|
Post by diane on Dec 11, 2019 14:36:09 GMT -5
Wasps had a hard time of it here. One paper nest was destroyed while it was still very small by something unknown. Then a very large paper nest was destroyed by tree branches hitting it in a wind storm.
The two underground nests safely carried on till last week when we got a frost.
|
|
|
Post by diane on Dec 10, 2019 0:44:00 GMT -5
In Craig LeHoullier's most recent newsletter he wrote that Tomatoville will be shutting down at the end of December.
It has all the information about the Dwarf Tomato Project, so I hope that can be saved.
|
|
|
Post by diane on Dec 3, 2019 12:21:03 GMT -5
Well, I found that quinoa does not like my garden. I received saponin-free seeds from two members. They germinated well but the plants never got more than 8 cm tall. A couple of them flowered.
It reminded me of a time that I grew corn. My father sowed it in my garden and fertilized it. The corn produced well. The next year I sowed corn in the same place and didn't fertilize it. It grew, but each plant was a perfect miniature.
So next year I will make sure my quinoa gets fertilized.
|
|
|
Post by diane on Nov 5, 2019 0:54:28 GMT -5
The grower has a long list of possible failure points - . Sounds like he doesn't want any competition.
|
|
|
Post by diane on Oct 29, 2019 11:11:58 GMT -5
My favourite wildflower book, Plants of Coastal British Columbia including Washington, Oregon and Alaska, by Pojar and MacKinnon, has very thorough descriptions of how a plant is used for food or medicine by First Nations.
Mertensia marítima has nothing noted except for where it grows - circumpolar, most common on Arctic shores.
|
|
|
Post by diane on Oct 12, 2019 17:23:38 GMT -5
In Cornucopia 2 there is another hardy one, though there might have been a name change so it might be the same one you have found.
Dioscorea opposita - Cinnamon Vine, Chinese yam, Naga-imo, Wai shan. The tubers resemble D japonica. Eaten boiled, baked, fried, mashed, grated and added to soups, or mixed with vinegar. Often combined in tonic soups with Lycium barbarum and Polygonatum odoratum. A starch derived from the tubers is called Guiana arrowroot. Hardy as far north as Canada.
The others described are all grown in the tropics except for D trifida from the Caribbean (which I would consider tropical, but perhaps not). It is the one that sounds the most desirable - "unusual rich flavour that is readily appreciated and sufficiently moist in the mouth"
|
|
|
Post by diane on Sept 7, 2019 0:03:58 GMT -5
I'm growing 24 kinds of pole beans this year (in addition to a lot of runners)
The most productive is Blauhilde, a purple German heirloom from Baker Creek. I've been picking them a couple of times a day as they seem to elongate as I'm watching. Taste good, too. Apparently they are tolerant to mosaic virus, but I don't know what that is.
|
|
|
Post by diane on Sept 1, 2019 10:12:29 GMT -5
Yes, Khumlee, your potted pepper plants are certainly lush and prolific. I'll copy your method next year.
Diane
|
|
|
Post by diane on Aug 26, 2019 14:04:00 GMT -5
I have most of my vegetables behind a deer fence, but some are in unfenced areas.
Squash and cucumbers are growing unmolested.
Queen Anne's Lace has not been touched, so I am going to try sowing some unprotected carrots.
Almost everything else gets eaten. I accidentally left one of the three vegetable garden gates open and the deer had a feast - potatoes, tomatoes, beans, peas. Oddly, they didn't eat any kale, lilies or blueberry plants)
Garlic is usually safe - it has only been eaten in midwinter if we have had snow (which is rare).
Other onion family members are eaten, especially leeks. Onions are usually OK but this year each onion has had the top half of its leaves eaten.
|
|
|
Post by diane on Aug 23, 2019 12:12:50 GMT -5
I sent a request for permission to look at one of your photos. I'm waiting for it to arrive. I wonder if I will need to ask permission separately for each of the three photos.
|
|
|
Post by diane on Aug 13, 2019 11:36:53 GMT -5
I'm starting to think soil matters a lot more than the climate. Yes, I agree. This year I bought a different seed starting mix, though produced by the same company that makes the one I usually use. The peppers barely grew.
|
|
|
Post by diane on Jul 8, 2019 22:33:57 GMT -5
Is anyone having any success? I'm not - I was given a few seeds but they did not grow well for me.
I'm reading a book by William Woys Weaver - 100 Vegetables and Where They Came From.
This is a bit of what he wrote about nuñas:
He first saw them growing in January in a greenhouse in England - they were flowering and podding in great profusion.
He decided to grow some, so ordered a 50 pound sack of seeds from Peru and sorted out at least 30 different types.
They develop fat tuberous roots like runner beans, so can be grown as perennials.
|
|
|
Post by diane on Jun 29, 2019 13:55:50 GMT -5
I bought seeds last year from Baker Creek, based on their enthusiastic description.
Their description: very sweet and super productive. The name means "champagne candy' and the 18 - 24 inch, 6 - 9 pound pink fruits are certainly sweet, not to say intoxicating, with subtle overtones of vanilla! A very rare and exciting variety from Russia, but apparently of French origin.
I had no germination last year, or this year. I always start plants in the greenhouse and then transplant them to the garden, so it is very obvious when seeds don't grow - I can't blame weather, crows, coons etc which I could do if I sowed directly into the garden.
Has anyone had success?
|
|
|
Post by diane on Apr 22, 2019 20:29:11 GMT -5
plums, cherries, apples and peaches are blooming
There are white petals flying through the air and dusting the ground so it looks almost like it's snowing. However, big purple magnolia petals spoil the illusion.
|
|
|
Post by diane on Apr 20, 2019 23:01:43 GMT -5
Perhaps you live in a treeless area. I don't. The neighbour's tall conifers block the sun entirely all winter.
I have grapes growing into some of my many trees, like filberts. I don't manage to harvest them, but the squirrels and raccoons do. Even fruit trees cast too much shade for vegetables, so I have rented a sunny allotment garden to grow vegetables. It seemed a miracle when I was finally able to grow zucchini.
|
|