In before - everything
Founded in 1922, the non-profit American Horticultural Society (AHS) is one of the most longstanding, respected national gardening organizations in North America.
AHS proudly celebrated its Centennial year in 2022!
Sure looking forward to Spring. It was 5 below in my Town in Upstate New York...and that’s not counting the wind chill.
Had an awful time last year with blister beetles. They destroyed as much of my garden as the heat and the gophers did. I’m told that a lot of the time, the eggs are already in the garden soil / potting soil we buy, so there’s no way to know you’ve got an infestation until they hatch and start obliterating things. Is there anything I can do this year as a preventative measure?
All seriousness aside...your picture looks exactly like our sunroom after the wife brings her plants in for the winter. One end of the sunroom looks like a jungle.
Diana, what about adding a section on raising your own backyard chickens? I’m very interested, from the reading the coop and feed are the most expensive part, I checked out hatcheries they want as much to ship as for the chicks. With the price of eggs climbing weekly, and the heavy use I thought it would be a good way to stop paying the Big 10 food companies. And have fresher eggs.
-24 this am. Thankfully wed didnt get the high winds too.
My ultra-scientific reckoning points towards Feb 14 - Valantines Day -
since I love gardening so much... Ha!
Usually I am swimming in garden catalogs by early January. I have received none whatsoever. I had to request one from Burpee. Anyone else experiencing this?
What's wrong with my strawberry plants? They turn brown and brittle despite watering. First the leaves turn a darker green and become glossy. Next they start to turn brown. Ultimately the leaves break apart and leave nothing but the center of the plant.
Initially I thought it was chlorine in tap water so I started leaving the water in open containers for a minimum of 1 day per gallon. This seems to have slowed down the process but ultimately they still die.
This happens with every variety of seed and bareroot plant I've tried. This particular one was grown from seed. The soil is always fresh Miracle Gro potting mix.
What's going wrong? I want some strawberries!
Will the Mile-Hi Cannabis Club do?
Any tips for potatoes? Successful 1 out of 5 years. Great survival food. N georgia
Nice looking plants - great to have a big window like that.
This is the first somewhat ‘normal’ Saturday since early December. It IS cold, however. I know a lot of you have been colder, but 16 is pretty cold for us. I’m chicken sitting so I took 2 gallons of warm water to the coop around 8:30 - the ‘girls’ were happy to have water! They drank quite a bit, then headed off to the food.
There were 3 eggs in the nest boxes - I thought they might be frozen, but they were just super cold. There are 7 hens & with the exception of 1, they’ve been laying right along (despite being on Tractor Supply feed). The one hen not laying has recently started again - she was the hen that the fox was trying to carry away when the Collie intervened - the fox had to drop the hen to be able to run fast enough to get away. I would imagine that being in the mouth of a fox would scare a hen into not laying for a couple of weeks.
Yesterday, I had one of those “simple pleasure” moments .... needed two tablespoons of chopped thyme for a stew recipe. I braved the cold, gusting wind and cut some sprigs from two “baby” thyme plants that came from a larger, old thyme plant in a neighboring tub. The baby thyme plants have lots of leaves, smell delicious and were a great addition to the stew. I love being able to go out and cut fresh herbs for cooking - a simple pleasure.
The rest of the day, I’ll be spending inside - it’s currently 28, there’s a basketball game on now (two state rivals, one of which is the alma mater for 8 family members), and I’m catching up on completing 2022 Christmas presents for various people .... better late than never.
Looks like I need to join the 'Schlumbergera Society.' ;)
For anyone in striking distance, this week marks the post-pandemic return of the famed Philadelphia Flower Show to its indoor location at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in the Center City business district — today, Feb 4 through next Sunday, Feb 12.
This year's theme is "The Garden Electric", featuring plants with vibrant colors. Sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (founded 1827), the annual Philadelphia Flower Show is "is the nation’s largest and longest-running horticultural event" -- everything from patio constructions, summerhouses, sheds dripping with moss and vines, entire trees and shrub gardens with water fountains to lavish arrangements in vases and urns, bonsais and miniatures, dioramas, a large garden-related vendor bazaar, and a food court.
Cute video shows many familiar Philly landmarks:It's worth noting that the majority of the violent street crimes we've been hearing about are in Obama neighborhoods; but do be prudently streetwise if you go. There are no gun crimes reported so far this year within several blocks of the venue on the Philadelphia government's interactive gun crime map. You can download the link to your phone.
Join us for the 2023 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show
Mother Nature has lost her mind again. Single digit temps earlier in the week, t-shirt weather today. Still bone dry.
I should have spent the day cleaning up my victory garden, but there was a data center disaster yesterday at one of the hospitals I support so I’m sitting in my grouch cave rebuilding the paging system. On the bright side, I’ll have 20+ hours of overtime pay this week and my paycheck on the 15th will be fat city.
I did manage to fiddle with Mr. Clarence early this morning. Took him out for some fresh air and sunshine. Five minutes into my ride the radiator sprung a leak and started dumping coolant on the ground so I put him back in the shop. Worst part of that deal is the radiator has already been out to the fix-it shop for cleaning and pressure test and now I’ve got to tear it apart again and repeat that exercise.
The weekend wasn’t a complete bust though... the brown Santa truck delivered the timers that I ordered from Amazon so now I don’t have to remember to start/stop the grow lights in the greenhouse.