Hello, fellow Democratic gardeners.

[Denninmi]

Can I come hang out here for a while? I've been posting on other forums a while, mainly gardening but one political one as well.

Getting kind of fed up with right wing nutcases. I need to start hanging out with a better crowd.

I'm really an avid gardener. I've got a couple of acres in the 'burbs of Detroit. Been planting it like crazy for the past couple of years, and I'm sort of "getting there" on my master plan, which is to be both beautiful and functional, with a lot of color and a lot of useful and edible plants.

Right now, I'm sort of in limbo on some fall projects I've really wanted to get done. The weather has been terrible here, more like late November than early/mid October. The kicker -- two weeks ago on a Saturday, was working along, suddenly started having stomach pains, come to find out, I suddenly developed a hernia from a previous surgery, by Sunday AM was in the OR, so now, I can't lift anything to speak of. Makes it hard to finish those fall chores that involve digging or lifting. But, a couple more weeks, and I'll be ok to do what I need to do. I hope November brings better weather.

Cheers.

Dennis
SE Michigan

[beac]

1. Welcome, Dennis!

:hi:

The forum has been a little slow lately. I think the combination of dreadful Spring/Summer weather and an early winter (here in VA too, anyway) has everyone in a funk.

Funnily enough, someone posted a week or so ago about rightwing-nuttery on GardenWeb. I haven't experienced it, but then again, I don't really participate in the forums there. I usually just Google my way in for a particular answer and leave once I find it.

I'm a beginning gardener and got some good help here and look forward to picking your brain too. What zone are you in? I'm in 6 or 7 depending on who you ask. GardenWeb finder by zip says 6. Locals often say 7. :shrug:

Don't know if you're a cooking enthusiast at all, but that's a fun and lively forum here. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=236

So sorry to hear about your hernia. Terrible timing, too. I'm also hoping we get some warm'ish weather soon so pulling and tidying up my container garden doesn't have to be done in full rain gear and arctic boots. :)

[Denninmi]

2. Hey, thanks!

Thanks for answering.

I'm in theory a Zone 6, which is technically correct based upon our winter minimum lows, which haven't really fallen below about -10 in the past decade.

However, there is really a tremendous difference between my "Zone 6" where it can freeze up in December and not rise above freezing for 8 weeks, and the type of weather in Zone 6 in someplace like VA or TN, where you get cold snaps of a few days at a time but then it warms a bit again.

I've been outside this morning doing as much cleanup as I can, which is actually quite a bit. Weather here is very cold, but at least dry, 38 degrees with a stiff breeze from the north and low clouds keeping the sun hidden. At least we didnt' get the snow like in PA and NY. It's only October for crying out loud.

I've got a great big box of bulbs in my garage that I need to plant this afternoon. Just going to dig a trench and dump them in. Not a great way to do it, but I've done it before, it does work, they manage to right themselves. Mostly daffodils, which are my favorite anyway, and those are almost impossible to kill. I had to give up on tulips, since the deer eat them all.

Dennis
SE Michigan

[beac]

4. Good tip on the 'trench daffodils'-- I'll have to try that.

I didn't have any deer problems this year, though they are around out here in the semi-countryside where I live.

My nemesis was a groundhog. Little jerk has acres of wild things to eat and he still wants to much through whatever I've got going at any given time. He ruined my plans for a little fall color by buzzing all the flowers of my mums and pansies the day after I planted them. :mad:

[Denninmi]

5. Woodchucks.

Yeah, I battle those, too. They are incredibly destructive, and can eat massive amounts of plant materials at high speed.

I finally had luck live trapping 2 of them this year after I bought a bait product for woodchucks and sprinkled that atop the bait in the trap (apples, melon rinds, and peanut butter).

Then, they went for a ride 8 miles away to state land.

[ginnyinWI]

6. we have deer, but they have left the tulips alone so far.

Maybe because I have them growing right by the front door. The daffodils they will leave alone, even though they are growing far from the house.

Welcome :hi: I'm in Wisconsin--weather hasn't been too bad. Grass is still green and the leaves are just starting to fall.

We have an acre lot in the suburbs, and I have a 21x17 deer-fenced garden with raised beds and paths between. The beds are just mounds without wood frames--got sick of rebuilding them, and they do fine without.

