chesterfieldzoo Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 I am impatiently waiting for a good storm to finish getting the cotton out of my cottonwood tree. Right now it looks like there was a sheep shearing marathon in my yard. Huge white clumps everywhere. It's really awful this year. I wanted to start on some of the cleanup of said white clumps, but it's 80 degrees at 8 am already. Sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 (edited) We're only at 71F here, Deana, so I'm pulling on my big girl garden britches and heading outside. I already KNOW how my muscles will feel tomorrow, but I'm going to do it anyway. : Edit: Well, I'm back inside and heading for the shower. It rained more than I thought last night. The ground is too wet to plant or pull weeds. Think mud. I started to pull the wiregrass out from under the crepe myrtle bush, but that got old really really quickly. Here's what I did, though -- I ringed the bush with ugly plastic edging, laid in a couple layers of landscape cloth that lets the water come through and spread about 4" of dark brown mulch. I'm hoping that will kill the wiregrass. At least if it still grows, it's going to have a very hard time! Oops. It's clouding over again. I'd best go outside and put away the tools before I get cleaned up. Edited June 29, 2014 by KathieB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted June 29, 2014 Author Share Posted June 29, 2014 Nutti, I was just thinking about you this morning when a little hummer came to have breakfast and then perch on one of the sapling branches close by. She's adorable the way she perches up there and puffs out her chest just like the big birds do! Your grandson is going to love having a feeder to watch. I've been using the store bought mixes for food but as soon as it's gone I'll switch to Deana's recipe. Deana, I don't envy you the cottonwood mess! When we first moved into our house in Denver there were five big cottonwoods in the yard and it would look like the whole place was wrapped in quilt batting during cottonwood-winter. I'm glad I don't have to deal with that mess now. Instead I'm sweeping up seed pods from the mesquites. The two thorny mesquites out front just finished their dormant phase when they look pitiful and wilted but once the pods drop off they start greening up again. I've been deep watering them to make sure the tap roots are staying healthy so they'll probably have huge growth spurts soon. Did y'all know that mesquite trees are legumes? Yep, I have magical bean stalks! Kathie, I'm so glad that things are feeling back in balance for you at home again. You'll have your yard whipped into shape again in no time. You sound so happy!!! I did my heavy watering yesterday and light watering this morning so I'm done with outdoors for the day. Our low temp was around 85 at about 3am and it's been warming up ever since. We're in the deep summer now with temps around 110 or higher before noon every day so it doesn't cool off much at night. All of my plants except for the prickly pear cactus and the elephant bushes need to be in the shade now so it's gotten a bit crowded on the patio and under the shade tree but I don't want my succulents to burn and scar. That's the great thing about using planters.........I can rearrange the foliage as needed so nothing suffers when the sunlight changes. It's been unusually hot and dry here this spring so a lot of people are losing their plants and I'm twice as glad that mine are portable. As my dad used to say, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going......back inside where it's air conditioned coz there's no sense being foolish about it". LOL!! So the plants get crowded up under the patio shade with misters going a couple times a day while I sit inside and stay cool. When the monsoon starts next month, none of them will drown either so it's all good. My main yard work will be done in the fall/winter when it's safe to prune and plant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Deb, I like the way your dad thinks! (See the edit to my post #252 just above yours.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfieldzoo Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Bruce was home today so we got the pump installed in the side pond and cleaned the other pump in there as well. When it gets dusk, I will go install the new lights I bought. Then I got the pump and filter installed in another pond. We came in for lunch and a downpour began just as we walked in the door. It's fabulous. White crap is coming out of the tree like crazy. I might take a chair into the shed and organize the drawers of pipe fittings so I can actually find what I need. There aren't any winds to keep me inside. (my trees are too huge and brittle to walk under in the wind and I don't even let the dogs out when it's high winds) Twice I have had 20 foot long limbs fall near me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 I have one tomato that is golden yellow so we are getting close to the first one. Yippee! That means it won't be long before we have more than we want. We've had one green sweet pepper so far. Lots more on the plants. Green beans are getting right up there but haven't blossomed yet. I'm a little worried about that. Herbs are thriving. This year I have 3 huge basil plants, chives, sage, and a brand new huge rosemary. My other rosemary is now 3 years old and still going strong. I almost lost it last winter but it's come back now. My basils are 2 1/2 feet tall. I can't keep up with the drying. Love to do my own because then I know what's in it and I use a lot of basil for it's healing properties in just about everything. It's so versatile. The kiddos love it when I make fresh tomato slices, fresh basil and mozzarella under the broiler on English muffins. They scarf them down like crazy. Love it that they are such flexible eaters. They love veggies and fruits. Me, I just love to play in the dirt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfieldzoo Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Selkie - thanks for the inadvertent recipe! That sounds delicious. I am going to write that down and