Mumsy's Romantic Garden Advice

[midnightroo]

Sally8, hope your mom is doing better. You do have your priorities straight. I say all the time, L won't remember gifts, but she does remember time spent with her.

Mumsy, I think your own hand is green! . I am still pretty new at gardening, I got started because we loved fresh salsa so I grew all the ingredients for that in a tiny spot at the other house. I tried a few things, but we were on .1 of an acre and hadn't heard about the urban gardening movement yet. When we moved to this house we have more land so I am able to try more things. There are a lot of things to control and others we can't. I do my best and with the help of the chickens I will have a garden like yours! Girls are out climbing trees now, earlier they built a fairy house in the middle of the yard, so time for some more gardening for me.

 

[MumsyII]

Sally8, hope your mom is doing better. You do have your priorities straight. I say all the time, L won't remember gifts, but she does remember time spent with her.

Mumsy, I think your own hand is green! .

You can and will have the garden of your dreams. I keep preaching about keeping a garden journal. Once you start one and keep it handy, making notes will come second nature. Just scribble things down to get started. The time of year you plant stuff. Where you plant and what kind of dirt. Note the weather. Note the seeds or starts you plant. Doesn't have to be elaborate note keeping. No one is going to read it but you.

Girls are out climbing trees now, earlier they built a fairy house in the middle of the yard, so time for some more gardening for me.

Next year I'm going to plant a hoop and cover it with beans and pumpkins and carve out a little place inside for my Grandchildren to play in a green fort. Maybe plant some Nastursiums to duke it out with the pumpkins and beans. A very special garden house just for the small children. This could also be made using long sturdy bamboo canes put together in a tee pee shape. I'd better plant it in the corner so the pumpkin won't take over the world next time. Hah!

 

[armorfirelady]

Mumsy your gardens are so beautiful. Thank you for sharing!! And I never knew there were red marigolds......I will have to look those up. My mom loves marigolds.

In my research on potato bugs I read nasturtium (sp) may help keep them away. They are also on my list of plants to ger.

I was wondering your thoughts on using LAB in the garden bed to see if it prevents blight e following year? I sprayed some on the squash bugs and their eggs to see if it would kill them. Haven't had a chance to go out and see if it worked.

My garden with the potatoes and pumpkins is my raised bed that's full of thick compost & DL. It's also the bed growing the best (blight included ). I might try the lab all around the bed and see if it returns next year. I might also plant the potatoes next year where the old compost pile was. I just don't know how deep I can get down since it has trees on one side.

Please keep sharing your garden pics. They are so beautiful and give me hope some day mine will even a third as pretty as yours

 

[MumsyII]

Mumsy your gardens are so beautiful. Thank you for sharing!! And I never knew there were red marigolds......I will have to look those up. My mom loves marigolds.

In my research on potato bugs I read nasturtium (sp) may help keep them away. They are also on my list of plants to ger.

I was wondering your thoughts on using LAB in the garden bed to see if it prevents blight e following year? I sprayed some on the squash bugs and their eggs to see if it would kill them. Haven't had a chance to go out and see if it worked.

My garden with the potatoes and pumpkins is my raised bed that's full of thick compost & DL. It's also the bed growing the best (blight included

). I might try the lab all around the bed and see if it returns next year. I might also plant the potatoes next year where the old compost pile was. I just don't know how deep I can get down since it has trees on one side.

Please keep sharing your garden pics. They are so beautiful and give me hope some day mine will even a third as pretty as yours

Just came back in to blanch and freeze four quarts of beans. I couldn't reach them all. I will ask the husband to help tonight. He likes going out in the garden. He says it's wild and unruly. Then he laughs and says, "Just they way you like it!"

I have questions about your potatoes. What variety did you plant. Are they recommended for your area? Do they get full morning sun to dry the dew? Do you overhead sprinkle or drip irrigate? Do you mulch the potato growing area with straw or loose litter so that spores are not splashed up onto foliage? Is there good air circulation around the potato green tops?

My potatoes got blight last year same as my tomatoes because of lack of sun and wet leaves all day. I think. This year I moved them all into full sun.

Try the LAB. If it helps at all, it will be an awesome finding.

 

[BlueMouse]

your veggies are amazing! sure gives me hope going forward that it will get better and better! Love the idea for a pumpkin teepee. I think I'll do that next year. I could do it with runner beans too. they'll take over the world if you let them.

Returning to hydrangeas.... is this a terrible time to take cuttings? would I let them overwinter inside, or plant them in a bed and transplant them in the spring? also, I don't drink coffee.... would tea grounds work for the blues as well though?

