Watched an episode of OK Gardening today that had a mesonet guy on to talk about weather patterns this year. It confirmed what a lot of us noticed...we are late compared to the typical year. Soil temps and moisture were below normal even on the eastern side.

Guess it doesn't matter now though because everything is taking off. Couple of cold nights ahead in the forecast.

I could probably feed the whole county if it all produced well.

About onions , I like a mix of different varieties : Candy , Yellow Granex , Texas Super Sweet 1015Y, Super Star , Red Candy, yellow and white Bermuda , Southern Bell Red , Sweet Red , Patterson(substitute for Cobra) , High Lander , Red River., Texas Legend, Texas Early White.

About green peas: These are Mira Green from Gurneys, I've had the best luck with those, of course it can depend on all the conditions. I just let them sprawl although it would probably be better if they were trellised but I usually don't get around to it and they are a mess to pick.

About the milk jugs: I cut the bottom out of gal milk jugs and slip them over tomato plants to protect from late frosts , wind burn and such. When they start to "peeky boo" out the top of the jugs they need off off there depending on current conditions.

Rick

Looks like you were busy while the rest of us goofed off. That's an amazing setup.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz . Jen I do not consider getting together once a year to see respected gardening friends for a day off of fun and visiting to be "goofing off." I consider it to be a most blessed gift, visiting with people of a like mind--it was nourishing and lovely. In the end, for me, it's all about love and tending God's garden.

Rick, I hope you have great harvests this year. I know it's been awhile. It sure looks good! We'll be canning maniacs if it does all produce.

Jen, thanks for starting the thread this week.

It was so good to see everyone yesterday. I have so many plants to find homes for.

Nancy, thanks for sharing your pictures here. Some of the others put them on FB.

Kim, I had a weird dream about you last night....and a man involved in organized crime! lol

Jennifer that sounds like an ex

I can't imagine preserving a garden the size of Rick's. Maybe 20 years ago. For me, growing it was always the fun part. I confess I didn't like preserving it all. I love growing the stuff and giving it away, however.

I also have so many plants I need to find places for, HJ. The WEATHER! Was definitely impossible yesterday--rainy all day and very chilly. We ended up with about 1 3/4" of rain for the 2 days. And more coming this week--so I better make use of non-rain time to be weeding and planting.

Sandy Schwinn put out a warning about cotton bush milkweed (aka hairy balls, balloon plant, swan plant), Gomphocarpus physocarpus. It is from So. Africa and if one doesn't remove the pods, it will spread rampantly--and so we should be sure to remove the pods. As she pointed out, we don't need yet one more invasive species.

Are there other dedicated coffee drinkers out there? I hadn't thought of this before. But we all know how good many spices/herbs are for us. And so I've begun using cinnamon as a flavoring for coffee, along with a tiny sprinkle of salt (that takes bitterness out of the coffee). I may experiment with other herbs/spices after researching. And cinnamon IS good for us, after all.

Ahh........... I need to get up and get going and growing!

I am flat on my back not doing anything. Madge brought me to the hosp in Fayetteville this morning, where they are monitoring my heart, giving me medication. I am about to lose what little mind I have left. but all the people I have dealt with have been very nice.

I planted 10 tomatoes late yesterday, then they got a nice rain last night. I checked my green beans before leaving home this morning, still no sign of them sprouting. Just not much going on around the house, but I have a ton of work to do when I get home.

Larry I pray they get you up and at it quickly.

Thank you, kim. I feel fine, just dont have any strength or energy, and heart wont beat right.

Larry, I'll echo what Kim said, hope they find the problem

Thanks, Lynn.

Slow, sure hope you get some rest out of the deal. Hope the Fayetteville people are keeping you entertained also. Hang tough and you'll be back at it in short order. The plants won't even have time to miss you.

Hwy20, I am about to get kicked our out of here. There has been a beep beep beep, going off for hours, I finally call the nurses station and told about the alarm, and if I had died, to please come and take down to the morgue, where I could get some rest, and if not, please come find out what is wrong, she turned if off from the nurses station, if it was that easy, why did it so long?

Feel better soon Larry, & don't give the nurses too much trouble.

Being a newby at growing cucumber, I have a question. Bought some plants at Marcum's nursery. It appears there's two plants per pot. Do I plant both of them ?

