Yes. thinking about 2023. At this point we have a lot of options for garden 2023, and a few things to get past before we start filling the holes. We may also be dealing with some bad weather soon. Madge and I are dealing with medical issues.

Been a while since I checked in on this gardening forum. Been pretty busy since we wrapped up the garden in Oct. We added another one to the clan in between that and Christmas. Wife finally got her girl.

On the gardening deal, I pulled a bunch of posts and remesh cages and cleaned things up some. Poor clover didn't grow nearly as good as last fall due to the drought. But we'll give it hell again this year.

Hope everybody is doing well and here's to a really good new year!

Yes!!! I am excited for the new year. I hope to grow something besides grasshopper food this year. I am revamping and cleaning up and out drastically this season. Focusing on simplifying everything. I feel the deep need to make life easier for myself. I hope to get winter sowing done soon. I have soil and seeds just need more containers. ————Does anyone know of a goods source for insect netting? ———-I have looked online but just wonder if y’all have used it??? I need quite a bit to cover all my trees etc.

It is hard to get overly excited this early in the year about gardening, there are just too many pitfalls yet to side-step.

Lynn, this is my grain rye cover crop. I did not plant much in the garden because I was so late getting it planted because we were restricted from outside watering. I had beets and turnips in the other beds, but the very cold weather killed them. You can also see that the deer are hitting the rye pretty hard, the deer will keep the rye short for at least another month.

I need to till a few spots today. It is easier to till than to pull the henbit. I will planting bulbing onions some time after January, so I may as well be prepping the soil.

Kim, these red and black craftsman tool bags are part of my seed stash. I took them out of our center bed room and stored them in the my pick up so we could have the bedroom for guest over the holidays.

The 5 gallon bucket of Zipper Cream peas on the far side of the rtv were picked from the pea vines after the water was cut off. The seeds are very low quality, but maybe I can get a stand of peas from them.

Congratulations on the baby girl, hwy20!

Larry, I'm sorry about your and Madge's medical issues.

Kim, I'm trying to simplify too. We've cleared out a lot and so far I'm sticking with my plan of ordering very few seeds. Use up what I have.

I still have not ordered the Jet Setter or the black beans for the SG. Have not made my Dixondale order either. I'm only ordering 3 bunches. I'm trying to decide between Red Creole and Red River. I don't need to grow more than that. I grew and harvested the perfect amount for us this year. I do realize each year is different. Some better than others.

I did buy insect netting maybe 3 years ago. I can't remember where or what. I'm sorry. It works pretty well though. It does keep the grasshoppers (and cabbage looper moths) out of my hinged hoop. However, aphids are still able to get in. You don't deal with the aphid infestation that I do, though. Thank goodness, right?

Simplifying feels good, doesn't it?

Yesterday was beautiful! We actually made it to church and then came home to fix lunch for my mom and sister. It was nice. My sister has a new job and I'm very excited for her. My mom thanked me for trying to keep the family together.

We bought a Mary's turkery from NG back in November. I roasted it yesterday. Made black-eyed peas. They were really a combo of different cowpeas. They were exceptionally good. I should have written down what all I added to them. Onions, garlic, some herbs (can't remember!), cayenne, hot sauce....)Made a veggie casserole dish. And a spice cake.

We took down most of the outdoor Christmas lights.

A few years ago, we bought a giant cauldron because I always loved my grandmas. It has just sat on the shop porch because it's covered with rust. We did a bonfire, covered the cauldron with lard and put it in the fire. It looks much nicer. It needs another be done again, though,

We had a drone show up about 5 minutes after lighting the fire. A neighbor called and was concerned it was the fire marshal watching us. We were told a few months ago to not burn any longer, but everyone does it out here. And it was the perfect day for a fire. Also, we are burning only dead plants, limbs, rotted wood--stuff like that. Another neighbor had the fire marshall called on him, but he was told he could burn brush on his own property. So, we'll see. We did find out who the drone belonged to and it was not the fire marshal.

There's some feuds going on in our neighborhood because there's a junker whose property has gotten way out of control. I think he probably reported the other guy, because the other guy brought up his junky property at the annual meeting and threatened getting an attorney....which will probably happen. The junker is breaking the covenant. We are pretty relaxed around here, but his property is awful. Hundreds of cars/vehicles. I'm pretty sure his wife is an animal hoarder. It's just sad really.

