Gardening Thread - Show me your gardens!

Nice, got a good head start!

 

We just started indoor seeds

 

Many vegetables can handle frost, even freezing hard. I've had half inch tall spinach sprouts survive temps in the single digits. Soil temp is very important to get seeds to germinate. For instance peppers need the soil to be at least 60F but germinate better if it's around 85F while spinach only needs the soil to be 35F and if it's over 65F it doesn't do very well. This chart is very helpful.

 

My cats would have a field day.

 

Just curious how. Tilling the soil then it snow. Would you have to re-till the soil?

Can you add organic fertilizer now, before the rain season?

We been lucky this year, 3" to 5" of snow so far.

 

If I add seeds without raking it in. Will it penetrate through the soil?

I want to add the seeds before are rain season.

I want to add seeds where the hydroseed didn't take, plus where it got washed out.

 

Tilling in the snow just seems silly, sloggy and slow. I don't see the point.

Wait to fertilize.

 

You till to do mostly 3 things:

1. Warm up the soil so the seeds planted will germinate quickly.
   
2. Aerate the soil to provide nice loose soil for roots.
3. Turn over the existing vegetation to create monoculture crop- in which dead existing vegetation returns nitrogen into the soil.

 

Okay long response. It’s a crap shoot…If it is bare ground and in contact with the soil some will germinate unless the birds get to it or it dries out…if it is in existing grass then it stands a better chance. The raking it in ensures that the seed has a good rooting base. It needs 4 things to germinate. Moisture, light, heat, and oxygen. By adhering it to the soil you allow it to remain in contact with its nutrient base. The peat moss retains moisture and allows light/oxygen penetration and retention of heat. The starter fertilizer provides a boost of nutrients. Once wet the seed can’t dry out for 7 days. ( side note: hydro seed is mixed with a paper mulch and fertilizer and sprayed at high pressure to adhere it to the soil which achieves the above conditions). Planting it before the rainy season is a good plan but will require you to keep it moist until fully established. If you experienced erosion due to runoff then you will need to address that issue before planting. Unless that soil base is repaired and drainage mitigated it will continue to slough off and you will just be wasting seed. Not that it matters but in case you are wondering I owned and operated a landscape maintenance and construction business here in the Pacific Northwest for 18 years.

 

What if it snows after the tilling is done? Does it have to be re-till?

If I fertilize then it snows will the melted snow help break down the fertilizer for the Spring? The landscaper did use winter fertilizer.

 

The landscaper thinks I should be good. He believes the seeds migrated into the ground. I think in some areas the seeds are washed out. In the front the rain was using the walkway as a ramp. Washed out what seeds were there. There a difference in the amount of grass in front of the walkway compared to what is on the side of the walkway. I think there was a washed out.

When Spring comes I can see if seeds will necessary. Also if road salt damage the grass. I think certain area might need to be re-seeded. I don't know what the yard is going to look like. Hoping Spring the grass will finish growing and thickens up.

Do I have to water the grass all summer to prevent new growth from drying and dying out?

 

2x’s a day until it germinates. 1x a day until it is fully established. Once or twice a week thereafter. Try not to water when temps are 95 and above. Best to do it in the evening or early morning.

 

No need to retill

Sure snow melting will dilute the fertilizer a bit.

 

Gave my blackberries a haircut this winter and tipped them. They are bushing out nicely. And babies are doing good in the pots.

 

Some ends died off on mine is that normal?

 

Incorporating a bunch of sand and lime for my young fig trees

 

Normal, more susceptible to frost. It will encourage bushing out, see below. Not a bad thing.

Also, you need to cut out the vines that produced berries last year. Last year's producers should be thick and woody.
Blackberries produce on the second year vines, ie the ones that were green last year. If sap is up (buds are green), wait till next winter to prune.

I cut tips off the upcoming producing vines in winter as I prune the old canes. I call that tipping.
Some of the canes were 12ft long. Some touched the ground or gravel and started to root. I cut out those sections to 12"-18" long and put them in pots with soil, to start new plants.
If you do not tip blackberry wines, they go crazy. Tipping encourages side growth, with more side branches bearing fruit. Also, since new branches are thinner, less nutrients are used for the plant and more for flowers and to set berries.

We want to put another 20-25 blackberry plants in this year. Berries go for $20 a gallon here. Good cash crop on the side, plus the whole family loves it.

 

Figs LOVE lime. My Brown Turkey shot up to 12 feet tall and wide when its roots reached my #57 unwashed gravel pile and ate all lime out of it.

 

Great idea for vines!!