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i planted cuke, heirloom tomatos and cilantro in a tiny greehouse thing I had bought for dad.. and they are all coming up! I am so tickled. Of course the tomatoes never get big enough to plant.. so they are more of an hobby.. Maybe I'll try Caps advice and move them out of the sun? Never grew cilantro before.. wish me luck!!
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" indirect sunlight , pam " .
its more about 70 ish degree temps busting your seeds than sunlight .
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I always figured leggy tomatoes were from too little light and too much heat.

Get a cheap florescent shop light and put in one cool light and one warm light bulb, then stick your seedlings right below but not touching the lights. Keep them on at least 14 hours a day. Know your plants so you can keep the temp where they like it best, tomatoes like it warm. And don't forget to water!
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CWillie, that's my understanding as well. Seedlings stretching to reach the light will grow leggy.
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Now I know why my hubs buys tomato plants that are a foot tall, and sometimes already have a tiny tomato on them! Thank you.. I am gonna try to get these tiny babies outside in a few weeks!
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More snow, and even colder this weekend :( I'm really feeling the need to "get out on the land", as the old farmers say. I want to feel the sun on my back as I dig into the soil and smell it's fecund scent. The swish of the rake smoothing out the furrows becomes a mantra, laying out the beds and planting the seeds a prayer.

I grew up really believing that farmers were stewards of the land, not just another corporate entity out to take as much as possible. My dad would walk the land and creek every Spring, looking for things that needed to be addressed. He got off the tractor and moved the killdeer nests instead of running them over. Of course farms and equipment were smaller then.

I've often thought I would have made a great pioneer, I relish the simple tasks of digging and planting and harvesting and putting up the fruits of my labours. I would rather live in a shack built with my own hands than a cookie cutter home meant to please the masses. So how did I end up just another rat in the race??
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Raining here, saves me having to do the watering.
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I saw an interesting short article for those who have smaller raised beds. Take 4 hula hoops space them out evenly in the bed by burying part of the hoop so it stands up. Then cover for shade protection or use as a green house.
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Gardeners are usually good at re-purposing things for their gardens. I like the hula hoop idea, but I can't say I've seen them anywhere lately. I think I would be more apt to cut the hoops open and drive the ends into the soil than try to bury the hoop.

I've been dreaming (again) of building a squirrel proof garden but I feel intimidated by my neighbours living here in town (no privacy fences). I wouldn't feel comfortable slapping together an unsightly enclosure, and an attractive one would take major work and dollars.
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cwillie ,
i have never marched to someone elses drum beat . thats why even tho i have a perfectly fine toilet in the bathroom , i still crap in a bucket . i just dont have a need to do things like everybody else does . my old trike is a greasy , homemade abomination but when i rattle past columns of shiny harleys i have to turn my head away so they cant see me laughing at them . its really liberating to choose your own values without any outside influence .
its occurred to me that many of the best things in life are things that dont require money . things like self respect , integrity , contentment , perseverance, patience , etc .
the economic collapse of 07 was engineered by government . it was meant to cool down an overheated economy based on debt , before it turned into another 30 ' s style depression . i dont think things will ever return to the same level of crass consumerism that we had in the 80 ' s and 90 ' s and indeed i hope it doesnt . it wont be long till a tiny , sustainable home on a small dirt plot will triple in value even as the stapled together mc mansions are rotting down . its already happening in my area .
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i gave my youngest son a dozen or 15 brats a couple weeks ago . he wrote last night and told me that they rocked . from the ones he took to lunch every day to the last two that he grilled . as much as your kids try to do things differently than you do , it is so much fun to be a work in progress and reach out and shock em with something undeniably " real " every now and then . my two boys are very capable and very smart but some jerk keeps raising the bar on them .
dont mean to sound braggy but i try to teach the boys to turn off the tv and think for themselves . that s*it on tv aint real ..
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G A R D E N E R S
Weed it and reap!
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One good thing about gardening is that it helps to have a special place outback to hide the bones.
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Ahhh, the bones of dysfunctional family members? Shhh, I thought it was a secret.
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Also, dog bones go nicely in any garden.
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Meaning, the dog can bury those steak bones, dig them up later if you forgot to feed the dog or are late getting home. lol.

Or, here lies my favorite last dog in my favorite garden spot works too.
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All kidding aside, bones do not go into compost; they can attract undesirable critters.

CWillie, I've been thinking about squirrel proof enclosures. I don't recall any good methods, but if you're concerned about a privacy fence being objectionable, make it beautiful. If it's in the shade, grow sweet peas and let them climb all over it. Morning glories are another option, and they're prolific growers.

I would think that neighbors would enjoy looking at something covered in flowers (which would cover all the wire and bracing underneath to keep out the squirrels.

I think chicken wire or something with smaller openings in the mesh would be appropriate, but better yet would be something with finer mesh. Having dealt with squirrels, we've found they're more creative than Houdini in getting in and out of places they don't belong.

As to just a privacy fence, wattles are easy to create if you have the branches. Vines such as morning glories can act as horizontal weavers. But the top would have to be covered to keep out the squirrels, so that's more of a harder task to achieve. Squirrels could probably just push the top right off.