We had a lot of turkey leftover, so I measured out enough to make turkey and black bean enchiladas for when Ethan comes back from Oregon later this week. And put the rest in the freezer.

The carcass has been in the crockpot for nearly a day. I'll jar up the broth later tonight.

I'm trying to gather the energy to take down the Christmas tree and put the decorations away.

Been reading, but not posting. Mainly because I normally am on my phone but it doesn't like this website right now. So I think "I'll get on the computer & respond" but then never do.

Santa brought me electricity. Finally got the shed wired, so I spent the weekend setting up some shelves & the grow tent HJ gave me. Then today started wintersowing some trees & shrubs. If they all sprout, I may have a bunch of hibiscus plants at spring fling.

Right now I'm working on a garden journal & planning what I want to experiment with this year. I really want to have a productive garden, but I know this "landlocked beach" I call a garden is going to struggle. It's going to take a long time to convert it to proper garden soil. So I may be doing buckets for a bit longer than I care for. Hoping my brother uses some mineral buckets this year for his cattle & will save them for me. Otherwise I need to shop around for a good price on some.

Hope everyone fared better than we did in the deep freeze. We had pipes break last March when it got cold, turns out that plumber left all the insulation stacked in a pile instead of insulating the pipes, so when we got to 5* everything broke again. The good (hopefully) part is that repairs will be well over our deductible so we'll get that bathroom repaired. But for now we're fighting the red tape that is insurance claims.

If by simplifying you mean "planting out everything older so I can clear my seed stash" then yes, I'm simplifying. But at last count I had 200 or so varieties of seeds that were older than 2017. Plus about 75 or so tomato varieties, and possibly that many peppers. So I'm working on simplifying, albeit in an excessive way lol. I keep threatening Cliff that I'm going to plant our entire 4 acres in wildflowers, maybe I should just toss a bunch out in the field & let mother nature sort it out.

Larry, hope you & Madge get to feeling better.

Welcome back hwy20! I always enjoy seeing names I haven't seen in a while. Speaking of, anyone know what happened to Jacob? The kid who used to post in here all the time. I haven't seen him post in months.

Kim, I saw a youtube where someone used old bridal veils for insect netting. Not sure how they came to possess a huge box full of them, but they certainly made the garden sparkly. I wonder if some fine tulle would work? You'd have to find it pretty cheap, and might have to stitch it together to make a large piece. Might see if you can find any on clearance if you can't find actual insect netting.

Jennifer, thanks for your concern, Madge and I are trying to deal with Covid, we seem to be doing ok, but there is no way we have been able to have a lot of fun. I bet Madge and I are barking more than all the dogs Jen has been keeping.

lol I'd say that's impossible, but we had a really quiet group here for Christmas. 14 dogs, only barker was our youngest. He's 2 & still has his "puppy bark" that is super loud & ear piercing. Only time it really got noisy was Sat at noon, when they do the tornado alarm test. Then our middle boy, youngest & "cousin" (roommate's dog) started howling, which got everyone else howling, even the donkeys across the street.

Oh yuck, Larry! Those coughs are awful. And hang on forever. You can't get proper rest because you're coughing. Just said a prayer for you both.

So sorry about your plumbing issues, Jen. But, super excited about your electricity.

Jen, at least one of my mineral tubs is breaking down. They're the bright blue ones. I might be looking to replace mine too. I do like growing a few things in them. I had fair success with sweet potatoes, but want to try again with a few adjustments.

For me, simplifying is using up old seed, not ordering much, but mostly keeping to limited varieties.

But, I'm trying to simplify my home in general. It's that weird urge that I have.

I saw a meme about "you know you have too much stuff if you're buying tubs to put that stuff in". That's not exactly what it said, but that's the gist of it.

I don't exactly agree with that. I think it can be the opposite. For instance. I have 5 large red tubs for Christmas decor. Everything must fit in those tubs. If my stuff won't fit, then it's time to get rid of something. Tubs help me keep limits. Same with that handy seed organizer I bought last year. Also, tubs makes it easier to find things. When everything has a place, it's easier to find...and you don't rebuy stuff. And it's easier to clean as well.

I'm obviously no minimalist, though. Anyone with 5 tubs of decor isn't a minimalist. Although, two tubs are ornaments for the tree...and the one that has our keepsake ornaments is only half-full. Another tub has my red throw pillows and Christmas throws. My decorating style is fairly minimal.

