Gardening for Old Folks (Adaptative)

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We can see snow into June here, usually it's done by May. Just wish it would warm up just a bit more. This is a really slow spring this year. Most years I'm planting my cold crops by the middle of April.

Thank you. We are not done with the snow yet. I don't recall any year when my crabapple tree has not ended up with snow on the blossoms and that tree has not budded out yet.

 

[N F C]

It must be spring here. It was 70°F yesterday and the Puschkinia started blooming.
Puschkinia

Those are beautiful Bob!

 

[R2elk]

Those are beautiful Bob!

Thank you. I can't believe they just keep coming back every year and I have never had to dig the bulbs up and split them.

 

[lazy gardener]

Many of those small bulbs set seed pods that can be used to propagate them. It takes several years for seedlings to reach flowering size, but they reproduce like crazy. I have drifts of chinodoxa and both pink and blue veined flowers like Bob's.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Looks like i will be watering again tomorrow. Dry here, and windy. Rain on Sunday forecast but the plants are going to dry out before then!

 

[oldhen2345]

Glad it is raining today- really a steady drizzle- but enough to keep plants alive for a few days more- hooray. I still have a bunch of plants to put out and two hanging planters to fill. Maybe by tomorrow night, the annual planting frenzy will be over. Then begins the spring maintenance. Aside from flowers and plants, I have chickens, dogs, 6 chicks in a brooder and 14 button quail eggs in an incubator to care for. In another week, I will have button quail in one brooder, chicks in another brooder and hens in the yard. The dogs of course are in the house.

 

[henless]

Looks like tomorrow I'll be covering up my garden again. Calling for temps in the mid to upper 30's for Sun & Mon morning. I got a bit of frost damage on 2 of my potted tomatoes I had put on the front porch. I'll be bringing them inside this time. They were so pretty!

The wire is up for the muscadine trellis. I'll be planting those next week once this cold front passes. Still need to plant my beans, pumpkins & cantaloupes. I did plant some more leafy greens. They went under my trellis.

I have a hen that has decided to go broody. Since I don't have fertile eggs for her to hatch, thinking about getting chicks to slip under her at night. I've got her moved and set up in a pen by herself. Just waiting to make sure she is going to stay. So far, so good.

This is her growly stage. Sometimes she's laying down flat as a pancake!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Looks like tomorrow I'll be covering up my garden again. Calling for temps in the mid to upper 30's for Sun & Mon morning. I got a bit of frost damage on 2 of my potted tomatoes I had put on the front porch. I'll be bringing them inside this time. They were so pretty!

The wire is up for the muscadine trellis. I'll be planting those next week once this cold front passes. Still need to plant my beans, pumpkins & cantaloupes. I did plant some more leafy greens. They went under my trellis.

I have a hen that has decided to go broody. Since I don't have fertile eggs for her to hatch, thinking about getting chicks to slip under her at night. I've got her moved and set up in a pen by herself. Just waiting to make sure she is going to stay. So far, so good.

This is her growly stage. Sometimes she's laying down flat as a pancake!

View attachment 1337898

How did you successfully move her? Mine don't cooperate. What's the trick I'm missing?

 

[henless]

I actually moved her twice.

The first time I put her and the ceramic eggs in a small pet taxi. Once she was in, I knew she needed a bigger cage, but I didn't have one. I left her in the taxi for a few hours while I mowed and went to hunt a bigger nest.

I decided on the bottom part of a plastic dog house. I filled it with pine straw and slid it under the hanging nests. I also put up feed sacks and some plywood on the outside of the coop to make it a bit darker (my coops are hardware cloth). I let her out of the taxi and put her eggs in the nest. She went to eat/drink, so I walked out and let her be. She jumped up on the nest perch trying to get back in her old nest a few times. I came back about an hour later, and she was on her new nest. Been there ever since.

I plan on getting chicks and slipping them under her once I'm sure she is sitting for good. Hopefully it will work. I have to thank @Beekissed for the broody advise, since I've never had one before.

Here's how it looks backed off a bit:

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Thanks for the information. I'm going to try moving one soon here. I have 2 to choose from. Hopefully one is cooperative this time.