Twinky, It sounds like we have a similar back garden, 'cept mine slopes downward and your upward from the back of the house. :blink: Longish and narrow with concrete running down almost center.
I have a smallish garden screen that we made, kinda-sorta, that limits the vision of the very back where I have the compost bin and trash burner can. Its small so it doesn't limit your vision completely and it is set at an angle so it gives diminsion, kinda-sorta. We used an old 8 sided framed trellis piece that hubby picked at when he was at uni. A little ivy growing up it and bob's your uncle (I love that saying). We are also planning on putting new pavers down on the patio and sidewalk. :)
I like the idea of putting in cut flowers in the border. What are you thinking of putting in the border?
leafytwiglet, Thank God we have wonderfully quiet neighbors. Next door on one side, daughter is a singer. I've requested a few of Eva Cassidy's songs and that on nice days her windows are open wider.
Well, the beans, peas, squash, peppers, onions, potatoes and jalapenos produced prolifically. We won't go hungry this winter. I planted the tomatoes in a new spot. That spot must not have been limed well enough. Usually, I can judge better than that without having a soil sample tested. The maters were smaller than usual. Tons and tons of small maters. They canned up nicely, though.
The fall garden has done quite well due to MUCH needed precipitation here in the rain starved southeast, though we need much more. The lake is down 20 feet. The collard and mustard greens have been plentiful. I told you I was a southern girl!! We cut the lettuce and it keeps on coming back even though we have had several frosts. For the first time I planted snow peas in the fall and they have produced wonderfully.
Well, homegrown farmers/gardeners, it is near sleepy time for the soil here. I won't be plantiing again until February. I so look forward to spring. And for those of you who live in southern California or Florida or Texas or other closer to the equator states who get to garden and grow all year long...I am jealous.
Awww... This year one of my big successes were the japanese egg plants they love this SF bay area west coast weather. and my onions and garlic were also above and beyond happy with the weather this year.
We are past when you are really supposed to plant a winter garden but next weekend I am going to plant the cabbage onions and spinach ... I haven't tried snow peas but I should.. hmmmmm...
Kimberly have you ever planted sweet potatoes. I would like to try those this year, in the spring not sure if we get warm enough during the day for those... We actually get warm but when the sea breeze kicks up in the summer it can get quiet chilly in the afternoons.
Yesterday I went to a gardening/DIY shop called Focus. They were selling packages of bulbs for .10 pence each. All of them need to be planted by the end of December and there were lots to choose from. I went nuts and bought £3.50 worth, THAT'S 35 packages of BULBS!!! I've got irises, tulips, narcisis, daffodills, alliums, crocus, ranuculus, snow drops and snow glories, puschkinias and... Today, since the weather was dry and sunny, I planted 1/3 of my bulbs in pots, borders and around trees. Tomorrow I'll start again. phew!
Come on spring!
Kimberly, This summer was so wet (which means here, less sun than normal) that lots of my veggies didn't do anything. My tomatoes vines didn't yeild even one edible tomato. This was much better than last year when the plants didn't grow large enough to transplant. (gotta find a tomato that grows here!) My bell peppers only grew to two inches in height and my beans were just sad to look at. Next year I am planting more types of onions, since they do well here and potatoes and I think I'll grow zucchini/courgette again but this time in a raised bed to keep a better eye for the slugs. The slugs got more zucchini/courgette than I did!
leafy, I might try some sweet potatoes, I love them! :)
I do miss the sunny south. I'm originally from the southern part of Louisiana and there were years where I could garden 365 days, no frost.
leafy, thanks for the suggestions, I'll look around to see what can be gotten here. Most people I know here grow tomatoes in a greenhouse and they have wonderful success.
Leafytwiglet, I am most likely the only southern person that does not grow sweet potatoes. I don't like the taste. My mother cooked them all the time. I love the aroma of sweet taters cooking but the flavor never grew on me....BUT....I do plant lots of red potatoes.
Leafytwiglet, I am most likely the only southern person that does not grow sweet potatoes. I don't like the taste. My mother cooked them all the time. I love the aroma of sweet taters cooking but the flavor never grew on me....BUT....I do plant lots of red potatoes.
LOL Kimberly.
My Hubby hates sweet potatoes.. I love them but I am not a big fan of popcorn same reason my mom made lots so it is okay but not something I go out of my way to eat.
LOL
I grew red potatoes one year they did really well. better than the white ones which got too tangy flavored <_< it didn't like my clay soil i guess but the red ones were spectacular.