Everyone is different though. I like my friends' homes that are cluttery with collections everywhere. It's fun to look at. It's just not good for my home.

Jars, though. I have a hoarding issue with jars. But, I use them. If it's a good glass jar with a lid, I save it. Pickle jars, salsa jars, etc. I like those for freezing broth. I ended up with 5 pints of turkey broth last night. I could have done another round, but didn't.

I have a very large shelf in the shop that holds the canning jars. Wow. It's out of control, though. We didn't can as much in 2022, so as I'm using the canned foods, I'm emptying the jars and they're going to the shelf. I'm about out of room.

Cardboard is problem too. lol

Jen, I also like seeing people post who haven't in a long while. I've been posting way too much. I have had extra time being mostly off work. I'm sure everyone is tired of my posts especially the ones where I'm just repeating information and stories.

Jacob's mom has a YouTube channel. I've seen him in some of her videos. But, it's been awhile since she made a video. Did he go by Jacob Cufflock here? I think his actual name is Lockcuff. His mom's channel is Mel Lockcuff. He's an interesting guy. I believe he is right around Ethan's age. I miss his posts too. I miss a lot of people's posts. This forum doesn't work well with phones (and tablets it seems), so maybe that's why people aren't posting.

I haven't done my personal laundry in 3 weeks, so that's what I'm doing now. And about to clean the living room and kitchen. The Christmas decor is mostly put away. I just have my December dishes to put away now.

House plants need watered. The party is over. Back to normal tomorrow. I like being home and will miss it.

Jen bolts of tulle are actually fairly inexpensive. I may go that route. For me simplifying is reducing my workload. Physically making things a little easier for myself. Hopefully I’ll get more answers after tests next week. Larry I wish I lived closer. I would bring you soup and hot lemonade. Also gargling with warm salt water does wonders.

I'm so sorry Larry and Madge are ill!

Congratulations Hwy20!

Jen, I'm sorry to hear about frozen pipes. I love when the dogs sing, LOL.

Kim, I have used tulle before for insect netting. It tears easily. I kept putting the water wand through it. I've not used commercial insect fabric to compare durability, but I suspect it would hold up better. If you're gardening in tubs make big elastic bands to hold the fabric tight to the pot. I did that with tulle and laundry baskets filled with seedlings.

I've received most of my seeds already. I have not done the Sand Hill order because I'm lazy and don't want to do a paper form and find a check. Maybe that will keep me from ordering. I lost some of the impetus I had for garden planning.

Today I'm getting my hair cut. This is rather momentous for me. I think it's been 2 years.

Everyone have a good week.

Kim, I looked back and found the netting I ordered.

insect netting

Here's a video that y'all might be interested in watching. I like how he does the garden rows. It's peaceful to watch. He does such good work. I'm glad he's working for/with R & R. My garden still hasn't been put to bed for the winter. And probably won't.

Oh yeah.

I'll be over later.

Rick

Second try on posting.

I really miss the Sample Seed shop. I used to get the majority of my seeds there. Now I'm having to find new sources. I decided I wasn't going to buy from Sand Hill this year. BUT I wanted to grow Stewart's Zeebest okra this year and no other frequent sources of mine had it. So, I'm trying South Georgia Seeds. I also bought 2 carrot varieties. One of them I forgot I already bought this year. Then I looked at last year's order for Baker Creek and I ordered it from them LAST year. Eyeroll. Seems carrots are viable for 3 years. Unless I buy from BC, I'm done for the year. I always save them for last, because of free shipping so I can add what I forgot. I will say, both SESE and BC seem to have fewer varieties than they used to.

Got my hair cut yesterday. I like it, but I kept accusing the stylist of putting new gray in my hair! My bathroom is kind of dark, I wasn't seeing all those silver threads. They really stood out in the salon.

TTFN

Larry, the deer are just making your job of tilling that rye in a little easier. Won't have to go through it with a mower or weed eater. I'm really wary of what kind of job I've created for myself. That will be the last week of Feb, which will be here before I know it.

