FarmerChick
Super Self-Sufficient
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nice pics!
JRmom - Garden is in!
- Thread starter JRmom
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- #42
JRmom
Lovin' The Homestead
I don't know what I did to my neck this weekend, but it feels like I have a mild whiplash - ouch! I spent an hour bent over weeding so maybe that's what did it. Although "weeding" is not correct - it's grass that is popping up in the garden. At least it's easy to pull out while it's small. Hopefully next weekend I'll get a layer of straw down.
My sunflowers have sprouted. The squash and tomatoes are on steroids! They should be blooming pretty quick. The beans are already starting to climb up the fence. So far so good...only one casualty so far, a cucumber plant just disappeared. A mole I suspect.
Still have a 6'x4' area to plant....decisions, decisions. I don't have any bell peppers planted, so maybe that's what I'll plant. Hmmmm.
I hate being back at our "city" house during the week with no gardening to do, so hubby got me a new puppy. He already needs a haircut:
Busy week ahead with work...and it's beautiful outside. Ugh! I wanna be outside. Only two more weeks and we'll have a 3-day weekend. Yeah!
My sunflowers have sprouted. The squash and tomatoes are on steroids! They should be blooming pretty quick. The beans are already starting to climb up the fence. So far so good...only one casualty so far, a cucumber plant just disappeared. A mole I suspect.
Still have a 6'x4' area to plant....decisions, decisions. I don't have any bell peppers planted, so maybe that's what I'll plant. Hmmmm.
I hate being back at our "city" house during the week with no gardening to do, so hubby got me a new puppy. He already needs a haircut:
Busy week ahead with work...and it's beautiful outside. Ugh! I wanna be outside. Only two more weeks and we'll have a 3-day weekend. Yeah!
LovinLife
Lovin' The Homestead
Some days I really miss having a job (today being one of them) then I read something like this and it makes me really appriciate being able to be home. Granted we are barely getting by but it is nice to have this time to garden, tend to the animals, and spend with the kids.
I love your new puppy. What's his name?
I love your new puppy. What's his name?
- Thread starter
- #44
JRmom
Lovin' The Homestead
The new puppy (above) is Spike, although after 3 days of not getting watered, he is now called Droopy.
Fun weekend but I had a fall and hurt my thumb and wrist. We took the boat out on Saturday and went to the Springs and spent the day. After taking the boat back out of the water, I was walking the dogs on a leash to where my husband had parked. For some reason, the dogs jerked the leash right at the edge of the grass and concrete. The toe of my sandal caught the lip of the concrete and down I went. I landed hard on my left hand and then my left knee. I was worried I might have broken something, but my hand and wrist haven't swelled, and I can finally move my fingers again, but my hand is very sore and stiff and I can't pick up anything. Ugh! I guess I should have full disclosure here...I did have a few glasses of wine on the boat.
The garden is doing great - so much better this year compared to buying plants from Lowes last year. My green beans are already up to the top of the fence and starting back down. My tomatoes and squash are blooming like crazy (already have one small squash growing). My cucumbers are in small tomato cages and are also starting to climb. Still need to get straw put down to help keep the moisture in - the weather is heating up fast. We're supposed to have a very hot and humid summer, but so far the spring has been fantastic. Sometimes we go directly from winter to summer, so I have been enjoying the warm weather with no humidity.
Planted some carrots a few weeks ago in an old wash tub I brought to the house - so far no luck with sprouting. I'll give them another week and then try again.
UPDATE: I have carrot sprouts! Well, only 3, but that give me hope for the whole tubful.
Fun weekend but I had a fall and hurt my thumb and wrist. We took the boat out on Saturday and went to the Springs and spent the day. After taking the boat back out of the water, I was walking the dogs on a leash to where my husband had parked. For some reason, the dogs jerked the leash right at the edge of the grass and concrete. The toe of my sandal caught the lip of the concrete and down I went. I landed hard on my left hand and then my left knee. I was worried I might have broken something, but my hand and wrist haven't swelled, and I can finally move my fingers again, but my hand is very sore and stiff and I can't pick up anything. Ugh! I guess I should have full disclosure here...I did have a few glasses of wine on the boat.
The garden is doing great - so much better this year compared to buying plants from Lowes last year. My green beans are already up to the top of the fence and starting back down. My tomatoes and squash are blooming like crazy (already have one small squash growing). My cucumbers are in small tomato cages and are also starting to climb. Still need to get straw put down to help keep the moisture in - the weather is heating up fast. We're supposed to have a very hot and humid summer, but so far the spring has been fantastic. Sometimes we go directly from winter to summer, so I have been enjoying the warm weather with no humidity.
Planted some carrots a few weeks ago in an old wash tub I brought to the house - so far no luck with sprouting. I'll give them another week and then try again.
UPDATE: I have carrot sprouts! Well, only 3, but that give me hope for the whole tubful.
