Text 8642, 170 rader
Skriven 2008-06-09 14:41:57 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
   Kommentar till text 8227 av Carol Shenkenberger (14333.cooks)
Ärende: putting up                                               [1]
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Hi Carol,

 > Thinking back, when we were in Germany I did a couple of window box
 > gardens.  Tomatoes in Frankfurt (tied to the balcony above) and lettuce
 > in Berlin.  In AZ we dug into the ground in our little courtyard--did
 > lots of tomatoes and peppers there but we lived there 8 years.

 CS> Well, my plans are later to build up a sort of long tall box along the
 CS> back porch area and fill with dirt.  Raised garden effect.  Then we
 CS> can fleaspray with no problems and i can get it raised up a good 2ft.
 CS> I'm thinking to start with one 16ft loong, 2ft tall but leave the
 CS> posts taller so I can drop in more wood to make it higher if it seems
 CS> good.  Going in 8ft sections, I can extend out to 36feet the following

Yes, now that you are settled there permanantly, you can do such things.
We know we've got at least one more move ahead of us before we can think
about tearing up a yard that we don't own. It sounds like you are really
doing a lot of work out in the garden spot this year tho.

 >  CS> Sasebo on the porch but kept going to sea and would die in summer from
 >  CS> lack of water.

 > Lack of water and attention probably.

 CS> Yup, and Don just doesnt think of things like that often enough to be
 CS> of help <g>.

(G) Steve is the one that usually puts some water on our kitchen herbs.
I've got to pull out the dehydrator (probably tomorrow) and dry some
oregano and basil; those two have really taken off!

 >  CS> lettuce and salads (we arent frequen sald eaters or have a small one
 >  CS> every few days so a head tends to go bad on us).  4'x8" and about 9

 > OTOH, we'd be having a salad regularly.  We've made sort of a habit of
 > going out on Friday nights since the beginning of the year.  Went to
 > Olive Garden last night and Steve had the salad instead of Pasta Fagiole
 > Soup. I usually get the salad, as I did last night.

 CS> I like salads, but more apt to get them at work.  Kinda partial to the
 CS> KFC chicken one and the Wendy's 'BLT salad'.

I've not had the KFC one at all and it's been a few years since I had
the BLT one. We are finding that more and more of the burger places are
letting you order a salad as a side in a combo meal instead of fries or
other grease bombs.  The BK on post in HI was the first one we know of
that did that--but not the BK on Maui as we found out.  We're cutting
back on the going out on Fridays for a bit to save money for air fare to
Las Vegas (for me this fall) so stayed home and cooked last Friday. Did
a major commissary run before so picked up a sirloin steak and fresh
mushrooms, among other things. Steve grilled the steak; I made green
salads and sauteed the mushrooms.  Definately on a par with anything we
would have gone out for; only down side was that I had to clean up
afterward.

 >  CS> The strawberry shows some small green fruits already.  I'll be drying

 > Sounds good to me.  I know it's a bit late for strawberries but you'll
 > be enjoying them when others are long gone. (G)

 CS> As I started from a plant vice seeds, we'll be ok on that score.  But
 CS> it's just one plant so I expect to just get 'munchies for fun' out of

That's what counts.  Deborah planted a few seeds from a 4th of July
watermelon our first year in AZ.  Got only one eatable melon out of it
but she had the fun of growing it.

 >  CS> 6 cucumber plants, later added.  They've grown bigger and now are
 >  CS> about 6 inches tall.  First time I've tried them.  Probably supposed
 >  CS> to stake them or something later?

 > No, they don't get staked; they're runners.

 CS> See, first timer at some of these <grin>.  I did not grow up on a farm

I didn't grow up on a farm but had a serious gardener for a dad.  We
were out talking to one of our neighbors the other night while Steve was
grilling some chicken; her daughter got some pumpkin plants that are
taking over the little "official" flower bed in their back yard. Steve
pointed out that she has a couple of small pumpkins starting to develop
so it will be interesting how they survive the Georgia summer.

 CS> at all.  Mom's plantings were lovely but were flowers except a few
 CS> tries at fruit trees (none of which had fruit before we moved, being

Fruit trees do take a while to bear any decent amount of fruit. Then
you've got to get to it before the critters (and birds) do. After a
while, the tree is so tall, you can't get to all the fruit. My folks
have a cherry tree like that; they pruned the apple and pear trees last
winter.


 >  CS> 1 bell pepper, has a nice green pepper on it already and a grunch of

 >  CS> On the opposite end (12 ft away?) is another container like it with a
 >  CS> bannana pepper plant.  I see buds that want to become flowers soon on

 > Dry some for next winter--or brine them.  They'll make a nice addition
 > to lots of things.

 CS> Lets see how many we get.  Like several of my items, it's just one
 CS> plant (tomatoes and cucumbers are the exception).

You will be surprised at how many you get from just one plant. (G)


 CS> The tomatoes now have from 3-6 little green ones on almost all the
 CS> plants.  I need to add more stakes in around them.

Next year, buy cages and plant them in the cages.


 >  CS> Then another long container with 5 tomato plants and a smaller 3'x7"
 >  CS> container with 3 more tomatoes.  All covered with flowers, 6 of one
 >  CS> type (an italian sort) and 2 others (1 early girl, one beef eater).
 >  CS> The early girl and beef eater are smaller and were the ones I suspect
 >  CS> had some sort of tomato blight but they are fruiting just like the
 >  CS> others so will see what happens.
 CS>  >
 > Those should be staked or caged. You'll be up to your ears in tomatoes
 > soon. We grew the romas in AZ--good for lots of things.

 CS> I'm guessing the first few may be ready in about 15-20 days and from
 CS> then on, I'll be swamped with tomatoes.

Sounds like my dad. He bought half a dozen plants after thinking the
frost killed about that many a couple of weeks ago.  Well, they didn't
die, recovered and are going to be prolific, as are the ones he bought.
(G)


 >  CS> The crowning glory is the straightneck squash with 3 obvious fruits
 >  CS> and several others behind it as well as lots of little flowers. It

 > Yellow or zuchinni squash?  You may be bringing some up to the picnic if
 > they continue as prolific.

 CS> Yellow.  Got 6 babies now and more flowers.  This plant is almost as
 CS> tall as me due to the raised container pot <g>.  Probably with just
 CS> one plant, have enough for our needs but then we love summer squash!

I like it too but Steve isn't so crazy about it. Stir fry or raw in a
salad (in small amounts) are his favored ways to eat it.

 >  CS> I also have some flowers and such <g>.

 > Did you ever get the last of the blue flowers you were intending to?

 CS> Nope, but we can get the one missing plant next spring to finish out
 CS> the pattern.  For now, I have a small container planter with flowers

It works. I know, with your back, and work, the time ran out on you.

 >  >  CS> I ended up with more plants for the new containers so....  Gonna try
 >  >  CS> cucumber and a bannana pepper plant.  The green bell pepper seems to
 >  >  CS> be setting fruit now already.  The little bannana pepper is


>> CONTINUED IN NEXT MESSAGE <<

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly@earthlink.net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... There cannot be a crisis today; my schedule is already full.

--- PPoint 3.01
 * Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28)