Amy, I get my hair cut about every 4 to 6 weeks. I just go with Madge on one of her weekly trips, I climb up in the chair when I am told, and climb down when I am told. The gal has cut my hair for years, and not once like I ask her to. ( every time I say "shave it"). Anyway, about 10 or 15 days ago was when I got a haircut, I told the operator when she was sweeping up my hair, that it looked like she had shaved a possum.

I have too many seeds. My great grandson got me gardening pack for Christmas. The pack had 12 packages of seeds and a bunch of wooden labels from Farmers Almanac. I normally make my own labels, but I hope to use some of these when he comes to visit this spring.

Rick, my tiller bit the dust, I went out to use it a few days ago, when I cranked it, there was no compression, seems as tho it has a stuck valve. The tiller will just have to sit till I get to feeling better. I priced another engine for it, but that $100.00 engine is $160.00 now, and may be $200.00 before I make up my mind on what I want to do. I don't think I see well enough to do a valve job, and it may be hard to get parts anyway.

I think all my garlic is going to pull through, it looks really bad, but there seems to be a little life left in the onions and garlic. The turnips have shown no sign of reviving as of today.

Lynn, when I grew a heavy cover crop of Elbon rye, I would have to start mowing and tilling early to get the biomass worked in and the soil dried enough to plant. I live in a low area, and dealing with wet soil is an almost every year thing for me.

I really have nice deer, they trim the rye and knock down my electric fences for free every year.

I hope to have a decoy garden this year. I want to have a few bags of deer corn left over to plant along the wood line and creek, also hope to toss in some legumes also. I expect that this may be a harder year than last year, and plans may change daily.

Larry I'll be glad when I get my truck fixed so I can haul my tiller around over east. I got another old tiller over there that still runs I think but the wheels are all wallowed out on it. Tilling with it is like holding up a horse drawn plow.

Rick

My chicken dug up and ate my elephant garlic bulbils. I had reserved a few large bulbs I will plant out and cover.

I went to Poteau Oklahoma this morning, of course always have to stop at the Farmers Co-op to straighten out some of the worlds problems, and pick up a few gardening supplies while I am there. The only potting soil that the Co-op had was Happy Frog, I have never heard of it. I was told that the marijuana growers use it. I have no idea what marijuana seeds cost, but I am sure they cost more than any seeds I buy, so I told the guy at the Co-op that I would take a bag of that potting soil, even at $22.49 for a 2 cuft bag. ( regular potting soil may cost that much this year).

I did notice that most of the seeds are still marked at last falls prices, but I think the new shipments of seeds will have higher prices on them.

Kim, I expect that those chickens would sure taste good about now.

I definitely considered it. Bok choy with chicken and garlic.

Back to work. Back to crazytown.

Full moon and Mercury Retrograde. What a day it's been. Hard, but good things too. We celebrated Ethan's BD with M & M at Empire Slice and Roxy's.

A big thank you to Rick who came out and pulled some dead plants and cages. It was a beautiful day to work outside. I feel that I won't get outside to do garden work until next month.

I had several things I wanted to do this month indoors, but I'm reconsidering. I'll maybe put those off for another year. I do want to work on the extra bedroom. It's cleared out of unwanted stuff, but I need to set it up to work how I need it to work.

Painting, new ceiling fans, light fixtures in the living room and dining room, etc. will wait.

If at all possible we will put in a new shower in the primary bathroom. But that will happen in March more than likely.

Gardening will start for me in February. Seed starting included.

Chickens are so hard to keep out of gardens. I have several who are getting out now. In the spring, I'll clip their wing feathers. They've destroyed the beds around their pen. I had pansies planted there. It bugs me, but I've decided to let it go.

I watched one of The Elliott Homestead's newer videos a few days ago. They were talking about lessons learned and homesteading goals, etc. One thing they did this year was move their chickens away from gardens.

We don't all have that ability, though. Well, for one I've got gardens all over the entire property. haha.

Well, I am not doing anything, Madge and I are just not bouncing back like we did when we were younger. We have a lot that needs to be done, but all we seem to want to do is spend time with each other, which, in its self is great. We went to Olive Garden again today. I guess that was enough to do in one day.

I would like to brush hog some of the pasture, but I really don't want to be breathing the dust and seeds off the weeds. I guess I could wear a mask, but really don't feel like it anyway.

Have any of y’all grown mushrooms? The edible kind. I like adding them to my herb salt.

