Gardeners of AW, unite

Fenika

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
24,311
Reaction score
5,109
Location
-
Sounds gamey. Better start growing some extra herbs to go with that pie :D
 

Sarita

carpe noctem
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
9,036
Reaction score
4,069
Location
Pennsylvania
Goodness, where do you people live? Here in the North East, we're still dead scared of another snow until at least April. :)

I have a big batch of spring bulbs to plant in the front and back gardens. And my vegetable garden is going to be a bit different this year. I'm going to stake and tie ropes to the deck stairs, which are right next to my garden so that all my viney things can grow up there instead of weaseling around my other stuff after they'd exhausted the little lattices I used to provide. Not sure what I'm planting yet... cukes, squash, beets, tomatoes, taters, loads of herbs...
 

Branwyn

Print release:Sept.1,'09
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
Messages
1,770
Reaction score
548
Location
Purgatory's Pit of Doom
Agree, Sarita. I'm excited to see my little daffodils sprouting. Don't know what happened to the crocus this year. I managed to kill 2 rosemary plants this winter. My home is like a jungle and I love it. Can't wait to bring my gardenia outside, it's hanging on by a thread.
 

GeorgeK

ever seeking
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 17, 2007
Messages
6,577
Reaction score
740
Here's a shortlist- http://www.audubon.org/bird/at_home/Plants.html

:)

Plus natives are often easier to care for than ornamentals, and many have a simple elegance that can really look good in your back yard.

We've spotted Cooper's hawks, Bald eagles, vultures, and tons more around our yard. Something keeps killing the snow geese and feasting on them too. Then we see crows as well. They love the tall trees in our yard, and the fact that we are on a large pond helps.

Yay, birding derail :)

Here snapping turtles take most of the goslings and bobcats took all the turkeys and half the adult geese. Hawks took all the guineas. We have a few wiley chickens and geese left. Piglets like to get through the fence and feed the coyotes, much to the consternation of the Pyranees guard dogs who can't get through the fence. Lambs can get through the fence too, but they're smarter than the piglets.
 

Fenika

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
24,311
Reaction score
5,109
Location
-
Goodness, where do you people live? Here in the North East, we're still dead scared of another snow until at least April. :)

I'm in Delaware, but I got a plant light (details upthread). Not sure what I'm gonna do when I move. Two to three days of driving and then scrambling to find housing can't be good for my basilings. Maybe I'll just start some seedlings before I go and haul that across the US.

Don't know what happened to the crocus this year.

My neighbors have some lovely crocus in bloom :)

Here snapping turtles take most of the goslings and bobcats took all the turkeys and half the adult geese. Hawks took all the guineas. We have a few wiley chickens and geese left. Piglets like to get through the fence and feed the coyotes, much to the consternation of the Pyranees guard dogs who can't get through the fence. Lambs can get through the fence too, but they're smarter than the piglets.

Poor dogs. I know how lgds worry too, having owned an Anatolian cross. At least the ecosystem around you is thriving :D

In the spring here the mallards always start with a dozen or more ducklings and then there's less each week or each day. I saw a large pair of mallards in our yard this morning, enjoying my bird food. They'll be nesting soon, so I guess I can spare some food :)
 

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
43,746
Reaction score
8,652
Location
Los Angeles
Website
www.amazon.com
I've harvested with all my AeroGarden crop of mint, basil, and oregano. Now I'm growing sage, parsley, and chives.

Next on the list would be cherry tomatoes. Yum.
 

