MennoNet.com

Moles. Tulips.
one year, i planted a dozen white tulips.
the first spring, they came up, beautiful!
they lasted a long while, standing up to prairie winds and rains.
i was impressed.

i've had good results with bulbs, so, looking forward to them doing even better in following years.

nope.
the next year, not one tulip, not even a leaf!

when i planted the bulbs there was a warning about moles eating bulbs.
i never had a problem with moles in the past.

i'd like to replant. i won't without lining the bed with some type of wire first.

KingdomBuilder wrote: Do y'all have a commercial strawberry farm?

Small scale farm, following organic guidelines, supporting 2 to 3 families on less than minimum wage, growing berries (most sold u-pick), melons, and a wide variety of vegetables.

The heat destroyed about half of what we put out. We garden on raised beds, or whats been called "lasagna gardens." Tomatoes and peppers did well, bush beans did well. Watermelon was a bust. Cantaloupe died on us. Sunflowers did okay after I planted 'em the third time. Gourds and pumpkins never produced due to the heat.

Already got a game plan for next year, though!

steve-in-kville wrote:The heat destroyed about half of what we put out. We garden on raised beds, or whats been called "lasagna gardens." Tomatoes and peppers did well, bush beans did well. Watermelon was a bust. Cantaloupe died on us. Sunflowers did okay after I planted 'em the third time. Gourds and pumpkins never produced due to the heat.

Already got a game plan for next year, though!

out with it!

My wife is setting up a growing room in the basement, in preparation for propagating. We will be using florescent lights set up on shelves, since there is very little light in our basement otherwise. Thinking Spring!

gcdonner wrote:My wife is setting up a growing room in the basement, in preparation for propagating. We will be using florescent lights set up on shelves, since there is very little light in our basement otherwise. Thinking Spring!

Got to get our set up for starting pepper, tomato, and eggplant. It'll be a florescent set up as well- In an old closet to keep it warmer.

steve-in-kville wrote:The heat destroyed about half of what we put out. We garden on raised beds, or whats been called "lasagna gardens." Tomatoes and peppers did well, bush beans did well. Watermelon was a bust. Cantaloupe died on us. Sunflowers did okay after I planted 'em the third time. Gourds and pumpkins never produced due to the heat.

Already got a game plan for next year, though!

Where are you located? Why do you do lasagna gardening? Is your native soil not so hot?
Also, I doubt I'll ever try melons of any type.. I hear too many people here who have them fail.

KingdomBuilder wrote:

gcdonner wrote:My wife is setting up a growing room in the basement, in preparation for propagating. We will be using florescent lights set up on shelves, since there is very little light in our basement otherwise. Thinking Spring!

Got to get our set up for starting pepper, tomato, and eggplant. It'll be a florescent set up as well- In an old closet to keep it warmer.

if you need heat, for various uses, incandescent light bulbs can be quite useful.

we've used them to prevent water pipes from freezing, to keep baby chicks warm, to incubate chicken eggs; i've used them in my reading lamps to help keep the chill off while reading!

it's amazing what a 50-100 watt bulb can do for little operating cost.
it's almost impossible to find any sort of electric heater that uses less than 1000 watts, often, a fraction of that is all that's needed.

be careful, tho.
just like space heaters, they can get too hot, they can start fires.
often, we would use work light cages, they have hanging hooks, and the cage prevents the hot bulb from touching flammable surfaces.

i used to use the appliance bulb in my oven to put bread dough in to rise in a draft-free space.

Temporal1 wrote:if you need heat, for various uses, incandescent light bulbs can be quite useful.

We've used them for critters and to keep mechanics warm if we've put off winterizing and a hard freeze hits.
For seedlings, though, I think they'd be too intense/ too hard to monitor. I think they'd get cooked!

KingdomBuilder wrote:

steve-in-kville wrote:The heat destroyed about half of what we put out. We garden on raised beds, or whats been called "lasagna gardens." Tomatoes and peppers did well, bush beans did well. Watermelon was a bust. Cantaloupe died on us. Sunflowers did okay after I planted 'em the third time. Gourds and pumpkins never produced due to the heat.

Already got a game plan for next year, though!

Where are you located? Why do you do lasagna gardening? Is your native soil not so hot?
Also, I doubt I'll ever try melons of any type.. I hear too many people here who have them fail.

Our water table is really high and we do not own a tiller. I'm told that 'loupes in our area are near impossible to raise.