What did you do in the garden today?

[Munchkin82]

Welcome to the gardeners thread

Thank you! Hopefully this year will be better than the last one! Grasshoppers and birds were my enemies

 

[NightingaleJen]

Does anyone have tips for growing greens/lettuces? @penny1960, you mentioned salad...I've had really bad luck the past several years and cannot figure out what I'm doing wrong despite having gardened for ages and ages. Any help would be really appreciated!

@NightingaleJen I decided I just can't drag the grapefruit tree in again so I wrapped it up in a fleece blanket despite the freeze warning. It's very used to the cold, it stays in the mud room that we keep just above freezing all winter & it's tucked up by the house & a fence. My motto is kind of do or die here, lol. I did bring in the small lime tree though cuz that's easier to move around. I'm not sure how well sheets would work for a freeze, do you have anything thicker? Blankets? But I get not wanting to haul them around!

Ha! Yes, we are getting to that point! We've had these trees for a decade or so now, and every spring/fall they make the trip over our narrow story-and-a-half stair (we live in a cute wee carriage house on our property—3 years now—until we can build the Big House). It's getting old because not only are they big and heavy...those thorns! Ack! Alas, no greenhouse or room in our mudroom.

Anyhow, I threw three sheets over them and shored up the bottom with a few cushions from the porch furniture. If they do not make it...it just wasn't meant to be! We'll start over with new trees that should stay smallish for five or six years, by which point, God willing, it's a moot point because we'll just be shoving them from indoors to out rather than hauling them up and down a long flight of stairs. Maybe I'll go toss a blanket over them, too, before bed. But at 8:30 I was wandering around outdoors in just a skirt and light sweater, and it didn't seem bad...ah well.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I started my mustard's, spinach, all the good stuff in the garage a two months ago....
I also use fresh potting soil in my tires I have physical problems bending so our garden is in tires..
Most my herbs are are established perennials

 

[TropicalBabies]

How is this for creative planting? That is a Artichoke in the middle of that stump. I was thinking maybe that will keep the wild pigs from digging it and maybe the deer will leave it alone too. It's in a rotten stump that is moist inside, so maybe it can wick moisture w/o getting a nitro leach. I guess I shall see.

It really is a fabulous climate up there especially summer time.

I took some wild confetti Lantana cuttings to propagate, not the time to do it but what the heck. The whole forest is littered with it for miles and miles and it is all blooming along with the wild blackberry. Bad but beautiful.

K. there is my show and tell for this eve. Night all

 

[karenerwin]

Thanks everyone for the good wishes for my Mom. @penny1960 insurance has decided either she is out of days ( to be covered: 100 days per occurrence) or that she isn't still making progress ( with PT) or that she just no longer needs that level of care.
She is already saying she doesn't want to give up her apartment but my brother who has POA over finances says she can't continue to keep it and do private pay for where she is now ( and the facility says she isn't physically healthy enough to go back to assisted living).
So, yes, it will be quite the challenge to convince her. She already blames us ( and my father when he was alive) for moving her into assisted living ( my dad went as well). But she was no longer able to live at home ( she just couldn't/wouldn't see/admit it). She apparently mentions this fairly often to one of my brother's and tells him how we ruined her life. (No guilt trip there!! )

 

[Stepnout]

Well I’ll be 63 before the end of the month. I’ve never seen snow that stayed on the ground in May in all those years. I’ve seen a few flurries before but never any accumulation of snow. Now 2020 arrives. The Corona Virus shows up and now twice in May 2020 I witnessed snow on the ground.
I’m thinking HELL has frozen over!
here are this morning’s picture!

 

[Sueby]

Does anyone have tips for growing greens/lettuces? @penny1960, you mentioned salad...I've had really bad luck the past several years and cannot figure out what I'm doing wrong despite having gardened for ages and ages. Any help would be really appreciated!



Ha! Yes, we are getting to that point! We've had these trees for a decade or so now, and every spring/fall they make the trip over our narrow story-and-a-half stair (we live in a cute wee carriage house on our property—3 years now—until we can build the Big House). It's getting old because not only are they big and heavy...those thorns! Ack! Alas, no greenhouse or room in our mudroom.

Anyhow, I threw three sheets over them and shored up the bottom with a few cushions from the porch furniture. If they do not make it...it just wasn't meant to be! We'll start over with new trees that should stay smallish for five or six years, by which point, God willing, it's a moot point because we'll just be shoving them from indoors to out rather than hauling them up and down a long flight of stairs. Maybe I'll go toss a blanket over them, too, before bed. But at 8:30 I was wandering around outdoors in just a skirt and light sweater, and it didn't seem bad...ah well.

I've had my grapefruit for 30 years or so, it has never even flowered, never mind produced fruit, but it was a teeny tiny plant my grandmother gave to my sister long ago & she passed to me when her kids were born (those thorns!) so it's purely sentimental. I refuse to put it in a bigger pot so every 3 years or so I take it out of it's pot, cut 3 v's into the roots & cut 3 inches off the bottom & add new dirt to the cuts so it stays happy in it's small(ish) pot! Anyway, how's yours do?

It only got down to 33 here so I'm guessing everything is good - but watching the news they're saying another frost/freeze tonight, which is new info. AAARRRGGGHHH, I was planting my starts today. Guess I'm not.

About the lettuce - what are you trying to grow? I grow a mixed leaf lettuce & it does pretty good here (usually, been so cold so it's growing soooo slowly). When it gets hot I have to plant under other plants, like under a trellis or under the tomato plants so it gets shade. I just pluck off leaves from the outsides till there's nothing left or it starts to bolt, then I pull it. I add a new row of seeds every week or so to stagger it.

I have to get out & collect eggs, one of my littles laid a perfect tiny little egg yesterday, right outside of the nesting box so I have to go make sure nothing gets trampled. Have a great day everyone!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. I think Spring is here finally. I got the front yard trimmed up and some of the mulch down. I'll finish that up today. Looks like we could get another night of frost as well, @Sueby. I'll get the garden beds ready completely so perhaps tomorrow I can pop some seedlings in the dirt. My impatiens seedlings are starting to pop through the dirt. One of the cells in that starter tray has a mystery plant in it. It looks like it may be a squash plant. Very weird. My tiny bay laurel plant is finally showing signs that it is a real plant. I was beginning to think it was artificial. But the two tiny buds on it are starting to open. I'm guessing this little guy wants warm temperatures only. Then I'm sure it will like the temps at the end of next week which is supposed to be near 80F. I'm so sorry about your Mom's predicament @karenerwin. I hope you and your brother can figure this out. I thought hell had frozen over a while ago @Stepnout, I think this might be Armageddon. Love the pictures as always @TropicalBabies. I hope your artichoke does well in the stump. Here's a shot of my frazzled lily (I forgot the real name) last year it was just one flower head, this year it's two. Have a great day everyone.

 

[WthrLady]

Almost done with the mustard seed from last fall. A lot of work for a few seeds. I'll save and plant some and mustard-ize the rest.

Very dark, leaden clouds this morning. We will have severe weather tonight and over an inch of rain. We'll go nice and summer-like after Saturday. THEN I'll plant the garden. So a few more walkies for the tomato plants.

@karenerwin you have my sympathies. We went through the same insurance game with my mom.

 

[Severne]

I harvested the last of my Salad before the plants bolted in the heat.