I have a patch of the Honeoye strawberries, too. They’re terrific. I’m tying to expand my bed which isn’t working as well as I had hoped. They’re usually a WEED and you can’t stop them! I have clipped runners and planted them in hanging baskets - they look pretty that way and are easy to pick - no bending over!
Re: The Bears. Beau’s adventure turned out to be a bust. The first group DID get to see the Mama Bear up close while sedated, but she had no cubs. Beau’s group had to ride in 2 miles via snowmobile, then snowshoe in for another 3/4 of an hour. At that den, it was the mother and three cubs, but the Mama Bear moved to the far back of the den and they couldn’t get a clear shot to knock her out without hitting one of the cubs and the dosage for the Mama Bear might have killed any one of the cubs so they didn’t want to try.
But, he got a lot of other stuff done on the trip up and back in preparation for the coming bear season - hauled barrels of bear bait to the shed at the cabin, did a few needed repairs while he and two friends stayed there overnight - so it wasn’t a total loss. :)
Plant a Victory Garden
By Jennifer Rizzo
In World War l and World War ll, due to food shortages, people were encouraged to plant Victory Gardens or “war gardens”. They were usually made up of easy to grow vegetables that would produce over and over again. You can plant a Victory Garden in almost any size container and it is easier than you think! Go beyond huge garden plots, and think front yards, containers, even small balcony pots, or anywhere veggies can be grown. Plants like squash, watermelon,green beans and other climbing vines can weave through planting beds, or even climb up fences and trellises.
To plant a Victory Garden, you just need a few things: Dirt, seeds or plants, direct sunlight and water. If you’ve never grown a garden at all, check out this post with some basics I also have some favorite gardening books in my Amazon store. (Or use the Library!)
There are three suggested sizes below to get your victory garden started, and these suggestions also use companion planting, which is a way different plants can help and benefit from each other (For natural insect repelling properties it never hurts to plant marigolds or nasturtiums nearby!).
#1. On a balcony for large pots with sterile garden soil: (approx. 12″-14″)
1 indeterminate tomato, 2 basil plants.
3 Green bean seeds and circle with radish seeds
2 bush cucumber plants with radish
Lettuce seeds with radishes
1 tomato plant circled by onions
#2. For a larger 2 x2 Victory Garden container with sterile garden soil such as a stock tank planter.
2 tomato plants, onions and carrots alternated in 2 rows
1 green pepper plant, 1 tomato plant, 1 basil, 1 rosemary
12 x 12 section of lettuce, 12 x 12 section of onions, 12 x 12 section of carrots, 12 x 12 section of spinach
4 green bean plants, bordered by radishes, 2 bush cucumber plants
#3. For a 4 x 6 garden or larger (with rows spaced about 6 inches apart from each other).
Row of bush cucumbers, row of radishes, row of green beans, row of lettuce, row of tomatoes
Row of radish, Row of beets, row of carrots, row of rosemary, row of tomatoes, row of onion
With a larger garden, there are a ton of other veggie and fruit combos you can do too! And, don’t be afraid to tuck some tomato plants among your flowers in the front yard, or add edibles among your hostas.
Fruit is also something that you can add in among your flower garden, dwarf apple trees, pear trees, as well as strawberries,blueberries and raspberries are easy to place around the yard. If you have a bit of dirt, you can easily grow a few plants here and there to supplement your diet with fresh-grown produce and plant your own Victory Garden!
Pretty pictures and a video link at her site:
https://jenniferrizzo.com/plant-a-victory-garden/
Sounds like a pretty good bear adventure to me.
I try to avoid them completely 😳.
My cousin “up north” near Wausau has had bears in his yard.
I got the strawberries potted up. Need to weed the existing strawberry patch, plenty of work ahead doing that. 😅 The weeds got away on me last year.
Transplanted my pansies, dianthus, and snapdragons into 4-packs today too.
This frees up that BioDome to sow another 120 seed plugs!
Will look through my fridge seed drawer and see what needs to be seeded.
The tulips in my gardens are starting to poke through the soil !
Saw that late today.
🌷🌷🌷