The thread for people who have Green Thumbs (Gardening)

[wolfloversk]

I'm contemplating at making another shot at an aqua-terrarium this summer. My last attempt resulted in a nematode infestation before I even got any plants in... and not knowing whether or not they were the harmful kind I had to ditch the project... and my compost pile I also had a problem with the soil from the dry compartment leaking into the water, and the water flooding into the soil, so this time I'd like to try with a few different soil/gravel types, and a larger container...the container possibly being a bit of a problem to get...

Anyway any of you guys have any ideas as to how to design in so I don't have the same water/soil problem... I'm thinking some sort of barrier, maybe slate, would work.

[starkat]

What's a aqua terrarium?

I noticed today, that two small green bulbs have begun to grow on my two roma tomato plants.

[wolfloversk]

Essentially its a mixture of a terrarium and an aquarium in that it has both a water and a land compartment... there's probably some other name for it... but this is the one I tend to use

[DiGoRyKiRkE]

I finally managed to do some gardening on Friday. It was the first day when in which the ground had had a chance to dry out for more than a month! (We've broken April's rain record, and are WELL on our way to breaking May's too). With some help from my Mom and my Grandma we were able to plant four rows (approx. 20 ft rows) of blue lake bush beans.

We also planted one row of onion sets, and one row of spinach.

This was all after planting/weeding my mom's flower bed with a bunch of things we'd bought the weekend before. I got a bunch of other things to plant, but was too tired (I gardened for six hours straight on Friday!) Any ways, needless to say. . . Saturday was pouring with rain . This means that my eight tomato plants (4 Early Girl and 4 Roma), my 12 cabbage plants (Early Flat Dutch), my peas (Oregon Sugar Snap) my 6 Broccoli plants (Pac-Man), my cucumbers (Burpless Beauties), my green peppers (Goliath I think. . . ) and my banana peppers (Super Sweet) did not make it into the ground. I also didn't get to plant my Okra (which I'm trying this year for the first time) because the lady at the garden store said that they need a lot of heat before they can be planted. . . and as tomorrow's high is rainy with temps in the 40's. . . . . that's not a good idea.

In flower news, my foxglove is really outdoing itself. Mom and I seriously watched it grow throughout the day. From morning to evening the plant probably grew 4 inches total!!!!!! Flowers opened up and they are GORGEOUS! Everything that got planted last week is doing well, and our roses are getting ready to bloom (always exciting to see that first one!).

Any ways, that's my gardening journal entry for the week

[fantasia]

Cool DiGs

I also didn't get to plant my Okra (which I'm trying this year for the first time) because the lady at the garden store said that they need a lot of heat before they can be planted.

We don't plant our Okra til June at the earliest... and that's here in Kansas, where I can't seem to grow Broccoli cause it's too hot.

Well, I didn't get nearly as much gardening done this weekend as I had hoped (I was busy!). But a few things I did get done... I got my green beans planted finally, three seed packets of them in anticipation of canning. We did a lot of weeding around the spinach and green onions which were more than a little out of control in the weed department. And last but not least we put blood meal down EVERYWHERE.

Much to my dismay, the rabbits had done a lot of damage, particularly to my tomatoes where two or three of them had been completely snipped off at the base. I revived one of them in a jar of water, but the others were a lost cause and unless the roots are able to put up another shoot, they're done. Hopefully my dog Fiona put the fear of God in them as she kept finding them in the garden area and chasing them off. Probably not, but one can always hope.

There are already lots of goodies to eat. The lettuce is ready, as is the first round of radishes and asparagus.

The current to-do list on the farm....
Plant the slicing cucumbers
Plant the remaining tomatoes and bell peppers (was going to do this but due to a sudden crazy cold snap, we decided to hold off)
Plant the last two rows of corn
Plant pumpkins and watermelons
Plant the next round of radishes
Weed and water
Plant okra in June

Unfortunately I forgot my camera this weekend and didn't get any pictures, but that's ok. Maybe in the next couple weekends.

[DiGoRyKiRkE]

FK, since you've planted it before, how does okra grow?

[fantasia]

I would compare it the most to corn. Fairly tall and straight and it puts on Okra kind of like Corn puts on Ears. Mine don't get quite this tall, but it'll give you a good idea on how it grows.

[DiGoRyKiRkE]

HOLY TOLEDO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The lady at the store told me that they grown on tiny little bushes close to the ground! That stuff is INSANE! Do you have to let it climb on anything, or support it with anything.

I'm afraid now. . .

[fantasia]

Well all of the pictures I found after a quick search were of people showing off their awesomely tall okra plants. Believe me, mine weren't even close to the picture I linked. The okra I grew last year was maybe a smidge taller than me, if that. I'm about 5 and a half feet tall.
I would imagine that the height of okra is directly proportional to the amount of heat and sunlight it receives. Perhaps in your area where it's a lot cooler than here, the okra does only get to be bush height.
Oh, and no supports required.

[DiGoRyKiRkE]

Well as I imagined plants roughly a foot tall. . . . it's still a shock. Now I'm not sure where to put them . Perhaps they'll do well at the very end of the garden where I won't have to bother about using a machete to make my way through jungles of okra

[stargazer]

I've never had okra before, or seen it grown in a garden...

Amazing to hear about roses almost ready to bloom and green tomatoes already on plants...we're likely to have frost tonight. (Our average last frost date is May 15 so this isn't terribly unusual).

[fantasia]

My roses have been in full bloom for a week or two now. They're quite lovely. My sister has been scolding because I don't do anything to them at all (except trim them back in the spring) and she talks about the gobs of people who come into the store to buy various chemicals and whatnot for their roses. She's wondering if it's even necessary now.

..we're likely to have frost tonight.

So I shouldn't mention that I brought back a huge bag of asparagus, salad, and radishes from the farm this weekend?

[DiGoRyKiRkE]

We do nothing to our roses either. No chemicals, no fancy products, just clip them back in the spring, and dead-head them regularly. They bloom themselves to death, and they are absolutely GORGEOUS.

What rose varieties do you grow, FK? I'm not sure what variety ours are as we got them at a sale. After doing a little research, they look like Wild Blue Yonder roses.

[fantasia]

Ha! I have no idea. I'll have to ask my sister. I can give you a general idea though. The two in the front are white and red miniature roses that my husband got for me for Valentine's Day several years ago. The one in the backyard was one my sister decided I needed. It's also a fairly small plant, but the roses are about the size of the ones in your picture but a tiny bit more red.

[stargazer]

So I shouldn't mention that I brought back a huge bag of asparagus, salad, and radishes from the farm this weekend?

Sounds delicious!

I must confess that while visiting a greenhouse this past weekend, I saw a tiny green tomato on one of the plants. So it can even happen here this early, under the right conditions.

On roses...my parents have had a rose garden for as long as I can remember. They occasionally fertilized them and were careful to deadhead them, but little other maintainence seems to be required. We did always cover them for winter, since we live in Zone 4.

One of my mother's favorite varieties is Double Delight - each blossom has a whitish center surrounded by a deep red color.

[DiGoRyKiRkE]

For those of you who are friends with me on facebook, I started a video blog about my garden. You can find the video here:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php ... 4&comments