Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, Feb. 11

Hello to our gardeners, putterers, adventurers and winter dreamers! It is almost Valentine's Day, which means that our thoughts turn to heart-shaped things like oxheart tomatoes. These tomatoes, as a class, are meatier than most tomatoes, with intriguing flavor and generally with few seeds than standard tomatoes. The one above is Sherry's Sweet Heart.

6-10 oz. fruit, Some are Larger. Large Pink Heart. Beautiful. Meaty, dense fleshed pink heart tomato. Good production, Mid-season. Plant has droopy wild foliage common with hearts. Very good flavor, well balanced, sweet-acid.

A seller at a farmer's market near us puts the droopy-leaved heart tomato plants under the counter because people think that they're sick.

I generally prefer to buy flowering plants instead of cut flowers for Valentines Day. But here are some ideas for the best flowers for Valentines Day. There's an attractive dried arrangement included. Bet some of our putterers could create something similar.

Winter Art

Is this how things look where you live?

A milkweed sunset in Nebraska.
Midwest Lurker

Gardens of The Horde

From 40 Miles North:
The osteospermum is going wild

Wow! Bright! Reminds me of daffodils. AKA African Daisies.

Here's one cultivar: Voltage Yellow.

I'm more accustomed to the primarily magenta and white ones, like the ones Neal in Israel grows. He sent in some with more unusual shapes and coloring last year:

Note the visitor:

Pinwheel:

Albino:

I love this creamy-colored one with the dark center:

Edible Gardening/Putting Things By

Avocados on sale? Have some on trees? 70 recipes.

Story Time

There's a little story to go with the photo above under the category ANGELS UNAWARE:

Mamma B
When I was a tyke, Papaw used to take me to a local watering hole called "Mamma B's." Mamma B was a, shall I say, well-upholstered black woman who could cook anything. She had secret knowledge about simmering things in gravy that would even make a tire iron tender. . .

And a sort of related quote:

"Being a farmer is like playing seven-card stud against God, knowing he's holding all the aces." ~ My Papaw

Puttering

Umbrella wreath for spring

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

If you would like to send photos, stories, links, etc. for the Saturday Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, the address is:

ktinthegarden at g mail dot com

Remember to include the nic or name by which you wish to be known at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.

Week in Review

What has changed since last week's thread? Saturday Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, Feb. 4

Any thoughts or questions?

I closed the comments on this post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.

Posted by: K.T. at 01:13 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Slow loading images.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at February 11, 2023 01:15 PM (70LVe)

2 Oh a first too!

Hi KT!
Thanks!

I'll go fetch them.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at February 11, 2023 01:16 PM (70LVe)

3 Fetched.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at February 11, 2023 01:16 PM (70LVe)

4 7 car stud against God - LOL!

people around here are finishing cleaning up all the tree carnage from the Great Ice Storm about 10 days ago. Huge piles of branches in front of every house here!

Posted by: Tom Servo at February 11, 2023 01:18 PM (r46W7)

5 Good afternoon Greenthumbs
Only to report my Daffodils are 3 inches, hope spring gets here before the Groundhog said it would

Posted by: Skip at February 11, 2023 01:19 PM (xhxe8)

6 Goatheads!!

aggressive and hardy invasive species, T. terrestris is widely known as a noxious weed because of its small woody fruit - the bur - having long sharp and strong spines which easily penetrate surfaces, such as bare feet or thin shoes of crop workers and other pedestrians, **the rubber of bicycle tires**

Like yesterday on the way to the market.

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions at February 11, 2023 01:19 PM (28IDa)

7 That Umbrella Wreath is adorable

Posted by: Skip at February 11, 2023 01:19 PM (xhxe8)

8 Glad I didn't pick up the tomato plants I drooled over at Costco last week, snow scheduled for Tuesday night here.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at February 11, 2023 01:21 PM (70LVe)

9 Is this thing still on? Added a Valentine's link that I forgot.

Posted by: KT at February 11, 2023 01:21 PM (rrtZS)

10 Love the milkweed-sunset a great photo.

And those flower pictures are beautiful.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at February 11, 2023 01:22 PM (70LVe)

11 From Boise area: Lows 25-37 F, highs 45-50. It's hard to avoid being fooled by balmy February weather, but I am holding firm.

More leaf-raking, and composting/throwing out. Husband's been doing some pruning, on fruit trees and on tall wild rose hedge.