Yes, you can plant two per "hill."

Larry, I hope they get things stabilized for you so you can get out of there!

I would, doesn't hurt anything. If you try to pull them apart you risk breaking one or both of them.

Rick

Most space hogging plants, I plant 6" or so apart for 3 or 4 seeds, skip a few feet and repeat till I get all the plants I want. By do so, you can weed around the small plant, or pull if they are too thick, without bothering the nearest plant. I even do okra the same way. To plant in this manner May require a little more space.

Jen, I wont be too rough on the nurses. My potassium was too low to take the medication this morning, so they come back ever hour and take more blood, after I drink something to boost my potassium. After the second trip I ask why they did not use the port installed on my right arm. I was poked all over to find a place to install that port, and it has not been used yet, it must be the morgue port, gotta keep it fresh.

Larry, even when you're in the hospital and don't feel well, you still make me laugh.

I sure hope they get you well enough to get out of there. Hospitals are NOT relaxing.

Peppers and eggplants and cucumbers! I'm so ready to get these planted. Shooting for this weekend. The rest of the tomatoes in the next couple of days hopefully.

Then all the herbs I picked up from y'all at the Spring Fling. Someone took a pick of me at the SF and it's on FB. I'm going to use it as my new profile pic. I hope that's okay. I look really cheesy in it.

Indian Paintbrush showed up on the property. Was just waiting for a drink.

Thanks, Jennifer, I think laughter is one of our best meds. It seems to work on all conditions and all ages.

Larry I hope you're home and happier by now. I do hate the blood takers. I can't figure out why most of them can't do it. I had a guy who came in at 3am who could always find a vein and never left a bruise. They should all be that good.

Ron's working on the lawn. That's the garden reference for today.

The dog went to the vet yesterday. She's been limping, so they anesthetized her to take X-rays and while they were at it cleaned her teeth and trimmed her nails. They didn't give her the $88 shot for nausea, but I wish they had, she was miserable all night. She was throwing up water so couldn't give her a pain pill. There was nothing I could do for her. They won't know about the X-rays for a week.

Spring Fling was great, love you all.

Rick that is one heck of a garden.

Thanks, Amy, still here, hope to go home tomorrow. They are trying me on Sotalol. I am not impressed at this point, but my readings are good, but they may have been good anyway, my heart does not mess up all the time, but I am sure I would feel better out playing in the dirt. I can see out the window, and it looks like a beautiful day.

I think that me being here is good for Madge, she has a lot of folks in this area and she is visiting a lot.

Oh gosh, Larry just saw your hospital post. So sorry you had to go there, and truly hope you will get to go home soon.

Been busy.

That daughter moving in here sure changes a lot of things.

Been digging out more roots from the bushes I tried to kill by cutting them all the way down... which didn't work, they are sprouting.

I planted all my plants from Spring Fling today. Just wait till I get a picture of my tomato cage for this year. LOL

Crossing my fingers for you Larry

Good night

Moni

Thanks, Moni, I am trying to be nice, if I don't kill anyone for the next 10 hrs and 15 min., I can go home.

I have a ton of work to do when I get home. If my lawn is dry enough, I need to start mowing, if not, I need to start planting. I hope my green beans are coming up by now. I really should have stayed home and done some of this work, I feel worse now than I did when I came in here.

Amy, I found out what that beeping was, that was coming from this machine at the left side of my bed. A male nurse came early this morning to check, and I ask him, and was told my pulse rate was too low. I thought boy that is nice, being as I am in here because of too low of a pulse rate, and I have listened to that beeping for two nights. The nurse station is just across the hall, they could hear the beeping and say, well ole Larry is still holding his own.

If a person did not heart problems going into a hosp, there is a good chance they will have before they get to go home. I am SO ready to get out of here and head home. We dont like to drive after dark, and my last EKG is set for 7:00 PM, and we have almost a two hr. drive home, Madge and I both are unhappy. I sure hope this new med helps.

Regina? She didn't come to the SF. Anyone hear from her?

Larry, you must be so frustrated!

I am SO pooped. Literally didn't sit down from 6 am to 8:30 pm except to drive.

