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

[Cebarmlds]

Gee, I read the post and didn't notice the date -- which I SHOULD have because July 1 was my birthday! Of course, I've had so many of those that they aren't that big of a deal. Good catch, @Cebarmlds -- guess it's a good thing I'm not an editor anymore!

How did I celebrate? Well, I was down to one battery for the lawnmower, so I went to Menards and got another one for $80. But, because I'd had to replace the washing machine a few months ago, I had still had $73 worth of a Menards rebate that made the battery almost free!

I saved so much money that I took myself to one of the local garden and plant nurseries and bought two coral bells (all but one of mine died over the very dry winter), a gorgeous daylily (can't have enough of those!) and a Purple Ruffles basil (my garden basil is thriving; the potted one on the deck is deceased). Oh, and I put the new lawnmower battery to good use, but I only mowed in the shady parts of the yard.

Jim, have you seen those little stinkers again? And, Lisa, did you get rid of the skunk smell in your coop?

Belated, Happy Birthday

 

[Callender Girl]

Thanks! I never say anything ahead of time because my birthdays tend to not be fun. But yesterday was pretty darn good!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Thanks! I never say anything ahead of time because my birthdays tend to not be fun. But yesterday was pretty darn good!

You never know how Birthdays are going to go. Glad yours went well.

 

[jvls1942]

Barb, happy birthday.
i think what happened to the date was I looked at the bottom corner of my screen and copied the 7 o2 time as the date.
yes, the little cuties are still here. this morning as we were having our coffee out on the deck, two of them came to visit. they went under the deck. they have been busy all day digging their tiny holes under the apple tree. looking for bugs i presume ?
Jason was here early this morning. put the new parts onto Ollie. but Ollie refused to start. Jason couldn't stay to figure it out because he had to get home to cut hay. at 3PM the sun went away and we had thunder and rain. I gues hay cutting is over for today.
the tomatoes are less than 2 ft from the tops of their optimistic poles. I tied them again today.
the plastic ribbon i bought is not so good. it breaks with the slightest pull. Annie went to town for groceries. I asked her to get me a ball of jute cord. it is biodegradable. i can compost it after the romatoes are finished.

 

[jvls1942]

GGson went home. the house was so calm and quiet.
we sat with the tv off. we both dosed off.
I thought I heard a noise outside. took a look. Jason's van was there. I went to get my shoes on, went out and Jason was gone. I am guessing the noise I heard was Ollie starting up, I will check on it this morning.
the little stinkers are still here. haven't seen mama yet.the cat caught another red squirrel.

 

[jvls1942]

me again
this morning i did try Ollie. he started right up.
so i had to take a ride. i loaded the antique push cultivator into the bucket , grabbed the packet of new corn seed and went to the corn patch. it was 78F before noon. i used the push cultivator to prepare the rows and planted five rows of corn. by then i couldn't bring myself to do another row. came into the house. 82F, . i have enough seed for one more row. right now i don't feel like rushing back outside. i'll wait until tomorrow morning when it is cool.
but i feel good about the whole thing. might make a
root beer float to celebrate.
oh yea, Annie surprised me with a packet of lettuce seed. i guess i will be planting lettuce sooner than i thought. lol gotta scrape up a container.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Congratulations on getting Ollie going Jim. My corn in the garden box is getting big fast. It falls over if we get storms, but is easy to push back up. My garden is turning into a jungle. Too hot for me to stay out there long. Hoping for rain tonight so I don't need to water.

 

[jvls1942]

good morning,
i don't mind watering. it takes only ten minutes to do six raised beds and five tomatoes.
i went back to the corn patch and planted four more rows. still have seed left, but my shoulder hurt so bad , i had to quit. ten rows is enough for us.
Lisa, you can bank the corn with dirt to help hold it up. probably kind of hard to come up with extra dirt in a raised bed, though, eh?
i guess we are going to go buy another cement mixing trough from Menards.the lettuce that Annie bought is Bib lettuce. supposed to grow a tight head.
once i planted head lettuce. they grew very nicely until they were about softball sized. then it got hot and they all turned black and wilted.
still have not seen mama skunk.
the cat has at least one more red squirrel to catch
Ollie has never ran better.
I have some rocks to pick up, and then i want to drag the ground all around the corn patch and plant buckwheat. should help the weeds from creeping in ?
going to be a hot 4th weekend. stay in where it is cool and drink plenty.

 

[Callender Girl]

Jim, congrats on Ollie's better-than-ever performance! Beware of doing too much in the heat, though.

Lisa, if it rains here, it's so hot I think it will just turn to steam!! I'll be refreshing water for the poultry -- and adding some prebiotics and probiotics AND handing out chilled watermelon -- and livestock all day. BTW, I "steal" some of the watermelon for myself! I there is anything more refreshing than sweet, juicy, cold watermelon, I've never come across it.

My sister, who went to the ER with heat exhaustion recently, is in Des Moines where her husband entered her vintage Challenger in a car show. I'm not sure sunny weather and above 90-degree heat is a great idea for her. Okay, I'm sure it isn't.

I have already done chores, including the daily deadheading of all my beloved daylilies.

I'm planning to do some quick outdoor work this morning before the heat gets unbearable and I retreat to the living room. With windows open overnight, it's still 70-something in here. I'll close the windows pretty soon, and the house will stay coolish for hours. I suspect I will need to turn on the portable AC later so the dogs don't melt.

Happy Fourth of July, everybody!

 

[jvls1942]

Happy 4th to all.
what happened to Thursday ? I sure am messed up
we have a cantalope in the fridge. almost as good as watermellon. finally got a ripe one . can eat it right down to the rind.
it just started to rain hard. 75 am, good, my new corn seeds need it.
so much for having coffee on the deck.
i had to pull the tomato buckets apart from each other. the vines were touching each other.'

the beans are blossoming.
I hope Carolyn doesn't over do it with the heat.