I cut down some dead chrysanthemums, and found tiny sprouts underneath. Also spotted the first hyacinth tip, and more crocus tips. Probably time to use the leaf blower to get leaves off that bed, so the dark soil can absorb solar energy.

I had some garlic cloves sprouting, so decided to try planting them in yogurt cups indoors to see what happens.

Posted by: Pat* at February 11, 2023 01:26 PM (EGzLc)

12 It's now time to go to the garden store to select bushes I can plant in my 4 large concrete planters that have taken the place of my dead hedges. Last year I planted bushes in two of the planters but they never grew any bigger or bloomed any of the white flowers they were supposed to have. Though they still seem healthy.

Any suggestions? They have to be heat and frost tolerant.

Posted by: polynikes at February 11, 2023 01:28 PM (qnsfO)

13 Got a droopy-leaf plant indoors under lights right now. It's turned out a couple of (very tasty!) fruit over the winter, but the main reason I've been keeping it is to get a jump start on the spring. I figure if I put out a mature plant, it should start producing long before new plants will.

At least that's the theory. We'll see how it works out.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 11, 2023 01:31 PM (bW8dp)

14 Posted by: polynikes

How large a plant do you want?
Pink Lady (Rhaphiolepis: Indian Hawthorne) is pretty.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at February 11, 2023 01:32 PM (70LVe)

15 Beautiful tommytoes, now where's the bread, salt, pepper, and Hellman's mayo?

Posted by: Eromero at February 11, 2023 01:32 PM (1vBNQ)

16 Great shots from Neal in Israel. My favorite are the Pinwheels.

Posted by: 40 Miles North at February 11, 2023 01:33 PM (uWF4x)

17 Drone video of the earthquake split in Turkey. Gardening-related because it happened in an orchard or olive grove that you can see, now, on opposite sides of the huge gash in the landscape...

Citizen Free Press @CitizenFreePres
The earth ripped apart in Hatay, Turkey.

100 ft deep and 650 ft wide...

Locals say they heard the sound of a loud explosion before the earthquake.

https://tinyurl.com/5ehs7mnu

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at February 11, 2023 01:33 PM (Vwz3I)

18 hiya

Posted by: JT at February 11, 2023 01:34 PM (T4tVD)

19 Its not warm out thar.

Don't let the sunshine fool ya.

Posted by: JT at February 11, 2023 01:34 PM (T4tVD)

20 >> 6 the bur - having long sharp and strong spines which easily
>> penetrate surfaces, such as... **the rubber of bicycle tires**

Damn. That's worse than burr clover.

Posted by: 40 Miles North at February 11, 2023 01:37 PM (uWF4x)

21 Ohhhh! That umbrella wreath! I am making one of those for sure. I love it!

Posted by: Piper at February 11, 2023 01:38 PM (ZdaMQ)

22 an orchard or olive grove that you can see, now, on opposite sides of the huge gash in the landscape...

100 ft deep and 650 ft wide...
Posted by: andycanuck

Near the end you see 'island olives' just need a dam.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at February 11, 2023 01:38 PM (70LVe)

23 I got my seed order the other day. It's still too early to start the plants indoors. Maybe in about two weeks.

Posted by: huerfano at February 11, 2023 01:39 PM (dTFZY)

24 How large a plant do you want?
Pink Lady (Rhaphiolepis: Indian Hawthorne) is pretty.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at February 11, 2023 01:32 PM (70LVe)

The planters are almost 3ft tall and 2ft square. I'd like the bush to cover the width.

Posted by: polynikes at February 11, 2023 01:40 PM (qnsfO)

25 https://tinyurl.com/5ehs7mnu

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at February 11, 2023 01:33 PM (Vwz3I)

Wow...I mean...wow.

Posted by: BignJames at February 11, 2023 01:41 PM (AwYPR)

26 How large a plant do you want?
Pink Lady (Rhaphiolepis: Indian Hawthorne) is pretty.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at February 11, 2023 01:32 PM (70LVe)

I think you just selected my bushes.

Thanks !

