The garden's starting to come alive!

Seems the best luck I have with sunflowers is the volunteers that sprout up under the birdfeeders!
 

I just planted my garden today. However, this year I did not use seeds, but saplings. My garden this year is planted with tomatoes, carrots, green peppers, Vidalia onions, corn, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, and cucumbers. I enjoy gardening as it is a valuable use of time and I save money by not shopping as much at the local grocery store.
 
cmillken... gardening is good in so many ways. The exercise you get is one benefit. Some of the great foods you grow are varieties that aren't available in stores.

I've got everything planted and growing now.

ozarkgal...did the cold weather get any of your plants? We didn't get snow here but it was close by. Lots of rain and cold wind but temps above freezing.
 

Headed off to the store for more Liquid Fence to battle the deer gobbling my roses and . . . They didn't have any!?!?!?! Had to buy a substitute. Now, have read it's best to use a variety as they will become accustomed to just one repellent. Well, the substitute as mainly capsaicin and those suckers better not like their roses with a hint of spice!
 
That Guy, I've used cayenne on the garden, but once they got used to it, they ate stuff anyway....that would be mostly rabbits, tho.

Do those roses have thorns??? Because about the only thing the animals didn't bother was the Litchi Tomatoes....the entire plant is covered with thorns, to the point you don't even want to touch it yourself. But the frut isn't that tasty, either.
 
Dear Anne . . . Those darned deer don't care about thorns, stickers, spikes or nothin'! They even chew on stuff that they supposedly do not like. If there's a plant they don't eat, they will pull it out of the ground or trample it. Ah, Bambi . . . you are breakin' my heart. I have been overjoyed to see the first blossoms on my yearly sunflowers only to come out the next morning to the thrill of the flower have been bitten right off.

Speaking of sunflowers . . . Well, now that we've enjoyed the Vernal Equinox and Earth's axis is pointed such that we in the northern hemisphere are getting more direct sunlight as we spin and that great ball o' fire is arching higher overhead . . . the spot I pegged as being perfect for sunflowers back in December is now shaded by a huge Monterey Pine all morning and only just now getting some light. Guess I'll be enjoying afternoon sunflowers . . . unless the deer get to them...

Unfortunately, our stately Monterey Pines have been suffering from pitch canker and are dying at an alarming rate. So, that big fella will probably be coming down. Hopefully, felled by skilled arborists and not blown down in our next big storm this winter.
 
Isn't it really dry there though, That Guy?? When we had such hot dry weather, they were munching on nearly everything, too....just to get some moisture. Squirrels stole tomatoes off the vines, deer chomped on the pepper tops, tomatoes, etc. I thought of a fence, but deer can go right over that, too, if not high enough.

Just hopeing for better luck this year....we're fencing part of the garden, and will have Liquid Fence on hand for the rest if needed.
 
Yeah, very dry winter and they've already started restrictions on water usage around the area. At the vineyard, the fence was about 8' and the deer never jumped it. But, Liquid Fence is the way to go! Gonna check another store and hope they have some. Could order online but I need it now.
 
I've gotta thin the corn today. I plan to try transplanting the thinnings to another area. Corn doesn't transplant very well but I'm gonna try it. If it doesn't work I still have some seed.

I sure hope we don't have drought conditions again this year. We've had a very wet spring so far.
 
rkunsaw said:
ozarkgal...did the cold weather get any of your plants? We didn't get snow here but it was close by. Lots of rain and cold wind but temps above freezing.
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Rkunsaw, No snow here either, and it didn't dip below freezing. Still lots of tender flowers sprouting up, and I just planted a six pack of tomatoes, probably won't know for a few days how they took it. I just bought two beautiful Boston ferns for the front porch. I brought them into the screened porch and covered them up and they did fine.

I may have lost my newly planted crepe myrtle tree, but some gardners in this area told me probably not, they are very hardy. I figured with the transplant shock and two frosts it was probably gone..we'll see.

As a side note, not sure whether it was the same one or not, but another racky coon terrorizing the cat house again. This time he was not as slippery as the last one, and managed to trap him in one day. He was taken to the relocation area and let go. I am not so sure he wasn't the same one, as his mannerisms were exactly the same. He was relocated about three miles down the creek as the crow flies, so the possibility is good it is the same one. Next time he goes up the road in a different direction.
mini-raccoon.gif
 
Transplanting is tricky....had some leggy tomato plants that I repotted yesterday, amd managed to kill one of them. Hoping to get the grafted ones in the garden today; FINALLY we have some very welcome sunshine!!!

Ozarkgal, hope the raccoons will stay away - we haven't had a problem with them, but do see some possums. Also some large rabbits already checking out the gardens; while the dog slept peacefully in the house. :rolleyes: :D
 
Changed my mind. The corn roots were too deep to pull out with any degree of success. I just thinned them and got the seeds soaking to plant tomorrow. We should get lots of corn this year.
 
rkunsaw said:
Changed my mind. The corn roots were too deep to pull out with any degree of success. I just thinned them and got the seeds soaking to plant tomorrow. We should get lots of corn this year.
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Glad you were saved the torment of transplanting trials and errors. Better success with seed.
 
Stopped at another store and got some Liquid Fence. Now, just got get to mixing it up and spraying entire world! Warning to all flower munching deer!
 
Anyone know of a good friendly gardening forum, or better yet, gardening and cooking?? I know there's gardenweb, but it's so big, and we'd prefer something smaller.
 
Thanks, rkunsaw!! I get SO into gardening in Summer, that I'd probably bore people here....will give it a try.

That Guy, you haul rocks home??? I've done that since I was a kid....:D BUT - we've got so many rocks here, we toss 'em in the woods.
 
Taking the "scenic" route to work, I drive around a reservoir that is county park land and always expect to be arrested for stopping to pick up a nice sized stone that has rolled down the side of a cliff. Sometimes, those darned things are too heavy to get into the truck and it's disappointing to have to leave them. Winter is a great time as the storms cause slides that provide an ample supply...

Box up your spare rocks and send them to me, Anne. I'll pay the shipping . . .
 
That Guy said:
Taking the "scenic" route to work, I drive around a reservoir that is county park land and always expect to be arrested for stopping to pick up a nice sized stone that has rolled down the side of a cliff. Sometimes, those darned things are too heavy to get into the truck and it's disappointing to have to leave them. Winter is a great time as the storms cause slides that provide an ample supply...

Box up your spare rocks and send them to me, Anne. I'll pay the shipping . . .
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ok,, but I'll wait til you win the lottery, That Guy. :D I imagine you find a lot of fossils, too....we usually put those on display in one of the gardens. I even look for rocks on vacations; that's better than picking up expensive souveniers in the shops - which are usually shipped from somewhere entirely different.
 
Anne said:
ok,, but I'll wait til you win the lottery, That Guy. :D I imagine you find a lot of fossils, too....we usually put those on display in one of the gardens. I even look for rocks on vacations; that's better than picking up expensive souveniers in the shops - which are usually shipped from somewhere entirely different.
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There are so many fossils imbedded in the cliffs along the shore it's a geologists dream. Have a fossilized whale bone that's stuck in a huge rock that I found on the reef and carried home way back in the seventies. It's quite a find and I would probably get arrested for removing it from the sanctuary, today. There I go with Johhny Law on my back, again. There are lots and lots of interesting rocks at the beach but worry about bringing salt back to the garden so avoid them. Would like a couple more really large rocks but the weight limit sorta gets in the way of moving them. Will probably have to actually buy some small rocks and pebbles and sand to fill some spots in before winter so the rain doesn't wash the slope away... That is, if we actually have a winter as we didn't this last time.
 

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