Anyone into gardening here? | Page 29 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Anyone into gardening here?

SVeezy said:
If you know a farmer they might be able to provide you with some broad leaf herbicide. Much stronger than the store stuff but technically illegal for them to provide to you.
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My brother is a farmer, he uses a lot of farm chemicals. Fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides - I can get them, just don't know what to ask for -- when I have a problem, he gives me the solution in a white jug with product names and instructions scribbled on the side. His one-jug solutions fixed a grizzly white grub problem (sevin), keeps my interlock free of weeds (roundup), and keeps moths out of my hydrangeas (BT).

I don't know anything about agri chemicals, if anyone wants to make a list of 'wants', I can probably get the goods in bulk then divide them up. I know these are prohibited, I'll leave the ethics up to the user.
 
Mad Mike said:
My brother is a farmer, he uses a lot of farm chemicals. Fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides - I can get them, just don't know what to ask for -- when I have a problem, he gives me the solution in a white jug with product names and instructions scribbled on the side. His one-jug solutions fixed a grizzly white grub problem (sevin), keeps my interlock free of weeds (roundup), and keeps moths out of my hydrangeas (BT).

I don't know anything about agri chemicals, if anyone wants to make a list of 'wants', I can probably get the goods in bulk then divide them up. I know these are prohibited, I'll leave the ethics up to the user.
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They aren’t all bad and they aren’t all good by any measure. I keep my garden as free of potent chemicals as possible. Neem oil for aphids, beer traps for slugs etc. Weeds don’t bother me that much, I just mow them down and hand pull what I can. I don’t want my pets trampling around in the garden with stuff on their paws that could be toxic to them when they clean themselves. Added bonus...I might try growing mushrooms at one point and they wont grow in ground that’s been treated with any chemicals.
 
jc100 said:
They aren’t all bad and they aren’t all good by any measure. I keep my garden as free of potent chemicals as possible. Neem oil for aphids, beer traps for slugs etc. Weeds don’t bother me that much, I just mow them down and hand pull what I can. I don’t want my pets trampling around in the garden with stuff on their paws that could be toxic to them when they clean themselves. Added bonus...I might try growing mushrooms at one point and they wont grow in ground that’s been treated with any chemicals.
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^ this
using farm chemicals illegally isn't as much an ethics concern as it is a safety concern (whoops catch 22). Im an environmental biology technologist and have been employed by one of the largest seed and chemical suppliers in canada. pets... and children...and adults...and wildlife...

an interesting study using adult males from the city - and those living in rural farming areas - show that those living in the city have a statistically significant higher sperm count than those from rural farming areas.
 
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:lmao:possibly but at least they all swim in the right direction
 
when should i be putting down grass seed this spring? using spring term loosely, the raccoons have rototilled large sections of my lawn , cleaning up my grubs
 
crankcall said:
when should i be putting down grass seed this spring? using spring term loosely, the raccoons have rototilled large sections of my lawn , cleaning up my grubs
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I didn't get roughed up this year. At my place it's moles and skunks. In the years where there isn't too much snow cover the moles seem to do way less damage. A growing colony of feral cats living in the ravine behind my house seems to be keeping the skunks away.

Gonna a look like Augusta out front this year!
 
crankcall said:
when should i be putting down grass seed this spring? using spring term loosely, the raccoons have rototilled large sections of my lawn , cleaning up my grubs
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Time for overseeding is pretty much now up to around mid-May. Ideally you want those seeds to germinate and mature up enough before the intensity of the summer heat approaches,which is a minimum of 6weeks. If you irrigate consistently then you can put down grass seed closer to the summer heat with a higher chance for success.
 
Beet seedlings, onion seedlings, onion sets, kale seeds, lettuce seeds, radish seeds are all in the ground.
 
matthew said:
Beet seedlings, onion seedlings, onion sets, kale seeds, lettuce seeds, radish seeds are all in the ground.
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My kale is perennial. A few springs ago I noticed 1 kale plant emerge from under a pile of leaves, since then I have covered my kale with a few inches of mulch in the fall, it comes up every spring.
 