Took the school to the zoo. Came home, quickly fixed dinner for the guys and then went outside to do some gardening.

All the tomatoes are now in other than the True Black Brandywine from Bruce. There's actually two in the pot, and I like to tweeze them apart.

The wind is hurting them all, though. Hopefully they'll make it. The special ones are in the kitchen garden and can't easily be replaced.

I planted tomatoes in both gardens, did a lot of weeding and some watering and hauling mulch to put on the KG tomatoes. Rick planted tomatoes in the SG with me and did some tilling and planting corn seed in the skipped areas.

Hoping to get the peppers, eggplant, flowers, and herbs in next week. And the cuke seed. I think that's all.

We need to put in okra seed in a couple of weeks.

One of my favorite hens (Lulu) is hurt or sick. I gave her a warm bath last night to try to figure out her situation. I think it's her legs/feet/back that's hurting her. I can't tell what, though. Her vent looked fine, but was pretty crusted because she's not roosting at night. She wants to sit on the ground. She's separated from the others now. I was so distracted by Polly's eye situation and Dolly's lack of appetite, that I didn't fully notice Lulu's situation. Don't listen to what people say about white leghorns. She's friendly and calm. I hate that she's not feeling well. She's eating a little.

Anyway. I hope everyone is having a good week.

We planted a cotoneaster in one of the areas we dug the landscape rock out of and the poor thing seems to be dying within a week or two. Some have said they are a target for mites, but I haven't seen any on the plant. Wondering what could attack the poor guy so fast.

I'm hearing there is a chance for some pretty nasty weather tomorrow. Weather models seem to point towards more and more extreme every time they run. Keep an eye out!

I am too tired to do much, plus I left my phone and computer chargers at the hosp, and too pooped to go get them. I expect it will be just as cheap to buy new, rather than to make the trip for the old.

hwygardener I wonder if it is just transplant shock?

Moni

Moni, that's what we've chalked it up to for now. Just can't come up with anything else that makes sense. We'll keep on keeping on and cross our fingers.

The wind has made a comeback today, I see. We should be able to get tomatoes in tomorrow and pretty much all of the other warm weather stuff. Maybe do Okra in a week or two.

Larry, order chargers on line and have them delivered. Daughter or granddaughter could do it for you.

Question for Rick. There's a guy in Okmulgee who says he's never had squash vine borers. His parents haven't either. Do you think he doesn't know the difference in damage between squash bugs and borers? Does Okmulgee have a magic dome over it that excludes SVB? Do you grow squash at your place? I guess that's more than one question.

Hwy20, the chance of a storm is slight, but if it happens the chance of hail is bad. Purple (baseball sized). I will give up at that point.

Amy , yes I grow squash there and I've never seen vine borers. But I do get squash bugs usually going into July when it starts really getting hot.

Rick

Amy, Madge and I went to Ft. Smith for lunch and bought a charger at Best Buy while we were out, it cost a little more, but I have my computer going. I found a charger for my phone at hope. I think everybody has a box old phone chargers at home,

It is a beautiful day. Neighbor and I plan on planting this afternoon. We wont get everything planted, but at least its a start.

I am feeling better after hosp stay, but really tired

Oh what it must be like to not have squash vine borer. The moth usually shows up here in late May and persists until the end. The plants start to produce well, then wilt and die. Succession is about the only thing we can do.

Amy, i'm in your area so maybe it's just really bad here. I don't even worry about the stink bugs anymore...it's the vine borer that does us in.

Squash Vine Borers are really bad here in Norman, OK. They (sometimes) manage to get into the C. Moschata varieties. Not always, but occasionally. I'm skipping one more year of squash, but will try again next year. I really miss my Seminole Pumpkins.

I like yellow summer squash okay. I do like zucchini quite a bit. I miss growing it, but am so sick of both of the squash pests. I only have so many hours to garden, and don't have the time to pick them off several times a day.

I am cleaning the asparagus beetles off every day. Those are bad too this year.

This wind. It's so, so awful. I was outside most of the day at a St. Jude's Trike-a-Thon fundraiser. The wind was blowing the kids' bike helmets across the parking lot...and those things are fairly heavy. I sure hope the tomatoes make it. Some of them look really beaten. One broke.

