Dr. Greenthumb

[Anna Michele]

It is time to save your eggs shells! Young tomato plants often need calcium.

Rinse them well! In fresh water let them soak. You may even crush a few. Water your young tomato plants with that egg shell water.

We noticed our tomatoes would experience huge growth spurts, bloom spurts, or be heavily loaded with fruit. At each stage of development our tomato plants need a boost. We believe a boost of egg shell-compost tea helps prevent BER (bloom end rot).

BER is a dark rotten spot that begins at the bloom end of perfect looking tomato. Sometime in happens when the tomatoes are just beginning to appear. It can happen when your ready to harvest that red beauty. Some say more add more lime. I cannot confirm or deny that adding the lime helps.

We love to use a rich compost tea (compost + fresh rain water) with added crushed eggs shells. Once the sun has had a chance to heat that egg shell-compost tea (a good 24 hrs) it is ready to water your tomato plants with it. We discovered our plants need this boost every 2-3 weeks.

https://www.facebook.com/BigOleStockpot?ref=stream

[bluerose]

Thank you for posting such good ideas Anna Michele

[Anna Michele]

http://www.garden.org/foodguide/brow...harvesting/501
Harvesting Onions

by National Gardening Association Editors

There's never a time when onions aren't ready for harvesting. They can be picked and eaten at any stage. No matter how many onions you use during the season, though, it's nice to have a crop of big onions mature at the end of summer to store for the fall and winter months.

When to Harvest

You can always tell when onions have stopped growing. The leaves will lose their color, weaken at the top of the bulb and flop over. Each year a few new gardeners watch the leaves die and wonder, "What's wrong?" There's nothing wrong; it's Nature's plan. The leaves' job is done - they've put the last of their energy into the bulbs.
Let most of your onion tops fall over by themselves - maybe 80% or 90% of them - then bend over the rest of the tops. Once they're down, leave the bulbs in the ground for another 10 days to two weeks to mature fully. It's not good to leave the onions in the ground for longer than two weeks after the tops die because they become open to organisms that can cause rot in storage, or they might even start growing again.
Pull your onions up on a sunny day if you can, then let them sit in the sun for another day or so to dry (in hot climates this usually takes just a few hours). This drying kills the root system at the bottom of each bulb. The roots will be like little brittle wires when they're dry.
Picking the right day to pull the onions can determine how well the onions will keep. If you harvest them after some rainy weather they'll have a lot more moisture in them and won't dry out as well.

Curing

After drying the onions in the open for a day or so, it's time to bring them under cover for a second, longer drying or "curing" process.
Some people cut the tops off the onions before curing, but that's not strictly necessary. However, if you do trim the top leaves, don't cut them any closer than one inch from the bulb. Otherwise the neck won't dry out, and the onion could rot in storage.
To cure the onions, spread them out in any warm, airy place out of the sun, such as on a porch. If you find you have too many onions for your available porch space, try spreading them out near the edge of your driveway, covering them with a light cotton (not plastic) sheet to provide shade. The sheet, held in place by stones along the edge, keeps the sun from burning the bulbs but still allows a lot of air circulation. Turn the bulbs a couple of times to promote even drying.
Heavy coverings like canvas or plastic trap moisture inside, so the onions will never get really dry. With the sheet system you won't have to worry about a few scattered rains. The sheets and the onions dry out rapidly together after a shower.
You don't want any wet spots on the onions when you put them in storage, so cure them really well. This can take two to three weeks. After curing them, hang the onions in mesh bags in your garage and dry them some more before putting them in your root cellar. It doesn't take this long in the South, but wherever you live, the longer you cure your onions, the better they'll keep.

Curing Basics

Here are the basics of curing:

• Sun dry for just a short time.
• Cure just the onions you'll store; separate the soft, young and thick-necked bulbs and use them first.
• Cure thoroughly in a warm, well-ventilated area away from direct sun.
• Don't crowd onions during curing; give them room to breathe.
• Onions are ready to store when the skins rattle and the roots are dry and wiry.

[Anna Michele]

Fill pot with 2" of soil then place one uncracked raw egg in the pot. As it decomposes, it will serve as a natural fertilizer.

