Posted on 06/23/2018 11:00:08 AM PDT by greeneyes
The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds.
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Thanks for your story. When I see God,I am going to tell him how he screwed up backs with vertebrae that could be bent from birth and also collapse in later years. You and I are examples of that. I also have no “cushion” left between L4/L5. God should have provided extra gel/cushion for between those vertebrae and extra vertebrae to insert when they collapse.
Besides telling God about those screw ups, here is another one:
God put all this food on earth with NO instructions how to use them to cure illness. We know they do cure illness and we have found some of them by accident, but how much time would it have taken God to print instructions - no time at all on His time table.
The above is humor of course, and I thank God you and I are still here at our age. When we do go to heaven, JRandomFreeper, Johnny, will have the place running with plenty of food growing, including his kind of tobacco.
can you remove a couple of my extra photos???
GREAT RANT Marcella...
Sending you a FRmail. My worst pains were the sciatica. I did have to take some heavy pain killers for a while. Also took lots of turmeric, ginger tea, and hot pepper lotions/cremes.
Alternated between cold packs and heat packs. Chiropractor, Med Dr. and Physical Therapy. This was worse than child birth because the pain was great and constant-no let up.
In the South-facing front are about 10 tomato plants from Home Cheapo which were planted about mid May, which was too early (fooled by a short heat wave) but survived, thank God. These are about 12 inches apart average.
Then along the West-facing side are more tomato plants and Butternut Squash (which last over 6 months in about 60 degree storage) that were grown from seed inside, using plastic cups and garden soil with some potting soil mixed in. Grow lights assisted some.
I later found quite a few healthy tomato plants growing that i did not plant, but were growing from some tomatoes that fell to the ground last year!
There are some cukes growing along the building with some cheap bird netting, but a neighbor gave me the seeds (started in cups) and rushed me into planting them too early, and they are not doing well (soil PH may be too acidic)
Then a next door neighbor had a elevated section above a wall that was only growing weeds, so more plants went in that very rocky soil, but the wall helps retain heat, good for the "early" (May) spring.
I used some cheap screen to make a homemade screen to screen some of the rocky (out more prolific "crop") NE soil, which i used as a base for plants, putting some water in the hole after the soil, and then covering the plant with the silky screened soil along with some water.
Some bagged cow manure, sphagnum moss, garden soil, lime and fertilizer s has been added to the soil, thank God.
Also made some homemade cages using cheap wood and coat hangers.
In addition, a neighbor gave me some old barrels which are being used for compost for next year.
These plants are mostly watered with rain water coming off the roof in the back, using a tarp system since there is no gutter, and placed in 64 gallon barrels. Two nights ago a much-needed early fast-moving AM storm provided over 150 gallons, thanks be to God (answered prayer), since rain has been sparse, and high temps are predicted and no rain for the next week.
We had some old vitamins someone gave us which i add to the water, along with some Miracle Gro, and the fish oil capsules provide an oil film which helps keep the mosquitoes from breeding (the smell may help!), though i end up covering the barrels also.
The only pest we have had to deal with are the rats and squirrels, but they both have been much reduced via rat poison and working with neighbors. Later in the season the squash develops leaf mold, but does not seem to affect the harvest much.
To God be the glory for it all(!), and which we pray will be to His glory, by whose grace were were able to do this, and which provides superior produce and which can be shared, showing the love and grace of God! Last year with a smaller crop i estimate about 700 tomatoes were harvested. A warmer than normal November enabled harvesting up to the end of that month. Praise the Lord.
Here are some pics, mostly from 6-20:
I find it interesting that so many people are complaining about the cold weather.
I live in CNY where the weather is NEVER great and we're having a terrific spring.
It's been warm but on the dry side. But I've been watering and that helps a lot.
My garden is going gangbusters and my tomatoes are covered with flowers.
I haven't had them grow like this in YEARS.
That’s awesome! I can’t wait to grow my own tomatoes. Soon, real soon. I love those things.
I try not to get too upset with how easy they had it in the beginning. No weeds, no water problems, just easy growing heh.
Someone had to go and mess that up, but praise God for giving us the out.
Someone had to go and mess that up, but praise God for giving us the out. Yes, Adam and Eve were charged with taking care of a large "garden," and had it easy, but sin creates problems for us as well as for others, but obedience brings blessings.
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;) Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. (2 Corinthians 9:8-11)
Amen brother. I was making a bit of a joke, but it’s always refreshing to have a reminder that God has our backs.
Showed my Bob your pictures and read your message aloud. He said, “He sounds like a Johnny.” Johnny was JRandomFreeper and we had great fun and growing information from him. He was the life of the party on the gardening threads. It is an honor for you to be compared to Johnny.
You have done a wonderful thing by using what ground you have around your house for growing food. Bless you.
Were you and your husband the ones who visited Johnny (JRF) before he passed away?
I agree with the pool being too much work for sure.
Several years ago, I ordered some garlic and planted it. I really liked it, so I have been saving some every year to replant. I’ve forgotten the name.
I also ordered some Siberian garlic to try out and planted that as well.
We’ve had rain for last 3 days. Cooler temps, but supposed to heat up by Friday. Getting ready to plant some corn. Will also do some lettuce in the shade.
Those roses sound nice. I have discussions about our chain link pet/child play yard. It has a chain link fence and is on the side of the house.
The kitchen basement opens onto this patio and that’s where we have our BBQ set up and outdoor cooking etc. -then lots of grassy area and really good shade from a Maple tree.
I like to sit on this patio, drink coffee, read recipe books and watch the cars pass by. Hubby keeps trying to plant grapes which I don’t want a bunch of those obstructing the view.
He also tried to take over one of my winter crop areas with grapes to grow up that side of the chain link fence. Not happening. I planted rye there last winter and will follow that with corn, if it ever gets ripe.
I may just plow it under pretty soon, and plant anyway.
Yes, I do bring it in during the winter. I usually have a nice crop of lemons to split between my two daughters and I at Thanksgiving or XMAS, then it blooms again and smells so very nice.
Up until this year, I usually get two crops. It seems to be slowing down and it always takes a while to recover from the winter indoors-drops leaves during the winter.
That sounds great. We got some rain over the weekend, and Monday and Today. Also electrical outage and computer outage this AM. So I’m taking a break and catching up before we go down again.
So far all we have had is lettuce, squash, garlic, a small amount of wheat, and a big bunch of green beans which we harvested yesterday.
thanks for the pics. We don’t ever get blueberries - soil was not properly prepared before planting, and rehab after the fact has not been effective. We also don’t have appropriate protection from birds for what we do have.
They always find their way through the bird netting.
I was surprised to see a deer run through the side yard yesterday. Never seen one in the neighborhood before.
Thanks for the pics. Very interesting areas you have. Sounds like it’s working pretty well all things considered.
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