Check with your local (state) university/college extension service about the vegetables that are best suited for your area.
They are a tremndous help.
Leafy, you have to lime the heck out of the clay soil. Take a soil sample to your local extension service. The results will tell you what you need to add to the soil. It only costs me $10.00. Heavy clay is all there is here. I amend the clay with potting soil, compost. But if you can not amend, the lime will take care of it all.
Last spring I asked for and got a compost bin for my birthday! It is the throw-it-in kind and has soil, leaves, grass clippings and lots of veggie scraps, some coffee grounds etc. None of the varmints have visited it and it does smell kinda composty and leafy. Of course now it's winter and I don't quite know what's happening, but making a couple of treks out back with the compostables anywya.
A couple of years ago I took a soil sample to the closest OSU extension for testing and came back with a pH of 5.6!!! Very good for blueberries, deadly for anything else. We lime every spring, especially the asparagus which like a pH of 7.
We have a lot of black raspberries which we are going to move this spring to the garden. A brother-in-law who is a landscaper gives us big bags of composted mulch and raked up leaves and stuff from his customers, which we allow to "work" for several months and then till into the garden.
We had a nasty year last year but I am looking forward to lots of tomatoes this year. I like to can them.
We did have a strawberry bed around a buried propane tank, however, we changed vendors and the tank and strawberries are gone and we have a lovely firepit!
We have thornless blackberries that are delicious to man and puppy alike! Our older grandson likes to help me pick berries, but then he has an empty bowl and a sticky face!
This spring since Mr. Garden will be working with above mentioned brother-in-law, I am enlisting my daughter-in-law to help out. I will grow green beans, tomatoes, and the berries. Also some basil and so on. Hopefully LOTS of basil. It's easy to grow here.
wg, we had a nasty year last year too. Very wet for most of the summer, we did have a couple of weeks of warmth, kinda sorta, well I was able to wear shorts for a few days. Hardly any sun though. I'm hoping for a better summer in 09, fingers crossed.
My sweet peas are beginning to sprout, they and my onions are under my sun tunnel. I've got garlic planted, this will be the first time to try my hand at growing it. I've got loads of spring bulbs poking their heads out of the ground. (insert smiley rubbing hands together ;))
I'm attempting to transplant my husband's fuschia. The plant is beautiful, the flower is pink and dark purple and it flowers profusely. It loves where it is, but I don't. It is right smack in the middle of my front garden. Its so large that I can't plant anything near it, it take up 1/2 the top tier and shades 1/2 the bottom tier. I've got a place for it in one of the back borders. Here is a picture of the flower
Leafy, my basil didn't do well last year. Will try again with the yellow and orange peppers you suggested. I've got the seeds all ready to plant. I sure hope we get more sun this year!
I crave cucumber sandwiches about once a month. I got to looking for the dillweed to add to the spread I put on the bread. No dillweed. I KNEW I had dried some from the garden and had it in the cupboard. Could not find it. I march off to the grocery store to purchase dillweed. I came back home empty-handed. Do you know what they wanted for a tiny jar? Almost six dollars. Now I know why I grow herbs. Yes, they are all legal!! Ha! Ha!
I grew frantic as the English Cuke approached the no turning back stage of its life. I paid three dollars for that baby. In a panic I emptied the cupboards. There was my dillweed. I kissed the container.
Cucumber sandwiches, come to mama.
So, just to be sure, I will grow extra herbs this summer. The price in the stores are beyond vulgar.
gc, why not transplant the Fuschia to the bottom tier. Then you would have a Fuschia waterfall effect. Just a thought!
Watered Garden, now I most assuredly know we are sisters. How many other girls would ask for a compost bin for their birthday, anniversary or mothers day. Any garden tool, bush, tree, plant, seeds, pot, water feature is the way to my heart. My family knows they better nevuh, evuh give me cut flowers. Most are hybrids or have been treated and can not be propogated. I have tried.
I went out back today to start digging my pond but the soil was too wet. I am not complaining about that one. Woo hoo!!! The soil is still too wet!!! That has not been the case here in a very, very long time.
Kimberly Yay for your Pond... and I am a give me a compost bin kinda gal too.. In fact hubby brought home a toad house for me for my birthday yesterday, It is cute as can be.
gc, why not transplant the Fuschia to the bottom tier. Then you would have a Fuschia waterfall effect. Just a thought!
