Jen I am ready... but not sure if I am willing. LOL

I think, I will plant some carrot seeds outside today. Just because, you said, it's planting time. ;)

Hazel, you should watch the video Nancy posted. It is very interesting... but I have to be honest, I never did similar (I just don't trust the option that Bermuda grass dies under there). I use the chipdrop stuff strictly as mulch, and I have seen YouTubers give up on the Back to Eden process. But it is still very interesting.

I had no plans before opening this post today... but now, I guess, I will play in my seeds.

Happy planting everyone.

Moni

I may try to plant some carrots. I am thinking that I try plant some carrots just south of one of my pepper or tomato sows, they will be almost under the tomato plants as they grow larger. I have some concerns that the carrots will want more food than I want to give the tomatoes. I tilled up all my fall planted carrots, the henbit has taken over everything. I think that I have more problems with henbit than I have with bermuda.

If it warms up enough today I need to add more room to my garden for my grand daughter to have a place she can call her own, I expect that I will be spending more time in her spot than she does.

Amy , about that Dawn post. I just found it by accident and thought it might be along the lines of what you were looking for. That thread was labled "Tomato Varieties" but didn't see that info about protecting early tomatoes till I got further down in the thread.

I've been finding Dawn threads by googling " Okie Dawn , some topic like corn or beans.. , Houzz". Then I dragnet through whatever threads are listed by google. I'm looking for all the long drawn out threads where she laid out a ton of info. As I find one of those I paste the link into the previous threads that I started last week. Most of them are listed under " Another Dawn bump" besides the ones for " Onion Talk" and " Potato talk."

I'm hoping that this will benefit everybody else as well as me. My suggestion for a "Dawn book" right now is to just archive all these links to threads . An "e- book" stored somewhere separate

from houzz or maybe archive it in the Garden Network facebook for everybody's access.

When I list these threads I try to somewhat organize it in order in some sort of sequence at least , like , corn , tomatoes , beans , .... . Part of the problem with that is that Dawn would sometimes cover 2 or more topics in one thread.

Here's a Dawn quote:

"I can link lots of other goodies as questions arise. I'm the queen of links!"

That's from link :https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2054506/new-to-oklahoma-gardening-and-behind-already

As far as making a "physical book" , that would take a whole lot of typing , printing , publishing costs, ...copyrights .. etc. If somebody wants to do that I guess it's ok , but might end up with a 15 Vol encyclopedia.

Rick

I plan on starting like 5 species of wildflower in the windowsill today. It seems we're about 8 weeks out from avg last frost date, so it seems time. Wow...it seems early.

My soil is totally dried out, so I will spend about an hour putting water on it every 15 minutes trying to rehydrate it...I hate that...but darn seems no one puts a wetting agent in the potting soil anymore. Then after I get it in pot, I'll water it down again and put seeds on it..and depending on species put some more moist soil over the top (or not if they require light). Then saran wrap and a rubberband to prevent drying out (which would happen way too fast on my windowsill and I'd lose the plantlets). Yeah, I'm low tech.

I am really dragging my feet with planting. I need to get going! Now you all have motivated me. My problem with the Back to Eden (haven't watched the entire thing yet) is wood chips. Uhhhh. Where do I get my wood chips? I just substituted mulched leaves for wood chips. :) I spent yesterday getting all my seeds organized and onto the spread sheet. I only have flowers left to go, and not many of those. Do we have lists going of veggies we're growing? I have so many seeds! Especially tomatoes, peppers, herbs. . . I'll go check and see what you all are growing. Danny--I get my seed starting soil or potting soil wet by throwing it in a big pot (couldn't find my pot yesterday, so will put it in a plastic tub) and add hot water to it. Get my hands in there and mix it all up. Works good.

Yeah, that's basically what I did Nancy. It's a shame that we have to do it..I've seen potting soils that absorb water a lot better than any I've bought recently (and I buy 'good' stuff).

I sometimes have trouble with potting soil being too dry and dusty. The dust really messes up my lunges. I have almost ( 4 ) 2.8 cu ft bags of pro mix, lg 15, I think is the number of the mix. I will open it and see how dry it is, if too dry I will just run the garden hose in the bag and let it sit a day or two. I use to get a mix with a wetting agent in it, but I dont remember the name or number of the mix, but it was much easier to use. I use to be able to tell the mix I liked by just picking it up, the good mix was a little heaver.

