any gardeners?

“I just planted ten bird attracting trees today and now I cant stop coughing. UGH. I think I pushed it...... wheres my codine?


oh, and I did a few otehr things today:

I planted my rhodie and some voodoo sedum seedlings I started during the winter. then I made some homemade soup featuring goodies from the garden....”

“I wish I had space for more trees. I'd love to have a river birch.

Doesn't seem like we got a whole lot done yesterday. But, it's all leveled and slagged in and every hole has a stone now. Added a picture of yesterdays work to the album above. It's all slaggy though, as the sand is now very wet and doesn't want to sweep up easily (and I was too tired and hungry to do it last night!).

More rain this morning and early afternoon. =(”

“I waited patiently for this weekend to do my planting; everybody KNOWS not to plant before Memorial Day weekend in northern WI. So what if we've had highs of 80 already. So I planted Friday afternoon; and tonight they have a frost advisory posted. &^A*$@%%S*)@!$&^%”

“I hate when that happens. :(”

“sass, where did you get your bunnies outdoor pen that i see in your webshots?”

“yes, I'd like to know that too!

oh, and here are a few shots fromt he garden today...


part of my kitchen garden. Whats it say when your kitchen garden is tidier then your house :O!




heirloom peas are blooming!











nap time...
last edited: 5/27/07 5:40:30 PM”

“Your pets have the right idea....

It's stinking hot here, we're in drought conditions, and I've seen ver yfre honey bees....


until now. THey are swarming my koi bin, but not the other water features around my yard. The difference? I salted the water for the koi (medicinal reasons) and the bees really seem to appreciate it. Gatorade for bees.”

“that mutherscratcher is done!”

“I HATE Japanese beetles. They are something I never had to deal with in Florida. I haven't sprayed them yet, but I can literally catch them by the handful and I just pop my thumbnail behind their heads to sort of pith them.”

“you and me both tb....

i never delt with them before untill I moved here to portage. Last summer for months i was drowing 40 a day in soapy water and would turn around and there would be MORE from where I jsut got them.

get some milky spore and spray it on your lawns.....

dont use traps, they will just bring more into the area.”

“Sundays work:

and Monday (done except for woodchips, furniture, and little touches here and there)

What a project. It was fun but the idea of lifting another rock just does not appeal.”

“Whoops, I posted as Birch. Sorry.”

“THey look good, Sass.”

“Thank you Treebait. They're as good as we could make them.
Now, to find enough moss to fill up my blender jar......”

“Sass! That looks awesome! I can't wait to see it in person!


The bunnies got my lettuce! GRRR!!!! I have to stop at Menard's on the way home to get some chicken fencing, I guess. DANG IT!”

“Sass, nice job with the stone work.
I extended my garden over the weekend so I can fit some pole beans, snow peas and zucchini plants. Now I just hope they come up and no critters get through the fence.
last edited: 5/29/07 7:50:28 AM”

“That stone work look awesome Sass! It gave me an idea as well. I must have missed where you got the material to make that. I want to create something simular but with out the walkway, just a patio section.

I was looking at flagstone sections this weekend and almost had a heart attack at the prices.

Planted 3 lillac bushes this weekend and potted some tomatoes.”

“WK, I got it at a landscape supply company my little brother works at. They cut the price by 10% for me, delivered for free (but I gave the normal fee to my brother, he delivered it all, and I think the guy gave me about three yards of extra slag, which is now in two brand new trash cans and a HUGE pile in the driveway. Anyone want some slag....FREE? We covered about 375 square feet for $744.00. Not as much as I'd thought it would be. The total project cost thus far is $880. That includes a trenching shovel, the water feature and the 3 plants I purchased. We had budgeted $1,000. I took some time and called around to every supply company within forty miles. Some wouldn't even consider delivering over twenty miles away but I found that the further I got away from Metro Detroit the less the rocks cost. And pavers cost way more than stone. It was difficult (at least for me) to figure it all out as stone is sold by the ton and pavers by the piece.”

“Thanks for the info. I dug back into this thread a bit and found out the material.

We have a few places around us that sells this. This is an unexpected project for me, so I don't want to spend a ton of money. Gracie was at a neighboor's house a few weekends ago and they have a sandbox. We had to drag her out kicking and screaming as the sun was setting. I can build one for about $25.00 so that is my next project.

I am turning my vegetable garden into a patio area/sandbox. I don't want to go through all the trouble of setting pavers, but would rather have heavy, flat stone or concreate sections that will basically set themselves.”

“Good luck with that, WK. Even with big stones you need some sort of substrate though.


My order from Gardens Alive! arrived just now. Poor UPS guy, they put 2 25 pound bags of worm poop in one box, and everything else was in a little box 12 pound box.”

“Yep, treebait's right. Slag sand is cheap. This isn't the sort of thing you want to re-do in a few years if you can help it. And, about that sandbox....build a lid! Nothing like having your sweet little girl bring you a big fat cat turd in her pretty little hand, lol.”

“Okay.

Yea, I was planning on the lid. I found a cute little cedar sandbox online but there was 2 problems with it.

1. Too expensive - $200.00 (not including S&H)
2. Too small. I want a sandbox she and at least 2 othe small children can climb into and play.

Mostly be using a miter saw on this project, but the lid will need the use of a jig saw. Finally, I can use the one I bought 3 years ago!”

“That looks great Sass! The dogs seem to like it.”

“

Clematis

One of very few this year. Too much trimming this past winter. Live and learn.”

“Abby had the camera again, Violin. She takes pictures of those two dogs like they're rock stars or something. I usually keep three or four of what she takes. Sometimes they're really good. And it makes her feel good having her pictures in the albums.
But you are correct, the dogs seem pretty excited to have someplace cool to lay. So far they haven't dug anything up I've planted (I have threatened them with generic dog food and a cut off of the flea med application).