Watered Garden, now I most assuredly know we are sisters. How many other girls would ask for a compost bin for their birthday, anniversary or mothers day. Any garden tool, bush, tree, plant, seeds, pot, water feature is the way to my heart. My family knows they better nevuh, evuh give me cut flowers. Most are hybrids or have been treated and can not be propogated. I have tried.
I went out back today to start digging my pond but the soil was too wet. I am not complaining about that one. Woo hoo!!! The soil is still too wet!!! That has not been the case here in a very, very long time.
Kimberly, Its large enough that I'm hoping to turn it into 3 plants, one might work as a standard, but one of the other two might work in the bottom tier, thanks.
I asked for a new water can for Christmas, one with a rose, neither of my other two have one, I didn't get it. But, I did get my trellis for my birthday this past year!
My husband gives me roses usually for most occassions. Sometimes they are plants and other times long stemmed. Last year for Valentines he gave me 6 beautiful reds. I planted all 6 and ended up with one plant that made it. Did the same with some pink roses, ended up with one again. Right now I have three dozen rose stems in pots, hoping for one of each color; red, pale pink and peach. (Our 2nd anniversary!)
Leafy, your toad house made me laugh. Two summers ago I put a clay pot, that had one side broken off ( I notice my husband or my son never accidentally break their stuff) in the herb garden in the lower part of the yard. I wanted to attract frogs, toads. A while after that I was working there and heard a hiss. I jumped back. I grabbed my hoe and lifted up the pot. This box turtle charged me with lightening speed and hissing like a fercious beast. Seriously, I have never seen a turtle move so fast. I said, "Okay, okay, sorry to bother you." It was wetter that year and that area seems to hold moisture better than any other part of the yard. I saw several turtles that year in that area. I didn't see any last year. The clay pot is still there.
gc, you go girl with the roses. I can propogate from standing rose bushes but no luck with cut ones from a florist. I am jealous. You have to send pictures after you transplant the fuschia. You have inspired me to try my hand at a fuschia.
Just looked in on this thread, first time for a while.
GC, you did really well getting all those bulbs for 10p/pkt. Hope you get something out of them.
I dug up all my daffs last year as they didn't flower and also have some tulips from a friend. BUT I haven't planted any of them yet!¬ Should have been in months ago. The bulbs have been in my shed so they have gone through their "cold" period - maybe if I stick them in this afternoon I will get some flowers, perhaps later than usual.
Am giving some thought to what I want to grow this year. The caterpillars got my brussels sprouts and shredded the leaves so the tiny sprouts have little to nourish their growth. My Savoy cabbages are still in and looking good, but not growing much. I had a load of peas but frankly I could have bought a bag of the frozen variety and saved myself the space. I am growing chard which has been prolific - in the very hard frosts we had it all froze and wilted and looked done for - but as soon as it's turned warmer, there is the chard, standing up nicely. I grew onions from seed last year but the bulbs have never really filled out. I grew leeks from seed and they did well but originally planted them too deep and they failed; got some more and they are just dawdling in the ground. My courgettes did nicely and when they came in, there was abundance and I have bottled some of them. My squash decided to grow just about the time everything else was dying down. Of course, as every year, I will be growing runner beans, but they won't be going in till May so something else, a quick crop, can have their site until then.
It's only a small garden, so things have to make themselves useful and be worthwhile. No point in growing what I can buy, cheaper.
One of the funniest things I ever saw in FLO was when we were weeding in the garden and a friend of mine, working in a row filled with potato plants, rose from a squatting position straight up about four feet in the air, shrieking like a banshee! She was incoherent with fright and when I came over to check things out, there was a ring snake about 14 inches long coiled in a potato plant, as stunned as she was. I picked it up behind its little head and moved it over to a field next to the garden to hunt for its insect lunch in peace.
But a charging box turtle! Good grief!
Few things in the garden scare me. I even leave the giant spiders with their black and yellow bodies and black patent leather legs alone as long as they are doing their job. One time in NC, I had my reluctant eight year old son out weeding with me, and was explaining why we do things the way we do, when he stopped my hand. A couple inches away was a mama wolf spider, babies on her back, front legs raised to protect them. After I calmed down my insides, I was able to calmly identify her and we watched the babies as she scurried away to find safety for her brood.
Sprout has had a soft spot in his heart for wolf spiders ever since, even though they do bite and can be kind of poisonous but not lethal.
