2022 Gardening Thread

Thanks… I was wondering about possible pest aspect.

I guess if you don’t bury any protein or fat (like salmon skins or cheese rinds), the plant scraps should be OK. But it would be a PITA to keep 2 compost pails in my kitchen to separate the scrap streams.

I do know to avoid meat etc for home composting (and assumed same for trench composting). My “lid” for home composting pail on kitchen counter is a plate - that’s where i put the coffee/filter for near term transport for the yard. But you are right - having dual collections could be a pain.

I have 2 compost bins for my kitchen scraps, plus I cover them with dirt or clay from my garden. Then I put something heavy to keep the lid down, no rats so far. In the past on my previous garden, I did find some, not on this one.
My daughter texted me pictures of my garden and told her where to pick the melons and vegs. Here is her haul yesterday. Melons from my compost, they are huge.

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I hope to be able to grow this soon! :slight_smile:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/17/business-food/purple-tomato-gmo-scn-trnd/index.html

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I love purple tomatoes, not sure I will get a Black Krim this year.

As long as we are talking tomatoes, this was my flavor winner this year. I could not eat them fast enough. I would split in half, sprinkle with sea salt and munch them all down!

A beautiful blush color and very sweet tasting. About twice the size of a typical grape tomato.

https://www.rareseeds.com/sunrise-bumblebee-tomato

image

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Also getting to be that time of year (well, in the next month or so) in my zone anyway (6) to plant the garlic. I’d really encourage anyone who hasn’t grown garlic to try some! It is the easiest thing ever to do, nearly all hands off. Don’t use grocery store garlic - get a good head of garlic from a farmer’s market- each clove (planted “root” end down 3 inches or so in the soil after you’ve cleaned your current garden out) will yield a head of garlic which here I pick just after the 4th of July.

I often plant my cloves a couple of inches from the perimeter of my raised bed. Doesn’t really take that much room away from the bulk of the garden. Once I pick it in July, I then plant carrot seed - which I’m now picking some carrots!

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We plant garlic in three 4x8 raised beds every October, harvest in mid-July and usually have enough to get through to late spring. This year I’m adding another bed to avoid having to ever buy grocery store garlic again :slight_smile:

Once the garlic is harvested I amend the bed, wait a few weeks and then plant all the root crops - radishes and turnips and parsnips and rutabagas… it’s a great rotation.

We buy from Filaree Garlic Farm but you need to place your order in early spring; she sells out fast.

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Is it just me or do others avoid Genetically modified seeds? I always find and use heirloom or anything that is non-GMO. Has been tough the last few years as more people have picked up gardening. But there are also some great farms selling unusual varieties.

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Not all GMOs are created equal. People use this term too broadly, but by definition, a GMO requires insertion of a gene from an unrelated plant or animal. There are gene-edited plants where a naturally present gene is turned off using common DNA-manipulating techniques (plenty of examples; for instance, soybeans that have lower levels of certain unsaturated fatty acids making their oil more suitable for higher temperature cooking). This purple tomato is a GMO because the genes responsible for the production of anthocyanins came from snapdragons, I believe. So not that bizarre! But there are some weirdo plants like the pothos plant with some rabbit genes in it which was created by one local prof… :slight_smile: I would be perfectly fine with that purple tomato, but I would not want to eat any pothos, GMO or not. :slight_smile:

So apparently the purple tomato seeds will be available next year.

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I love heirloom anything, even for roses and peonies, and not just vegetable seeds. Not only that heirloom seeds are generally cheaper.

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I didn’t grow any heirloom tomatoes this year. I went to my local green grocer (which tends to be overpriced) and found locally grown heirlooms (Brandywine). I was really surprised at checkout when I saw they were $7.95 per pound!!

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They are pricey, that’s why I grow them. I hope I have a Brandywine out there.

I don’t consider Brandywine or Black Krim
true “heirlooms.” These seeds are sold everywhere… the more obscure varieties, mostly of southern US or old Soviet origin - yes. I will be growing different ones next year. Altai Orange goes into the “repeat plie” (as does Black Krim because it is so tasty).

Have to say that my experiment with a Costco hothouse-grown tomato that sprouted during storage was a success. I threw it into a pot with dirt, and the bunch of tomato plants that grew produced fruit that was way tastier than their parent. :slight_smile:

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The Black Krim are my favorite!

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They are very tasty, indeed! :tomato:

I love tomatoes and some of the local heirlooms are great ( tested in the region). I don’t use GMO seeds. Europe has banned lots of GMO foods and there are good reasons why. Anyone can look up and see what some of the issues have been and who’s banned what. I like to get my seeds from seed banks.

@DrGoogle123 like you, I also use heirloom roses. I’ll wait a long while and pay a pretty penny for them. The ones I put in this year are doing well (all but one heirloom rosebush on the end). I hope it comes back as it’s part of several grouped together by color and shape. Will be hard to replace.

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Melons from my compost are pretty tasty. Today my daughter picked a huge watermelon, I hope it’s edible. It’s hard to know whether is ready to be picked from afar. But I told them to pick the melon if they come to my house. She sent me a picture of her roommate holding a huge melon looking happy.
Here is a picture of one melon she gave her employee. She said it tasted good, nice texture.

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Looks huge!

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