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

[Callender Girl]

The goslings are so stinkin' cute! And congrats on the peas and lettuce. Soil tested at 60 degrees yesterday, so I popped my last tomato plant in the ground, filled the hole with natural supplements and snugged it in with some grass clippings mulch.

It appears that I might be able to just copy and paste the same sentence in all of my posts for the foreseeable future: "I chased the coyote today." Yesterday's run was the longest so far.

 

[jvls1942]

I need a Tshirt with the caption: I survived another get together with the kids.
The chimichangas were great, as usual.
the new owners kept the old recipe.
We enjoyed our waitress. she took no sh,t from the crowd. handed it right back. fun.
I hooked up a wand to the hose. only to find out that the spray adjuster end was missing. I found two others. will see if either of those will work.
I hand watered the peppers and tomatoes from the warmed bucket of water, . today I will give all the containers a real good soaking.
only 45F at 6AM,
I have to find a nice pot for Annies Thai basil,
it looks like a pepper plant, but it smells so nice.
something comes late at night and triggers the motion light. suspect raccoons. they clean out the cat's left over food.
sometimes the dish is 5o feet from where we feed the cat.
the wild plum trees are blossomed. our tame plum is soon to be. no sign on the apple trees yet
the two pear trees have blossoms.
in town the flowering crabs are in full bloom
there is one street where there are flowering crabs on both sides for a whole block.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Way too hot already. Got my tomatoes planted, as well as my potatoes in a half barrel. Was going to plant some corn, but getting late, and I'm tired already. Mosquitos are out with a passion for blood already. They must be riding the dogs inside each time we go out and in. Sure makes me itchy.

 

[Callender Girl]

Congratulations on getting tomatoes and potatoes in! Do you always plant your potatoes in a half barrel? Hope you get corn planted soon.

Every time I plant "the last thing" in my garden, I start trying to figure out if I can squeeze in one more row of something. I'm toying with planting basil between the tomatoes, just regular old basil, nothing fancy, like Annie's

Sorry to hear about the mosquitos hitching rides on the dogs; mine generally just bring in flies, both on their coats and by standing in the open door way too long. In southern Iowa, my sister says gnats are making it hard for her to work outside. Insects are such little irritants and, there's so many of them.

My irritants are much larger and furrier. Jim, you were right about the coyotes showing up in two's. I'm pretty such the one who spotted me and took off ASAP has met me before. The other actually stood its ground until I -- running at it and shrieking like a banshee -- was just a few feet away. Online research calls my approach "coyote hazing," which makes it sound more legitimate and less like insanity.

BTW, I read that killing coyotes -- which I'm not going to do -- triggers something in the survivors' biology that makes them produce larger litters to maintain the population. No thank you!!

Coyote No. 1 headed straight for the middle of the open field while No. 2 crossed my property line and stopped, unaware that I can also fit through the hole in the fence. No. 1 must have signaled that retreat was their best option. Without me having to run across the entire field, they both loped off toward the distant railroad tracks and the dredge ditch where I think they have pups.

Jim, my wild plums, pear and cherry tree are also blossoming. The Honeycrisps are leafing out, but the pollinating Granny Smith died, so no apples this year.

 

[jvls1942]

Barb, don't give up on your apple tree. there might be a tree nearby that you don't know about.
do apples need a pollinator ? pears do.
yesterday I got some tractor time in. I scrapped the two piles of wood chips into one pile.
one pile is about 3 years old. the smaller pile is well over ten years old. it is like fine black dirt. I think it can be used for potting soil.
I salvaged that tub of what was strawberries a couple of years ago, . ran six small batches through the cement mixer. then I sifted each batch ,. ended up with a pail full of weeds. and 4 pails of fine black dirt. Now I feel that I should plant some more. lol it never ends. but not today. bro Dave and wife and we are taking a road trip to Tomahawk. they want to try out a Mexican restaurant, . I had Mexican three days in a row already. Me ? Not too enthused about it.
I sort of wish I had some coyotes to chase. it sounds like a good way to keep in shape.
Lisa, I agree, too hot. I am good until about 65F. a little higher if I can stay out of the sun.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Barb first year trying to grow potatoes in a half barrel. I had another plan, but than scrapped it and just tossed them in the half barrel. Aldi had them for 9.99, so I grabbed two. One I pit my tiny blueberry shrub sticks, and the other these potatoes. See how it goes.

I have always did intensive gardening. No rows, and planting one crop after another, or even on top. These days I don't grow as much stuff, so it's mostly lettuce and beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers, with a few beets.

