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Post by mskrieger on Apr 17, 2019 15:18:00 GMT -5
Oh man, sorry to hear that, reed. I know you plant a lot of corn but is it possible to put mesh over it, something that can block their digging? or maybe fence it in and put a mean ol' cat in there (the fence is for containing the cat, the cat is to ward off Carl&Betty)?
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plums!
Apr 8, 2019 13:28:26 GMT -5
Post by mskrieger on Apr 8, 2019 13:28:26 GMT -5
Planted the plums yesterday. Dug good holes for them (it's always depressing to dig 6 or 8 inches and hit a solid wall of rock, clay and sand...but somehow I persevered and got some darn impressive chunks of schist out of the ground this time. Felt like a true New Englander.) I mulched the trees with this year's custom flavor of rock dusts (calculated off a soil test and weighed on my kitchen scale using quart containers as scoops) and then added some colloidal calphos, mostly to add clay. Then covered with wood chips.
The grafted plums from Fedco were healthy little saplings, well-branched. The A. prunus seedling I bought as a pollinator was a monster, though. Amazing the vigor on that one compared to the others. I may end up grafting branches from the other plum trees onto it, we'll see how things go.
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Post by mskrieger on Apr 4, 2019 13:26:42 GMT -5
Rununculus? Oh I love ranunculus...do you grow them in pots? I've never tried it. I should. They're so spendy at the florist's...
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Post by mskrieger on Apr 4, 2019 13:24:05 GMT -5
Well after the rain, rain, rain on Saturday it fell to 22F by Sunday morning. Cold and cloudy on Sunday and 18F on Monday morning, stayed just below freezing most the day Monday. 50s or so on Tuesday and mid 70s on Wednesday with hot sunshine and warm dry breeze. We had that same warm dry breeze all the way up here, reed. It was so unusual, everyone was remarking on it...breezes are almost always cold/refreshing in New England. I actually sat outside and ate ice cream in 55F weather, the breeze was so warm.
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Post by mskrieger on Apr 4, 2019 13:19:32 GMT -5
thanks for the link to the Experimental Farm site, hortusbrambonii! I hadn't heard of them before, and much of their Pennsylvania/New jersey stock could be well suited to my growing conditions...(and my pennsylvania dutch husband's tastes)
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Post by mskrieger on Apr 1, 2019 13:37:29 GMT -5
The plum trees arrived in the mail on Friday! I wasn't ready, so they are cooling their heels still in the wet newspaper in the box in an unheated, dim room. I plan to plant them this weekend. Hope they aren't stressed by the wait, at least one of them has already broken dormancy--saw green tips on some of the buds. Perhaps why Fedco shipped them with so early this year.
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Post by mskrieger on Apr 1, 2019 13:31:52 GMT -5
We had a gorgeous spring weekend, sunny 60F Saturday. Dug the holes for the new plum trees. Then it started to rain. Now the sun's out. The whole week is supposed to be 40-50F daytime, dipping into the 20s at night...pretty average late March/early April weather for around here. Yay spring!
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Post by mskrieger on Mar 26, 2019 12:57:18 GMT -5
Days are pleasant--gets as high as 60F in early afternoon, but nights still hitting 19F. Snow is almost all melted. Daffodils up, crocus and snowdrops blooming. Very seasonable weather for late March around here. How rare!
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Post by mskrieger on Feb 28, 2019 13:23:45 GMT -5
More ice, snow, temps in the teens F at night, then thaw, goes up to 55F at noon, then a wind storm, back to the teens....typical New England late winter. The flora is responding normally. Some daffodils and snowdrops have green shoots poking out of the ground an inch or so, and some of the really tough stuff such as roses have noticeable buds turning reddish, but not swelling yet. Just contracted with an arborist to take a limb off the weeping beech and prune the crabapple "anytime before April", and I feel pretty comfortable there won't be bud break before then. walt, your job sounds brutal. Aren't you too old for that crap? Respect for elders, you should be the one in the warm cab.
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Post by mskrieger on Feb 25, 2019 16:39:37 GMT -5
Welcome, alongshore. We're neighbors--my garden is in SW Connecticut on the northern side of Long Island Sound. Nice work searching out native seeds. And thanks for checking in on the Long Island Seed project--I corresponded with one of the founders a few years ago about melon seed, but he was not well and I did not hear back. Happy to hear from more coastal New Englanders on the forum!
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Post by mskrieger on Feb 25, 2019 16:29:51 GMT -5
Fedco trees sells hardy kiwi vines of several varieties, apparently they do fine in most of Maine, so they should be OK for you, diane. Don't be fooled by the tiny little seeds, though--they reputedly grow into enormous, powerful vines that can pull down small trees. They need sturdy structures to grow on. And yes, the plants have genders. Sometimes they can be quite pretty, with variegated leaves and nice flowers, even the males (or so I've heard ).
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Post by mskrieger on Feb 19, 2019 14:42:01 GMT -5
Winter came to New England, too. Lots of snowy days, freezing/thawing, snow, icing, awesome driving. Oddly, my lemon thyme seems to have died. Normally it is evergreen...it was little distressing to tramp out into the snow and find it all brown A casualty of the huge temperature swings, perhaps? Or maybe the months and months of drenching precipitation gave it a disease, and I just didn't notice. Sad.
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Post by mskrieger on Jan 31, 2019 14:23:12 GMT -5
Yes, need to consult someone though who has designed something like this to be a publishable experiment. Or find some examples. Definitely would not care if was just for me. Would just need a few plants to satisfy my curiosity. Though if it is possible, and at a fairly dense density, it then is also a breeding experiment for which a large population is useful to find superior individuals. Dry gardening ≠ dense spacing You can do what you want. But if you force the plants to compete in unirrigated conditions, you will not get much yield. (Perhaps I am misunderstanding you, and if so, please disregard.) I for one look forward to hearing what you eventually end up doing and finding out!
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Post by mskrieger on Jan 29, 2019 14:47:42 GMT -5
Three plants of each type (in each test plot) will definitely give you a y/n, as well as lots of data on yield variation from variety, soil, etc. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but if you have four varieties, 3 plants of each, in a test plot, that will be 12 plants worth of information. Also think of the amount of land you'll be working--spacing the plants 3x4, or however you want to for your dry garden purposes, will create an awful long row to hoe, so to speak. I know you want to design the best possible experiment, but never forget the best possible experiment is the one you can do, and not drive yourself crazy or neglect your other responsibilities. Incidentally, this Washington Post article on climate change effects we're already seeing has a heartbreaking section on Montana. Thought you might find it interesting: www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/gone-in-a-generation/
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Post by mskrieger on Jan 29, 2019 14:40:09 GMT -5
Hooray!
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