Mumsy's Romantic Garden Advice

[Sally8]

Not only do I like seeds or pieces of plants from people I know but I also like Christmas Ornaments that have been hand made from friends. Unfortunately, I lost all the ones my Children had made me in school and any others in the house fire. So it began again. I made my adult children sit down 2 Christmas' in a row and hand paint ornaments. That thought I was losing it as they were in their 30's but they did it anyway. lol

 

[Jessica Lynn]

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.

That is so sweet of you!

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Mumsy, I have family up that way so seriously do let me know if you ever want a crepe myrtle or cuttings dropped off. I have 14 I don't want and five I am keeping! Thanks so much for the advice on how to dig them up and when.

 

[MumsyII]

@Sally: I understand.

@Jessica: I went out today and snooped around. Collected quite a bit of seed. Some I thought would be in abundance had already dispersed! Some I didn't think of had quite a few full seed pods. And there are many others yet to ripen. Got all my bags labelled and set aside. I forgot how much fun saving seed can be!

@Punk: Thank you. Truly. We can be in touch.

It's a warm one today. I harvested baby carrots early and got them blanched and into the freezer. I should go back out when the sun starts to set and pull some more for dinner.

Baby Calliope carrots.

Some of the chickens are waiting to lay later in the day. Not sure what's up with that. Another pullet Silkie laid her first egg this week. That always makes me happy.

While I was harvesting some seed, quite a bit self sowed. I'm thinking the Potager garden is going to be swimming in poppies and calendulas next year. Must remember to save Larkspur and Cosmos too. I love those for late summer color. The great thing about many of these seeds is how they thrive with neglect. Poor soil and little watering is best for wild type flower plantings. I try hard to keep the weeds thin in the beginning but then can just forget about it once the flowers starting taking off. Weeds actually help support the wildflowers. If soil is too rich or moist the wild flowers get too lanky and then fall over in the first rain.


Sweet Peas, Glads, and Nastursiums all growing in a tangle.

 

[armorfirelady]

Beautiful wild flowers. Since I don't do well at playing weed or no weed (my mom comes over to play with me since she recognizes young flowers & I can't) I tend to leave them grow till I can tell for sure. She gets quite a laugh when I text her if she wants to play the game. We entertain each other well lol

And I like ones at need less care & water my mom walked the yard with me today. I had deer in the yard where I planted the new plants and was curious if they ate them or the blueberry plants. Thankfully they didn't. Apparently the hostas ans sunflower tops taste better

But it seems that wildflower mix I threw down a month or 2 ago is growing.......I haven't watered it at all so it relaying on Mother Nature and she has not given us much rain at all.

I checked on the pumpkin leaves tonight. I found some squash bug eggs but no bugs them selves. I don't know if it was the LAB I sprayed on them or not but I sprayed them again and the ground around them. I also put corn meal & water mixture around the tomato plants with the worse blight. I don't know how much corn meal is left since the hens were in the garden with me and decided that was tasty. I also sprayed the tomato plants with the LAB. curious to see if more leaves get it. I also sprayed it on the zucchini leaves with what I think is powdery mold.and the watermelons with spider mites. Seems my gardens attract the bad bugs and such. I couldn't find the potato I buried with blight tho.

 

[midnightroo]

Jessica, I googled chinese evergreen and the photos that came up were different so I think that must a local name used for it. I did some looking around for the first plant and I think it is a weeping red bud. Love red buds so I am sure that is why it caught my eye.

Those carrots are beautiful! I can't wait to grow carrots like those one day!

I have heard about using beneficial sprays similar to LABs on tomatoes before with good results. I also heard comfrey soaked in water and then spray in a dilution on things works well also. I have also heard stories about others who had very healthy soil like Mumsy that grew excellent plants with little to no problems because their plants were so healthy. They didn't need sprays so they didn't kill any beneficial bugs so what bad bugs that came got eaten by the good bugs.

 

[midnightroo]

Armor. My potato that I replanted was eaten by GIANT slugs I have been growing. They were so big my neighbors ducks had a hard time swallowing them.

Next time you spray your squash go back a few minutes later they will climb up to dry and them you can kill them. They hide or fall to the ground, very smart.

 

[MumsyII]

Jessica, I googled chinese evergreen and the photos that came up were different so I think that must a local name used for it. I did some looking around for the first plant and I think it is a weeping red bud. Love red buds so I am sure that is why it caught my eye.

Those carrots are beautiful! I can't wait to grow carrots like those one day!

I have heard about using beneficial sprays similar to LABs on tomatoes before with good results. I also heard comfrey soaked in water and then spray in a dilution on things works well also. I have also heard stories about others who had very healthy soil like Mumsy that grew excellent plants with little to no problems because their plants were so healthy. They didn't need sprays so they didn't kill any beneficial bugs so what bad bugs that came got eaten by the good bugs.

