Hi Mark, glad to hear the bananas are doing well. I potted up the plants you gave me and so far they look good.
Glad to hear you've given a new friend a home. We adopted a deaf dog last Feb and he's my love. I too lost my beloved Bichon, Koda to cancer last year, so I needed another friend. :o)

Hows your outside raised bed coming along? I'll probably start my tomatoes the end of Aug. I do have a voluteer that came with a swap plant. I need to get it into a larger pot though.

Thanks Kat. Wanda the beds are kind of at a stand still until I can get some more manure, and some loom to build my mounds for planting. The manure needs to dry out a bit, and I have to get paid before I can get the loom I need.
I have time however as its just too hot to plant these guys out there yet. I'm thinking maybe Sept. this year for my august stuff. By the way Wanda whats a Voluteer?

I will talk to you guys soon, gotta get busy today lol, I've been taking it easy for too many days cause of this stupid arm. Time to get back to work, pain or no pain.
Talk to you soon.

Hi Mark,

I had to re-start most of my Tomato and Pepper seeds this morning. I think the soil temp dropped and the majority of them never germinated. Keeping my fingers crossed I get it right this time because I really want my own Maters in the garden and not something store bought. I'm also wrapping up a project of gardening notes I've been working on for over a week. Hopefully I can pull enough information out of it that will really kick our garden off this fall.

Congrats on the puppy! Sounds like a good mix that will make a really nice companion. :)

Julie

A volunteer is a plant you didn't know was there. It could have come from Kathy or Ginney in a pot that started out as a double pea vine and had a tomatoe plant that was growing in it. I just have to get out in the heat to repot it.

Wanda, the double pea vine probably came from me, so the tomato was probably a Fl Everglade. Small but pretty tasty.

Doggies and gardens go so nice together! Ours like to help out in the garden. You know, check out all the baby plants, track the critters who come visiting, spread around some dog hair and poop ....

That's Cannon, our boy. He likes to see if he can hike his leg high enough to pee in the potted plants. Makes pot acquisition interesting. I grow peppers in pots along our back fence, and I've got to say that I wish all my beds were at least 18" tall, so much easier to harvest.

I'm looking forward to watching your garden progress. I was reading remotely on your intro thread, and didn't get to chime in. Just went and looked again at your photo album. I'm trying to figure out where you are putting your walkways, and how deep your beds will be. Just curious mostly. You mentioned disability. I have wonky legs (mobility & balance issues) and have found that I can't handle a bed wider than 3' unless it is a 4' raised bed that I have very easy access to from both sides. For paths, I need at least 3' width for me and my aides-to-getting around. I did one of my paths by laying out carpet then topping with mulch. A year later, that is the easiest path for me to get around on. So I am collecting carpet remnants to do the paths in the back garden.

Your screen room garden is looking wonderful, and I see you have the hang of pot collecting. Hubs shakes his head whenever I come home with some new thing to grow plants in. But hey, it works!

Take care, and hug your pup!

~dianne

Thanks Kathy, I thought maybe your gave me the pea vine.
Dianne, Cannon is beautiful. The breed looks familar like a Belgun shepard?

I love that doggie photo, he looks like a real help in the garden.

Wanda, I love those pea vines. The color is true deep blue. The everglade tomato grows well into the summer heat and reseeds. I have seedlings popping up all over. :o)

Mark, I started some of the tomato seeds from you.

LOL, thats great Kat. Those cherry tomatoes grow just like a weed. Give em lots of water to keep them cool and you will be eating Cherry tomatoes before you know it :).

Gardengimp, what a great looking dog man. I've always had dogs and cats. I am just a real animal lover. I am starting to find out that I have the same love for plants.
Each little plant I bring into the world is like a little baby to me. They each have their own little personalities, likes, and dislikes. It may sound a little strange I guess to think of my plants like that, but it gives me a real sense of pleasure to care for them and nurture them to fruition.

As for the walk ways I'm using my irrigation/drainage trenches for walk ways. I'm sure it'll end up being a pain in the ass but I will make it work until I come up with a better plan. I will also be able to reach things from outside of the cinder blocks. As for the plots that you see there in the picts, Each plots will have a series of mounds/rows on top of them. Each mound/rows soil will be tailored to the specific plant that will be grown in it. For example, in plot 6 (My berry patch), I will make the bluebery mound/rows soil quite acidic. while the strawberry mound/row will not be quite so acidic.

Each row/mound on top of the raised plot will be made of a mixture of loom, manure and straw, and the sandy soil. That way I can adjust the PH level to where I want it.

Anyhow that's the plan my friend, remember this is my very first attempt at this so I'm learning as I go. I will talk to everyone soon. Take care everyone.

Mark/Patmark

I'm impressed Wanda, yup he's a Belgian Shepherd, Belgian Tervuren to be exact. This morning he spied a squirrel eye balling our baby avocado, and off he went to save the day. They are such clowns.

And Mark, learning as you go is what keeps us young!

~dianne