Dreaming of Spring Gardening in the Middle of a Wisconsin winter part 2

[jvls1942]

The only cats are the Toms that come to winter over
in our detached garage. in spring they leave. Annie feeds
them. They are like hobos, they know a good mark.
when I was a kid, we lived two blocks from the RR tracks.
more than once there would be a hobo sleeping on the couch
in our enclosed porch. Mom always made them breakfast.
things were hard back then..
I tore the Husqvarna zero turn mower deck apart , yesterday.
managed to get all the pulleys off without wrecking any. That is
almost a miracle for me..
I got three of the six sealed bearings out so far.
One was seized up tight.. today I will pull the last three
out. then see how many I will have to replace.
Some of the grapes have leaves.
My pie is all gone. The plum tree is done blooming.
it didn't get hit by frost. the apple tree is blooming.
so far, no frost..

 

[jvls1942]

taking a break
I salvaged all of the bearings.
I have one spindle back together. two to go.
it is warm out there.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Definitely warm but very relieved the humidity is low. I can deal with this kind of heat. That swamp stuff we usually get I cannot.

Hay is down. I see some of my peppers and tomatoes got slightly frosted. They should recover. Things are starting to dry out here. Could use some rain.

 

[Callender Girl]

We could use some rain here, too. The grass is getting a bit crunchy in places and a few of the rhubarb leaves are turning yellow.

I haven't spent much time on BYC because I've been working outside on weed pulling and killing in the flower beds and garden. I have a most prolific "crop" of thistles this year; the only way to slow them down is to dig them up. Ugh.

I need to get the chicks outdoors this week, but first I have to persuade the current residents to move to another coop and deep clean the one where the babies will live -- hopefully, with Eleanor, the frostbite recovery hen.

I planted six Autumn Frost winter squash Friday; five of them made it through the first night. I think a rabbit took out No. 6. Tomato and potato plants are doing well, and I added a second short row of green beans yesterday. Hope you tomatoes and peppers recover okay, Lisa.

Got that Husqvarna put back together yet, Jim?

Blooming irises are putting on quite a show right now; the first daylily opened yesterday.

 

[jvls1942]

Barb, you made me tired just reading about all you did.
No, the Husqvarna is not all back together yet. I work
on it for short periods of time. I cannot stand the heat.
I do have two of the three bearing assemblies back
together. Somehow I lost one bolt. Have to go to
Fleet and get one. It is a Metric size..
Haven't heard from Anjanet lately .
Annie is mowing the grass, a little at a time.
eventually it all gets done. Now she wants
power steering on the Cub Cadet.
Lisa, How is the haying going ? You sure
have good weather for it.. Do you do round
bales ? throw bales ? or the back breaking squares ?

 

[Callender Girl]

Sorry about tiring you out, Jim . Maybe it will make you feel better to know that I was pretty lazy yesterday. Mom grew up in the Quaker religion, and her mom was always warning her not to work on Sunday and "break the Sabbath." I don't think I was in any danger of that!

Did you get that metric bolt?

You know, I was also thinking we hadn't heard anything from Anjanet. I hope all is well with her.

How is the haying going, Lisa?

Much as I dislike dealing with mud in the poultry runs and muddy paw prints on my floor, we sure could use some rain; there's at least a chance on Tuesday and Wednesday.

 

[jvls1942]

Barb, thanks for taking a break for me.. I needed that.
I always was told that what you do on Sunday,
will be undone on Monday..
to me it doesn't matter, things go haywire on any day..
The Mulberry tree has what looks like fruit buds..
First time ever. I guess the tree had to mature ? It is less
than ten years old..
some of the grapes are showing promise of fruit, too.
Annie saw a blue jay feeding her youngster in the lilac bush.
no nest.
I waited until the sun moved over and made some shade
where I am working on the lawn mower deck. Then I went
out and finished putting it all back together. I just have a
belt tensioning spring to hook up. I left that for today.
It turned out that those bolts are not metric after all.
3/8" . just have non typical head sizes..
well, it gave me an excuse to buy some tools..
Things are not drying up around here , yet.
we cut our lawn/grass/hay at the highest setting
on the lawn mower.. My dad was a grounds keeper at
a golf course for many years.. He taught that to me.
it must work, we have never had crunchy grass.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Husband is raking the hay and will bale it up today. He's also sick. A whole week of vacation just so he can get better.

I want to honor all our fallen soldiers on this Memorial day. It bugs me people are always so festive on a somber day of remembrance. Thank you to everyone who served our country. I'm grateful to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice so that I can live in a free country.

 

[Callender Girl]

Hope you enjoyed that break I gave you, Jim, because there's plenty of work to be done today!!

I'm a little jealous that you said you have A mulberry tree. I have a gazillion; they spring up everywhere -- in fence rows, in the flower beds, against the buildings -- and, of course, they produce those lovely purple fruits that are transformed into purple bird poop -- also everywhere! And, I can't find any way to prepare the mulberries that I actually enjoy eating. The taste is probably fine, I just get so irritated with the mess that I can't let myself like them.

Upon closer, but respectful, examination, Mama Robin is feeding two babies, not one. As soon as everyone leaves the nest, I really need to weed the flower bed underneath it.

You need an excuse to buy tools? You must be a rare man, indeed!

I've always heard that you shouldn't mow off more than 1/3 of the length of the grass. I'm sure I exceeded that the first time I mowed this year because I clearly waited too long to get started. But, I like to leave it a little long so it has a better chance to grow healthy grass. Mine also likes to grow healthy crab grass, lamb's quarter and giant ragweed. On the other hand, it would be a lot more mowing if I didn't leave the wild catmint to grow wherever it pleases.

Lisa, back when I was reporting at the newspaper, I covered a Memorial Day ceremony at a small, rural cemetery, that was bordered by the woods. It had all the usual trappings, but the very cool part was the sound of a lone trumpeter, who had been out of sight and slowly entered the cemetery while playing "Taps." Eyes filled with tears as he approached.

Hope your husband feels better and all that hay gets baled!

 

[jvls1942]

IMHO, taps is the saddest song.
I hope the baling went smoothly. and Hubby feels better.
when I was about 12, the baler's knot tie er did not work on
one side. I was drafted to sit on the twine box and tie square
knots for hours and hours. OSHA would have gone bonkers
on Howie ..
I left the charger on the lawn mower over night.
It shuts off when the battery is fully charged.
Yes, I need an excuse to buy tools. I admit, sometimes
the excuse is a bit flimsy..