We have garter snakes by the handful out here, but I think we are too far north for wolf spiders. Now a tarantula, that would be another story..... :unsure:
Well I got three new baba berry bushes for the garden yesterday.
I will put them in the ground today along with the gopher repellent I saw they are out in the garden already.(the gophers) a sure sign spring is here already in my area.
Baba Berries are a type of raspberry blackberry cross, It does well in areas where there is not a good hard ground freeze. In other words it doesn't get cold enough for regular raspberries to set a good or sometimes any crop in my area.
Any way these won't have berries until next year but I wanted to expand the number of bushes I had.
They are a true bush berry versus the vines I get from my black berries but they also produce two crops a year one in early summer late spring and one in late summer early fall.
It is perfect timing as it comes before the black berry harvest and then after the black berry harvest.
One thing about them I find interesting is how they crossed them as black berries and raspberry's are fierce enemy's and competitors in your garden.
IF they are planted too close together neither plant will do well in the fruiting area.
I had to move a couple of my black berry bushes last year because of this.
I also got two new clematis vines to try out, and some Asiatic lilies; Pink colored ones, to try. I am hoping the gophers won't eat them. They seem to leave the day lilies alone so this is a good bet!
twinky, I've got bulbs coming up all over the place! 25 here, 30 there, 9 in that pot, 18 in that one, two there, 7 over there...and the bluebells are popping up all over the place (those were my transplants taken out of the front garden)!! I go out and check on them every day, its so unbelievable! Where I'm from it doesn't get cold enough to plant bulbs, and if you get one or two to bloom, well, they rot before the next year.
The upsetting part is, when they all are in bloom in May, well I will be home in New Orleans. My neighbor reminded me the other day that I will most probably miss most of my bulbs blooming.
wg, that's a nice story about the momma spider. We get big spiders here and I never mess with them. They will spin a web any place. There are times when you come out the front door and end up with web in your face. Then when you start up the stairs towards the car you get more in your face :) They love my fuschia, you can always find bees and spiders hanging around there.
leafy, is that your cat pictured below your nick? He/she is so beautiful!
twinky, I've got bulbs coming up all over the place! 25 here, 30 there, 9 in that pot, 18 in that one, two there, 7 over there...and the bluebells are popping up all over the place (those were my transplants taken out of the front garden)!! I go out and check on them every day, its so unbelievable! Where I'm from it doesn't get cold enough to plant bulbs, and if you get one or two to bloom, well, they rot before the next year.
The upsetting part is, when they all are in bloom in May, well I will be home in New Orleans. My neighbor reminded me the other day that I will most probably miss most of my bulbs blooming.
wg, that's a nice story about the momma spider. We get big spiders here and I never mess with them. They will spin a web any place. There are times when you come out the front door and end up with web in your face. Then when you start up the stairs towards the car you get more in your face :) They love my fuschia, you can always find bees and spiders hanging around there.
leafy, is that your cat pictured below your nick? He/she is so beautiful!
gc
NO that isn't my kitty it was just an avatar I found and I like.
I do have one Siamese mix but she is Lilac colored but it is mottled as she is a Tortie Siamese.. LOL
Two of them I got when My Mom had to go in the nursing home and I set the Blog up for her to see the kitties on line while she was there but she was too sick to really see them so I ended up sending mostly pictures to her in the mail but the blog of course lives on. Her two cats were little One(a long haired Tuxedo) and Lilac(The Siamese mix) Magneato(a tortie with 'Tude) was already with us and Darin who recently passed on.
But we have a new one who has adopted us.
His name is Bongo and he is a Tuxedo short haired feral guy who I am trying to tame.. with moderate success.
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kimberly
gc, black eyed peas are for luck and collard greens are for dollars. I plant enough collard greens the end of August to last us all winter long. Oh, honey everybody, I have maters and more maters.
kimberly
Bramble, so sorry about your garden. Our weather has been crazy too. This time of year we are accustomed to the feeling of a hot wet towel wrapped around the face when we are outside. But it has
kimberly
When referring to the herb garden I meant the annuals. I broke down and watered/fertilized the dill and basil. I am hoping for a comeback. The perinnial's (sp?)are forging on. Nothing seems to f
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gc
Twinky, It sounds like we have a similar back garden, 'cept mine slopes downward and your upward from the back of the house. :blink: Longish and narrow with concrete running down almost center.
