CANADIAN REGION: What are you doing in April 2016?

trolleydriver wrote:

trolleydriver wrote:I had a nice surprise this afternoon. As I was checking out my goldfish pond I noticed that one of my goldfish survived the winter. In fact it looked quite healthy.

Today there were a total of six goldfish visible in the pond. They must have had a good winter.

I love fishies. I am so glad they survived! Wish we had room for a pond on our property...but most o our back yard is taken up by an above ground pool.

$7 a piece?? Yikes.

sanderson wrote:$7 a piece??  Yikes.

sanderson ... I think I mentioned some time ago that PVC is expensive here. It's not used as much as in the USA. When I needed some a few years ago for another project I waited to buy it until we were visiting friends in NH.

I have been taking it easy for a couple of days as I got really tired having to take my dog to the groomer and then collecting him later on in 28C heat..  I went so far as to ask my lovely neighbour if she could take me to collect him.  That night I went to bed about nine pm and slept  round to 7am. Still felt a bit tired but not that tiredness when you don't know what to do with yourself except sleep.

Anyway, today I have been  just pottering along, and this morning I have my energy back but as we have the promise of a thunderstorm I hustled a bit and split up some iris, hen & chicks stuff, and tidied up my car port a bit.  Just a bit as I still have things to do there under cover if it rains. 

My wood chips have had their first real rain and I can just imagine all that moisture seeping down and bringing it all to life. It already has a good start as most of it was  already covered with the first layer and that is looking really good  worms and moist black soil and that was before the rain,  the first for some time.

My next big job is to turn the 4x4x4 compost heap.  I have run right out of finished compost so I am hoping to find some that is usable when I get down into the pile.
But, we have quite a bit of rain forecast so I do not know whether to be more pleased that the garden will be getting a good soaking or the frustration in not being able to get out into the garden.

The only good thing is that there is plenty of time to start planning veggies and I am resigned to using more transplants this year due to all the work I have been doing.

Collected some bags of grass last night, already bagged for a nice change. Usually I have collected it from my friend's pile where her son dumps it but she has asked him to bag it as he goes along. My shopping list later today includes some black plastic bags so that they can keep up the good work. Generally I spread out the grass on the lawn to dry it then re-bag.  that way it can keep until the leaves are available in the fall. Last year I had some bags that missed being dried the end of fall and when I put them on the new compost pile a in the beginning of April I had to handle very  soggy clumps and break them up as I placed them on the pile.  Nasty job.

The Daffodils are looking nice in our front garden.  I wish we had a lot more of them.

trolleydriver wrote:The Daffodils are looking nice in our front garden.  I wish we had a lot more of them.

Very pretty!

Today was a busy day for me and the seedlings. I planted red kale, purple kale, and mixed kale seeds as well as three different kinds of lettuce.  If all goes well, I'll have about 200 plants to put in my garden, give to friends, or whatever...yay! I hope to do some more succession planning this year too.  Glad I started a lot of my own plants this year because the ones I saw in the store today were expensive, $2.99 for teeny plants. Ouch! I did buy a few things for my garden though the fish fertilizer TD mentioned, and organic bone meal (for my tomatoes). I also could't resist two large baskets of ever bearing strawberries at a good price. They"ll be going in my SFG in the fall.

The kids' SFG that we worked on today. Good practice for the big ones. The strawberries survived from last year.

Well here's what I did today! I finally got around to building my two 3'x6' boxes. I think this cost me $40. As you can see I've yet to get my fill or MM, and they're not leveled. These are about 12" deep, so I think I will bury the boxes a couple of inches. I bought PT in the end, I've got plastic tarping for the sides when it comes time to fill. I will also put a 3" flat edge on top to finish it off. 

SAM, why are you thinking to bury the boxes by 2 inches? You are only going to do un-needed work, IMO.    When you build a 3" flat edge, it is much more comfortable to perch yourself 12 inches high than 20 inches.

Boxes look good.

Beautiful, SAM! Is that where they are going to stay? Looks like full sun! Lucky you.

