^^^is that why you call it a "victory" garden?

it is a nice garden.

[Edited on September 9, 2014 at 2:34 PM. Reason : ]

9/9/2014 2:34:20 PM

I never made that connection but I suppose it's fitting. It can have a dual meaning.

I originally called it victory garden after the tradition of creating public/private community gardens during WWI & WWII to diversify food production & not be so dependent on the big agra system and/or government welfare system to provide for us.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_garden

9/9/2014 2:41:25 PM

Looks like the weeds are claiming victory.

9/9/2014 2:47:50 PM

serious question, not trolling, is that neighborhood government housing? asking only because it looks like the projects, but you are posting about your victory garden against government handouts.

9/9/2014 2:58:14 PM

For those of you who don't know what a victory garden is, I bet you haven't seen this landmark gardening show called 'The Victory Garden', whose production has been funded by you and your parents' taxpayer dollars since 1975. Some of the older episodes are real gems. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/victorygarden/


thegoldenrul, I would have been interested in how the garden looked in July or August. Did you take another vid or any pics? 40 pounds of squash is impressive, what in the world did you do with all of it?

Firstly, I liked the beds you built with bookcases and the old window greenhouses, though I find it a bit paradoxical that you were able to look past the nasty stuff lurking in varnish or particleboard. I also enjoyed the mayan paintings. I bet a few coats of paint (though I'd just go for a solid color, or light and dark shades of the same color) could spiffy up you pallet beds and other recycled pots, in case the HOA starts making noise again.

I'm guessing the carrots planted in the bottom of the container you didn't fill with soil weren't that great. If you fill it with potting mix next year or something very sandy, not just compost and clods of clay, you can get some good ones next year. the dwarf varieties grow fairly well in huge containers, apparently. They just have to be full of dirt.

And since I saw a few other examples, planting plants in the bottom of a tall pot also limits considerably the amount of light they get, at least until they are taller than the pot, so avoid that. The top of the soil should be around one to two inches from the top of the container, and no further, especially if you're starting seeds in there. Consider using well-draining rocks or creating some other form of porous false bottom if you have a container that is much higher than it is tall.

9/11/2014 9:16:03 AM

synapse, were you able to save your collard seedlings? Looks like cabbage white butterfly larvae, and yep, pyrethrin should do the trick against them. I've got some on my red cabbage too, but I don't care enough to do anything about it, because it's looking like I have 30 pounds of cabbage otherwise. Guess I'd better start eating it, or it's probably time to make some cabbage rolls, given how many tomatoes I have right now.

9/11/2014 9:27:51 AM

I'd heard of Victory Garden before in reference to the WWs, I was just wondering if his was in reference to the HOA.

I've gotten some more leafy vegetables in the ground, hope to have lots of salads, collards and kale soon.

9/11/2014 9:51:26 AM

Greenjay,

Unfortunately I did not find the time to do an update video when everything was growing full force. I had a hard enough job finding the time to manage it & make use of it all myself.

Two nights ago I just cooked the last big squash I grew this year, & have a couple medium sized left.

To answer your question about what I did with the rest of it, I spent a weekend making 13 quarts of squash soup (pressure canned & stored) + another 13 quarts of pickled squash. This is all stored for the winter. Could maybe provide a picture of the final product if you want.

Here's one of the bigger ones.


You are correct the carrots did not turn out well. Thanks for the tip about the soil - that is something I have been trying to refine & understand since the beginning. I learn from these mistakes as I'm sure you all do on an ongoing basis. This is part of the fun of gardening, right! A real lifetime process.

There really is no paradox with regards to chemical additives in the wood I used. It would only be paradoxical if I denied these things mattered. Instead I am fully aware that we live on a very toxic planet, thanks to Bernaysian "better living through chemistry" propaganda & our petroleum based society. We have been conditioned to believe that such things really have no material effect on our health. They definitely do. However it is nearly impossible to fully avoid environmental toxins. Even the rain water is tainted, but the point is we do the best we can with the resources at our disposal.

