Weekly Garden Thread - April 22-28, 2023 [The History of the Tulip Edition]

April 22, 2023 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[Diana in Wisconsin]

'Chuck' Update!

Seriously? Why put up with the hassle of mowing your lawn, when a quick call to '1-800-CHUCK' will get you the BEST lawn care service money can't buy! After he mows, he takes a Union Break to chew his cud. No muss, no fuss for you! He also provides free fertilizer. What's not to love? ❤ (Well, yeah. The piles of fertilizer everywhere, but still! He works cheap!)

Chuck's a little dirty from being in the barn up until two weeks ago. He needs a trip through the 'Cow Wash!' (Black Angus/Holstein cross.)

[MomwithHope]

“Impressive! Yet another reason I live where there are NO crocs or gators! :)”

Or poisonous snakes.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

A few more things going on around here. Finally got some photos uploaded. I'm 'Old School' with a REAL Canon camera and everything!

Tomatoes and peppers will be staying inside for yet another week. Nighttime temps are at or below FREEZING, so even with extra covers, I don't want to risk my babies!

Lettuces (Marvel of Four Seasons & Yugo Red Butterhead) spinach and arugula from my greenhouse.

My Daffodils under snow last week. They're doing fine, now.

Not all Love Notes are written! Beau brought up two scoops of compost from our big pile and dressed all my garden beds. It will get tilled in closer to planting time. ❤

I used tall Mason Jars to store my various fertilizers and labeled the tops of the lids with mixing directions and formulations.

My Christmas Cactus will not stop blooming! We had NO SUN in January and February and that stimulated her to bloom again. She also bloomed in November. Crazy Girl that, 'Miss Peach!'

[Qiviut]

Wow, Chuck has really grown since the last picture I saw of him, which was when you got him as a little calf. He is one good looking steer and I was so inspired that I made grass-fed Ribeyes for dinner tonight! LOL!

The first pony that I got when I was 12 was one that we could tie out to eat grass in the yard. She was pretty good at keeping her feet from being tangled up in the rope. I would love to have a steer; however, our fences are in such poor shape with some sections down on the ground or missing, it would take major repair work to fix it so we could keep animals in the pasture.

My niece, who started regenerative farming with meat chickens & hogs, has added 4 steers this Spring. If the steers go well as a project (& they can add more fence), they will be raising a larger herd in the near future & then I can buy a half or whole steer from them.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

My seed starts are way behind schedule (2-3 weeks) but it is my own fault.

This is my 1st year in Texas and ai was over watering the peat pods worrying about the heat drying them out.

We are not yet moved into our new home (end of May apprently) and ai can only get out there 1/day (after work) M-Thur..

I dropped some coin on tomato and pepper plants and up-potted them.

I had the intention of dropping them all in the ground on Friday but decided to wait until Sunday morning (today.)

Boy was that lucky.

Huge hailstorm last night that wiped out my neighbor’s garden completely.

He oy has twigs left....

I did lose 3 windows on the North side of my house from the golf ball sized hail.

My metal shed has some dents, my greenhouse has about 200 dimples into he poly tubing cover and about 100 golf ball sized holes.

I should be able to repair the holes with greenhouse tape.

I only lost 3 plants to the hail....3 hailstones made it through poly tubing and smashed the plant. 2 pepper plants got whacked and one tomato plant.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Ern; Thats too bad about your greenhouse, but glad you held off on planting! Hail is bad. Not much you can do about it other than get a metal roof on house and out buildings.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Busy lady! Look at those tomatoes! And your roving methane digester! And your garden boxes filled with rotting manure! (Gardening gold!)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Slide....Possible Aurora tonight!

https://services.swpc.noaa.gov/images/aurora-forecast-northern-hemisphere.jpg

Some pictures taken this evening in Germany:

https://spaceweather.com/

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Nothing better than grass-fed Chuck! Glad you have access to it, too. ;)

Beau got a nice 22# Turkey, yesterday - I’ll add some photos later and ping ya.

We got the flooring poured in the barn to expand usable area. By the time we get the coop finished, eggs should be back down to 99-cents a dozen, LOL!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

You must feel like you’re settling the Prairie all over again!

Glad the damage wasn’t any worse. Hail is nasty stuff. We had a hailstorm quite a few years back and one of our local car lots got damaged. Big sale on ‘slightly dented’ cars a week later, though. ;) That must’ve been painful for them!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Me, on the first day I get something planted in the garden:

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Taters arrived the other day - I'm letting them sprout some before I 'chit' them and get them planted. I'm only doing German Butterball this season in one of my raised beds where I have looser soil; The Big Garden is going to be wildflowers for pollinators, and whatever Beau wants to do with his half. Until that area is raised beds, I can't keep up with the weeds. And I ain't got TIME fo dat!

