Posted on 07/24/2021 5:52:57 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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When I turned 40, I threw a HUGE Garden Party at my other farm. It was so much fun to put together, and everyone had a great time. Food, wine, music, lots of flowers and fancy dress-up hats were provided, thanks to my Mom’s costuming connections. ;)
The party was a celebration but also a fundraiser for our Food Pantry and our local no-kill Animal Shelter, so I asked guests to bring either non-perishable foods or pet foods/supplies in lieu of a gift for me, which I later donated. It was a HUGE success - my friends were VERY generous!
I did the same on my 50th, but of course, my 60th was ruined due to Covid. My 61st birthday is here, and I wasn’t as organized this year, so it’ll have to be a Cyber-Garden Party. I’m starting the planning for the big 7-0; I should have that organized in nine short years, LOL!
Anyhow, late July is always the month when my garden looks its best, so I thought this week we would use the theme of ‘Garden Party’ to share ideas and thoughts and recipes, etc.
So, Party On! I’m going out to mow the lawn before the heat, but will be back later today. (Life Goes On!)
Been up since 5 am as usual.
Sprayed the garden with “Garrett” juice. *Dirt Doctor*. 73 degrees here, coolest I can get.
Going to hit 100 today per the weatherman.
Planning a re-installment of Rosemary in the front yard (lost them in the freeze last Feb.).
Mowing and weeding beds + compost/mulching today before it gets hot.
Zone 8a East Texas (Henderson County)
Happy Birthday to you!
A fascinating article that I think all the gardeners would find interesting .... gardens provide food - good food & that is what we should all be eating!
How the Mid-Victorians Worked, Ate and Died
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3978810/posts
I heard this discussed on a podcast & was so intrigued, I looked up the paper - it was ‘eye opening’! Yesterday, I posted the link on a thread discussion & got a few comments on how much people enjoyed the paper, so I did a post on it today & I hope you all will enjoy it too (paper is easy reading)!
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Strictly garden news:
My first giant sunflower and first tithonia bloom have happened - woo hoo!
I think the hummingbirds are drinking the nectar out of my feeders with a straw or something - draining the feeders quickly! My SIL is having the same experience - says the hummer babies are now fledged and out/about in numbers.
Center view:
Butternut squash taking over as usual!
Here are the two plants I compared about a week ago, of the diseased one on the left before Ii removed the bad leaves vs. the one next to it:
Now today, thank God:
Now these plants were put in late and were very small and in a side location that gets very little sun. However, the soil was all screened and deep:
Now who can tell me what the names are to these flowers there were donated and planted:
Thanks and glory be to God thru His Divine Son for all the fruit that shows His grace and goodness!
Greetings from southern New Hampshire!
While mowing, on Wednesday, I noticed one of my swarm traps had fallen from the tree it was attached to and laying upright on the ground. It had been hanging from a French cleat, securely screwed to the tree trunk, about 10 feet up.
It turns out that apparently Brer Bear climbed up and ripped it, cleat and all from the tree, snapping off all three screws. But, because I had wrapped a ratchet strap around the trap top and French cleats, the bear couldn’t get into the trap itself. I removed the strap and top and pried one of the frames up enough to see a couple of honey bees working a comb. Last night, we moved the trap up to our bee pergola, and this morning, I observed one bee leaving the trap. I will give it a couple days before transferring the frames and colony to a vacant hive.
We are fine-tuning the critter fencing around the raised beds, and Household Six has been applying fox urine around the garden. Critter problems seem to be lessening. Six busted a young groundhog that was acting aggressively. Don’t want to risk rabies!
I have been making significant progress on the wire fencing around the garden. Soon, it will enclose the garden area, and we can let our ducks out to police the bugs.
It sure has been a weird spring/summer, so far.
I have to get a lot done in the next month, before my trip to Georgia to deliver my son’s workshop equipment to their new home, along with our “guests”, Niko the Husky and Olaf and Baboo, two felines. They are residing in our RV while visiting. I am sleeping out there and they seem to be enjoying the vacation.
We are eating cucumbers, potatoes, blue berries and a lemon off our little tree that was a Christmas gift from our daughter-in-law. Lady Bender is doing most of the grunt work out there and this could be her last year. The smoke from lightening caused forest fires is obscuring the sun here...
Plumerias and vincas are blooming (from my garden):
The monarch butterfly is real, the parrots are not.
And, my orange bougainvillea is beginning to recover from a heat wave:
From my travels: A beautiful fuchsia. They don't fare well where I'm from - too hot and windy. Doesn't stop the local nurseries from selling them.
And this unidentified flowering plant that I passed and couldn't resist taking a photo of:
Happy Gardening!
Happy 61st birthday! Your garden party sounds like a GREAT idea, and I think I will use that as a theme for one of my next get-togethers with friends.
We just finished hosting my 93 year old mother in law for a weeklong visit. (She’s still getting around pretty good for her age. Just a cane for some stability.) She loved seeing all my flower and fairy gardens, and my herb garden which I used in our cooking throughout the week. We spoiled her rotten with delicious home cooked meals that were healthy yet restaurant quality. Our son was able to visit for 3 days and made homemade from scratch spaghetti pasta and then meatballs and sauce. Unfortunately our tomatoes aren’t big enough yet to cook with. I got them in a bit late I guess.
Thankfully the weather was perfect almost every day, and we were able to eat many meals out on the deck in the fresh air, surrounded by God’s beautiful handwork. It was a fun week.
Happy Birthday!
🌸🌼🌺
🎂🍰🧁
Thanks Pete!
Glad I don’t have bears yet (they are increasing in numbers in E. TX), raccoons are bad enough.
BTW to All, I am back into the AC. It is humid and HOT here today.
Maybe have a serving of this!
And a super sparkelly night! !
Happy Birthday!
I am a good bit closer to 70 than you are .... avoided the family wanting to ‘rub it in’ when I turned 60. I hate birthday parties; however, a “garden party” is something I believe I would enjoy .... I’ll keep that in mind when I hit the next decade! :-)
Best wishes for many more birthdays & splendid gardens. Thanks for this thread, too - a bright spot in the year every Saturday! ~Q
Qiviut — It may be that nectivorous bats have discovered your feeder(s) and are helping themselves at night. I noticed this same phenomenon several years ago — gluttonous hummingbirds and empty feeders — then discovered one bright moonlit night that it was bats! I was happy to share and even bought an oriole feeder with larger ports to discourage them from making a sticky mess of the smaller hummingbird feeders.
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