Is it Down or Up, the Garden Path?

[digitS']

Either way has the same meaning.

Do you ever worry about the information you are putting out there? It takes 12 months between trying one gardening idea and trying a different one. Growing conditions are so different from place to place.

I could hang so many caveats of my "notions" that they would become useless and I still would be talking thru my hat. "A man of his word and that word is - unreliable!"

We need the folks with little experience to comment. We need the folks with a little more experience to advise. TEG would have no use without that sharing and little use without folks asking questions.

I've shared this before but, they say, confession is good for the soul . . . I once told a whole group of gardeners that I like to use cotton string in garden trellises because that string could be composted. In the 18-month composting schedule I was using then, hadn't yet dug into the pile to see how things had gone.

It hadn't. Gone that is . . . it must have taken 4 or 5 years of moving all that d**n cotton string from pile to pile before it would fully decompose! "Partially" decompose wasn't good enuf. It didn't much matter that it would break easily, it wouldn't break down! Imagine running a rototiller over a garden bed where you have spread compost with a bunch of string in it . . . I cringe whenever I think of having told people that cotton string was okay in the compost.

Steve

 

[ninnymary]

Steve, you got me to want to ask a question I've been wanting to ask for a while. Is it worth it to get all the stuff that I need for seed starting if:

I only need a few plants and all of these I can find readily. I don't need any unusual varieties.

I do have space for seed starting in a warm bathroom with a big counter. I would probably only have about 3-4 six-packs. Everything else I want can be direct sowed.

Mary

 

[digitS']

Everybody needs unusual varieties, Mary!! Actually, I think everybody needs varieties that they like and that grow well in their garden .

I once had a professor who said that I will make a positive statement and then back away from it. Well, he may have said that. I'm not sure if I understood him correctly. He could have been talking to someone else . . . . . . . .

Ummm, Mary - you live in a part of the world where there is all this real opportunity to buy the unusual! You aren't restricted to whatever the corner hardware store has room for and was brought in from some unimaginative wholesaler. You aren't restricted to shopping at a big box that has an 18-wheeler load of all the same thing!

Steve

 

[thistlebloom]

Mary, since it's probably no real benefit to you to start from seed you can skip the mess. BUT.... how can you resist putting those tiny seeds in the soil and pacing around until they sprout, then attending to them and watching them grow, then in and outing them as you harden them off? It's like another form of parenthood! And seeds keep for several years when you store them even halfway well.
And what do you mean "all the stuff"? A bag of soil and a few six packs is a lot of stuff? Come on Mary. it's an adventure you know you want to try!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Mary, the only seeds I start inside are of plants or varieties I cant readily get. This year that will be one variety of pepper and three varieties of tomatoes for spring planting. Ill probably start cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and maybe Brussels sprouts for my fall planting because I have such trouble getting those when I need them. There are lots of reasons to start your own, such as trying to develop a strain that is productive for your area, but my growing conditions vary so much year to year I dont consider that very important for me. If your climate is consistent, that might be more important.

Steve I understand what you are saying. More than once Ive wished I had worded something a bit differently. For example, a recent post on sweet potatoes and moisture requirements. I said they needed drier weather. They need drier weather after they start to bloom. Until they start to bloom and form potatoes, they need more moisture. I messed that one up.

I love to see comments from people that claim to not know much. I learn from them too, plus they often ask questions that make me question what or why I am doing something.

On your composted string problem. I sift my compost through a hardwire cloth frame I made. Anything that doesnt go through goes back into the next batch. That resolves some of those problems.

 

[897tgigvib]

If it is fun and enjoyable to start your own seeds, even if buying plants may be cheaper, it is only an entertainment expense.

Some folks will spend hundreds of dollars to go that theme park. I'd rather spend that money on my garden.

=====

Up the path, down the path; Up the river, down the river

South may be down, but then the Nile goes North...

SHOOT!

cIRcUIt BrEAkeR iN mY bRaiN jUsT wEnT ofF.>..

 

[ninnymary]

I'm hiding from Steve and Thistle Steve, yes I don't need to get the boring stuff that is at box stores or corner stores. I can get all sorts of variety by going to the Baker Creek seed store. But I don't have that much space to be trying new stuff. I can't grow a golden zuchinni or patty pan squash so I have to stick to the plain ole green one. I know variety is the spice of life but I'm happy with my life just the way it is thank you very much.

Thistle, you need heat pad, tray, lights, soil, and containers. That's a lot of stuff to me, especially since the lights are around $60. Throw in everything else and your looking at close to $100. I was thinking about it last year and seriously looked into the lights but then the hardening off process turned me off.

It just seems so much work for my needs. :/

Mary

 

[thistlebloom]

I'm hiding from Steve and Thistle Steve, yes I don't need to get the boring stuff that is at box stores or corner stores. I can get all sorts of variety by going to the Baker Creek seed store. But I don't have that much space to be trying new stuff. I can't grow a golden zuchinni or patty pan squash so I have to stick to the plain ole green one. I know variety is the spice of life but I'm happy with my life just the way it is thank you very much.

Thistle, you need heat pad, tray, lights, soil, and containers. That's a lot of stuff to me, especially since the lights are around $60. Throw in everything else and your looking at close to $100. I was thinking about it last year and seriously looked into the lights but then the hardening off process turned me off.

It just seems so much work for my needs. :/

Mary

Mary, Mary, Mary.... for shame! Lots of us start seeds without all of the "official" stuff. My heat pad for peppers and tomatoes is an under bed storage box, or a sweater box with cheapie Christmas lights in. The year I used lights I just used a $20 shop light fixture from a Big Box. Steve doesn't use either and look at all those plants he starts from seed. I have to use a heat source because my house cools down so much at night, but I can grow seedlings without a light, it just makes things a little inconvenient in the dining room for a few weeks. You grow in containers already so you can start your seeds in regular old potting soil. And containers? Phooey! You can get those for free! See? I just saved you $98! Now quit making those silly excuses and come on out from under that chair! Start some seeds already!

 

[897tgigvib]

Mary,

I'm gonna be at the va clinics in san francisco fort miley tomorrow, thursday, if you can make it there, let me know. Off clement, just past lincoln park.

Thistle, Mary lives in a concrete jungle. I think that means one house after another, each one with a 30' x maybe 40' backyard. Subtract the porch deck area, subtract her pretty chicken coops, and prolly subtract the shady areas and it adds up to pretty small.

Can ya slip in some pole beans in the front yard Mary? Until they make pods some of the neighbors will think they are flowers, lol.

 

[ninnymary]

Thistle, I like things to look pretty! You know, all professional looking and all. I already have the six-packs, in fact lots of them. I did try to start seeds once just like Steve, in cookie containers up on the fridge. Seeds sprouted but then got way leggy in the bathroom even though I kept rotating them. Tried hardening them off buy putting them in the shade on the deck and they died. I guess since I can germinate the seeds with no problem all I need is the light...hmmm.

Marshall, I work on Thursday but if you ever have an appt. on Friday, let me know. That's my day off.