Happy Spring, Fellow Gardeners!

[notme]

i have an artichoke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  check that one off the bucket list lolz .....

 

it's pretty small and i hope the bugs don't get it before it gets big enough to cut.  i was thrilled to have strawberries - one was about to be ready for me and the (patient!) 4-yr old grandson to eat - yesterday a bird ate it JUST LIKE THAT!!!  it probably pooped it onto my car, to add insult to injury    husband put a wire cage-like thing over the plants, and i have heard that if you hang c.d.'s around it will scare off birds.   

 

so, i got a bb gun.  you have to pump it.  teaching birds and squirrels to count to '8' haha don't worry, i am a bad shot.  makes me feel pro-active

 

edited to say - i typed celiac disease's and it turned into celiac disease ???   what???   lolz

[notme]

ok, so we had to put netting over the strawberries to keep the birds from devouring them.  but they are having their revenge on the veggie plants  so has anybody had this problem or have any suggestions to deter them - i read somewhere that if you have old c.d. 's you can (hang them?  i threw them on the dirt haha)(shiiiiny..........  what was i saying.............)  

 

i've never had them eat the veggie *plants* before - they are eating squash, eggplant, bean and even tomato <which i would think tomato plant stems would taste terrible

 

edited to change the c.d. thing again.....

[shadowicewolf]

ground black pepper sprinkled on plants and flours keep deer and squirrels out. maybe it would work for birds?

[dilettantesteph]

Are you sure it is birds?  I read a story about someone who put out lots of bird seed to keep the birds from eating her vegetables and it ended up being rats.  I know birds eat strawberries. I have seen them do that, but not vegetables, and especially not vegetable plants.  It is good to have birds in the vegetable garden because they will eat the bugs that eat the vegetables.  This is a link about birds and the vegetable garden.  Open Original Shared Link

 

 I think that you need to look harder at this problem.

[dilettantesteph]

I actually came on this thread to lament about planting my tomatoes too early.  We had a cold snap and the leaves are brown and while some have new growth, I think that some will need to be replaced.  Now I won't have my special varieties and I'll have to plant whatever is available at the garden center.

[notme]

ground black pepper sprinkled on plants and flours keep deer and squirrels out. maybe it would work for birds?

 

i have some of that so it's worth a try!  i will report back

Are you sure it is birds?  I read a story about someone who put out lots of bird seed to keep the birds from eating her vegetables and it ended up being rats.  I know birds eat strawberries. I have seen them do that, but not vegetables, and especially not vegetable plants.  It is good to have birds in the vegetable garden because they will eat the bugs that eat the vegetables.  This is a link about birds and the vegetable garden.  Open Original Shared Link

 

 I think that you need to look harder at this problem.

i have never had a problem with the birds, either - we have a crap-ton of cardinals this year for some reason and i am always shooing them out of that end where all the carnage is happening.  ugh i would hate for it to be rats but it is a possibility    they are pretty sneaky.  we put cages around nearly everything and have seen a slight improvement.  got a japanese eggplant plant to put in place of a dead regular one.  

 

 

i now have 3 artichoke "blossoms" - absolutely fascinating - how does God dream these things up!  growing in perfect order just like magic!  gardening is so amazing to me

[notme]

I actually came on this thread to lament about planting my tomatoes too early.  We had a cold snap and the leaves are brown and while some have new growth, I think that some will need to be replaced.  Now I won't have my special varieties and I'll have to plant whatever is available at the garden center.

 oh, no !  we had a little bit of a cooldown last week and even frost warnings on 2 nights, but everybody survived.  to be eaten by something lolz - well, i got a little joy in the japanese eggplant <something new) when i lost that one.  also lost a tomato plant but replaced that with a heirloom cherry tomato.  i put him next to the hybrid cherry - i wonder if they will cross pollenate so i can have delicious cherry tomatoes that are resistant as well haha 

 

so, just get something different and exciting?  

 

lolz - against my better judgement i got ONE MINT PLANT - husband says i will be sorry when it takes over the herb section 

[Adalaide]

You can keep your mint potted and put the pot in the ground to keep it from taking over. But heck, who cares how much mint there is? The more the merrier in my house!

