Starting Compost, Prepping Soil

[Mary Stetler]

Some tomatoes we grew back when, and need to again. They were delicious.

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Compost and lanterns; made this broccoli "grow like crazy", during the winter, we had it in a raised bed, with hoops and plastic over them. When we cooked them, they were so tender and sweet.

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Yummmmm.....

 

[Marie Mallory]

I ordered these yesterday @Marie Mallory ….2 boxes of 36 so I can get seeds and start my veggies myself

I’ve got a sectioned tray / with a clear lid ….I’ve had for years with a insert that will hold these in place , I’m intending planting beetroot where I pulled out the cherry tomatoes after arriving home after Christmas trip ….so I’ll try starting them in the pods when they arrive

I watched a YouTube video about making your own seed tape yesterday ,after buying lettuce seeds on a tape ,has anyone else used the seeds on a paper tape .? …or made their own ….particularly for fine seeds like lettuce
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Kate that's good, they do come in real handy. We will take seeds out of freezer today and thaw them, tomorrow will transplant into peat pots.

 

[Marie Mallory]

I describe shop bought tomatoes as like chewing plastic @Jake Smith ….. especially so in winter , cause hubs comes with me to do food shopping I say do we want any plastic tomatoes today

South Australia’s tomatoes are grown in Adelaide in huge hot houses all year round , so you’d think they would be tender ..but nah they are like chewing plastic…

This is true, we haven't bought store tomatoes in decades. Also don't trust the canned ones. They say that the acid in the foods like tomatoes bring out the chemicals in the can linings.

 

[Marie Mallory]

Store bought tomatoes no not have much flavor, that is for sure ! I do buy some, but mostly use them in a stirfry or someplace where I won’t just be eating a raw tomato. They are good on a toasted cheese sandwich, but terrible in a salad.
The large tomatoes do not grow well for me here, so we mostly grow smaller varieties, like Roma or cherry tomatoes. This year, I am going to try growing the dwarf tomatoes, which are developed for container gardening.

I used to use the little peat pellets and peat containers to start plants, but since we don’t do a whole regular garden anymore, I mostly just start things in one of my aerogardens and then transplant them into containers once they are large enough.

Mostly Roma although I do want to try to plant some Beefsteak.

 

[Marie Mallory]

What is this gardening of which you speak? It's struggling to get in the 40s here with still nearly a foot of snow on the ground. I can only dream. At least it's a sunny day. Sigh!

Ed, we won't be putting these outside for several weeks, thats if they are still alive, since we've had them frozen for several years now.

 

[Don Alaska]

Ordered this last week, arrived yesterday, now ready to start seedlings,We've used these pellets for years now to start inside then greenhouse.
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I have soil blockers that allow you to make your own. You can even "nest" them by making several sizes of blocks and putting smaller blocks into larger blocks as the plants get bigger. Here is a video that explains it a bit. The medium blocker she uses is good for most things except the tiniest flower or herb seeds. I use a 50/50 soil mix and potting soil. I find that coir (coconut) doesn't hold together well and doesn't wick moisture as well as peat does, but this woman uses wool pellets to compensate for that.

 

[Ed Delabama]

Good morning to all-

Well, friends, let's see...
So far I have potatoes planted, broccoli looks great, and over-winter green onions are still producing and this year's crop of onions are looking quite good.
small planting of lettuce is up and coming and spinach- growing and good! I love spinach.

Oh yes, long line of snow peas is just about up to the strings- high hopes for these.

do I like gardening on the Gulf of Mexico cost? Yes, I do...

you all be safe and keep well- Ed