WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD 6/08/2018

[oldvirginian]

Does “Grow Damn You!” count?

Lost Time? Well there was the time I traded old man Jones some home twist chewing tobacco for a pint of his 20 year old sippin whiskey. Made it back to the house in time for breakfast...the next day.

What are gardening gloves? That those gloves city slickers wear to the garden?

We only got one pair of shoes a year. Darned sure weren’t wearing shoes in the garden, the hay field, corn field or anywhere else they weren’t required by manners and etiquette.
If you’ve never felt the squish of cow manure between your toes...you ain’t country.

So what’s my score?

[CottonBall]

Soap. Last year the bunnies were enjoying salad every night. And the deer were starting to nibble on my baby trees in the orchard.

I cut bars of Irish Spring or Coast in half and put them in netting – I used cut up all potato bags and then tied it up with string. I left the ends of the string long so I could tied it to sticks. For the lettuce I just tied it to little short sticks I scavenged from the forest. For the trees I just hung it on the branches.

It worked marvelously. I’ve read the prey animals depend on their sense of Smell to detect predators. So they don’t like to be near anything with a strong smell because it takes away their defenses. I placed the soap about 3 feet apart from each other So there wouldn’t be a gap in the aroma. It worked marvelously! And even with all the rain we got I still have all the soap left for this year. I left the ones in the trees up and they are still there.

And after a summer shower, the whole garden just smelled fresh and clean :-)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Jackmanii Clematis. Loaded with deep purple blooms, taller than it's ever been. It loved the abundance of Spring rain!

'Big Ben' Peony bush. That sad 'stick' to the right is what's left of my Korean Spice Bush after a year of puppies. :( She seems to WANT to live, though, so there's that.

Salad Garden. Lettuces, Chard, Herbs, Calendula (not in bloom, yet.)

Spent Tulip bulbs on either side, Garlic down the middle. It, too, loved all the rain we've had.

Snap Peas are starting to pod. I added a cucumber plant at each corner of this structure; they'll take over when the peas are spent. I will train each corner into an 'X' formation on each side. Plenty of room to grow long, straight cukes! 'Sweeter Yet' is the variety.

Silly Scarecrow from Mom. He's on a swivel and turns in the breeze. When the wind is from the East, it's like he's dissin' me!

Things are coming along! Can't wait to see what I can do with my new greenhouse going into the fall. Early June, on a sunny day, it's well over 100 degrees in there; useless right now, unless I want to grow cactus!

Lovely lettuces with some volunteer Marigolds in there.

My Broccoli did NOT like that shot of hot weather we had - not sure if they'll even head now, at this point. We will see. I planted 12 heads, total.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

There is a product called, ‘Repels All’ and it really works. Spray it around the plant and it should help keep the squirrels and chippies from stealing your fruit. You could spray the fruit, but REMEMBER to wash it thoroughly before consuming, Repels All isn’t toxic, it just would taste awful!

It STINKS to High Heaven, so don’t get any on you when you’re spraying it around, LOL!

(The smell goes away when the product is dry, but the critters can still smell it.)

It’s blood meal, garlic, rotten eggs...I’m sure if you look on line you can find it, or find a ‘recipe’ to make your own batch. That Jerry Baker guy probably has a recipe. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“You’ll shoot your eye out!” ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“They don’t bother the garden but chipmunks had gotten into the house under the floorboards.”

My Yellow Lab, Miss Lucy, brought a live Chippie into the house once. And then, of course, it got away from her.

*Rolleyes* We never did find the remains...

My current cats spend HOURS chasing Chippies; those Chippies will put up a FIGHT, that’s for sure. They don’t go down easily, LOL! (One cat has a bite on her face from the Chippie she was ‘playing with’ earlier this week.)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Mosquitoes can be a problem in Wisconsin, too.

Make sure there is NO STANDING WATER anywhere on your property. If you keep bird baths, clean them out daily. If you have rain barrels, keep them covered, or float a few drops of cooking oil on top of the water (makes a seal that the mosquitoes can’t break to lay eggs in there.) Replenish the oil drops every few days. It only takes a 1/4 tsp. per barrel.