One of the best uses of wood chips for me was a border. When I could get shavings I would them in the same way. My gardens slope a little, by digging a trench around them and placing chips or shaving in the trench I could promote drainage and hold the amended soil where I wanted it, this would also permit me to drive the tractor or tiller over the border with damage to the garden or the trench. I also used the chips or shavings in the garden as they rotted, then refilling the trench with new organic matter, and repeat the process. The border was also a good place to fight Bermuda grass.

It looks great. Jen!

Jen, the garden looks good.

Jen that looks awesome. I can’t wait to get home and get started

Jennifer I was sad to see you lost a chicken.

Thanks, Kim. It really is disappointing. Such a bummer. I like to add a few new ones each year to help with the egg production, because they lay more in their first year. She was sweet, too. I will order another Speckled Sussex next year. I don't want chicks this year. (The problem will be that some of the hens will want chicks...and get quite stubborn about it.)

My oldest ones hatched in March of 2015, so they're getting a bit old. I don't mind letting them live out their life here.

I don't understand the fertilizer shortage issue, but I've seen friends talking about it and the price of meat and feed. Hopefully we'll not come to the point of having to cull older ones. I suppose it's more sustainable to cull the older hens. Not only for meat, but to cut down on feed. Some people say that old hens make a tasty stew if cooked slow and long. I don't really eat chicken, so I don't know. But, I can see that hatching your own eggs under hens, keeping the pullets for egg production, culling older hens and young roos would be the most efficient. I just don't want to do that, but we'll do what we need to do, I guess. Hopefully won't come to that.

Something new that I learned this year. Adding an extra light to each shelf (on the light shelf) really encourages rapid growth. The lettuce is almost too big for the light shelf....but it's really too cold to go out, plus they haven't been hardened off. I need to make a mental note to NOT start lettuce so early next year. I have in the past, but because of the extra light, they've just taken off. And this is good really.

But, the light shelf is already full (4 shelves).

The plan is to get the cool season stuff hardened off and into the hoop house next week. The shelf needs to be cleared off and ready for flowers, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. Oh, and roselle.

All the lettuce, broccoli, and cabbages are now up-potted.

Rick is planning on adding another raised bed to the hoop house soon, so maybe the broccoli and lettuces can be planted a little earlier. The cabbages will go outside.

The aphid issue in the hoop house is a concern and I will use neem if necessary. Those little aphids were able to get through the insect netting on my hinged hoop bed last year, but ladybugs weren't able to get into it to clear them off.

So many things to consider, right? Always something.

Does anyone have experience with Park Seed? I don't need anymore veggie seeds, but they have flowers that I'm interested in. I thought I would try them to support Dale and Carrie, but really know nothing much about them.

I just can't believe we're half way through February. Where did my January go? I like to recharge and reset in January...but it's just gone...with half of February!

I can certainly confirm that an older layer makes a very tasty roasted or stewed bird, and it's certainly more useful than a bird that died of old age. (that's an opinion of course, perhaps the fertilizer content of a hen carcass is greater than the stew pot)
Parks used to be good, I'd say it's declined considerably in the last twenty years or so...now rating it as no better than those multi-front end places like Jung Seed or Gurney's, of which many are owned by one back-end company.

Yes, I found myself unable to believe we're probably less than eight weeks to frost free....time zooms.

Feed and fertilizer contain phosphate, which we do not have a large supply of.

I bought a 50# bag of 10-20-10 and urea also a few weeks ago. I may need to buy a couple more bags Wed. when I go to town.

I think as a nation, we are sitting close to troubling times.

I have been adding compost to my south garden, and tilling it in. It is looking good. I hope that grand daughter will take an interest in it.

Here's a relavent Dawn bump:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2054506/new-to-oklahoma-gardening-and-behind-already

Rick

I hope no one is loosing flying objects to Kansas...

and I can report, I managed to fix my washing machine after all. I had forgotten the little part that was in my bike trunk bag... and I rectified the situation today. Machine spins.

Yes, I padded myself on the back. LOL

Moni

Moni, I have to be *that* one. You patted yourself on the back or you padded it with styrofoam ? :)

Glad you got the washer back w/o buying another.

Moni, I forgot to respond to the Back to Eden doc comment. I do want to watch it for sure. Just in case I ever move up north. ha.

I agree with you. Bermuda grass is too risky.

(I will say that Bermuda grass is much easier to dig out of amended soil as opposed to clay. Personal experience. )

I read a blog today about Bermuda removal. This fella believes it can be done with a lot of hard work, but it would involve not planting your garden for a year.

