let's talk dirt...

Thoughts_Arrive

Yes! Lets!...



Brilliant album!

dawng

Very nice weekend - got the rest of my plants in. The original list changed a bit, we now have:

brocolli
tomatos
onions
carrots
zuccini - regular
zuccini - balls (look fun!)
pumpkins
jalapeno
watermelon*
cantaloupe*
sweet peas
cucumbers

I'm not so sure about the wantermelon & cantaloupe - the last time I tried the latter, I got a baby cantaloupe about the size of a baseball. It was tiny - but very good. We'll try for a couple tiny ones this year! Oh - and the watermelon has a yellow flesh, sounded good. All the tomoatos are heirloom of one type or another - pink, yellow, and orange.

Yay for weekends in the garden!

decides2dream

dawng wrote:

Very nice weekend - got the rest of my plants in. The original list changed a bit, we now have:

brocolli
tomatos
onions
carrots
zuccini - regular
zuccini - balls (look fun!)
pumpkins
jalapeno
watermelon*
cantaloupe*
sweet peas
cucumbers

I'm not so sure about the wantermelon & cantaloupe - the last time I tried the latter, I got a baby cantaloupe about the size of a baseball. It was tiny - but very good. We'll try for a couple tiny ones this year! Oh - and the watermelon has a yellow flesh, sounded good. All the tomoatos are heirloom of one type or another - pink, yellow, and orange.

Yay for weekends in the garden!

you know it!
it was a gorgeous weekend, almost like summer. actually had to turn on the a/c last night! :shock:
hopefully more spring-like weather will prevail before we jump into summer temps.

that said, i did not yield to the temptation of planting early, but got all the beds, pots and windowboxes all prepped and ready to go. tried some new potting soil in the pots/boxes this year, miracle-gro water retention soil with fertilizer built in for 3 months and some water-holing properties...keep my thirsty plants hydrated. :P put in new hydro-mats (mentioned in an earlier post) in the window boxes along with the new soil, figured it was time to start *fresh* since it's been a few years since i've changed either. sometime this week will pick up some fresh mulch to top off some of the beds, and then will we will be completely *ready* once the tems are right and just PLANT!

opened up the pond this weekend, crystal-clear and beautiful...installed new landscape lighting last weekend....the garden is look top-notch!

Riot_Mac

dawng wrote:

Very nice weekend - got the rest of my plants in. The original list changed a bit, we now have:

brocolli
tomatos
onions
carrots
zuccini - regular
zuccini - balls (look fun!)
pumpkins
jalapeno
watermelon*
cantaloupe*
sweet peas
cucumbers

I'm not so sure about the wantermelon & cantaloupe - the last time I tried the latter, I got a baby cantaloupe about the size of a baseball. It was tiny - but very good. We'll try for a couple tiny ones this year! Oh - and the watermelon has a yellow flesh, sounded good. All the tomoatos are heirloom of one type or another - pink, yellow, and orange.

Yay for weekends in the garden!

Nice setup you got there. Where do you live? I think it may still be too early for me to plant? I live in the chicago south burbs.

Who Princess

decides2dream wrote:

i've seen this product in one of my gardening catlaogues. dunno if it works, but it's meant to be a humane/environmentally sound way of keeping kitties out of your garden. it looks to be some little hard plastic mat with short little spikes on it, not sharp really......but supposedly it annoys cats to walk on so you are meant to put them around areas you want cats to stay out of and it acts as a deterrent. i'll see if i can find it online and come back and link.


well that was easy
hereya go:

http://www.gardeners.com/Safe-Cat-Deter ... lt,cp.html
scatmats

I tried those several years ago. They didn't work for me. Although in all fairness I had such problem with a pack of feral cats that my neighbors used to feed, NOTHING was going to work for me. The only thing that finally worked was when the neighbors moved and the cats had to fend for themselves. The cats moved on as well. Now there are only about 3 of them left.

I spent the whole weekend working in my garden. I planted perennials and did lots of weeding in my flower beds. But the most important thing was I finally planted my blackberries! I've been trying to do it for a month. Every weekend I've either had commitments or it's been raining. Last Sunday my husband was able to borrow my neighbor's little tiller and till up the bed for me. Another neighbor brought me some compost on Saturday for the bed. I think everybody is looking forward to some blackberry cobbler!

Yesterday I finally got my plants in the ground. I've had 6 plants sitting in pots for ages. I tried to get a variety of the types that do well in North Texas so I planted 3 Brazos, 1 Shawnee, 1 Choctaw, and 1 Damfino (the tag fell off). I was really anxious to get them planted because it's supposed to rain all week. It started raining this morning so I'm happy.