[notme]

You can keep your mint potted and put the pot in the ground to keep it from taking over. 

GREAT MINDS, ADDY!!    that is exactly what i am doing.  it may or may not work but i look like i am making the effort hahahaa - it's a decent sized pot, as a nod to the mint...    

[GottaSki]

Gotta say...I love this thread...almost forgot to water my poor heirloom tomatoes as life got in the flippin' way!

Thanks guys

[dilettantesteph]

I've been growing chocolate mint for a couple of years now and it hasn't taken over yet.  I think the hybrids might be less invasive?

 

My radishes have started bolting so I'm going to have a big harvest today.

[notme]

we grew radishes one year - i'm not a fan, but i thought maybe if i did something different with them instead of just eating them raw.  what do you do with them when you have a big harvest?

 

the napa cabbage did not wilt and die, but regrew multiple shoots and is now trying to re-bolt.  jerks. 

 

wow, they have a sh-ton of mint varieties!  i was looking for:  spearmint lolz had to sort through probably 12 different 'flavors' to find it!  i can't remember what variety i had a few years ago, but it took over!  oregano did, too, it will grow underneath the weed barrier and pop up anywhere it can!  maybe it's our climate?  too close to kentucky, they are trying to be 'juleps' lolz

[Adalaide]

I never knew what kind of mint we had growing out on the farm. When I went to buy some at the garden shop they had some just like it labeled apple mint. It is slightly pale and super fuzzy. Out at the farm it grows up and down the sides of the road and tries desperately to get a foothold in the fields. It never can though, the cows just munch it right off as soon as it is close enough to eat. I skipped it even though it is what I grew up with and went with the strawberry and Moroccan mint. I have never smelled anything like Moroccan mint in my life! The strawberry one is short and stubby and is the sort that looks like it would make a beautiful ground cover around a tree or something for edible landscaping if you can keep it from taking over your whole yard. The Moroccan one gets tall, really tall, and I can't wait to start picking its leaves off.

 

I don't know if I mentioned that we got out corn planted last week. I think I said something over with the dinner crowd. Any day now we should see little green sprouts poking up.

[nvsmom]

We finally have spring up here. Most of the trees have leaves and the tulips are finally flowering.  The peonies are getting ready to bloom. No sign of my vegetables coming up yet though.

 

And speaking of squirrels, we did battle with them here. The little suckers got into our fascia and had babies! We could hear them knawing on our house in the evening. Hubby finally has them locked out - he would staple up chicken wire over the hole when he thought they were out and when he was wrong, we could hear the chewing.  LOL  No chewing for two days now so I think we are squirrel free.  

[IrishHeart]

Peonies ready to pop here, too! Irises getting ready and a quirky perennial called zizea auria also beginning to bloom.

 

Open Original Shared Link

 

Everything I planted, I had butterflies and hummingbirds in mind. 

 

This is when I miss my Dad the most. We used to call and have a contest about whose plants were opening first. 

 

I have a patch of mushrooms from all the rain and I thought of Shroomie and it made me smile.

 

The lilacs are especially fragrant this year and I've got a huge bouquet here next to me and it smells fab in here!

 

Tomatoes, chard and herbs go in next week. Right now, keeping up with mowing is taking up my time.

 

And I have to report that working in the garden is joyous once more instead of difficult because I am not winded from anemia and in agonizing pain

anymore.

 

So, hooray for healing and hooray for new seasons!!

[Adalaide]

Peonies ready to pop here, too! Irises getting ready and a quirky perennial called zizea auria also beginning to bloom.

 

Wait... those things aren't just a random weed? They grow like wildfire back on the farm. I'm quite sure though that the cows probably ate them all up because I never saw them for long.

[IrishHeart]

Wait... those things aren't just a random weed? They grow like wildfire back on the farm. I'm quite sure though that the cows probably ate them all up because I never saw them for long.

 Nope, not a weed (if they were I'd have a problem on my hands ) but they tend to grow in prairie lands, so  it's quite possible that is what you saw!

 

They are a member of the carrot family.

