Butterfly Junction

Nice!

Scorpio Rising wrote:Nice!

Thanks, Scorpio. I'm holding my breath to see how it does when there's no sun.

Definitely no sun, today. It was getting dark at 3pm. Yesterday, this was my balcony garden. Now, there's it least 2" of snow out there -- and it's still only 40 degrees, but still coming down, hard.  

It seems like everything I do is too little, too much, too early, too late, or just plain wrong. This time I GOT IT JUST RIGHT!

Except for kale, my winter crops have always been pitiful -- tiny broccoli and cauliflower -- no Brussels sprouts or cabbage heads at all. Last year, I stumbled onto kohlrabi (purple). I only got 2, and almost decided it wasn't worth it, since it only produces once,  but then I realized that I wouldn't be doing anything else with that space, and since it seems to like me, why not give kohlrabi a chance? This year, I tried them all again, but only the kohlrabi survived my neglect, so I planted another dozen seeds on the first of November, along with some Little Gem lettuce and sugar snap peas. The peas are already in the garden, the lettuce is in a container in the house, and I'm gonna plant the kohlrabi in the bed where cucumbers just quit for this year. The timing was perfect (for the first time ever) so it's already in my garden plan for next year.  

The pink tinge on the leaf is from the LED light. The purple veining in the other leaves iis a feature. These plants are really pretty.

Let there be horses!

Mother and daughter (I think ).

Got my first 2020 catalog, today (High Mowing Seeds). *

*Already found a new, early melon to try -- 1st kiss.

Hard freeze last night. Rain 7 of the next 10 days. Absolutely nothing to do outside. Green tomatoes dropping from drooping tomato plants.    Thank goodness for crafts and indoor gardens (and wood stoves )

Sweet potatoes froze, so I had to dig them up before they were ready. NEVER AGAIN! They take too long and they're too hard to dig up. If they taste better than anything we've ever eaten before, I may have to eat these words. Otherwise, we'll get our sweet taters from the store from now on.  

Suz, My SP harvested for Thanksgiving were all small. Planted a month too late this year because of the late spring. But, next year, I hope I get big ones again.

Kohlrabi & carrots (and cat, of course. )

We have a goat area, right behind the chicken coop. It has been empty for over a year, with the ground baking hard as cement in the summer. When the horses came, we had to put them in there, while fixing up the horse area. The horses have been stomping around on that old hay/seed/goat poop, now rain-soaked dirt for several days. Yesterday, I asked Hubby to shovel me a load of it for one of my SFG beds. WOW!  

Not only is it loose and black, but I've never seen so many earthworms in one place. This stuff is truly black gold. From now on, every outdoor bed will get a healthy dose of that fabulous stuff before every planting.  

I am truly a year-round gardener.   Just ordered more seeds to be planted this year. Sweet bunching onions & 18 day radishes, plus hot pineapple pepper for granddaughter next year.

I love Baker Creek. I can order these impulse items any time, with free shipping and a free gift. 

countrynaturals wrote:I am truly a year-round gardener.   Just ordered more seeds to be planted this year. Sweet bunching onions & 18 day radishes, plus hot pineapple pepper for granddaughter next year.

I love Baker Creek. I can order these impulse items any time, with free shipping and a free gift. 

OMG! I just cracked open the new Baker Creek catalog. I thought I had all my plans for 2020 worked out. WRONG AGAIN!

Chinese Red Noodle Bean, p 18
Pusa Asita Carrot, p 28
Turkish Orange Eggplant, p 38
Dwarf Tamarillo, p 40
Black Goji Berry, p 41
Tigger Melon, p 59
Unzen Early Flat Onion, p 65
Yuki Jiang Bing Gua Squash, p 85
Orange Hat Micro Tomato, p 93 -- *grow late as Xmas gift plant
MIGOSH! 14 PAGES OF TOMATOES!  

This order will have to wait until after Christmas, when I'm sure I'll find something else I can't live without.

I NEED MORE BOXES!!!!!!!!

Scorpio Rising wrote:I NEED MORE BOXES!!!!!!!!

LOL! I have the boxes -- I just need to fence them in from the deer and I'll be good to go.

countrynaturals wrote:

Scorpio Rising wrote:I NEED MORE BOXES!!!!!!!!

LOL! I have the boxes -- I just need to fence them in from the deer and I'll be good to go.

And I need to retire!  Time...

  Love it...

countrynaturals wrote:Woke up to 30+ turkeys in the front yard. They flew up on the garage roof, then across to the house. They came across to the kitchen window, then jumped down -- right over our heads. WOW! I couldn't get a good pic, but this one isn't bad. It was really fun to watch.

Not a single turkey this year.

countrynaturals wrote:
I don't know what else to say.

That was 2017. Here is 2018:

Me wrote:Also, I didn't get the raking finished, but we're having a week of perfect weather, so I'll get another chance in a couple of days.

Now here is what we're getting this year, after a hard freeze in November (and it's been like this for weeks).  

Got my Zebrune (sweet shallots) and 18 day radish seeds, yesterday. This is the only nice day for the next 10, so I may just plant these puppies out, today. This will be my last one of 2019.

I just found something I may not be able to resist. I've been a good girl this year, Santa, honest.  

Indoor Plant Lights

Taking a lesson from It's A Wonderful Life. "How much do you really need?"

First I wanted to glass in the mbr balcony -- $3500.

Then I thought I could get by with a greenhouse on that balcony -- $350.

Finally, I realized that all I really need is about $35 worth of plant lights on the jiffy pellet greenhouses and heating pads I already own (on an old desk in a room behind the garage).  Now that's a price tag I can live with.

December Update:

I grew Mexican Sunflowers for the late pollinators, because I read that they were the last flowers to bloom in the fall. WRONG! My milkweeds are not only still alive (and the Mex suns long gone), but the milkweeds are thriving, putting out new buds and blossoms. The beauty of milkweeds is that they are both host plants for the Monarchs and nectar plants for all butterflies and hummingbirds.


Artichokes are happy. The soil level was too low in their boxes, so I cut the bottoms out of 4 quart-size nursery pots, inverted them in the boxes, and planted the chokes in those. When I get around to building up the soil around them, I'll just lift the pots off and they'll never know the difference.

The "weeds" around them are mostly volunteer sunflowers.

December Update II:

Volunteer catnip under the defunct tomatoes.

I'll have to take cuttings or transplant this. It died out in its original location.

Potato onions. I thought for sure they'd rot in all this weather, but they're still hanging in there.

Kohlrabi is coming along, nicely, but it's not purple. I don't remember planting anything else. I simply must get better organized in 2020.