A cold start to March Week 4
hazelinok
2 months ago
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Comments (7)This is one of those years where I've become absolutely tired of winter... otoh, it's been warm enough that weeds are starting to grow in the garden. iow, the worst of both worlds. Some of the lettuce and spinach have sprouted, now, along with a few of our annual flowers. The peach tree is in bloom, already. I wasn't expecting that to happen for another year or two. (Shiny! Pretty colors!) Here in Duncan we received approx. 2.5 inches of rain out of that last storm, as well, so it isn't all bad news, here. I do wish it'd warm up another ten degrees or so...and stay that way....See MoreFeb 2018, Week 4, Planting (Maybe) & Welcoming March
Comments (120)Kim, You will be farming and gardening in a very unforgiving climate there, so perhaps their desire to wait for the rain comes from their knowledge of how tough Spring planting can be without the rainfall. I'm just guessing about that. I am sorry that your planting plans are a mess and aren't conforming to what you wanted, hoped for and expected. Please hang in there and don't stop believing.....even with a late start I bet you have a great year. It is unfortunate that your promised helpers are not available. Grrrrr. I hate empty promises. I wish you lived closer to all of us too. If you did, we'd caravan out to the farm and help you plant onions. Don't be too hard on yourself over the onion planting. Just do what you can do every day and be thankful for the progress you're making. I noticed that almost nobody in my area (or nobody who lives on roads we drive along so we're able to see their gardens) has their onions in yet, likely because most everyone here gardens at grade level, so their soil still is too wet. I am grateful for our raised beds because even though their soil also is wet, it was dry enough for me to get the onions planted last week, and today I'll be able to plant a lot of other stuff. So, even though I feel late here (and I am late compared to most years) apparently I'm ahead of everyone else who gardens around me. We all have to work with what we've got and, depending on one's location, it seems like we're either too wet or too dry.......sort of like Goldilocks and the Three Bears......it is hard to find that planting window when things are just right. Bruce, Our cats wipe out the moles and gophers, so they don't bother me either way, but it is stunning how many mounds I see on other people's property, particularly the ones with sandy soil. To some extent, our large amount of clay saves us from the moles and gophers, and the cats do the rest. If only that were so with the voles, but they tunnel completely underground at night, often hiding the entrances to their tunnels in adjacent woodland or areas of the neighbor's pasture with tall grass, so the cats have to hunt really hard to find the vole holes. I cannot let the cats out at night because of the coyotes, but I bet if the cats could be outside safely at night, they'd control the voles too. It would be tempting to use the poison for the gophers if only you didn't have grandchildren (or pets?). I noticed the sudden appearance of gopher traps, and all sorts of poisons and repellants on the store shelves in the last week or two, so clearly rodent season is underway now. For years, back when the garden fence was only 4' tall, we always had bobcats in the garden. I knew they were lurking there hoping to get birds, house cats, squirrels, bunnies or rodents, but I don't think I realized how many voles they probably were controlling until we raised the fence to 8' in height to keep out the deer. Since that effectively kept out the bobcats too, it was about a year after the raising of the fence that I realized we 'suddenly' had a huge vole problem. I wish there were a way to keep out the deer and allow the bobcats back in. It would sort of freak me out to drive up the driveway and see a bobcat just sitting there in the garden right in the middle of all the plants in broad daylight, but now that they are gone, I miss their varmint-controlling efforts. I don't understand everyone's obsession with moles either, but then, that's because our lawn is clay and we don't have moles. Maybe if we had moles tunneling everywhere in the lawn, they'd drive me nuts. I don't know. Also, we're rural and I could care less what our lawn looks like. We're not trying to maintain a pristine green carpet that impresses all the neighbors. I can understand that folks who live in suburban neighborhoods where there is a ton of pressure to have the standard perfect green carpet of grass would feel like the moles are ruining their lawn and, by extension, their lives. That whole obsession with perfect