Went to a store for the first time in a long while

6 years ago

First one was Tractor Supply. Lot of people there. Besides the workers I saw no one wearing a mask. No compost to be had so I bought a bunch of topsoil. Went to Ace Hardware after and got some compost. Only person wearing a mask was the cashier who checked me out.

I did wear a mask and a woman looked at me when I walked in, she was in one of the lines and she smiled. I'm assuming it was because of the mask? At least no one coughed on me on purpose. I don't think most people realize it is for their benefit more than mine that I was wearing a mask.

I was going to go next door to Tractor Supply for toilet paper but there was a line outside. They were only letting a certain amount of people in at once. I looked on- line for toilet paper at Costco, still nothing but the giant industrial rolls available. Walmart's site you have to buy in the store. I still have a little left, but the rolls are smaller than I normally buy so they go faster.

My car is loaded down (literally) with topsoil and compost. The girl at Ace Hardware looked at me like I was crazy when I bought 30 bags of manure. It barely fit in the back seat of my car. The trunk was already full of top soil.

I came in to eat a banana and drink some water before heading out to work on my garden. I also bought a huge tomato plant at Tractor Supply. A friend/coworker brought me a Mr. Stripey from Lowe's too the other day because I wasn't planning on plant shopping for plants.

It's a beautiful day today, sunny and nearly 78! Going to rain after this for a long stretch. Hope you all have similar weather and are enjoying it!

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Kathsgrdn
Original Author

6 years ago

Fence is up! Decided to put it in in the front side of the house. More sun. I was going to eventually cut down some tree limbs in the back but not supposed to be getting my saw until the end of the month. I ordered it about a month ago! I realized this afternoon that a big part of where I was going to put the garden out back didn't get a lot sunlight. So just decided to put it on the side of the house instead.

Only thing growing over there is a holly bush that is getting out of hand and over hanging honeysuckle and grapevine that the previous owner planted. It's all up in the big tree that hangs over my fence from the neighbors. The girls are going to come back and cut it down sometime.

I got the front flower garden planted with mostly marigolds my daughter picked up on her way over here. I asked for 20 plants and she picked up about twice that much-lol. But that's okay will put them in with my vegetables too.

They're coming back early tomorrow before the rain to help me finish planting everything else.

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Comments (13)

Uptown Gal
6 years ago
Sounds like a good day to me...I am so anxious to get my flowers planted and

in pots and enjoy the plants coming up. We are having the same kind

of "summer" day...one more tomorrow, but next week is going to Fall again.

Highs only in the low 50 during the days. It amazes me that some people

smile at the masks and as you say, don't realize that someone else wearing

them is for their benefit not the wearer. Ah well....good luck with your

gardening day....enjoy!
Kathsgrdn thanked Uptown Gal
kadefol
6 years ago
Sounds like a fruitful trip. We went to Lowe's yesterday (with masks and distancing) and scored a large gardenia and butterfly bush and some peat moss and various types of soil. They've been planted in the 2 huge containers in the entry and seem to like it there, so far. I remember the gardenia thread from long ago, I hope this gardenia will fare better. :)
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A 12 foot piece of that fence fabric will give you a circle about 4 feet in diameter and that is a good size. What little bit of material that will fall out of that fence will not make any difference to what happens inside. If you have enough manure you want to plunk down 6 inches of vegetative waste and put 2 inches of manure on top of that, or a mixture of about 3 parts vegetative waste to 1 part manure. Adding "dirt", soil, is not essential. Back in Sir Albert Howards day that was thought to supply the microorganisms that would digest the material but today we know that is not needed since the vegetative waste already has those microorganisms growing on them. Some of us add material to our compost over time while others build up the compost pile all at once. It really makes little difference except that piling stuff up all at once probably gets finished compost sooner. Of course, that also means you need all of your material there when you build the pile.
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User
6 years ago
Your garden sounds well planned. The manure will make the soil rich with nutrients.

I stopped into Lowes yesterday. 100% of everyone wore a mask. There were 6 people in every line @ every cash register. I found 4 goldflame honeysuckles for $1 each. There's a 30% chance of rain today. DH plans on taking next week off from work. Some hiking, gardening time together will be nice. We're still working on an egress for the lower patio. Picked up a fireproof file cabinet on CL, that needs a coat of paint.
Kathsgrdn
Original Author
6 years ago
I planted about 1/3 of my potatoes, cut down some honeysuckle blocking out the sun from one of my raised beds and now my back is killing me. Getting old sucks. My daughter and her girlfriend are coming over again to work in the yard. They're going to put up the fencing I bought the other day. I'm already getting sunburnt and cramps in my feet. Came in for some Tylenol, a drink and took some Hyland's no cramp too. Supposed to rain tomorrow and the next several days so I have to try and do as much as I can today.

Feels like I've been working for a couple hours out there, but I see I only posted the original post an hour ago. lol
kadefol
6 years ago
Yes, stuff that used to be easy gets harder. But there is hope, we have several clients in their 80's who still do all of their yard work.

Nicole, I really want to go shopping with you. Goldflame honeysuckle costs $15.99 each at our Lowe's.
User
6 years ago
Went to the feed store last weekend out in the country and it was like normal, so nice. Unfortunately its been off and on winter so no planting yet.
happy2b…gw
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
The garden plants will do well in the garden amended with fresh top soil and manure. BTW that's a lot of manure. Handling the big bags is backbreaking work. My tomatoes are in the ground and all but one seems to be faring well. Something probably a rabbit nibbled on it and it has not put out any new growth yet. Not sure if I should replace it or give it a chance. My sweet husband put the cages around the tomatoes and surprised me by installing an automatic watering system. I moved and divided hosta the other day and they are thriving.

Gardeners prevail over isolation!
functionthenlook
6 years ago
A little to early to plant yet. Maybe in 2 weeks. I am going to go to the nursery this week to pick out my flowers and veg plants. I'll keep them on my back porch. If it looks like a frost I will cover them for the night . I'm going out tomorrow, if Lowe's doesn't have a line outside I will stop and pick up the Boston ferns they have on sale. I don't stand in line to spend money. I can always go on Monday or Tuesday.

Yea, you have to wear masks around here. Yesterday I was in WV and nobody had a mask on :)
User
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
kadefol.....your right. That was a GREAT deal! The hummingbirds should love them!
happy2b…gw
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
The fence looks great. Your daughter and her friend do good work. If they want to take a road trip, I have several projects.
Kathsgrdn thanked happy2b…gw
User
6 years ago
I agree...pretty fence! An enjoyable addition! I need one, to enclose a small area .....to enclose my lilies...to keep the deer out.
User
6 years ago
I like the fence. It looks like you can keep the bunnies out with that.

I ended up at Walmart, Target and a plant nursery for my gardening needs this week. I have flower beds with good soil, but the trees I planted a few years back are doing well and have shaded everything. I have a couple of raised beds in my garage, but no interest in removing the bermuda grass. I've decided to go the container garden route. I bought some 18 gallon storage tubs and drilled holes in the bottom. I'm going to plant some green chiles and cucumbers later today and see how this system works. I want to plant potatoes and okra too. I started some tomato seeds the other day. My timing may be off on that, but we'll see where it gets us.

I picked up two bags of composted chicken manure since the cow manure was gone. I'm not sure about using that. I may let it age for a few months.

Went to a store for the first time in a long while

Kathsgrdn
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Went to a store for the first time in a long while

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