Re: Lurking newby in Pennsylvania

BlackjackWidow 6/1/2018, 10:53 am

ispinwool wrote:Thanks BlackJackWidow!! it worked

Yay!

And boy! Your friend is really long! Pretty snake Smile

ispinwool 6/2/2018, 2:54 pm

Since this year is a "test" to see if I get
to harvest anything, i'm planting only a few
things: 2 tomatoes, 1 sweet pepper, 4 cabbage,
there's 3 newly sprouted cucumber vines...and a friend
gave me 4 nice chunks of rhubarb roots that
he divided. He says that even I can't kill rhubarb
so I should be good to go there. I also have a few flowers
planted 'just because'.

Lurking newby in Pennsylvania - Page 2 Img_2013

Lurking newby in Pennsylvania - Page 2 Img_2013

Lurking newby in Pennsylvania - Page 2 Img_2014

**sanderson** 6/3/2018, 2:00 am

BlackjackWidow 6/3/2018, 8:38 am

Congrats! Looks beautiful, I'm looking forward to seeing your pics through the season.

I have several rhubarb plants that all came from one root clump given to me by a coworker several years ago. They've been moved and separated three times, lived in full shade, part shade and full sun. Even I can't kill them and that says a lot! I love warm rhubarb sauce over vanilla ice cream. Yum!

ispinwool 6/3/2018, 12:30 pm

BlackjackWidow wrote:Congrats! Looks beautiful, I'm looking forward to seeing your pics through the season.

I have several rhubarb plants that all came from one root clump given to me by a coworker several years ago. They've been moved and separated three times, lived in full shade, part shade and full sun. Even I can't kill them and that says a lot! I love warm rhubarb sauce over vanilla ice cream. Yum!

That does sound yummy!! I'll add that to my 'rhubarb tricks' recipes.

The last time I made rhubarb, I added some sugar and cooked it
a bit on the stovetop then dumped it into a 9 X 13 and
topped it with a dry yellow cake mix then drizzled a melted
stick of butter on top. I "incorporated" the cake mix into the
rhubarb juice just enough to dampen the powder--not mixed--
just fussed with it. Baked until the top was golden.
My girls aren't fans of rhubarb but my guys pretty much
used trowels to eat it! LOL

BlackjackWidow 6/4/2018, 10:41 am

ispinwool wrote:
BlackjackWidow wrote:Congrats! Looks beautiful, I'm looking forward to seeing your pics through the season.

I have several rhubarb plants that all came from one root clump given to me by a coworker several years ago. They've been moved and separated three times, lived in full shade, part shade and full sun. Even I can't kill them and that says a lot! I love warm rhubarb sauce over vanilla ice cream. Yum!
That does sound yummy!! I'll add that to my 'rhubarb tricks' recipes.

The last time I made rhubarb, I added some sugar and cooked it
a bit on the stovetop then dumped it into a 9 X 13 and
topped it with a dry yellow cake mix then drizzled a melted
stick of butter on top. I "incorporated" the cake mix into the
rhubarb juice just enough to dampen the powder--not mixed--
just fussed with it. Baked until the top was golden.
My girls aren't fans of rhubarb but my guys pretty much
used trowels to eat it! LOL

**Scorpio Rising** 6/4/2018, 10:53 pm

Oooo, man. Strawberry rhubarb pie! YUMMO!!! I love rhubarb!

ispinwool 6/5/2018, 7:28 am

S/R pie is another one I wanna try to make...even cobbler would be fine. Smile

Unfortunately, I have to buy the strawberries as I have no room for
a bed.

BeetlesPerSqFt 6/5/2018, 9:54 pm

ispinwool wrote:Hello from Butler County, Pa

I've been a member here for awhile but I don't think I ever posted...just did a LOT of reading.
I'm a farm-girl that used to love to bale hay but hated weeding the garden. LOL
But the older I get, the more I really miss that garden....
Spring has finally arrived here so I'm itching to get a box built and put
something/anything in it---just to say I was able to play in the dirt again!

debbie

Welcome, Debbie! I'm in PA, too -- I'm to your east in Centre County, near State College.
I hated weeding, too -- it's still not my favorite thing to do, but MM is so much easier to weed than my family's garden soil was.

Don't worry about "stinking" at gardening -- even sharing mistakes helps us all, and, as SR said, we do love questions. I have a fairly large garden that I'm sure doesn't yield anywhere near what it could if I was a better gardener, and it was sunnier (there's a tree, but it was near the tree or no garden, which wasn't really a choice for me!)

Like you, due to the shade issue, I have a lot of containers in addition to the SFG. I have a small herd of planters like GrowBox (one GrowBox and several City Pickers and EarthBoxes) on my front porch. Watering them is a chore, but I've been impressed by the yield.

Nice snake!

ispinwool 6/6/2018, 7:11 am

Hello!

I actually have noticed that the weeds just slide out of the MM!
The patch I'm using was overtaken by Morning Glories--and as
much as I love Morning Glories, I really wanted to plant stuff
we could eat. So I sprinkled on a LOT of 'Preen' to keep the
seeds from sprouting (totally didn't work!! Sad

) and planted in
the patch...now, every morning I go out and pick sprouted Glories...
every....morning!

