April 15, 2008 (Tuesday)
It is 35 degrees this morning.
Google Image Search
* +"garden cottage"
* +"garden shed"
* +"garden shack" (gets a 0 out of 10)
* +"tool shed" (gets a 0 out of 10)
* +"guest house" (gets a 0 out of 10)
* +"guest cottage"
* +"flower border" (now that was fun!)
Those searches were for chicken coop inspiration. Ideas I liked were mirrors on the outside of the shed; scalloped trim; scalloped shingles on ends of shed; roof peak detail; three colors: doors and shutters, body, and other trim; a white interior; and a flag outside. I almost forgot that part. Need to remember a mailbox, too. And curtains inside. I also want to put the screens inside the coop instead of outside, but I'm not sure there's any way to make that work. I also think that nest boxes with frying pans in the bottom of them wood be funny. Haha! I also need to decide if I want girlie colors, something to match the house, or something completely off the wall.
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I went out with a pot of water for the chickens and their water fount was frozen shut. The veggie beds have frost all over them, along with that whole area of the yard.
The more I look at inspirational photos, the more I think I really like huge swaths of flowers and giant bushy clumps of flowers.
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After much browsing of the "flower border" search results, I took the time to check out this link. Very cool. Great inspiration for future garden-related web designs.
http://weedsandwildflowersdesign.com/shoppe/
I also like this site because I love before and after shots.
http://www.art-scape.co.uk/examples_contemporary/contemporary_garden_design _1.htm
I have returned the Filipendula to the plant room. I have also raked my veggie beds once again, mixed some fertilizer into the bed from Hell, picked up the stones from around the beds (the stones were from when I filled the beds), and watered my trees. That one hopeless bed is probably useless for planting carrots, and probably hopeless for planting much of anything else for that matter, thanks to my husband. I am going to have to study my plans and see if there is any way to rearrange the beds. I shall endeavor to never ask for help with gardening chores ever again, unless the additional help only requires operation of the dumb end of something, like holding the dumb end of a tape measure, or dumping a wheelbarrow. Even that could be risky.
Some of the Daffs in the lawn will probably open either today or tomorrow. They tend to face the sun, so the view from the road might not be as dramatic as I had hoped, but it could still be quite pretty from the living room.
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Having reviewed my bed layout, I think I will shift everything over two beds. That'll put the cabbage family and lettuce in that bed. I hope they'll be happy there.
Planting List for Friday April 18
* Broccoli
* Cabbage
* Cauliflower (that's actually one week early, but I don't think it will care)
* Parsley
* Peas 'Wando'
* Spinach
I cut all of the dry stalks in the garden down to the ground, pulled last fall's leaves out of the bed of Colossal Daffodils, pulled some grass out of the beds (including out of that poor Iris at the edge of the bed), and picked up some more branches off the lawn. Things look pretty good around here now. Almost done as far as that sort of thing goes, except that I left some dried leaves on last season's Snapdragons. I'll take that off when the weather warms up more. I also left the Standing Cypress stalks alone since I don't know if they can be cut down or not.
I have black things stuck in my fingers. Need to go pull them out. Hope they're not poisonous caterpillar spines. ... I can't get most of them out. Joy. |
| Stormdancer Posted on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 - 10:24 am: |   |
 Hey DJ...can I ask how you did your carrots...or plan to do them? Reason being, a friend down here said I'd never be able to grow carrots to any size and I have proven her wrong...so if I can help you achieve I'm glad to share what I did.
