Posted on 05/01/2024 6:00:41 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
The MONTHLY Gardening Thread is a 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.
If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located.
This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked.
It is impossible to hijack the Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table Recipes, Preserving, Good Living - there is no telling where it will go - and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us! Send a Private Message to Diana in Wisconsin if you'd like to be added to/removed from our New & Improved Ping List.
NOTE: This is a once a MONTH Ping List, but we DO post to the thread all throughout the month. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest to Gardeners are welcomed any time!
Dill is one of the components in my ‘Diana’s Beneficial Bug Mix’ that I need to get sewn!
Off top:
Dill
Cilantro
Blue Bachelor Buttons
Calendula
Persian Carpet Zinnia
(if you can’t find them; any small Zinnia will do)
Borage
(But MomWithHope says NO! to Borage...it CAN get invasive!)
Orange Cosmos
I either tuck these pot-started plants into a corner of every raised bed, or I plant then in 5-gallon pots and scatter them about the garden area.
Beneficial Bugs LOVE this stuff and will keep the Bad Bugs in check for you. As an added bonus, Dill is a favorite of Monarch Caterpillars.
Both of us saw Yellow Tiger Swallowtails, today. No Monarchs yet - and we have TONS of wild Milkweed for them to snack on. Maybe they just haven’t gotten here, yet? Midwest storms slow them down and we have had a lot of those this Spring season.
Gorilla Cart! Ooooo! I know what I’m getting for my July birthday this year. ;)
I have a garden cart from Rubbermaid that has really held up will - it’s easy to tip so you can dump stuff out of it, too. I drag that thing all around the Manse. I have a metal cart on wheels, but it’s kid of falling apart by now and I don’t want to pay for someone to weld it.
So, Gorilla Cart it is! :) Thanks!
My tomatoes are absolutely INSANE this season. I don’t know WHAT I did differently, but they are super BEEFY with very strong stems.
They are just BEGGING to go into the ground, and I have all of their cages set in the beds where I want ‘everyone’ to go, but we might be in fr some rough weather the next few days so I am holding off.
There were MANY years when I was managing the Garden Center, that my OWN garden never got into the ground until June. I do NOT miss that! Could be why I’m now so OBSESSED with growing lettuces and spinach! ;)
Haha on the borage. Invasive is too kind a word. We ripped it all out before it went to seed. Plants were about 3 1/2 feet tall. It all went on the compost so that was good. We laughed this week as one plant came up from a seed. It is about 10” tall and flowering. We’ll leave it for now.
Props to bitt and nunberonepal for this graphic. It looks very interesting. I do want to do some container spuds this year.
https://x.com/numberonepal/status/1792317862138237362
The Korean Hand Plow comes in a long version, too. I am currently missing my ‘little’ hoe and my ‘Poacher’s Shovel’ which is just a short shovel with a smaller pan.
I’m sure ‘someone’ borrowed them and they are in the barn - SOMEWHERE. ;)
I have a little hoe which my father used for years and then went to me. It started out as a full size hoe, he just wore it down. Great tool.
“Home” again, home again, jiggity-jig ....
Back to the flatlands for a couple of days.
Mower:
Trailered LB back today & the slow leaking tire will be coming off tomorrow evening & going to the repair shop Tuesday for a new tube. Something is ‘clickety clacking’ & I think I see what it is ... if I can’t tighten it up or if I can & that’s still not what is making the noise, I will have the bro take a look.
Wildlife:
Friday, spotted a groundhog scuttling across the front yard, tree to tree, trying not to be out in the open too long. It disappeared into the overgrown lot next door that has a falling down shed on it. The shed is hard to see it has so much stuff growing around & up on it. I suspect that is where ‘home’ is for the groundhog. If I see any holes around our buildings, it’s going to be ‘war’ and I don’t mean live trapping.
Went to dump some tree debris (trimmed more branches that were in the way when mowing) and almost had a heart attack ... a doe was just behind the debris pile and when I pulled around the side & got off the mower, she “exploded” out of the brush & jumped the fence into the neighbor’s field, then was flagging that white tail as she ran for the woods. I probably about gave her a heart attack as well - she hit the fence going over, but seemed ok - usually they clear those fences with plenty of room to spare.
Flowers:
Oh those peonies ... I am SO in love with them. The shades of pink are just fabulous ... no one does color like Mother Nature. I brought some home for mom - I’d sent her a picture, but she needed to see the real thing.
Birds:
Saw the bluebirds catching insects in the yard & flying up towards the sycamore tree. I am sure they are feeding young, but I haven’t been able to pinpoint where they have their nest.
Recipes:
Made Chef John’s green beans with bacon. Since I didn’t want to simmer them on my gas cooktop for an hour & a half, at the point they were to ‘simmer’, I transferred them to a pre-heated crockpot. I had them in there for at least 2.5 hours, so they did take a bit longer, but they were very tasty ... when you eat leftovers for breakfast, you know they’re good.
Next couple of days will be busy - mowing here, trading in two old golf carts on a newer one for mom, mailing a baby blanket to a cousin who just had her first kid (and probably the last) at age 41 ... shocked us all. :-) I’ll be ‘on the road again’ probably by Thursday.
