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Posted on 05/14/2022 4:44:23 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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CLICK ON THE PICTURE!
Good morning and happy gardening to all.
Ahh ... rhubarb! My brother, as a young teenager, went to Canada with an elderly gentleman & some family for a couple of months to help out (be the ‘muscle’) with work that needed to be done at a cabin on a big lake. A young (late teens, early 20’s) Mennonite girl went along as a cook. My brother had a wonderful time - worked 1/2-3/4 a day, then went fishing and/or swimming. He slept on a screen porch - cool nights, but great sleeping with plenty of blankets.
So what does this have to do with rhubarb? My brother came home after his months in Canada with 2 things: a Canadian accent and a LOVE for rhubarb pie. Evidently the Mennonite cook was a veritable whiz at all things pie, rhubarb in particular. My poor mom was tasked with learning to make rhubarb pie, but hers were never close to the Mennonite pies. To this day, my brother gets rhubarb pie or cobbler on special occasions.
Fog advisory this morning, then rain in the forecast the next 2-3 days. I checked on the garden (herbs & tomatoes only planted) last evening & all the plants look super happy. I would like to put down weed barriers around the tomatoes today & maybe sow some seeds (radishes, etc).
This year, there is a pair of crows hanging around. I see them daily in the field in front of the house & they like the bird bath that is fairly close to the garden. They’ve been in the pasture where the garden is located, walking around & picking up bugs, worms, etc. So the garden fences need to go up fairly soon - the crows are curious & will be in the garden checking things out before I know it. The ‘murder’ of crows hanging around had grown to 11, so only 2 is a change.
The bluebirds nesting nearby have made my big trellis in the garden a favorite high spot to perch - the males are in breeding plumage & super blue, just gorgeous.
After a month or so absence, the deer have returned. So far the damage is minimal.
Do deer eat Rhubarb?
More wildlife - we are overrun with squirrels this year (I haven’t been doing any trapping). Several have gotten very bold & are coming up on the front porch - my mom chased one off the other day.
So the most comfortable place for my leg/knee is on the couch where I also have a great view straight out the front storm door. There have been visitors....
Just now, a squirrel jumped up on the storm door glass - hit it with a pretty good ‘bang’ so obviously wasn’t trying to climb, but come in! There was another squirrel with it on the porch - I had to get up & chase them off - cheeky little buggers.
Of course, there was the little fox kit who also hit the glass one night around 11 & was peeking in for a few seconds - super cute. A very handsome male Cardinal also visits a couple of times a day - seems to like hanging out at the top of the steps on the porch, occasionally on the railings.
The rain showers have arrived - noticed it was raining when chasing the squirrels off the porch.
Thanks, Pete! I knew you’d bring something ‘sweet’ to the thread this week! :)
I have never had deer eat my rhubarb, no matter where I’ve lived. And I’ve always had deer wherever I’ve lived.
Also note that:
“Rhubarb leaves are toxic and humans should never ingest them. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health
Symptoms can include:
Breathing difficulty
Burning in the mouth
Burning in the throat
Coma
Diarrhea
Eye pain
Kidney stones
Nausea
Red-colored urine
Seizures
Stomach pain
Vomiting
Weakness
Severity is determined by Patient’s age, weight, and condition; Variety of rhubarb; Time it was swallowed before treatment; and Amount swallowed.
Serious poisonings can result in kidney failure. Deaths have been reported, but are rare.
Oregon State University Horticulture staff also support the recommendation to not eat rhubarb leaves because they are toxic to humans.
The stems are safe to eat.” (Thanks, Einstein, LOL!)
My Mom used to have a terrible time with squirrels. Her whole backyard was like ‘Disneyland’ with all of her model trains set up, little towns she’d build, etc.
The squirrels would steal her little plastic people and accessories, LOL!
She started trapping them and would spray paint their tails blue while they were still caged, then would drive them out past the dump and let them go.
She never got bit, and she never saw a blue-tailed squirrel come back to her yard!