Karen |
I am going to grow mine in one of my new raised beds. I haven't tried that before. Last year I grew baby carrots in what was basically a large window box. Some other year I grew them directly in the ground, but that doesn't work too well around here because the whole place is very rocky and sits just a few inches above a rock ledge, hence this year's raised beds. LOL. I grew round carrots (some French heirloom, I think) in the ground one year and that worked okay. Will the raised beds work or do you have a better idea? I was just going to pull them as young baby carrots, but if I could grow full size carrots that would be great! (I have been considering buying the materials to build a whole new separate bed for carrots and keeping my husband away from it. LOL.) |
| Stormdancer Posted on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 - 02:13 pm: | |
DJ, what I did here after we had added soil to the garden area...for the potatoes and carrots which obviously need room to grow I made my rows mounded...about 8-12" high mounds...my longest carrot so far has been approx 6 inches or so and about oh say maybe 1/2 inch or so diameter. The mounds gave them the chance to stretch downward and since we have tons of sand...figured the mounds would work and they have. Hope this helps...BTW...the variety of carrots I chose were the shorter ones, I'll have to look and see if I can find what I did with the package...I know I didn't plant all of them.. |
That's a good idea! Not sure the mounds would like the rain here too much, though. How do yours do with the rains? I grew my pumpkins in the hills created by the plow one year and they loved it, but then again they created a nice canopy that helped prevent the hills from washing away. I'm thinking of adding a level to one bed next year for just the carrot area. Depends on how I feel about gardening at the end of this year. LOL! How wide were your mounded rows? |
| Stormdancer Posted on Thursday, April 17, 2008 - 01:59 pm: | |
Looks like I did them about 6-8" inches across...the rains over the winter months didn't seem to bother them much. So far, the spring rains haven't washed them down too bad either. I did kinda pack the mounds around the edges a bit once I sowed the seeds...from the row up to the top edge of the mounds. Figured if anything needed to push down to grow that would be about the only way here and I recalled my KY grandma's garden having the mounds for things like the carrots, potatoes and turnips...just drawing on memories at this point cause everyone has passed on that I could have asked before...but in your raised beds it should be a bit easier to just drag the dirt to a mound towards the center of the frames.
Wish I could get the squash and pumpkins to grow without the darn wormy things eating them to nothing...sucked the life right out of the plants and the little squashes. Any suggestions there? I'm pretty anti chemicals with the exception of Sevin5 Dust, which I also use on my dogs. (or whichever Sevin dust it is that says can be used on the dogs). |
Are they Squash Vine Borers? I haven't had those myself, so I don't know what to do with those. I am anti-chemicals, too, and it seems like I've read that once you get SVB, you're pretty much out of luck unless you can find a new spot to grow in. I have dealt with all sorts of other bugs before and about the only thing I can recommend for people like us is using row covers and picking the things off by hand. Row covers might work for SVB if you can find a new spot to grow in. Don't know that for sure, though, and I dread ever getting SVB because I've heard that they'll kill a plant before you even know they're there. Maybe it'd help if you trellis your plants or place reflective materials under them. Again, I'm just guessing and it might not work for SVB.
I wonder if that mounding in my raised bed would work? Since they have wooden sides, maybe the dirt wouldn't really go anywhere. Good call!! |
| Stormdancer Posted on Friday, April 18, 2008 - 05:52 am: | |
Sigh...from what I researched myself and from what I witnessed on the plants and little squash, it sure fits the SVB. One minute I had cute little squash all popped out and looking good, the next even the plant was withered and gone...guess it doesn't look good for the squash around here although it was fall when I planted them I was thinking maybe it could be a time of year thing? I dunno, maybe I'll go ahead and try it one more time and use the Sevin when I get the plants going and they begin to bloom.
I think I'd be willing to give the mounding a shot myself...as I said the mounds worked well for me. |
I suppose it could be a time of year thing, but around here that tends to be a gradual decline in the state of the plant, not something sudden or overnight like it sounds like an SVB would do. You might want to research online (or look on the bottle) to see if Sevin works against SVB. No reason to poison yourself if it's not even going to work on the borers. LOL! |
April 16, 2008 (Wednesday)
It made it to about 57 degrees yesterday and this morning it is 36 degrees. I think it is supposed to be warmer today than yesterday, though.
I had to water some plants just before bed time last night. I had lots of onions peeking through and I think I even saw a Swallow Eggplant sprout, finally. I am not impressed that they are taking so long. For being an early eggplant, they sure are slow to germinate.
