GREEN THUMBS CLUB CONT...

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I can't wait for Spring how about ya'll? I am fixing to send off my seed order!! Can't wait to see the freebies that they put in the package!!! I order from E and R seeds. It is a nice Amish catalogue and can only be reached by mail. Herbs, veggies, and flower seeds are really a good deal there. Whatcha ordering and whatcha plantin in little pots? I have my broccoli and onions already going. Also some new herbs that I wanted to try after listening to ya'll:~) !

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), January 31, 2001

Answers

Nan,

Isn't it great this time of year. Glad I'm not the only one "itching". I've already started my seedlings! Since I use the squarefoot technique, I start my plants now in 1 gallon plastic flower pots, then transplant to the garden in Mar/April when they fill out the pots and the weather is agreeable. I love my neighbors reactions when they see 1 ft tall plants where there was nothing the day before. My jalepenos last year continued bearing till November and were 3 to 4 ft tall with stalks 4 inches in diameter at the base. Lynn called them my "hot pepper trees". I hope this years garden will be totally "free" since I have my wormcast operation in full gear and we have seed packs left over from the last 3 seasons ( 28 varieties of veggies, 168 packets). Its amazing how much seed you buy over what you need when the packs are marked down to 5 cents each :>)

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 31, 2001.


I am worse than a little kid in a candy shop right now. I want some of all of it!!!! Yes Jay, it is amazing how many seeds you end up with. I really need to get busy and check the germination of some of what I have before I go crazy ordering. I order frequently from Vermont Bean and Seed Co. and Shumway. I never heard of E and R seeds Nan. Where are they from?? I wish those Jeffy Pellets weren't so expensive. They seem to work best of anything I have tryed with out damping off. Well, I guess I could go on and on but back to reality and fixing supper. happy dreaming

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 31, 2001.

Oh i am jealious. We are covered in snow and more on the way. I am lucky to get my plants mudded in May. I order from many places and start some things inside. I have very limited space. I want to add a greenhouse this year, but that depends on many things. I grow alittle of everything. Lot's of pepper's pumpkin's, tomatoes, squash, lettuce, bean and peas. I could go on and on! I can't wait to feel the earth in my hands. It is fast asleep underneath several feet of snow, but when it awakes i will be there to shake it's hand and welcome it back.

-- Shau Marie (shau@centurytel.net), January 31, 2001.

I just planted snow peas in a barrel on the south side of the house and put glass over it, I just couldn't wait any longer.

-- Laura (gsend@hotmail.com), February 01, 2001.

Thanks so much for the recipes for making herbal creams! This thread is great. I wonder how many emails can fit on one webpage. Maybe the thread should always read "Green Thumbs Club" so we don't have to search it out among different threads.

-- Joanne Schaefer (JoOhio1@aol.com), February 01, 2001.


I've been poring over the catalogs for weeks now and have sent off my order for a new growing rack with a vinyl cover. Hoping to keep the kitties from laying in the flats this year! Got the garden plan finished (rotation) and am working on the final seed orders. I'm ordering from Johnny's Selected Seeds and Pinetree Garden seeds - both in Maine, even though I'm in the midwest. I would like to have the address for E and R seeds please Nan. It sounds interesting. I've gotten some input on lasagna gardening from my other post and am saving newspapers & feed sacks for it. Saving plastic milk jugs for wall o waters. Life is so busy that I like to take the seasons as they come and I do enjoy this planning stage! We are awaiting our ewes to lamb and goats to kid and also homeschooling. We get the book learning done so when it's time to garden we are free for it. Of course, we still have snow here and it's getting colder again today. It will be a while yet!

-- Jean (schiszik@tbcnet.com), February 01, 2001.

Howdy everybody!!!!!The address for E and R is 1356 E. 200 S, Monroe, IN 46772. They are great, but you have to get them by mail as I said before. Last year they put a huge packet of Morning Sunshine Mix(beautiful flower mixture) as a surprise! I am such a kid at heart! Dontcha love surprises!!! My big splurge last year was a water sprinkler that is way up in the air. We have plenty of water from the barn and my garden is about 1/2 acre. This has made it so that I only have to move the thing twice or three times. I think that it is a raintree?! If you have good water pressure the thing is such a blessing for big gardens. I also mulch with newspapers. You aren't supposed to use colored papers. They used to have lead in them. I don't really think that they use anyhing but soy based ink anymore, but that is what I have always done. I have used feed sacks. If you don't want plastic in your garden then tear out the plastic liner that most feed sacks have. I didn't know that they had that liner when I first started my Olympic size gardening and I about killed myself trying to unwrap the plastic out of the tiller tines. I still till and hoe my garden with a vengence. It keeps me from getting into mischief!! HAHA! Oh....if you write the company for a catalogue ask for the seed cat. and the supplies catalogue. They are separate and both are great. Last year I bought my new clothesline and it was only 2. something a 50 ft. roll! It was twice that at the hardware store! It is that great stuff that is covered with the heavy green plastic stuff!!! Life just keeps getting better and better! A new sprinkler and a new clothesline!!! Ok girls don't get jealous!!!! I may not get the new shovel that I have been wanting this year?!

