March 2013, New England

I checked the radar and the snow would be over by the time I got home so I guess it too late. Hopefully the previous 4 days outside have prepared them for this.

Your seedlings look great, NGH! I used to worry about water in shallow containers, too, but now I use the large lettuce clam packs. Since they are clear I can see that the water kind of sits at the bottom inch or so and probably wicks up.

What kind of spinach did you plant?

CC

Space Spinach from Fedco. This is my first time trying spinach, so I just picked one out of a hat that looked good. Very scientific.

NHG, did you put the spinach on the heat mat? How many days did it take to sprout?

I went home right before another snowing just now to bring in my seedlings, and there they were, sitting out there all alone in the flurries, shivering:

I brought them in and put them back into the window with the maters & peppers and such:

They are pretty floppy. I hope they bounce back.

CC

I hope they bounce back too! I can just feel them heaving a sigh of relief.

I did put the spinach on a heat mat, and it only took a few days to sprout. According to my chart, I planted them on 3/10 and they sprouted by 3/12.

I will have to re-seed several tho, that either didn't sprout, or that looks like it may have wilted after sprouting. Hmm. Maybe damping off. I'll give it a couple more days and see what's up.

I like your tray stand setup! You could even throw plastic over that and make it into a greenhouse.

Let me know how you do, OK? I'm still looking for that magic spinach formula.

I planted spinach seeds out with the peas over a week ago and covered them with windows for some heat:

Nothing yet...(to be continued)

CC

CC, a quick google came up with this chart: http://www.heirloomseeds.com/germination.html

Do spinach seeds really need the soil to be 70F to germinate? Wow, if true.

NHGardener wrote:CC, a quick google came up with this chart: http://www.heirloomseeds.com/germination.html

Do spinach seeds really need the soil to be 70F to germinate? Wow, if true.

http://www.growveg.com/growblogpost.aspx?id=174

NHG, how are the girls?

camprn wrote:NHG, how are the girls?

I had to think about that one for a few minutes!

Buzzing yesterday, and I had put a dried sugar mixture and pollen patties in there a while back, but waiting for a warm day to open them up and see how many made it thru. Some did from each of the 2 hives, but I wonder how many. Have you peeked lately?

Yup, yesterday. I wrote about it in the ''keeping bees thread.

I planted my leeks just now. Finally planted something and I'm on my way!

For those looking for of hula hoops, Dollar Tree here in Maine just got their new shipment for spring. They come in small, med and large.
I bought 4 large for my strawberry bed and 4 med for other beds to keep crops warmer in the early spring.

Went to Walmart and found they had them for eight bucks a piece. Better quality, but still, I don't think you need them for garden tunnels.

On a current note, my beds are still filled with snow as is my back yard, the blueberries and the mini dwarf orchard lining the driveway. And we're expecting possible plowable amts on Tues. Grrrrrrr.

I'm still thinking of starting some potatoes in a 5 gal bucket as seen on Mel's video on utube. I don't have a drill so have to figure out how to make the drainage holes first. I have some composted soil in buckets in the garage and I thought I'd get some started. This is just a fun experiment I've been wanting to try. I grew them the first year I gardened, but they take up too much space and I wanted to save the space for other veggies. I can buy taters cheap here but they sure don't taste as good as my own that first year.

Quiltbea - can you just hammer a few nails for holes in the bottoms of the buckets, instead of using a drill?

Also, about the hula hoops, this is a new idea! So you cut the hula hoop and it acts as a frame for plastic?

Hey, NH.....Yes, you cut the hula hoops in half. There was a discussion here before about using them as frames for row covers and plastic and such. Try the search feature on the left. In any case, sounds good to me rather than buying PVC pipe. I'll try it and see how it works out. Of course, they aren't high hoops like the 10 ft PVCs, but they should work well over strawberries and other lower-growing or young crops or new transplants that need some protection from cold nites.

And if you buy any, be sure you get the same size you want. They had 3 sizes for the same price and the small one was really too small.

With the buckets, I thought I'd try a big nail and a hammer to pound thru some holes but I want to do it outside with the bucket on the lawn so it will go in easier and I don't have to worry about concrete or brick beneath. Or maybe hammering a phillips head driver thru would work. I'll see how that goes maybe tomorrow.

What about heating the end of the phillips head screw driver and using it to melt a hole in the bottom.