[Anna Michele]

http://m.hometalk.com/#posts/1110953

http://www.hometalk.com/

[Anna Michele]

heres another one


http://themicrogardener.com/4-step-g...a-herb-spiral/

[Anna Michele]

[Anna Michele]

Make your own seed packets! A nifty suggestion, use color paper. It's so much easier to locate all your tomato seeds if the packets are all one color! Hot pepper seeds go in the bright neon colored paper packs

Uncheck fit to page when printing!
Select (2) 5x7's or (4) 3x4
https://www.facebook.com/BigOleStockpot

[Anna Michele]

[Anna Michele]

http://docakilah.wordpress.com/2012/...in-containers/
Tree fruits – including apples

1. Apples can be grown in a container; you can also grow them on the balcony or other small space using a technique called espaliering.
2. Kumquats
3. Avocados (plenty of extra tips online if you search)
4. Blackberries
5. Blueberries (sometimes helpful videos are available online)
6. Pomegranate
7. Cherries
8. Figs
9. Pears
Citrus fruits

Citrus trees in particular are said to be good for beginning gardeners and are easy to grow indoors, so don’t let inexperience or lack of outdoor space stop you from enjoying fresh-picked, hyper-local fruit.
10. Dwarf oranges
11. Grapefruit
12. Tangerines
13. Meyer lemons
14. Limes
Tropical fruits

Tropical fruits can also be surprisingly easy to grow indoors, even in non-tropical climates. Such as…
15. Bananas (look for container gardening tips online)
16. Pineapple
17. Papaya
18. Guavas (several varieties)
The real surprises

19. Hops—yes, as in the “spice” ingredient in beer. Turns out they’re easy to grow!
20. Aloe Vera
21. Strawberries
22. Tea (well, herbal tea)
23. Quinoa!
The non-surprises

24. Tomatoes
25. Summer squash
26. Other squashes, like acorn and pumpkin
27. Hot Peppers
28. Sweet peppers
29. Cucumbers
Melons

30. Small cantaloupe
31. Jenny Lind melon (an heirloom cantaloupe)
32. Golden Midget Watermelon
Herbs

Just about any herb grows well indoors—just be sure that if you’re going to do any container-sharing, you do your research first about which herbs co-habitate well together. (Some will hog water, for example, and leave the others dried out.)
33. Basil
34. Oregano
35. Parsley
36. Rosemary
37. Chives
38. Catnip
39. Thyme
40. Sage
41. Parsley
Leafy Greens

42. Kale
43. Mesclun greens
44. Spinach
45. Swiss chard
46. Lettuces (plenty of options there, from micro-greens to head or loose-leaf)
47. Mustard greens
48. Collard greens
49. Arugula
Root Vegetables

50. Carrots
51. Beets
52. Potatoes
Other healthy-sounding stuff

53. Sprouts
54. More sprouts: mung bean and lentil sprouts
55. Wheatgrass
56. Kohlrabi
57. Turnips
58. Rutabagas
59. Celeriac
60. Parsnips
61. Jerusalem Artichoke
62. Sugar snap peas
63. Rhubarb (not ideal in a container, but it can work)
64. Mushrooms (again, more tips online if you look)
65. Pole Beans
66. Aaaand… asparagus, although some disagree that it does well in a container. Try it if you’re ok with a risk!

[Anna Michele]

would love mine to look like this

[bluerose]

http://docakilah.wordpress.com/2012/...in-containers/

Thats a interesting site Anna Michele they had a nice recipe for ginger ale.

[Anna Michele]

love this

[Anna Michele]

Taste that's easy to grow

• Basil - Fragrant and great for children's gardens. Goes well with tomato, peppers, fish, meat and eggplant. Likes full sun.
• Parsley - One of the most popular, parsley is high in vitamin C and terrific in salads. Provides a cooling taste for spicy dishes. Likes partial shade to full sun.
• Sweet marjoram - Like a ramped up oregano but without any bitterness, use in Italian dishes or with lamb. Likes full to part sun.
• Rosemary - Use distinctively scented rosemary with butter, poultry and potatoes. Dry for later use, it keeps its flavour and aroma. Likes full sun.
• Dill - Think pickles, summer salads , soup and fish recipes. Likes full sun.

[Darth Penguin]

how long are unplanted seeds viable? I discovered some seeds in the back of a drawer and have no idea when I bought them.

Should I just plant them and hope for the best?