It's a BIT cloudy today, but the sun's rays get through, so I moved EVERYTHING to the greenhouse for a dose of REAL sunshine. Will bring in the tomatoes and peppers tonight, and cover up other stuff...and we'll see what happens! This week I need to get Zukes, Cukes and Sunflowers started.

Cukes: Summer Dance, Sweeter Yet and Green Dragon.

Zukes: Easy Pick Gold and Spineless Beauty

Sunflowers: ProCut Orange, Soraya, Florist's Sunny Bouquet (mix) and Mammoth Russian for across the back of the wildflower garden.

Temps are still on the cool side, though it looks like we might turn a corner on the nighttime temps by Thursday. Fingers crossed!

[Ellendra]

The pelleted feed I get for my chickens has marigold in it. I assumed it was just to give the yolks a better color. Good to know it has benefits besides that.

[Ellendra]

I’m looking forward to the look on my neighbors’ faces when I finally get a grazing animal of my own. I intend to train it so I can use it to mow the shoulders of the shared driveway. The rocks along there are hard on lawnmower blades. And the grumpy guy who keeps trying to enforce city-suburb rules on this rural back-country valley is going to be especially fun to watch!

[Pollard]

My tomato seedlings look much better than last year. Short and stocky, not long and thin and they’re grown faster. Brighter lights and I’m keeping them closer to the plants.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

That’s the way to do it! Mine got a good kick in the pants with that week of warm weather we had - they’ve grown so fast that they’ll need re-potting - which NEVER happens for me.

I think by the end of the week I can re-pot them and leave them in the greenhouse as nighttime temps are warming - been toting them (and the peppers) in and out morning and evening.

It’s always SOMETHING, isn’t it? ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Why do people have to be jerks? I’ll never understand it.

Message me as to where your land is, and what your plans are for a house. I’d love to know all about it! :)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Ellendra, I saw that! Something good for the chickens and eventually for us too! A good thing to know! (Probably good for cattle too!)

I posted that link to show the health value of Marigold petals. I suppose you might throw some in a protein shake, but I am not certain how enjoyable they would be in salad; Maybe chopped up and in the dressing.

Tilted Irish Kilt sent this to me. (A Diana Favorite is on the list!)

"Best lutein sources:

“These eight foods offer some of the highest amounts of lutein per serving:

Kale – “ One cup of raw kale contains about 11 milligrams, almost two times the amount linked to health benefits. Cooking it reduces kale’s lutein by nearly half, however, but this total still meets your daily recommendation.”

Spinach :” Loaded with iron, vitamin K, and magnesium, spinach is an all-in-one source of many essential vitamins and minerals. It’s also high in antioxidants like lutein, with 8 milligrams in one cup. Unlike kale, cooking spinach enhances its lutein content” (2X).

Romaine Lettuce : “While a lighter-pigmented leafy green, romaine lettuce still has plenty of lutein. Two cups of shredded lettuce in a salad add almost 4 milligrams to your meal. “

Corn :”gets its yellow pigment thanks to lutein, and per cup contains about 3.6 milligrams. Corn-based products boast similarly high levels.

Bell Peppers :” Bell peppers are an excellent source of vitamin C and contain a range of carotenoids, including lutein. While each pepper color has its nutritional advantages, green bell peppers have the highest lutein content with up to 1.4 milligrams depending on the pepper’s size.

Also mentioned: Parsley , Pistachios , Eggs .

Information source:
https://www.webmd.com/diet/foods-high-in-lutein"

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Cold weather and Potatoes:

https://medium.com/@mkarr/russian-cuisine-why-the-potato-96a93af12f8a

snip....."There is a phrase commonly used in Russian. Many families living in the cities have a getaway for the early spring and summer months called a dacha. A dacha is a seasonal home for many people in Russia outside of the city. Many dachas have farms as the people who live there grow their own vegetables and food for the summer there directly.

When people say they’re going to their dacha, they say they are going на картошку: to the potatoes.'"

...snip...."The fact that the potato is one of the hardiest and resilient edible things that humans grow has allowed it to develop its cult status in Russia. According to the International Potato Center, certain strains of potatoes have now been shown to be able to grow on Mars. The fact that the International Potato Center exists should be enough of a hint as to the importance of the crop."

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Good deal! Things should go a lot better this year!

How is your high tunnel going?