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February banter thread


Eskimo Joe

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30 minutes ago, mappy said:

I grew beets last year. Best crop I've had yield anything for me (other than cucumbers). Giant beets, that were delicious. 

My cucumber crop is ridiculous. I make a decent pickle, if I do say so myself. :)

I'm jealous of your beet crop. I grew up having canned beets kind of forced on me (Poles love their beets!), so I disliked them for a long time. Having tried (and liked) some fresh beets a few years ago, I decided to give them a whirl, but they're just not working for me. Wife loves them, too, so I'd be in her good graces if I could pull them off!

27 minutes ago, showmethesnow said:

Might want to consider adding phosphorus to the soil. It helps to promote root growth. Bone meal is one option.

Thanks. I was thinking phosphorus might help, so I might have to try some bone meal.

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4 minutes ago, mattie g said:

My cucumber crop is ridiculous. I make a decent pickle, if I do say so myself. :)

I'm jealous of your beet crop. I grew up having canned beets kind of forced on me (Poles love their beets!), so I disliked them for a long time. Having tried (and liked) some fresh beets a few years ago, I decided to give them a whirl, but they're just not working for me. Wife loves them, too, so I'd be in her good graces if I could pull them off!

Thanks. I was thinking phosphorus might help, so I might have to try some bone meal.

I still have a half dozen of garlic pickles from a few years ago following my cucumber crop. 

I love can beets, but fresh beets are delicious too. We love them in shakes/smoothies. So the crop I had, I cooked, then halved, then froze for smoothies. They were gone pretty quickly. I imagine I will plant more this year. 

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3 minutes ago, mattie g said:

My cucumber crop is ridiculous. I make a decent pickle, if I do say so myself. :)

I'm jealous of your beet crop. I grew up having canned beets kind of forced on me (Poles love their beets!), so I disliked them for a long time. Having tried (and liked) some fresh beets a few years ago, I decided to give them a whirl, but they're just not working for me. Wife loves them, too, so I'd be in her good graces if I could pull them off!

Thanks. I was thinking phosphorus might help, so I might have to try some bone meal.

We have cucumber beetles every year that wreck out plants before the bloom.  Any tips?  

 

We have found that when you want good beets to grow they need ample room to swell their roots.  Heavy clay soil won't do, so consider lightening the soil with sharp sand, peat moss and some potting soil.  Do not use manure with root crops as that will cause the roots to spike and become irregular.  Also what others have said, use some bone meal and phosphorus.

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Thanks. I was thinking phosphorus might help, so I might have to try some bone meal.

Bone meal will attract rodents fyi. Epsoma makes a fantastic granular. Probably not organic tho if thats what u were aiming for. I use it beneath all bulbs and flowers I transplant. Great stuff. For edibles I do use the bonemeal and usually put clumps of dog hair and garlic around. Seems to work well for me. Good luck!

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6 minutes ago, Eskimo Joe said:

We have cucumber beetles every year that wreck out plants before the bloom.  Any tips?  

 

We have found that when you want good beets to grow they need ample room to swell their roots.  Heavy clay soil won't do, so consider lightening the soil with sharp sand, peat moss and some potting soil.  Do not use manure with root crops as that will cause the roots to spike and become irregular.  Also what others have said, use some bone meal and phosphorus.

ahhh, maybe that is why ours did so well. we have very clay-e soil, but the area i had planted them last year had been mulched and filled with potting soil after two years of planting other crops in the same location. 

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3 minutes ago, wxdude64 said:

Gardening.....lol. IF I plant anything it has to be in a raised bed, slate is 90% of my yard.

Then deer finish it off if it does grow. I do tomatoes in planters on the deck only now.

Never have to worry about deer. Maybe that is because of my dogs. The same dogs that feel my garden is all you can eat buffet. :)

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21 minutes ago, Bob Chill said:

I'm planning on reseeding my lawn this spring with Kentucky bluegrass, featherbed bent, and northern California sinsemilla.

I know you are joking, but I think bluegrass is a great option.  It doesn't handle heat and drought well at all, but if you are on a small piece of property you probably can water it without too much hassle.  It can spread via rhizomes whereas fescue can't.  Fescue has to spread via seed.  Bluegrass will eventually take over a lawn and it is a perfect lawn grass.

Some of the latest hybrids are very, very dark green.  Good stuff.

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7 minutes ago, WinterWxLuvr said:

I know you are joking, but I think bluegrass is a great option.  It doesn't handle heat and drought well at all, but if you are on a small piece of property you probably can water it without too much hassle.  It can spread via rhizomes whereas fescue can't.  Fescue has to spread via seed.  Bluegrass will eventually take over a lawn and it is a perfect lawn grass.

Some of the latest hybrids are very, very dark green.  Good stuff.

C'mon man! I'm surprised you didn't get it. It's a classic quote from Caddyshack

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8BmK5RhAYc

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19 minutes ago, Bob Chill said:

I just realized that I watched the superbowl without drinking a beer for the first time since I was 12. 

Me too. Said the same thing to my wife last night. First time since 1983 I did not have a drink during the Super Bowl. Usually multiple drinks and hangover Monday. No such luck this time.

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12 hours ago, mattie g said:

Ratings are down because football is 3 seconds of action followed by 30 seconds of dudes talking, followed by 5 minutes of commercials.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Yep, and don't forget to throw in some game-deciding penalties as well, and the flow and excitement of the game being interrupted for replay review after every TD.

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1 hour ago, Eskimo Joe said:

We have cucumber beetles every year that wreck out plants before the bloom.  Any tips?  

 

We have found that when you want good beets to grow they need ample room to swell their roots.  Heavy clay soil won't do, so consider lightening the soil with sharp sand, peat moss and some potting soil.  Do not use manure with root crops as that will cause the roots to spike and become irregular.  Also what others have said, use some bone meal and phosphorus.

The only time I had issues with cucumber beetles was when I was growing a volunteer pumpkin. The pumpkin was big and hearty enough to handle it, but the cucumbers got wrecked. I don't really do much of anything else to keep the beetles away. Maybe I'm just lucky.

My beds are pretty well amended with compost and coarse sand, as well as some "used" potting soil I scatter around each year as top dressing. Even the beets I put in planters don't do well, so I'm guessing it's a nutrient and/or spacing issue. I'm definitely going to give them some more room and bone meal this year.

56 minutes ago, Ralph Wiggum said:

Bone meal will attract rodents fyi. Epsoma makes a fantastic granular. Probably not organic tho if thats what u were aiming for. I use it beneath all bulbs and flowers I transplant. Great stuff. For edibles I do use the bonemeal and usually put clumps of dog hair and garlic around. Seems to work well for me. Good luck!

I use blood meal for leafy vegetables, which can also bring in raccoons and the like, but they generally don't bother since I have a dog who considers the backyard his domain. I'm not *too* worried about bone meal doing the same.

Thanks for the recommendation on the Epsoma. I do prefer organic if I can at all help it.

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