New England, May 2016

My little 4X4 garlic garden is coming right along. I have changed a few things, the pot with the trellis behind it will have hemp string for the cucumbers.
From (about) 4-21-16




Here is a pic from today




I wish I know how to rotate the pic, just think of it as a sideways glance...

bigdogrock wrote:There is a subtle peacefulness that you get when you do the dishes and other things inside for the benefit of everybody in the house. It can be hard to feel it when you really just want to be outside after a cold winter. That is what makes the word drudgery fit so well.
                                        drudg·er·y      noun  -hard, menial, or dull work.
                                        synonyms: hard work, menial work, donkey work, toil,                                                                                   labor; chores
It makes you feel like you get to escape into the warm, bright, alive world where work isn't work, but art that you are making out of living things.
You can only last so long inside for the winter, the cold forces you in, but your mind wants the sun and the warmth it gives. Your brain tells you it is not as rich when it comes from a forced hot air furnace, or windshield defroster, though the heat from those sources let you live until the sun is king once more. So, you live on, you stay warm to get to the good times, searching for the gold.  My garden is usually located at the X on the summer treasure map.

BINGO! That is why the seed catalogs keep us northerners out of the psych hospitals! Hope springs eternal!

Lookin' good, Rock!

quiltbea wrote: I hope your hemp string lasts.  Mine wore out before the end of a  season so I went to white nylon tomato string and that stuff lasts and lasts.
Lookin' good.

Me too. Silky white nylon is all I have ever used.....and birds love it for nests ..

I've never had a problem with my sisal twine webs lasting all growing season. Maybe it's in the weave, the number if strands needs to be enough and not too few.

Looks like you have some happy helpers there, too... Very nice, Rock!

A little yoga neck stretch is always good, Rock. I love watching garlic grow in Spring. What are those white flowers in the grass behind the box?

Wicked windy here today as usual, but sunny. Don't know if the summer veggies will make it outside today or not. There isn't any protection anywhere from this wind.

My mother comes today for six months. She's a good garden helper . Like I always say, I plant them and she cuts them down. But she's currently recovering from a broken hip and two knee replacements so at least the veggies will have time to grow before she gets at them.

p At least she is your mother. Ya know?

Hi all, hey CC, the little flowers are violets, which are edible I believe. They are blue and white, but my camera doesn't show the blue so I won't post a pic.  Today I got a bunch of Japanese pumpkin seeds, for free! My friend said he soaked them for three days till they sprouted, then he put them in planting trays. So, I will be putting them in seed trays this weekend!
    I will try taking a pic during the day in the sunshine, maybe the blue will show.
   One more thing, I know I said hemp string, but it is really thick, as thick as a pencil, so it is more like a small rope, and I am using it for a second season in another bed that I didn't take down last year.
Rock

Hey Camprn, it is after 9 PM and the temp is still above 50F!!!!! Are we lucky or what! Rock

Hi, Friends!  I've been AWOL for quite some time and will now have to do some serious catching up, both in reading the posts as well as getting stuff in the ground.  

Everyone's garlic is looking great!  Mine is 4-5" tall and the kale that managed to overwinter has now bolted.  Other than that, I've got oodles of sprouted potatoes hanging out in the side porch as well as some nursery starts waiting to go in.  I have a lot of house-upkeep to do (as in construction work) so I may have a limited garden this year, but we'll see--I've been fondling seed packets which doesn't bode well for the DIY plans...

In other news, the hummers are back, but so are the ticks and blackflies.  And yes, the woodstove is still getting regular use, especially since we're still getting some hard frosts and snow up my way.  I've still got some 3 weeks before LFD.  But like Rock said, today was nice, so it's  all good!


P.S. Very weird thing the photo editor is doing now: seems to want to rotate the pics even though they're facing the right way on my device (phone in this case).  Boffer, help, plz?

Well I started soaking my Japanese pumpkin seeds last night, so in the tray they go on Saturday.  The temps were wonderful again last night, only dropped down to 48F! I left everything out in the "partly cloudy" day, and was greeted to a light and sound show on the way home from work. Had to slow down because the hail on the road was so thick that traction wasn't "a happinin thing" and the pavement was totally white and wet. Haven't seen it like that in a while. The "trusty rain gauge" read 3/10ths of an inch, so watering isn't going to be "a happinin thing" either (it better not freeze tonight).
I got to see some brilliant white bolts of lightning and the thunder was not the loudest I've heard, but it was loud. We are due some more rain later tonight then it is supposed to be nice tomorrow.
No Red Sox on the radio tonight, they have it off, it will give us all the rest we need. I will go out and talk to the ladies for a few, give them some scratch and say good night.
One more day until the WEEKEND. Rock
(BTW Molly, I can't figure how to keep things from rotating either.)

Hi, Molly. Are those onions for planting?

