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Post by datgirl on Apr 29, 2024 14:31:33 GMT -5
Yesterday I had 2 grandkids all day. 9 and 8, so they pretty much took care of themselves until they were hungry. So today I needed to get some groceries. Got out early and got that done. Stopped at the thrift store and asked if they needed plastic clothes hangers. I took a boat load from the rental. First store I stopped at they didn't want them. The one today were more than happy to take them Yay!!!! After putting groceries away I went out to check garden. Peas getting big, beets starting to pop out here and there, lots of volunteer Parsley coming up along with the Cilantro. Pulled a lot of weeds. Planted more beets. Dandelions are out of control, oh well I don't mind them too much. Our neighbors in the mcmansion must be cursing us. Their yard is covered in white puff balls . I picked a bunch of lilac. I wish they lasted longer. They are beautiful this year. It started to drizzle, so I have an excuse to pot up some more tomatoes.
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Post by Mumsey on Apr 29, 2024 17:04:08 GMT -5
Darn chilly outside today. Sun came out around 2 so went out to tackle 2 days worth of dandelions. I'm pretty sure the neighbors think I'm nuts. It wasn't long before the clouds returned and I got chilled to the bone, but stayed out and got it done. Found another asparagus volunteer. I've stumbled on 6 the last few days. Dug and potted up. Picked more asparagus, have a bunch to eat. Found a guy here in town to fix lawn mower. He works at John Deere Implement in the big city and does mower repair on the side.
Spent most of yesterday and today cleaning house. Cleaned up seed starting mess in the basement. Got out seeds for things to be planted. Beans, zinnias, Amaranth, kohlrabi. Zinnias do great direct sown.
Sis said she's coming Wednesday after work, said there's no sense in driving all the way home and then heading this way on Thursday. Makes sense to me. She'll be here til Saturday afternoon helping with plant sale. Wednesday is good, we don't have to rush through setting up. Most of the plants will be on tables in the garage. Nice because I can keep the door closed til 8 am Friday.
Spending the day outside tomorrow, hauling everyone out of the basement for good! Then will plant beans and other things, as well as the Canna.
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Post by desertwoman on Apr 29, 2024 20:28:34 GMT -5
Started with a trip to town to pick up parts to get the drip irrigation tuned up. Then a stop at Whole Foods for missing ingredients to make pizza tonight. We got 3 of our 5 zones of drip irrigation cleaned and set up. Took us all afternoon. Maybe it's that we are still recovering from that flu. Or maybe we just aren't moving as fast as we used to. Then I hand watered a few things to tide them over until we get the other 2 zones set up.
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Post by emmsmommy on Apr 30, 2024 2:11:19 GMT -5
It was hot, hot, hot yesterday with temps in the upper 80s. Because of the heat and fact that everything is so dry, I pretty well stayed out of the garden and instead concentrated on various outdoor tasks. Set up my plant "table" constructed of an old cot frame and scrap 1" lumber and brought pepper and potted tomatoes out to acclimate. Helped hubby install the new tire on the riding mower and I push mowed around perimeter of new garden fence and around and inside of the big dog kennel I intend to use as a holding area. Gathered three wagons full of containers, separating weeds and usable soil. Used kiddie pool as a large mixing bowl for the old soil, mixed in some organic fertilizer and added it to the trashcan of refurbished soil. I use this as my container mix and will likely add in some compost and other amendments at potting time depending on what I'm planting. Well bailer works great and between hubby and I we've filled one rain barrel about halfway using the original shallow well on the property. It's one heck of a workout and I think I have hubby convinced that we need to rig up a contraption to hang the pulley above the well. Otherwise it was a day of finding a shady spot to work.
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Post by datgirl on Apr 30, 2024 12:44:10 GMT -5
My son started putting the greenhouse that I got last year together. It's going to be a summer project. He's working on it after work. I don't want him to spend his weekends on this thing. I told him he has kids to spend time with on the weekends. He has a friend that is helping, and luckily this friend has put one together before. They have it all mapped out, all pieces labeled. So in honor of a new greenhouse, I cleaned out the old one that is now just a storage shed. I've been using as storage for a while now. Last fall, everything just got thrown in there. Recycling a bunch of plastic flowerpots. A lot of them are cracked or too small for what I need. Pulled the tomato cages out and just let them sit out in the garden.
Earlier we went to Home Depot and Menards, hubby needed something so I tagged along. Went looking in the garden dept. just to look around. Holy Cow I couldn't believe the prices. Glad I don't need any plants. They had pots of daffodils and tulips that were at the end of their bloom for $6.00. Who would buy those? Wasn't even a pretty pot that you could reuse. Oh well back to work.
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Post by Mumsey on Apr 30, 2024 14:52:20 GMT -5
So much for all day sun! Made 21 trips up and down basement stairs. Finally got all the kids out of the house with the exception of brother's cabbage, just potted up. Then made room on the work bench in garage for 10 trays of tomatoes, under 2 shop lights I rigged up years ago. Then set up the saw horses, wrestled a 4 x 8' OSB board on top of them. It was tricky to do alone. Then we went for a walk. Came home and plucked dandelions, not many today at all! Then my brother stopped by for a few minutes, he was in town for his work. Started raining as I was getting done with dandelions. Called it a day and came in. Cleaned out some dresser drawers, took a bag of clothing to the junk shop. Lots of old jeans I'll never wear again. Then what do I do while at the junk shop?? Bought a pair of jeans..........justified because I need to turn them into shorts.......