 

[Callender Girl]

Maybe I should grow blueberries in a pot? Only one of mine survived winter (weird winter, all of my yuccas -- which are practically indestructible -- are gone, too). I'll be interested in knowing how the berries and potatoes do.

Everyone in my dad's family farmed, but apparently I didn't inherit that gene or ability. I am persistent but too often a gardening failure, both with food and flowers.

Most apple trees -- and certainly all the ones I've ever planted -- need a pollinator, Jim. But my pear tree must have a long-distance buddy if it needs one because there's no other pear tree on my property, which is surrounded by crop fields. My dwarf sour cherry tree is loaded with blossoms this year, and I am thrilled. Sour cherry pie is my all-time favorite, and the tree is short enough that I can harvest without a ladder.

Either the coyotes took the day off yesterday, or we missed each other when I went to town.

I was unable to resist temptation; Menards had Bonnie veggies and herbs on sale. Today, before it gets ridiculously hot, I will plant an Anaheim pepper, more basil and a Mr. Stripey heirloom tomato. I'll also fill planters by the south door with vibrant orange seed geraniums from Bomgaars.

Three of my five Cochins are broody and are seriously irritating coop mates who would also like to use the nest boxes. I don't have crates to break everyone's broodiness, so I just kick them out several times a day, pop them beside food and water, and let the others dash in to lay. I think my Rose Comb Brown Leghorn -- my only white-egg layer -- set a personal speed record yesterday. Lydia couldn't have been in the nest box for a full five minutes before she dropped her egg!

Broodiness is the only thing I don't appreciate about Cochins because I love their big, fluffy bodies, feathery legs and striking good looks. Also, unlike some other chicken breeds, broody Cochins don't try to assault me when I move them; I just get called what I am sure are very bad names.

BTW, Jim, I think I could happily eat Mexican three times a week. As is, I tend to make a vat of whatever and reheat daily until it's gone. Someone else's cooking, made fresh daily, no clean up to do? Yes, yes, yes!

 

[jvls1942]

55F at 7am
no sun yet.
DD Barby grows potatoes in containers. one time she got just one potato, but it was half the size of a soccor ball.
last summer I had my new bare root pear in a half barrel until we planted it in early fall,. it developed roots that filled most of the barrel, this year it is blossoming as well as the older more established one.
the plum is all blossoms. it looks like a giant snow ball.
the apple tree is budding, but no blossoms yet
yesterday I planted four squash in a tub. and in the center of that tub I stuck the basil,
Barb, "Dances with Coyotes" I assume you are not going to let the hens hatch any eggs ?
our trip to Tomahawk was fun, the food at the Mexican place was OK, not great. stopped at a chocolate shop,
I had a Turtle. it was very good.
Annie just came in from feeding the cat, she said the apple tree has blossoms,. none on the black berries yet.
the two rows of raspberries that we planted last fall are growing nicely,. they are everbearing .
idk if they will give any berries the first year >?
I have the hose set up, I can water all four tubs and the five tomato pails in just a few minutes.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I've read apple trees can be a pollinator for a pear tree. Must work as mine always has pears. I have blueberries in containers. They don't produce much. Not like the ones I had in a raised bed. I do move the containers into a shed for the winter for a bit of protection.

Jim I laughed hilariously at a half soccer sized potato. Have to carve it up like a turkey.

Plan is to plant the corn in the raised bed, and plant a few green beans.

 

[jvls1942]

I can just picture DD standing at the table carving a potato.
I have an extra tub/thinking of planting beets,
beets always go so well with meatloaf.
today I am going to let Annie have the garage back for her car. I will park Ollie in the lean to.
There is talk of hail for tonight/.
I have to go get the 3pt drag from the trees.
I will work up the ground for the corn with it.
I use it as a chisel plow,. works great. then I take the rototiller to it .
back when I raised potatoes, I have a pair of 16" discs that I mounted on the cultivator frame and hilled the potatoes. worked great.
Annie just handed me a dish of some sort of berry seeds . wants me to plant the birds/.
winter berry holly.
she stole them from a bush along the road , in the ditch. we also have flowers, blackberries, and chives from the roadside "gardens",\
the "apple sauce" tree is blossoming now, too.
it is a yellow apple/ very soft. ok for eating, but I like a hard apple for eating.
never tried them for a pie either.
61F the sun was out, but not now.
I have the kitchen window open and the exhaust fan in the bathroom on. it actually cools the house down. less expensive than running the AC.
the skeeters have waken up here, too.
the cat came down and cleaned up the rest of his food at dusk/ I guess he didn't want the coons to get any,