I agree painting the pallets & making things look more aesthetically pleasing would perhaps quell the anxiety of the HOA, but that could be a catch 22 because they are more sensitive to "permanent structures" than anything else. The more permanent it looks, the more irritable they become. I have thought about converting the pallet boxes to brick/stone raised boxes, which would be a better material for gardens & be more aesthetically pleasing but this would probably be seen as more of a "permanent structure" than the uglier pallet boxes. You see my quandary.

Anyway making the garden more aesthetically pleasing is something I have been doing over time regardless, but it should be known all of that is voluntary & I don't care one way or the other if they find it aesthetically pleasing. It's only a goal for my own satisfaction, not theirs. It's my backyard & thus none of their business.

[Edited on September 11, 2014 at 10:08 AM. Reason : image]

[Edited on September 11, 2014 at 10:20 AM. Reason : spelling]

9/11/2014 10:07:49 AM

I'm interested in where you planted the squash and how you prepared the soil. I bought several large pumpkins and squashes last year for halloween and ended up freezing it (the processing time on squash stuff is way too long, aintnobodygottimeforthat). I've been making pumpkin bread and all sorts of stuff with it, and there's still tons.


Planting in containers requires very light potting mediums that don't contain clay, silt, rocks (for most part) and other such inorganic soil components. Containers need a very specific balance of aeration, drainage and water retention that is not found in the soil. It really is best to use new potting mix each year in your containers, but on huge pots you can get away with only replacing half of it and trying to work the new stuff down into the pot. I now buy soil-free potting mix in large bulk bags (I get 30 lbs, but there's a 60 lb bag available here, you may be able to find a bulk source if you need more than one or two of those) that is not only sterilized, but inoculated with beneficial fungi, and I recommend the same to people investing a lot of plants and work into container gardening. Then next year, if the plants that grew in the container were healthy and the container didn't have a lot of standing water in it over the winter, I work the discarded potting mix it into my larger beds with the compost and other material, to inoculate the bed with the remaining fungi before planting. It's not free, but you get back what you put in with entrants.



Are you still composting? I got rid of my compost pile last year when my condo president started making comments about it being unsightly. Since we have a grass-cutting service, I didn't have enough greens to really keep it from looking like a pile of sticks. So, I know about the HOA trying to butt in. good luck keeping them off your back. it's troubling to see all of the anti-gardening and small scale farming legislation out there. I hope we'll all have time to speak up if the people who think every yard needs to look like a golf course start making noise in our towns and states.




I'm covered up in tomatoes, and there's a lot of green ones out of there.

9/11/2014 2:35:38 PM

All of that squash came from 1 or 2 huge plants. I mixed potting soil with composting & vermicompost. Probably 2:1:1 ratio.

This vine actually grew around my pallet boxes & began climbing into the nearby trees! So at its peak there were 3-5 pound squash hanging from my trees.

I still compost.

Nice maters! Earlier this summer I was overridden with cherry tomatoes, but less on the beefsteak although I had a few. We made a delicious tomato jam with the extras.

[Edited on September 11, 2014 at 3:42 PM. Reason : maters]

9/11/2014 3:41:07 PM

How's everyone's gardens?

I'll be having salads and collards and kale soon. May be a while longer before brussel sprouts.

10/2/2014 12:43:26 PM

UNCC fall plant sale this Fri/Sat. If I show up early Friday morning to get my pick of the pitchers and see someone walking off with the one I want, I just might gut them.

Some asshole showed up a little after me last year and picked up every goddamn carnivorous plant they had (minus any Nepenthes). At least I got my white-top.

10/13/2014 12:26:49 AM

Back in May or June we planted a Rosemary in one of those windowbox planters. I've since brought it inside for the winter (we live in Boone, so it's already been in the 40s a bit). Is there a way that I can hope to keep it alive inside until next May?

10/13/2014 10:23:54 AM

can't some rosemary last through the winter? I see a lot of annual rosemary in the piedmont.

10/15/2014 9:46:47 AM

This is for Boone. We may as well live in Antarctica.

10/15/2014 4:10:54 PM

Got my red leucophylla at the plant sale. Bought one rosea and one purpurea cultivar for a friend. Got a couple new Nepenthes on impulse, along with a leucophylla/minor hybrid (which I'm kinda regretting).