I have a smallish garden screen that we made, kinda-sorta, that limits the vision of the very back where I have the compost bin and trash burner can. Its small so it doesn't limit your vision completely and it is set at an angle so it gives diminsion, kinda-sorta. We used an old 8 sided framed trellis piece that hubby picked at when he was at uni. A little ivy growing up it and bob's your uncle (I love that saying). We are also planning on putting new pavers down on the patio and sidewalk. :)
I like the idea of putting in cut flowers in the border. What are you thinking of putting in the border?
leafytwiglet, Thank God we have wonderfully quiet neighbors. Next door on one side, daughter is a singer. I've requested a few of Eva Cassidy's songs and that on nice days her windows are open wider.
gc
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kimberly
Gophers and moles and voles, OH MY!!! Who needs lions and tigers and bears, huh? Ain't we funny.
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kimberly
Well, the beans, peas, squash, peppers, onions, potatoes and jalapenos produced prolifically. We won't go hungry this winter. I planted the tomatoes in a new spot. That spot must not have been limed well enough. Usually, I can judge better than that without having a soil sample tested. The maters were smaller than usual. Tons and tons of small maters. They canned up nicely, though.
The fall garden has done quite well due to MUCH needed precipitation here in the rain starved southeast, though we need much more. The lake is down 20 feet. The collard and mustard greens have been plentiful. I told you I was a southern girl!! We cut the lettuce and it keeps on coming back even though we have had several frosts. For the first time I planted snow peas in the fall and they have produced wonderfully.
Well, homegrown farmers/gardeners, it is near sleepy time for the soil here. I won't be plantiing again until February. I so look forward to spring. And for those of you who live in southern California or Florida or Texas or other closer to the equator states who get to garden and grow all year long...I am jealous.
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leafytwiglet
Awww... This year one of my big successes were the japanese egg plants they love this SF bay area west coast weather. and my onions and garlic were also above and beyond happy with the weather this year.
We are past when you are really supposed to plant a winter garden but next weekend I am going to plant the cabbage onions and spinach ... I haven't tried snow peas but I should.. hmmmmm...
Kimberly have you ever planted sweet potatoes. I would like to try those this year, in the spring not sure if we get warm enough during the day for those... We actually get warm but when the sea breeze kicks up in the summer it can get quiet chilly in the afternoons.
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gc
Yesterday I went to a gardening/DIY shop called Focus. They were selling packages of bulbs for .10 pence each. All of them need to be planted by the end of December and there were lots to choose from. I went nuts and bought £3.50 worth, THAT'S 35 packages of BULBS!!!
I've got irises, tulips, narcisis, daffodills, alliums, crocus, ranuculus, snow drops and snow glories, puschkinias and... Today, since the weather was dry and sunny, I planted 1/3 of my bulbs in pots, borders and around trees. Tomorrow I'll start again. phew!
Come on spring!
Kimberly, This summer was so wet (which means here, less sun than normal) that lots of my veggies didn't do anything. My tomatoes vines didn't yeild even one edible tomato. This was much better than last year when the plants didn't grow large enough to transplant. (gotta find a tomato that grows here!) My bell peppers only grew to two inches in height and my beans were just sad to look at. Next year I am planting more types of onions, since they do well here and potatoes and I think I'll grow zucchini/courgette again but this time in a raised bed to keep a better eye for the slugs. The slugs got more zucchini/courgette than I did!
leafy, I might try some sweet potatoes, I love them! :)
I do miss the sunny south. I'm originally from the southern part of Louisiana and there were years where I could garden 365 days, no frost.
gc
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leafytwiglet
gc.. here is a list of some tomatoes I had success with in our cool foggy region.
I have gone to the smaller varieties as they do the best here.
if you can find them San Francisco Fogs are awesome .. they are a heavy bearer and do not mind the cooler days and lack of sunshine.
Also tops on my list are early girls and better boys
better boys need more sun but early girls always make it here for me
I have had mixed results with Ace tomatoes such that I have sworn off them for next year.
Also if you can find them Azoychka's should work real well where you are.
They are an early ripening Golden Variety from russia.. I plan on giving them a whirl this year
You may also want to try some of the orange varietals if you can find them .. They are another early ripening tomato.
For peppers I will add try the golden and the orange peppers again they like the cooler weather.
And Japanese egg plant which has done excellent here. They are smaller and not so guishy inside.
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gc
leafy, thanks for the suggestions, I'll look around to see what can be gotten here. Most people I know here grow tomatoes in a greenhouse and they have wonderful success.