And I haven't seen Mr. Snake since that morning...I sure hope
the neighbor didn't kill him! She isn't as fond of them as I am...

ispinwool 6/15/2018, 10:16 am

I know full well that y'all already know this...but I'm so tickled pink! Those blossoms in the above pic are now honest to goodness baby tomatoes!
Lol! ...and to those doubters that say "I don't have room to grow veggies" I'll let them know that this lovely tomato plant is growing in an old, busted sand toy bucket! MM will pretty much grow anything anywhere.
Lurking newby in Pennsylvania - Page 2 Img_2010

Lurking newby in Pennsylvania - Page 2 Img_2010

**sanderson** 6/15/2018, 4:00 pm

**Scorpio Rising** 6/15/2018, 7:37 pm

ispinwool wrote:S/R pie is another one I wanna try to make...even cobbler would be fine.
Unfortunately, I have to buy the strawberries as I have no room for
a bed.

Yeah, I always had to buy strawberries too. No biggee. My recipe is easy; Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts, strawberries, rhubarb, and instant tapioca for the thickener! THE BOMB!!!

Congrats on your baby maters! MM is the secret weapon! cheers

**sanderson** 6/15/2018, 8:10 pm

Don't forget our Recipe Sub-Forum. If you have a good recipe, add it. Very Happy

BlackjackWidow 6/16/2018, 11:55 am

Lurking newby in Pennsylvania - Page 2 3170584802

Congrats on your baby tomatoes! So exciting!! Maters Rock! rock on

**AtlantaMarie** 6/17/2018, 6:27 am

Woo-Hoo! Congratulations!

ispinwool 6/17/2018, 12:44 pm

HELP!
What happened? How can I fix this?
(Honest to Pete, these leaves were fine this morning when I watered!!! )

Lurking newby in Pennsylvania - Page 2 Img_2011

Lurking newby in Pennsylvania - Page 2 Img_2011

**sanderson** 6/17/2018, 10:23 pm

Have the temps climbed? It looks like the plastic container is thin enough to allow sunlight through. I have to wrap my containers (I use aluminum foil) to keep the roots cool.

Stupid question but is it draining well?

ispinwool 6/18/2018, 7:11 am

sanderson wrote: Have the temps climbed? It looks like the plastic container is thin enough to allow sunlight through. I have to wrap my containers (I use aluminum foil) to keep the roots cool.

Stupid question but is it draining well?

Yes, the temps have climbed. I checked the bucket wall and it seems ok...but I did move it
off of the concrete sidewalk and gave it (them all) a good soaking in the
morning then lightly watered again with a wee bit of liquid fertilizer last
night
(If they were heat-stressed, I didn't want to shock them with a
strong dose of fertilizer; instead of 'one measured dose/gal', I used
'one measured dose/2.5gal').
I'll see how that helps.

p.s.--yes it drains fine. I'd poked 4 holes in the bottom; I could have probably
gotten away with only 2

Thanks for replying!!

BlackjackWidow 6/18/2018, 10:20 am

I'm so sorry about the tomato leaves; such a bummer when your plants are doing well and then suddenly - boom! something hits them (in my case, stupid groundhogs, but you can read about that in my thread)

Just wondering - are the top leaves turning yellow, too, or just those bottom ones? It could be that the plant is getting bushy at the top and shading the lower leaves. I've also read that the soil could be over-compacted (probably not an issue if you're using MM) or over-watered.

I would make sure to remove the dead stuff from the bottom of the pot, and maybe prune off the leaves from the bottom 6 inches or so of the stem, to give a little breathing room. Dispose of the yellowed leaves instead of using in compost, just in case it's some kind of disease.

(disclaimer - I'm a newbie, may not be uber-helpful info, but it's not hurtful!)

yolos 6/18/2018, 12:49 pm

Is the bucket big enough. I agree, clip some of the bottom leaves off so it can get some air in there.

ispinwool 6/18/2018, 1:52 pm

thank you for the suggestions...I'll snip off
those leaves this evening when I go out to water.

As for the size of the bucket, I "think" it should be ok...it's pretty big....
besides, this is all 'trial and error' for the moment.
I actually have a sister plant in the ground
just to see if they do "equally well" or if the potted one suffers from
well, being potted.
It looks pretty miserable, so I doubt it would survive getting
moved into a hole in the ground at this point...I'll just wait and
see what happens.

thinking

**Scorpio Rising** 6/18/2018, 5:46 pm

If it doesn’t Turn around and you have room in a larger container, I would chance it at any time to make the right move. Not sure what’s going on, only the bottom leaves affected?

ispinwool 6/18/2018, 7:24 pm

Oops...I knew I forgot to answer a question...yes, only the bottom leaves are affected...
I'll look to see if I can find a spot to plant it properly; I guess I really should try to save it if I can.

BlackjackWidow 6/19/2018, 8:51 am

Save the Tomatoes! Lurking newby in Pennsylvania - Page 2 1666079590

(it could just need more nutrients, especially since it's the bottom leaves only. Top or side dressing with some more compost couldn't hurt)

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