10/18/2014 4:24:23 PM

so is anybody doing a fall/winter garden?

10/27/2014 1:22:59 PM

The only gardening I'm doing for the next 6 months is the indoor kind. I got about 20 lbs of green tomatoes I have to do something with.


This picture represents about a 5th? maybe less, of my plant collection... in numbers. The big boys are getting their last haircut and bug spraying tomorrow, as it will freeze before the end of the week.

10/28/2014 5:30:08 PM

I'm kinda pissed that most Lowes stores where I am are really skimping down on houseplants. It's really hard to find a Lowes or Home Depot with a greenhouse anymore.

I should be harvesting some Sarracenia seeds soon. Doesn't look like my rubra were fertilized, but the minor and 'boob tube' look like they should have some seeds. Next year will be bangin. Almost all of my plants should flower, including my flytraps. Oh, and I have a shitload of sundew seeds.

Over the winter, I'll be working on my vivariums and my tropical pitchers.

10/29/2014 9:42:06 PM

Are you looking for something in particular? The plant sections of the hardware store might be able to order stuff by request. You can at least ask if they have a shipment schedule, so you can get fresher plants. Grocery stores may be able to do the same, and Walmarts sometimes have an interesting indoor plant selection. Whatever is still alive is certainly tolerant of drought and indoor lighting.

My guess is that seasonal stuff takes over until at least January, though. Even the short-lived plants can be amusing in winter... just look for the specials (and bugs, before you bring them home), and think of them as ultimately disposable. If poinsettias bore you, try to keep an xmas-tree-shaped rosemary topiary or a wintergreen plant alive until spring, that's enough of a challenge for any plant geek. (I'd put some newspaper under it to catch dead leaves, just in case). And in January, start looking for anthuriums, cyclamens, and little red roses for Valentine's Day. Cheap orchids are best in February and March, and there are good bromeliads to be had then, and forced bulbs.



http://plantsarethestrangestpeople.blogspot.com/

I dunno if you've seen this blog, but some of the entries are really amusing, and while I'm not sure if I agree with all the assessments, it's probably useful as a rough idea of how difficult your potential roommate will be.

11/3/2014 12:17:10 PM

So I plan on building a little greenroom in my garage to hopefully save some potted plants over the winter. What do I need to know/purchase as far as grow lighting and heat lighting?

11/3/2014 2:45:48 PM

I wasn't really looking for much from the home improvement stores, but the offering at the nearest Lowe's is exceptionally disappointing. I normally like grabbing a few of the cheap $3 plants to start in shorter vivariums, which I eventually either make cuttings from or transplant to larger enclosures.

I ended up just getting a shitload of bromeliads for the tanks I'm working on. Aside from that, I'll make some cuttings from various plants I've owned for a while to get roots going. Not the easiest thing to get going this time of year.

11/5/2014 7:15:13 PM

Those are some beautiful hydrangeas

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

11/18/2014 4:09:03 PM

Someone gonna make the 2015 thread? I'm too lazy.

If anyone in the Charlotte/Lake Norman area is interested in a few houseplants, PM me. I have several Ficus, some Schefflera, and some Monstera I need to get rid of. Lots of Pothos, as well. One of my Ficus is pretty huge, probably nearing 10-15 ft in its planter. I typically use it to make cuttings, but it's growing too large and my nomadic lifestyle can't handle it anymore.

I might try to get some ghost pepper seed started soon. I'll probably do some habaneros again this year, too. In the meanwhile, my carnivorous plants are doing pretty well. Should start to see lots of flowers developing in the next couple of months. As for my Nepenthes, I'm gonna try to make some cuttings as soon as I can find my rooting hormone. I scored a young seed-grown N. x hookeriana a few months ago that is growing well. Can't wait to see its pitchers after it has grown a bit!

Also, I'm looking forward to taking a job in Francis Marion National Forest next month. So many pitcher bogs to explore!

2/1/2015 7:44:34 PM

My collards, kale and brussel sprouts are still going.

2/2/2015 10:50:09 AM