Might As Well Start a Gardening Thread

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skypup
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Re: Might As Well Start a Gardening Thread

Postby skypup » Wed Apr 23, 2014 10:39 am

Okay, I don't have much to brag about in the way of a garden, but I'll go with the best I have: I already have blossoms on my tomato plants!

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BrownBagger
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Re: Might As Well Start a Gardening Thread

Postby BrownBagger » Wed Apr 23, 2014 10:42 am

OK, here's the deal, Hapa. At least where I live, if you put kitchen scraps into a compost pile, it will attract a large number of red worms (red wigglers), who will quickly eat up everything else in the pile once they finish off the good stuff. Takes about a year. And it's pretty much pure worm castings, happily enough.

I also have a worm bin down in the basement, which I've operated for years. It's a more controlled environment and produces cleaner castings than the compost pile. I recently figured out a really quick, efficient way to produce worm castings in the worm bin, which I use to make worm casting tea and other fertilizers and soil mixes. What I do now, is deposit a fair amount of kitchen scrap slop into a hole in the compost pile in the Fall. Cover it really well with leaves, grass clippings, etc. Mark the location with a stick. Come Spring, that hole full of kitchen scraps has become a big mass of red worms. I simply dig it all out and deposit the whole works into the worm bin. Within a few months, it's all worm castings and a few, hardy-but-hungry residual worms. Not to gross anyone out, but here's what the recovery effort looked like this year. My worm bin holds 4 of these. It's a good way to produce about 10-15 gallons of worm castings. I try to do it twice a year.

One thing I did last year was get about 30 gallons of used indoor soil mix, into which I poured a large amount of stale beer. Then, I added the worms. By the time they were done, I had about 25 gallons of worm castings and perlite. Makes a great starting soil and amendment to other mixes. The worms really liked the beer. They wallowed in it. But then again, they wallow in everything.

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Eric, 58
Dx: 3/09, Stage 4 RC
Recurrences: (ongoing, lung, bronchial cavity, ribs)
Major Ops: 6/ RFA: 3 /bronchoscopies: 8
Pelvic radiation: 5 wks. Bronchial radiation—brachytheray: 3 treatments
Chemo Rounds (career):136
Current Chemo Cocktail: Xeloda & Erbitux & Irinotecan biweekly
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NWgirl
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Re: Might As Well Start a Gardening Thread

Postby NWgirl » Wed Apr 23, 2014 11:31 am

Wow - we don't get the red worms out here. We get huge worms and plenty of them - but not red ones. Cool.
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BrownBagger
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Re: Might As Well Start a Gardening Thread

Postby BrownBagger » Wed Apr 23, 2014 11:46 am

NWgirl wrote:Wow - we don't get the red worms out here. We get huge worms and plenty of them - but not red ones. Cool.


We get the red wigglers and European earthworms. The former live in the compost pile, the latter in the garden itself. They fulfill quite different roles.
Eric, 58
Dx: 3/09, Stage 4 RC
Recurrences: (ongoing, lung, bronchial cavity, ribs)
Major Ops: 6/ RFA: 3 /bronchoscopies: 8
Pelvic radiation: 5 wks. Bronchial radiation—brachytheray: 3 treatments
Chemo Rounds (career):136
Current Chemo Cocktail: Xeloda & Erbitux & Irinotecan biweekly
Current Cocktail; On the Wagon (mostly)
Bicycle miles post-dx 10,477
Motto: Live your life like it's going to be a long one, because it just might, and then you'll be glad you did.

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juliej
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Re: Might As Well Start a Gardening Thread

Postby juliej » Wed Apr 23, 2014 4:23 pm

BrownBagger wrote:Here's the compost pile before I got too far into it. Note the yellow square. That's the same rock you see in the photo below.

Wow, BB, that compost must be magic -the rock got bigger! :D

Thanks for starting this thread. Your garden is an inspiration! This year I have a whole bed set aside for basil. I want to be rolling in the pesto.

NWgirl wrote:Hey question for all gardeners - mushroom compost. I see it sold in the nursery's and assume it's good. My friend said she used some one year and a bunch of mushrooms grew! So dumb question - this is merely a soil amendment right? It's not meant to grow mushrooms - that's just a by product of the soil amendment - right?