Posted by: polynikes at February 11, 2023 01:42 PM (qnsfO)

27 My immediate puttering project, right here at this desk is sorting drill bits. I was at a local swap meet this morning, and bought a small tub chock full of small drill bits.
Some are brand new, others are dull. Many are marked in fractional inches, some are number drills, and some are unmarked. No letter drills, so far. Putting a masking tape label with the size on each one, so I can sort them into a drill index later. The unmarked drills, I am measuring with a vernier caliper, and recording the size in millimeters, because it's much easier to read a vernier scale in tenths than in 128ths. And this computer has a calculator in it. Got a nice Craftsman fractional drill gauge, too, for a buck.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at February 11, 2023 01:43 PM (tkR6S)

28 here, you get thru winter with booze, wood, Robert Thorton and Basil Besler

but mostly wood cuz it's cheaper than da udder

Posted by: REDACTED at February 11, 2023 01:43 PM (us2H3)

29 One bike shop had a mason jar filled with goathead thorns from repaired punctures. They are all too common all around here (San Fernando valley).

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions at February 11, 2023 01:43 PM (28IDa)

30 Locals say they heard the sound of a loud explosion before the earthquake.

https://tinyurl.com/5ehs7mnu
Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at February 11, 2023 01:33 PM (Vwz3I)

wow - I had always thought it was a really big deal when a fault line moved 3 feet!

Posted by: Tom Servo at February 11, 2023 01:44 PM (r46W7)

31 Pink Lady (Rhaphiolepis: Indian Hawthorne) is pretty.
--
The planters are almost 3ft tall and 2ft square. I'd like the bush to cover the width.
Posted by: polynikes

After a few years you might have to prune them; but, it looks like the plants would fit your needs.
https://is.gd/S6J9C9

They are pretty plants and when in bloom they have beautiful pink flowers.

I don't know your zone (and if you've told me I forgot).

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at February 11, 2023 01:44 PM (70LVe)

32 I see you might have found your plant!
Congrats!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at February 11, 2023 01:46 PM (70LVe)

33 I'm starting from seed this year, for the first time (other than things like lettuce and carrots).

How soon should I start seedlings indoors?

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at February 11, 2023 01:46 PM (FNZRi)

34 I still have small piles of leaves around, maybe in a month will get around to gathering them into the compost bin.

Posted by: Skip at February 11, 2023 01:47 PM (xhxe8)

35 Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at February 11, 2023 01:44 PM (70LVe)

Houston

Posted by: polynikes at February 11, 2023 01:47 PM (qnsfO)

36 Beautiful pictures.

Now back to lurking.

Posted by: Michael the Texan at February 11, 2023 01:48 PM (WjVlZ)

37 I'd like the bush to cover the width.
Posted by: polynikes

the bush covers the girth

no

Posted by: Paolo at February 11, 2023 01:48 PM (us2H3)

38 aww, the milkweed pic takes me back to the beautiful time that we had enough ground to let an acre go wild. Lots of milkweed there, which of course, brought the monarchs.

Posted by: kallisto at February 11, 2023 01:51 PM (dCxaZ)

39 Awww! I like that spring umbrella decoration!

Posted by: Emmie at February 11, 2023 01:51 PM (Emce2)

40 How soon should I start seedlings indoors?
Posted by: Bitter Clinger at February 11, 2023 01:46 PM (FNZRi)

The seed packet generally gives that info based on last frost date. Your local garden center should be able to tell you when the frost date is and if you can fudge a little.

Posted by: Emmie at February 11, 2023 01:56 PM (Emce2)

41 Avocados are indeed on sale here in Mesa. I paid 29 cents each for two in Aldi this week. Eggs are still over $5 per dozen, but they're charging the same price for the basic white eggs as for the free range organic. The latter in the grocery stores are more like $10.

Both the Duper Bowl and the Phoenix Open are here this weekend. But they happen a ways away from Mesa.

Oh, and oddly enough the basic eggs are usually sold out by 4 p.m. in Aldi, but the free range organic are still on the shelf.

Posted by: Gordon Scott at February 11, 2023 01:56 PM (3y/Mo)

42 I generally prefer to buy flowering plants instead of cut flowers for Valentines Day.

My neighbors are getting a six pack of Yards golden ale and some fruity-flavored fizzy water, but it's not for Valentine's Day, it's for Lunar New Year.

Posted by: kallisto at February 11, 2023 01:57 PM (dCxaZ)

43 >>How soon should I start seedlings indoors?

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at February 11, 2023 01:46 PM

About 6-8 weeks before your outdoor planting date. I'm going with 8 weeks this year because I can't hardly wait and I'm going to try to get them in the ground much earlier than last year. I had cataract surgery and they told me not to lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk or bend over for two weeks, which is not possible when you are tilling and planting.