Just saw the hula hoop thread, what a great idea.

Are the (big) hoops $1 ea. or more than that?

Hula hoops are certainly more colorful but it might be cheaper to buy a coil of plastic tubing and cut off pieces to the length you need. The tubing I use is about 1" in diameter and made of black polyethylene. The stuff Lowes calls ADS SIDR 15 Plastic Coil Pipe looks like what I have. You could also get the ADS SIDR 9 pipe, which is 3/4" and it probably would work with the row cover clips that Johnny's sells. I have had the pipe outside for 20+ years and it shows no signs of deterioration and still has a curve to it. I buy 2 foot pieces of 1/2" rebar and drive it into the ground outside the box, a la Mel. The tubes slide over the rebar and form an arch over the box

QB, do you mean you cut the hula hoops into 2 pcs? I was going to only make one cut thru the big ones in order to have higher hoops.

I planted my tomatillo seeds indoors today and put them on the heating pad. I have no idea what I'm doing there but I'll treat them like tomatoes. Have any of you grown them?

CC

dvelten, what a great idea! I see 100' of the 1" is $27 at Lowes. (The 3/4" is $18.) It's sturdy enough to hold up plastic? It's even rated for potable water, so it must be pretty nontoxic. The rebar to hold it is also a really easy idea.

NHG, check your local store, there may be versions of the pipe that are cheaper, and maybe the 3/4" version is sturdy enough and will also be cheaper. The type of tubing I purchased is thick-walled so I think it will be much more resistant to kinks and bends than hula hoops. It was intended for installing lawn sprinkler systems. Being polyethylene it is UV resistant and virtually indestructible. And non-toxic. Who knows what will leach out of a hula hoop made in China. I'm having trouble uploading a photo or I would post a picture. If you want to see photos of its use, you can go to my blog and select "garden update" from the Labels list on the right. By the way, I have only found 2 foot re-bar at my local Home Depot store. My Lowes doesn't carry pieces that short and I am not up to hack-sawing 1/2" re-bar, thank you very much.

--Dave

Nice, Dave! Saw your hoops. How long did you cut your hose for your larger hoops?

The prices I quoted were from my local Lowes. I like the thought that they are most likely nontoxic, and that yours have held up that many years!

The other option is to use PVC pipe, which my Lowes is showing under $2 for 1/2" x 10'. I assume it's not THAT hard to bend.

Sigh! Patience, patience......

We're scheduled for 9 degrees Sunday night?

I really thought we were over the worst of it. Of course, I think that every year, for about 6 weeks or more...

Cape Coddess.....If you try using just one h hoop, let us see pics. I didn't think they would bend into a proper hoop with one cut but I've never tried so don't really know.

I'm not sure about tomatillos. Are tomatillos also called husk cherries? If they are, I grew a Goldie husk cherry last year. Slower to germinate but grows like other tomatoes. I grew mine in a bog pot. It tastes very strong for a tomato, but good. The fruit is very small like cherry tomatoes with a papery shell. When they drop to the ground they are ready to use. Just slip off the papery shell.

These are Goldies without the papery covering. Like I said, I have no idea if they are the same thing but if not, now you know about husk cherries.

Those are cute, QB. They could be cherry tomatillos. *shrug* I'm going to plant mine in a wild spot in my yard so they can self propagate hopefully.

According to ANSFG Outdoor Planting Schedule, today is the last day that I'm supposed to plant out my broccoli and cabbage/chard/kale seedlings. Will it be OK to do this now with nights in the 20's and a chance of any cover blowing off?

CC

NHGardener wrote:Nice, Dave! Saw your hoops. How long did you cut your hose for your larger hoops?

The prices I quoted were from my local Lowes. I like the thought that they are most likely nontoxic, and that yours have held up that many years!

The other option is to use PVC pipe, which my Lowes is showing under $2 for 1/2" x 10'. I assume it's not THAT hard to bend.

I, personally won't use PVC in my garden, anywhere. It off-gasses forever & can leach dioxins. Just google it and you'll find a bunch of articles on it. Here's just one.

I don't know if PEX tubing would have the same concerns. I've been mulling over how to make my own hoops without using PVC...

mollyhespra wrote:I've been mulling over how to make my own hoops without using PVC...

I used bamboo last year, for hoops and grids.

CC