The gardening thread

[klang]

 

[klang]

sweet corn

 

[gentlegreen]

Having seen the light, the ricinus is growing at an impressive rate.
Unsurprisingly the tobacco has caught the downy mildew that destroyed all the plants in the back garden weeks ago - though I reckon I may get a week or two more - at which point I will probably bring the two ricinuses in buckets through to replace them as I'm not getting much benefit from them out the back.
The nasturtiums are starting to haul themselves up to the light so perhaps may give a bit of a show.
Were I to do this sort of thing again, I would not only time things differently, but would grow them up strings before they got shaded out.

 

[Idaho]

New addition. Needs some final touch ups.

 

[gentlegreen]

Is that a Mandarin pictogram ?

 

[Idaho]

It's a torii gate. Like you get at the front of Japanese shrines.

 

[gentlegreen]

oops - I was bound to get the wrong culture ...

 

[Idaho]

oops - I was bound to get the wrong culture ...

They nicked their culture from the Chinese, so you weren't far off

 

[gentlegreen]

Those bananas must be almost flowering size !
I imagine you wrap them up well for the winter ?

 

[wayward bob]

we have bonus summer for the next day or so done a sweep trim and tidy and prepping my mushroom bed

 

[wayward bob]

also, an orange

 

[gentlegreen]

we have bonus summer for the next day or so done a sweep trim and tidy and prepping my mushroom bed

I'm jealous
I hope I'm settled somewhere in a couple of years' time so I can start no-dig veggie gardening with stropharia everywhere ...

 

[wayward bob]

i'm about half a page into this book and now know 7 times as much as i previously did about mushrooms

 

[campanula]

I have been neglecting my garden (because it is an impassable jungle) and in truth, there isn't much to do in the flower gardens at this time of year apart from deadheading (which I just cba to do). However, I battered my way through to get to the greenhouse and make a start on seed sowing. 48 lots of seed - mostly fast germinators,;hardy annuals and Mediterranean, Chilean and SA perennials such as evening primrose, verbascum, foxgloves, very slow germinators such as paeony, lily and clematis and those really annoying ones which need a warm period as well as a winter stratification (mostly trees such as sorbus, halesia and lilacs). I had the worst ever year, this year for germinations - worse than 50% (and this was with fresh viable seed). Although I usually blame my own neglectful tendencies, I think it was the shit winter...not enough chill hours to trigger germination (vernalisation). I am keeping all the hardy perennials in damp vermiculite in the fridge this year ...which is a massive faff...

 

[two sheds]

Anyone know what this is - on the bird feeders. I'm assuming field mouse, the ears are distinctive though.

sweet little thing
View attachment Rec_20200628_235309_211_S.mp4

 

[gentlegreen]

Siberian Hamster

 

[wayward bob]

wine cap and lions mane spawn on their way got oak chips for the bed and oak pizza oven pellets to have a go at sawdust blocks as per this page Let's grow gourmet mushrooms!

my step mum just found some of dad's money she wants to split between me & my bro and for us to get something meaningful. it covers the setup cost exactly and it was our sunday mushroom walks that started all of this, so, fitting

 

[gentlegreen]

I must email the guy at work with the collection of wild fungi cultures to see what they are.
It seems shaggy ink caps are a bit of a challenge to grow intensively...

 

[two sheds]

Interesting and really well written article in SPAB (Society for Protection of Ancient Buildings) magazine, on houseleeks

"Once a safeguard against evil magic now an eco-friendly roofing solution, Timothy Easton explores the long tradition of planting succulents on our roofs"

"One of the easiest [for green roofs] is Sempervivum tectorum (the common houseleek), but another succulent, Sedum maximum, part of the same Crassulacea (stonecrop) family, is more commonly used for modern green roofs. They can tolerate lower temperatures and are suitable for more northerly climates as they require little or no feeding. ... expand rapidly, spilling over the sides of pots ... semper translates as 'always', vivum means 'living' and tectorum is 'of house roofs'. They are commonly called houseleeks because they can live on most old roofs with no soil. "

Apparently a tradition of it in England for at least 500 years. And stonecrop again.

 

[wayward bob]

bonus summer still doing its stuff, though i gather not for much longer.

today was covering over the wood chips with topsoil as a warmth/weth buffer. and sawing a long-abandoned fence post into pieces in hope of establishing some of these in the bits

 

[gentlegreen]

Quite something to see a gardener actively encouraging honey fungus

 

[wayward bob]

they're nameko mushrooms. at least that's what i've bought them as

have seen honey fungus on sale as a luminous mushroom. is it? i have no intention of (deliberately) finding out for myself

 

[gentlegreen]

they're nameko mushrooms. at least that's what i've bought them as

have seen honey fungus on sale as a luminous mushroom. is it? i have no intention of (deliberately) finding out for myself

I'll let you off then

 

[wayward bob]

honey fungus isn't slimy? these should be slimy, like fresh glazed buns

they're supposedly something that will grow on softwood when most things won't...

 

[Artaxerxes]

They look a bit flatter than the nameko I've seen but if you've bought them legit they should be fine. It's probably just the angle and age of the crop.

I miss a gas stove because we used to have them in a nabe which was delish.

 

[wayward bob]

... we used to have them in a nabe which was delish.

expand pls?

 

[Artaxerxes]

expand pls?

Clay pot stew basically.

Chanko Nabe (Sumo Stew) ちゃんこ鍋

Chanko Nabe or Sumo Stew is a robust hot pot filled with all kinds of vegetables and tons of protein in a rich dashi and chicken broth.

www.justonecookbook.com

 

[wayward bob]

thanks

 

[wayward bob]

that my garden is eating itself is an utter joy atm with the mushrooms and the compost heap that is bit-by-bit consuming the fence

 

[gentlegreen]

I am not totally in love with fungi - though downy mildew isn't strictly a fungus

Downy mildew refers to any of several types of oomycete microbes that are obligate parasites of plants. Downy mildews exclusively belong to Peronosporaceae

So I've already ripped out one tobacco plant and the rest will follow shortly to be replaced by the two different ricinuses in buckets out in the back garden, though I'll have to raise them to make any impression with the "New Zealand Purple" probably nearing 7 feet ... the callaloo is still holding its colour really well