I saw some beautiful medium blue pansies at the grocery store over the weekend, along with some pretty primroses. My son was pointing at all of them, ooh, aah, must have that one, and that one, and... Well, one of these years. Maybe next year. That was a huge moment of self-restraint. I adore pansies.
I potted up 4 more Collard Greens, 12 White Tufted Evening Primroses (actually 12 clumps, will thin later if I can bring myself to do it), 2 each of Pepper 'Purple Beauty' and Pepper 'Roumainian Rainbow', and 3 more Geum.
Wow, jackpot! An enjoyable way to waste an endless amount of time: browsing the "This Old House" photo galleries.
http://search.thisoldhouse.com/browse.html?type=et%3agallery%3b
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So, naturally, I chose to do something that isn't on my list of things to do. The whole plan started with considering moving the Trumpet Vine (yet another thing that wasn't on my list) and devolved into disassembling the end of the rock wall that I had disassembled a section of before. Was that last year? I don't even remember. I can already see more of the chicken pen. That's exactly what I wanted. I might not even need to disassemble that section down to the ground to be happy with the results. I have used the rocks I removed to start edging other beds. This is fun.
Lowered the Wall
Edged a Bed
View Toward Coop and Barn
View Toward the Barn
Daffodils are open in the lawn and along the northern south-facing rock wall. Hooray! This seems to be ahead of schedule... Hmm, nope. I just checked past photos and the Daffs along the wall are three days later than in 2006.
Daffodils in the Lawn
For future reference, I want some window screens that are nearly invisible, like Pella's "Vivid View" screens or Andersen's "TruScene" screens. I want to make the screens myself, though, not purchase the whole system (unless it comes with a storm window). Huh, this is interesting... "Scenic Screens":
http://www.scenicscreens.net/before-after-gallery.html
|
April 17, 2008 (Thursday)
It is 38 degrees this morning and it's only 6 AM. There is still frost on the ground, however. It made it up to 70 degrees yesterday, maybe even higher. I thought I was going to broil working on the wall, so I bet today will be worse. Need to plan accordingly.
I just opened Roo's curtains and took a moment to check my seedlings. I put the Pak Choi and Collard Greens up on a box closer to the lights and rearranged all of the egg cartons. Then I checked my baggie of Russian Sage and discovered that I have sprouts. Hooray! Yippee! I have brought my Daylily tray downstairs to make room for the Pak and Greens.
Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm.
http://perfectfairycakesclassics.blogspot.com
I brought the garlic up from the basement and put it in the breezeway. I am thinking about planting it out tonight, but since most of them have already sprouted, the thought of them dying from the cold night temps is making me nervous.
I mixed some lime into the veggie beds. They were at a pH of 6.0, so hopefully I didn't overshoot and they'll be at 6.5.
Aside from that, I am making dinner this week, but haven't decided what I'm going to make tonight. So far I've made Nachos, Goulash, and Buttermilk Fried Chicken. I have the makings for pulled pork sandwiches, vegetarian pizza made on cornbread, and sweet and sour chicken. I made Amish Sugar Cookies one night, maybe over the weekend (did I mention that before?), but changed the recipe to include cocoa powder and melted Williams-Sonoma hot cocoa chocolate shavings. I had lots of dough left over and my husband has been eating it raw out of the refrigerator.
My son has been building castles, moats, and construction sites under my orange beach umbrella while I work on the veggie beds. Sometimes he takes a break from that and rides his big blue tractor around on the driveway. He has also been catching Woolly Bear Caterpillars and building zoos out of left over raised bed lumber for them to live in. We have picnics and have already started the summer tradition of eating popsicles at midday.
Did I mention that I killed a wasp inside the other day? I am so lucky that it didn't sting me. I was moving my Trumpet Vines around and the wasp landed on its back on the windowsill, right by my hand. Still need to buy an EpiPen.
