I know it's not spring everywhere...
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The weeping cherry lives!
Sunny and 70 here today - time to assess the carnage.
Looks like ‘most everything survived the winter but the yellow roses look pretty ratty. The big pot with the pink rose in it shattered all to hell and being as the rose never really looked right in the space I chucked the whole mess in to the trash.
Most interesting are the mosses, which I planted in the fall. Each plug has been frost heaved right out of the ground. Some survived, some didn’t. Prolly ought to plant them earlier this year.
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March did not go out like a lamb here. We've had 3 bouts of mixed precipitation, each with 1 to 3 inches of accumulated snow/ice. Each was followed by one or two days of 30s -40s F. Yesterday, I swear, slush was falling from the sky! Temps have been on the rise for the past 8 hours and we're now at around 50F and aren't supposed to go below 45F tonight. So I didn't light the stove. It's cool in here, but not too bad. A little space heater gets the chill out from around the desk.
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We continue to have whipsaw weather. Really warm temps and then they plummet. We may get some snow on Monday. I've been catching up on garden organization projects that aren't weather-dependent. Always seems like I chuck a bunch of pots back in the corner of the yard at the end of the previous season, leaving an unsightly mess. I went through those, got rid of some, and stacked the rest neatly. I also emptied out the elevated beds and am mixing some fresh soil and compost in so that I'm ready when it's time to plant. I have one early daffodil that bloomed last week.
My neighbor is taking out three very tall arborvitaes that shade an area adjacent to my veggie garden. More sun!
So what are y'all going to be growing this year in the way of veggies?
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We continue to have whipsaw weather. Really warm temps and then they plummet. We may get some snow on Monday. I've been catching up on garden organization projects that aren't weather-dependent. Always seems like I chuck a bunch of pots back in the corner of the yard at the end of the previous season, leaving an unsightly mess. I went through those, got rid of some, and stacked the rest neatly. I also emptied out the elevated beds and am mixing some fresh soil and compost in so that I'm ready when it's time to plant. I have one early daffodil that bloomed last week.
My neighbor is taking out three very tall arborvitaes that shade an area adjacent to my veggie garden. More sun!
So what are y'all going to be growing this year in the way of veggies?
@wtg Tomatoes, one Zucchini plant, Cucumbers. These will all be started soon in trays.
I'm going to try planting lettuce, radish, and peas very early this year. In fact if the ground is workable now I might even give it go this early. Reason is that if I wait to plant until our last frost is past, they will bolt.
I will also grow Swiss Chard and maybe Carrots. Maybe a few potatoes plants too.
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Rosemary, French thyme, lemon thyme, chives (back from last year), Tarragon (back from last year), sage, basil, cilantro, bay leaves (survived winter in the house). Maybe hot peppers of some kind.
Meanwhile, I’m pulling weeds. They are always the first things to appear.
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Potatoes - Kennebec, Pink Gypsy, Russet and Red Pontiac.
Tomatoes - Little Sicily and Sweet 100s.
Cukes - several different pickling varieties
Green beans - Kentucky Wonder
Mesclun mix (a modest planting, as Mr wtg isn't a fan)_
Bok choy
Peppers - Mostly poblano, maybe a jalapeno or two.
Sorrel - I have seeds that are old but I'll plant them anyway. Sorrel soup is excellent.
Onions and shallots
Spinach@Bernard I like the idea of Swiss Chard. Have never grown it. Is it hard to grow?
I did peas last year and I love them but yields weren't great.
@Steve-Miller I have chive plants my Dad dug up from his garden that he gave to me back in the 1980s!
I'm currently looking for DYI critter protection ideas on You Tube. The squirrels always want to get into the beds and I want to be ready for them this year. I also need to build some kind of frame so I can put a row cover over the black currants and hopefully avoid the aphids I've been getting on them every year since I planted them.
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Potatoes - Kennebec, Pink Gypsy, Russet and Red Pontiac.
Tomatoes - Little Sicily and Sweet 100s.
Cukes - several different pickling varieties
Green beans - Kentucky Wonder
Mesclun mix (a modest planting, as Mr wtg isn't a fan)_
Bok choy
Peppers - Mostly poblano, maybe a jalapeno or two.
Sorrel - I have seeds that are old but I'll plant them anyway. Sorrel soup is excellent.
Onions and shallots
Spinach@Bernard I like the idea of Swiss Chard. Have never grown it. Is it hard to grow?