I would move up north if my people weren't here. And if I could afford it. But, that's not my situation, so I'll just continue to deal with the Bermuda.

Here's a video of a no dig garden. THIS is the style of SG garden I dream of, but not possible here. She's in Washington state--not costal, though. She also has flower gardens and a potager garden. She has follow up videos of this garden too. The garden did pretty well. It's worth watching if it won't make you sad that you can't have it. haha.

Hazel I know Bermuda is easier out of amended soil, but where I need it gone hasn't been worked prolly forever. ... and I know, how beautiful gardens grow further north... I grew up further north.

Unlike you, I would prefer to live further south... I LOVE warmth.

Moni

Yep, our gardens get looking tired in the sun and heat. Up north, everything seems so much more vibrant. Guess that's their trade off with being snowbound for at least six months of the year.

I have only gardened in an area that would fit into a 25 mile circle, I have never spent a lot of time anywhere else. I have traveled a lot of North America, but only tried to garden in western Arkansas. I have never had good soil, unless I made it good with some kind of organic mater. All the people I have known that gardened in this area have had to battle Bermuda grass, its just a way of life with me. My largest problem is not having a cheap water supply.

I did have a great day. I worked in the south garden, amending and tilling. I tried to work in the north garden but it was too wet. I then went to the wildlife garden and tilled about 2 acres over there, then went to the neighbors and tilled close to an acre tor him. I love playing on my tractors. I love the fact that I have a neighbor that I can play with, he is about the age of my oldest son, and can work like a slave, he dose not seem to mind doing the things that I cant, and I dont mind using my equipment to do the things that he cant do, we seem to make a pretty good team.

Larry, so happy you had a great day....and that you've got a good garden partner/neighbor. That means a lot.

Oh, I know that you know all of that, Moni. I apologize for the way my words apparently came across. Sometimes I just say things and don't realize how people take them.

Also, I sometimes*think* we have a larger audience of people who may lurk....and hope that maybe they will benefit from things that I might say. (Although people like you already know all of anything I would ever say.) Sorry, again.

I don't necessarily like the cold, but have interests other than gardening so can find things to do indoors if needed. Plus, I'm an introvert so don't need to be out among people all the time. I get enough people-ing with my 2 jobs.

The people in the video that I posted, live in Washington state, but it's not the rainy, costal area. She calls it a desert, actually. I think their zone is 6b.

Danny, I guess it is a tradeoff. Six months of beautiful gardens and six months of snowy cold.

OR

Our climate--several months of hot weather that draws pests, disease and wilted plants with Bermuda grass running rampant. A few days of perfect weather. And cold, windy days mixed up with some nice, warm days.

It's all I know. But, sure enjoy seeing the easier gardens up north.

Edited to say that I just watched a follow up video to the one posted above....their zone is actually 7b, in their little area of Washington state.

Hazel, it was just a statement... not meant to offend anyone.

HJ, ive had good luck with Park. No problems at all

Here's Park on Dave's Garden Watchdog. They're one of the "big box" online nurseries aka Wayside Gardens, Jackson & Perkins, I haven't ordered from them. https://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/3/

The thing I've most enjoyed about Oklahoma is the wonderful fall, and sometimes wonderful spring, which was the thing I enjoyed least about living in MN--hardly any spring or fall--1 month for each. Last frost date/first frost dates, 5/20-9/20. Summers there got plenty hot--and humid--the plants loved their hothouse conditions.

The thing I've least enjoyed about OK are the pests. And the Bermuda--a manmade problem, of which there are far too many. I think I'm going to do exactly that, HJ. Spend this year tearing out Bermuda. Furthermore, the grasshoppers decimated the gardens last year. So it will be a good thing here, as I can let all the in-ground flower/plant beds go--tearing out Bermuda and non-natives as I go. Some might think I am "over the top" on natives. . . but those folks don't know that 70% of the plants here are non-natives. Previous person planted all non-natives (and some invasive pests), and I added many more. Difficult to plant natives if all the room is taken up by non-natives. Thankfully I will still be able to plant in the raised beds and the tubs on the deck. I loved having my salad garden on the deck.

I dont lose any sleep about a plant being a native, the only thing I ask myself is, " is the plant fulfilling the need I want it to, and will it have a negative long term impact "?

Larry
Exactly.

I am glad I got a lot of tilling done, because we had a nice rain last night and this morning, maybe more to come. I wish I had gotten a mulch berm made at the south end of the south garden. Making a berm permits me to use the garden sorta like a raised bed and keeps the soil from washing away, also makes a happy place for earth worms.

