March Week 3--Happy St. Pat's Day and Spring will spring in a few days
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Happy 1st day of spring break to me!
Comments (8)Cyn - I just remembered to come look for your photo - love the touch with Daffodils!! We still have a little snow, where the big banks were, but it is dirty and almost gone - now it is allergy season!! Yea. I have done a little bit of cleanup in our new yard. Dear god, how much crap the last people left under the snow!! Kids small toys everywhere and garbage and recyclables under the deck!! What a mess - also hundreds of cigarette butts!! We have a postage stamp-sized front yard, which I raked, as I wanted to get the crap out of the way of anything that might come up - tulips noses coming out through the ice!!! Yea. Hopefully they have enough oomph in them to bloom. Love this time of year, despite the allergies!! Nancy....See MoreI actually did decorate for St. Pat's Day
Comments (6)Thank you all so much for the inspiring words. I am truly grateful for all my blessings and I include all my forum friends as part of those blessings! You are just the best! Punk, I will post pictures when we get the cabinets installed as they are just stacked in the garage right now and we aren't replacing the doors and drawers until we "put them in their place", LOL! Nana, fortunately, the leprechauns were well behaved this year, although now that I think about it....hmmmm Marlene, The leprechaun was given to us by some former neighbors who were moving and knew how much I liked to decorate for holidays. They thought he would be better off with me, LOL. I just started colleting a few Mark Roberts fairies, but the calendar pages are inexpensive substitutes for the real thing! Karen, probably part of the funk was due to being tired, and withdrawal from golf! We hadn't been able to play until recently as the course was closed because of snow and ice. We finally have had some good weather and were able to play, although we have had some horrific winds! I really dislike wind and that doesn't help my mood either! I'm sounding lilke Oscar the Grouch, but it does make me grouchy! Jeanne, you are so right, each day is a blessing. Sometimes I forget to count them as I should. I get caught up by the personal issues and don't see the big picture. Thanks again everybody. Happy Spring, Candy...See MoreDollbaby...Ready to Celebrate '1st Day of Spring' March 20th
Comments (10)Thanks, Holiday-ers! 'Seersucker'...ahhh, that's the name of the material in Dollbaby's outfit...thank you, nana! sunnyca...no stroller here...DH might think I've lost it if I bring her outside! LOL! She's sat in a child rocker on the porch tho! ;-) OA..I just have a few pcs of depression glass...some pink & green & one yellow pc ...& no other milkglass...altho I like it! Love the delicacy of colored depression glass. punk...(hat) thanks! Two more weeks til 1st day of Spring! Yay! Jeanne S....See MoreMarch 2019, Week 3, Spring Arrives For Real
Comments (61)Megan, I am so concerned about everyone in Nebraska---of course, I think the farmers and ranchers are getting the worst of it, but then there's all the local businesses whose livelihood depend on the farmers and ranchers too. It is so heartbreaking and so devastating and really, simply stunning, when you read the first-hand reports and see the videos and photos. My mind is boggled. How in the world does anyone recover from such utter devastation on so many fronts---not just the loss of their financial livelihood, livestock lines they've been breeding forever, buildings, equipment, land that may be silted, badly eroded and ruined for some time in terms of being able to use it properly and start working on recovery, etc., but then the loss of homes, personal belongings, family heirlooms, paperwork, etc. Then there are the communities that will be crippled with overwhelming financial needs---roads, water treatment plants, and other infrastructure that need to be rebuilt, etc. My heart goes out to all the people there, and I think Nebraskans overall are such good, strong, salt-of-the-earth folks who are used to taking care of themselves and their neighbors, and I worry about the mental and psychological toll all of this will take on folks like that who aren't used to asking any form of government for help. They are going to need all the help they can get. There is the larger worry about other states too. Water flows downstream, and all those crazy-heavy winter snows are going to melt, and then the ground will thaw in the cold states, releasing even more water that currently is trapped as in-ground ice, etc. The flood outlook for much of the country looks really bleak for the next few months. My mind goes back to 1993 and the massive flooding that year, and I wonder if this year's flooding could come close to that. At the present time, only mild flooding is expected to touch Oklahoma so I don't think most of us have to worry about flooding, but we still do have heavily saturated soils already and our rainy season really hasn't begun yet. It really doesn't take flooding to create garden struggles---just heavily saturated soil alone will do that. I read an outstanding blog post about the spring flood outlook on WU yesterday, and it was very sobering to read it and to think about all the lives potentially to be affected by the coming Spring 2019 floods. I hope you have a productive weekend and can get gardening things done. After a productive last couple of days, I feel much better about the spring garden overall, even though my soil moisture still is horrifically high, even in my raised beds. I am trying to file away all those concerns about soil moisture in the category of "that which I