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  1. Ben E Lou

    Hello From A New Member In Greensboro, NC

    Oh, and @majorcatfish what do you know about Joyner Blueberry Farm. I'm looking at buying my blueberry plants from there in a couple of months.
  2. Ben E Lou

    Hello From A New Member In Greensboro, NC

    I'm about as far "northwest" as you can get in "Northwest Greensboro." It's less than a 10-minute walk from my front door to the Summerfield City Limits. I'm sure it's a closer drive from my house to Stokesdale than it is to downtown Greensboro. Yeah, it's just soaking wet everywhere around...
  3. Ben E Lou

    Chronicles of a Noob Garden and Gardener

    Busy day today: 1. Put a bunch more pavers in place 2. Spread the soil acidifier in the blueberry area 3. Covered the blueberry bed with pine straw (Attached pic shows the current status.) Also, while on the way back from picking up the pine straw at a location I'd never been before, I passed...
  4. Ben E Lou

    Noob compost brag.

    Seriously, @bobm, it's so annoying. Our next-door neighbors on both sides have indicated they wouldn't say a word, and one of them would have their own chickens if allowed...
  5. Ben E Lou

    Noob compost brag.

    :D:D:D:D:D
  6. Ben E Lou

    Saving Seeds From Year To Year?

    Sorry that I wasn't clear here. I wasn't talking about saving seeds from my own plants. I was talking about the fact that I might buy a packet containing 50 seeds for my 2019 garden, intending to grow only 4. In that scenario I might plant 8-12 of the seeds and then thin, but I've still got ~40...
  7. Ben E Lou

    Chronicles of a Noob Garden and Gardener

    Oh...and I should mention one other thing: I purchased and planted six California softneck garlic bulbs in late November--a total of roughly 65 cloves. 50+ of them were planted along the top and side outer edges of the vegetable area. Hoping to harvest a bunch of that come late June/early July.
  8. Ben E Lou

    Chronicles of a Noob Garden and Gardener

    Now that we're getting a little rain, we've finally had some serious snow melting, so I was able to go out into the yard this morning and mark out where each area is going to be with my boot. Attached is a pic of where things are intended to be. In case you're wondering why what looks like a...
  9. Ben E Lou

    Noob compost brag.

    @thistlebloom Unfortunately, my HOA only allows dogs and cats as outdoor pets, which is a real shame given how big the lots are around here. We'd already have chickens were that not the case.
  10. Ben E Lou

    Saving Seeds From Year To Year?

    Thanks! Would a ziploc baggie be considered an air tight container?
  11. Ben E Lou

    Saving Seeds From Year To Year?

    I've read conflicting information about this. Some sources will say that germination rates and plant health both decrease dramatically if not using seeds from the current year, while others will say that it's worth saving seeds for several years. I'd love to hear the experiences of some folks...
  12. Ben E Lou

    Noob compost brag.

    Hehehe. We'll see. I attended a composting class with the extension service, and they spent maybe 20% of the time on vermicomposting, so I feel like I have a solid base of information to try it, but my initial reaction to it was that it doesn't generate enough material for my tastes. (Well...
  13. Ben E Lou

    Chronicles of a Noob Garden and Gardener

    See attachment. I have bought 400 feet of drip line with emitter holes and an 8-outlet manifold. The 2019 veggie garden will average 16 feet across and 45 feet long, so that gives me 8 50-foot lengths of drip line, spaced 2 feet apart. hehehe. The wife has vetoed indoor planting, but is getting...
  14. Ben E Lou

    Hello From A New Member In Greensboro, NC

    Yeah, I just checked some file save dates, and the following is pretty much the timeline: April 7th--Saw inexpensive seeds in Home Depot, decided on the spot to grow a garden April 8th--Planted quite a few flower seeds that I'd bought the day before...two weeks before the last frost...
  15. Ben E Lou

    Chronicles of a Noob Garden and Gardener

    Yeah, we're thinking about getting a dog. The next-door neighbors have a cat, but she's practically never in our yard. Maybe the cheaper solution is to grow catnip to draw her over here??? :D :D :D
  16. Ben E Lou

    Chronicles of a Noob Garden and Gardener

    I just noticed that there are several threads like this in the "Fruits & Vegetables" section of the forum. Should I ask the mods to move it to there?
  17. Ben E Lou

    Chronicles of a Noob Garden and Gardener

    And finally (for now,) here is a recent pic after the first expansion was finished. (Yes, I've decided to expand some more..more on that later.) I have four compost piles going--the first three should be ready to use by the time I start planting. The fourth one (in the corner) is to be an...
  18. Ben E Lou

    Chronicles of a Noob Garden and Gardener

    SPRING 2018, PLANT-BY-PLANT What went well, what didn't, and lessons learned Here's a quick plant-by-plant rundown of what I put in the ground this spring and how it did. BASIL--Massive success. I bought three small basil plants from Home Depot. All produced extremely well and my wife made a...
  19. Ben E Lou

    Chronicles of a Noob Garden and Gardener

    LIABILITIES I am not without challenges. VARMINTS--Here's a quick rundown of the animal/insect issues I ran across this year. Groundhogs or rabbits (both have been spotted in the back yard numerous times) wreaked havoc on my squash, zucchini, and cucumber leaves early in the season, though...
  20. Ben E Lou

    Chronicles of a Noob Garden and Gardener

    ASSETS Here's what I have going in my favor. YARD SIZE AND LAYOUT--We have a large, open back yard, enclosed by a 6-foot privacy fence. Our land is 100 feet across, and it's roughly 100 feet from the back fence to the back deck, from which this pic was taken: As you may also be able to tell...
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