The garden's starting to come alive!

Water mocs?! Oh my, now I'm glad I don't live near water now. I don't like snakes, not one bit, and we do have copperheads, etc, but so far I've yet to see one. Guineas would probably be welcomed with snakes around. We did raise them, and they sure are noisy things, but did take care of a lot of bugs. I loved having chickens and miss them; they are cute, and they and the ducks we had would follow me around the yard like little kids.
Had some roosters, too; one of the dorkings would come up in the porch and crow in the evening, as if he were checking up on the household. They sure do have their own little personalities, too.
 

A bit off topic from gardening . . . but mentioning snakes . . . While visiting my son and daughter-in-law in Austin, TX, went tubing down the river. My daughter-in-law casually said, "If you see any snakes, don't tell me." WHAT? SNAKES??? Practically jumped off my inner tube onto shore in one paranoid leap...
 
When we were widening our creek for flood control, my brother suggested making a deep pool to swim in...nuttin' doin'...you'll not catch me in that creek when the mocs are out..I won't even wade across it without tall boots on. I know I may be over the edge paranoid, but I HATE SNAKES!!
 

I was digging in my compost bin yesterday and came across a speckled king snake. He's one of the good guys so I just left him alone and dug my compost a couple of feet away.
King snakes eat water moccasins and copperheads for lunch.
 
rkunsaw said:
I was digging in my compost bin yesterday and came across a speckled king snake. He's one of the good guys so I just left him alone and dug my compost a couple of feet away.
King snakes eat water moccasins and copperheads for lunch.
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I can't stick around long enough to ask for their credentials..if I saw that snake I would never go near that compost pile again.
 
Found a family of garters under some big rocks I was moving to my rock garden. Felt so bad for disturbing them. One slithered off into the tall grass but I was able to gently carry the other two over to the rock garden and encourage them to enjoy the sun there. People who think snakes are slimy are so mistaken. They are velvety smooth and garters are so . . . "sweet(?)"

Harmless snakes are great! But, those mean, nasty ones . . . No Thanks!
 
That Guy said:
Found a family of garters under some big rocks I was moving to my rock garden. Felt so bad for disturbing them. One slithered off into the tall grass but I was able to gently carry the other two over to the rock garden and encourage them to enjoy the sun there. People who think snakes are slimy are so mistaken. They are velvety smooth and garters are so . . . "sweet(?)"

Harmless snakes are great! But, those mean, nasty ones . . . No Thanks!
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"Gently carried them"??? "Velvety smooth"?? :confused: :eek: I've tried......I can't touch them....no way.
 
"Mouse Melon". I like that. Can't find anything that lists growing zones so not sure if it would survive in your area. My gardening philosophy is to try it and see . . .
 
Yup; I love trying new things, and placed my order for those and some kind of peach/melon vine thingy. Looks like they do well in cooler climates, so we'll see how they like heat. :) Like every year, I'm about running out of garden room - need yet another raised bed soon, I guess.
 
That Guy said:
Ahhh, snakes need love, too . . .
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:love_heart:
TG....You are definitely a sick man....
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Went to Walmart today to buy garden supplies and some plants. Had a whole list of plants I wanted to check out, but of course I hit there right in the middle of another frog strangler storm. So, there i was, out in the garden department (not under cover) with my 20 year old umbrella about to turn inside out from the wind. I managed to get a variety of pepper plants as well as a good soaking. I was determined to at least get those peppers before having to tread water.
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...Then had to stand out in the rain while two guys moving at a snail's pace loaded the back of my truck with bags of humus.

Still had to make a vet and Tractor Supply stop before driving an hour back home with my wet shirt sticking to the seat.

Yesterday while rummaging through the shed I found a huge bag full of marigold plants I had put in there to dry over the winter...I ended up shucking seeds from the heads for about an hour. What I will do with about a million marigold seeds remains to be seen.

Every year I say I'm not doing this again, but when the flowers and plants come out, I do:rolleyes:
 
As the sweet peas and sunflower seeds I planted have decided not to sprout, as usual, (but the nasturtiums came up with gusto...) restarted in peat pots and plan to set them in the ground this weekend. What I wanna know is how come every single year I see gigantic sunflowers in somebody's yard before I even get a teeny tiny peek-a-boo above ground. Probably gonna give up the ghost and pull the lemon out. It "survived" the winter but isn't doing too well and will need to be replaced. And, of course, there's lots more weeds to pull along the bank I'm turning into a rock garden and wild flower patch. The wild flower seeds won't go down until fall but, want to get the area cleared while the ground is still soft enough to give up its weeds.
 