I didn't know that about the peppers! :)
gc
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kimberly
Leafytwiglet, I am most likely the only southern person that does not grow sweet potatoes. I don't like the taste. My mother cooked them all the time. I love the aroma of sweet taters cooking but the flavor never grew on me....BUT....I do plant lots of red potatoes.
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leafytwiglet
LOL Kimberly.
My Hubby hates sweet potatoes.. I love them but I am not a big fan of popcorn same reason my mom made lots so it is okay but not something I go out of my way to eat.
LOL
I grew red potatoes one year they did really well. better than the white ones which got too tangy flavored <_< it didn't like my clay soil i guess but the red ones were spectacular.
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kimberly
GC and Leafy,
Check with your local (state) university/college extension service about the vegetables that are best suited for your area.
They are a tremndous help.
Leafy, you have to lime the heck out of the clay soil. Take a soil sample to your local extension service. The results will tell you what you need to add to the soil. It only costs me $10.00. Heavy clay is all there is here. I amend the clay with potting soil, compost. But if you can not amend, the lime will take care of it all.
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Watered Garden
Last spring I asked for and got a compost bin for my birthday! It is the throw-it-in kind and has soil, leaves, grass clippings and lots of veggie scraps, some coffee grounds etc. None of the varmints have visited it and it does smell kinda composty and leafy. Of course now it's winter and I don't quite know what's happening, but making a couple of treks out back with the compostables anywya.
A couple of years ago I took a soil sample to the closest OSU extension for testing and came back with a pH of 5.6!!! Very good for blueberries, deadly for anything else. We lime every spring, especially the asparagus which like a pH of 7.
We have a lot of black raspberries which we are going to move this spring to the garden. A brother-in-law who is a landscaper gives us big bags of composted mulch and raked up leaves and stuff from his customers, which we allow to "work" for several months and then till into the garden.
We had a nasty year last year but I am looking forward to lots of tomatoes this year. I like to can them.
We did have a strawberry bed around a buried propane tank, however, we changed vendors and the tank and strawberries are gone and we have a lovely firepit!
We have thornless blackberries that are delicious to man and puppy alike! Our older grandson likes to help me pick berries, but then he has an empty bowl and a sticky face!
This spring since Mr. Garden will be working with above mentioned brother-in-law, I am enlisting my daughter-in-law to help out. I will grow green beans, tomatoes, and the berries. Also some basil and so on. Hopefully LOTS of basil. It's easy to grow here.
WG
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leafytwiglet
Speaking of Basil
Did you all know that Basil and bell peppers are excellent companion plants.
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gc
wg, we had a nasty year last year too. Very wet for most of the summer, we did have a couple of weeks of warmth, kinda sorta, well I was able to wear shorts for a few days. Hardly any sun though. I'm hoping for a better summer in 09, fingers crossed.
My sweet peas are beginning to sprout, they and my onions are under my sun tunnel. I've got garlic planted, this will be the first time to try my hand at growing it. I've got loads of spring bulbs poking their heads out of the ground. (insert smiley rubbing hands together ;))
I'm attempting to transplant my husband's fuschia. The plant is beautiful, the flower is pink and dark purple and it flowers profusely. It loves where it is, but I don't. It is right smack in the middle of my front garden. Its so large that I can't plant anything near it, it take up 1/2 the top tier and shades 1/2 the bottom tier. I've got a place for it in one of the back borders. Here is a picture of the flower
Leafy, my basil didn't do well last year. Will try again with the yellow and orange peppers you suggested. I've got the seeds all ready to plant. I sure hope we get more sun this year!
gc
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kimberly
I crave cucumber sandwiches about once a month. I got to looking for the dillweed to add to the spread I put on the bread. No dillweed. I KNEW I had dried some from the garden and had it in the cupboard. Could not find it. I march off to the grocery store to purchase dillweed. I came back home empty-handed. Do you know what they wanted for a tiny jar? Almost six dollars. Now I know why I grow herbs. Yes, they are all legal!! Ha! Ha!
I grew frantic as the English Cuke approached the no turning back stage of its life. I paid three dollars for that baby. In a panic I emptied the cupboards. There was my dillweed. I kissed the container.
Cucumber sandwiches, come to mama.
So, just to be sure, I will grow extra herbs this summer. The price in the stores are beyond vulgar.
gc, why not transplant the Fuschia to the bottom tier. Then you would have a Fuschia waterfall effect. Just a thought!