I use my GC all the time & I've hauled it to the new place a couple of times to ferry stuff from the trailer to the house/shop.
My niece got lucky & found one on FB Marketplace for $35 - the people were moving & didn't want to take it along. She got a DEAL, that's for sure!
That’s quite an update!!
The groundhog around here stays out of the way. He lives just off the path we take to get to the creek. Technically it’s my neighbor’s property, but we have a borrowed view. The neighbors can’t see into the woods as clearly as we can. I leave the groundhog be, and long as he doesn’t get in my way. Our problems come more from piney squirrels and chipmunks, but sometimes raccoons, possums, or skunks give us headaches.
We have deer here also, but they are harder to see when the trees are filled out. I keep my eye out for fawns at this time of year. A couple of years ago, I was refilling the bird feeders, and a fawn popped out from our terraced side yard , and ran towards the creek where I’m sure his Mama was. What a cutie! I love their speckles!
Peonies are so special, and ours didn’t last very long this year due to a full day and a half of rain. I got a surprise though. My daughter had peonies sent and they got here mid week. They were supposed to be here for Mother’s Day, but something went wrong, so they sent about 3 dozen! I have pink peonies all over the house now. They’re still going like gangbusters, so it’s really making up for the bust in my yard. They are spectacular!
Keep looking for that nest! I’m looking for the catbird and grosbeak nests.
Congrats on the green beans! I think I’m doing simple meals the next few weeks while I finish planting and working outside. I have given myself until June 1 to get it all accomplished. I’m sure there will be some days where I can’t get outside much. Usually it rains a bit around here at this time of year. Maybe those days I will do some real cooking.
Enjoy your week! I know your mom will be happy to have you around.
I love when I get a good deal. $35 is amazing. Almost makes me want to look around on FB Marketplace…almost.
Those “Mortgage Lifter” tomato plants have shown up in limited numbers of 6-packs @ Menards here in the mid-South USA. I almost picked one up — the plants were quite far along for 6-packs, but,
1) I’ve had much better luck with plants that produce fruits in the 8 oz. range. (Less cracking and splitting of the fruits, for one thing.)
2) These said “mild taste”, I like ‘em sweet or maybe sweet and a bit acidic at the same time. (Sweet and a bit of zing?)
3) I already have a lot of tomato plants. I doubt I’ll be short of tomato “meat”, and medium size fruits just usually work out better for me.
That said, I did see a variety I’ve never seen before, named “First Lady”. These 6-packs were fairly well along too. The description says: VFNT (not sure what that means?), Smooth, crack resistant, medium sized fruit. Early F1 hyb. MAT. 66 days. So, not quite as “fast” as an “Early Girl”, but with the plants well along, these might be an interesting comparison. I guess I’ll see how they do in our hot summer. Early Girls usually puke out.
My Thai hot pepper plants are doing well. Wifey will be happy. The Opo did NOT recover from being chewed off. I’ll have to start over - dang!
I have one butterfly weed that I did not prune back and I’ll be darned if the thing has not sprouted vigorously from the top of the seemingly dead plant - now it’s >5 ft. tall! I never heard of such. I’m hitting it with bloom booster, although long bright days is likely what it needs most, to flower.
Glad to have another person say how much they like their Gorilla Cart! I’ll check my local FB Marketplace, too. I’m amazed at the things others part with for a song!
Thanks for the update! Good news about a more reliable golf cart for Mom. Once we get things squared away with the truck title (should be soon!) we are going to start looking into a UTV for the farm - it would be SO handy. Seems everyone has one around here except us! We do have a 4x with a trailer, but Beau is always hogging that, and I want to be able to transport Mom and other guests around the property so they can see the pasture, the woods, the creek, etc. You can’t get to those places without packing a lunch if you’re walking to and from. ;)
“VFNT (not sure what that means?)...”
It means that ‘First Lady’ tomato has disease resistance to the four basic diseases that can attack tomatoes:
https://thegardenfather.com/garden-blog/f/v-f-n-t-letters-on-tomato-seed-packets-what-do-they-mean
You’ll need some ‘First Lady’ Marigolds to go with! ;)
https://all-americaselections.org/product/marigold-first-lady/
First bouquet that I had in the house all week - took one to mom just like it with more blooms on the bush!
I know I’ve used this word a lot lately, but it seems to fit the bill, especially here! Spectacular!!
The GC also has ‘slots’ on the sides where you can insert wooden stakes vertically to make higher sides .... you could add boards or plywood horizontally attached to the vertical wood & really have sides (puppy stroller? LOL).
I was looking for the Korean hand plow on Amazon, but there are so many, and I’d like one that is about the size you showed, roughly 10-11” it looks like. Too many to choose from and I can’t tell what’s good. Wondering where else I might look for such a thing. It looks sharp as all get out.
I’d ask locally at your Hardware Store or even Home Depot or Lowes.
Kinsman sells the one I own if you want the exact same:
https://www.kinsmangarden.com/product/Korean-Hand-Plow
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.