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), February 01, 2001.

Oh...how do you make that wall of water with milk jugs? Sounds fun! Oh...do you guys want to get really jealous?....My hubby said that I could have what was left of the round bails of hay for mulch in the garden......LOve it, Love it, Love it!!! Mulch is the best stuff next to compost!!! Life is good!!

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), February 01, 2001.

Okay Nan, if you're going to be like THAT! -- *I* have access to the end product of 26 horses that has been composted two years! :-D I can never figure out what people are complaining about horse manure having 'weed seeds' for. Ours gets stacked higher than your head (with the tractor) and steams all winter long (*see below*), and after sitting out in the woods for a couple years aging, I have no weed problem. The oats and corn they ate have finished sprouting, and the hay we feed is good quality stuff, not scrubbly ditch stuff, so that it never set viable seed anyway. I planted my raised bed gardens this last year with a lavish amount of this compost, using the Square Foot method, and the tomatoes were over my 5'5" head...the kale, broccoli, and potatoes as well as the tomatoes sprawled everywhere so that I started to think about getting out the machete to walk the paths. And the best part is, what with the composted manure, the close planting techniques, and a judicious use of black paper on the beds, I spent a grand total of 20 minutes for the entire YEAR on weeding, and that in the tomato bed before the plants really got going.

* There it was, one of the coldest nights yet of the winter, with the snow thick on the ground, and the sun had just gone down, leaving a glorious afterglow in the sky in hues of apricot, gold, rose, candied quince, a truly sumptuous mauve, shading up into turquoises, incredibly deep and mysterious blues to over head, where the stars had begun to come out in crystalline sharpness, twinkling with the mid-winter clarity of the air, and a crescent moon, yet but a sliver, was mounted on this tapestry, like a rare, exotic moon-jewel. I called for the other people to come out of the barn and witness how beautiful, how rare, how fleeting --

We stood there, silently admiring, before remarking "you know, it's awfully pretty the way that steam is rising up off the manure pile." and everyone laughed. I guess you have to be a horse-person (or a homesteader) to appreciate things like that. Or maybe you just had to have been there.

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), February 01, 2001.


Wow, Julie that was beautiful! People just don't know what they're missin'! I use old composted chicken poo, if I had my druthers I'd use horse poo. You don't have to pick the feathers out of your hair! Heehee! Keep spoutin poetry and I'll get all teary eyed:~)

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), February 01, 2001.


How do ya all do the seedling thing inside? I have never had good luck with it. The seeds sprout Ok but end up all spindly and very few survive when I transplant. Do I maybe not wait long enough to transplant? Also, they look kinda anemic - pale like. Maybe not enough light? I try to put them in front of a sunny window, is that good enough? How do you know when they are ready to transplant outside?

-- cindy palmer (jandcpalmer@sierratel.com), February 02, 2001.

Cindy, You probably have a combination of things going on. My usual problem, planting seed too early because I just can't wait is one reason for spindly. Not enough light-they really "reach" for the light; color could be because they were too old and needed fertilizer; poor survival rate could be caused by all of the above or no "hardening off". When I first take mine outside I keep them in a sheltered place, safe from wind and direct sun, for several days. Then put them in the spot where I intend to plant for a day or so, still sheltering from the wind. I am sure there are about as many techniques as there are gardeners, but that would be a trouble shooting start.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), February 02, 2001.

I ordered some seeds from TotallyTomatoes and in April the family will go to Jungs in Randolph. it is an annual trip and we take pics of the grandhcldren in from of the building. Diane-I use a weak chamomile tea to water my seedlings in the house to prevent damping off. Also, using a electric fan moves the air and strengthens the seedings by making them move. We use black plastic to mulch our garden. We put it down and use old tires and staple shaped wire at the edges. Then, we just cut holes and plant. It cuts down on weeding,cooks weed seeds and saves water. The only unfortunate thing is snakes love to be under it, so I hit the plastic with my cane to warn them. Our garden is behind the barn where cows were kept for many years so the soil is very good. We don't have access to any manure yet.My daughter,Lisa has a horse and chickens, but she also gardens. I CAN'T wait to get into the soil! About now,I'd give anything to feel the dirt. I come from a long line of farmers and it shows! Our first year we planted EVERYTHING.

-- Ardie from WI (a6203@hotmail.com), February 02, 2001.

How did that happen? I was typing and suddenly it got inserted? Well...like I said we planted everything, but we got smarter as we went along. With just the two of us we don't need a garden the size of a football field. The first years,we supplied the retirement home my mother-in-law is in with veggies all summer. Those elderly people loved it!