cannot change" because even well-amended, raised beds that function just fine 90% of the time still are going to be wet after months of being 100% saturated plus. At least there are no puddles standing in my raised beds. Jennifer, I will start by saying that I do not believe four o'clocks form long running roots like that--they form huge potato-like tubers that can get to be the size of a human head in just a few short years, but....having said that, those little plants, including the one you're holding in your hand, look quite a bit like emerging four o'clocks....not seed-grown four o'clocks, whose cotyledons are quite distinct and not visible in your photos, but returning four o'clocks. So, I guess the question is whether or not you have any four o'clocks to compare these little plants to, and if not, what else do you have growing that has similar foliage. I think they are a weed because those little heart-shaped leaves look so familiar, but I don't know the name of them. What I remember about them is that I removed little ones like that from our garden by the hundreds for several years in our first decade here until they finally all were gone. The thing about those little greenhouses is (a) they don't keep plants warmer outdoors at night unless you run a heater at night because the plastic has virtually no heat retention value and they are too small to have enough mass inside to hold heat....so on freezing nights, without a heater, plants will freeze; a person might be able to mitigate that a small bit by placing them on a concrete or stone foundation like a patio or a corner of their driveway though. (b) Strong wind will bend them, break them or carry them away---I have seen this happen to people over and over again who loved their little portable greenhouse until the first strong wind it faced destroyed it. Sadly we have no lack of strong wind here in OK in some months. (c) The smaller a greenhouse, the harder it is to properly regulate the temperatures inside, so keeping the plants warm enough at night and cool enough during the day is a real challenge. Even small hard-plastic 4' x 6' greenhouses are hard to regulate (I had a neighbor with one and an uncle with one) temperature-wise. I know folks who have gone off to work happily, leaving their plants in their little portable soft-plastic greenhouses like this, only to come home on a hot Spring day and find the plants pretty much roasted, toasted and dead or dying because they forget to unzip the door to release heat or they chose not to unzip the door because the morning air was so cold when they left for work. A person who is home all day and who can unzip the door and open it to vent out heat might have more success with them, but there's still the issue of them not holding in heat at night. I always like them when I see them and picture plants inside sheltered from the wind and then toy with the idea of buying one just for hardening off plants right inside the garden, but I don't buy one because I know how hard it is to regulate temperatures inside my much-larger hoophouse style greenhouse, and it has 4 operable vents for air flow and cooling and two walk-in doors that can be opened to facilitate air flow and cooling too, and I have a large evaporative cooler I can roll into it and use as well, and I've been gardening long enough to know the smaller the greenhouse, the harder such temperature and air flow regulation is. The best use for these little things is either inside a garage or barn to protect seedlings from cats, mice and such, or inside a house if cats are a problem, or maybe inside a larger greenhouse or hoophouse for plants that need extra cold protection or perhaps if you need to do serious plant propagation you could do it inside one of these because you could hold in the humidity better in such a small confined space---sort of like a propagation chamber. Be grateful you don't have standing water...it breeds mosquitoes and ground that has been saturated for months develops a sour smell that smells worse than a swamp. I am sure that all the grasses and wildflowers are dead in the areas where water has been standing almost nonstop since September. I always hope for rain to miss us here during March and April when it is time to plant because wet, soggy clay is hard on seeds, often rotting them before they can sprout. I can water if we are too dry, but I don't have any way to extract excess moisture from the soil. When I was planting brassicas this week, I hit standing water about 2" lower than the depth at which I was transplanting seedlings, and that is in a raised bed, albeit a raised bed at the lower, more soggy end of the garden. Sadly, that well-amended clay seems to wick moisture upward from the wetter ground beneath the raised beds. So, my brassicas may not make it and if they don't, they don't, and I'll just move on to the next thing. I am worried about what Spring rainfall will do to an already soggy garden but rainfall is one of those things over which we have no control. The sad thing is that we could use this moisture in June, July and August, but those are the months when rain can become quite rare to almost nonexistent. Jen, I am watching our forecast and thinking that the cold nights are almost done with us, so maybe you can squeak through this Spring without having to do too much more plant protection. Our soil temperatures, at least in the raised beds, are coming up pretty rapidly too. We just need for the nights to stop dipping into the 30s because that is keeping the soil from holding its nice daytime temperatures, which are in the 60s. I probably could plant tomato plants in the ground today, and certainly could plant them in containers, and feel like