Belle, it would be nice if they put the word "spent" in front of the mushroom compost that's intended for gardens. Most of what you see is what's left over after they harvest the mushrooms, but there are a few kinds that are for growing mushrooms so you want to make sure you have the right kind. Typically, mushroom compost is some combination of composted wheat straw, chicken manure, canola meal, soybean meal, potash, gypsum, ammonium nitrate, lime, and well-rotted stable manure. I've found it's too strong for germinating seeds or putting around very young plants. And you don't want to use it on blueberries because of the salts. Do you know of a mushroom grower in your area? If so, you might be able to get a truckload direct from the source at a much lower price.
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kiwiinoz
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Re: Might As Well Start a Gardening Thread

Postby kiwiinoz » Wed Apr 23, 2014 7:46 pm

Eric, Belle & Juliej

You guys are awesome and I am insanely jealous. I thought I'd share some photos of my "garden" with you and then we could "discuss" what worms would work best at my place (none after you see the photo)

[img]http://i890.photobucket.com/albums/ac108/kiwiinoz2013/Garden_zpsa8e15027.jpg[img]

I love eating fresh veggies. I just came back from a week in Japan and I did my best to avoid rice, rice, more rice and noodles. Whilst there are many things I love about Japan they can't do salads. Since when does a few leaves of cabbage with a cherry tomato on it make a salad :roll:

Again, I love this thread and thanks to Eric for starting it

Kiwi
Last edited by kiwiinoz on Mon May 26, 2014 9:34 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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NWgirl
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Re: Might As Well Start a Gardening Thread

Postby NWgirl » Thu Apr 24, 2014 2:30 pm

Thanks Julie - maybe I'll just avoid mushroom compost - lol! I've received truck loads of compost before, but the way our driveway/front yard/etc. is set up, it's not very well situated to have a pile of dirt dumped in a good, accessible place. Poor planning on the people who originally built this house and planned the way the whole thing was laid out. I also find with my limited energy, it's just easier to buy bags as I need it (try to get it on sale when possible) and just move a bag or two or three at a time.

I treated myself today and bought a Buddha concrete statue for the garden out back, and two Japanese Maple trees to frame it. The Japanese Maples are really small right now - I'll never live long enough to see them mature - but they grow really well out here and once in the ground, after a year or two they really don't even need to be watered. I told my husband I've taken care of my mothers day present(s)! In addition to growing veggies and berries and all, I find that creating other permanent garden features - trees, shrubs, perennial flowers, vines, etc. give me things to enjoy even if I can't get the veggie garden planted - or planted to the extent I'd like. I find the garden very calming - and creating other things that are beautiful out there really helps me. So yeah, I'm getting my zen on - I'll try to get some pics posted later with my new statue. I call her Serenity. The kids call her Creepy - but what do they know - lol!
Belle - "Don't Retreat - Reload"DX 10/07 Stage III Rectal
Surgery 11/07; 27 of 38 nodes
Perm Colostomy 8/11
12/10 recurrence lungs & LN's
VATS Jan 2011
Radiation Oct 2013
Chemo for Life
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dianetavegia
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Re: Might As Well Start a Gardening Thread

Postby dianetavegia » Thu Apr 24, 2014 2:42 pm

I'm VERY jealous! We have that awful red clay here in Georgia with loads of rocks and tree roots right near the surface. My yard is just under an acre and we have around 100 trees of varying sizes. We're trying to cut down those that are diseased or that were so starved for light that they look half dead but some are way too tall for us.

I did raised beds a few years back. I bumped into one a few weeks ago and realized the termites had eaten them to where they were flaky! We pulled them up and threw them in our massive sink hole. I may grow somethings on my deck in containers but only flowers and shrubs elsewhere. I'm so jealous!!
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juliej
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Re: Might As Well Start a Gardening Thread

Postby juliej » Thu Apr 24, 2014 3:15 pm

NWgirl wrote:I treated myself today and bought a Buddha concrete statue for the garden out back, and two Japanese Maple trees to frame it...So yeah, I'm getting my zen on - I'll try to get some pics posted later with my new statue. I call her Serenity. The kids call her Creepy - but what do they know - lol!

Very cool, Belle! I can't wait to see the picture.

Wandering the streets of NYC one day, I ran into a Tibetan street vendor selling artifacts and jewelry. I was drawn to a carved head, worn smooth from weather and age, but still possessing a calm and wise expression on its face. The vendor said the head was part of an ancient statute of Guanyin (often called the female Buddha). He told me she was the goddess of mercy and the champion of the unfortunate, the sick, the disabled, and those in trouble. Ha! No wonder I was drawn to her! So now she graces my library, smiling beatifically at me every day.

Spring is in a roller coaster mood here -- warming up, then cooling down, then storming, then back to warmth. Just when you're rolling around in the dandelions, letting the sun warm your backside, a stinging rain blows in like a reminder from the "Don't Get too Comfortable" Department of Spring.
Stage IVb, liver/lung mets 8/4/2010
Xelox+Avastin 8/18/10 to 10/21/2011
LAR, liver resec, HAI pump 11/2011
Adjuvant Irinotecan + FUDR
Double lung surgery + ileo reversal 2/2012
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VATS left lung 11/2013
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BrownBagger
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Re: Might As Well Start a Gardening Thread

Postby BrownBagger » Thu Apr 24, 2014 6:26 pm

Nice car, Kiwi.
Eric, 58
Dx: 3/09, Stage 4 RC
Recurrences: (ongoing, lung, bronchial cavity, ribs)
Major Ops: 6/ RFA: 3 /bronchoscopies: 8
Pelvic radiation: 5 wks. Bronchial radiation—brachytheray: 3 treatments
Chemo Rounds (career):136
Current Chemo Cocktail: Xeloda & Erbitux & Irinotecan biweekly
Current Cocktail; On the Wagon (mostly)
Bicycle miles post-dx 10,477
Motto: Live your life like it's going to be a long one, because it just might, and then you'll be glad you did.