My boxes are never level. The first one I built was level in the driveway and when I moved it onto the grass it was all warped. So now I build them on the grass where they are going to stay and that seems to help keep them somewhat level to their permanent location.  Then I stuff whatever gaps appear with leaves and pine needles and so on, then top with compost before adding the Mel's mix.

Mimi, your children's little boxes are absolutely adorable! Good for you on getting them started early.
CC

Mimi, good to get the kids engaged. What have you planted for them in the non-strawberry squares.  Need to keep their interest up with quick stuff, e.g. radishes.

Raining steadily here in the Southern Interior of British Columbia.  A real change from the hot and mostly  dry weather of the past couple of weeks. 

I now have recovered that feeling of get-up-and-go.  I had lost it for a couple of days when I felt like a puppet on a string that has had it strings cut.

This morning, in spite of the rain which is soaking my wood chips laid over the last two weeks, I am happy to potter about splitting  some iris given to me.  I looked  up an old Iris (2010) thread by camprn; (thanks, camprn) 
Oh dear! I thought the link had posted as well. Well, you can always SEARCH in our Search Box in the upper left hand corner of this page.

It told me that the best time to split Iris was in July/August., but what can you do when given a gift like that, just do your best to help them survive and then enjoy them next year. I have already done that with some chrysanthemums I was given in February and they are flourishing; they may flower again this year. If my neighbour's iris do not survive I hope to replace his later on as apparently they were some his parents had so they do have a bit of sentimental value..  The "soil" on the ones he gave me looked so impoverished, just like dry silt. When I looked at the ones he had replanted I realized he did not have much idea as they were planted quite deep and the corms were not on the surface.  We will see how our methods compare later on.

Mimi ... wonderful to get the kids involved. Very colourful boxes as well. I may need to take you up on some transplants if I don't get more started real soon. And you are way ahead of me in sowing seeds outdoors.

SAM ... Those are good looking boxes. You should be able to grow lots of good things in all that space. Were you able to acquire all the ingredients for the MM?

Thanks guys. I'm very excited. I just want to bury them a bit because I don't want 6" of space above dirt level. The 3" top I was referring to will be a 3" wide 'cap' all around the top edge, just for decoration. I just snagged some boards from my neighbor that are a different color, I think I'll make corner trim as well to make it look pretty. 

Haven't gotten my mix yet. Soon. I know, it IS kinda important.

SAM, I would let them just be. No burying, really is no biggee, but you REALLY don't want stuff below level. Just sit it on there and go!

Kelejan, I have a bunch of irises and day lilies that need divided...wanna come over? I have a graduation party to prepare for, so my gardens are getting shaped up,fast!

trolleydriver wrote:Mimi ... wonderful to get the kids involved. Very colourful boxes as well. I may need to take you up on some transplants if I don't get more started real soon. And you are way ahead of me in sowing seeds outdoors.

SAM ... Those are good looking boxes. You should be able to grow lots of good things in all that space. Were you able to acquire all the ingredients for the MM?

Hi TD- I haven't planted any seeds outside yet. I'm too much of a chicken. Perhaps spinach, carrots and radishes can go in- in a couple of weeks. I'll be happy to share as I probably have way too many tomato and pepper plants (and not enough sun, or space on my property to sustain them all.)

Kelejan wrote:Mimi, good to get the kids engaged. What have you planted for them in the non-strawberry squares.  Need to keep their interest up with quick stuff, e.g. radishes.

Good idea Kelejan!

Mimi2 wrote:

Kelejan wrote:Mimi, good to get the kids engaged. What have you planted for them in the non-strawberry squares.  Need to keep their interest up with quick stuff, e.g. radishes.

Good idea Kelejan!

I tried radishes with my grandson.  He spit them out.  So we are growing carrots and peas for him.  He loves to pick both and he eats the peas on the spot and takes the carrots to lunch at school.  The only problem with carrots is they take so long to mature and we can only grow them in early spring and late fall.

yolos wrote:

Mimi2 wrote:

Kelejan wrote:Mimi, good to get the kids engaged. What have you planted for them in the non-strawberry squares.  Need to keep their interest up with quick stuff, e.g. radishes.