Calling the City today for woodchip delivery.”

“Bearmagnet's mention of working at an organic farm made me think of this. You came to mind too, Sass. If I even mentioned something like this to HPM he'd have a fit. I do think it's cool though.


http://www.wikihow.com/Keep-Chickens-in-a-City”

“Cool! I don't think we'll ever do chickens though. They kinda scare me.”

“We briefly had a chicken. That thing was very affectionate and a great bug catcher. It was one of the white kinds. We think it was an escaped mosquito monitoring chicken.”

“I put up chicken fence tonight. We're not keeping chickens, though.....just trying to keep bunnies out of my garden!

I need to get out and weed everything - but its too hot and I can't bend over very well at the moment. It'll be cooler next week.

I split some perenials from my mom's yard this morning ...a geranium, lavendar, lady's mantle, a white aster, and something else. Will get them planted tomorrow.”

“Picked french breakfast radishes this morning and the lettuces are ready too. The garden has been loving this hot weather. Glad I'll have a hose again tonight (if all goes as planned), things are getting pretty dry. If I use much more water from my pond I'll have to shut down the pump.”

“What happened to your garden hose, Sass?”

“does it have anything to do with a golfball?”

“The birds found the snow pea seeds I planted and raided them. Grrr... I don't know if they got them all, but I'm thinking about planting something else in seedling form so it doesn't happen again.”

“







”

“beauty fruits SC!!”

“OK, TT Gardners, I have a problem.....


We put up a 2' chicken fence, staked it, tied it to the other border fence we already had up, and something is STILL getting into my garden and raiding it! Don't see any spots where its getting in underneath the fence, and the sides are pretty tight against the house, so we're not sure what gives.

Additionally, something is digging quite a hole UNDER my oregano! We've filled the hole 3 times, and it keeps coming back and digging the samle hole out. What is it? Would a rabbit do that?

My lettuce is practially non-existant, my beans are getting eaten up before they're growing, and my spinach is getting munched on too!


HELP!!!!!!!”

“It could be a woodchuck. They can climb fences. Skunks will dig holes to look for grubs. Chipmunks will also dig holes to look for seeds. One year I had a fence around my plants and one night saw a small skunk that managed to get inside.
last edited: 6/03/07 8:30:57 PM”

“CHIPMUNKS! Those little striped cretins will mess up and get through anything. They like to eat too. Maybe you haven't seen any around.....that's because they go stealth mode.
last edited: 6/04/07 8:20:44 AM”

“Something may have already dug a burrow under the fence and oregano area.

Hot pepper garden spray will keep many things from eating your plants. Organic, too. Of course if the nibbler is nocturnal, be prepared to hear squealing if they eat a bunch nad then the heat kicks in.”

“I brushed out my dog and took the seven brush fulls of dog hair out to the garden. I haven't lost anymore plants or bits of plants since. It has been a week and a half. Maybe a dog groomer might have some fur trimmings to share?

Tried an experiment a few days ago to see if straight apple cider vinegar will kill weeds. Two days later they were yellowed, today they are DEAD. =) My new weed killer of choice, organic, cheap and effective. I used a spray bottle and misted the leaves thoroughly.”

“That's cool on both counts, Sass.

Right now my yard is erupting in clouds of thousands of buzzing Japanese beetles. I've hit many of them with friendlier, organic bug spray but it just seemed to annoy them and make them go elsewhere. Milky spore and bacillus thurigensis israelensis are on the way.”

“Yay! At least one koi egg (out 100,000 or so) actually hatched! It's a little teeny koi fry with a big ginrin (metallic) scale on it's back, so I know who the mother is.”

“Treebait you must have some happy fish.

I just went out to check on the new bunny and spotted a huge silver goldfish cruising around with half of a huge worm hanging out of it's mouth.

First water lilly opened today.

And the quote for the day:

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

And now I'm off to pull some plants whose virtues I have not yet discovered.
last edited: 6/04/07 12:27:28 PM”

“Just don't smoke it.”

“If you do smoke them you might just discover a virtue.

Or maybe just another vice.”

“LMBO!”

“My brother, with a degree in horticulture, says that a weed is a plant in a spot you don't want it.

Weed away, my friends!


THe oregano came up from last year, and I have no idea how long its really been there.

No way a woodchuck could climb the flimsy chicken fence. I'll say its a chipmunk, though it seems like a big hole for a little chipmunk.

Now, is the chipmunk what's eating my lettuce and beans??? I thought they ate nuts and such?
last edited: 6/04/07 2:10:57 PM”

“



the "hummingbird feeder"

last edited: 6/04/07 10:02:18 PM”

“I love honeysuckle; ours just finished blooming.

I get to move all of my aquatic plants around again today, in preparation for another koi bin water change. Dang I want that big pond done!

I have a plethora of koi fry now too. Ruh roh Shaggy.”

“My beans are up, my peas are up, my tomatoes are up (wait a minute, they were up when I planted them), ditto the peppers, corn is up, pumpkins, summer squash, cukes and cantalope too. Onions are up and so the potatoes. What the hell is the matter with those lazy carrots? I gotta get that fence finished or I'll be feeding the deer. I believe I'll put in some more beans and some broccoli. There are also bunches and bunches of hazelnuts, wild strawberries, blackberries and blueberries all over the place. Gonna be a good year for eatin'. Also, I think I'm going to do a part time gig at the canoe shuttle place. Time to blacken out my teeth, don the bib overalls and find that cd from Deliverance. Those Minnesota and Illinois people sho' got purty moufs.”