Sprouts

[Tom]

My sprouts are finally sprouting. I didn't know if they would sprout at all in the winter like this, but here they are. I guess the last three weeks of temps around 80 didn't hurt anything either...

 

[dmarcus]

Very cool, I planted mine a day before we got 2 days of rain so im hoping to get some good growth...

 

[Tom]

Very cool, I planted mine a day before we got 2 days of rain so im hoping to get some good growth...

Rain? You got rain? Man that must be nice. Maybe someday we'll get some here too...

 

[dmarcus]

Lol, we need all the rain we can get after the drought we had. My back yard looks like a waste land with all the dead plants and grass...

 

[bellyboo]

I'm very jealous! It'll be months before I'm planting outside here. Looks very nice!

 

[dmmj]

Will the tortoises have direct access, or will it be harvested for them?

 

[Tom]

Will the tortoises have direct access, or will it be harvested for them?

Both. These are all growing in my bank of baby pens. Right now I'm using one pen for sunning babies, but with the removal of a few bricks their 4x8' pen could become a 4x64' pen with all sorts of yum yums growing. I have three pens with various pasture seed mixes, the one pictured with rows of various greens, another with two types of endive and nothing else, and another with CDT mix. I don't know what I'll do with the other two. I might plant them with some pasture mix in the Spring, or maybe keep them barren and plain dirt for sunning since they will be able to move to more lush, humid, shady quarters if they so desire.

 

[ShadowRancher]

Very nice, I let Levi loose in his new house the other day and I think I was premature, he demolished everything I had growing...don't know why I was surprised

 

[Tom]

Very nice, I let Levi loose in his new house the other day and I think I was premature, he demolished everything I had growing...don't know why I was surprised

Hahahahaha! Is this your FIRST sulcata? hahaaha. Get used to that.

I see all these creative beautifully decorated, well planted enclosures here on the forum and I always think to myself, "Wow. That stuff would not last two minutes with one of my sulcatas... well, maybe two minutes, but not three..."

I have a group of six babies right now. Holy cow! They demolish their food tray every day.

 

[Jacqui]

Very nice, I let Levi loose in his new house the other day and I think I was premature, he demolished everything I had growing...don't know why I was surprised

Did he eat it or just stomp it to death?

 

[ShadowRancher]

Ha yeah first sulcata...I was hoping to grow it thick enough that I could plant new seeds every couple of days so they would sprout before he ate the bigger stuff but no dice. He ate all the little cotelydons and stomped the stems, I just got impatient.

 

[Jacob]

What Plant Is This Growing?

 

[ascott]

Fun stuff Tom! I think someones thumb has a green tint to it

 

[Tom]

What Plant Is This Growing?

There is a wide variety of stuff. In the first pic I have mesclun mix, mustard greens, arugula, "salad" mix, carrots, winter squash, and green leaf lettuce. In other pens I have various pasture mixes. Seed companies make various mixes of seeds for people with great big horse or live stock pastures. The mixtures include several types of clover, alfalfa, several grasses, trefoil, and a few other things. I have planted 3 different types here. In another pen I have nothing but endive. Actually two different types of endive. In another pen I have a seed mixture called "Desert Tortoise Mix". When spring finally gets here, I'll set up a couple more pens with pasture mixes. When these grow up and get thick, its makes really nice sunning pens for babies on hot summer days. It gives them shade, humidity and an all they can eat buffet of good stuff. When I water these pens in summer they stay 15-20 degrees cooler than the surrounding area. Great for all those 100 degree days we get here.

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Fun stuff Tom! I think someones thumb has a green tint to it

Not yet, but I'm getting closer. Just one more way that my life has been enriched by including tortoises in it.

 

[Tom]

Yvonne did a gardening thread this morning and it inspired me to do an update on my efforts. The one that looks like grass is actually he 3 different pasture mixes that I got from Peaceful Valley Farms. The one with the rows of lettuce looking stuff is my assorted leafy greens. I also have a Desert tortoise mix one and an all endive one, but neither of those are doing much... I've left a few open so that I can plant like crazy in spring. I bought a bunch of seeds to try out of various things.

 

[Zergy]

That looks great.

What greens do you have growing?

I have my greens growing in pots. Yours looks much more impressive.

 

[Tom]

That looks great.

What greens do you have growing?

I have my greens growing in pots. Yours looks much more impressive.

Hey this is all new to me so don't be too impressed. Every time I do it, I see mistakes that I made and find ways to improve it.

I have Arugula, mustard greens, mesclun mix, salad mix, carrots (for the tops more than the actual carrot), winter squash, and a romaine mix.

In preparation for spring I have recently bought seeds for Italian parsley, pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, and two types of yellow squash (all the "squash" family stuff if for the leaves and flowers, my wife and child will eat the actual "squash" part), swiss chard, two types of collard greens, pansy's, nasturtiums, green beans, gazanias, ... I know there are a few more, but I can't remember them all at this early hour.