We also have five apple trees of various kinds. We had a bumper crop this year; there are six bushels of apples out on the deck--hopefully I'll be able to use. preserve or give away most of them before they spoil! And there are plenty of bad ones left out there for the deer!

[Blue Gardener]

3. Welcome to the gardening forum

I don't post a lot, but check in often to see if I can offer any useful advice.
Whatever you don't get done this fall you can finish in the spring. Unless you're planting spring bulbs.

[NJCher]

7. welcome, Dennis

yes, a little slow here of late, probably because of the weather.

I know what you mean about the garden forums. Dave's Garden is the WORST. He kicked me off his forum because of stuff I said about bush.

Actually, I'm not too crazy about the garden forums. I like this place much better. More depth to the posts, probably because there's a set of values we share.


Cher

[NEOhiodemocrat]

8. Welcome Dennis!

I am in north east Ohio, zone 5 but probably not to different than your area. What kind of veggies did you grow this year? I am still working on getting the last of mine in. Cut cabbage today and brought up to the house and covered. It was down to 29 last night but I don't think the freeze hurt them. I was busy working at the polls and have been procrastinating about getting the last of the veggies in. Can't believe it is already November. I think I will have to start planning my next years garden soon! Take it easy with that hernia, I have found out over the years that if you don't get it done in the fall, guess what?, it is still there in the spring to do. So sit back and take care of yourself and plan for your next year garden.
I grow pretty good variety of vegetables and fruits but not too many flowers. My husband thinks if you can't eat it why grow it. I have snuck in some perennials, and do have a couple of bags of bulbs to plant that I bought from a neighbor kid selling them for fund raiser. So it sounds like I should be getting them in soon. I just hate that we have had so much rain, I love to garden, but don't enjoy playing in the mud.
Anyway, welcome to the group, we always like to hear what other gardeners are growing.

[Denninmi]

9. Hey, there!

Your climate is pretty much the same as mine, just a tad milder climate.

Veggies -- well, most of the typical stuff, but it was a rough year. The heat lovers didn't fare well. Had a lot of woodchuck and deer issues. Tomatos in particular did poorly. And, some things, mainly my brassicas, I never got planted in the first place. Oh well, now it's already November, so in about 4 months, it will be time to turn on the growlights in the basement and start sowing peppers and other slow-growing transplants.

And, I got over my little health issue a lot faster than I thought. When I went back for the checkup, the surgeon said, since it was a very small repair and incision, I could do anything I wanted 4 weeks from the date of surgery, which was this past week. While I'm not trying to push my luck, I was able to do pretty much anything I needed to do. All of my fall cleanup got done, just a little slower than normal.

[NEOhiodemocrat]

10. glad to hear you are doing good

Do you find that the grow lights add a lot to your electric bill? I have never used them, but do start some things inside on windowsills. I have been trying hard to keep my electric bill down and doing pretty well. I have toyed with the idea of investing in grow lights. Our basement is pretty cold though, we heat with wood and use a fireplace insert on the first floor. But no suitable windows in that area.

[Denninmi]

11. Electric costs of grow lights.

Its going to depend on how many you use. If you have a single 40 watt florescent fixture going, it's not very much, a couple of dollars a month.

When I had all 16 fixtures plus two electric soil heating mats going, it added about $35 a month. Still worth it though when I take into consideration how many transplants I started in that space.

[lizziegrace]

12. Stupid question for you

So a fluorescent fixture (like the kind in workshops) would be fine for starting plants? No need to get 'grow lights'?

[Denninmi]

13. 6A SE Michigan

Definitely. Seedlings aren't very particular about the spectrum of light they get overall, just the intensity and duration. Cool white florescent bulbs and cheap shop fixtures (mine were $7.95 four foot, two bulb shop lights from Home Depot) are fine.

Now, long term, with crops sensitive to light quality/spectrum, you might need to be careful to get something more balanced. For example, if you were trying to grow orchids or gesneriads under artificial lights over a period of months or years and you want to get them to flower, you might invest in the actual "grow light" type bulbs, or at least a broad spectrum bulb that approximates natural sunlight.

I always liked the nice light garden systems sold in the catalogs, but they are so pricey. I just bought the cheap shop fixtures at HD and wire shelving units from Target. Cost about 1/8th the price of a comparable 4 shelf florescent light garden system from someplace like Gardeners Supply Company or Charley's Greenhouse Supply.