Posted on 05/08/2021 6:21:48 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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Good Morning! :-)
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This past week was a BIG gardening week for me - all of the veggies I'm planting are in the ground. While my raised beds were in pretty good shape, I sprayed weekend before (ACV, Epsom salt, Dawn mix) and being a bright/sunny couple of days, most of the small stuff was killed. I had a few weeds remaining & they were not hard to pull. The beds also needed some soil amendment, fertilizing, etc. In the ground now are cherry tomatoes, cukes, bell peppers & jalapeno peppers.
The radishes I planted (2nd batch) are up already – I think they germinated & were peeking out 3-4 days after planting. I leave my water can out in the sun & water the seeds in with warm water – seems to help a lot. My trellis that I made is in place and ready for the cukes to start climbing. The trellis is made of old lumber & fence wire from a 40 year old fence we took down. I love using “old” stuff and making something useful out of it. The only thing “new” about the trellis are the bolts I had to buy (about $7) and the zip ties to hold on the wire.
Now we're on to the flowers. I previously planted Cardinal Climbing Vine – they are “up”. I planted some more this week. Soaking those seeds before planting is the way to go – they come up much faster. I did plant some tithonia & it appears the seeds (8) did not come up. So, I'm doing something I've never done before – using peat pots. I have planted tithonia, giant sunflowers, marigolds (French & a giant Climax) & a couple of dahlias in peat pots. The pots can go straight in the ground and with no weeds in the planting medium, whatever I see will be a plant I want in the garden. I am putting the pots in the sun during the day & bringing them in at night. Watering is done with warm water. I expect results!!
There are several beds that will be broadcast planted with seeds – zinnias & a hummingbird mix. In rows will be Teddy Bear sunflowers & some other sunflower varieties in autumn colors & one good for flower arrangements. We are going through a chilly spell right now, so I'm going to wait a bit longer before trying to start seeds in the ground. Around our place, the peonies are about to bloom, the fig bush actually has figs (what??) & the buttercups are starting to recede – no more yellow fields. The two bluebird nests (there may be a third) that I can easily watch both have parents feeding youngsters – one nest had 5 eggs in it. The mockingbird has a nest in a small holly tree & there's a cardinal nest in a forsythia bush. The birds are busy around here. The hummers are back … sort of. I am not seeing a great amount of feeding activity yet (not like last year at the height of the summer), but I have seen females in addition to the couple of males that showed up first, so the rest of the gang should be arriving before too long.
Today, I'm working on a fire pit area. Sitting by a fire out under the stars …. something I long to do. Friends want to come over – haven't seen them in a year with the China virus stuff going on. I'm looking forward to re-connecting in person. Have a great Mother's Day weekend!
BTW, the full moon this month (26th) is the "Full Flower Moon" per the Farmer's Almanac.
LOL
After last night’s possible frost, I am going to plant a big pot of Flirty Skirts Pansies later today. If it freezes again, will have to carry the pot inside the house. It’s huge, so hopefully won’t freeze again. Wishful thinking.😇
Finally got some gardening stuff done. Planted two Comfrey roots in 3 gal containers. Planted 10 strawberry bare roots, 6 two year asparagus roots and today, a Beefsteak mater plant that will probably also go in a container, 5 gal bucket. Got some mint I need to stick somewhere too. Will stick a few in with the mater as it’s supposed to be good for them. Comfrey, strawberries and asparagus will all be transplanted into the ground this winter or early next Spring.
Neighbor gave me the mater plant. He bought 10 of them mostly because he wanted the container that held the 10 small pots, LOL.
Irises are starting to bloom.
That looks like the concept we used in our raised beds last year. We had knocked together some frames with chicken wire for vining plants. We got lots of pickling cucumbers. Worked well.
My “shake em in a cup, toss em on the ground” garden on Texas property is funnybto look at. The natural ground cover went crazy through the layer of cow nature and potting soil....but the squash plant did rise through and is blooming.
As you won’t recall, I made a 12x8’ area planting spot beneath side by side oak trees ony TX property & mixed up about 10 packs of different seeds Ina. Styrofoam coffee cup then tossed em on the pile.
I buried them recklessly with a shovel then liked broken tree branches (ice storm in a 20-25’ diameter (8 feet high) circle around the trees to keep the deer off anything that sprouted.
That was 6 weeks ago. I was here 2 weeks ago and nothing.....this week I have a squash plant with several flowers.
The branches all settled and the lpw spots are only 5 feet high....with more than a dozen whitetail trotting around at any one time I don’t think the squash will be safe.
Your watering can trick is similar to my technique of leaving my hose spread out in the morning sun area....1st 2 cans get warm water.....and I will leave 2 full watering cans in the greenhouse for any nighttime watering.
Where the wife and I are staying in TX right now there is a bird house hanging adjacent to the coffee n shade sitting area.
Baby birds squeeking in there while mom n dad make constant runs for more twigs n bugs
Got some good photos of mom n dad....and of the fawn nursing off momma deer (stay out the garden bambi) just on the other side of the fence.
Great trellis! Mine are cattle panels - functional but not all that beautiful. Maybe I should paint them?
Today, my chores entail:
Sorting tomato plants and giving them more room - they’re getting big, so more air circulation is needed
Cleaning the Kennel Shed - we had two ‘escapes’ this week, (each of us neglected to put the double latch on the kennel doors of our two ‘Escape Artists’ and they tore up a bunch of feed bags and trash and made a general mess and pooped all over. Jerks. I give and I give and I GIVE - and THIS is how they repay me?