the soil mostly is warm up for them, but our average soil temperatures keep lagging behind our daytime soil temps because the nights are still slightly cool on some nights. We also haven't had much really strong wind....say, gusts in the 30s or higher, since the bomb cyclone moved on, so I'm hoping that March, which did come roaring in like a lion here, is now sedating departing like a lamb. This has been a pleasant change as the tomato plants are out all day long now and get enough wind to toughen them up but not so much wind that they are damaged. It is supposed to rain on and off here all day, so there's probably no hope to get in any gardening at all. At least everything that I transplanted into the ground earlier this week should get some nice light rain, and hopefully no big downpours or I'm going to have to build raised beds on top of my raised beds, which would be ridiculous. Almost "everybody" is back now....Purple Martins, hummingbirds, monarchs, etc. to add to a plethora of bees, bumble bees, wasps, yellow jackets, all kinds of moths and butterflies, craneflies, etc. This week Spring absolutely exploded into being here, not only in name, but in the reality of the flora and fauna, and it is so good to finally feel like I can start spending at least a part of every day in the garden. As long as the grandkids are still living here, it likely won't be all day every day because the 4 year old gets bored after about 4 hours of gardening time, but Chris and Jana are working on the last big project---that 14' long closet that is almost big enough to be a room and, once they finish that, they can move into their home. I'm going to miss them, and I haven't minded adapting my garden time so I can spend more time with the girls---it truly has been a gift to be able to spend so much time with all 4 of the---the big kids and the little kids---over the last month and the house undoubtedly will seem too quiet, too empty and sort of lonely once they are gone. Dawn...See Morehazelinok
last monthlast modified: last monthIt's a little chilly today. I haven't been out much but did get some stuff done indoors. Most everything is put in it's place now. And I have a pile to donate to a garage sale. A large pile.
I did start a few varieties of basil and the Saint John's Wort....not in the usual way I start seed, so hopefully it will be okay.
It is chilly out, but the hoop house is 60 and warm, so it feels nice in there. The onions that are in the garden next to the hoop house are beginning to get their 3rd leaves, so that is good.
The comfrey is looking pretty. I'll try to dig some up for anyone who wants some. I'll come back with a picture of the comfrey. Last year, the comfrey and dock seedlings looked the same to me, but I've figured out how to tell them apart. Obviously, when the comfrey is in bloom it's easy to tell, but the newer ones are more difficult.
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last monthKim, I am impressed, that is a nice shelf.
I never know if I am running ahead, or behind. I some things I know I am running ahead. I am so afraid of being late, it often causes me to be too early. Here is a picture of some cucumbers that I planted for Madge. I tried planting them early because I though that they may not germinate, well they germinated sooner than I expected.
There are 12 cucumber plants there that need to go in the ground, and it is much too early. The sweet potato slips are coming off early also.
I have some bell peppers coming up at about the right time, I think. I have a lot of plants that need up potted, but I am running out of room.
These peppers seeds were planted on 3-10-24, and I have about 27 of the 37 that I planted already breaking through the soil. The flat of seedlings were seeded on 3-8-24, and they are ready to be up potted.
It looks like I spilled some turnip seeds into my potting soil. I will toss the turnip plants when I start up potting these plants.
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Kim Reiss
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last monthlast modified: last monthKim Reiss
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last monthI should have been prepared. I was dealing with an escaping dog until dark and just came in without thinking about plants. I brought them in tonight just to give them a chance to warm up and maybe rebound. Don’t know if you can see the dying babies.
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last monthKim Reiss
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last monthKim, I think the mate of a gardener will have a special spot in heaven as a reward for putting up with the gardener. Madge and I try to support the other ones hobbies, but she has a harder job than I do, she puts up with muddy feet, dirty clothes, and a husband that smells like diesel fuel.
It has started raining here, and I felt like I needed to get the potting soil that I bought today under cover, if it gets too wet it is heavier and harder for an old man to lift.
I had to unload Madge's car to the back porch to make room for the potting soil I was going to pick up at Greenwood. Greenwood does not carry the Top Notch, and Poteau was out of Happy Frog. I have never used the Top Notch before this year, but I am trying if as a filler, hoping to stretch the good stuff a little farther. I have 15 bags of potting soil on hand now, some will be used in mineral tubs, and maybe a little in the garden, because I am out of compost. I can buy compost for less money, but it is harder for me to handle.
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last monthJennifer, I don't do "hurry" very well, except when I am getting tired, I can do that in a big hurry.