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Candyys03
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Re: Might As Well Start a Gardening Thread

Postby Candyys03 » Thu Apr 24, 2014 7:08 pm

I love to see the pictures of your garden!
I am not a gardener my husband is but I love to eat it!

Candy :mrgreen:
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jens22
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Re: Might As Well Start a Gardening Thread

Postby jens22 » Thu Apr 24, 2014 10:06 pm

You amaze me!!! You upstate people really know how to get amazing crops. I keep on thinking about your Edame pictures!
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orcasres
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Re: Might As Well Start a Gardening Thread

Postby orcasres » Fri Apr 25, 2014 1:21 am

My husband is the gardener. He grew up in the Finger Lakes of NY (Keuka specifically) and worked in the vineyards in high school. We had extensive gardens in both Rochester and Syracuse when we lived there, but we got really lazy in the Bay Area of CA, where we could have great gardens almost all year long and everything grew with such ease. Even on a quarter acre lot (that is large for Silicon Valley) we managed to get in three rows of corn along with all of our vegetables and flowers, much to the neighbors' amazement.

Now we are in the Northwest, specifically on a 57 sq mile island surrounded year round with 50 degree water, but we are living at 1700 feet, in the middle of an evergreen (fir, Douglas fir, cedar) and alder woods, putting us in a much cooler climate zone. And we have rampant deer; small but very ravenous deer. So he has 5 gardens right now, and all have to be fenced. One major vegetable garden with raised boxes for peas, brussels sprouts, pole beans, strawberries, raspberries, onions, and soon potatoes. Mike has ulcerative colitis and lettuce turned on him with a vengeance this past year, so we are skipping planting lettuce. Tomatoes do not usually work too well because of the cool nights, but we are going to raise some plants in the garage and transplant them later in the spring. We tried a small greenhouse once, but it blew over (we get a lot of 30-40 mph winds). There are three flower gardens, with a variety of annuals and perennials. The last garden is a mixture of native flowers and evergreens. Foxglove grows wild so in about two months the woods will be covered with digitalis and ferns and salal grow like weeds. No lawn to mow and we don't miss it.

We do compost some but the cooler weather limits our success. We have LOTS of fallen trees, so we chip those and mix in a generous amount of steer manure to fill the boxes and those work pretty well.

I wish I could take credit for the gardening, but I usually contribute weeding and I eat the vegetables.

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carrie
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Re: Might As Well Start a Gardening Thread

Postby carrie » Wed Apr 30, 2014 2:41 am

Appreciate this thread BB! I spend a few hours two or three days a week in the garden...lose myself in my own thoughts and just love the peace and quiet. DH doesn't share my passion though....I have to drag him kicking and screaming outside to take care of the one or two things I can't do. Everything else I take care of and at the end of the day I'm usually a sight for sore eyes with just the whites of my eyes showing! :shock: We also have worm farms and loved the tip about the stale beer. Don't have any of that around here though...DH is a bourbon man and don't think the worms would appreciate it. Still don't know how to post photos and STILL waiting for one of my kids to show me how. Have frog ponds also...Running out of room, live on a small suburban block and there is so much more I would like to do. Thanks again BB and happy gardening dear CC friends :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: .
Take care everyone, Karen
Diagnosed March 3/2013 Rectal cancer
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BrownBagger
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Re: Might As Well Start a Gardening Thread

Postby BrownBagger » Wed Apr 30, 2014 8:23 am

I planted some seeds about a week ago and nothing has come up. Way too early, but I figured it was worth a shot. It's been cool and rainy, so maybe they'll sprout when it warms up a bit. Nasty day today, though.
Eric, 58
Dx: 3/09, Stage 4 RC
Recurrences: (ongoing, lung, bronchial cavity, ribs)
Major Ops: 6/ RFA: 3 /bronchoscopies: 8
Pelvic radiation: 5 wks. Bronchial radiation—brachytheray: 3 treatments
Chemo Rounds (career):136
Current Chemo Cocktail: Xeloda & Erbitux & Irinotecan biweekly
Current Cocktail; On the Wagon (mostly)
Bicycle miles post-dx 10,477
Motto: Live your life like it's going to be a long one, because it just might, and then you'll be glad you did.


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