Moving Melon and Winter Squash seedlings out to the greenhouse and putting them up. And other than starting some Sunflowers, this concludes my seed starting for the season. Yay!
Plant Onions - I have a ton of sets ready to go - ‘Candy’ and ‘Blush’
Potatoes are cut and drying. I know I am WAY behind, but Beau finally got the new area east of the house tilled up for me; he’s been working for his brother on a road project and mowing for others. Favors that will be repaid someday, someway! :)
So, that should keep me out of the bars today, but I’m seeing a Martini for Mommy at the end of the day! :)
I got the idea from a BH&G magazine about a gorgeous garden - the lady’s hubby had made her several trellises in a similar style. The big differences:
He used 2 x 4’s. Waaaay too heavy for me & I had the 2 x 2s already! I needed something I could move from raised bed to raised bed (without assistance) as I rotate ‘climbing’ crops.
Twine was used for the plants to climb on. They attached it to the lowest rail on one side, ran it over the top & attached to the lowest rail on the other side - twine strands were about an inch apart. Lots of work attaching all those lengths of twine. I actually had twine and was going to do it their way, then thought ‘why in the world don’t you use the wire you already have??’ I’m glad I went with the wire - the frame is much heavier, but I can still move it by myself with the wire attached. Since I attached with zip ties, I could always take the wire off if necessary.
I am very happy with my little project - I get a nice sense of satisfaction every time I look at it and I’ll be even happier when the cukes start using it to climb!
Can’t wait to see your pictures!
All of my ‘Usual Suspects’ are back - Hummingbirds (just a few) Red Breasted Grossbeak, Orioles, four kinds of Woodpeckers - the whole gang is here!
I’ve heard, but not seen, Yellow Warblers. They’re quite shy. Hoping to spot a few before they move on - they never stay - just passing through.
In a morning ‘surprise’, my bro just showed up with the old tractor/post hole digger so fence post holes are in progress. My dad decided to rip down some old fence at the driveway entrance - I BEGGED him to not replace, but he’s stubbornly refused my suggestion.
So, he cannot set posts due to age/failing heart. I am guessing, if he’ll have some posts delivered, that I’ll be doing a lot of “tamping” in the next couple of weeks. He can hold the level & keep the post straight. I know I can do one a day, maybe two (we have at least 10-12 posts to set). I need some bicep (and other muscles) work & setting posts would do it - those tamping bars are heavy! My big issue is getting the lumber delivered - I do NOT want to have to go get it.
No martini, but I have to dogsit starting this evening - the usual ‘payment’ is a bottle of wine so that’s what I’ll be working on. Good luck with all your planting. PS: my niece’s hubby’a “Houdini” beagle got out yet again (hunts deer) - she was missing quite a while until an Amazon driver picked her up on the back roads & gave her a ride to the nearest house. That person called the pound who had ‘Houdini’s’ description & my niece’s phone number. I have made some suggestions for keeping her from escaping - they’re not listening yet, but if the dog doesn’t get killed first, they may listen. She has the habit of finding a busy road & lying down in the middle of it when she gets too tired - works for getting a “ride” as long as she doesn’t become a grease spot first.
LOL! U R Awesome plant mama!
PLM
The sun is brutal here in Florida.
My Maui ixora in partial shade are blooming, but a lot of my plants are barely hanging on.
The lily bulbs I bought from Aldi are blooming in the garden I share with my neighbors. I planted them there in order to ensure they get watered often enough. Hopefully, they’ll survive until next year.
My Easter lilies in my back yard are blooming. Those are the only type of lilies that seem to do well for me here in Florida.
I went with pansies this year and found some great mixed ones. They are in a deck planter.
Also did up a big container plant of salvia for a patio. Hummingbirds are back although we had a really cold night last night and tonight too. Had to cover those 2 up and bring all the veggie plants into the garage.
We have everything ready just have not planted any veg yet. Our garden is the best prepared yet thanks to hubby.2 years of compost spread, wood ash added, soil tested and we have some Chicken Soup for the Soil we are going to try this year, it has come highly recommended.
Sometime after noon we will head down to pollinate about 80-90 pawpaw blossoms with a paintbrush on a chopstick. It has worked well in the past. Our blossoms are mostly open but with the cold it has been a slow process. Honeybees don’t pollinate pawpaws, bumble bees do. So we hand pollinate. We have a mesh food worker type hairnet solution (pack of 100) that we will put around each blossom head once the flowers fall off and we can see the tiny fruit form. Hoping this will be a final solution on the bird problem. The trees are too tall for netting and we tried those reflective streamers last year so I came up with this ides.
In west Michigan veggie plants have been hard to come by which is why we bought what we needed early and went to many places. We still have a bunch of plants in the house that we started from seed. We are really way ahead this year and it is a good feeling. Wishing all my gardening friends a great season.
Forgot to mention we are enjoying some great asparagus, picked 4 X already, they came up fast and early and now have slowed down. The bed they are in got cleaned out really well and we will enjoy them.
Forgot a bird report, hummers, orioles back, woodpeckers we have all year long. Wood ducks and bluebirds since early April. Waiting for tree swallows and hoping no wrens come back. They love to decimate blue bird nests and we have one nest built already.
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