There are some stunning wattles though. I saw photos of some displayed at one of the Hampton Gardens exhibits.

rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-hampton-court-palace-flower-show/hampton-gallery. Look at the "Trend Spotting" photo on the left hand side, about 1/2 way down the screen. I've NEVER seen such a complex wattle fence as that one!

BTW, your post on stewardship of the land is very poetic, insightful, and touching.

Sharyn, some gardeners do make hoop houses, not only initially for protection from the cold but also for specific vegetables, such as cabbages. Some use a fine tulle over wires bent and anchored in the ground; the tulle allows air to penetrate (which plastic used for early crops doesn't).

When I've seen tulle in the bridal sections of fabric stores, I never thought that someone might use it for crop protection.
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A gardening whine... I'm working outside this morning and a neighbour is too, and she is singing, loudly, badly, continuously. I can mostly handle the noises that come with living in town, but this is too much. I've just popped inside for my earplugs, so much for communing with nature. (sigh)
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I have to wear ear plugs as well, not to prevent hearing someone's warbling, but b/c one of the neighbors leaves their poor dog out for about an hour and it barks quite frequently, especially when I try to be friendly to it. I feel sorry for the dog - I think it's emotionally neglected and frightened of strangers. But other than barking, I have no justification to report them, and I don't want the dog to suffer by being taken away to the city dog lockup.

This same family also turns a radio (?) on loudly enough on baseball and football days that I can hear it from my house which is more than 250' away.

Willie, can you sing more loudly than the crooning neighbor?
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I could use earplugs at work.. some of my coworkes sing all over the place..and perhaps they really should not.. Just saying... My little seeds all sprouted!! I am so happy. Now to try to get them to keep going! And I planted some lemon seeds from lemons my friend brought back from Fl.. ever the optimist!!
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Pam, did you start your seeds inside or did your sow them directly outdoors?

I see you're in a cold weather state as some of the rest of us here.

I'd love to have a lemon tree - imagine how nice it would be to pick fresh lemons! Do you have a space to overwinter it when that time comes?
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my tomato seeds are sprouting at 100 % . im already thinning the pots to single plants each . im going to have a hard year of stonework and forest clearing but im willing to push a little harder to fill a pantry with canned tomatoes .
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My seeds were started in a mini greenhouse, bout it for Dad before he passed. It uses little pellets of dirt, and then you just transplant outside when they get big enough. I'll keep them in the house for a bit longer! Yep, our weather is crazy,,, cold, hot, cold...
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i saw a dairy farmer on the news a couple of years ago . he and his family press seedling planters out of cow crap . they said they never thought it possible that one could make more money from cow crap than dairy products .
man thats capitalism ..
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Planted hyacinths and tulips. Squirrels ate tulip bulbs many years ago and it was a great surpise and disappontment. Notice they dont mess with the hyacinths so hopefullt next year all will bloom nice and pretty. Felt good digging in the dirt and planting and looking at my flowers.
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Pam, some years ago "Jiffy 7's" were used as seed starters; as I recall, they were something like what you describe. When watered they would expand. I think they were made of peat. There are also the peat pots. Sounds like you hit on a good plan - I especially like the idea of a mini greenhouse. Does it have shelves?

DD, the squirrels in my area must think they're master gardeners. They feel free to move bulbs around after I plant them. And they're always inspecting the garden for treats that they probably think are just for them.

Hyacinth bulbs are poisonous to dogs; perhaps they're poisonous to squirrels as well and that's why yours leave them alone.

I took a stroll through the early spring garden this afternoon and was happy to see so much had grown just in the last few days. Daffodils are back in bloom after the cold spell, along with lilac and white violets, vinca minor and some pretty little ground cover that is easy to remove with a scuffle hoe and generally ends up in compost.

Rhubarb, peonies, trilliums are up. Haven't made rhubarb bread in years; maybe this year I'll get motivated.

The Siberian Squills are beginning to set seed; this warm weather is just too much for them. Every year I commit to harvesting their seeds so I can plant more of them, as I really love their "seas of blue" growth habits. And every year spring segues into summer so quickly that the seeds don't get harvested.
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Yes Garden that is what they are like! I transplanted some outside yesterday in pots.. so we;ll see how it goes. no, my mini greenhouse just has spots for about 70 pellets, and a plastic "roof".. but I am haveing fun with it! The cukes really look sturdy and healthy, the cilantro and tomatoes are sill in the spindly stage..LOL
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Um, little baby cukes - that's such a milestone when the cukes, squash and pumpkins set fruit. Makes all the hard work worthwhile.

Yours will have a good start and advance on setting fruit.

Tomatoes might need more sun exposure if they're spindly and leggy.
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I think they still make jiffy pots, don't they??

I broke down and planted some lettuces, chard and flower seeds, even though I still don't have anywhere to transplant the veggies to. Last year I put my bell peppers amongst the flowers, but they were pretty crowded. Hmmm, still planning and dreaming and planning and dreaming... lol
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Wow! I just noticed that my rhubarb that I planted last year is huge! And has a great big flower plume growing out the top, weird! Now, does anybody know what I am supposed to do with this. Cut it back, let it grow? And can I eat the old rhubarb stalks from last year, as I think they are from last year? I only just noticed that! I'll need to do some research on this. I do know that when I planted them, it said that it probably wouldn't yeild appreciative stalks for the first year, but its going to be a monster at this rate! Thanks all, and happy gardening!
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