We may need to move in with our doctor to save on gas. Madge said that she had 4 appointments coming up in Apr., I have no idea how many appointments I have.
I just got back from neighbors, he was wanting some sweet potato slips. I move 2 flats of Covington potatoes to his greenhouse, and I went down this afternoon and pulled between 45 and 50 slips and stuck them in pots. Its too early to plant sweet potatoes, but some of the slips are getting as long as your arm.
I seem to not have seed starting mix around when I need it. Here is some pictures of peppers that I have started this year. I have two bags of seed starting mix, somewhere, but, I cant swear where it is. These seeds were started in Pro Mix L C 15. The areas you see where the plants are missing is where I was trying to use up old seed.
The top peppers are Ashe County Pimentos, they were started about 2- 27-24. The bottom peppers are California Wonder. I really got lucky on these, I got 103% germination rate, or had an extra seed stick to my finger when I was planting them, because I counted out 37 seeds, and got 38 plants.
The peppers to the right end of the flat are new seeds, the ones moving over to the left were from old seed packages. Most of my seeds I start after Madge goes to bed, I try to give her more rest time. If you notice, will see that the potting mix was not mixed well. It was late, dark and muddy out, and I did not want to go to the shop for another bag of Pro Mix, so I use some of the Happy Frog that I had on the back porch to stretch the mix I had in the house, and I did not do a good job mixing the two together.
These peppers were started on 3-7-24, and they look better in person, the camera is trying to give these peppers a yellow tint, but they are really nice deep green.hazelinok thanked slowpoke_gardenerhazelinok
last monthlast modified: last monthKim, my peas do well until the aphids kill them. I feel like I've done everything "right". I don't use pesticides (other than Bt very carefully and specifically on brassicas) and I've invited in tons of ladybugs of all types and lacewings. And those beneficials are in my garden. They just can't keep up with the aphids.
It's a weird deal. Even the noodle beans I so badly wanted mostly because they're cool looking on a trellis.
I'm so happy that yours are already so big!
I'm happy to see the basils sprouting, but the saint john's wort is not yet.
edited with some crazy pics of my noodle beans showing all the above mentioned critters.
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slowpoke_gardener
last monthI have never taken as much interest in container growing till I saw some of Kim's and Amy's pictures. I want to work harden on container growing this year, and I want to try to keep some king of onion going all year.
This is some of the containers I will be working on.
Of course you have seen my onion project. These are all some type of winter onion, as soon as I figure out which types I want to keep, I will reduce the number to where I wont have such an excess.
I never work this hard on garlic before, matter of fact, I would seldom grow it because Madge would not use it. The garlic looks pale to me, is this normal, or does it need some nitrogen?
I have been trying to learn a little about cooking. I have been trying to use stuff from the garden, and it seems as though Madge is taking a greater interest in the things I grow.
Now I need to go start lunch for my Sweetheart. Please don't look at all the grass and weeds I need to pull.hazelinok thanked slowpoke_gardenerKim Reiss
last monthWell I’m almost used my whole bale of promix. I was determined to use it all today. I need to pot up my amaranth and then I will be finished. I planted a lot of seeds and fixed a pot of zinnia and calendula near the rabbit hutch that should look pretty. The soil that I started with this year was so poor quality everything was just stunted and I noticed the last few weeks with these nice rains we’ve been having that those things just weren’t growing. I got them out of that and into pro mix. I mixed in about 2 cups of Espoma fertilizer with that whole bale of pro mix. I’ve done a little weed eating a lot of tidying up and fixed my water hose. I filled up two mineral tubs and about five buckets for watering later in the week. Larry the smoke actually comes from my neighbors that moved back home. They smoke a lot on their porch and depending on the way the wind is blowing it goes right in my garden. it’s very unpleasant smelling stuff. I have a hard time with any kind of smoke now. I managed to salvage close to 30 porters and I probably have about 20 more so that will be enough for all friends family and fling. I planted some more tomatoes today and Herbs and peppers. Six weeks until the fling
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last monthI planted seven different kinds of basil but except for the purple one they all look exactly alike. I planted a cluster in each pot and we will see what happens. Excuse the mess. It’s better than it was but not yet finished. You can see how close the neighbors are in the one picture.
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last monthDaughter and Boyfriend are coming over today and bring lunch, Madge likes for me to sorta clean up my trash. I am taking my plants outside. I told Madge that these look as good as a house plant, and believe me, they look better in person. My camera and I just don't do well with inside pictures.
This is mostly cucumber plants and sweet potato slips, and you are right, it is much too early to be fooling around with either of these plants.
Kim Reiss
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