Grand daughter has enjoyed the snow days, but this will probably be the last bunch of snow days(I hope). I have a couple of tomatoes ready to repot into a 4 inch pot, and looking forward to getting some outdoor clean up done on Saturday.
Hope everyone is doing well. Have a great week end. God Bless.
Pinging the list. A couple of links (I hope) from last week’s thread - thanks to Red Devil for the info.
http://www.howdogardener.com/2015-seed-source-guide.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2260427/posts?page=143#143
for later
Still waiting for that GlowBull Warming to kick in so I can plant my Banana and Pineapple Plantation...............................
The low last night here in Massachusetts was 0, and the high today was 24 degrees. I still haven’t started any seeds. We have 3 feet of snow on the ground, and on Wednesday morning at 4AM had water pooling on our living room floor. Mr. trisham had to go out on a ladder and hack away at an ice dam that had formed under our skylights, and causing water to flow down our sliding glass doors into the house. What a mess!
I'm putting below the post I wrote about identifying myself as a Christian. Our way of life, including using our land as we want to grow what we want, is threatened. We have to remain free to be the “boss” of our home and land.
I am greatly troubled over the massacre of Christians and the movement to remove anything Christian from our lives right here in the USA. Now, it has gone so far, even in the USA, one would think twice before identifying him/herself as a Christian. Poppycock, I'll make sure everyone knows I am a Christian. Here is what I wrote, and greeneyes has agreed to join me to identify always as a Christian.
“Okay, I’m going to start identifying myself as a Christian. I have a heavy duty gold chain with a cross on it and I’m going to wear it every day.
There is a Catholic book store not far from us and we will go there to find a Christian pin (like a lapel pin) and each of us will get one and wear it on our clothes every day.
Perhaps some of you are sick of this Obama Muslim crap also and willing to identify yourself as a Christian. Find a Christian Book Store, Catholic or otherwise, and get a pin, could be a cross or whatever they have that designates the wearer as a Christian.
Do I have any takers?”
Warm sunshine!
My goal for the weekend is to get the potting shed painted, move the cold frame out of my workshop, and fill it up with dirt/potting mix/horse poo.
Johnny and I were iced in twice this week. We were in the 20s every night and one of those days, it stayed in the 20s (I think I remember that). I have looked at the temp gauge so many times this week, I forget when it was what.
I heard when this last snow/sleet/ice came in, thousands in Fort Worth were without power. I was afraid Johnny might be without power but that didn’t happen, thank goodness.
We are in the 50s today with sun so banks of snow/ice are melting. Last night, all the outdoor metal furniture were covered with ice. Bob took Yorkie, Prissy, out the front door (on a leash) and a man stopped his car to scrape the ice off his windshield and Prissy tried to go to him, stepping on ice and just spinning her wheels - not going anywhere. Both Bob and the man had a good laugh at the little dog trying to get traction on the ice. She also does not like stepping in snow.
I hope this is our last serious problem with the roads.
Just about to harvest another dill crop. The sun was a bit too hot when they bolted and set blossoms, so some of the umbrels weren't pollinated very well. Should get a couple thousand seeds for the next crop, though (always reduce my estimates by half...friendly tip!)
Finally have a decent sage plantlet, roots dry and growing. It's the windy season here, though, gusts of over 50mph some days, so I'm carefully keeping it on the porch.
Trimmed back the oregano. One of the plants was fully 12 feet high and getting spindly. Looks like the leaves on the remaining branches are coming in much thicker...but it's early days yet, so not counting any chickens. (Chickens?? I don't grow any dang chickens. The official count is ZERO!)
Going to buy a couple of mature thyme plants in our excellent outdoor mkt here. Every attempt to grow from seed starts off very well indeed, but, even though the seedlings are sheltered, the plants have never reached maturity/blossoming.
My classic (huge) mother rosemary plant had wet root problems last year, but WAS coming back. Then we had a dose of too hot/too windy and the leaves have started dropping again. Soooooo, I'm going to take as many cuttings as possible, then uproot the plant. Have 3 other cuttings doing very well from the mother plant, should wind up with 8 to 10. Note: if you use urea to thicken/strengthen the leaves, keep it away from the roots!
And that's all from herb heaven (tomatoes? what're those?)
Best to ya!
Brrrr… it barely got into the 60s today!
Well...it’s 85 now in the shade, but I’ll be darned if i turn on the A/C before April!
It just ain’t right! LOL!
A couple of freezing nights and about 5 days of drip made for little progress this last week. I even had a crop of asparagus get hammered by the semi-late freeze. What's been harvested so far has been great.
Looks like our cold is over with a chance of decent rainfall the next couple and then back to the 60s.
Today was fertilize the acid lovers (lemons and blueberries), mow a bit and fertilize the small patch of grass in the back. And get started on the weeds. Arg! I put the weeds in a curbside sized trash can as I go and managed to fill it up 3 times. And I've got a lot more to go.
Also sowed more salad green seeds, some herb seeds and a few potatoes that missed the main planting a while back.
Next up is to extend a water line about 60'. Tired of hauling hose. Nothing complicated about the plumbing but digging any kind of trench isn't all that much fun here.
Hi everyone!
Darlin and I signed up for the Master classes on Friday! YIKES! We are anticipating a LOT of information overload soon!
3 T squash and a Shmoo!
(Translation: Three Tromboncino and one Tennessee Sweet Potato squash.)
One of the T's was so much oranger than the others that I saved a few seeds separately. A few years ago I harvested a squash that was fluorescent orange and sweeter than sugar, but the seeds produced just the normal kind. I'm hoping to isolate the strain.
Moved the cold frame out of the workshop yesterday morning, and then spent the rest of the weekend working on the potting shed.
Mrs. Augie is going to paint a palm tree on the west end. She'll be able to sit on the front porch and see the beach. LOL
Nanner helped me move the cold frame out there.
And Mrs. Augie worked on dusting the inside. You wouldn't believe how dirty things get over a hundred years.
In any event, I wanted to share something with y'all that I was just introduced to. I'm sure the more seasoned gardeners likely are aware of it, but the US Dept. of Agriculture has a program called the "National Plant Germplasm System" that offers "free" seeds/plants/roots to organizations and researchers across the Country. The caveat is that you must be conducting some type of research into the requested items. Sometimes the research requirements are strict (tobacco is one with very specific requirements). Other times, it can be quite general - "Will X plant grow in this region?".
I actually was able to order more hops seeds, along with actual sprouts, along with coffee beans, cotton seeds and more under the research goal of seeing if these types of crops will fare well in Western Colorado. Of course, at the end of the season, I'll need to submit a report of my findings, but it seems rather worth it to me personally to get access to the items available.
In any event, if you are interested, go to the website linked above, and punch in the name of the plant you want to grow. You'll get a list of results - click each one you want and add it to your request. When you're finished, complete the process to receive your order.
Fascinating program, if you ask me. Certainly something that a taxpaying, productive Member of society might want to look at doing. I'll keep y'all posted on my progress!