[greeneyes]

Greetings from MO. Just want to give a shout out and thank all our Veterans and active duty troops on this weekend as we approach Armistice/Veteran's Day weekend.

It is 31 degrees and heading to 18 tonight with Snow flurries right now. We have now reduced our heated green house area from 8 x 12 to 3x8 feet, using plastic and some overhead cardboard and insulation.

That immediately raised the temperature inside by 15 degrees after the sun went down. The electric heater is now cycling on and off instead of staying on all the time-mission accomplished.

The wheat and garlic is on it's own outdoors- Except for some leaves that fell. Row covers were misplaced, and I couldn't find them. So we'll see how it goes.

Hope all is going well with everyone. Prayers up for all. God Bless.

[greeneyes]

Pinging the list. If you would like to be on or off the Garden Thread list, please send me a private FRmail. Thanx.

[tomkat]

May not have much to contribute, but this stuff is usually interesting .. please add me to your ping list, thanks.

[sorrisi]

Well, this ;year I am trying something new. I put in artichoke plants and they did well but no fruit yet. I am in CT so they won’t make it through the winter without help. A friend nearby put up plastic sheeting over a ‘garage’ frame and her artichokes have lasted for years and produced like crazy. So, I put up hoops and plastic over the raised bed that has the artichokes. Fingers crossed!

[SkyDancer]

Will try to raise some maple sprouts I brought back from a trip to Illinois and see if they’ll grow in WA.

[heartwood]

We kept my daughter’s cat for a while and the chipmunks made themselves scarce. After she took the cat back, the chipmunks returned, and started sampling the tomatoes - a bite from each one! And undermining the concrete steps.

So we’ve acquired a pair of feral kittens, who are taming nicely, and after growing up inside this winter, and being spayed, and getting all their shots, can be set loose on the chipmunks next summer.

The vet says to give them bright collars, not bells, to alert the birds. Not that I feel much charity when the catbirds and wrens are in my berry bushes. Still I’d rather that the Cooper’s hawks come back to make them hide away, instead of my cats preying on them.

Has anyone grown honeyberry aka haskap aka edible honeysuckle? How do you like them? I put in four small plants in spring but their roots didn’t seem to want to grow out into the soil.

[tubebender]

Thanks for the ping GE! A guy came over today and got me signed up for Fotki so I should be able to post photos again. Too tired to try tonight. The frost got our 3 hills of cucumbers but we saved most of the cukes. All the tomatoes are fine in the tent. My 2 older brothers and one sister served in WWII and all came home safe and sound. The other 3 of us were too young to serve...

[Redleg Duke]

Good morning from wet and soggy southern New Hampshire.

I have the side deck rear roof extension up and leaking. I did get the framework for the roof over the back steps up and ready for the plywood underlayment and the hand rails. Barb had bought some rubber stair treads for the bottom of the duck pond, which didn’t work out. But they are now screwed down to the stair steps, and should give us much better and safer footing this winter.

I am hoping to finally get my garlic and flowering bulbs in the ground this weekend. Should be in the high 40s the next few days. Also started digging the holes for the front porch/pergola. The replacement (2nd try) motor for the cement mixer is here. I hope I can get the holes dug and footings poured in the next couple of days. Really want a sheltered spot out front for the Border Collie.

[Augie]

We've had unseasonably cold temps and a bit of snowfall here in Central Missouri over the past week, and more is falling this morning.

I got some work done outdoors over the weekend. Picked up all of the pumpkins that Mrs. Augie used for Halloween decorations and dumped them on the compost heap. Winterized the outdoor water faucets. Picked up all of the garden hoses and stretched them out on a slope in the yard so they can drain and be put away. Raked the dead stuff away from the garden spot where the garlic is going in. Used Nanner to pull half a dozen barberry bushes from one of Mrs. Augie's planting beds next to the house.

I had a load of 2x4 crushed limestone delivered last Thursday and placed that along the north bank of my pond. That area is where most of the runoff comes into the pond. The rock will stabilize the erosion that happens during a heavy rain, and provide lots of places for the tiny fish and other aquatic creatures to hide from the bigger fish.

[tob2]

In anticipation of a hard frost, harvested several tomatoes in various stages of ripening and growth, They are now ripening on the table and I’ll have them for Thanksgiving. Hope everyone here has a Happy Thanksgiving!