I tried sunflowers last year with some success, given the drought. I threw some seeds down last week and they're peeking through now. You reminded me I forgot to get nasturtium seeds, but maybe they'll re-seed themselves. I didn't even see any seeds in the store yesterday come to think of it..hmm

I don't even want to discuss weeds, except to say I have my arsenal in place for a full on attack in the next few days! I have a bumper crop.
 
Good ol' nasturtiums love to reseed and that sure helps a lot. Have actually wondered so many times about different weeds and how come they are so successful. Many actually have some beautiful flowers until they turn in to ugly, invasive monsters.
 
I have a virtual carpet of tiny purple flowers in areas of the yard. Weeds, for sure, but we've planted grass seed so many times; and the downpours washed it out over and over. So...we've planted some clover, which is pretty; spreads, and is GREEN. What else can you do??? :confused: :)

ETA: Have you all tried the nasturtium leaves in salads?? Pretty good...tangy and tasty, imo.
 
We might have a few varieties of garden snakes around here, but nothing poisonous that I know of. Tons of racoons and coyotes though. I planted some sunflower seeds last weekend and they are sprouted already. Have them in peat pots right now and when I know for sure that the weather will stay warm, I'll put them in the ground on the new property. Also bought a weeping willow tree to put in the wannabe pasture. It's a bit wet so the tree should help keep in dry. I'm getting restless to get the new house/barn and sundry outbuildings under way.
 
TICA said:
I'm getting restless to get the new house/barn and sundry outbuildings under way.
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Sounds like an adventure for sure. I know nothing ever goes as planned with the various problems and always arise but, here's hoping you enjoy the process and end result.
 
Well, for the assorted silly folks who require a need to celebrate, today is 420 . . . Not sure if that also refers to weed whackin' as opposed to weed tokin' but the hills are alive with the buzz of weed eaters. Even with a pretty dry winter, the grass has jumped to a thousand feet tall and has to go. Fire control is nothing to be taken lightly. Hope the mad mowers ain't enjoying a little weed as they whack or not much more than a square foot or two will be cleared as they ponder . . . like . . . Nature, man!

As for your faithful This Guy gardener, gonna finish encouraging some wild berries to stop growing where I want sunflowers and get those little guys living in peat pots into the ground. Then, fight the bugs and animals who think I'm distributing treats . . .
 
I have some broccoli plants coming up, but they look a little spindly in their little pots....hope they make it until I can get them in the garden. We've had temps in the low 30's past few nights; it's time for Spring now, to be sure.

Gonna plant some sunflowers along the wood's edge today. I see daylilies and irises coming up there, too. :)
 
I finally got my red crepe myrtle tree for the hill in the pasture. I planted it on Wednesday, and yesterday when I looked at it the nice green leaves were black from frostbite:(. It still has green leaf buds on the limbs, so keeping my fingers crossed it snaps out of it.

Rummaging through the shed I found a major cache of flower seeds I'd forgotten about, so have been busy finding homes for them, doing just what I said I wasn't going to do this year, plant a lot of things I have to water all summer.:rolleyes:

My irises are getting ready to burst forth in bloom, lillies are right behind them, glads are coming up, planted my must have red geraniums Wednesday and zinnia sprouts are popping up. On Saturday, I got the pepper and grape tomato plants in and planted another rosemary bush. Love the fragrance of rosemary!

Things are popping up in the new flower garden I made last year, waiting to see what survived, and am enlarging it to accommodated the extra seeds I found. All the bulb flowers have multiplied dramatically since last year, so they'll need divided this fall.

Whew, my back hurts, but when all those gorgeous flowers are finally in bloom, it'll be worth it!
 
Our iris's are beginning to bloom They need to be divided. Trouble is where to put them all.

The green beans got zapped from the frost but seem to be recovering.I hope there are no more frosts coming. I planted the sweet potato slips yesterday. I had 12 that were well rooted and 2 that didn't look so good but I planted them all.

This gardening does get to be a pain but the rewards are worth it. Many of the varieties we grow can't be found in stores.
 

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