We are seeing some shortages at the grocery store. The last time I checked the Farmers Co-op fertilizer price was up, have heard it is up more now. The seed price was good, but I bought last years stock. The seeds at Walmart and Tractor Supply seemed to be pretty good, but I seldom buy off the seed company's rack. I would expect that they would get first choice of seed supply because their prices are much higher.

We got a good rain, but no snow. Looks like we have another chance for snow next week.

Rebecca, I'll give Park a try. Thanks for chiming in. Hope you're doing well.

Nancy, it's your garden and if you want all natives, do it.

I probably won't only do natives in mine, but am going to try to add more of them.

I wonder why we're drawn to the English cottage style gardens. Then, I wonder if it's because it's in our genetic memory.

We like the Asian plants because they grow well here.

Anyway...I think about weird things.

Not much new to report about the garden. The plants on the light shelf continue to grow quickly. Maybe after next week I'll try to get them hardened off...at least hardened off enough for the hoop house.

Then it will be time to start tomato and pepper seed.

Tonight, I made spaghetti sauce with our paste tomatoes. One thing that I've noticed about the homegrown sauce is it's much richer than store bought sauce. Do you think it has to do with the variety of tomato? These were mostly Amish Paste and a few Roma.

I wonder what variety is mostly used in the store-bought canned tomatoes.....

This is the sauce that I made during the snow storm a couple of weeks ago. The tomatoes were in the freezer (from the summer and fall).

Because I had time at home, I was able to cook them down a lot, so the sauce was a thicker consistency. Maybe that plays into the richness. I don't know. Anyone have experience with this?

It probably seems like I share a lot of Cookie and Kate recipes. I think it's because her ingredients are often things we have in the garden. She has a wonderful food blog. You should check it out if you're into using garden food. Her recipes are vegetarian (and she often gives substitutions for vegans and gluten free too), BUT you could totally add meat if desired. I'll often do a side of meat for the men in the house, but sometimes I don't...and the food is so good they really don't seem to miss it much.

Rambling.

Stay warm, Friends.

I certainly didn't mean to throw a flag down regarding natives. I have WAY too many non-natives and need to get most out, but especially Bermuda. But I have realized that many in this group don't care about natives. That was NOT the point in my last post--MY point was that I needed to get them out of my yard. What you all do with them is your deal. And HJ and Larry and Kim and whoever else. . . that's your deal.

Me Nancy, I want to throw down the flag, let's fight...fight...fight!

Yes, we'd be better off if no one ever brought Bermuda to these shores, or privet, or japanese honeysuckle or any number of other noxious weeds. I have mixed feelings about crepe myrtles. I mean they're totally unnecessary and do absolutely nothing for the environment (I don't ever notice pollinators attracted) but at least they're colorful. It's a good thing that potatoes aren't invasive, or I'd rail against them. Fight, fight, fight!

And...I'm done.

Just to note, Dawn would start her tomato seeds on Super Bowl Sunday, which this year, was a week later due to the NFL extending the regular season from 16 to 17 games.

I planted Sunday against my better judgement, with plans to go in the ground in 8 weeks, that being the first week of April .

It seems like i am always apologizing here for offending someone when i *think* what i am posting is the opposite of offensive.

Nancy, my cooment to you was meant to be encoursging. Cheerleading you on by saying ”Do it.”

That is what my friends and I say to each other in a certain tone of voice when one of us has a passion or a goal.

If that was rude, it was meant to be the opposite. It was meant to cheer you on.

and the pondering on why most of us in this country enjoy non natives was just that...pondering. Something I have been thinking about.

I didnt mean to be rude there either.

My thoughts for (everyone) are its yiur garden—grow what you want and love.

i will stick with talking about myself and garden AND answer only questions here in the future. i will not comment on anyones posts or musings or life stories as my words dont seem to match my intentions or spirit.

HJ--I got it--you were encouraging. Saw your plant-growing post. Everything looks great!

I am JUST getting started with planting, and won't start tomatoes until 1 March. Yes, I think cooking them down does add to the richness.

Got so tired of lugging big old tomatoes in and out. Danny, you better watch it or I'll hunt you down. (Oh--and am I ever glad I have non-native veggies! lol ) . Speaking of, gotta run. I'm helping a couple friends today.

Did you all see the crazy weather forecast for next week?? GRRRR

I did not see anything that would offend anyone. I don't know a native plant from a non-native plant, and don't really care. I sorta treat plants like people, if they have been here for a few seasons, they are native, and if they are toxic, I keep my distance. There is nobody on this forum, or anywhere else that I want to offend, and if I do I am sorry.

