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Author Topic: Getting the garden ready  (Read 13196 times)

Offline bwallace23350

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Getting the garden ready
« on: February 03, 2018, 10:43:35 am »
Down south it is about that time that we really start prepping hard for the upcoming spring growing season. I have all my soil amendments already in the garden. Just got to plow them in. I have to plow them in, prune a few more trees, clean up around the hives, put out mulch, and I am going to try some green manure in two parts of the garden. Here is to lots of work but good work.

Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #1 on: February 03, 2018, 10:47:49 am »
Oh and I have to clean up my raised beds a bit so I can plant some sunflowers. Last year the native bees seemed to love the sunflowers.

Offline minz

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #2 on: February 03, 2018, 10:15:06 pm »
Been warm up here this winter and our early plums and peaches are starting to get bud swell. Kind of took me by surprise and I have been pruning the orchard and front landscape hard. I keep a log and the seeds go on sale at buy one get one half off for the Ed Hume seeds in January so have my seeds purchased. I also have picked up some graft stock for tomato?s and clips to try that.
Picked up two multi graft pear trees (on European one Asian) and put in espalier posts to train them to.
Pulling off my grafting tape from last fall?s bud grafts and painting the ones that took (almost 100% fail on the Brooks Prune)
Moles got active with this last cold front. I had one that was ?trap smart? that I finally got by putting every trap I owned, set to hair trigger, in about a 10? circle around his last hole.
Poor decisions make the best stories.

Offline jalentour

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #3 on: February 05, 2018, 04:31:05 pm »
Minz,
Will predator urine work on moles/voles, as far as keeping them away for awhile?

Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #4 on: February 05, 2018, 06:18:34 pm »
One month ago I was thinking I was ok on my garden prep. Now I am starting to get a little nervous. I went with coffee grounds and leaves as my main soil admendments this year

Offline yes2matt

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #5 on: February 07, 2018, 07:08:00 am »
Oh and I have to clean up my raised beds a bit so I can plant some sunflowers. Last year the native bees seemed to love the sunflowers.
Last year my kids planted "Mexican sunflower" here in Charlotte. Wow! They just kept going and going right thru the fall, enormous and beautiful and every day visited by native bees and butterflies. Tho my honey bees not so much.

I think we got the seeds here, but maybe at Wal-Mart. :)  https://www.rareseeds.com/mexican-sunflower-red-torch/

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Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #6 on: February 07, 2018, 10:41:30 am »
I love my native bees also. I will look for them

Offline minz

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #7 on: February 07, 2018, 10:42:16 pm »
Minz,
Will predator urine work on moles/voles, as far as keeping them away for awhile?
two different animals. Moles are underground for bugs and worms and the only effective way is to trap them. Some poison their entire yard to kill off all of the bugs, driving moles to different food sources.
Voles are like small mice. You are not going to drive them far. Keep the hiding places down is the best way (you will see tunnels through your grass when you cut it first time). You can drop small bait down the holes on a week of nice days.
Poor decisions make the best stories.

Offline beepro

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #8 on: February 11, 2018, 09:35:35 pm »
My garden beds are 80% done with super sweet snap peas and Humbam clovers both yellow and white
growing now.  Early spinach are starting their 4th leaves already.  Almond flowers are every where as well.
The asparagus are starting to send off their young shoots.   Fava beans will be next to plant.

Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #9 on: February 12, 2018, 12:02:15 pm »
My garden beds are 80% done with super sweet snap peas and Humbam clovers both yellow and white
growing now.  Early spinach are starting their 4th leaves already.  Almond flowers are every where as well.
The asparagus are starting to send off their young shoots.   Fava beans will be next to plant.

What zone are you? I am an 8B

Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #10 on: February 15, 2018, 03:41:25 pm »
Well I will get no plums this year. The plum trees rae already in flower. On the bright side the bees have something to eat now. The trees are young so it is good that they will not make or it probably is

Offline beepro

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #11 on: February 18, 2018, 05:25:59 am »
I'm in zone 9A (or b?)    Still not so sure why zone 9 has a B and A zoning difference.


Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #12 on: February 20, 2018, 08:34:51 am »
Not sure where the division is but they probably have very different weather patterns. Is one on the coast and the other inland?
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
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Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #13 on: February 20, 2018, 09:51:26 am »
Perhaps one is a bit more north. I am zone 8b and near the start of 9 or at least my bees and garden are

Offline minz

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #14 on: February 23, 2018, 08:44:02 pm »
The A and B zones break the minimum temperature in half. It just splits the zone in half.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardiness_zone

Poor decisions make the best stories.

Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #15 on: March 09, 2018, 10:41:39 am »
I might have suffered some fig damage in this latest cold snap.I will inspect later today and let everyone know

Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #16 on: March 09, 2018, 11:38:19 am »
Lots of damage to the fig and pomegranate trees.

Offline beepro

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #17 on: March 12, 2018, 05:13:52 pm »
Our poms trees are barely leafing out.  I don't see how they
can be damage if no flower buds yet.  It is really that cold down there?

Offline Dallasbeek

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #18 on: March 12, 2018, 08:07:02 pm »
I might have suffered some fig damage in this latest cold snap.I will inspect later today and let everyone know

I cut my fig tree back to the ground and tried to kill it last yesr because it never produced enough to make it worthwhile.  I also cut off water to it because it guzzled water like a fiend.  It bounced right back and I got more figs from it than it has ever produced in the 10-15 years I've had it -- usually fewer than 10 figs in a season after squirrels and mockingbirds took their share off the top.  It's leafing out now.  Still no water to it.  My approach to it is produce or die and it seems to be taking the challenge.
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Offline Acebird

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #19 on: March 12, 2018, 08:59:42 pm »
Some plants need to be stressed to bear fruit.
Brian Cardinal
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