GeorgeK

ever seeking
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 17, 2007
Messages
6,577
Reaction score
740
Poor dogs. I know how lgds worry too, having owned an Anatolian cross. At least the ecosystem around you is thriving :D
:)

Yes, it is and actually it is fun to listen to the hawks. Not many people (at least in America in the 20th and 21st Century) can say that they've even heard hawks, yet alone to go outside and expect to hear them. At night are the tree frogs and actually being able to see the Milky Way. The builder wanted to fill in the ditch in the front yard at the end of construction but we said, "No, the animals love the puddle!"
 

shakeysix

blue eyed floozy
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 1, 2007
Messages
10,839
Reaction score
2,426
Location
St. John, Kansas
Website
shakey6wordsmith.webs.com
i started moving into my new house last week. i'm still foundering in a sea of unpacked boxes and unshelved books but a neighbor has offered to bring his tractor in to plow a garden plot. i am thinking vegetables and a few cosomos, zinnias and snaps fopr cutting. i bought the sunflower forest seeds from burpee and can't wait to plant it. i always wanted to do this for the g-kids but never had the room before. i'm thinking watermelon, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, bush beans--all things magnolia, who is three, can help to harvest. the florida g-daughter will be out this summer. i'll have both girls for about ten days. besides swimmimg, library and riding lessons there isn't much to do out here. i'm hoping a tent in the center of a sunflower forest will keep them entertained.

it has been very, very dry but it rained last night, enough to make puddles in the street. this morning the birds were having a swimming party. if i can unload six more boxes i will plant petunias and black eyed susan vine for the front porch---s6
 
Last edited:

blacbird

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Messages
36,987
Reaction score
6,158
Location
The right earlobe of North America
Got most of my stuff planted.

It was -4F at my house this morning. There remains a foot of snow in my yard, with multiple moose tracks crossing it. The bastuds are just waiting for my garden, scheming, planning, conspiring, I know it. But they'll have to wait until mid-May at the earliest. Nobody here plants outdoors before then.

caw
 

LaurieD

aka Skwirrel
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
7,870
Reaction score
2,718
Location
🌎
Website
lauriedalzell.weebly.com
My second apricot tree has blossomed and the neighborhood lawns have erupted in this nasty smelling purple flowering weed - I think it's called chickweed or something - for the first time in the 10 years we've lived here, our purple weed is brown and dying!

*Sniff, I'm so happy*
 

Tepelus

And so...
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 18, 2008
Messages
6,087
Reaction score
413
Location
Michigan
Website
keskedgell.blogspot.com
I think I know what weed you're talking about. I think it's called creeping charlie, but I'm not completely sure. I hate it too. I winter sowed some perennials outside in milk jugs and I have sprouts of snow-in-summer in one of them. If we keep getting warm days, it'll be a matter of weeks before all my milk jugs are full of wee seedlings. Yeah spring!
 

shakeysix

blue eyed floozy
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 1, 2007
Messages
10,839
Reaction score
2,426
Location
St. John, Kansas
Website
shakey6wordsmith.webs.com
that smelly purple weed might be henbit. we have a field of it across the street. kind of an eyesore, but not as bad as my neighbor's eight foot tall privacy fence which has cow skulls nailed to it and 2 big "no trespassing" signs. they call her scary mary. i'm not knocking on her door to ask her why---s6
 

StephanieFox

Maybull the Bulldog
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 27, 2008
Messages
4,442
Reaction score
636
Location
MPLS
We've been veggie gardening for about 10 years. We used to live in the 'hood and I just started planting in a vacant lot where the crack house had been. When we moved, the Youth Farm took it over.

Now we live in a lovely neighborhood. Our back yard is small and about half of it is shaded by a very large ash tree. The sunny half has been dug up and is now a 12'x12' vegetable garden. We eat out of it all summer, then blanch and freeze greens, etc. We are still eating those greens and will till the next crop comes in in the summer

The ground here is still frozen and the last frost date is May 15, but then we'll plant. I can't wait. It's great to step outside the back door to gather dinner.
 

Fenika

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
24,311
Reaction score
5,109
Location
-
That was posted back when we were talking orchids and nonedibles.

And prolly while we were talking wild birds. ... *sings* I love goldfinches b/c they're so delicious. Gone goldfinching.

:D
 

Fenika

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
24,311
Reaction score
5,109
Location
-
Oh, and in other news, my basil has yellow spots :( Gonna run a leaf to the garden center tomorrow.
 