I've grown blackberries before and they don't take a lot of effort. I just hope my dogs leave them alone while the plants are still kind of small. When the bed was first tilled my dog Penny thought the dirt was great place to lie around in. Even after they were planted she still seemed to think it was her spot. Blackberries are pretty tough plants but dogs and gardens usually don't mix.

decides2dream

haha.....i have 2 dogs!
however, i have all my veggies in raised 3'x6' beds and in large pots. only my perrenials and trees and shrubs have to contend with dogs, but i do my best to keep them out. i have a rock border going around the entirety of my ssgarden landscape, and whenever the dogs cross it they get a stern "NO!" and if they don't respond, i pull em out. the older dog totally gets it, basically stays out....the little pug, errrrr....it's hit or miss. he also loves to eat the mulch :roll: so it is challenging. luckily, since he is small, doesn't do too much damage. my main problem with berries have always been the birds. i no longer have any berry bushes....but i am tempted to try again sometime....i LOVE berries!!!


oh - my dogs LOVE to steal tomatoes right off the vine!

Who Princess

When it comes to stealing the blackberries I agree the biggest problem is usually birds. I remember from my past experience that I had to get out to pick berries first thing in the morning. I'm not worried about my dogs eating the berries, just trampling the canes while the plants are still kind of small.

For now the bed is outlined with rocks. I keep telling them NO! when they walk on it but apparently all that nicely tilled dirt is just so cool and comfy! I'm trying to think like a dog but I just don't get the appeal! Last night they were very tired from "helping" me all day in the garden. For years I've said that Shetland Sheepdogs are the biggest garden pests but they rarely cause me any problems. Or maybe I've just gotten used to gardening with dogs.

dawng

Riot_Mac wrote:

Nice setup you got there. Where do you live? I think it may still be too early for me to plant? I live in the chicago south burbs.

Ooh - you're making me nervous! LOL I'm in zone 7b. And we've got pretty tame weather normally - being between the olympics and cascades (mountains). But I did plant about a week early for the tomatos, squash & melons so I will have to keep an eye on the weather. But I'm busy next weekend - going to the Flight to Mars show and hosting company on planting weekend! So I looked at the weather report and chanced it

As far as where you are - I think you're in zone 5b - but you are right on the edge...you may want to input your zip into one a zone finder like this one: http://www.garden.org/zipzone/index

But I get all my info from a local website for Seattle - you could probably find one for Chicago.
http://www.seattletilth.org/about/seattle-tilth-gardens

whoprincess - I'm so surprised to hear of anyone planting blackberries! On purpose! They are a weed around here - my kids always come home with purple fingers when they go out on bike rides. They are a pain in the neck to keep out because of the lovely job the birds do in spreading their seeds!

decides2dream - I'd be going nuts! Plant something already Peas? How long do you have to wait (zone?)

Who Princess

dawng wrote:

whoprincess - I'm so surprised to hear of anyone planting blackberries! On purpose! They are a weed around here - my kids always come home with purple fingers when they go out on bike rides. They are a pain in the neck to keep out because of the lovely job the birds do in spreading their seeds!

My sister lived in Washington years ago and she told me the same thing about blackberries. But the difference between there and Texas is that it rains where you live!

Actually, my experience with blackberries is that once you get them started they DO grow like weeds. But since it's hot and dry in this part of the country they need supplemental watering to get established. Eventually they will grow so thickly they send up shoots everywhere but even if I couldn't pull them up, they would get mowed over if they come up in the lawn.

I wanted to grow them because my husband likes eating blackberry cobbler and blackberry pie. I used to make blackberry jelly too.

decides2dream

dawng wrote:

decides2dream - I'd be going nuts! Plant something already Peas? How long do you have to wait (zone?)

haha.
may 15th is the official last frost date for my area.....zone 7.
we've had CRAZY good weather lately, unreal how warm, but will return to more appropriate spring temps as of tomorrow. depending when may 15th falls, and the earlier weather...i will usually push it forward a couple of days. given that may 15th falls on a friday this year, i'll probably BUY all my plant starts sometime during that week after work, keep em in their pots on the porch....then plant on the 16th. i hope we have glorious weather that weekend b/c it will be AWESOME to get planting!

i've done just about all the soil prep i can do, all laid out and ready to go! might top off some beds with fresh mulch and such....and then just waiting on mother nature to give the go-ahead!

decides2dream

waiting...........

Cinnamon Girl

decides2dream wrote:

waiting...........

Beautiful raised beds! I can't wait to see 'em full of goodies.

Who Princess

Those beds look so neat and nice!

dcfaithful

decides2dream wrote:

waiting...........

What a beautiful garden that's going to be :geek:. You're in for the freshest of the fresh.

edvedder913

i kill every living plant known to mankind.

kudos to you gardeners!!! must be great!

dawng

wow, decides2dream! beautiful beds

I will try to post a pic - need to get around to taking one!

PearlOfAGirl

libragirl wrote:

ah, what a let down..I thought this was about talking shit.

So did I.

redrock

whoprincess wrote:

Those beds look so neat and nice!

OMG they do Maria!!! I would hate to post a pic of my garden as it is now, it's a mess compared to yours... I do have beds and things growing... but this is immaculately organised!!!

Though I've got loads of things starting to pop out... it's kinda cute!

justam

decides2dream wrote:

waiting...........

What are you going to plant?

Earthgirl

I only garden with my hands, in barefeet , sitting cross legged. I love toiling the soil with my hands. I like touching my plants as they grow, I think they like it too.

Hey dreams, hugs to you girl.. I still have the NY pic you sent me in a frame in my living room. I love it. I hope to see you soon.. Im retiring this year.