Godless in the garden

Comment

Comment by Sentient Biped on February 17, 2013 at 6:36pm

We should start a campaign to rename witch hazel "FSM Hazel".

Joan, the filbert catkins are about 2 to 3 inches long.  The female flowers are so small they can hardly be seen, unless you are a foot away and really looking.  The entire cluster for the female flower is only about 2mm.

Joan thanks for the temperature info.  Mine is about 40 degrees without protection.  With the cover on the raised bed, it is 50.  My Oregon Giant Snow Peas, Bok Choi, Chinese Cabbage, German Giant Radish, and French Breakfast radish are all sprouting.  Detroit Red Beets, not yet.  Onions planted last fall, perking up and growing again.   When I get the next raised bed together, there will be more snow peas, lettuce, mesclun, radishes - I like fresh radishes - and I don't know what.  Probably next weekend.  Also potatoes, planting in container again.

So into planting right now.

Comment by Idaho Spud on February 17, 2013 at 3:01pm

Joan, thanks for the soil temperature planting guide.  I know peas grow in very cold soil because I've tried planting them in February when I lived in a much colder place than this and had good results.

Comment by Joan Denoo on February 17, 2013 at 2:40pm

Spud, you might try eating unsalted peanuts; I far prefer them, but then, I am on a low salt diet.
I think if you soak your peanut shells in a bucket of water, that should get rid of the salt ... I don't know that for a fact and someone else may be able to give you the proper information.

Comment by Joan Denoo on February 17, 2013 at 2:36pm

Spud, "When ground temp hits 40, plant peas"
" take the soil's temperature. Seed sown in soil that is too cold will not germinate; seeds that just sit in cold soil are liable to rot or be eaten by animals. These seeds are the first seeds that can be put in the ground because they germinate just as soon as the soil thaws in spring. These seeds will sprout when the soil temperature hits 40 degrees are because that's when they will germinate.

40 degrees Fahrenheit, plant peas, lettuce, onion, parsnip, spinach, beets, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, chard, parsley, celery and radishes.

50 degrees for sweet corn and turnips.

60 degrees for beans, cucumbers and okra.

65 degrees plant seeds of melons, squash, and eggplant.

70 degrees plant celery.

You can get a soil thermometer at any hardware store.

I am not a lunar planter, even though I try some years. Here is a chart to help make those decisions.

http://www.gardeningbythemoon.com/chart.html

Comment by Idaho Spud on February 17, 2013 at 2:14pm

I've been eating a lot of peanuts in the last few months and throwing the shells on the garden.  However, I just realized they're salted peanuts which means those shells have salt in them which is not good for the garden.  

I'm now going to pick-up all I can and either throw them away or soak them in water to leach-out the salt.

Comment by Joan Denoo on February 17, 2013 at 2:12pm

Spud, witch-hazen does look like FSM

Comment by Joan Denoo on February 17, 2013 at 2:07pm

It seems they have common ancestry from 

Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots

and then branch. 

When you wrote they were related, I didn't think so. I grew and accidentally killed a filbert and I have a very healthy witch-hazel; they don't look like each other ... at least in my estimation. 

My filbert was a Harry Lauder's Walking stick and it had very small catkins. Your catkins look huge ... there is nothing I can see in the photo to give perspective. How long are those lovely blossoms. 

If squirrels plant them, you should have a nice grove coming up. 

This is how my filbert looked before I killed the poor thing trying to get rid of mint growing under it. The mint was completely filling in the branches of the tree and I could have just grasped them out. But no! I used Roundup, thinking I was protecting the tree. Well, I got rid of the Roundup after that. 

Here is a pretty orchard I found on Google:

Comment by Idaho Spud on February 17, 2013 at 12:38pm

Interesting flowers.  Reminds me of the FSM.

Comment by Sentient Biped on February 17, 2013 at 4:28am

Arbor day foundation wants people to plant hazelnuts.  I didn't know that when I planted mine.  Some of my hazelnut trees are squirrel-planted.  Might bear in a couple more years.  To small now.  Moved them to better location this winter.

Can't decide if I should say "filbert" or "Hazelnut".  

They have many benefits.

I would be happy just to get a few nuts from my trees.  I planted them as a potentially compact growing part of my little mini-orchard.  Each year, the squirrels strip them bare just before they ripen.  With a larger place now, I moved them to provide some privacy and will let them grow bigger.  More nuts?  Or more squirrels?  If the latter, maybe the local hawks will be happy.

Witch Hazel-

from the classification you provided, I guess not related to hazelnuts.  Strange.  I bought a small one to plant but haven't figured out where, yet.

Pics from wikipedia.  To my untrained eye, the growth habit and leaves remind me of hazelnut.  I guess that was true for whoever named them, too.

Comment by Joan Denoo on February 17, 2013 at 3:38am

According to Wikipedea:
"Corylus maxima, the filbert, is a species of hazel native to southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia, from the Balkans to Ordu in Turkey.[1]"

I didn't know that.

Filbert fruit, showing the elongated tubular involucre
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Fagales
Family: Betulaceae
Genus: Corylus
Species: C. maxima

Witch-hazel

Hamamelis virginiana

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Core eudicots
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Hamamelidaceae
Genus: Hamamelis

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