If you have a tree-line that is overgrown, clean out all of that shady vegetation beneath - Mosquito Heaven.

If you can destroy the environment where they can lay eggs, that’s half the battle right there!

Wear light colored or white clothing with long sleeves if you want to sit out in the evenings. For some reason, they can’t ‘see’ you well if you’re dressed that way.

Encourage bats to come to your yard. Put up bat houses and the like. Bats eat a zillion mosquitoes every night. They’re creepy, but they vacuum them up like nobody’s business!

Lastly, you can ‘fog’ your yard which kills them off. I’m sure by now they make a fogger that is MUCH more Earth-Friendly than the old fashioned ‘Raid’ bombs! ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“So what’s my score?”

Um...how about we just say, ‘You Win!’ I’m not messin’ with an Old Virginian, that’s for sure! :)

And I wear gardening gloves, but only because I *DO* have to, ‘Go Out Among The English’ from time to time! ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“And after a summer shower, the whole garden just smelled fresh and clean :-)”

‘Manly, Yes! But I like it, too!’

Remember that old commercial? LOL!

[TEXOKIE]

Thanks for the thread Augie!

I have very little to report. Weather here is gorgeous. We’ve had some good rain.

My lettuce stump project seems to be going along well - two of the stumps I’ve planted have started generating some leaves! I;m planting bib lettuce that still has the root stump attached which I’ve obtained from the grocery store. I’ve found that it works better if a few leaf remnants are left on it.

The other news is that the parsley which overwintered and came back this year is going to seed! I suspect the butterfly caterpillars will be descending soon, so I hope the seeds will drop before then. However, it will not clabber the Milky Way if they don’t! LOL!

Darlin and I obtained some sprouts of some moonflower plants. We planted those several days ago and they are holding up.

Wisteria and jackmannies are blooming. Day lilies are getting ready to.

My hay bales are still waiting for some kind of planting, but just have not felt up to it. Oh well.

I’m wishing everyone well and hope your gardens are as rewarding as my tiny little microscopic patch!

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Build a frame around your garden with 1 inch PVC pipe. Drape bird netting over the top and down the sides.
Critters don’t like the netting and will avoid the garden for easier chow.

[TEXOKIE]

That’s a cool test! I didn’t step on a rake either. Probably have lost gloves - certainly have worn them out!

[TEXOKIE]

Beautiful

[oldvirginian]

Dang. I finally won something! 😂

[Badboo]

Never used it but was promoted years ago by Paul Harvey.

See http://myhousepests.com/mosquitoes/homemade-mosquito-yard-spray.html

I can’t imagine I’d ever find 3 cans of stale beer. I’ve drank worse in desperate times!!!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Thanks! I’m retired now; three years already! The past two were tied up with prepping and selling two houses Beau and I owned and moving out here to his ‘real’ farm in SE Wisconsin. We’re less than an hour from The Mighty Mississippi River.

After nearly 20 years in ‘The Gardening Biz’ I have NO EXCUSE but to put all of that knowledge to work to feed us as many months out of the year as I can.

But if you find a weed in my garden, feel free to pull it! Won’t hurt my feelings at all, LOL! :)

[CottonBall]

oh yes, manly for sure, lol!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

You guys will LOVE this piece of SATIRE from, ‘The Onion.’

Botanic Garden Forced To Euthanize Rose Bush That Pricked Child

https://local.theonion.com/botanic-garden-forced-to-euthanize-rose-bush-that-prick-1826486145?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_content=Main&utm_campaign=SF

[CottonBall]

Hilarious story to read about! Probably not so much fun to have experienced though.

Beautiful garden pics.

[TEXOKIE]

LOL! Somehow it does seem to be more fun pulling other peoples’ weeds than one’s own. Wonder why that is? Well I have always enjoyed your gardening posts and I appreciate the pix! :-D

How wonderful you are that close to the Mississippi River!