Repotted a bunch of banana plants. Some of these are about 5ft tall but they sprout babies at the base so I get free ones every year. I give some away as presents and others away because they get too big (gave a 7ft one to my department for the office), they can grow 3-4ft in a season outside and the biggest get to be about 6-7ft at the end of the summer with thick trunks. Adds a bit of a tropical feeling in the garden. I have about 20 of them right now. I’ll post pics in a bit. I did actually think of selling a few to companies as they are worth about $30-100 depending on size. I got all of mine from about 2 original plants. They are called musa basjoo and are actually winter hardy, originally from Japan. I tried one outside one year with a lot of mulch but it died, they can’t cope with our winters but would probably be ok in Niagara.
 
Nice! Banana plants are beautiful! Instead of overwintering mine, I give them away each year and now I wish I kept one for myself. I love adding in big tropicals in large pots. I've had elephant ears before that get up to 7 feet tall with huge leaves.

If anyone cares and lives in the Etobicoke area, there is an annual plant sale put on by the Etobicoke Master Gardeners that I used to volunteer at - and it's this coming Saturday May 26 @ 10am. They usually have lots of nice plants for really good prices.
 
shanekingsley said:
Nice! Banana plants are beautiful! Instead of overwintering mine, I give them away each year and now I wish I kept one for myself. I love adding in big tropicals in large pots. I've had elephant ears before that get up to 7 feet tall with huge leaves.

If anyone cares and lives in the Etobicoke area, there is an annual plant sale put on by the Etobicoke Master Gardeners that I used to volunteer at - and it's this coming Saturday May 26 @ 10am. They usually have lots of nice plants for really good prices.
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Yes, one room in the house is basically unusable over the winter as it’s choc full of banana plants and others ( we overwinter the canas , passionflowers, bougainvilleas, mandevillas etc too). I love the look of the garden in the summer with the tropical plants though.
 
Those are all really nice plants.

Wish I had a greenhouse, but lot size is just a bit too small.
We are doing reno's which will open up the house and give lots more light, so I hope I can have some space indoors for big plants to overwinter.
 
shanekingsley said:
Those are all really nice plants.

Wish I had a greenhouse, but lot size is just a bit too small.
We are doing reno's which will open up the house and give lots more light, so I hope I can have some space indoors for big plants to overwinter.
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I'd love a pro heated greenhouse but I can’t afford one that will last the winter. I got a small Chinese made plastic covered one that does a great job once the snow has gone though. Needs a new cover from Amazon every couple of seasons but it works great. I got mine from Jysk (not sure if that’s a chain) at the end of one season on sale for about $50 I think. It takes 6 trays of seeds on 6 shelves (or use the shelves for plants) and floor space for a few plants.

Edit: the main reason for overwintering these plants is I hate wasting money on plants if they only last a season and they are decorative. In some ways I wish I didn’t do it as the house is cluttered all winter and moving them in and out if there’s a frost is a pain in the ***.
 
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Not quite gardening but I went battery electric with the mower, a 16" Ryobi 40 volt. Front and back add up to about 2000 square feet and one charge just makes it. I considered the 20" one but the smaller one takes less shed space, only takes a couple more passes and was substantially less expensive.

I also intend to reduce the size of the lawns by about 10%.
 
I planted my garden a few weeks ago. A cold spell killed the cucumbers so I had to replant them; three varieties and 8 plants. 20 hills of potatoes, 8 rows of peas, 5 tomato plants, two rows of carrots, one row onions (two types) and some brussel sprouts (saw them recommended for Canadian climates). I have a bunch of chinese veg that I germinated indoors and will replant into the garden too. I also pruned and tied up the raspberry bushes. The rhubarb survived a scare with the rototiller and looks good. My one cherry tree is flowering and I plan to pick up two more as soon as they come in stock at a particular store.

Cheers to all the garden growers!
 
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Planted corn, pole beans, marigold.
Transplanted melons, cucumber, squash, pumpkins, lentils, chick peas, snow peas, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers , peanuts
 
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