Denim Deb
More Precious than Rubies
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Was Droopy one of the dogs you were walking? 
- Thread starter
- #46
JRmom
Lovin' The Homestead
Ate the first squash out of the garden tonight for dinner.... yum!
All of the tomato plants are loaded with fruit. Everything else is blooming and doing great, except my green beans. I've never had luck with them for some reason. I planted one long row along the fence and half of the plants have died back (the half that gets full sun all day - the other half is partly shaded...hmmm).
I think I may have fractured a bone in the thick pad of my thumb. Can't use it at all, although I can bend it. Do you know how hard it is to pull your pants up without using your thumb?
All of the tomato plants are loaded with fruit. Everything else is blooming and doing great, except my green beans. I've never had luck with them for some reason. I planted one long row along the fence and half of the plants have died back (the half that gets full sun all day - the other half is partly shaded...hmmm).
I think I may have fractured a bone in the thick pad of my thumb. Can't use it at all, although I can bend it. Do you know how hard it is to pull your pants up without using your thumb?
- Thread starter
- #47
JRmom
Lovin' The Homestead
I confess. I murdered my carrots. They were doing nicely in the tub sitting inside on my screened porch, getting filtered light. I got overzealous and set them outside one morning and 2 hours later they were all dead. I'm sorry, sweet little carrots! I'll do better next time.
On to the real garden.... I've been battling squash vine borers. Ugh! I've had to pull and burn half my plants. But the remaining plants appear to be worm-free and are loaded with little squash. Fingers crossed the infestation is over.
I picked blackeye peas Saturday...a TON! And I left just as many on the plants to get a little bigger. I love growing blackeye peas - they do well in poor soil, and don't mind the heat or sun. Plus, they are YUMMY!
The hot peppers are loaded up, as are my tomato plants. We've had a real spring this year, so hopefully a week of hot weather will jump start the ripening.
The squirrels have had a field day with my sunflowers. I have 1 left, ONE! I need some rubber snakes.
I bought a dehydrator last week!!!! I got some tomatoes at a roadside stand to experiment with. 4 HUGE tomatoes, dried, fit into a pint jar. I can't wait to try cooking with them. We don't have an extra freezer, so I'm hoping the dehydrator will be a good long-term food storage alternative. I love to can, but running the canner when it's 95 degrees with 75% humidity is not my idea of a good time.
Hoping to pick blueberries this week with my daughter at a u-pick farm. Another use for the dehydrator! Well, after I make cheesecake! And blueberry cobbler. And blueberry sauce...
On to the real garden.... I've been battling squash vine borers. Ugh! I've had to pull and burn half my plants. But the remaining plants appear to be worm-free and are loaded with little squash. Fingers crossed the infestation is over.
I picked blackeye peas Saturday...a TON! And I left just as many on the plants to get a little bigger. I love growing blackeye peas - they do well in poor soil, and don't mind the heat or sun. Plus, they are YUMMY!
The hot peppers are loaded up, as are my tomato plants. We've had a real spring this year, so hopefully a week of hot weather will jump start the ripening.
The squirrels have had a field day with my sunflowers. I have 1 left, ONE! I need some rubber snakes.
I bought a dehydrator last week!!!! I got some tomatoes at a roadside stand to experiment with. 4 HUGE tomatoes, dried, fit into a pint jar. I can't wait to try cooking with them. We don't have an extra freezer, so I'm hoping the dehydrator will be a good long-term food storage alternative. I love to can, but running the canner when it's 95 degrees with 75% humidity is not my idea of a good time.
Hoping to pick blueberries this week with my daughter at a u-pick farm. Another use for the dehydrator! Well, after I make cheesecake! And blueberry cobbler. And blueberry sauce...
i_am2bz
Lovin' The Homestead
What brand did you get, JRmom? I'm in the market for one, too...hopefully before everything ripens!JRmom said:
PS, sorry about the carrots!
- Thread starter
- #49
JRmom
Lovin' The Homestead
I confess (again!) that I bought a cheapo brand from Kmart, you know, As Seen On TV...i_am2bz said:What brand did you get, JRmom? I'm in the market for one, too...hopefully before everything ripens!
PS, sorry about the carrots!
for $42. I didn't want to invest a ton of money if I didn't like the end result. My plan is to pass this one along to my daughter if I do put some money into a good one at some point. If it lasts that long.i_am2bz
Lovin' The Homestead
I know what you mean...there's a cheap ($39) one at Walley World that I've been eyeing, just to see if I think it's worth doing. It's very bare bones, with just an on/off switch.
There's another thread on here somewhere, a lot of people like Excalibur. I would love to have a timer, b/c I'm likely to walk away & forget all about it...:/
There's another thread on here somewhere, a lot of people like Excalibur. I would love to have a timer, b/c I'm likely to walk away & forget all about it...:/