 

[MumsyII]

your veggies are amazing! sure gives me hope going forward that it will get better and better! Love the idea for a pumpkin teepee. I think I'll do that next year. I could do it with runner beans too. they'll take over the world if you let them.

Returning to hydrangeas.... is this a terrible time to take cuttings? would I let them overwinter inside, or plant them in a bed and transplant them in the spring? also, I don't drink coffee.... would tea grounds work for the blues as well though?

Thank you. Your garden will get better and better because you want it to.

I would try with the hydrangeas. Pick a stem with a bloom. Cut off the bloom and stick the cutting in sand in a pot or in the garden in the shade. Don't let it dry out.

Coffee grounds are acid-y. Not sure about tea.

 

[BlueMouse]

tea is acidy-y just not quite so much so, so it sure wouldn't hurt them I guess! also maybe that might be a good thing to plant near my pine trees where the soil is naturally acidic? will they hate having morning shade?

also. I have a large rotting stump in my yard. I want to plant something to cover it, as it's just eing taken over by weeds and can't be mowed. any suggestions? it has dandelions growing right into the top of ot now, so I thought I could sort of hack out the top a bit, add some more soil, and plant some flowers that would bloom and creep and cover it as it rots down to the level of the yard....

 

[Jessica Lynn]

Sally8, hope your mom is doing better. You do have your priorities straight. I say all the time, L won't remember gifts, but she does remember time spent with her.

Mumsy, I think your own hand is green! . I am still pretty new at gardening, I got started because we loved fresh salsa so I grew all the ingredients for that in a tiny spot at the other house. I tried a few things, but we were on .1 of an acre and hadn't heard about the urban gardening movement yet. When we moved to this house we have more land so I am able to try more things. There are a lot of things to control and others we can't. I do my best and with the help of the chickens I will have a garden like yours! Girls are out climbing trees now, earlier they built a fairy house in the middle of the yard, so time for some more gardening for me.

I think her whole body is GREEN!

 

[MumsyII]

tea is acidy-y just not quite so much so, so it sure wouldn't hurt them I guess! also maybe that might be a good thing to plant near my pine trees where the soil is naturally acidic? will they hate having morning shade?

also. I have a large rotting stump in my yard. I want to plant something to cover it, as it's just eing taken over by weeds and can't be mowed. any suggestions? it has dandelions growing right into the top of ot now, so I thought I could sort of hack out the top a bit, add some more soil, and plant some flowers that would bloom and creep and cover it as it rots down to the level of the yard....

My mind has gone blank on what to suggest. Is the stump in full sun, dappled sun, or shade? Will it get watered regularly or ignored?


I'm going to collect a lot of seed from my garden this year and portion it out in envelopes. Mixed Calendulas, Welsh Poppies, Bread Seed Poppies, Nasturtiums, Marigolds, and Sweet Peas for sure. I will also try to save seeds from all of my heritage vegetables. There should be plenty to share with every person that has subscribed to this thread. When it gets closer to the end of October, I'll bring it up again and get addresses by pm from anyone that's interested. Sharing seeds by mail is one of the most enjoyable ways I know of spreading the wealth. All it takes is a stamp.

 

[Mrs Rebecca]

I have been reading this thread for a little while now and am really enjoying it! Thank you for the wealth of information! I love gardening and have moved onto 5 acres this December and I am excited, but overwhelmed with the space. I have no desire to create large gardens, but rather enjoy the timber and natural prairies on most of the property. I do have a nice size vegetable garden, three fruit trees and a few small ornamental trees (ornamental pear and mimosa) along with some roses and very small lilacs. Since moving, I have planted a narrow bed across the front of the house and around one side with perennial and a few annuals. I have also put in, my largest ever, vegetable garden. However, my soil is horrible, heavy, hard clay. I added some compost and peat moss, but not nearly enough, so my harvest has been very disappointing. My neighbor is filling a trailer with horse manure and old straw for me to compost. I am thinking of piling it on top of my garden in the fall and working it in. I also have my own kitchen and chicken compost I will add to it, along with any leaf litter I can gather up. I have also been doing some research on biochar and am thinking of working that in to soften the soil. Has anyone tried biochar or even heard of it?
I do have a few suggestions for some of the conversation further up on the thread. Here in NW Missouri, we suffer from very high humidity this time of year, if that is coupled with frequent thunderstorms, my tomatoes almost always end up with blight. I have mixed cornmeal into my soil around my tomatoes and splashed them with a cornmeal water mixture. Keeping the unhealthy parts of the vine trimmed and keeping the weeds away has also helped. This solution was passed down to me from my great grandmother, and it seems crazy, but it really does help.
Also, if you are looking for coffee grounds, but don't drink coffee, you can ask your local coffee shop or diner to save them for you.