Now I'm off to the attic to look for my dahlia starting pan. I do not know what I am supposed to do with all of those other dahlias, though. It's good to start them early, but I don't think I have any way to do that. Let's see, if dahlias are Zone 8, then that means they survive... a winter low of 10 to 15 degrees. I wonder if I could take all of those dahlias and plant them out now with a covering of mulch? I don't think we will be dropping below 20 again this spring. I certainly hope not! I shall solarize a spot for them and plant them this weekend. Then whatever happens, happens.
I couldn't find my pan, so I ended up potting the dahlias in the bags they spent the winter in. Just the heirloom ones. I'll check the other dahlias in a moment to see if they have sprouted yet. If they have, I think I'll try to do something similar with them so that their shoots don't get frosted. Otherwise, I'll just stick with my solarizing idea.
I moved the daylily tray outside into the shade. I even put the Trumpet Vine seedlings out there. I have also cleaned off my desk and filed my papers. That looks epsilon better. I found my flag, too, but it has that "aged look" that probably would have looked okay before I painted the house, but just looks dirty now. I don't really feel like paying for a Betsy Ross flag this year, so I guess we will either go flagless or I will stitch one myself in my infinite spare time. *snort*
April 18, 2008 (Friday) Happy Planting Day
For some reason last night, I thought it was Monday. Every day when I start my journal, I copy the previous day's date and day, then update it for the current day. When I looked at yesterday's entry, I realized that I had copied the April 16, 2008 (Wednesday) line and changed it to say April 17, 2008 (Monday). Why was I so convinced that yesterday was Monday? I had the very distinct feeling that my husband had just been home for the weekend and had gone into work yesterday as the first day of the week. Too weird, so I have written important things on a real paper calendar hanging on my office wall so that I don't forget to do them, like when to pay and mail bills. I am going to try to remember to cross off the days so that I know what day it is, too. I hope that works.
In other news, it is 5:21 AM and my trustworthy thermometer says it is 45 degrees outside. Wow. I left my parsley, garlic, and cabbage family in the breezeway overnight. They probably did just fine in there. Happy planting day.
I have been having heart palpitations (that make me cough) and chest pains lately (actually, for a really long time, but getting worse lately), so last night it really hurt and I took a couple of aspirin. I am anti-medication, so that was a big step for me. I felt much better after that and still feel pretty good this morning. I will see what the doctor says this fall when I have my annual checkup.
Eek. I have printed out my planting charts. Scary times! Oh, the thrill of planting! I was going to plant those red poppies down below the rock wall, but maybe I will strew them all over the front instead. If they are happy this year, then I will have plenty to seed out below the wall next year. That sounds like a good plan.
Now the thermometer says it's 52 degrees, but it feels like it's in the 30s. Brr!
I just did a streamflow check and while we are at normal flow (25-75%, specifically 56%), some places around us are already below normal, in the 0-24% range. That is not good. I thought it was seeming rather dry and rainless around here.
Oops. Since the parsley goes in the ground today, I shall put up the tomato trellis first. Joy. Since I'm going to be out there anyway, I am going to bite the bullet and plant the garlic today. Surely I have something cozy around here for them to sit under at night.
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I have been putting it off, but I guess I should go out and plant now. I feel my heart pounding hard and fast, so I think this is part of what is stressing me out. Maybe if I just do it and get it over with, then things will be okay... at least until things go wrong later. Just need to force myself over this first hump so that I can get to the later, later. LOL. Okay... I am off... Here I go... Ugh. The farming aspect of my gardening has such traumatic mental and physical episodes associated with it that I think I am turning into one of Pavlov's dogs... rapid heartbeat just at the thought of farming. Okay, I'm really going this time...