Houuz is weird. I just saw these posts from yesterday. I was thinking am I the only one posting? Then y’all’s popped up. I just watched the Elliot yt. I haven’t watched them in months. Ever since they started getting sponsors I slowed down watching them. Right now I am craving watching end of year beginning of Year videos. Lots of good ideas. It motivates me to do a little every day. I was pretty sick for a couple days. Sore throat fever head ache body aches. Thankfully I am pulling out of it quickly. I want to have a good time in Waco before and after my appt. Larry I hate breathing in all that junk. I need to clean out my dog pen of all the giant weeds but the seed heads explode when you move them. I will end up wearing head covering and mask when I do it.

Larry, I'm glad you are enjoying your time with Madge. That is very special and sweet.

Kim, I've never grown mushrooms, but it's a thing now for sure. Tom did a bit of research on the morels mushrooms and how to "grow" them. He even bought the stuff. Our neighbor is often invited on morels hunts. So....they were going to grow them. But didn't.

We like mushrooms a lot. In fact the pizza I had last night at Empire is called The Fungus Among Us. It's a mushroom and spinach pizza. It's really quite good.

I still enjoy the Elliott's YT channel. If the sponsors annoy me, then I'll skip ahead. Farmhouse on Boone is the same. Both of those focus a lot on cooking and baking, which I like. But, I wish the F on B would do more garden stuff. She's probably too busy to do a lot of the gardening with all of her kids and homeschooling and feeding everyone. That alone would be a huge task. I suspect her husband handles a lot of that outdoor stuff, as does Mr. Elliott. Both of those guys don't work outside of their homesteads. Maybe those sponsorships allow for that. I'm not sure how it works.

Honestly, I miss R & R's older types of videos as well. I'm super excited for them and all the things they are doing....but it's less relatable to me. She's a lot younger though, and If I was still in my 30's, I would probably dream of doing all of that too.

We had to put the chicken yard fence back together first thing this morning. Long, boring story of why it was taken down. We got the weekly shopping done too.

I was able to finally get my fire cider made. I still have horseradish roots. I wonder if they'll be good to share with others this spring if I keep them in the fridge.

I worked a little on my 3rd bedroom. Found some cute curtains for cheap so put those up.

What I need is a vintage upholstered chair that has been in a little old lady's guest bedroom or formal living room. They're usually well-made and not sat on often. I need a good reading chair for that room.

I sorted through my onions again (had to get them down for the fire cider). Most of them are at the verge of going bad. There's not too many left, though. They were pulled out in June and it's January...so not bad really. Especially considering they don't have a 50-degree storage spot.

Hey! I’m still around. Got past the holidays, so now I can think about gardens again. Got a new roof, and had the arborist out to clean up the pecan and ash trees. We removed some stuff from the front flowerbed, and cut the crepe myrtles back almost to the ground, to try to start keeping it at a morè manageable size. Now ive got a big blank, full sun space to fill. I’ll be looking for cannas, daylilies, and iris to start with.

Placed one seed oeder so far. Ive ordered tomato seeds with as many letters behind the name as I can find. I’m finally throwing down the money for extra disease resistant tomatoes. My cesspool of fungal disease yard needs it.

Rebecca, I'm in the same boat on fungal disease. It's gotten so bad that melons are just a waste and i've got to plant a LOT of tomatoes to get a decent yield. Maybe there are some winter covers out there that will help people like us? Might try that next fall.

Crop rotation is what I'm told I have to do for my tomato blight. But there's not room in a small garden to rotate.

I've read about a heat treatment. In August, cover the garden with black plastic and a soaker hose weaved around underneath. I've never attempted this and from what I've read, results vary.

I just plant so many tomato plants that it overwhelms the blight.

Lynn, I think there is really something to the crop rotation, but, like you, I don't have room either. I have tons of space, but not tons of amended soil. I have a spot out in the pasture that I disc up for turnips, but the weather, plus the fact that I could not do outside watering because of water restrictions that I may plant some tomatoes in this year. This new space has very little amendments, so the plan may be to just amend the spots where I plant the plants. I will also plant tomatoes in other spots because I don't like to put all my eggs in one basket. Every time I have made a new place to plant I seem to have less disease for a year or two. I don't think that I have ever had a year without any disease at all.

We got some rain last night, the ground had plenty moisture, but I am sure the lakes can use a little water.

There's a new weekly thread.