Tomorrow is big city shopping day, as the day goes on the list gets longer.
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Post by emmsmommy on Apr 30, 2024 17:58:19 GMT -5
Called it quits about 2:30 this afternoon as it was starting to rain. Ended up with a downpour that lasted about 10 minutes and that was it. Managed to get the container soil in the wading pool mixed up but didn't add it to the soil from yesterday as this has a pretty high sand content from emptying the containers I attempted sweet potatoes in two years ago. Put kiddo's large wading pool out to catch rain water and hubby and I went to work on preparing the area adjacent to the new garden. Lots of raking and smoothing but got it done and spread two rolls of black plastic over the area in an attempt to kill the weeds. Pretty much decided that I'll build one or two more beds between the garden and where the greenhouse will be. Hubby mowed the area where I had potatoes last year and hopefully I'll be laying cardboard down in the morning. Still tomatoes to pot up but I feel we made quite an accomplishment today.
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Post by desertwoman on Apr 30, 2024 19:42:38 GMT -5
Did a marathon weeding: all the flower beds, and started weeding out dandelions from the native buffalo grass (since it was watered yesterday, it was easy) Didn't get the whole patch weeded but made a good start. Can't believe I forgot to wheel my chiles into the house last night and after our low of 38º they looked pretty bad this morning. I wasn't sure if they would revive and was preparing myself to go in and buy some starts but after a couple hours in the warm sun they perked right up. Whew! That's a first for me.
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Post by centralilrookie on May 1, 2024 10:05:28 GMT -5
With sweetheart off to work early, and me feeling pretty motivated, I got the inside and outside daily chores completed before turning my attention to moving all the plant starts to the garage. My 14 trips from the basement doesn’t compare to Mumsey’s 21 trips but I’m just thankful that I didn’t trip and fall along the way. I need to make a mental note not to water the plants for a couple of days before moving as I was quite nervous of tripping and making a really big mess! Maybe I should just buy some more trays and double them up as they’re pretty dang flimsy when loaded or make a carrying tray for next year. Rain and warmer temperatures has the grass growing constantly so I raised the deck on the mower a half inch and mowed. I’m not happy with the way it looks so weather permitting I’ll mow again tomorrow. Had a couple of adult beverages while waiting for sweetheart to get home and the decided thar chips and cheese dip sounded pretty good for supper. 😂 It was a good day……
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Post by Mumsey on May 1, 2024 13:05:54 GMT -5
centralilrookie That’s what I do. Double the trays. Sure makes them sturdier.
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Post by emmsmommy on May 1, 2024 14:23:25 GMT -5
centralilrookie, Walmart and Lowes both had sturdier trays at the beginning of the season and I think I bought 12. I did mark each of the new trays with white fingernail polish to differentiate them from the flimsy trays. And yep, I nearly dumped a tray of peppers this morning because of a flimsy tray.
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Post by desertwoman on May 1, 2024 17:52:33 GMT -5
I double them too. I even use the trays that are starting to break on the inside and the new ones on the outside. Good and sturdy.
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Post by emmsmommy on May 1, 2024 19:44:17 GMT -5
So for the second time in a week I've let an aggravating situation simmer a bit before responding. I'm generally not one to scream, yell or rant but in both cases I've decided that responding in anger doesn't solve anything and only causes hard feelings. Dare I say I've reached maturity? . Peppers went out for the first time and it was a day of setting the timer and moving them around a bit so they wouldn't get too much sun at once. Pulled a bucket of weeds out of one of the old garden beds before the sun started beating down too much and then went to work on the holding area in the large kennel. Laid a few pieces of cardboard out and moved kiddo's small wading pool inside. Hoping to move all the potted shrubs and perennials in there soon. There was a bit of shade over the spot where I had potatoes last year so laid out cardboard, marked my beds and paths and planted two 30" rows of potatoes. At least two more rows to go and will probably tuck some fingerlings into the fall planted bed as there's a few bare spots. Oddly the Early Frosty peas were severely damaged by frost when the other three varieties had very little damage. Ended up going back outside when hubby got home to finish up the potatoes and gather the peppers and it was kiddo's bedtime when I came back in. Feel a little guilty about that. Planned to start outside after kiddo is on the bus in the morning but hubby wants me to make a delivery tomorrow. I asked if he realized that I was planning to go to a rummage sale on Friday in the same town and couldn't it wait? Evidently the agreement has been made so it looks like I'll be delivering an order. Kinda looking forward to going on my own and will probably visit the thrift store since it will be closed on Friday and stop at two small nurseries too. I figure a plant or ten would be adequate payment for my time.
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Post by Wheelgarden on May 1, 2024 20:06:18 GMT -5
Just got home from an 8-day stay in the hospital for a bone infection in my hips, and boy howdy I am so happy. Sick and tired of hospitals, but blessed that the facility, staff, and doctors were top-notch. 5-week round of home-care IV antibiotics ahead for an hour daily, no sweat. Sure missed my gardening friends here, yes I did.
"I fall to pieces..."
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Post by emmsmommy on May 1, 2024 20:29:04 GMT -5
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