Garden...

ThatOwlWoman said:
SWEET! Literally. How do blueberries do in the South? Do you have to grow special cultivars?

I guess I won't tell you about both our driveway and our road. They are lined with wild blueberry plants, the low-bush kind. Small berries, but like a burst of sugar on your tongue. Oh darn, guess I told you. lol
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They do middling to fair. They are designed for dixie really. There are a few pick your own. Northeast low bush blueberries are amazing. I know there was some controversy about people using those one in their ads but using Michigan blueberries in their actual products. You people are very clan like about your blueberries
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
The hoop houses (PTs) are meant to extend your growing season on both sides. They give you a head start in the spring and allow you to keep warm-weather stuff like peppers and tomatoes going farther in the fall. A greenhouse is usually heated, at least in this climate, and allows you to do some kind of growing most of the year. Or you can let it rest over the winter, and start warming it up in early spring when you start your flats. Because of the winds off Superior, we take the cover off in the fall and put it away. We didn't get it up till late April this year because of the blizzard we had mid-month. I'm pondering though trying to figure out a way to protect it from the winds and keep it up all winter so I can get a bit earlier start. I will still have to start plants indoors though, unless we want to spring for a heat source out there for night time.
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when I look at polytunnels, this is literally my thought process every single time, "OH I want one. OH and they are really cheap. Damn it, I know it would just be a couple hundred dollars I saw flying through the air into my neighbors yard as soon as them March winds started howling so nevermind."
 
Kacper said:
They do middling to fair. They are designed for dixie really. There are a few pick your own. Northeast low bush blueberries are amazing. I know there was some controversy about people using those one in their ads but using Michigan blueberries in their actual products. You people are very clan like about your blueberries
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I didn't know that. Apparently I haven't been initiated or given the secret blue code word yet. lol

I had only had store-bought blueberries until the first time I went to Alaska. Went to Denali with the friend whose brother's house is in the photo, above. He was a professional photographer and was lucky enough to win the yearly photog pass to the Park. It allows the holder to spend 3 days there, four times/year, in his/her own private vehicle. There are secret designated photog camp sites hidden from the road that goes into the Park. The first night he was heating up supper and I was just gazing in awe at Denali.... when a lone lady wolf came out of the alders, rolled on her back in the clearing just like your family dog might do, got up and shook herself off, and trotted off. Talk about rapture!

The photographer and guest are allowed to pull over anywhere on the road, exit the vehicle, and take photos and video. What a gift! So I can say that I am one of only a few ppl on the planet who have been allowed to walk the Park and get up close and personal with the wildlife, plant life, geology, waters, and mountains. At any rate, at the end of the road where it stops at Wonder Lake, we got out and stuffed blueberries in our faces. Best blueberries I ever tasted. And there were bears. And moose! Very, very large moose. I was outside the camper when I took both of these pics.

QPBA4MM.jpg


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Kacper said:
when I look at polytunnels, this is literally my thought process every single time, "OH I want one. OH and they are really cheap. Damn it, I know it would just be a couple hundred dollars I saw flying through the air into my neighbors yard as soon as them March winds started howling so nevermind."
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LMAO! Yeah, we tarried a bit too long last fall and had ours sail over the garden fence and into the trees in a late October gale. This year we parked four cinder blocks inside and used 1/2 nylon rope tethered to the frame to hold her down. Will let you know if the Witch of November carries her off this year. lol
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
LMAO! Yeah, we tarried a bit too long last fall and had ours sail over the garden fence and into the trees in a late October gale. This year we parked four cinder blocks inside and used 1/2 nylon rope tethered to the frame to hold her down. Will let you know if the Witch of November carries her off this year. lol
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I am probably going to build a proper illegal greenhouse at some point in the near future. I would just like something to reduce the time the keeper plants have to spend indoors in my house because the light sucks for plants and to have an outside place to help harden seedlings off in the spring while sheltered from the wind. Lost about 90% of my indoor starts this spring simply because of the wind. having been so sporadic and intense at times. The light sucks on my existing outbuilding so I cannot attach it to that, which is how it becomes illegal as I am not allowed to have two outbuildings on the same lot and I am not allowed to put an outbuilding on my adjoining lots because there is no house on them and my other lots with houses have outbuildings that are equally shaded.
 
Kacper said:
I am probably going to build a proper illegal greenhouse at some point in the near future.
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Do you live in one of those communities where any outside-the-existing-home structures have to be approved by a city building inspector?

I would just like something to reduce the time the keeper plants have to spend indoors in my house because the light sucks for plants and to have an outside place to help harden seedlings off in the spring while sheltered from the wind.
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Growing a large amt of starts indoors is really a problem unless you have a great (i.e. expensive) lighting set-up. Putting them close to windows doesn't work so great unless you are home all day and can rotate them several times, plus it has to be usually sunny.

