Let's Hear from the "Newbies"
Comments (283)
Lizzie
7 years ago
Kelli
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Favorite hummingbird experience(s)? Lets hear 'em!
Comments (1)With real estate, it often comes down to location, location, location. So I have heard. Some years ago, I did landscape maintenance work for a housing development. The gardens of the 5-6 model homes were kept in prime condition to encourage sales, so I worked there often. A (dim-witted?) Anna's hummingbird decided to make a nest in the potted tree at the entrance to the last model. That would have been fine, except she was very protective of her nest and would angrily buzz and swoop every potential customer that came near! (And me too, but at least I was aware of the nest!) Because almost all of the visitors were there for the first time, there were many, many surprised victims all day long. I would try to warn the customers when I was working in the area, because the sales people never seemed to, but it was an impossible task. More often I would just hear startled shrieks throughout the day. There had to have been a steady stream of customers while she was constructing the nest, so I cannot guess why she thought it was a good location. Other than the abundant amount of flowers. Silly bird. But she did manage to fledge her young, and did not return the following year. I imagine her stress level must have been off the charts. Even for a hyper-hummingbird....See Morelets hear from you
Comments (3)I live in Highland. I've got a garden and I'm trying to get maximum production out of it. I keep tearing out more grass for new fruit trees in the backyard. Everbearing strawberries have been in full production for a few weeks now, and it seems like the raspberries will be turning red soon. New this year are Reliance (red) grapes, a Moonglow and a Starking Delicious Pear (keep meaning to post a picture and ask what is the blackness on the edges of the pear leaves and why they aren't growing much), Honeycrisp apple, and a Chinese apricot (again, meaning to post a picture to ask why the leaves are so small and not growing very vigorously). Lost this year: Fuji apple I planted two years ago was lost to some type of borer by the looks of the holes in the trunk, Gala apple - weak tree planted by prior owners suffered from shade of the neighbor's tree and fire blight last season (which has me worried about the new pears, but the other apple trees (Golden Delicious, crabapple, and a second Gala) show no signs of fire blight this year). Black Tartarian cherry (sweet) - planted by prior owners, never produced cherries, noticed sap oozing from the trunk last fall, blossomed, leafed out, and then I thought maybe someone/thing pulled/ate the leaves off, and it hasn't produced any more leaves and the ones left are wilting. Favorite tree - July Elberta peach. Produced lots of amazing peaches in the second year, the Intrepid peach is a more vigorous grower, but not nearly as many peaches, although it's doing better this year. Stretching the zone - I bought a valencia orange three years ago, first orange is about an inch diameter so I've transplanted to a larger pot. Also brought a lemon and a lime back from a trip to California last summer, along with some citrus fertilizer. Yes, this was a road trip! I opted not to try to pack fertilizer on a plane during previous trips. They sort of frown on that for some reason... Three limes on one tree, but the lemon, although it keeps flowering and filling the air with the amazing smell of lemon blossoms, hasn't formed any lemons. It also suffered the worst from repeated scale attacks while indoors during the winter. Fell for the hype - I got a goji berry last year. It was pretty expensive and I feared it wouldn't survive last year, but a couple of shoots came out this spring and we'll see if it matures enough to start producing the much-hyped berries this year or next, or is vigorous enough to take over a section of my yard. On the comeback - BlackGold Cherry (sweet)was severely "pruned" by deer after it's first season, but appears to be recovering this spring with it's first two cherries. It's a self pollinator, so the Black Tartarian will probably not be replaced with another cherry. Vegetables New this year - I tried to start asparagus, but didn't get the starts in the ground soon enough with all the rains. Now three ferns are up, so I bought a fourth last weekend. I'll have to see how this goes before I try to add to it. They say to plant 20 per family member, so I don't plan on eating it too often next year, or maybe the year after, when I can start harvesting. Artichoke - I read that there are two types that do well in Utah (Imperial Star and Green Globe), unfortunately, I have no idea which I have. If it flowers in 90 days, it's Imperial Star. Either way, I will have to dig it up and store it indoors over the winter. Tons and tons of tomatoes this year since last year was such a bad year for me. I cut back on the tomatillos (primary ingredient in salsa verde) since they are heavy on the volunteers and are usually so crowded that they are hard to harvest, leading to more volunteers the following season. I tried many more peppers this year, we'll see how they last. A couple of yellow from a pepper my wife cooked with, some Anaheim, California Wonder, Bannana and hopefully there's still a jalapeno in there. My seed tracking skills are sort of lacking. Usually it's pretty obvious, but peppers are a different story. I started the onions (red and yellow) and leeks much earlier this year, and they appear to be doing better with all the rains. I also started broccoli early. Didn't quite get it out in the garden early enough. I still struggle with hardening off first, but there are three strong plants growing now. I am trying not to remember how many I started with... The banananut squash is also getting better established, the watermelons have started coming out, but I don't think the cantelope or honeydew are looking so good. The pumpkin volunteers are making a strong comeback. I forgot to plant the crazy large ones, I'll have to check on maturity dates to see if there's still time. I also bought a couple of yellow squash starts since I hadn't gotten them going early enough myself. Lastly, I need to figure out a place for some bush beans, they usually do well, but space is getting limited.... I think there's a patch of grass that no one would miss....... The most challenging part of all is time. The MS Bike tour is the week after next, and it's sort of important to get on the bike at least a couple of times before you start a 100 mile ride! Whew, glad I finally got all of this off my chest!...See MoreWhirlpool Sidekick Owners PLEASE Let us Hear From You!
