Gardening

Freecycle would be much better. I see requests for that very frequently in my area.

Another option is to see if there is a community garden near you.

Currently, I save scraps in the freezer and make stock when I have enough.

@KathyG wrote:

I miss having a compost bin, and feel guilty every time I throw compostable matter in the trash. I've thought about checking on NextDoor to see if someone close by would accept my waste. Do you think that would be a weird request?

@HonnyBrown wrote:

I'm going to start a compost bin for next year. I'm really planning ahead.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

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Honny, I save scraps (vegetable only-I cook little meat) for stock also. But after the stock is done I have no place to put the cooked scraps!

Our Freecycle community has gotten pretty anemic, but there are other non-branded options. Thanks for reminding me!

@HonnyBrown wrote:

Freecycle would be much better. I see requests for that very frequently in my area.

Another option is to see if there is a community garden near you.

Currently, I save scraps in the freezer and make stock when I have enough.

@KathyG wrote:

I miss having a compost bin, and feel guilty every time I throw compostable matter in the trash. I've thought about checking on NextDoor to see if someone close by would accept my waste. Do you think that would be a weird request?

@HonnyBrown wrote:

I'm going to start a compost bin for next year. I'm really planning ahead.

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt

Ideally, you would find a neighbor with a compost pile. This way, you can either walk them over when you have a decent amount or your compost buddy could stop by to pick them up.

If you have to either drive them somewhere or have someone drive to you, the gas consumed, cost, and carbon added to the air would more than offset the composting benefits to the planet. Unless your compost buddy stopped by while out doing other errands...

Sometimes, doing the "right" thing ends up using more resources than doing the "wrong" thing.

"We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl -- year after year..."

I have 2 geranium seedlings and what I think is a pepper sprouted from an earlier planting this spring. I am glad it came up now that it is in the 20's at night!! lol

A squirrel came to my balcony door and had my lone cucumber in his mouth. The pebble sized tomatoes started to turn red, so I had to pick them. The watermelon is still on the vine.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

I am definitely growing chile peppers next year. I just made chile with my pepper ground up and the chile flavor is excellent. I will also get a serrano and another hot chile pepper to grow.

Enjoying the fruits of my garden lately.
Beet root soup for lunch and Red Velvet cupcakes for dessert. (Beet puree in there(

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2020 06:50PM by prince.

I am definitely growing beets next year too. prince you influenced me to do this.

It's a totally edible vegetable.

And very easy to grow.

I grew beets in the past. A very rewarding crop. pretty too

I cannot find the post but I had bought houseplants from jmbamboo (seller) on Amazon, All the plants died but the snake plant. The leaves turned brown and they eventually died. I do not suggest buying anything from this seller jmbamboo!! Most of the plants were infested with bugs flying around and I had my own plants infested so I threw them away too. Never again. Some of the plants were already turning brown and dying when I got them. Just a warning.

I will never buy plants online again. Well ....maybe from Burpee.

I will plant some geranium seeds in a couple of weeks. But that is it for now.

Within the next few weeks I will sort and clean empty pots. At some point after tha, I will plant... whatever suits my whim for the year as well as the weather.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu

Good idea to clean pots. I am planning my garden this year cuz I paid for a 10' X 5' plot that did really well last year. beets, yellow pear tomato, Rutgers tomato, roma tomato, sweet bell peppers, peas, yellow beans, green beans and geraniums.

Shop-et-al, what do you plant in pots? I used to plant a LOT of things in pots.

One year, I planted butterfly attractants. Another year, I randomly purchased potted plants from a store and re-planted them in my pots. Someone gave us a neat little potted kitchen herbs thingy. Those plants did not survive. The other plants those people gave us are thriving. We have little available indoor space, light/shade issues outdoors, and lack of actual land for an in-ground garden. A useful project would be to swap my cuttings/clippings for someone's home-grown edibles. However, I doubt that my little offerings would equal all the time and labor involved in producing the edibles.

I wanted to add one thing about pots and other above-ground gardening. I was inspired by Gene Rothert's book and how it is used in HT (horticultural therapy). The techniques, which everyone should consider and adapt for themselves, are for people with disabilities but can be use for people with external limitations such as issues with space, time, and growing conditions. Harvest or simply enjoy!

