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Old 04-24-2009, 08:05 AM
 
Location: S.Dak
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Last year I started a new strawberry patch. It appears every plant has survived the winter!
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Old 04-24-2009, 02:34 PM
 
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ahh...streeeach...I finally made it through all the pages! This thread sure gives me garden fever!

We are pretty much subarctic where we live so we can't even plant anything other than carrots outside yet. My mom says that peas can go out now because they don't freeze. I think I'll wait. On freezing, she also says that if you get out early in the morning, you can spray frost off with the hose and they will survive. Has anyone done this before?

So we are running late. I wanted the spot for the garden tilled and ready by April 15th. My husband kept saying wait...we can't plant until June 1st. So I took a deep breath and started going on and on and on about it until he pulled the tiller out, lol. Turned out, Mr. Garden Tiller needed repair. BOOO! So off that went. In the meantime, my brother in law passed away so there was an entire week spent with my sister. Yesterday we were finally able to get out and get our first deep breath of spring air...and first sun burn. Now it is half tilled. That tiller sure took my husband for a ride. The dirt looks good but we learned a few summers back that its not. Nothing grew well! But we've got a source for free composted horsie poo so we're on our way. I have it planned out for 12 12x12 square plots within the area, planted based off plant height. My peas will be planted seperately against a trellis and tomatoes will be by the house.

I have started tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, various squashs, pumpkins, melons, broccoli, and cabbage inside. I should have waited on the gourd type plants and started the tomatoes sooner but hopefully we'll see something out of them.

Has anyone here grown hubbard squash? Any tips. Mine never germinated. Maybe I have a bad batch of seeds. I started another batch so we'll see.
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Old 04-24-2009, 05:06 PM
 
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Heat wave is coming this weekend (22C = 71F) so one feels gardening fever... However, it will go down to normal April's 10C = 50F. Still, planted today the first bed with onions and lettuces. Just started tomatoes and peppers inside. The tradition says, frost can happen until the second half of May. I'm thinking of putting primitive boxes on my beds (a frame of 4 boards) and covering them with old windows, since these old windows have been laying around with no use. Having these constructions as temporary greenhouses.

Went to our new land, just cleared from huge trees, and figured that I can use a field there for potatoes and pumpkins. Lots of small roots still to overcome while digging, but potatoes as the first pioneer crop never let down. Will see if I can grow enough potatoes to last through winter. A 50-lbs bag of seed potatoes at a farmer's co-op is $20.
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Old 04-24-2009, 05:25 PM
 
Location: Florida (SW)
47,841 posts, read 21,871,995 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flik_becky View Post

Has anyone here grown hubbard squash? Any tips. Mine never germinated. Maybe I have a bad batch of seeds. I started another batch so we'll see.
I used to grow great blue hubbard....and they were very vigorous and large seedlings.
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Old 04-24-2009, 05:57 PM
 
Location: Somewhere out there
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flik_becky welcome to the gardening thread I am sure more will follow answering your questions. Myself I have never heard of spraying the "frost off plant" we tend to cover the plants up with old sheets if a frost is predicted. Where do you live that has a lot to do with when to plant and how.

nuala how many potaotes do you need over the winter? How do you plan on storing them please?
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Old 04-24-2009, 06:31 PM
 
4,253 posts, read 9,419,189 times
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Originally Posted by Jaxson View Post
nuala how many potaotes do you need over the winter? How do you plan on storing them please?
I come from a potato eaters culture . Just like the Chinese can't live without rice the staple, I can't live without potato the staple. Feeling right home looking at that Van Gough painting:

Art | DNA » Van Gogh and the Brush Stroke

Let's see... Back when I lived with my parents we grew about 100 buckets of potatoes - that would tide us (a family of 4) over to the next harvest, and we'd have our seed potatoes, too. A bucket of potatoes weighs about 15 lbs (?) - so it was 1500 lbs

My current family is 4, too, but we'll need less potatoes since hubby is a Canadian and not as much of a potato eater . Say, twice less than that. Calculating differently, we eat 10 lbs a week, (lots of potatoes in soups and stews and fried and mashed), 52 weeks a year, makes 500 lbs, plus account for some rot, plus seed potatoes - again 700 lbs, yes.

I will cut seed potatoes into sections with an eye a section - so a 50-lbs bag will yield... about half of my seeding needs? I'm not sure since it's the first time I'm aiming for the whole year's harvest. Will report later

One needs a root cellar, undoubtedly, for storage... Will dig it over the summer, while the harvest is ripening About 4'x5', 6' high, cemented walls and ceiling, cut into a hill and covered over with soil. A root cellar is a must! I don't know about other areas, root veggies increased 80% in price just this year here. Plus, I can store anything else here that doesn't really need a freezer, and the less I use the freezer, the greener it is

Here's a good book:

Amazon.com: Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables: Mike Bubel, Nancy Bubel: Books
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Old 04-24-2009, 08:07 PM
 
Location: Somewhere out there
18,287 posts, read 23,114,535 times
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Thanks nuala I will be anxious to hear about your results. We use to put out large gardens when I was growing up. They didn't even compare to the "truck patches" my mother had to help with when she was growing up. I am the only one of my sibs that gardens and cans each year. Have one cousin that still does but not much now since her family is grown & lives in other startes now.

I guesstimate my family eats about 250 # of potatoes per year now. Last year I canned up 52 quarts of potatoes but have bought 10# bags throughout the winter at the store as well.
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Old 04-24-2009, 08:15 PM
 
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Originally Posted by Jaxson View Post
I guesstimate my family eats about 250 # of potatoes per year now. Last year I canned up 52 quarts of potatoes but have bought 10# bags throughout the winter at the store as well.
I never heard of canned potatoes Canned just in water, or with salt? How do they look/feel, just like raw potatoes?
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Old 04-24-2009, 09:05 PM
 
Location: Somewhere out there
18,287 posts, read 23,114,535 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nuala View Post
I never heard of canned potatoes Canned just in water, or with salt? How do they look/feel, just like raw potatoes?
I dice up raw potatoes then fill the jars with hot water process for the time given. They are a great time saver on those busy nights to pop a jar open then use like you would boiled potatoes. They fry up quick, cream nicely, augratin and added to soups at the end of that cooking time.

I season them when I open and cook with them. Have you seen canned Irish potatoes at your grocery store? Same concept but home canning you have to cut them smaller than leaving them whole like some Irish potatoes are.
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Old 04-24-2009, 09:11 PM
 
4,253 posts, read 9,419,189 times
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No, I never noticed any canned potatoes in stores. Still trying to get my head around the concept I do see how they would be handy though.
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