexico. It's supposed to be an easy, natural way to grow the three crops year after year, with little weeding & watering needed if you do it correctly. Has anyone tried this?

http://blogs.cornell.edu/garden/get-...three-sisters/

cindyabs

Don't forget to throw a few fish in for fertilizer. Also, where I grew up in NE, you don't plant until after Memorial Day.

ottotheboar

Bears are not as much trouble as deer and rabbits they will eat the blueberries in the spring then apples and corn later.
Deer will eat tomatoes all summer, they just finished off our brussel sprouts.

WEBlue

Yeah, that was supposed to be a key element of the 3 Sisters garden mound, a dead fish buried in it to fertilize the mound. A gardening fanatic neighbor of mine saves any fish "cleanings" (bones, guts, skin) in a bucket for putting on the garden.

Boy, this would frustrate me! How do you fight these animal "grazers" in your garden? Do you just assume they're going to get a portion and plant extra? What if they eat it all?

ottotheboar

[;11118288]Yeah, that was supposed to be a key element of the 3 Sisters garden mound, a dead fish buried in it to fertilize the mound. A gQUOTE=WEBlueardening fanatic neighbor of mine saves any fish "cleanings" (bones, guts, skin) in a bucket for putting on the garden.


Boy, this would frustrate me! How do you fight these animal "grazers" in your garden? Do you just assume they're going to get a portion and plant extra? What if they eat it all?[/QUOTE]

During the summer they have a lot of choices so will nibble on tomatoes but rarely eat them all.
Right now we have had several very hard frosts for Virginia and there is very little to eat so they will go for anything green.
I spoke yesterday with someone who had early lettuce and the deer were destroying them so he was issued a "kill permit" by the Game Dept.
The bears ate the corn which was planted as part of a wildlife enhancement program as they were very few acorns last year it was understandable.

WEBlue

Wow!

I don't think that's something I'd be able to do, but I'd love to know other ways people keep the deer out of their vegetable patch. I might have to build a tall TALL fence...

This is interesting! Is this something people do in your locality?

I could see planting some crops specifically for the wildlife to eat (a little like feeding the birds, which we do), if I knew they would leave the rest of my veg alone.

ottotheboar

We have two locations one is at home where we have the garden the other is where we have the wildlife habitat program.
For deer we plant soya beans and corn for late summer then a mix of wheat, oats, Abruzzi Rye, winter peas turnips and greens.
For turkeys we plant Chufas.
For dove, partridge and quail we plant sunflowers and millet.
Three of us do hunt buy only take a tiny percentage of the game. Last year one turkey, a few small game birds one wild turkey and three deer all of which we eat.
The result is a great wildlife location with a great mix of birds including a flourishing heron population.
As I said at home we do have nibbling but have never lost a whole crop.

WEBlue

Wow, I should think you've planted the wildlife enough so they should leave your "people" crops alone.

That's a great idea!

WEBlue

OK, then. It may not be January, and it's sleeting here right now--after snowing, sleeting, then raining ALL day long yesterday. But it's supposed to stop this afternoon and get sunny. More importantly, the temperature stayed ABOVE freezing all day and all night. This is the first time that's happened in a month, and it's supposed to stay above freezing tomorrow too. In my mind this qualifies as an actual thaw!

I'm going to try planting a few seeds in a dodgy cold frame thing I've been building. Snap peas, chard, spinach.... We'll see what happens.

ottotheboar

If you want to just grow something try a few radish they are an early favorite down here, lettuce are not bad either but watch out for the deer !!!!!!!

We are hoping to get some logs inoculated with exotic mushroom plugs when we can get in the woods to cut some .

WEBlue

Yes, I'm desperate to grow some new things, and would rather plant seeds outside than try to start them inside. Last winter I started seeds inside and only a few did well (I don't really have a good set-up yet). I planted some lettuce and spinach in the front flower garden under a little portable cold frame I made. The deer seldom venture beyond the back garden--I hope!!! The rabbits got some of my lettuce & etc. there last summer but this time I've planted more.

As I was digging under the leaf compost in the garden, I found a few sprouting bulbs (aconites I think) I planted, and some new sweet-pea plants from the previous owner were hiding under there too. I was so thrilled to find them under the snow.... Reminded me of snowdrops in the UK that start coming up about this time.

This sounds brilliant! I'd love to do that.

ottotheboar

Plenty of mushroom info out there ebay has plugs and spawn and everythingmushrooms.com is another.
One you have done a few logs there is not much to do apart from keep them damp in summer they are good for around four years.
The logs are best notched log cabin style to make them more stable and candle making wax will do as it is the cheapest.
The deer do not like them either so it is a win win !

WEBlue

The trouble is my husband grabs every fallen bit of wood for his wood pile. What is it with men & wood piles? (His is his baby.) This is the first time we've not only had a functioning wood stove, but also the trees to feed it.