Comments (1)I too would be interested in hearing what others have to say about the Sidekicks as I'm considering a purchase. One drawback I see is the lack of an in-door water and ice dispenser. The water is less of a problem, I can get that from the RO tap, but for ice it's wasteful to have to open the door every time I want ice with my water (which is a lot in Arizona). Are there products similar to the Sidekicks made by other manufacturers?...See Morenow lets hear from the Christmas travelers, how far do you go?
Comments (19)We walk...next door...on Christmas day...and open presents, have dinner, eat too much, have coffee and celebrate the neighbor's birthday at 8:34pm (the moment she was born). We've been doing this about 15 years now. We love our neighbors like they were family. Jodi-...See MoreLizzie
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoI think tagetes patula = all French marigolds. Here's what I've collected so far. I have seeds for one that's like the solid gold, but in yellow-orange. Plus some others that are weird.
I ended up accidentally giving away all the ones that are yellow with red edges, so I'm on the lookout for more of those. They were from Heidi. Think she called them Yellow Fire.
Oladon
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoLizzie
7 years agoOladon
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoI don't know... never grown it before.
But thyme sure was — planted 3/18 and had tons of little sprouts this morning! So it got to join its dilly friends under the light. :)
Aren't they cute?!
I now find it most interesting that Burpee says (of Thyme) that "germination is slow taking from 14 to 28 days".
Kelli
7 years agoLizzie
7 years agoKelli
7 years agoKelli
7 years agoOladon
7 years agoKelli
7 years ago
Kiruthika Manikandan
7 years agoKiruthika Manikandan
7 years agoKelli
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoKiruthika Manikandan
7 years agoKiruthika Manikandan
7 years agoOladon
7 years agoGuess what, guess what!
I came home from work to this:
And this:
Tarragon, Brussels sprouts, and an okra — four day germinations!! Also jalapeños, which were planted on the 13th.
There's something strange, though... can anyone tell me what's going on here?
It's like a seedling graveyard or something! There was definitely nothing like that when I planted.
Kelli
7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
Kaylee
7 years agoI was just out in the garden and saw some dead snapdragons and I realized I've never collected flower seeds before. So I did it! Super easy (a paper bag and a lot of shaking) but I always forget to do it. I got a couple tablespoons of seeds! And the most exciting part:
Snapdragon seed pods look like dragon skulls?! I thought they were called dragon because of the flower heads but apparently their skulls are dragons too. Makes sense. Had no idea.
Speaking of graveyards...
Oladon
7 years agoKelli
7 years agoKaylee
7 years agoKelli
7 years agoKaylee
7 years agoFound a picture!
I forgot how pretty they were now I'm excited for them to pop back up! They range in height up to about 3 feet and the flowers are every color between yellow and pink. If I remember they start out pink and fade through coral and orange and yellow if that makes sense.
I just got the tomatoes I ordered today too so I'll send them all along tomorrow for you!
Lizzie
7 years agoOladon
7 years agoKaylee
7 years ago
Adam Chester
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoKaylee
7 years agoOladon
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoKelli
7 years agoOladon
7 years agoKiruthika Manikandan
7 years agoLizzie
7 years agoLizzie
7 years agoAdam Chester
7 years agoOladon
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoAdam Chester
7 years agoLizzie
7 years agoFound the Lantana Bandana Cherry I'd been looking for. It's not QUITE the color I imagined from the photos, but still pretty. I was hoping there'd be more of a red-violet hue on the outer edges.
A couple firsts in the garden today.
First morning glories coming up. I randomly sowed blue, pink, and white. I've been told they can be invasive, so hopefully growing them in a container on a concrete patio will prevent it from going nuts.
Also first melons coming up. These are some form of cantaloupe that's supposed to have a flavor like toasted brown sugar.
First tomato plant is looking really good. I'm super proud of this one.
Lizzie
Kaylee
7 years agoLizzie
7 years agoOladon
7 years agoSquashes and borage and basil, oh my!
(Basil not pictured. But those are just a few of the five day germinations I got today! In case you can't tell, the squash seedlings are over an inch high... and weren't even peeking out before today!)Nice tomato, Lizzie!
val (MA z6)
7 years agoval (MA z6)
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agorafi Ben Hamouda
5 years agoval (MA z6)
5 years agoprophylaxis
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoval (MA z6)
4 years ago
Leigh Seikel
4 years agoI am just starting my gardens here in Santa Fe, NM and don't have any seeds to trade but live on 15 acres with tons of dead Cane Cholla Cylindropuntia imbricate, which are cactus skeletons. They are highly sought after for craft projects and such. You can used them for napkin rings, candle holders, bracelets, cross wallhangings, handles for cabinets, etc etc etc. Google c
holla cactus art for ideas. Anyways, any way to trade these for common garden seeds like alyssum, cosmos, cleome, bachelor buttons, ? By the way, these cactus are already dead.. I DON"T kill them.
Lynda (OH z5)