When I began my garden over twenty five years ago, I told my husband that the days of reaching for the poison was over. I wanted my garden to be a peaceable place for humans, mammals, amphibians, birds, insects, and what ever else may come. Live and let live is my motto. Doesn't mean I won't try to kill mites or lice on my chickens with wood ash or Nu Stock but I stopped killing insects of any kind in the garden. The first three years were difficult for my husband and I to watch as bugs, disease, and munchers of all kinds went at it with my lovely plants and trees. We fought the battle with our bare hands. We squished with our fingers, we sprayed with water from the hose, we pruned with loppers and saws. I used companion plantings. And I encouraged birds into my garden. Water features, feed stations, bird houses, and plantings that bore fruit, seed, fir cone, and nut. It worked. By the third year a balance had been reached. The garden became what I dreamed it could become. A sanctuary for all. The deer still make it in sometimes and browse on roses. Rabbits nibble on things still. Slugs may ruin a perfect head of cabbage or lettuce. But this is just the way it is.

My Grandmother always told me to plant in this way using an old farmers almanac rhyme. "One for the cutworm, one for the crow, one for the bunny, and one to grow." I plant enough for all. I fence out the munchers the best I can. I fence newly planted fruit trees and wrap their trunks and I protect fruiting shrubs and roses with netting. I use crop covers to discourage moth worm and I don't loose sleep over any of it.

I love sitting out there and watching garden spiders (little white ones) feast on aphids on the roses. I watch flocks of tweety birds fly through the trees eating insects. I watch swallows sore through the air eating flys and mosquito's. If I'm outside after dark I can see the bats doing the same. Everybody has to eat.

Balance can be achieved. It takes time. It takes hard work. It takes patience. I'm lucky to live in a neighborhood where no one sprays poison so I don't worry about poisonous wind drift. The thick shrubbery on my borders will help with that if neighbors change.

We live in a marvelous age of Internet where knowledge is a click away. For twenty of the last twenty five years, my knowledge came from friends that gardened like me, books and trial by error.

Edited to add: Healthy robust plants very often can out grow and withstand insect and disease when their correct growing conditions are met for them. 90% of seeds and starts in my garden are heritage varieties

 

[MumsyII]

The question of achieving balance in the garden kind of snuck up on me tonight. It's been so many years since my brain has even traveled here. A lot has been flooding back.

First I want to say this. If you are making LAB, or any kind of home remedy to combat what ever is getting your plants, by all means do it or try. If what you are doing is not affecting beneficial insects or organisms. Achieving balance must start with allowing enough time for the beneficial agents to make a come back. There are many ways to help. I discussed attracting birds to the garden. They have huge appetites. Especially if they are feeding young in the nests you either provide or in the shrubbery you have planted.

Encouraging bees we all know about. Many bees, hornets, and wasps eat aphids, beetles. and other plant eating insects. The only time I kill hornets or wasps is when they build a nest where I happen to walk every day. I react badly to stings. If they are going about their business and not bothering me, I don't bother them. If they bother me. I take them out.

Planting heritage things that have survived cultivation for a century or many centuries. Trees, fruiting and ornamental. Vegetables and flowers. Old time varieties have lasted through the ages for very good reasons. They can take it. The more hybrid and new fangled the variety, the more suspicious I am on how hardy and reliable it will be.

Don't plant things that are notorious for disease and insect attack. Hybrid Tea and Grandiflora roses come to mind.
Plants that suffer continued attacks by mildew, rust, and Black spot every year are on my hit list. I give them a few years. I try a few things. But I do not have a sentimental bone in my body for any plant or chicken for that matter, that can't make it here on my terms. Get healthy or you're gone. There are so many many plants in the world to try. If a plant can't make it here, I will free up that spot and pull that sucker out! Something wonderful will be out there for me to plant instead.

 

[armorfirelady]

Armor. My potato that I replanted was eaten by GIANT slugs I have been growing. They were so big my neighbors ducks had a hard time swallowing them.

Next time you spray your squash go back a few minutes later they will climb up to dry and them you can kill them. They hide or fall to the ground, very smart.

I went out after dark with my flashlight and checked the bottom of the leaves and didn't see any squash bugs just one cluster of eggs I removed. Fingers crossed!

We are finally getting much needed rain. I can see the plants soaking up all that good water. A soaking rain is more beneficial for watering plants than the sprinkler any day.

Mumsy I would love to to find the info on beneficial plants that attracts good bugs to eat bad bugs. I've read praying matntis and lady bugs are good choices. I have only seen a praying mantis once here at my house. And we have lady bugs but it seems I didn't see a lot of those either this year. Apparently you can buy them to put in your garden?

I encourage bees by planting flowers around the perimeter of the fenced in garden. So far it has worked. They have been busy in the small sunflowers plants and in the blossoms of the veggies.

Do you think zucchini and watermelon that has blooms now will produce fruit by the first frost? Usually that's late September if we are lucky.

And by varieties that survive do you include vegetable plants? I tend to keep the plastic tags with the plants. More so I remember what I planted where but I can use these to decide what had powdery mold, squash bugs etc?