[udubdawg]

ya spend hours protecting things from that occasional late freeze...think you've got it beat, RDWHAHB, only to see the plants suffer blunt force trauma from the "0% chance of precip"  large hail. 

[HoosierBrew]

ya spend hours protecting things from that occasional late freeze...think you've got it beat, RDWHAHB, only to see the plants suffer blunt force trauma from the "0% chance of precip"  large hail. 

Yeah, that sucks.  I lost some amazing tomato plants one year to a big hailstorm. And part of my roof as well. Gotta love the Midwest.

[euge]

My onions are starting to flourish. I just planted my persian lime tree. Everything else has bolted. If it stays dry I'm bringing in a bunch of dirt, and building more raised beds... So much to do so little Will to do it...

[Rattlesnake44]

Starting to get hot here in SoCal so my "winter" veggies are all coming out this week; Swiss chard, rainbow chard, kale, green beans and English peas. Then it'll be time to get in my tomatoes and cucumbers. I'll probably try and do an early harvest of zucchini and summer squash as well. All in raised garden beds I built a year ago. Oh, and I'll be starting my hops in containers this week too, first time growing hops and I'm kinda excited.

[pinnah]

Sweet.  Looking good SoCal...

Well, Pete's burlap over carrot seeds WORKS.
I have good germination under the burlap strip, and none in my adjacent control.
Thanks for the recommendation!

I dug the rest of the parsnips.  They do make a nice flower in the second year, but they like to reseed and take over.  I pretty much like them roasted...Pete, what do you do with yours?

I set up the other garden this weekend. Hauled about 12 yards of compost. Making soil is hard work.
Planted blackberries and potatoes.

[pete b]

Sweet.  Looking good SoCal...

Well, Pete's burlap over carrot seeds WORKS.
I have good germination under the burlap strip, and none in my adjacent control.
Thanks for the recommendation!

I dug the rest of the parsnips.  They do make a nice flower in the second year, but they like to reseed and take over.  I pretty much like them roasted...Pete, what do you do with yours?

I set up the other garden this weekend. Hauled about 12 yards of compost. Making soil is hard work.
Planted blackberries and potatoes.

Great to hear the burlap trick worked. It gives them a great start against weeds too which is really important for carrots.
I just removed the snow from the parsnip area and the ground there should thaw in the next few days. I too like them roasted. They are also great in pureed curry soups. You can mash them and season them and add bread crumbs and egg to make some cakes to pan fry as a side dish. I also came up with a smoked salmon, carrot and parsnip cake: shred carrots and parsnips, salt them and let them sit for a few minutes then put in a cloth and squeeze to remove excess water. I then mix the shredded veg with smoked salmon flaked into bits, a little mayo, lemon, spices, egg and bread crumbs. Pan fry and serve with aioli, cream sauce, or sour cream with dill. If you need proportions look up a crab cake recipe and sub.

[euge]

Bought one of those tightly wrapped rootballs for an Ebony King blackberry. Wanted to plant it along the fence and see what happens. However it looks like blackberries' shoots grow straight up until they topple over. Can they be trained to grow along a fence?

[pete b]

Bought one of those tightly wrapped rootballs for an Ebony King blackberry. Wanted to plant it along the fence and see what happens. However it looks like blackberries' shoots grow straight up until they topple over. Can they be trained to grow along a fence?

What works for me is when I prune them I loosely tie them to, in my case a wire, but same principle for a fence. I use twine and give them some slack but make it so they don't fall.

[euge]

Does/can one use cuttings to propagate? 

[pete b]

Does/can one use cuttings to propagate?

Not cuttings but new canes with roots can be transplanted. Or at least that's what I have done, maybe you can root cuttings but using new canes is very easy and you can keep your older plants from spreading where you don't want them. Two birds. One stone.

[euge]

You just dig them (new canes) up and transplant then. Great I don't want them taking up much space but more strategically placed.

There is a spot that I might convince the neighbors to contribute in the future where it could be a big patch.

[pete b]

You just dig them (new canes) up and transplant then. Great I don't want them taking up much space but more strategically placed.

There is a spot that I might convince the neighbors to contribute in the future where it could be a big patch.

Just don't expect anything the first year.

[pinnah]

You just dig them (new canes) up and transplant then. Great I don't want them taking up much space but more strategically placed.

Seems some blackberries spread underground (especially the thorned varieties?) and some spread by arching their canes and where the cane tips land on the soil, they sprout roots and grow.  This latter strategy is easy to take advantage of to make new plants for planting.  ie bury live cane tips into a nice bed of soil. wait until well rooted.  dig up root ball, snip cane a few internodes up, and walla you have new plant...

the underground spreading variety are more difficult to control IME. They make bad neighbors.

[euge]

Yeah I'm planning on planting it on the side where my neighbors put their invasive plants.

[pete b]

Yeah I'm planning on planting it on the side where my neighbors put their invasive plants.

this is why I don't have neighbors.