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  1. grow_my_own

    California: Driest Calendar Year On Record!

    I saw where the waterline at Lake Don Pedro is so low that an old gold mine has been discovered/revealed. Here's a link to the news story and pictures. http://www.news10.net/story/news/local/2014/01/27/shawmut-mine-remnants-revealed-by-dropping-don-pedro-waters/4953535/
  2. grow_my_own

    Massive Garden Project, Need Advice

    Hi folks, I have a dilemma and thought I would bring my question to the friendliest and most knowledgeable garden peeps in the world.... all of you. :) Is there a formula for calculating how much soil/compost one will need for raised beds? I have been tasked with creating an organic garden...
  3. grow_my_own

    What varieties of Beans are YOU growing?

    I've changed my plans a couple of times. Blackeye peas/California cowpeas, and pinto beans, and white half-runners.
  4. grow_my_own

    Experimental quinoa planting.

    As far as varieties, some of it was "rainbow quinoa," and the other package just says "Chenopodium quinoa." Also, I will be checking to see what makes a good companion plant with quinoa before I decide what to plant in that bed this spring, so that whatever I plant will get along well with...
  5. grow_my_own

    Experimental quinoa planting.

    I planted a small patch of experimental quinoa last year. It sprouts fast, grows fast, and the greens taste really good! Quinoa sprouts are also highly nutrient-dense and tasty, as are the young leaves. I have read in a couple of places that all parts of the quinoa plant are edible. I did...
  6. grow_my_own

    This egg is way tooo big!

    I have a red sexlink hen that lays at least one big egg like that per week. She's a relatively new layer, has only been laying about 2 months or so. One or two of them have been double yolkers, but mostly they are just big eggs with huge yolks inside! I feel sorry for her when she lays one of...
  7. grow_my_own

    The 2013 Garden, What are You Hoping For

    I'm hoping for a better yield this year. My plants were HUGE last year, very green and lush, but produced very little, with the exception of the tomatillos and Ichiban eggplant. As last year's garden was the first we've had at this house, we learned a lot about our soil and microclimate and...
  8. grow_my_own

    Making Seedling Pots

    I'm doing the same thing with my used K Cups from my Keurig. They're my new seedling starting cups, at least for the plants that don't have a long root system that requires a bigger cup. For the bigger root systems, I'm going to try your idea! Thanks for the great tip.
  9. grow_my_own

    the brave little eggplant

    I planted Ichiban eggplant this year (Japanese variety). The fruits did not get very long, maybe 6 to 8 inches, but they were delicious & the plants were PROLIFIC! My 2 highest yield plants this past summer have been tomatillos (still producing like crazy) and Ichiban eggplant. Nothing else...
  10. grow_my_own

    2012 TEG Giant Pumpkin Contest - weigh in by 15 October

    My "volunteer" pumpkin turned out to be a spaghetti squash, and my jarrahdale pumpkins didn't get very big, but they're almost ready to harvest. I have a giant pumpkin plant that I planted about 3 weeks ago. We're hoping it'll produce something. Our sugar pie baby pumpkins produced 2 itty...
  11. grow_my_own

    Mole Repellant?

    We have moles and gophers here & they drive us nuts! I started a practice that I found to be personally effective. We have a large dog, a chocolate lab/blue heeler mix. After several attempts to get rid of both types of underground nuisances, I started putting my dog's turds down the holes...
  12. grow_my_own

    Favorite vegetable Dip

    I do a fruit dip that I serve with strawberries, melon pieces, pineapple chunks, etc. It's half softened cream cheese and half marshmallow cream and a little drizzle of honey. For cheeze & veggies, mix a pack of Knorr vegetable soup mix with 8 oz. softened cream cheese & 8 oz. sour cream. Nom...
  13. grow_my_own

    okra is small

    Our okra's put out quite a bit this year & still producing a lot. I probably get 5-6 pods a day.
  14. grow_my_own

    blossom end rot, what now ?

    Had my first hornworm EVER this year. It made a tasty treat for the chickens. :D
  15. grow_my_own

    Compost Pile

    I'll get pics today. It was built out of pallets. When we lived in Sacramento, we had a nice compost pile built out of pallets and had the best soil EVER those 2 years we were there, and I told hubby in passing it would be really cool to have a nice compost pile like that again. He and our...
  16. grow_my_own

    Compost Pile

    Just wanted to share that my hubby & daughter built me a new compost pile today! We had one of those tumbling composters but outgrew it now that our whole yard is a garden. I'm hecka happy now! Hopefully we'll have better soil/yields next year. Plants have been growing great, lots of green...
  17. grow_my_own

    2012 TEG Giant Pumpkin Contest - weigh in by 15 October

    I don't know much about them vine borers... how do you keep them out of your squash plants?
  18. grow_my_own

    Square Watermelons

    :pop
  19. grow_my_own

    How The Taste Of Tomatoes Went Bad . . .

    Our worst year for tomatoes in the valley was 2010. I had a ton of plants, heavy with tomatoes. Planted in March, tomatoes started popping up in June, didn't turn red that year until late September, and even then, most of them stayed green & still had to be ripened in paper bags (which never...
  20. grow_my_own

    Tell me about spaghetti squash, please

    Contact me if yours don't grow, and I'll send you some seed for next year after this year's crop is done. I have one plant with 15 fruits on it. There were 18, but I pulled some off and fed them to the chickens.
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