I did peas last year and I love them but yields weren't great.
@Steve-Miller I have chive plants my Dad dug up from his garden that he gave to me back in the 1980s!
I'm currently looking for DYI critter protection ideas on You Tube. The squirrels always want to get into the beds and I want to be ready for them this year. I also need to build some kind of frame so I can put a row cover over the black currants and hopefully avoid the aphids I've been getting on them every year since I planted them.
@wtg said in I know it's not spring everywhere...:
@Bernard I like the idea of Swiss Chard. Have never grown it. Is it hard to grow?
Swiss Chard is easy to grow here, except for that year when it was attacked by leaf miners. So I didn't grow any the year after that and when I started again, did so in a different area. It did very well last year. I love using Swiss Chard in quiche w/ leeks.
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I had good luck staking down laundry baskets and milk crates over my lettuce to keep rabbits out.
Might work.
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The freezing rain and snow continues but I just placed an order with Gurney's, thought I'd try them this year.
Perseus Hybrid Slicing Cucumber seeds
Gurney Girl's Best Hybrid Tomato seeds
Kennebec seed Potatoes
Honeoye Junebearing Strawberry plantsI may not get any strawberries this year seeing they're June bearing, but you never know.
I'll get annual flower seeds and other veg seeds at the hardware store.
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It is now!
Housemate bit off more than he could chew with his garden. I've already moved all of his potted plants on the left side to under the apple tree that's on the lot past the porch.
This made the entire side of the porch nothing but grass. I don't have to weed between the pots.
Maintenance weed wacks the line of grass leading to the concrete porch clean.
This also gives my neighbor's more room. This happens to be the narrow bit of ground. The width between my carport and the mobile home on the the other side is surprisingly long.
The park was laid out in 1973 but at some point the land area was doubled. The line between the old and new sections is a field with transmission lines.
I live in the newer section and the lots are larger. The original section seems claustrophobic to me.
There are still plants in pots running down the grass off the carport. They are seasonal and I don't know anything about them.
My aloe vera plant is an exception. It's in a blue ceramic pot on a stand. The only other plant that's technically mine is a cactus in small yellow pot.
I've taken all of this over because housemate decided he didn't want to do the work.
My problem is the rock beds in the front. The plastic was disintegrated when the place was bought. I have been pulling weeds every year.
It's repetitive, inefficient, and dumb.
I have a quote from the park maintenance man with a handyman business on the side that seems a little high to me.
I have other projects I want to do first but I don't want another rainy season of being on a weed pulling treadmill.
There's a second handyman in the park I could hire who is doing the same kind of work next door. I might talk to him to see if I can beat the first quote.
I could do it myself as a last ditch effort but I'm not good at this kind of work.
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Over 90 F for 3 days then 88 today, then 86 tomorrow, and finally a 1 day break of 71 the day after. Humidity not high. Unfortunately wind low.
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Gurney's isn't leaving me with great vibes about the place. I figured they'd ship my seeds within 24 to 48 hours. Nope. When I got the order confirmation it said they'd ship some time between 4/18 and 5/02!! I need to plant the seeds asap so I called them and had them remove the seeds from my order. I'll still accept the seed potatoes and strawberries because I don't need to start them right away.
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I didn’t have very good luck with Gurney’s. Potatoes were ok, not great, and quite expensive. I ordered a red gooseberry bush and it arrived broken and dead, one of the worst plant purchases ever. But their customer service people were very responsive and I got a prompt refund for the gooseberry.
I’m going to local garden centers for spuds and got my gooseberries from a small grower in Indiana. Now I can make more plants from cuttings!
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Been out working in the yard for the last few days. Weather is decent, with cool temps ideal for transplanting some things that I needed to move. Am mixing up soil to put in various raised garden beds. And trying to rabbit-proof a few things. There are a lot of the little beggars out there and soon to be more.
My neighbor is getting rid of some large limestone stepping stones and also a really nice chunk of decorative rock that was in his garden. I schlepped the rock over here yesterday and am going back later this week for the steppers.
Am also trying to reduce the number of spring and fall maintenance tasks around the yard. I'm not getting any younger...
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Ammonia fumes work better than soaking. Put grates in something like a Rubbermaid tub or small covered trash can, then pour maybe 1/2 cup of plain ammonia on the bottom. Cover and let it sit some 24 hours.
Wipe off with a paper towel.
and that is exactly what's happening here as white blackthorn hedgerows flower with yellow daffodils underneath.