green lawns in housing subdivisions is a real thing, you know, and it amazes me how much time and effort people put into feeding and watering a green lawn and controlling the weeds just so they can mow it once or twice a week. It seems like a lot of work for nothing (by nothing, I mean that the standard green lawn doesn't produce food or flowers and doesn't support much wild life). When we lived in the city, we had the standard beautiful green lawn in the front yard, although I replaced as much of it as I reasonably could with ornamental planting beds. We had St. Augustine ('Raleigh') and it was so pretty, but I'm glad we aren't trying to keep a lawn like that green through all of OK's hot, dry, drought-filled summers. As our shade trees here get larger and larger, more and more of our bermuda grass lawn is being shaded out and replaced by ground covers, and that thrills me. That was my plan for the bermuda grass all along---to shade it out. I don't miss the green carpet of grass at all here. Our city back yard always was more garden than lawn grass and that was good---it gave me places to plant things that weren't green lawn, so I always spent more time in the back yard than the front yard even way back then. Nowadays I spend all my time in the garden that I possibly can, and resent every single hour of mowing that takes me away from my garden. It is funny how kids and grandkids take it so personally when someone else has offended their parent or grandparent, and those kids have long memories too! I guess that makes us stay on our best behavior when the little ones are around. Looking out the window I can see that it is dawn outside (pun intended). I've been waiting forever for the sun to come up, and finally that moment is about to arrive. Planting day at last! After today, the onions will not be alone any more. Dawn...See MoreMarch 2019, Week 1, Winter Weather Dragging On in Oklahoma
Comments (59)Nancy, I've thought long and hard about how we're becoming the oldsters. It is what it is, right? I try to tell myself that what this means is that we have experience, we no longer put up with crap, we have (hopefully) gained the wisdom that comes with living for many decades and we now choose to prioritize our activities and how we spend our time based on what matters to us....not on what society says should matter to us. We are the old wise ones, and I'm good with that. I try really hard to not drive the kids crazy by saying "back in our day, we walked to school barefoot in the winter in the snow 2 miles each way and it was uphill both coming and going". lol I'm afraid I still do too much of that at times, but try to do it in a fun, humorous way. When they start telling me old I'm just going to remind them that they just bought a house that is 27 years older than me, so old must be good, great or terrific! I hate when spendy months hit like that, and sometimes it is just unavoidable. I'm glad GDW's truck is all fixed and, you know, it could have been a lot worse than $700. I feel so behind and wish I was spending today out in the garden. Instead, we just delivered a tool to the kids at the house that the kids need for this weekend, so got to see all the progress they made this week since we last were there. They're really getting the painting done. I think they only have 3 rooms left to go and all three are partially painted, and then the trim in most rooms still needs to be painted. We dropped off the tool, grabbed lunch, brought in the tomato plants that had been outdoors for 4 hours (more on that in a minute), let the dogs and cats out to frolic in the wind and sun, and have to leave in about 45 minutes to go to the 9-year-old's 10th birthday party. By the time we get finished there, it will be too late to do any gardening. Maybe tomorrow.... Kim, Be kind to your body and let it heal. I know you're really stuck in a hard place right now---trying to work after the big promotion and having to deal with the residual pain. I hope things get better quickly. Jennifer, We had fun. Ate dinner out, came home, watched the movie Paddington 2, told silly jokes, loved on the dogs and cats (every night they act like they haven't seen Lillie in 100 years instead of just the typical school day hours), etc. She was worn out and went to bed after the movie ended, and was up, dressed and out of here around 7 a.m. to go work on painting her bathroom at the new house. Her best friend came over to help her, and they were having fun when we were there, and getting some painting done as well. I wish I were out buying plants today! I am so jealous! Or, as the 10 year-old would say, "I'm jelly...." I am going to find a way (somehow, somewhere, or else) to buy some plants this weekend. I need to feed my desire to