Molly!  I've been watching your weather and I saw that snow.  I don't know how you do it!

Hi winds and stormy weather heading my way this Sunday.  The worms, European winter moth (Operophtera brumata), are hanging down from the trees on their threads and pooping everywhere, like rain.  So gruesome. 

Looks like this Monday the nights here will begin to stay around 50 degrees, for the next week anyway.  So it's summer veggie planting out day for me, except for peppers.  I'll be planting in the rain in order to give them 24 hrs of shade/rest.  I'm so excited!

I am trying very hard not to have a bad attitude this weekend. I have been watching the weather reports all week long and they have been saying it didn't look bad, maybe a little rain on Sunday, but an enjoyable weekend. But that all changed since last night. Bummer.
    It was beautiful outside today, while I have to work and stay later than normal tonight. So I got home kind of late, let the girls out, and then just lost my enthusiasm. Everything is still moist, so there is no need to water. The weather reports say the rain will likely start in the afternoon tomorrow, then stay through Sunday. Oh the plans I had. I wanted to be outside doing things, soaking up the sun, doing battle with the black flies, mowing the lawn, just being outside.
    Maybe the skies will stay clear for awhile tonight so I can watch the stars. The International Space Station isn't due over until 1:16 AM, I will probably not make it that late.
    It is so amazing to see that some folks are already getting summer crops. Thanks for the pics, it is nice to see the veggies so soon.
    I think I will build an extra long planting box tomorrow, put in some marigolds, cosmos, and Morning Glories. We will see, especially if the sun comes out. You never know in New England. They have a saying here, "if you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes, it will change."

You guys are me from last weekend! Freezing cold. Windy came sweepin' down the plain, all around miserable. Hang in there! My starts are so overgrown I am getting concerned about root health....even used a dilute miracle grow so they had something....

Yesterday was beautiful once the fog lifted so I reseeded the carrots, beets and chard. Germination was not that great so I filled in the bare spots. Planted out about half of my tomato seedlings and put in some french filet green bean seeds. 

Having a terrible time with cut worms this year. They are eating at all the brassica. I put rings around all the plants when I put them in but that didn't stop them. Used bt 4 days ago and that hasn't seemed to slow them down either. Yesterday I dug around some of thIe plants and found a dozen or so of them but I imagine there are plenty more. Never had them in the raised beds before, wonder if they came in with the compost I bought this year.

Strawberries are forming and looking great, chives are blooming  and I noticed blossoms on the grapevines. 

Hey Lyndeeloo, I don't know how many of the plants you have that the cutworms are going after, but I had a problem with them one year not to long ago. I found some thin cardboard tube material that wrapping paper came on, cut it about 3 inches long, then put it around the seedlings. I only had a few casualties after that. I found that the cutworms were hiding just under the top of the soil and under chunks of matter in the soil. I DO NOT use pesticides, but if I did, these little demons  would be the first victims .
Rock

lyndeeloo wrote:Yesterday was beautiful once the fog lifted so I reseeded the carrots, beets and chard. Germination was not that great so I filled in the bare spots. Planted out about half of my tomato seedlings and put in some french filet green bean seeds. 

Having a terrible time with cut worms this year. They are eating at all the brassica. I put rings around all the plants when I put them in but that didn't stop them. Used bt 4 days ago and that hasn't seemed to slow them down either. Yesterday I dug around some of thIe plants and found a dozen or so of them but I imagine there are plenty more. Never had them in the raised beds before, wonder if they came in with the compost I bought this year.

Strawberries are forming and looking great, chives are blooming  and I noticed blossoms on the grapevines. 

Thanks for the reminder about the cutworms. I've been meaning to get some toothpicks because I'm having the same issue. They took down three of my cabbages so I put slender twigs next to the remaining two and they've been fine.. I'll use the toothpick method Quiltbea told us about on the new transplants as  twigs that small are hard to find. I've heard that cutworms can come in on horse manure, among other ways.

Someone on here (camp?) said she put toothpicks around the stems of plants to foil the cutworms....yolos, maybe. Worth a try?

Scorpio Rising wrote:Someone on here (camp?) said she put toothpicks around the stems of plants to foil the cutworms....yolos, maybe.  Worth a try?

Quiltbea is the one that usually says to do this.  I have never tried it.

Thanks all!!!

Re:  cutworms--If I remember correctly, Sluggo Plus also gets rid of these pests!

Scorpio.......Yes, its me about wooden toothpicks.  I swear by them.  I place 3 or 4, depending on the size of the plant's stem, around the new transplant halfway into the soil and right up against the stem.  The cutworms can't get their bodies wrapped around the stems so you've saved a plant.  I doubt I've lost more than 3 plants in the last 3 years and only because I didn't make sure the wooden 'picks were touching the stems.  And when the plants get bigger, they push the picks right out of their way so you don't have to worry about them.  they can decompose in the soil.