I think the book, The Enabling Garden, is out of print, but it is still respected, used, and might come in handy for anyone. The title alone suggests that for some people, working with plants is enabling them in various ways which are not just about plants.

@heather shops wrote:

Shop-et-al, what do you plant in pots? I used to plant a LOT of things in pots.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2021 06:13PM by Shop-et-al.

I placed seeds (tomato, cukes, watermelon and peppers) in kcups. I got the seeds from the fridge as they were leftover from last year. I am not very hopeful. I also tried germinating tomato seeds from a tomato.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

If the plant you got the seed from is a hybrid, it will not produce vegetables....otherwise sure it will. In a kcup with dirt? let us know. Cukes are usually grown in hills of dirt. good luck Honny!!

Peppers take sometimes 2 weeks to sprout. The seeds need to be warm and wet. I use a sprayer.

I had Burpee wildflower seeds (for bees and butterflies) one year. Wow, they were really pretty.... Well, the ones people didn't help themselves to!! Lol

If you used tomato seeds from heirloom plants and you only had one heirloom type for each vegetable, then there is a good chance that the seeds will produce that heirloom. If you had more than one heirloom tomato (for instance), then you are likely to get some cross hybrids. Of course, a lot depends upon what your neighbors were growing and the flight paths of your local bees.

If you grew hybrid tomatoes (for instance), then there is no real way of knowing what you will end up with. That is the secret of selling hybrid seeds - you need the two parents to produce the desired hybrid.

Although this should have been clear from the 1865 work of the Austrian monk, Gregor Mendel, it was not really appreciated until a very young Henry Wallace (then a high school student, later Vice-President under FDR) began growing hybrid corn. [www.iowapbs.org]

@HonnyBrown wrote:

I placed seeds (tomato, cukes, watermelon, and peppers) in kcups. I got the seeds from the fridge as they were leftover from last year. I am not very hopeful. I also tried germinating tomato seeds from a tomato.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/2021 05:20PM by myst4au.

Honny, do you know what growing zone you're in? I'm in zone 4. I started tomatoes, flowers, herbs and peppers one year in February ... I was sorry. I don't put my plants outside til mid or end of May cuz we may have a frost. I'll wait to start seeds in April this year.

I may buy some plants too. I got very good Bonnie plants at a local hardware store...roma, red beefsteak heirloom and black prince. They did really well.

I have a sprout!

Last weekend, I got my seeds from last year, planted them in clean k-cups and put them in the pantry. I planted tomatoes and peppers. I went to mist them yesterday and one of the tomatoes sprouted! I moved it to the counter and when it gets stronger, to the windowsill.

I also tried doing seeds from a tomato. We'll see how that goes.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Way to go Honny!!

Most garden veggie seeds are viable for several years if they are kept cool and dry. I have planted 10 year old tomato seeds and gotten about a 75% germination. For heirloom tomato seeds (they come true to type), pick up a pint of mixed heirloom tomatoes at the grocers. Ours usually has them on sale for $2.99 a pound, so we can get several varieties for about three bucks. There's dozens of seeds in each tomato.This works with other organic veggies, too, if they grow in your zone, such as garlic bulbs, ginger root, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, etc. I also get a lot of seeds from Seeds Now, which has sampler packs for about a dollar.

Last year, flash told me to put the open seed packs in the freezer for this year. I got the seeds on a mystery shop.

I also planted peppers, but they haven't germinated.

I tried planting ginger from knobby pieces but the squirrels got at them.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Peppers take longer...may be 2 weeks. It will be worth it. Peppers are my favorite to grow!!

My other tomato k-cup sprouted. Nothing on the peppers yet, thanks for the info heather. I'm looking for more kitchen stuff to plant. I also have to get big planters for outside.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Honny, the easiest things to grow from seed (for me anyways)are beans (pole, snap, green or yellow!) and any type of pea. Pole beans or pole peas grow quite tall. Please check them out. You can dry the bean seeds and plant them next year. I will have 2 crops this summer..... unless it's real rainy and then I will not cuz they'll rot.

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