. 

[Adalaide]

I was bad bad bad tonight. I am having female issues and am alone for dinner because my husband is working super late again. I just have no stamina or will to cook or anything today because I feel pretty much like I've been gutted like a fish. So I may have broken into my cupboard of canned/jarred stuff and gotten a jar of Classico out and had pasta with tomato sauce. I'll hate myself tomorrow but omg I miss tomatoes so much. I keep telling myself it was a better option than spam.

[dilettantesteph]

When I get a big radish harvest I stir fry the greens and roots, cut up and then dehydrate or freeze.  They are nice to have in the winter.  I've got a big batch in the dehydrator right now along with celeriac, planted last fall overwintered under garden fleece, and chocolate mint.

 

I agree with Irish, it's a lot nicer to garden without pesky glutening symptoms.

 

My unusual perennial about to flower is asphodeline lutea.  A neighbor gave it to me.

[notme]

 

 

And speaking of squirrels, we did battle with them here. The little suckers got into our fascia and had babies! We could hear them knawing on our house in the evening. Hubby finally has them locked out - he would staple up chicken wire over the hole when he thought they were out and when he was wrong, we could hear the chewing.  LOL  No chewing for two days now so I think we are squirrel free.  

omgosh, we had the same problem a few years ago!!  those things chewed through EVERYTHING and we finally did what y'all did:  wire.  they tried to chew through that, too!!   good thing you got them out.  my grammy had them in her attic and didn't think much of it until she had like a squirrel village up there - nasty, smelly, dirty things and they multiply like crazy.  soaked through the ceiling, so that had to be replaced, too.   it took literally years to get them completely out once they got a 'foothold' <well, i guess completely out.  she moved to an apartment lolz

[notme]

I was bad bad bad tonight. I am having female issues and am alone for dinner because my husband is working super late again. I just have no stamina or will to cook or anything today because I feel pretty much like I've been gutted like a fish. So I may have broken into my cupboard of canned/jarred stuff and gotten a jar of Classico out and had pasta with tomato sauce. I'll hate myself tomorrow but omg I miss tomatoes so much. I keep telling myself it was a better option than spam.

it *is* better than spam.  you are justified, addy  i bust out the prego every now and again.  (i tell myself it's because the husband likes it....) <see?  justified!  lolz

[notme]

When I get a big radish harvest I stir fry the greens and roots, cut up and then dehydrate or freeze.  They are nice to have in the winter.  I've got a big batch in the dehydrator right now along with celeriac, planted last fall overwintered under garden fleece, and chocolate mint.

 

I agree with Irish, it's a lot nicer to garden without pesky glutening symptoms.

 

My unusual perennial about to flower is asphodeline lutea.  A neighbor gave it to me.

i will have to try that radish thing next time we grow those.  we have a dehydrator but i am afraid to use it because of many years of venison and beef jerky with regular soy sauce and it has plastic racks.........

 

here! here!  to not being half-dead and trying to garden!!  i'm not Completely Wiped Out in an hour  

[notme]

ground black pepper sprinkled on plants and flours keep deer and squirrels out. maybe it would work for birds?

this works maybe a little ?  or it pre-seasons their plunder lolz - i actually did try this but i tried twelve different things at once.  plants are looking a little better  

[love2travel]

Back from vacation (darn it!).    and  , as well as   but don't forget  ...

 

I made pasta with shrimp and roasted garlic and lemon cream sauce and steamed broccoli.  Did not have the energy to create something great.  Tomorrow, though...

 

Ummm....I just realized I posted this on the wrong thread!  I cite jet lag as my sorry excuse. 

[IrishHeart]

Back from vacation (darn it!).    and  , as well as   but don't forget  ...

 

I made pasta with shrimp and roasted garlic and lemon cream sauce and steamed broccoli.  Did not have the energy to create something great.  Tomorrow, though...

 

Ummm....I just realized I posted this on the wrong thread!  I cite jet lag as my sorry excuse. 

 

But it gave me a good chuckle, so thanks sweets!!  you can always cut and paste it over there but most of us visit this one too.

 

Welcome home, LOVE2!!!