try it for lunch one day this week. We got rain today and lots more of the clumps of white came down. Now I have a huge gooey mess everywhere. At least I can start cleaning it all up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Selkie - thanks for the inadvertent recipe! That sounds delicious. I am going to write that down and try it for lunch one day this week. We got rain today and lots more of the clumps of white came down. Now I have a huge gooey mess everywhere. At least I can start cleaning it all up. You are welcome. You can drizzle a tad of olive oil on it for a richer taste either before broiling or after. Of course soaking some basil in the olive oil to use on salads is great too. Too bad you can't find a craft use for your fluff and stuff. Seems like there must be some reason for it happening other than the seeding factor. Hm-m-m-m?? I gotta think on that one in the middle of the night when I'm wandering around tonight. Is the tree good for shade the rest of the year - I hope? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfieldzoo Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Selkie, I actually have 7 of them and they are huge. They make my backyard 10 degrees cooler than my front yard. Only one does cotton and if I had a spare $8,000 I would have it taken down. Now that it has rained, the fluffy white puffs are now a brown gloppy mess. It's just worse than usual this year. I had errands to run all day today, but tomorrow I plan on getting back out there and doing stuff. Although I read it might rain (which is fine with me!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlingMini Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 I go into the garden center with the plan to buy a peach tree, and what do I come out with? A bunch of cacti! Just mini ones, but about six of them..! I'm officially crazy!! I also decided I'm going to build a fairy garden. <3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfieldzoo Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Oh Hazel that's awesome! On all points. Pics of the cacti please. What kind of fairy garden? Store bought? Home made? Big? Little? Converted birdhouses? Will there be people (fairies, gnomes)? Those christmas houses that seem to accumulate and often the cheap ones are not set out make great fairy houses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfieldzoo Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Today I scored two HUGE hydrangeas. I grabbed the two guys from work to help me deliver the large patio table by the pond in the shop to my daughter's house. While there, her neighbor said he wanted the bushes out. I said I would take them and offered the 2 guys tomorrow off if they dug them up for me. Win win for everyone!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted July 2, 2014 Author Share Posted July 2, 2014 I go into the garden center with the plan to buy a peach tree, and what do I come out with? A bunch of cacti! Just mini ones, but about six of them..! I'm officially crazy!! I also decided I'm going to build a fairy garden. <3 <chuckling> If you're crazy, I'll be insane right along with you! My walmart got in some new succulents and cacti this weekend and I pillaged the whole section; coming home with 15 new aliens. I'm soooooooooo excited because I found a baby bunny's ear, a teeny barrel cactus, and the most adorable little rose quartz cactus that looks like a miniature saguaro. I need to get out my plastic tongs to transplant them but they'll be going into my mini screened in back porch. Only two of the plants I got are large ones.....a wooly quartz and a gigantic hen and chicks that I just couldn't resist because of the way it's formed. Instead of spreading out, it's growing up which is kind of cool. It'll spread out once I get it transplanted but I think it has character so it had to come live with me. The others are an assortment of succulents ranging from tiny little elephant bushes to a couple varieties of old man's bones. I even scored some clay two inch pots and those combined with the stash of one inch clay pots I have from Michael's will be all I need to fill my little porch/greenhouse vignette. All of these will eventually go into my rock garden and grow up to be big plants but it's fun to start with the teeny ones. Today I scored two HUGE hydrangeas. I grabbed the two guys from work to help me deliver the large patio table by the pond in the shop to my daughter's house. While there, her neighbor said he wanted the bushes out. I said I would take them and offered the 2 guys tomorrow off if they dug them up for me. Win win for everyone!! Yay!!!!! That's definitely a huge score! I'd love to have seen the reaction on those guys faces when you offered them a day off. LOL! Their shovels must have gone into action so fast that they'd have been a blur. Did they plant them for you too? Selkie, that does sound sooooooooooo good that I'm going to make some too. I saw a recipe on the back of the Ritz box for something similar with bacon flavored crackers topped with a little slice of grilled chicken and a piece of pepper jack cheese tossed in the broiler for a minute and then garnished with a bit of ranch dressing, a sprinkle of chopped green onion and a halved cherry tomato. I really need to get a cherub tomato bush and see if I can get them to grow here. I still love picking a tomato off the vine and eating it with a little salt while it's still warm from the sun. Deb, I like the way your dad thinks! (See the edit to my post #252 just above yours.) <grinning> Dad had a great way of looking at things. His philosophy about prioritizing things in life was that it was like fixing a leaky roof..........you can't fix it when it's raining and don't need to when it's not. If you think about that, it makes a lot of sense----sometimes things that look like a crisis are actually less important in comparison if you need to get crops in the ground or butcher a hog. Dad had two PhDs; one in chemistry and one in physics plus a BA in theology but his homespun wisdom was the best. He could really turn a phrase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 We had our first official tomato last eve for supper. It's a cherry size tomato but is the orange golden type. They are SO sweet. We shared one perfect glowing orange gem between 5 of us. It was mouthwateringly delicious !!! There are many more to come and we'll be able to each have our own but this is kind of a tradition - the sharing of the first fruits. Yah, I know, we're weird but it's fun. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxxie2 Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 We had our first official tomato last eve for supper... Selkie........I read this as We had our first official TORNADO last eve................ :lol: My mind is going............. I am glad it was a TOMATO and not at TORNADO! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kat57 Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 A sharing tradition like that is such a sweet,sweet thing to read about,Selkie! I keep thinking maybe I'll try to grow some edibles next year. With my need to improve my diet with more fresh foods,instead of sodium full processed ones,it might give me the confidence to actually succeed at it. I just hate to see any green thing waste or die,so I have steadfastly refused to try growing vegetables,etc.,rather than be guilty of killing them! But,maybe it's time I got a more positive attitude,huh?(Okay,now I know I sound nutty,but I love my little flowerbeds and just mourn anything that dies in my care!) A tomato plant or 2 would be a good start,maybe... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 A sharing tradition like that is such a sweet,sweet thing to read about,Selkie! I keep thinking maybe I'll try to grow some edibles next year. ..... A tomato plant or 2 would be a good start,maybe... Thanks Kat. We have some silly things we love to do. Wouldn't change it for the world. How about a small tomato plant in a pot on your back porch? It would be easy to tend and not a big commitment. You might even find some leftovers at a nursery that you could try this year with your longer growing season. They might be budded out already and could even have some fruit started. Not sure how this plays out in the south but I know ours are still doing clearance sales on the last bits. I'm a raised bed and plant pot gardener these days because of my bad knees and we get tons of veggies from a really small area. I find it so satisfying to play in the dirt and watch the miracles of growing happen before my eyes and then get it right to my table with no pesticides and fresh and crisp. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kat57 Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Oh,a potted tomato plant on my porch-that makes it sound even better! I'll have to look next time I get to town. I did grow some bell peppers at my old place a looong time ago,mixed in my flower beds,and they were tiny,but so good! I had gotten them for their colors-green,red,yellow,a brown variety,even. The bonus was they did actually survive and tasted good! I wonder what edibles would grow in a yard full of oaks-the sun is filtered,but not exactly bright over most of the yard. Gotta get to studying,I guess! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Get some potting soil that has enough perlite in it so the mix is light enough for the tomato roots to spread out. A deep pot is better too for the same reason. They might also like some vitamins too especially if they are neglected leftovers from the nursery. My inside plants like used coffee grounds. Guess they are like me and need a caffeine boost to get going - hahahaha 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxxie2 Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 I planted all my tomatoes and cucumbers in pots....it really eliminates the crittor problem! I did have one pesky chipmunk once that kept digging holes in the pot and burying acorns in there! ( this was back when I lived in VA). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 A dule of doves! We often see a pair or two, but there were at least a dozen here today. It was a mixed group -- a few collared doves in with the regulars. Since I've been weeding, we've seen an increase in the bird population. Birds of all kinds scratch around in the newly uncovered dirt as well as nosh at the feeders. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfieldzoo Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 It seems the more I do in the yard, the more the birds like it also. The toads too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 It seems the more I do in the yard, the more the birds like it also. The toads too. I guess we stir up some well aged seeds and other goodies with our poking around. I'm 3/4 of the way around the biggest and most overgrown flower bed in the back yard. Making progress (but as what cost, my muscles want to know). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Still making progress, one weed at a time. The temps will be in the mid to upper 70s here for the next 3 days -- perfect, as far as I'm concerned. Stopped by the garden sections at Menards and Lowes yesterday. Scored some perennials on sale at Menards and a couple hanging baskets at Lowes. There are 13 beds of varying sizes plus a few small trees and bushes that need weeding at the base. Today's agenda includes finishing the weeding in the third of the three largest beds, then weeding a smaller bed where the scraggly mums that survived the winter will go. The mums in that smaller bed did well. It's in a protected corner and gets winter sun. I'll move the scraggly mums, then the perennials I bought yesterday will get planted. I hope my actions can match my intentions! Meanwhile, we had another visit from the raccoon twins. They are really fun to watch. They climb the various trees in our yard and then yesterday trundled off toward a neighbor's yard. Have no idea where home is, or their mother, but they seem to be doing well on their own. See them in my Gallery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Has Lloyd named the twins yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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