Good idea Kelejan!

I tried radishes with my grandson.  He spit them out.  So we are growing carrots and peas for him.  He loves to pick both and he eats the peas on the spot and takes the carrots to lunch at school.  The only problem with carrots is they take so long to mature and we can only grow them in early spring and late fall.

I'm going to try Parisian carrots this year. They're little round ones, about the size of a radish, and they're only supposed to take 58-65 days, instead of the 70+ of the longer varieties.

Back from a week away where the warmth would ruin the spinach, but be great for the beans.  My garden went no where fast while I was away.  So I replanted most of what I had already direct seeded.  This was not unexpected as I was trying to push the envelope past its maximum tolerance.  I will take a closer look tomorrow and replant a bit more, or just wait a little longer to see if it will come up.  For some reason, some of my pea seeds were at the surface.  Must not have patted the soil down firm enough and washed up.  This won't deter me from maybe taking time this summer to plan for next winter and make a more suitable cover if I am going to try and plant early again. 

On a more positive note, after giving my neighbour the SFG book, I see that he as 3 new raised beds built.  I have not talked to him since I gave him the book and am hopeful that he found it useful.  By the looks of things he has.

p14shooter wrote:- - - 

On a more positive note, after giving my neighbour the SFG book, I see that he as 3 new raised beds built.  I have not talked to him since I gave him the book and am hopeful that he found it useful.  By the looks of things he has.

Welcome back, ready to pick up where you left off.
WOW! p14shooter, that was fast work on your neighbour's part.  I am sure you will have lots of things to talk about face to face.

Scorpio. love to come but my passport is out of date.

yolos. perhaps your grandson's taste will change as he gets older. When I was at boarding school we often had watercress for our Sunday tea and I used to hate the stuff and used the stalks to blow bubbles in my water glass.  Now I crave it but  can never get it.  Once our local Safeway had a tray of it, I bought two bunches and when I had finished them, they had not sold a single bunch and they were all shriveled up and should have been thrown out. That was once in about thirty years, they never had them again.  It is funny how often I see recipes that tell you to garnish with watercress.

Our five grandchildren and their parents have returned to their homes following a busy weekend visit. Mrs TD and I were worn out but we love having them around. This week I really need to focus on the garden and in particular getting my two new SFG boxes set up.

SAM,  Congrats on the nice looking boxes!  In the photos, it looks like the boxes are in a depression??  Can you fill that area so they stay up out of any collected water?  The fill can even be so high that the boxes are above grade.  I had flower boxes of treated wood sitting on the dirt and they eventually rotted and got termites.  We also got termites in the exterior house wall that they were near.   So I would recommend that you not bury any of the wood.

countrynaturals wrote:

yolos wrote:

Mimi2 wrote:

Kelejan wrote:Mimi, good to get the kids engaged. What have you planted for them in the non-strawberry squares.  Need to keep their interest up with quick stuff, e.g. radishes.

Good idea Kelejan!

I tried radishes with my grandson.  He spit them out.  So we are growing carrots and peas for him.  He loves to pick both and he eats the peas on the spot and takes the carrots to lunch at school.  The only problem with carrots is they take so long to mature and we can only grow them in early spring and late fall.

I'm going to try Parisian carrots this year. They're little round ones, about the size of a radish, and they're only supposed to take 58-65 days, instead of the 70+ of the longer varieties.

Ha ha- my kids have a sweet tooth too. Peas and Parisian carrots are a good idea in addition to the strawberries. We'll be growing lots of sweet cherry tomatoes too in every imaginable colour (because my kids seem to like veggies that are colourful too). The nine-year-old likes lettuce (with the right dressing), and my 21 year-old likes kale. The kids' tastes seem to get a little more sophisticated with age  And the neighbourhood kids will also enjoy sampling the fruits of our labour. Last year my daughter was feeding a local toddler a steady stream of red currants from our bush, which he loved.