-- Ardie from WI (a6203@hotmail.com), February 02, 2001.

Thanks Ardie, I had never heard of the camomille tea for dampening off. It has been an ongoing problem with me.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), February 02, 2001.


I start my seeds every year. I tried something new last year! You get an index card and gently stroke the tomato plants! They get stronger when you do that. You wait until they have 2 sets of leaves and then do that several times in the morning and at night. I have an enclosed porch now, but I used to start my plants in a window. I made shelves out of 1 x 4's and put them directly in the window without a shade. You need to turn them regularly and to get them off to a good start I cover them with plastic wrap until they emerge. I also water them with a little liquid fert. in the water. Lately I have been getting a jug of water out of the goldfish pond. Lots of fishy poo! I had 2 foot long tomatoes last year and just planted them really deep!

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), February 02, 2001.

I forgot to say...the 2 ft. long tomato plants were standing upright. The stroking them worked! The stems get very large around. Also use at least a 3 or 4 inch pot. I used to use those eeny ones and they don't let the plants get big enough. I have had tomatoes on the vine when I planted them before....I guess I get a little anxious in Winter to plant!!!

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), February 02, 2001.

I love it!!! Plant massage. Gotta try it.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), February 02, 2001.

Hey, I discovered something that really works and is chhhheeeeeap! I got tired of using a mister (plant not hubby!) to water my plants. By the time you squirt 10 flats of plants your arm gets tired! Well, I got a half-gallon milk jug and used an icepick to poke holes in the lid. I have a sprinkler can(jug)now!!!! I put liquid poo in there and it works great! It does work better out on the porch. I wouldn't want to sprinkle over my carpet! It doesn't disturb the seeds! and plant massage! That is hilarious!!!! Don't let it get around that you know the truth about me....heeheeheehee!

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), February 02, 2001.

Don't laugh...the stroking does make a difference. I use a fan instead cause it waves the plants around gently and I don't have to do each one individually. I save my stroking for my hubby! LOL! Oh Lordy, Ardie, behave!

-- Ardie (a6203@hotmail.com), February 02, 2001.

I use a weak solution of manure tea- bottom water and/or a very gentle mist on the plants. Seems to help prevent damping off.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), February 02, 2001.

Hi again everyone!! Just HAD to post here once I saw "GREEN THUMBS CLUB". I have been itching to get out in that dirt as well!!! My son and I planted some flowers today. Just something for the windowsill in the kitchen and a hanging basket for the back porch. It felt GREAT! Still undecided as to what to do in my little plot this year. Guess I better get to figurin' it out quick huh? Living in Florida, I should already have stuff sproutin' up!

Well, good luck to you all with whatever you decide to plant this year!

On another note...I'm looking for Carol Walthorp (from Texas). Awful of me, but somehow I've managed to lose her email addy and I've combed many a posts lookin' for her so CAROL.....IF YOU'RE OUT THERE, EMAIL ME WILL YA - THIS IS A DIFFERENT EMAIL ADDRESS BUT YOU CAN EMAIL ME TO EITHER ONE!! THANKS EVERYONE AND HAPPY PLANTING!

-- Greenthumbelina (sck8107@aol.com), February 03, 2001.


The other day I bought an organically grown parsnip. I usually don't have anything to do with parsnips, they're usually bland to yucky in taste, but I wanted one for medicinal use, so I bought it. What a surprise it was! Tender, very sweet, and it tasted almost like coconut!! I was sorry I hadn't bought a bunch.

Does anyone have words of wisdom about growing some other delectable organic parsnips on my own? I've never tried them, but I have raised beds about 16 inches deep that are practically stone-free and very loose soil. Is there anything I should be feeding them to ensure nice sweet roots?

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), February 05, 2001.


Julie, I have never fed mine anything in particular. I think the sweetness does vary from year to year like a lot of crops do based on the kind of weather we have. I would be interested in seeing if anyone else has an opinion on this.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), February 05, 2001.

Parsnips do better if they go through a frost. Kinda like carrots that get sweeter after a light freeze or frost. In our area you can cover them with straw and leave them in the ground all winter. Just pickem when you wantem. OH....I'm zone 6.

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), February 05, 2001.

Damping off is a fungal disease.One prevention method is to start your seeds in a commercial soilless potting mix.Another is to take *your* soil, put it in the oven at 350 for 45 mins or so to kill the fungus.Just make sure no one sample the *wierd meatloaf*, my son swears I was trying to poison him.....go figure, teenage boys are just eating machines, I should have remembered that.

-- Sparrowhawk (sparrowkiak@yahoo.com), February 06, 2001.

In case this scrolls up into the top of my computer screen before I can stop it, I am going to put another GREEN THUMBS CLUB on the bottom again.......

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), February 06, 2001.

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