Posted by: huerfano at February 11, 2023 01:58 PM (dTFZY)

44 Locals say they heard the sound of a loud explosion before the earthquake.

https://tinyurl.com/5ehs7mnu
Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at February 11, 2023 01:33 PM (Vwz3I)

Looks like an extensional fracture to me. No obvious vertical or strike-slip movement to be seen.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at February 11, 2023 02:01 PM (tkR6S)

45 the indian plums (native Oemleria) is starting to break bud, it is the first native plant to flower in the Spring, although the neighbor's witch hazel is also blooming today.

I planted them to try to bring in the native pollinators for my trees.

Other than that, my blackcap raspberries are starting to put out leaves but that doesn't really signify anything since it is almost evergreen anyways. I planted it last Spring and I got one berry off it. They fruit on second year canes, so I have the long canes from last year strung on some wires to see if I will have more fruit this year.

Posted by: Kindltot at February 11, 2023 02:05 PM (xhaym)

46 21 Ohhhh! That umbrella wreath! I am making one of those for sure. I love it!
Posted by: Piper at February 11, 2023 01:38 PM (ZdaMQ)

Between that wreath and the elephant ear story, I am in a tremendously good mood today!!

Posted by: Moki at February 11, 2023 02:06 PM (JrN/x)

47 I love witch hazel! The gnarled, yellow flowers smell divine. And it's such a useful plant as well! I had a very healthy plant in front of my house when I was married. It usually flowered in February.

We also had an Indian plum. The hummingbirds loved it when it flowered in March.

Posted by: nurse ratched at February 11, 2023 02:09 PM (U2p+3)

48 My grandparents on my Mom's side were called MamaB and Papa. MamaB's kitchen was small and unfancy, but some of the best fried chicken and fried cornbread on the planet came out of there.

Posted by: fd at February 11, 2023 02:17 PM (J66WN)

49 Tom Servo--

That definitely describes our neighborhood. We have a lot of old native Texas live oaks and we were hit hard by the ice storm. If you drive down the street, it looks like we've all built tree-based barricades around our yards.

We got lucky with our clean up. Neighbor across the street recommended his yard guys who had just finished clearing his place. They were great! We'd spent 4 days and had cleared about 1/3 to 1/2 of our yard. Those guys showed up Monday morning at 8:00 and were done by 10:30. So relieved that's done.

Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at February 11, 2023 02:22 PM (fTtFy)

50 Looks like an extensional fracture to me. No obvious vertical or strike-slip movement to be seen.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at February 11, 2023 02:01 PM (tkR6S)

Ok, for those of us who are retards, looking at the picture you mean that the earth just split apart away from the other edge instead of two plates rubbing along each other laterally or one going down while the other went up?

Posted by: Aetius451AD Work Laptop at February 11, 2023 02:22 PM (zZu0s)

51 The umbrella wreath is cute

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at February 11, 2023 02:24 PM (fUnHJ)

52 When I bicycled in the San Joaquin valley, we bought these plastic coated wires that ran over the top of the tire. It prevented a lot of punctures.

It looks like I have irises and daffodils that survived the move! Still trying to figure out what I can do as far as a garden here.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at February 11, 2023 02:29 PM (4IUUf)

53 Ok, for those of us who are retards, looking at the picture you mean that the earth just split apart away from the other edge instead of two plates rubbing along each other laterally or one going down while the other went up?
Posted by: Aetius451AD Work Laptop at February 11, 2023 02:22 PM (zZu0s)

Exactly. The hunk of continental crust is simply stretched until it snaps. Commonly seen in the Basin and Range Province of western North America, like Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and Idaho. Other possibility? There is a dome of intrusive rock welling up from great depth, stretching the crust above it, and causing such cracks. Like you see in the top of a cake that is rising.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at February 11, 2023 02:34 PM (tkR6S)

54 Exactly. The hunk of continental crust is simply stretched until it snaps.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at February 11, 2023 02:34 PM (tkR6S)

Which could be the source of the 'explosion' noise the people report, right?

Posted by: Aetius451AD Work Laptop at February 11, 2023 02:36 PM (zZu0s)

55 Posted by: Aetius451AD Work Laptop at February 11, 2023 02:22 PM (zZu0s)

And no, that is not a dumb question!

