What did you do in the garden today?

[pennyJo1960]

We're so far off the beaten path that the only folks seeing our lights would be fly-overs. We put a string of solar lights around the coop and garden since the chickies are our "kids" now. I'm not a big fan of the holiday hype, I guess 30 years in a retail environment killed it for me. I could go the rest of my life without hearing the canned holiday music and all the retail glitz. Tonight, after a cold front came through, it has cooled down into the 30's and a ground fog is nestled into the ravines beautifully accented by the stars and a bright moon. My wife and I sat on the deck looking over the valley and it was so quiet you could hear the deer walking in the leaves down by the creek.

We live in a very small town on the backside of it sitting outside at night is so peaceful
I understand perfectly

 

[Susannah4040]

We live on the outskirts of our city, up on a large hill - it is lovely to sit out on the verandah and look out over the city to the mountains in the background...today the skies cleared and I was back to painting the wood for enclosing in our bbq area, for Christmas...I paint/plan and my partner constructs ...after that is completed, sometime this weekend, we are moving on to making new vegetable garden beds...can't wait to plant my herbs, two passionfruits vines and a lemon tree...even though we are now into summer, it isn't as warm, as it should be...which is good, as we have a lot of humidity here.
Enjoy your weekend

 

[GardenTillers44]

We had hoarfrost after the fog last night. We don't see that but every few years here. The woods were alive with dripping when the sun came up. Good morning for a cup o' Joe on the back porch. Gonna be a good day....

 

[lazy gardener]

I don't decorate except lights and a tree. My husband calls me scrooge

Hubby and I decided a couple of years ago that we were done with decorating. Not even a tree! No lights! I might dig out my nativity set (a very small frosted glass affair) and nestle it among my plants. Then, again, I most likely won't bother. I much prefer simply enjoying the focus on Christ during this season.

Tonight, after a cold front came through, it has cooled down into the 30's and a ground fog is nestled into the ravines beautifully accented by the stars and a bright moon. My wife and I sat on the deck looking over the valley and it was so quiet you could hear the deer walking in the leaves down by the creek.

Love your word pictures.

 

[deepbluesea]

I'm in zone 8a so mine overwinters AND spreads way too much. I'd totally be willing to tear some up and send it to you. (Greek oregano)

Cuban oregano! In Trinidad, it's called Spanish thyme, and I was confused for a long time. I actually cooked with it last night (pelau), and used some from my outdoor bed and from an indoor pot. They were really different in thickness and texture--the outdoor leaves were FIERCE.

I'm drooling over seed catalogs, tending my chard, kale, tatsoi, lettuce and spinach, and hoping my stoopid broccoli starts will actually yield. Also reveling over the dozen free bales of straw I got from my neighbor, which I will turn into more planting area in the spring.

We broadcast the fine seeds on the soil surface in a planter or starter plug tray with potting mix and mist it once a day until it sprouts. It doesn't like to be too wet. It is also important to keep it warm to germinate. Don't move it into the garden too early as the cold soil will set it back. We're in southern Ohio and get it in the garden around Memorial Day, you might be a week or so behind us. Patio containers are good after Mother's Day. We've had good luck with both Mexican and Mediterranean basic oreganos. Not so much with the fancy varieties. We start it in our greenhouse under a grow light and move it to our deck or transplant it into the garden. This year we also tried aromatic Cuban oregano and it grew like kudzu, we were literally harvesting and drying it by the 5 gal. bucket. We let the oreganos flower and go to seed late in the season for the bees and to harvest seed. Couple of links below with some info on starting oregano.

https://www.thekitchn.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-growing-oregano-220612

https://www.westcoastseeds.com/how-to-grow-guides/grow-oregano/

Cuban oregano ready for the dryer.

View attachment 1199380

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I wish we lived that far out. We're in deep suburbia. But that's not the reason I decorate. We mostly decorate indoors. But we don't celebrate Christmas (I celebrate that as a family obligation only), we celebrate Yule, and decorating for it is a big part of the tradition, since it's an idolization of the sun and earth. Most modern Christmas traditions stem from the Christianization of pagan Yule traditions so it's a very similar celebration with nearly identical decorations.
Our only outside decoration other than a wreath my partner's grandmother gave us is going to be a leftover from Halloween. XD We have a resin cast zombie deer state outside that has white teeth sitting in front of our porch. Every time you pull in the driveway, those teeth reflect the headlight and it looks like it's giving you a creepy smile welcoming it home. I managed to convince my partner to put a Santa hat and sleigh bells on it so it can stay out during the winter, and continue to give us a nice big smile whenever we come home. :3
Today I go dig some more garden beds.... I also will start properly clearing out and amending the old empty beds. I have a HUGE compost pile that it perfect for fall application right now, just waiting to go into the beds. Maybe 2-3 cubic yards of it? I'm excited. Not to mention all of the leaves that just fell!

@deepbluesea , I would totally take some if I thought it would make the trip! Haha! Maybe if you had seeds to send? We could even do an exchange. Have any need for some of the best polebeans you can grow in areas like NE Ohio?

 

[deepbluesea]

@deepbluesea , I would totally take some if I thought it would make the trip! Haha! Maybe if you had seeds to send? We could even do an exchange. Have any need for some of the best polebeans you can grow in areas like NE Ohio?[/QUOTE]

ALWAYS up to try new seeds! It has gone to seed, so let me see what they look like. Actually I could send both--it's super resilient. I wish I had 2-3 cu yards of compost. I have three composters, but maybe one c.y. tops.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Haha! The thing I have the most of is KY wonder pole beans. Been growing them here for years, they're insanely prolific. I know they're a popular variety. But I also have other things if you already have those and wanna try something else.

 

[deepbluesea]

Haven't grown KY wonder, though I know they're popular. I have yard-long beans and dragon tongue. DM me your address and I'll ship this weekend if you want. It'll give me an excuse to take back some of my raised bed.

 

[chickmom3941]

We're so far off the beaten path that the only folks seeing our lights would be fly-overs. We put a string of solar lights around the coop and garden since the chickies are our "kids" now. I'm not a big fan of the holiday hype, I guess 30 years in a retail environment killed it for me. I could go the rest of my life without hearing the canned holiday music and all the retail glitz. Tonight, after a cold front came through, it has cooled down into the 30's and a ground fog is nestled into the ravines beautifully accented by the stars and a bright moon. My wife and I sat on the deck looking over the valley and it was so quiet you could hear the deer walking in the leaves down by the creek.

Sounds very picturesque. Here, we love our three-season porch so much. If you sit out there at night you can see deer coming to the yard to look for apples, and also walking around in the corn/soy bean fields that surround our property on three sides. It's just so peaceful out there, and it's screened in so the mosquitoes can't get you. The only problem is the wildlife really gets our dog barking. If he gets too worked up, we have to bring him inside and close the porch for the night. Him and the cats really love it out there, though, so if he stays relatively quiet, we leave the door open so they can sit out there all night if they want.