Sally's GF3 thread

[U_Stormcrow]

That could be the problem, get some good seed stock.
Not sure of how to grow garlic in your climate tho.

Neither am I.

Actually, the soil packs down over time, becomes VERY dense - its my clays - then things rot. I should try 5 gal bucket garlic gardening.

 

[Sally PB]

I should try 5 gal bucket garlic gardening.

And report back on how it goes, please?

I thought greensand would help my heavy soil. Nah, not so I noticed. Really thick mulch helps. I put several inches of oak leaves in one area 3 years ago, and it is definitely a better texture. Last spring, we hauled up most of the pile of wood chips we got when we had trees taken down. That's helping.

There are lots of earthworms, which indicates plenty of organic matter. The tomatoes grow well up there. And the peppers and squash. Melons did well, but wood chucks got a lot of them. I like wood chucks a little bit less than I like raccoons.

I dug out a bit more of the brome. I can barely get the shovel to bite into the ground, it's so dry and hard. I had to hold onto a fence post to stand on the shovel just to break in about 2 inches.

We hauled about 125 gallons of water up there to put in the IBC tote, and I've used at least 30 watering the plants. I'd rather not use 10 to try to soften the ground so I can get the grass out. There's no rain in the forecast, still. I'm watering every day, alternating uphill and downhill.

 

[Sally PB]

A quiet night here. No 11:00 feeding for the raccoons, and no shotgun blasts. The neighbors have gotten 7 in the past few nights.

But dang it, I woke up at 11:06 anyway! I can't recall the last time I fell asleep and slept straight through till morning. I can't solve the world's problem lying there, trying not to toss and turn. I can't even solve MY problems.

So I worked on my own personal cusswords. I invent my own, as the usual bunch are... the usual bunch. Good for certain circumstances, but not all, like when the neighbor's kids are within hearing range.

Here's one:

"Since with!" It must be said with emphasis on both words, sort of spat out. It comes from German class in college. "Da mit" in German doesn't mean what we thought it meant. (Neither did, "Immer wo unter wo," -- "Always where under where" -- but it made the prof laugh.)

Some words I've adopted from other people. I have a friend who says, "Fargo!" That came in handy when I tripped over the garden hose yesterday.

Also, "Wednesday, Thursday, Friday!" which I saw online: "After Tuesday, even the calendar says, 'WTF.' "

 

[Sally PB]

Here's another one I've been saying today...

SOUP LINE!!!

Specifically, Vietnamese soup, pho. And a line at a restaurant for such soup might be a queue. So you could have a pho queue.

UPS has really ticked me off. Like FedEx did earlier this year. I'm going to make it even more of a point to buy local and go get stuff in person. And when I order stuff, ask that it be shipped via USPS. They have their problems, but they can find my mail box. They did an EXCELLENT job with my chicks, so they are capable.

My sweet potato slips are on some hot UPS truck, somewhere. Not the one that came out here this afternoon. The driver looked, couldn't find them, said, "Sorry lady," and left. Soup line, UPS, soup line.

 

[Sally PB]

I went to another fund raiser plant sale this morning. I got some daisies, black-eyed Susans, one Lupine, and a butterfly bush. All stuff for the bees. Which are very busy on the blackberry plants. You go, girls!

The hollyhock I bought dropped all of its buds, but I think I see new growth. I bought the plant because bees like them, and also because I like the poem, "Hollyhocks" by Max Ellison. It's from the book, The Underbark, which also has two of my favorite poems. I'll have to dig it out and post them. They aren't "great" poems, but they remind of people, places, and times I hold dear.

 

[Sally PB]

I'll have to dig it out and post them

Whoops, no, what was I thinking????

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Here's another one I've been saying today...

SOUP LINE!!!

Specifically, Vietnamese soup, pho. And a line at a restaurant for such soup might be a queue. So you could have a pho queue.

UPS has really ticked me off. Like FedEx did earlier this year. I'm going to make it even more of a point to buy local and go get stuff in person. And when I order stuff, ask that it be shipped via USPS. They have their problems, but they can find my mail box. They did an EXCELLENT job with my chicks, so they are capable.

My sweet potato slips are on some hot UPS truck, somewhere. Not the one that came out here this afternoon. The driver looked, couldn't find them, said, "Sorry lady," and left. Soup line, UPS, soup line.

We called them "OOooops". reasons self evident.

 

[Sally PB]

Up to April 5th, this was the wettest year ever. From April 6th to today, the driest. Thus sayeth the meteorologist, anyway.

We will have garlic scapes soon. DH said he thought they were rather bland when he tried them last year, but is willing to try them again. If he doesn't like them, well, all the more for me. I found a bag of them in the freezer a couple weeks ago. Like finding a $20 bill in a pocket when doing the wash.

I found three tomato plants with flowers. One is a cherry tomato, the other two are Italian Heirloom, one of my really big producers last year.

 

[Sally PB]

Three weeks old tomorrow. This is Button, though Hubby insists on calling her Xena.

Plus two others who weren't as cooperative. Eventually one of them will climb all the way up to my kneecap and see what there is outside of the brooder!

 

[Sally PB]

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley..."

Trivia question: In the book, Rebecca, what is Max De Winter's second wife's name?

No, actually, I dreamed about grass clippings. Fresh, damp, fragrant grass clippings. In a former life, I think I was a rabbit. Given a choice between a steak and green beans, I'll take the beans.

I think the drought is permeating my subconscious. During The Summer I Was Poor, I dreamed about food a lot.

Momma makes a comfortable perch.

Sunny is going to be The Brave Girl.

For some reason, these "peck the camera" pictures make me chuckle.