LL, I don't have a veggie garden except for a few lame pots, but I did see something that was very interesting for children, just not sure how ambitious this project might be. It was a large teepee (not covered by anything, just the large branches to form the teepee) and climbing up the wood were all the climbing veggies and flowering vines like morning glory, etc. There was an opening at the front and it was large enough for multiple kids to go in. As an adult I thought it was a blast! I can only imagine how much kids would enjoy it! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of it. I don't think it took up more space than 8 X 8. It sounds like you plan on making this veggie area quite large.

The winter storm that has been pounding the West Coast and dumping mega-snow in the Southwest is moving into our area now. We are having thunderstorms and lots of rain. Hopefully the cold stuff and snow stays north of here. It is expected to hit Illinois and Ohio and the rest of the Midwest big time. I saw that Ohio is getting flooding. Hope everyone up that way is high and dry from this mess. Cracking-the-concrete, Yes, we have a rock band. Play oldies and new stuff too. Over 80 cover-tunes and 15+ originals. Very eclectic assortment of music. Something for everyone. We have a Gig tonight up in Ponca City. It's a lot of fun and we have a good following all over the state. No one else does the old stuff and we pack the house wherever we play. We enjoy the crowds and we don't trash the place like most of the other bands do and we are polite. Everyone remarks about that too. :) I just hope the roads don't ice up. Ponca City is in the northern part of the state and subject to get more of the cold nasty weather than we do here in Central Oklahoma. We won't finish up, tear down and pack up the trailer until around 3 in the morning. Then the long road home in those wee hours of the morning. I hope the roads aren't slippery. Gads. Happy to have gotten a little more done in the garden two days ago. It was good timing to move plants before the rains came. Things will continue to be changed, but the rest of the project work will have to wait until next Spring. I can't seem to make it look as formal as I had envisioned. It's still "rustic" looking. What does that say about me, I wonder? (ha ha ha) Well, it goes better with my humble little country cottage anyway, and I like the semi-formal look it is taking on. Still, it will have better form and more interesting year around appeal, I hope. Time to go jump in the shower and get ready to go. We have to leave here by 3 to get up to Ponca by 5, set up the equipment, the lights and etc., tune up and then grab a bite to eat before the show begins at 9. Hurry, hurry, hurry. Hope this finds everyone safe and content. Love & Peace. ~Annie Here is a link that might be useful: New pics added on Dec. 2nd

Thanks Everyone! I am always in awe at your gardens, so it is nice to hear your kind words about mine. Sadly, right now, my gardens are all in immediate threat of ruin. We have had non-stop rain for 2 weeks and the forecast is that we have at least another week of more rain in the forecast. Everything is standing in water and many of the plants in my 2 veggie gardens are starting to turn black and rot or are getting moldy. I went out in the rain to dig little trenches to try to drain off the pools of water in the growing areas. It helped, but the ground is terribly saturated and it is still pouring down. There is nowhere for the water to go. The Cimarron River north of here is above flood stage. It is lapping against the bottom of the bridge, and that is about 30+ feet above the normal water level! With more rain in the forecast, it seems pretty certain that the water will soon rise above the river banks and flood the low-lying areas on either side and potentially with all the flood debris will wash out the bridge and others. Wish someone could figure out how to pipe all this excess water to California and other areas of the country where it needed so much. The Low Pressure that has been hanging over our region of the country for weeks is supposed to soon move down into the SW and give you there all the rain that you need and let us dry out (and probably COOK). The sun came out for 30 minutes two days ago and I was able to get out in the yard to take a few more pictures of flowers and the upper Potager. We are supposed to get up to 8 more inches of rain here in Oklahoma in the next 24 hours. I am going to drive over to the Cimarron tomorrow and take pictures of the flooding river. ~ Annie

Excellent advice for you from Allie. I only replace about 1/3 of my soil every year. In fact, I have a forsythia and a crab apple and cherry that I really don't replace the soil at all ... just scratch as much as I can off the top and add amendments. As for fertilizers, well, I am going organic this year, so I can't advise much except to say that based on what I did last summer, I would use Osmocote instead of those fertilizer sticks. It's time-release, so it's really not much of a bother ... once when you plant and maybe once in the middle of summer. Keep your mint in a pot, it is very invasive! I have to have it for my iced-tea in the summer, but only in a pot and I keep an eye on it. Can't think of a vine that will overwinter, so try moonflower and morning glory (moonflower has a delicious scent!) They won't bloom til later in the summer, but they did well for me. They get a bit ratty looking at the bottom, so you might want to put some pretty annuals in front of them to hide the bottoms. Latest from Union Square Greenmarket ... was there this past Saturday and was really surprised at the number of annuals they had already. Definitely the place to go for your annuals ... you can get 4" pots and 6-cell packs (though they didn't have many of those yet). I usually buy my annuals in cells ... if I want, I can spread them around more that way. You can get larger ones, of course, but til you see what does well for you, I'd suggest smaller in bulk. Plant days are Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. The Home Depot on 23rd St had lots of nice pots and flower boxes. I am partial to the foam ones ... lightweight (I move stuff around a lot)and better insulation for stuff you are trying to overwinter, especially the double-walled ones. And guess what? They deliver! And very reasonable ... think it was $14. Hard to advise you on specific plants. Since you had begonias, impatiens and hostas, I assume you have a lot of shade? Best to just go shopping and pick out what you like after checking the sun/shade requirements, etc. Welcome :-) Be sure to check out the Balcony gardening forum, also. And take lots of pics! Love seeing pics of other balcony/terrace/roof gardens, especially from my area!