Text 17761, 133 rader
Skriven 2014-10-04 19:31:52 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
  Kommentar till text 17677 av Janis Kracht (1:261/38)
Ärende: Peppers
===============
Hi Janis,

>> If you just work a few bags of peat moss into the soil (or one if the
>> area is really small), you can pretty much plant your kitchen garden
>> the same year ... that's an advantage over using cow manure as that

 JK> > We can start somewhat earlier than you, provided the weather
 JK> behaves.

 JK> Understand :)   but  there are few months of the year when there is
 JK> nothing to do "in" the garden.. In January, you can start tomato seeds
 JK> indoors, so your plants are good and stocky by March, for example.

If we decide to go with tomatoes--we know there are deer in the
neighborhood and don't want to be feeding them again. (G)


 JK> Even through the late late summer and the in the fall you can still
 JK> plant hardy vegetables like beets.

We can't officially do anything over at the new place until we close,
the week before Thanksgiving.


 JK> Sometimes I do that because beet greens are so much better for you
 JK> than spinach, and I don't really care at that point if we see a beet
 JK> that late in the season :)  Of course spinach is really easy to grow
 JK> as well, and if you can't find late growing varieties, you can order
 JK> them from seed houses.  This year I was so late getting the garden in,
 JK> I found late season summer squash, which worked out really well.  We
 JK> are still getting them now though normally one wouldn't if I'd gotten
 JK> an early summer variety.

Steve doesn't like the summer squashes that much so it's better for me
to buy the amounts I use. OTOH, winter squash would be a "go" in the
garden.

 JK> > This past February we had a lot of ice and snow so we wouldn't have
 JK> been > able to do much. Usually by the latter part of March we begin
 JK> to warm

 JK> It seems your planting schedule is not that far off from ours, all in
 JK> all. http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/carroll/anr/documents/Vegetable
 JK> ardeningCalen dar.pdf

I had read what zone we're in, but have forgotten so I'll have to look
it up again.


 JK> You can "beat the weather" by doing some fall preparation for things
 JK> like peas that go in in mid-march.. I always go with sugar-snap peas
 JK> because I had to pod peas once, that was enough! haha.. I've always
 JK> planted them on the day after St. Patricks day. In the fall, when the
 JK> ground is warm, you dig a trench then in the spring no matter what the
 JK> weather, you can plant peas in the trench just pushing them them into
 JK> the soil.  You don't want to bother the dirt too much before the soil
 JK> is "ready", so you just push the peas seeds in the dirt.

By the time we can do anything, the ground will have cooled off too much
for planting this year. I'll keep that in mind for next year; we both
like the sugar snap peas.

 JK> The soil will feel like chocolate cake when you grab a clump in your
 JK> hands - that's when it's ready for normal planting. So that trench you
 JK> dug in the fall is already done, you don't have to harm the
 JK> consistency of your soil in early early spring.  The peas will sit
 JK> there through the ice and snow and will even pop up through the snow
 JK> <g>  You stick some twigs in the dirt later for support, and let them
 JK> take off.

Do nothing gardening--sounds like fun.


 JK> > up, but this year was cool on into April.

 JK> Sometimes you can benefit from that coolness, planting lettuce,
 JK> spinach, etc. They love cool weather and start to bolt when the summer
 JK> heat hits.

It hits early around here but we had a cooler than normal summer this
year.


 JK> > We're planning to close in the
 JK> > latter part of November--might be able to get a few decent days to
 JK> do > some yard work before the end of the year.

 JK> That will be great.. fantastic time to move in.. Christmas just around
 JK> the corner :)

Decorate the house with boxes!

>> Garden's example of just tilling in a lot of peat moss, and it really
>> worked well.  Another year at our house in Louisville, I only turned
>> in tree chips from a tree that had been pulverized, and that worked
>> REALLY well that first year :)

 JK> > I think we might be able to get some chips from the town of WF from
 JK> time

 JK> Look to see if neighbors have put a tree through a wood chipper.  They
 JK> may be happy to have you remove the resulting pile of smashed tree :)
 JK>  If you are going to add pulverized wood to your soil, you want it to
 JK> be 'ground' up finely :) You can use wood chips (larger) as mulch.

Steve missed a chance yesterday--the town took down a tree near us. He
didn't go over to get any chips. Sigh!

 JK> > to time, just have to keep my eyes & ears open. Thanks for the
 JK> > information; we've usually just "winged it" on gardening. I'd like
 JK> to > have tomatoes and peppers besides herbs but I know it's going to
 JK> take > some work.

 JK> You can start your tomato and pepper seeds according to that chart in
 JK> the PDF in early spring... This year since I started at the end of
 JK> March, I went to our local Agway Farm supply store and purchased
 JK> healthy-looking pepper and tomato plants.  I had about 5 earth-boxes
 JK> so rather than drag out the tiller, I used those for my "garden"
 JK> filling them with a soil/peat moss mix. Next year I will have those
 JK> boxes all ready for early planting, so that is something <grin>

So did you get a good yield for the freezer, etc?

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... Matthew 7:20 | Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

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