Hmmm....maybe I will move to Oregon after all. No crazy wind. No SVB. No ticks. Plenty of rain for the garden.

It is pretty right now, even with the wind. My drive down Indian Hills in the morning is so lovely. The spring wildflowers are finally starting to show up. They just needed a little drink. And everything is greening up. I'm trying to drive it everyday. Enjoy it before it's gone.

Who in the OKC area is going to the Flower and Garden Festival?

Jennifer where/when is the show you mention?

Moni, it's the one they do at the Myriad Gardens. BUT, I just realized it is NEXT Saturday and not tomorrow. .

" Hmmm....maybe I will move to Oregon after all. No crazy wind. No SVB. No ticks. Plenty of rain for the garden. " ......................

Those were my thoughts today. I spent 3 hours in the garden fighting the wind and hoping it did not destroy my plants. I've lived here almost 70 years and today I wondered why I did not move out of here a long time ago. Really sick of the wind.

But I don't recall the wind being this bad in past years. Its been especially windy. And the weather pattern says its gonna keep up for a while.

Jennifer, I think that it was Red Skelton that said " it was so windy, that I saw a hen lay the same egg three times", is it that windy in Oklahoma? Its windy here also, but y'all may have us beat.

I dont think I will have a chance with squash this year, neighbor told me yesterday that he was planting 50 to 100 hills each of Seminole, Arabat, Old Timey cornfield, Butternut, Acron, yellow, Zucchini, and maybe another one or two, plus 1/3 acre of cucumbers, he and I both will spend a lot of time trying to kill bugs.

It looks like rain and I need to bust up some land, but we wont have time to get it planted before the rain, so I need to spend some time planting what ground I have ready.

If the wind is not enough ........... bout 2 years ago, I got a new neighbor. And he has a HUGE dog. The dogs name is Duke, as in Marmaduke, so ya get an idea how big it is. The back of the dog is probably waist high on me.

But the dog barks incessantly. And he barks at me. I thought after 2 years the dog would be accustomed to me, but if he hears me when I'm on my patio he will starts barking. I can be grilling or smokng meats and he's barking at me. And he will stalk me. When I get near the fence he attacks me by jumping on the fence and barking . Startles the crap out of me. I'm still not use to it. If he ever gets through that fence, I'm in trouble. The entire fence shakes and rattles when he jumps on it.

The quiet peaceful days of working in the garden are over with. I've been here 29 years without a problem. There's been four other people in that house and finally my luck ran out and I get bad one.

And if he's not barking at me, he's barking at something in the area. Some times , it can go on all day. Day before last, the neighbors on the other side had air conditioning repairman in their yard and the dog barked at them for 2 hours.

Sooo, I should go have a talk with them. Well, what are they gonna do ? They're not home in the day time. And I've let them know that I would appreciate them shutting the dog down if they're home and they're somewhat good about that. But they both work. So its me and Duke most days.

Years ago, a dog trainer told me to spray the dog with the water hose when they bark. I use that on my dogs. It works. After a few times, all I have to do is pick up the hose. Well, I sprayed Duke and he stopped for a while, but then just ran over to other side of the yard and barked at me. And then the neighbor's wife complained about me spraying the dog. And there was drama.

I love dogs. Always had a dog. And I would never ask someone to get rid of their dog. But the dog makes it hard for me to enjoy my back yard. And I really don't think the dog owner cares. But I also don't think there's anything they can do about Duke.

So I got off my chest. I put up with the dog all day yesterday, along with the wind. Or maybe I'm just getting old and grumpy. Or should've moved out of here, years ago.

I can't believe Okmulgee doesn't have SVBs! Wow, I wonder why? I'm not that far away! In 2013 (first year for more than tomatoes an peppers) they killed my squash. 2014 I had researched every possible remedy. I think 2014 was an EXCEPTIONALLY bad year and no companion plant worked. They bored into the leaf nodes of moschatas. I think they even tested cucumbers. I ran around the yard chasing them with a can of hairspray which was the closest to insecticide that I had. Later I tried the Korean summer sqaush. I liked it, but it's a big footprint in my garden.

I think we can all grow squash this year, Larry's neighbor should have all the bugs. that's a lot of squash!

We got about .2" of rain last night. Sounded like more.