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I went! Yay! First I put up my tomato trellis. Then I planted 6 broccoli, 22 cabbage, 6 cauliflower, and 48 parsley. Except for a few dumb things I did, it was actually rather enjoyable. Friable even. What fun! As for the dumb things I did, I had to dig up a couple of rows of things, backtrack, and replant at the correct spacing. My mind wanders and is filled to the brim with thoughts and lists of things to do. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it. But it was so easy to work in the raised beds that I just used my bare hands to dig the plants out and dig new holes for them. I am so sick of gardening gloves, so that was a nice change. I also did other dumb things, like forgetting to carry out all of my supplies and tools and having to make multiple trips to get things every time I remembered something else I should have brought out on the first trip, plus leaving tools lying someplace and not remembering where I had put them even though I'd just misplaced them moments earlier. Now I just have to get the spinach seeds and pea seeds in the ground, and maybe even the garlic.
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I sowed 96 spinach seeds and 96 pea seeds. Wow, that sounds like a lot. Moving right along!
I was separating my garlic cloves for planting and discovered that both bulbs of German Extra Hardy Garlic and both bulbs of Tochliavri Garlic were rotten. So sad. Oh, well, at least the garlic portion of the raised bed won't be hogging space like I thought it would.
Chet's Italian Red Garlic | 
Georgian Fire Garlic | 
Persian Star Garlic |
Rooting Garlic Cloves
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Okay, maybe not wearing gloves is not such a good thing. I went outside, planted the garlic, watered it, then came back in, only to see that I have a major sunburn on my right hand. I have a slight one on my left hand. I hope I didn't burn my nose or face; I forgot to wear my hat this last time out.
Gardening Details to Remember
* water seedlings before transplanting (almost forgot to do that today)
* use a dinner fork to lift seedlings out of plug cells
* use hand cultivator to fluff up raised beds before planting seedlings and seeds
* tools and supplies to take out in one trip: dinner fork, hand cultivator, trowel, planting layout, pen, measuring tape, level, seeds, seedlings, GLOVES, HAT |
April 19, 2008 (Saturday)
It is 42 degrees and sunny this morning. It made it up to 80 degrees yesterday. That seems awfully hot for this time of year.
My transplants seem alright this morning. I brought my Pak Choi and Collard Greens down to the kitchen last night to start acclimating them.
I had a very bad dream last night and awoke at 3 AM. It took me two hours to fall asleep again, at which point I had another bad dream. I feel like a zombie this morning.
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I installed two hooks in the coop and tied strings to the window latches, then looped the strings over the hooks so that the windows will stay open during the day. I don't know why they keep swinging shut. I also repositioned the nail that keeps the left screen in place. It seems to be holding it in for now.
I bought four bales of straw, two hose washers, and some 60 SPF sunscreen today. I tried the hose washers on my two two-way faucets, and they didn't help. I can't imagine what kind of washers they need. I watered my raised beds, then spread two bales of straw on them. It has been sunny, hot, windy, and dry here, so I had to break down and do that. I'm sure it's a sign of things to come. I also purchased some floral foam for my chicken coop window box bouquets. I'm just not in the mood to put them out there right now. I am so tired. Lastly, I bought another pair of gloves, something more substantial than the ones that let these thorny black things get stuck in my fingers. The thorns have turned into itchy bumps. At first I thought it was PI, or maybe even VC since I was working on the rock wall the other day, but I can see the thorns inside of the bumps. Ick.
Straw on the Beds
We had a picnic today, out on the lawn with the daffodils. We waved at the cars going by, and the motorcylists out for their sunny scenic Saturday drive.
A Picnic Among the Daffodils
I had that nightmare stuck in my head most of the day. Then I got some boy band song that was playing at the grocery store stuck in my head. Now I'm back to thinking about the nightmare. Not sure which is the worst thing to have stuck in my head, nightmares or boy band songs. ... I'm thinking that nightmares might actually be better.
Daffodils by the Cistern
Colossal Daffodils |
April 20, 2008 (Sunday)
I had the same bad dream four or five times in a row last night and the only things that changed were the people and the places. The plot stayed the same. When I finally finished having that dream, I had three more different bad dreams. I am so tired that I don't feel like I can even function today.
