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Post by brownrexx on Nov 4, 2015 8:13:06 GMT -5
So...sorry for the long winded story...but I know of few other persons who might be remotely interested in the details of my gardening life... Very poetic story and I guess that knee surgery didn't hold you down for long! that's a lot of work even for someone who didn't have knee surgery last week! Today is supposed to be another nice day and I have a horseback riding class this morning but then when I get home I intend to do my final clean up of the garden and be ready to ask hubby to help with roto tilling tonight. Riding a horse gets me really limbered up and I feel energized and ready to work outside. I got 11 bales of straw free from Giant last week and will probably get about 10 more next week. The local farm stand sells Halloween pumpkins and they display them on top of straw bales. The stand owner has called me for the last 3 years and I go pick them up for $1 per bale. As soon as Halloween is over they get ready to start selling Christmas trees of course! I use a lot of straw because we put them around the chicken's outside pen to shield it from wind and snow and we also put a couple around the beehive for the same reason. I also compost some and will save a few bales for planting my potatoes in straw instead of soil like I did this year. It worked really well but it takes lots of straw and in the spring those bales will be $5 each.
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Post by desertwoman on Nov 4, 2015 10:12:24 GMT -5
What a wonderful day, judy. It is so gratifying to get so much done, And you're right, only other gardeners can fully appreciate the details. P.S. you are one strong woman. I'm not sure I'd have been that energetic one week post knee surgery.
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Post by OregonRed on Nov 4, 2015 10:37:50 GMT -5
brown, how do you go about keeping the straw bales dry - or does it matter?
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Post by binnylou on Nov 4, 2015 11:45:52 GMT -5
I had to be in Pella yesterday for occupational therapy, so when a friend and former co-worker called and wanted to do lunch, I jumped at the opportunity. She and her hubby drove from the big city to meet us. When we worked together, we shared lots of recipes and gardening ideas. After lunch and OT, we stopped at a nursery that had advertised a sale. I have been thinking of planting another Maple tree...or maybe another Pin Oak. The nursery was out of both..probably because of the 50% off sale. We did come home with a Viburnum trilobum Cranberrybush and a Cornus alba red twigged dogwood. The dogwood bush will fit nicely in the spot next to the "jumping rock" where the Endless Summer hydrangea finally took it's last breath. I will be able to see it from the house and it will be pretty in the snow. The Cranberrybush still had it's foliage and it was a very nice red/coral.
When we went inside to pay, there were kittens everywhere...there must have been 10 of the little buggers. Two different litters of them, one group a little older than the other. The store had lots of stuff for the kitties to explore...they were crawling/climbing on the lower shelves of the display racks. We couldn't walk, we had to shuffle our feet to keep from stepping on them. While I don't want or need another cat, they were adorable.
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Post by ahntjudy on Nov 4, 2015 11:51:40 GMT -5
binny, what's the 'jumping rock'? The kitten shuffle made me laugh...
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Post by binnylou on Nov 4, 2015 12:08:50 GMT -5
binny, what's the 'jumping rock'? The "jumping rock" is a rock in our front yard...limestone...hip high and about 5 feet wide, maybe 18 inches thick...placed vertically. Every year when the grandkids are here, we take pictures of them at/on/or jumping as high as they can from the rock. So, based on that, I call it the "jumping rock".
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Post by brownrexx on Nov 4, 2015 19:30:29 GMT -5
brown, how do you go about keeping the straw bales dry - or does it matter? Hubby has a carport type of thing where he keeps the lawn mowers and garden tractor. I keep my straw bales in there so there are out of the weather but I also use some to keep the wind out of the chicken coop and bee hives so they sit out in the weather and it does not really hurt them. I just use them for mulch in the Spring. They are packed together so tightly that water does not usually penetrate into the middle. The outsides get wet but it doesn't really hurt them. Hubby helped me roto till the gardens today and I covered the fresh, fluffy soil with a thick layer of straw. I am always thrilled to see that my soil looks so dark and fluffy. It seems to look darker every year. I also picked 2 red cabbage heads and left the other 4 out in the garden for later. It was a good day.
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Post by ahntjudy on Nov 4, 2015 23:50:25 GMT -5
Took care of Boyfriend's yard this morning... At home, looking down the street, saw neighbor at corner had his leaves raked out to the curb...went down with my rake and gigantic tarp and dragged back 4 huge tarps full and dumped them in the garden... Less than 1 hour later, they came around collecting all the leaves...well timed leaf score... Got the garlic in and worked around til dark... It was another great day out there...
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Post by desertwoman on Nov 5, 2015 0:07:27 GMT -5
I love hearing that someone else has dragged leaves, from a neighbors yard, on a tarp
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Post by binnylou on Nov 5, 2015 0:36:14 GMT -5
I love hearing that someone else has dragged leaves, from a neighbors yard, on a tarp When in town yesterday, we passed several homes that had multiple bags of leaves sitting on the curb for pickup. I wanted to stop and get them...free leaves plus compostable paper bags to put under my mulch in the flower garden. Hubby has no sense of adventure.
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Post by Mumsey on Nov 5, 2015 4:15:41 GMT -5
I used to get leaves from the neighbors, but now we have our own trees and more than enough. Huge pile in the street in front of our house if anyone wants them!
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Post by OregonRed on Nov 5, 2015 11:13:56 GMT -5
kittens! I love watching kittens play :~D
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Post by wandak🕊 on Nov 5, 2015 18:15:31 GMT -5
Just a note to say Cher is doing fine. She has put on leaves & short branches. She hasn't grown tall & leggy at all. I am terrible at house plants. I can kill anything. She has really surprised me. She sits in an East facing window & seems to be really happy.
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Post by Mumsey on Nov 5, 2015 18:42:36 GMT -5
I worked at real job today, day off tomorrow. Hoping to get more yard work done, but it's raining cats/dogs here. Thunder and lighning, the whole 9 yards. Princess won't go out. She's a wussy about rain unless I go, and I'm not going! So it's basement work tomorrow too, getting ready for the big interior water drainage project to commence on the 11th. Had the basement toilet removed today. Geez, one thing leads to another.
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Post by datgirl on Nov 6, 2015 16:16:27 GMT -5
Windy and cloudy out today. Such a difference from the last few days when it was in the 70's. Oh well I guess it is November. DH brought a truck load of leaves from one of the rental houses, so I was spreading those around the garden for a while but it's just too windy. Came in to have a nice cup of coffee to warm up.
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