Posted on 05/13/2023 6:07:30 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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Thanks, Pete! :)
Glad you’re back in the game this season! :)
Yikes! That’s pricey! It’s one of the benefits of having someone rent your land for crops for his dairy herd.
We get two HUGE bales of Hay to feed the mule and steer in the winter months, and the smaller bales of Straw for my garden from the same farmer.
I am a total devote of Ruth Stout. She’d cover the WORLD with a thick layer of straw/mulch were it allowed. However, her method really works. Great for water retention and weed control and I really like how it gives my raised beds a finished look. (Others really hate the look...)
I am DONE spreading straw and have two bales in the greenhouse for backup. Now, to take a shower and get all the straw dust off of me. Itchy!
https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/ruth-stouts-system-for-gardening-zmaz04fmzsel/
When I have sprouting garlic, I put it in a pot near a sunny window and clip off the ‘leaves’ as they grow and use them like you would Chives.
We especially love zinnias because they are so 'hardy' in hot weather and sturdy enough to make gorgeous flower arrangements - my mom likes to give them to shut-ins, neighbors, & the secretary & pastors at church. I posted these before, but I'll repost ....so pretty .... can't wait for blooms this year!
If you like ‘greens’ and no doubt you do as a ‘Southerner,’ you can get a little more mileage out of lettuce that is going bitter by grilling or sauteing it.
I’ve made the ‘Grilled Caesar Salad’ before and everyone liked it and thought it was quite unique.
https://www.delish.com/cooking/a41953/reasons-you-should-be-cooking-your-lettuce/
To scale, a Mantis is just a miniature T-Rex! Eeek!
“Saw containers of live ladybugs at Lowe’s the other day.”
Impressive!
I see a REAL Ladybug once in a Blue Moon in my garden; but I have a zillion of those orange ‘ladybugs’ that like to live in the walls of my house in the winter. We are usually surrounded by fields of Soybeans and they just love those beans!
A January or February “thaw” brings them out by the hundreds and the Shop Vac never leaves my hand! I HATE them!
I do have the beneficial wasps and a lot of Lacewings in my garden, though. They make me happy. :)
I'm not growing them this year; I got swept up in the crazy new colors they've come out with in the 'Queeny' series of Zinnia:
My garden is going to be a RIOT of color this season...between the boring rows of veggies. And you know what? I used to care, but I don't anymore, LOL! :)
So pretty! :-)
I try to have plenty of flowers in/around the garden. I started with marigolds with my first raised beds & usually had them almost every year since. I didn’t do marigolds last year - had 2 beds of zinnias for color. A couple of years ago, I had morning glories and Cardinal vine .... never again LOL! I think it took me a day to unwrap all the vines off the trellises & my fencing.
This year, I have 5 dahlia bushes, a bed of zinnias, a bed of hollyhocks (that won’t bloom this year - boo hoo), some snap dragons in the very front of the hollyhocks & a bed of volunteer sunflowers. I’m going to add some Teddy Bear sunflowers to the volunteers. One of the volunteers is going to be a giant sunflower ... already bigger than the rest.
My two hydrangeas I transplanted early spring are doing great & I noticed just today they are getting blooms!
Mom has her own flower beds with Black-eyed Susans, Echinacea & Blanket flowers. She has chrysanthemums for the fall, tulips/daffodils for the spring along with 3 camellia bushes. Dad loved flowers so she was always planting whatever he bought & brought home.
Bob; You could look at some 24” Wide galvanized roofing panels from Home Depot, buy 3, use 2 for the sides and cut the remaining to 36” or 40” inches. Good luck!
https://www.homedepot.com/b/Building-Materials-Roofing-Roof-Panels-Metal-Roofing/N-5yc1vZapwh
Sometimes, especially dairy or cattle farmers, will have old hay bales past their prime, even by a couple of years (which means most of the weed seeds inside are dead) and they’ll give you these for free.
Ask around!
I got several free, five-year-old big, round bales that were half rotted about ten years ago. The farmer actually loaded them up and brought them to me as he wanted the space they were in. Not only did they make great mulch, but their state very quickly broke down on my flat garden area and really improved the soil.
Oh, wow! Thanks!
“old hay bales past their prime” bkmk
Mine are all free - it’s part of the ‘rent’ he pays us. ;)
But, good suggestion on the straw for everyone - FREE is GOOD...especially when growing food and flowers! :)
👍🌻
I just planted a Rhubarb plant this week! If your sauce is goid...need recipe!...have not had rhubarb in probably 50 years!
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