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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.😇
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.
LOL! U R Awesome plant mama!
That is too funny! lol
