Posted on 05/27/2023 5:38:43 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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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“Army Veteran (’79 through Operation Desert Storm, ‘93.)”
Memorial Day! Thanks for your service too, Diana!
"When spring arrived, the time came for the colonists to plant their first crops on North American soil. Thanks to the help of Squanto—a Native American whose extinct tribe once farmed on the land now occupied by the colonists—they grew a new sort of corn that they called “Indian corn.” Squanto showed them how to plant dead fish with the seeds. This turned out to be quite an effective fertilization method. As the fish decomposed, the chemicals from their bodies would give the seeds needed nutrients. And this would help the colonists grow healthy corn until harvest."
So, your options and your choices.
Pull the trigger and do it. Beau has one that he’s got on the back of the 4x and he uses it for selective Round-Upping and also watering (when well washed out, of course!)
I’m one that does not mind hand/hose watering. That way I can keep a close eye on my ‘charges’ to see if they need anything at any given moment.
It gives me time to talk to them and encourage them to grow, LOL!
I can also look for the first signs of pests or disease.
It also helps that I’m an Early Riser and the sun doesn’t hit the bulk of my garden until about 11 am. ;) (It still gets a full 9 hours pf sun during the growing season.)
*Twinkle* *Pony Bump* :)
The amount of tomatoes that go into just ONE batch of ketchup has always astounded me. I contemplated making it...once, LOL!
I always buy the low-sugar variety; I can’t tell the difference.
Happy Memorial Day! I have a lot of Vets in my life but none that have died in battle, so I am thankful for that! I was in Army Basic Training the Summer/Fall of 1979 and all of my Drill Sergeants were Vietnam Vets. Those guys knew their stuff, for sure.
Our First Sergeant was a real character - big black guy named ‘Barnum.’ He said it stood for ‘Bad, Arrogant, Rude, Nasty, Ugly and MEAN!’ But he was anything but.
Funny the things you remember when going through ‘trauma,’ LOL! That young woman from inner-city Milwaukee had no CLUE about the REST of the Big Wide World at that point in her life. ;)
My pleasure. I miss Army Life every day...though running a farm is pretty much the same, LOL!
Yeah those small ones are made for ATVs and my little tractor is about the same width as an ATV. One for water/organics and one for chemicals. Tractor Supply, Amazon, Harbor Freight, all around $100 for the same so I better get two while Orscheln Farm & Home has them for $60. Price good til June 4th so if I don’t get up there today, I’ll go Thurs/Fri when I’m off work.
Wasn’t scheduled to work today but will still get 8 hours holiday pay so there’s my $$$ for sprayers.
I go visit the garden every day regardless to see the progress, prune the indeterminates etc. I also work 12 hour shifts for three days in a row every other week and I’m not into standing out in the heat at the end of those days or any 12 hour day really. I want slippers and a chair.
Crack a beer, flip a switch to turn the drip irrigation on and sit in the shade while things get watered.
Raked up my mower clippings, 50/50 shredded leaves/grass, and mulched half the garden this morning. Need to mow the same amount again and gather it up to finish mulching.
Waiting on 18 bean plants to sprout in their Jiffy pots so I can get them in the ground. Get those two things done and it’s on to bigger and better things.
My Dad fished a lot whenever he caught a big carp he would bury it whole in the garden.
Hubby got his ride in the deuce and a half in the parade, loved it!
Its good for the garden!
Sheila Hicks with her 2014 "Pillar of Inquiry/Supple Column." (Greg Cook)
(Q:That is that??? A: I don't know, but I like those colors!)
So I had to look ‘what is it’ up:
Sheila Hicks’s Best Work Is Not at the Whitney Biennial
http://artfcity.com/2014/03/13/sheila-hicks-best-work-is-not-at-the-biennial/
She should have hung it outside & then birds could have incorporated the ‘threads’ into REAL works of art ... their nests!
(I keep thinking dreadlocks, a groady hairstyle. "A haunt of fleas on summers eve" apologies to J. Keats! )
I am sure I would not, in this densely pack city of approx. 25,000 pe sq. mile. My compost barrel itself must be tended to regularly. But thanks.
Yet it is a relatively lost cost garden, with water from the rear of the building (in which we rent the 2nd fl. from a LL who has given use much freedom of use of land) being shunted via tarps into unused former trash barrels, and transferred from the collector barrel to others via a $12.00 12V DC 1100gph Submersible Water Pump , powered by a computer power supply (jump the green and black wires on the main connector with a paper clip), and using a combination of trashed water and vacuum cleaner hoses.
The water barrels are given a one-two second non-stick food spray to prevent mosquito breeding.
The main storage barrel is elevated and has a thick hose, connected using polyurethane gorilla glue and some Great stuff, and connected to some other trashed hoses, reaching about 60 feet to the street end of the garden, all flowing downhill.
A lot of soil has been screened via a homemade 2''x4'' wood frame using 1/2'' 5'x2.5' screening. Nevertheless, rocks continue to be the most abundant "crop!"
Tomato plants are grown from harvested seed (fermented a couple days before drying out) in discontinued 20oz. Dunkin Donut cups i found thrown out (I usually help the trash pick up).
But what is not being told is how we established this small place for gospel outreach, and of God's manifest providence after I left with my clothes on my back to serve in the Lord's work full time in 1986, without ever asking for salary or money for that labor. Any glory is to God, for it was not my idea.
The past week was pleasant here in Central Missouri. No rain, which we desperately need, but the temps were moderate and the humidity low.
Dove field has been seeded with sunflower and spring oats. I also got a pound of turnip seed to put down there, but it’s too early in the season to plant that stuff.
Victory garden is coming along nicely. I’m almost done pinning the weed cloth down. Other than the eggplants I put in the ground beds the greenhouse is pretty much empty right now. It’s time to start some herb seeds, but I’m going to the racetrack this weekend so I’ll wait until after I get home to do that. I planted spaghetti squash, watermelon, and dill over the weekend. Okra/pole beans/cukes are all out of the ground. Spinach bolted so I pulled it all and gave to the chickens.
Got to see 2/7ths of the grands on Saturday. Granddaughter Lexi had big fun catching bluegills from the pond. Most of them were caged up for a trip to my buddy’s quarry pond. A few were released to get bigger, and a few wound up being buried in the garden for fertilizer. Squanto wasn’t making that story up - it works.
I like it. My cats would REALLY like it! I bet it’s a PITA to dust! ;)
Good neighbor Dave mowed my hay fields yesterday.
And just like that, out of nowhere, here comes the rain.
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