plant shop. Amy, The thunder woke the dogs, the dogs woke us. The dogs decided they had to go out (it wasn't raining yet) and by the time they came in that little storm had run right past us, so they calmed down and went back to sleep quickly. Then, the weather radio went off a little later for a Severe Tstorm thing about the same time the storm arrived with huge crashing thunder and big lightning bolts. We put the young dogs in their safe place (a gigantic dog crate they love to share) and Jersey went into her safe place (our master bathroom), and we settled back down to sleep. The rain was brief. There was no more thunder. I still was awake, so I let the dogs out of their safe places and we all went back to sleep and slept maybe 3 or 4 more hours. Honestly, on nights like that I don't know why we even think we are going to be allowed to sleep, but we go to bed believing it is going to happen. I'm glad your Grandma Suzy's came up. This morning I ventured outdoors to check conditions for hardening off tomatoes so I can stay on schedule. The wind was raging out of the W/SW and the greenhouse doors and vents are on the W and E ends, and must be open to prevent heat build up, so the greenhouse would have been a wind tunnel today with our winds gusting as high as 44 mph. So, I moved the folding tables to the front porch, put the tomato plants there and left them out for 4 hours. It was not ideal. Between the porch roof and the trees, the plants probably got only 2.5 to 3 hours of sun at most before they found themselves shaded again, but the house blocked most of the wind, so they got a little wind movement, and probably more than I think and more than they needed. Still, it was nowhere near the wind movement they'd have been subjected to in the greenhouse or out in the yard. As Tim pointed out, full exposure to today's wind likely would have killed them so I had to choose the lesser of all the evils. Their color is really great---a much deeper, darker green. You really can tell they are getting a lot of sun. It is SPRING here. All the trees are bursting out into blooms and leafing out and everything else. I mean, all the plants are going nuts, like the severe cold was the only thing holding them back and now that it is gone, everything is full speed ahead. The stores have all the plants, but I haven't had time to look at them. I'm not saying we won't have more freezing nights, but rather that Mother Nature is moving on and doing her thing and will pay the consequences, if any. Bees and butterflies are out, moths and mosquitoes, blah, blah, blah. Gotta run to the birthday party because a swim party (indoors!) with a bunch of 9-11 year olds is the only acceptable substitute for a very windy day (wind vicious today!) spent in the garden. Dawn...See MoreMarch 2021 Week 4
Comments (46)I've turned into a gardening Nazi. Came out onto the deck and there was smoke from 5 separate leaf-burning fires next door. Ticked me off. And then when they get out there with the weed sprays, that's fun, too. I asked them 3 years ago if they'd be careful not to spray when it's windy, and also to try and stay away from our back yard. And neighbor has been respectful of that. I like the neighbors a lot, just not their style of yard maintenance. The back of our property isn't yard--it's forest. It's that time of year when everything is turning green, but the yard is a mess with clover, dead nettle, hen bit, and others. What are those pretty little white ones? I know Dawn told us a couple years ago. I forgot. The Kerria japonica is in bloom and looks pretty--but I think we'll take it out once it quits blooming. It's not mentioned as an invasive here (yet), but is in other US places. I ordered and planted hairy mountain mint (pycnanthemum pilosum). I'm tickled to have it--but was laughing at Missouri Botanical Garden's description. Said most gardeners don't consider it to have "sufficient ornamental merit" to have a prominent position in the garden. Brutal. Paw paw saplings, American beauty berry, Vitex still don't show signs of life.Rosemary's toast and that's fine with me. I didn't like it taking up so much room in the veggie beds anyway. Must be an off year for you and me and "beef" tomatoes, Rebecca. I planted Beefsteak and had one lone seed germinate. "We" went shopping for make-up? AND--since it has been so long, will you be able to apply it by yourself? LOL We've been sitting outside all day. Me, purportedly to pot up stuff. Actually, to mostly just enjoy the 76-ish weather. Now, though, I am suddenly sleepy so have come back to the computer room. Garry will probably not find me and will think I've been raptured. He should know better than THAT!...See Morehazelinok
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