Watered Garden, now I most assuredly know we are sisters. How many other girls would ask for a compost bin for their birthday, anniversary or mothers day. Any garden tool, bush, tree, plant, seeds, pot, water feature is the way to my heart. My family knows they better nevuh, evuh give me cut flowers. Most are hybrids or have been treated and can not be propogated. I have tried.
I went out back today to start digging my pond but the soil was too wet. I am not complaining about that one. Woo hoo!!! The soil is still too wet!!! That has not been the case here in a very, very long time.
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leafytwiglet
Kimberly Yay for your Pond... and I am a give me a compost bin kinda gal too.. In fact hubby brought home a toad house for me for my birthday yesterday, It is cute as can be.
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gc
Kimberly, Its large enough that I'm hoping to turn it into 3 plants, one might work as a standard, but one of the other two might work in the bottom tier, thanks.
I asked for a new water can for Christmas, one with a rose, neither of my other two have one, I didn't get it. But, I did get my trellis for my birthday this past year!
My husband gives me roses usually for most occassions. Sometimes they are plants and other times long stemmed. Last year for Valentines he gave me 6 beautiful reds. I planted all 6 and ended up with one plant that made it. Did the same with some pink roses, ended up with one again. Right now I have three dozen rose stems in pots, hoping for one of each color; red, pale pink and peach. (Our 2nd anniversary!)
Happy Birthday Leafy!!!
gc
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kimberly
Leafy, your toad house made me laugh. Two summers ago I put a clay pot, that had one side broken off ( I notice my husband or my son never accidentally break their stuff) in the herb garden in the lower part of the yard. I wanted to attract frogs, toads. A while after that I was working there and heard a hiss. I jumped back. I grabbed my hoe and lifted up the pot. This box turtle charged me with lightening speed and hissing like a fercious beast. Seriously, I have never seen a turtle move so fast. I said, "Okay, okay, sorry to bother you." It was wetter that year and that area seems to hold moisture better than any other part of the yard. I saw several turtles that year in that area. I didn't see any last year. The clay pot is still there.
gc, you go girl with the roses. I can propogate from standing rose bushes but no luck with cut ones from a florist. I am jealous. You have to send pictures after you transplant the fuschia. You have inspired me to try my hand at a fuschia.
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kimberly
Oopsie, the turtle hissed like a..ferocious beast. Fercious? Did I just invent a word?
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gc
New words are invented all the time
;) :D
Main Entry: fercious
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: violent, barbaric with angry tendencies, a combination of ferocious and furious
Synonyms: barbarous, bloodthirsty, brutal, brutish, cruel, fell, feral, fierce, frightful, grim, implacable, inhuman, inhumane, lupine, merciless, murderous, pitiless, predatory, rapacious, ravening, ravenous, relentless, ruthless, sanguinary, savage, tigerish, truculent, unmerciful, unrestrained, untamed, vehement, vicious, voracious, wild, wolfish; with underlining hateful, heated, hot, huffy, ill-tempered, incensed, indignant, inflamed, infuriated, irascible, irate, ireful, irritable, irritated, maddened, nettled, offended, outraged, piqued, provoked, raging, resentful, riled, sore, splenetic, storming, sulky, sullen, tumultous/tumultuous, turbulent, uptight, vexed or wrathful acts displayed.
Antonyms: gentle, innocent, kind, mild, nonviolent, tame, tender
gc
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Twinky
Just looked in on this thread, first time for a while.
GC, you did really well getting all those bulbs for 10p/pkt. Hope you get something out of them.
I dug up all my daffs last year as they didn't flower and also have some tulips from a friend. BUT I haven't planted any of them yet!¬ Should have been in months ago. The bulbs have been in my shed so they have gone through their "cold" period - maybe if I stick them in this afternoon I will get some flowers, perhaps later than usual.
Am giving some thought to what I want to grow this year. The caterpillars got my brussels sprouts and shredded the leaves so the tiny sprouts have little to nourish their growth. My Savoy cabbages are still in and looking good, but not growing much. I had a load of peas but frankly I could have bought a bag of the frozen variety and saved myself the space. I am growing chard which has been prolific - in the very hard frosts we had it all froze and wilted and looked done for - but as soon as it's turned warmer, there is the chard, standing up nicely. I grew onions from seed last year but the bulbs have never really filled out. I grew leeks from seed and they did well but originally planted them too deep and they failed; got some more and they are just dawdling in the ground. My courgettes did nicely and when they came in, there was abundance and I have bottled some of them. My squash decided to grow just about the time everything else was dying down. Of course, as every year, I will be growing runner beans, but they won't be going in till May so something else, a quick crop, can have their site until then.