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at February 11, 2023 02:36 PM (tkR6S)

56 Which could be the source of the 'explosion' noise the people report, right?
Posted by: Aetius451AD Work Laptop at February 11, 2023 02:36 PM (zZu0s)

Probably just the rupture of millions of tons of rock. But maybe there was some trapped gas at depth? I know diddly squat about the geology of Turkey.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at February 11, 2023 02:39 PM (tkR6S)

57 Locals say they heard the sound of a loud explosion before the earthquake.

when I was a kid I woke up to a loud BOOM and then my bed started to shake. It was around the time The Exorcist came out and for a moment I wondered if the devil was in the room.

then I fell back asleep. The next morning my dad told me an earthquake had struck right across the DE river, it was around 4 magnitude.

But I heard no explosion sound from the 2011 quake, maybe because that one epicenter was VA.

Posted by: kallisto at February 11, 2023 02:43 PM (dCxaZ)

58 The 2011 quake was a weird feeling. I was seated at work, my chair was on wheels so it started to move. Then I felt like I was riding a wave, except I was on solid ground, and I could feel the energy coming up through the soles of my feet. I walked over to the boss's office and asked him if we'd just had an earthquake.

My family lived through much more serious ones in Italy, but this one in Turkey is just scary.

Posted by: kallisto at February 11, 2023 02:46 PM (dCxaZ)

59 The Bible says 'the earth groans as a woman with birth pangs'.

Posted by: Eromero at February 11, 2023 02:48 PM (1vBNQ)

60 Never been in a earthquake that I knew of, either asleep or unaware of.

Posted by: Skip at February 11, 2023 02:54 PM (xhxe8)

61 Pixy, apologies if I'm late in noticing but thanks for taking care of the dead minx comments links. The change works much better.

Posted by: crasey at February 11, 2023 02:55 PM (IKX5a)

62 Well, there's a first for me. Just found a drill bit marked, quite clearly: 2.15 mm, .0846 (inch).

There has to be several hundred of these little guys. Not bad for ten bucks.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at February 11, 2023 02:57 PM (tkR6S)

63 I was in a summer research position in Pasadena when the area had the moderate 1991 earthquake.

Was weird feeling the floor rolling as we stood in the hallway for the few minutes.

Posted by: PaleRider at February 11, 2023 03:02 PM (3cGpq)

64 Score AOP. Someday I need to buy more small drill bits for pilot holes. I've busted so many over the years that I have to go searching the smaller boxes of drill bits as the big set only has too tiny ones and too big ones left.

Posted by: PaleRider at February 11, 2023 03:05 PM (3cGpq)

65 and on the subject of the Irish, my potatoes are loving this rain and cold. I finally, after several years of meaning to, got my seed potatoes in the ground at the end of January as we are supposed to do down here.

I'm expecting a bumper crop.
Posted by: G'rump928(c) at February 11, 2023 12:04 PM (yQpMk)

Posted by: G'rump928(c) repeats himself at February 11, 2023 03:07 PM (yQpMk)

66 Hand-sharpening a bit on a bench grinder or belt sander is very rewarding.

Posted by: Eromero at February 11, 2023 03:09 PM (1vBNQ)

67 You must be quite far south G'rumpy. Taters got planted in May when I was a kid in ND. Maybe they could go in in April here in CO but I've never planted them that early.

Posted by: PaleRider at February 11, 2023 03:09 PM (3cGpq)

68 I had a Drill Doctor, Eromero, and it worked pretty well for sharpening. But I left it on the bench in Minneapolis when I moved.

Posted by: Gordon Scott at February 11, 2023 03:11 PM (3y/Mo)

69 Score AOP. Someday I need to buy more small drill bits for pilot holes. I've busted so many over the years that I have to go searching the smaller boxes of drill bits as the big set only has too tiny ones and too big ones left.
Posted by: PaleRider at February 11, 2023 03:05 PM (3cGpq)

That's why I snagged these. They look like discards or floor sweepings from a factory. Some are brand new, and some broken or dull. But they can be sharpened. The hardware stores could make money by selling "replacement sets" of small drills under 3/16", by 64ths, to replace those broken out of large sets. Say 3 of each size. Might cut into the sale of complete sets a little, but it would be steady repeat business.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at February 11, 2023 03:12 PM (tkR6S)

70 I'd probably make the bit duller if I tried that Eremero. But when I was needing to drill in my steel trailer to replace the tack door I did think to ask my neighbor if he had the drill sharpener tool. He had access to one at his work and sharpened the 3 I was using for me.