I like Nancy's passion about natives, and always recommending native varieties whenever someone asks for advice. That doesn't mean I'm going to rip out every non native plant and only plant natives, but I do look at them to see if there's an option I like.

I like Larry's talk about your wildlife garden because I don't know anyone else who does that and it's fascinating to me.

I enjoy HJ's ramblings because you cover so many different topics and your thought process is so much like my popcorn brain. And you have such a generous heart that your words alwayscome off to me as encouragement, even if you don't think so.

Our little family here has different contributions and we all seem to get along as well as any family. We have our differences, but I can't say I see anyone trying to push their way on anyone.

I found a deer leg while I was out working Wednesday. Too close to the house for my comfort. I'm hoping the coyotes will be scared off from all the dog scents in the yard. But it does make me reconsider going outside the fence after dark. And I need to move up the priority of fencing in my garden.

I planted some peppers last week but I still haven't set up a seed shelf so right now they're sitting in a sunny window in our garage. If I can finish the garden to my liking, I want to set up a cold frame & get some stuff going this weekend.

I had another Dr. appoint today and on the way home I had Madge stop at the Poteau Farmers Co-op. I can hardly drive through Poteau without stopping to check on their seed supply. I bought an ounce ea. of three different cucumber seeds ( just what I need, more seeds ). I also bought a 50# bag of 13-13-13. This will give me more than enough fertilizer for my two house gardens, and the wildlife garden. I use mostly compost in the house gardens.

The fertilizer $24.08 with tax. The seeds were $1.00 a pack. The fertilizer was a little more than I have been paying, the seeds are the same price. I guess I may be hording, but I want to make sure I have fertilizer and seeds on hand just in case the supply chain messes up. Of course all of you know that fuel has gone up, and expected to even go higher, but groceries are going up also, which makes it worse on the ones that try to live on a fixed income.

Madge just told me that someone was calling me ( it's the donkeys ). I can hardly hear, but the donkeys tell Madge, knowing that she will tell me. Yesterday when I went out into the pasture to find the stock to feed them a little. The donkeys were across the creek, about 3 or 400 yards from the house just running like crazy ( you don't see donkeys run like that often ). When I got back to the house, Madge ask me what was wrong with the donkeys? I told her that they were telling you that the weather is changing, she had never heard that, but when I was a kid, we never had a tv, and sometimes we did not have a radio. When the hoses were running like that, my dad would always say that, it seemed to have some truth to it. Dad would also say that a horse would turn its butt to the wind if it could not find cover. I never did pay much attention to that one, if the weather was that bad, I had already found cover and the horses were the last thing on my mind. All I had to worry about was having plenty of coal busted up and in the house, or by the door so we could easily carry a bucket in to keep the fire going.

Well I am rambling and the donkeys are telling on me.

I collect seeds too. I don’t think it hurts to have extra. I dream of having enough land to plant all the things.

I understand why some of you have complained about posting with a phone. I just backread and saw all the typos in my last post that was made with my phone.

Jen, I love reading everyone's posts and "life" stories. The only thing I don't enjoy is snarkiness and when people always correct others.

I hope you are enjoying the nice weather day! I didn't get to do much outside because I needed to make the menu for the week, the shopping list, and shop. Sunday is a workday for me, so I have to get all of this done on Saturday. We did have a nice walk with the dog.

Lynn, I started 2 cups of tomatoes in honor of Dawn on Super Bowl Sunday. But, today, my dog decided to pull them off the light shelf, so they are no more. They hadn't sprouted yet. It's possible the seed starting mix I used was bad. It was stored in the shop and not properly sealed up. A bit of mold was growing on top of the cups, but no sprouts.

I'll start the other tomatoes in a couple of weeks. Peppers too.

We stayed away from home last night. It was nice to be away for a few hours and to eat really good food--both dinner and breakfast--that I didn't cook. Nice to not have the animals fussing at each other and just their care in general. Upon my arrival home, I was greeted was massive amounts of dog vomit. Welcome home!

I really, really love animals, but Future Jennifer will just have one pet. And the chickens. And the 20-year-old turtle that might outlive me. And maybe a really cool aquarium. lol

Oh, and maybe a miniature cow.

Kim, I hope you get your land too! I really, really hope that for you.

Grrr. . . just lost my post and now it's dinner time. I'll try back later.