Posted on 06/01/2018 10:21:50 PM PDT by greeneyes
The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds.
From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you.
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It’s got to be easier than gardening for two or more. LOL
I experiment with untried varieties in my little raised beds. Those that we like graduate to Hubby’s large beds. We have almost no back yard left-just one small patch of lawn that I can see looking out the basement patio doors and through the green house.
Now that he has run out of room in the backyard, he’s starting to use the mid rear portion of the extra lot we bought.
Some 25 years ago, I learned about possums the hard way.
Because of coons, I had a solid 2X12 border around the bottom of the chicken yard, sunk 6-8” deep, that anchored the wire; and a complete poultry wire ‘lid’ over it.
No more problems with coons!
Then one morning, I heard a commotion, and was shocked at what I found. A family of possums, mother and several half grown young, had used those nasty looking teeth to actually chew a large hole through the poultry wire to get into the chicken yard. The poultry wire looked like wire cutters had been used on it.
Knowing I was going to find trouble, I had my .22 revolver & extra hollow points with me, They had already killed several chickens, and a couple of Muscovy ducks. It was a blood spree, as there was no way they could possibly eat what they had already killed, but were still trying to attack the remnants of the flock. Fortunately, I ran out of live possums before I ran out of ammunition.
Afterward, I added a layer of 4’ 2” X 4” “dog fencing” around the perimeter, inside the chicken wire.
I am doing mostly flowers and herbs this year.
My veggies were PATHETIC! LOL!
The cold nights are what delayed us too. Fortunately, the green house helped to keep things going for a while. We’ll be refining that and getting some shelves set up for next year and the winter.
I have really enjoyed the green house. This winter, on sunny days it was nice and warm, and I would sit out there on and old chair and drink coffee. The sun helped me to sleep better-at least that’s what the Dr. said.
Now when it rains, I also go out and sit and drink coffee or tea. I love to watch the rain and hear it ping on the panes.
When we get our furniture moved from Springfield, I will put one of the little patio tables - ice cream parlor style out there to sit my coffee on and give the neighbor lady a place to sit.
That is the one advantage that some of my raised beds have - good for wet weather. The first 2 3x8 ft. beds, I removed the soil and filled with Mel’s mix.
It is nearly impossible to overwater, and that mix is workable shortly after the rain quits-while the rest of the yard is a soggy mess.
Of course the dog days of summer - another story - mulch well and water often. LOL
Instead of strawberries, try adding raspberries, and a little bit of jalapeno to the rhubarb for a pie filling.
Also, rhubarb-raspberry jam is excellent.
Subbing some brown sugar for part of the white—or using honey— really kicks up plain stewed rhubarb, which is great when used like cranberry sauce, for beef or pork rather than poultry.
Good luck with the bug huinting.
Thanks for the story. I enjoyed reading it.
I will add your name to the list. I hope your grandson’s surprise you with a great job watering. LOL
Some years are the pits. My flower beds need attention, but the veggies hog all the time.
I don't eat pie crusts or any other starchy stuff. I only use a bit of honey if I have a sore throat. I am finally beginning to feel better now that I've severely restricted carbs like the endocrinologist told me to.
Enough better that it's just not worth it to eat sweets and starches. It take 2-3 weeks to recover. It'll have to be some sort of stewed or stir fried dish - I'll have to do a web search and see what I find.
No matter what grows or doesn’t grow, my herbs are ALWAYS faithful! :-)
Herbs are very important too!!
Just imagine what food would taste like without them!
1 inch PVC pipe is the framework.
Bird netting is the ‘surround” material.
Hoops are half inch PVC.
Wife picked this up from a garden magazine years ago.
It works.
I mowed all day, finished about an hour before the thunderstorms moved in. We had some close lightning strikes. Finally, around 7:30, it was just a light rain. I went walking with an umbrella for about 30 minutes, squishing through the fields. The night before, I walked as the last light was fading & the fireflies were out - didn’t see any tonight. It rained so hard during the thunderstorms, I had two flash flood warnings on my phone - I think I’m going to have to buy some water wings for my veggies!
I’ll bet it would be blah???
Thanks, I thought it looked like pvc.
blah to the max!
(Even onions and garlic are considered “herbs”)
I never understood why but wife decided tp paint some of the PVC black...
“It’s got to be easier than gardening for two or more. LOL”
My wife used to freeze and can enough so she could cook all winter without buying vegetables at the store. Since she passed away my idea of cooking is hotdogs and burgers with an occasional roast in the crock pot.
I do freeze plenty of peppers, sweet bell. I put them on everything, even cheese sandwiches. Diced on all beef hotdogs, sliced on burgers and sandwiches, just about anything you put a condiment on.
I have new landlords and they are still moving in so I guess they will be the recipient of some of the extras.
We have a one acre back lot that is a great garden spot. From the way he talks I expect he will end up with most of it in garden.
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