I’ve often wonder what happened to them? Were they ostracized by other squirrels? Did they have to start their own community of blue-tailed squirrels? Did their offspring develop blue tails, genetically?
So many unanswered questions! *SNORT*
My Mom. Always entertaining. ;)
Things are starting to heat up in SoCal (95 today!!) so I am entering the maintenance phase of gardening, no more planting. Too bad for the early heat, I know I'll lose my winter plantings early (usually last until July 1st).
Meanwhile:
One of the plants that can tolerate our high heat and hot winds in the bougainvillea.
This is "orange king."
And "royal purple" (that flops over my back fence)
Cactus can also take the heat, but their blooms are short-lived:
These are very very old - and bloomed for the first time after I repotted them in designated cactus soil:
I had never seen this one bloom before - after 25 years:
First plumeria of the season:
And, of course, my favorite hollyhocks:
And my helpers!
Relaxing in the California poppies while mom waters:
She is often hard to spot, but loves to hang out in the garden:
And, lastly, in honor of my late husband, my new weathervane:
Your BEST Photos, yet! Loved them all. :) I always think of Hollyhocks as being a ‘Midwest Thang’ but I’m glad you love them, too.
I am working on Beau to get the side of the barn that faces the house ‘de-junked’ so I can grow Hollyhocks along there and see them whenever I look out the kitchen window. So classic, aren’t they?
I always think of hollyhocks as coming from the mid-west. I visited my grandparents in Indiana for years - and remember them growing along fences. They grow beautifully in California but I so rarely see them grown here. One of my neighbors didn’t even know what they were called - and they were growing in her front yard.
Curious ... how far away was the dump? I have read you have to take squirrels at least 5-10 miles away to keep them from returning. Some references say they can travel 15 miles & one even said 25!
True story - friend of mine was overrun with squirrels so he was trapping & relocating. I think he was up to 30+ or more in a fairly short period of time. He had periodically noticed a strange pickup truck parked briefly along a wooded spot just up from his house so one day he decided to watch & see what was going on. You probably guessed it - the guy was releasing squirrels! So friend Bob is trapping like crazy & removing squirrels, only to have someone “restocking” about as fast as he could trap!
Betty Crocker Kitchens
Ingredients: 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water, 4 Cups Rhubarb cut into 1-inch pieces, ground cinnamon, if desired. (I like Nutmeg, myself.)
In 2-quart saucepan, heat sugar and water to boiling, stirring occasionally. Stir in rhubarb; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until rhubarb is tender and slightly transparent.
Stir in cinnamon (or nutmeg). Serve sauce warm or chilled.
“Rhubarb is just celery with high blood pressure.” - anonymous
The dump is 5 miles or so from her house. She was concerned that they’d just come back, so that’s why she painted their tails.
I’m sure she just started a problem for someone else, too. ;)
We have a few squirrels around, but they’re not much of a problem. There is usually a dog or cat in the yard, so that’s a deterrent right there.
:)
Trying to figure out where to place my tomato plants and recalled one being determinate so I figured I could stick those on the back side of the fence I have peas trained to and they’d be inter-planted with Ice Queen head lettuce which will be gone before the tomatoes get too big.
Problem is, a couple of websites say Rosella is determinate and other websites say indeterminate. RareSeeds where I got them doesn’t specify determinate/indeterminate for their maters. In the comments section most people talk like it’s indeterminate but one person said they grow like a determinate.
This spot I want to put them will be tough to access once plants are full size so I figured determinate would work well there. Some websites say they’re small enough for containers. Some actually list Dwarf Rosella but I don’t know if they’re something different or not. Some comments on RareSeeds talk like they get huge. Pics aren’t much help. Most people take pics of the clusters or individual fruits. Just about all of the whole plant pics are labelled dwarf rosella or are obvious that they’re not full grown plants.
Make up my mind people.
Rareseeds has them at 24” spacing. Guess I’ll look up the other five varieties and see what’s said about them for size. Either that or stick some peppers back there and put tomatoes in the open. Just gotta check peas/lettuce/peppers compatibility.
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