Tepelus

And so...
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 18, 2008
Messages
6,087
Reaction score
413
Location
Michigan
Website
keskedgell.blogspot.com
I'm wondering, Bahamut, if maybe your basil has spider mites. Check for webbing or teeny tiny bugs on the undersides of the leaves. If they are spider mites, use a mix of dish soap and water and spray them all over. That would be the safest way to get rid of bugs on food intended to be consumed. Dry air is what attracts spider mites, so keeping the air moist by misting or using a humidifier will help.
 

Fenika

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
24,311
Reaction score
5,109
Location
-
Mites are possible, but I have been spritzing the leaves. I did a little research and found out that's a no-no. One of the leaves has black spots on the edge now, so I guess that's the one I'll zip up and take in. I'm guessing fungus, but I'll keep mites in mind. Cheers
 

Carole

How 'bout some ether?
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 14, 2005
Messages
6,505
Reaction score
1,576
Location
Completely sideways, man
I did that along the side of the house. Pulled out some major boulders, ended up having to backfill the bed with 1200lbs of dirt for all the rocks I removed.

But they made a nice natural edging. :)

I built very simple boxes. One cut, eight screws per box. Sorta like these: http://www.jeffnet.org/~hgpf/howto.htm.
But I used all 2x8x8 lumber, 3 pieces per box, and cut one piece in half. Slapped some wood protector on them, and tossed 'em in the yard. Each box took, no lie, about 15 minutes to make. They took considerably longer to fill.

That's a great idea! I did that last year with my strawberries, but for a different reason. Dad tells me that strawberries will take over your whole garden if you don't keep them contained, and so I built a box for them. Unfortunately, they didn't do squat either, but that is probably because I focused more on keeping them separated than raising them higher than the ground level. My box wasn't very deep.

Raised boxes! The roots can still go deeper if they insist, but don't skimp on the soil depth when filling.

Or plow up the rocks and build a nice wall :D
I would LOVE to do that. I don't really know how to accomplish it, though, because in although we do have lots of big rocks, most of it is gravel-sized. I swear, it's almost like someone had this entire yard filled with gravel at one time and then it settled into the ground.
 

Carole

How 'bout some ether?
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 14, 2005
Messages
6,505
Reaction score
1,576
Location
Completely sideways, man
Goodness, where do you people live? Here in the North East, we're still dead scared of another snow until at least April. :)

I have a big batch of spring bulbs to plant in the front and back gardens. And my vegetable garden is going to be a bit different this year. I'm going to stake and tie ropes to the deck stairs, which are right next to my garden so that all my viney things can grow up there instead of weaseling around my other stuff after they'd exhausted the little lattices I used to provide. Not sure what I'm planting yet... cukes, squash, beets, tomatoes, taters, loads of herbs...

I bought some caladium bulbs this morning. The whole front of the house stays shaded pretty much all day, so nothing grows in my planter boxes along the porch very well. These are very colorful, and they are supposed to do well in shade. I don't know how much they spread out, though. I want those boxes filled up with color this year. Does anyone know how much they will spread? I bought 24 bulbs, and I think I might need more.
 

Mr Flibble

They've been very bad, Mr Flibble
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 6, 2008
Messages
18,889
Reaction score
5,029
Location
We couldn't possibly do that. Who'd clear up the m
Website
francisknightbooks.co.uk
Goodness, where do you people live? Here in the North East, we're still dead scared of another snow until at least April. :)

Gulf Stream baby!

I live in the South of England. We're lucky if we get snow once every five years, and it's usually gone by lunchtime. This week it's been sunny and in the sixties all week. Very nearly shorts weather.

You hate me, don't you? Don't worry, while you're enjoying a summer, I'll have one sunny day in June and that'll be it...
 

StephanieFox

Maybull the Bulldog
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 27, 2008
Messages
4,442
Reaction score
636
Location
MPLS
Oh, and in other news, my basil has yellow spots :( Gonna run a leaf to the garden center tomorrow.

Put it in a baggie before you show it to them. I hope they can help. Basil is one of my favorites.