Have a nice weekend.

Nancy, I was thinking about you., and your love for wild flowers.

I think these are pretty, but I try to cut them down every time I find them

Shawnee has that master gardener plant sale next Sat, I may try & go. I need peppers. I'm overrun with tomatoes but very few peppers. The few I had got hit with the geyser when the well broke, so most of mine didn't survive. Is it too late to start some? I may do that tomorrow, but still pick up a few from the store.

Jem, I think you have the right idea, and I may have to do the same. I got my plants mixed up and damaged because of all the junk going on this year. Some of my plants got mixed when daughter took some home with her. I did not have all the 6 packed labeled, just a map drawn on a tablet, which works great if none of the 6 packs are moved., and I planted so many plants I had no place to put them.

I now have 22 tomatoes and 12 peppers in the ground. The south garden looks pretty good. The north garden is a mess, I donr have anything in it other than 3 blackberry plants, and they need to be tied up.

I was hoping to plant flower seeds, and maybe more tomatoes in the wildlife garden, but I just run out of energy too quickly.

My cukes got worked over by yesterdays wind and the rain that came through later. One is completely gone and the others are flat as pancakes on the ground. Also saw a few onions bolting already...it seems awfully early to see that.

It was still pretty windy today while we were out trying to finish planting things. Was able to get the tomatoes, tomatillos, squash & eggplants sunk. Have a couple of plants on the small side so i'll have to throw those in next week. Don't trust this weather not to demolish them.

10 day is showing some storms next week. Hopefully that will bring some rain to the west side of the state too. No hail, please.

Seems like most of us are having a challenging gardening year already. Maybe....just maybe this is the worst of it, and it will only improve from here.

I really didn't start tomatoes early this year. I started them right around March 1. But, some of them got really big really fast. Those are the ones struggling with the wind mostly.

I should have stripped all the leaves except the very top one and trenched the plants.

I agree, Lynn, the wind this year has been extra. For sure. We've always had bad winds, but this year isn't giving us much of a break so far.

We could use a little rain. I'm happy that we finally got some last week. Was it last week? But, it's time for a little more.

This evening was nice, but we had plans so there was no gardening.

Prairie Wind was at Stash this morning so I picked up a couple of plants from Bill--a holy basil and cilantro. For some reason my cilantro patch didn't come back this year. Other than the burn pile patch.

I wanted to buy more, but didn't. I'll wait until next week and will get some pollinator friendly things then.

Then we went to the Green House in Norman and I got a few things for the pots. I can't believe I don't have all the pots and flower areas planted and looking nice. It honestly might not be done until the end of May.

In exciting news I was able to take a cutting from a Dr. Wyche tomato and get it to make roots in water. What now? I have no idea. Do I put them in a put with soil? I should look up some videos, I guess.

I've never been successful with getting roots before. The black cherry tomato that snapped in the wind--I took a piece of it and am trying to root it too.

My little Lulu hen is not improving. I don't know how to euthanize a chicken and probably should learn how to do that. I feel really sad about this. She was funny and friendly and laid a lot of eggs. She started laying at 18 weeks....and laid an egg everyday her first year. And continued to lay well until recently. She will be 5 in June, but I doubt she makes it. She's not eating or drinking at all now.

I have 2 of the original 4 hens. They are 7 y/o.

The next batch was 7 hens. There are 4 left not including Lulu. They'll be 5 in June.

Those are my oldest girls.

When Lulu passes, I'll have 28.

Tomorrow is a new week. May Day.

Uhhh, , , I love Oregon--but they have plenty of ticks, too. I guess every place has some really good things, a few bad things. I don't think we see nasty winds quite as much here at our place since we are surrounded by tall oaks.

I started this about 6 hrs ago. Now I'm out planting and weeding. Just a short break. Glorious today. . . just a slight breeze.

Sorry about Lulu Jennifer.

Thanks, Kim.

Maybe some places in Oregon don't have ticks? I work with a girl who grew up near Portland and she said she didn't even know what a tick was until she moved here. Also, there's a guy who just came on staff last week. He lived in Oregon (also the Portland area) who said they didn't really deal with ticks there.

I don't know.

I do know I'm so sleepy. Work tomorrow for both Tom and me.