It's only a small garden, so things have to make themselves useful and be worthwhile. No point in growing what I can buy, cheaper.
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Watered Garden
One of the funniest things I ever saw in FLO was when we were weeding in the garden and a friend of mine, working in a row filled with potato plants, rose from a squatting position straight up about four feet in the air, shrieking like a banshee! She was incoherent with fright and when I came over to check things out, there was a ring snake about 14 inches long coiled in a potato plant, as stunned as she was. I picked it up behind its little head and moved it over to a field next to the garden to hunt for its insect lunch in peace.
But a charging box turtle! Good grief!
Few things in the garden scare me. I even leave the giant spiders with their black and yellow bodies and black patent leather legs alone as long as they are doing their job. One time in NC, I had my reluctant eight year old son out weeding with me, and was explaining why we do things the way we do, when he stopped my hand. A couple inches away was a mama wolf spider, babies on her back, front legs raised to protect them. After I calmed down my insides, I was able to calmly identify her and we watched the babies as she scurried away to find safety for her brood.
Sprout has had a soft spot in his heart for wolf spiders ever since, even though they do bite and can be kind of poisonous but not lethal.
We have garter snakes by the handful out here, but I think we are too far north for wolf spiders. Now a tarantula, that would be another story..... :unsure:
WG
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leafytwiglet
LOL Twinky sounds like my garden for 2007.
Well I got three new baba berry bushes for the garden yesterday.
I will put them in the ground today along with the gopher repellent I saw they are out in the garden already.(the gophers) a sure sign spring is here already in my area.
Baba Berries are a type of raspberry blackberry cross, It does well in areas where there is not a good hard ground freeze. In other words it doesn't get cold enough for regular raspberries to set a good or sometimes any crop in my area.
Any way these won't have berries until next year but I wanted to expand the number of bushes I had.
They are a true bush berry versus the vines I get from my black berries but they also produce two crops a year one in early summer late spring and one in late summer early fall.
It is perfect timing as it comes before the black berry harvest and then after the black berry harvest.
One thing about them I find interesting is how they crossed them as black berries and raspberry's are fierce enemy's and competitors in your garden.
IF they are planted too close together neither plant will do well in the fruiting area.
I had to move a couple of my black berry bushes last year because of this.
I also got two new clematis vines to try out, and some Asiatic lilies; Pink colored ones, to try. I am hoping the gophers won't eat them. They seem to leave the day lilies alone so this is a good bet!
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gc
twinky, I've got bulbs coming up all over the place! 25 here, 30 there, 9 in that pot, 18 in that one, two there, 7 over there...and the bluebells are popping up all over the place (those were my transplants taken out of the front garden)!! I go out and check on them every day, its so unbelievable! Where I'm from it doesn't get cold enough to plant bulbs, and if you get one or two to bloom, well, they rot before the next year.
The upsetting part is, when they all are in bloom in May, well I will be home in New Orleans. My neighbor reminded me the other day that I will most probably miss most of my bulbs blooming.
wg, that's a nice story about the momma spider. We get big spiders here and I never mess with them. They will spin a web any place. There are times when you come out the front door and end up with web in your face. Then when you start up the stairs towards the car you get more in your face :) They love my fuschia, you can always find bees and spiders hanging around there.
leafy, is that your cat pictured below your nick? He/she is so beautiful!
gc
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leafytwiglet
NO that isn't my kitty it was just an avatar I found and I like.
I do have one Siamese mix but she is Lilac colored but it is mottled as she is a Tortie Siamese.. LOL
IF you want to see my kitties I have a blog at
Kitty Adventures Blog
IT is mostly about my cats.
Two of them I got when My Mom had to go in the nursing home and I set the Blog up for her to see the kitties on line while she was there but she was too sick to really see them so I ended up sending mostly pictures to her in the mail but the blog of course lives on. Her two cats were little One(a long haired Tuxedo) and Lilac(The Siamese mix) Magneato(a tortie with 'Tude) was already with us and Darin who recently passed on.
But we have a new one who has adopted us.
His name is Bongo and he is a Tuxedo short haired feral guy who I am trying to tame.. with moderate success.
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