Posted by: PaleRider at February 11, 2023 03:13 PM (3cGpq)

71 You must be quite far south G'rumpy. Taters got planted in May when I was a kid in ND. Maybe they could go in in April here in CO but I've never planted them that early.
Posted by: PaleRider at February 11, 2023 03:09 PM (3cGpq)

If I go much further south I will fall into the Gulf of Mexico. Allegedly, we can get two potato crops a year, planting one at the end of January, and a fall crop in late August. I'm going to try that this year.

Posted by: G'rump928(c) at February 11, 2023 03:13 PM (yQpMk)

72 Bought a new Drill Doctor from a co-worker, worked great but think need to get a new sharpening stone wheel, went through all my bits ( hundreds of them) twice already

Posted by: Skip at February 11, 2023 03:19 PM (xhxe8)

73 I would love to go to Israel to visit the Holy Land, and also to visit Neal's garden. Always such beautiful pictures.

Posted by: bluebell at February 11, 2023 03:19 PM (pTb/Z)

74 this drill doctor

this is about me

si ?

Posted by: Paolo at February 11, 2023 03:23 PM (us2H3)

75 I would love to go to Israel to visit the Holy Land, and also to visit Neal's garden. Always such beautiful pictures.
Posted by: bluebell at February 11, 2023 03:19 PM (pTb/Z)

I really have no plans to vacation outside the country but if I did the Holy Land would be on the top of my list as well as Greece. Even though it's just a regular field bordering the Malian Gulf (Mediterranean ) I'd like to stand at The Gates of Fire / Thermopylae.

Posted by: polynikes at February 11, 2023 03:26 PM (qnsfO)

76 Central Florida here... still cleaning up the stuff that died or died back in the Christmas freeze. Taking the opportunity to clean out all the beds and trim everything down to the quick.

Taking on the big tangled bougainvillea today. I'm going to be torn to ribbons. Pray for me.

Posted by: weew at February 11, 2023 03:26 PM (+m+uH)

77 Around here the suggestion is to plant the first planting middle of March, about St. Patrick's day. It is generally muddy, but digging the trenches and putting in the compost and potatoes lets the ridges in between dry a bit so when you start getting greenery that needs to be hilled up, you have dryer soil to work with, not mud.
The last 10 years or so I have been planting in a row down one side of the garden, this year I am going to plant a block instead to see if I can get better growth while, for a change, I water. Some areas got enough overspray water last year to give me giant potatoes, and other areas didn't give me potatoes any larger than a hacky-sack

Posted by: Kindltot at February 11, 2023 03:32 PM (xhaym)

78 "Never been in a earthquake that I knew of, either asleep or unaware of."

I felt the Northridge quake. In Oceanside about 6 in the morning The bed was rocking and my first thought was "Hmm. (my wife) is pleasuring herself?

Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at February 11, 2023 03:46 PM (TXFi7)

79 Last year I bought taro roots and planted them in a grow box that I had inherited. I actually got taro, but not lots. Taro needs lots of water and lots of sun, and I am not in a tropical area, but it is doable. After all, peppers are tropical too, but they raise them commercially here.

This year, I am planning on buying a couple of watering troughs and filling them with dirt and about 6 inches of water on top, to plant taro in them instead. I think with some top cover and placing them against the south side of my woodshed, I can get better growth, especially with the water moderating the cooler evenings during the summer.
I am also considering getting some native arrowroot for the troughs too.

Posted by: Kindltot at February 11, 2023 03:48 PM (xhaym)

80 Pets is up. I thought I'd seen it announced but now I don't.

Posted by: PaleRider at February 11, 2023 03:49 PM (3cGpq)

81 Last year was a bust. I built an elevated 4 x 8 planter box. 25 cubic feet of potting soil and mulch.

Then I went on a cross-country trip from early March to late April. Missed planting time. Came home and planted tomatoes, peppers, and onions. A bit too late.

Then I over watered them. Root rot.

I am staying home this Spring and will get a friend to come over while I am gone for a week in early May.

I am still thinking of growing tobacco instead of tomatoes.

Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at February 11, 2023 03:50 PM (TXFi7)

82 Got to step away from the drill sorting. I am getting cross-eyed.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at February 11, 2023 04:05 PM (tkR6S)

83 How the Gujarati prepare elephant ears:
https://tinyurl.com/ycknnyfn

Posted by: Mitch in the kitchen at February 11, 2023 04:15 PM (zMYGS)

84 Skip, IIRC, the manufacturer rep told me that, depending on the sizes of course, that one might get up to 1000 sharpenings before needing to replace the stone.

"Up to."

Posted by: Gordon Scott at February 12, 2023 12:20 AM (v9KcC)

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