Lost about 90% of my indoor starts this spring simply because of the wind. having been so sporadic and intense at times. The light sucks on my existing outbuilding so I cannot attach it to that, which is how it becomes illegal as I am not allowed to have two outbuildings on the same lot and I am not allowed to put an outbuilding on my adjoining lots because there is no house on them and my other lots with houses have outbuildings that are equally shaded.
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Oh geezy peaches.

Have you ever looked at Mother Earth News' site for ideas? I might suggest using row covers instead of a permanent or semi-permanent structure.

https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/low-tunnels-quick-hoops-zmaz09onzraw
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
Do you live in one of those communities where any outside-the-existing-home structures have to be approved by a city building inspector?



Growing a large amt of starts indoors is really a problem unless you have a great (i.e. expensive) lighting set-up. Putting them close to windows doesn't work so great unless you are home all day and can rotate them several times, plus it has to be usually sunny.



Oh geezy peaches.

Have you ever looked at Mother Earth News' site for ideas? I might suggest using row covers instead of a permanent or semi-permanent structure.

https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/low-tunnels-quick-hoops-zmaz09onzraw
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Yes on zoning approval, and yes I subscribe to Mother Earth News. I think row covers would not fair well in the wind either
 
Kacper said:
Yes on zoning approval, and yes I subscribe to Mother Earth News. I think row covers would not fair well in the wind either
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Even low and rounded and close to the ground.... and of course sodded or staked down? Geeze, where do you live, next to a Boeing jet test factory? lol

PS -- Glad to meet another Mother Earth News fan!
 
BTW, are you in a state where weed is still pretty much illegal? I was thinking of suggesting a bedroom/closet/little-used bathroom/basement with grow lights, but you gotta be careful purchasing those, depending on where you live.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
Even low and rounded and close to the ground.... and of course sodded or staked down? Geeze, where do you live, next to a Boeing jet test factory? lol

PS -- Glad to meet another Mother Earth News fan!
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More or less. My sunny field is on the windward side of the highest ridge in my city and the prevailing jetstream, especially in March, comes straight through a lot of flat old tobacco land heading straight toward my field, pushes up the ridge, and then hits the treeline on the backside. I lose a lot of trees/limbs every late winter due to wind. You can stand out there that time of year and literally hear the wind whirling some days even when it is only slightly breezy because it is such a weird spot. Kind of a bizarre sensation. My sister was out there with me this year one day and said, "You know, the wind isn't even blowing hard, but it sounds like a tornado or something is coming back here." The yard waste guy knows he is going to need to stop at my place every week pretty much from November to at least early April and what he carries away is only about half of what I deal with every year.
 
Got me 8 more peach trees. Bummed they were out of plums as I heart me some plums. At less than $7 each will pick up a few apples tomorrow and a few more peaches and then test to see if the ornamentals are on secret discount too. If so, I will be broke by Monday ;)
 
Kacper said:
Got me 8 more peach trees. Bummed they were out of plums as I heart me some plums. At less than $7 each will pick up a few apples tomorrow and a few more peaches and then test to see if the ornamentals are on secret discount too. If so, I will be broke by Monday ;)
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Hehehehe, but it's for a good cause, eh? How nice. Too cold here for those. Some ppl grow cherries or apples. I'm kind of leery though of attracting bears with fruit trees. Are you planning to sell the fruit at local markets?

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ThatOwlWoman said:
Hehehehe, but it's for a good cause, eh? How nice. Too cold here for those. Some ppl grow cherries or apples. I'm kind of leery though of attracting bears with fruit trees. Are you planning to sell the fruit at local markets?

iWT02iv.jpg
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I plan on the deer eating most of it and me making a pie with what is left :awesome:

I had given up on my urban garden plans but after discovering I could get tons of free compost and now trees for about a third of their regular price, I am like a whore at an insurance agent convention or maybe an insurance agent at a whore convention....whichever.
 
Kacper said:
I plan on the deer eating most of it and me making a pie with what is left :awesome:

I had given up on my urban garden plans but after discovering I could get tons of free compost and now trees for about a third of their regular price, I am like a whore at an insurance agent convention or maybe an insurance agent at a whore convention....whichever.
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LMAO! Nothing wrong with whoring for nature. lol
 
Mott the Hoople said:
That’s not a problem if you use it in a mixture as I have done in the past.

I wish I had some photos of my father in laws garden. It’s impressive. I convinced him to grow flowers. When I suggested it he thought I was nuts. Told him he could make money growing flowers and sending his grandkids to the city to sell them at the markets. So once a week he sent his two prettiest granddaughters to Buagio to sell flowers and used the profits to help fund their college education..
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Growing flowers for florist shops and such is one of the recommended ways to diversify farms by our state ag dept. now that tobacco is dead for most growers. Planting grapes to sell to vineyards is another.
 
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