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I think that I would like to buy more daffs for the lawn this fall. Some sort of daff that blooms later than the Carltons. We drove into Worcester today and a long area beside the highway was filled with yellow and white daffodils. They looked like they'd been there for a few years because they were all in big poofy clusters. Anyway, I liked the yellow and white combination, but mainly I'd like to extend the bloom season. I'll have to see what the delayed mowing does to the lawn this year. I wouldn't want to make it worse by lengthening the bloom season.
I planted the 5 Crocosmia and 15 Ranunculus in last year's heirloom dahlia patch. I layered the Crocosmia on top of the Ranunculus. I'm sure they won't really go together, but it saves space and should at least be entertaining. I don't know if they will survive the next month of weather, with the last frost still at least a month away, but we'll see. Since they are Zone 6, I guess I will go ahead and dig up the Crocosmia in the fall and come up with something better for them next year (especially since I'll have to get the 'nuncs out from under them anyway). Maybe I'll get the daffodil bed beside the garage dug up and spread out this fall and put the Crocosmia in there. That always seems like a cozy spot.
I went out and began documenting the farm daffodils. My goal is to relocate them and group them according to type. They were mixed when I bought them and they need a better spot in which to live so that they can multiply more readily and I can have my field back... maybe some sort of bed over by the coop would work. I spied a rotund bumble bee while I was taking my daffodil notes. Which reminds me that my husband said he saw a Swallow in the garage earlier. ........ I've grouped the farm daff pics and have seven different types, but only about 1/5th of the daffs are open so far.
I finally cut the silk flowers for the coop down to size and put them in the window boxes. This time I tied the foam blocks down so that hopefully the bouquets won't blow around the barnyard all summer long, and the chickens won't get a chance to pick at the foam. I also hung the aged-looking flag on the house. I didn't think I'd get around to making a flag this year, and this is better than no flag at all.
Chicken Coop Bouquet
Old Glory |
| Seil Posted on Sunday, April 20, 2008 - 06:09 pm: | |
Love the window box, DJ. Is the flag and antique? I have an old 48 star flag that was my Grandmothers. She flew when my uncle was over seas during WWII. I don't use it any more because it's so fragile but I cherish it. |
Oh, how cool, Seil! Wow, yeah, I wouldn't fly it anymore, either. That's definitely a keeper. My flag isn't old. It's just a tea-stained style I picked up in Sturbridge, a very touristy New England town. LOL. I try to always fly the old Betsy Ross style of flag on the house since the house is so old.  |
| Flowerfreak Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 08:58 am: | |
I do this all of the time. I think it is because our "To Do" lists always contain the things that need to be done but aren't as much fun to do!
grrr.... Is that still on your "To Do" list? If so, you need to take it off so you might go & get the pen! lol |
| Stormdancer Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 10:16 am: | |
Girl....get thee to the drugstore and get that EpiPen!!!! Don't need to wait until you need it...Lol Seriously, don't wait until the stinging critters get more active. We almost had a need for one last week when we encountered one of the brown scorpions...people who are sensitive to bee stings can also have nasty reactions to our non-poisonous brown scorpions... I know they aren't cheap even with insurance...but way cheaper than the reaction!!! |
Hahahaha!! (Good to see you, BTW.)
Pfft! Hahaha! Okay, this will be a dumb question... They sell those in the drugstore? I thought you had to get a prescription. And get poked with all kinds of junk to test for allergies. That's why I've never owned one. Not to mention that I don't like doctors and that's the only way I thought I could get one. (I just read and posted about your scorpion incident. EEK!) |
| Stormdancer Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 11:18 am: | |
Yes, you do have to have a prescription for them, BUT...if you have ever had a severe reaction to bee stings it is pretty easy to get the doc to write the script for it...my sisters are/were both extremely allergic to bees (twins). Both swelled so badly that the docs said they absolutely HAD to carry the epipen or bee sting kit...epi is much easier and friendlier to operate. Call your doc and find out if he will write you a script for one...I know...allergists are no fun at all... |
| Stormdancer Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 11:31 am: | |
it was interesting to say the least...hahaha |
