Re: Are we ready?

We had geckos in the house in Hawai'i all the time. I figured that if  
they ate the cockroaches they were welcome!

Cathy, west central IL, z5b

On Mar 21, 2006, at 5:38 AM, james singer wrote:

> There are zillions outside so a few get into the house. When they  
> do, I do my best to catch them and throw them out. In reality,  
> however, we don't run a very tight ship.
>
>
>
>
> On Mar 20, 2006, at 5:52 PM, Johnson Cyndi D Civ 95 CG/SCSRT wrote:
>
>> Do you have anoles in the house? You couldn't, could you, with  
>> cats? I don't
>> have any "eeewww" problems with lizards but having them loose  
>> inside would
>> give me a couple heart attacks a day. OTOH, I could stop worrying  
>> about
>> having those little episodes where you think you just saw  
>> something move out
>> of the corner of your eye - I'd know I saw something.
>> I wouldn't mind my own avocado tree at all. And mangos. Oh yeah.
>> I suspect most places have many charms to offer (okay, here we  
>> only have a
>> few). I liked the green in Minnesota, but not the mosquitos. I  
>> liked the
>> Texas hill country quite a bit. I liked the heat in Atlanta but  
>> not the
>> humidity. I like the desert sunsets, the open spaces, and the dry  
>> heat; I am
>> getting to hate the wind, and I'm not too fond of winter here.  
>> Haven't lived
>> next to the ocean since I was very young, but here in California  
>> I'd have to
>> win several lotteries to be able to afford that.
>> And I am pretty sure I'd go nuts living somewhere that's cloudy  
>> for long
>> stretches. Last winter with all its rain was very frustrating and  
>> now, every
>> weekend for a month it's been overcast, I'm ready for a break.
>>
>> Cyndi
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: owner-gardenchat@hort.net [o*@hort.net]  
>> On Behalf
>> Of james singer
>> Sent: Monday, March 20, 2006 12:33 PM
>> To: gardenchat@hort.net
>> Subject: Re: [CHAT] Are we ready?
>>
>> As long as one encourages the anoles to thrive, bugs are no problem,
>> Cyndi. In the last 10 years, we've had only one cucuracha sneak past
>> the anole brigade and get into the house--and an ever-vigilant cat  
>> got
>> it. The anoles do an amazing job on mosquitos, too, considering this
>> place is mostly swamp beyond the interstate and behind the  
>> developers'
>> signs.
>>
>> That said, the desert has a great charm completely missing in the
>> subtropics. Raising sheep here, for instance, is out of the question
>> [foot rot]. And forget any low-chill crop, such as apples or peaches.
>> On the other hand, the minimal temperature swings are conducive to  
>> many
>> premium-market fruits--such as avocados, citrus, mangos--and nearly
>> year-round vegetable crops.
>>
>> On Mar 20, 2006, at 2:31 PM, Johnson Cyndi D Civ 95 CG/SCSRT wrote:
>>
>>> I'm not sure why field corn. Just a "let's try it", I guess - we'll
>>> grind
>>> some if it turns out, but we don't eat much starchy stuff. Maybe he
>>> remembers the farm his parents used to own - he was pretty little  
>>> when
>>> they
>>> sold it.
>>> I had a harder time than I expected tracking down what he wants.  
>>> Field
>>> corn
>>> equates to flint corn, or dent corn, as far as I can tell. Most of
>>> what's
>>> sold in sizes for home gardeners is for ornamental use. He doesn't
>>> want red
>>> or pink or any color but yellow. So far I can only find a couple
>>> places that
>>> look like what he wants. I told him let's just buy a sack of feed  
>>> corn
>>> and
>>> try sprouting it, might work just fine. We can feed the rest to the
>>> sheep.
>>> I'm sure tired of being cold. Florida's starting to sound pretty  
>>> good.
>>> Too
>>> bad about all those bugs.
>>>
>>> Cyndi
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: owner-gardenchat@hort.net [mailto:owner- 
>>> gardenchat@hort.net] On
>>> Behalf
>>> Of james singer
>>> Sent: Monday, March 20, 2006 11:03 AM
>>> To: gardenchat@hort.net
>>> Subject: Re: [CHAT] Are we ready?
>>>
>>> Your weekend sounded great, Cyndi. Why does DH want to grow field  
>>> corn?
>>> Make his own cornmeal? I did that once; good part is you can  
>>> store it
>>> nearly forever on the cob and grind it only as you need it--so  
>>> you can
>>> grow 2 or 3 year's worth at one time.
>>>
>>> We just planted our second crop of tomatoes this weekend. The first
>>> crop--a variety called "Window Box Roma"--was really much better  
>>> than
>>> expected. Mature plants were about 3 feet in diameter and 2 feet  
>>> high.
>>> Determinant producers, they each produced 3 to 4 dozen fruits  
>>> over a 3
>>> week period. We'll definitely do those for our early crop again next
>>> year.
>>>
>>> On Mar 20, 2006, at 12:09 PM, Johnson Cyndi D Civ 95 CG/SCSRT wrote:
>>>
>>>> The weekend here was cold, windy, and mixed with a few  
>>>> sprinkles, my
>>>> least
>>>> favorite weather, but we did get some things done. First up was to
>>>> clean out
>>>> the sheep pens and start mixing the ewes. When they lamb they get
>>>> their own
>>>> space but after a week or so everyone goes back together. Anyway it
>>>> produced
>>>> about 10 wheelbarrows full of spoiled hay and sheep poop for the
>>>> garden. The
>>>> five lambs are very bouncy.
>>>> Husband got out the rototiller and did all fourteen beds. I  
>>>> planted my
>>>> onions and peas, figured since it's still freezing at night it  
>>>> was a
>>>> little
>>>> too cold for anything else just yet. I bought a couple bags of that
>>>> corn
>>>> gluten meal earlier so I spread some of that on half the onion bed.
>>>> We'll
>>>> see how that works in controlling weeds.
>>>> I did say I was cutting back the veg garden this year and I  
>>>> really am.
>>>> But
>>>> DH wants to grow "field corn" so he is getting four beds of his  
>>>> own.
>>>> We'll
>>>> see how that goes.
>>>> Then I filled up the dumpster again with trimmings from the  
>>>> Banks rose
>>>> we
>>>> cut down over the winter. There's quite a lot left.  
>>>> Unfortunately we
>>>> had
>>>> trained it on a wood trellis against the chicken coop and the  
>>>> trellis
>>>> was
>>>> disintegrating. There was no way to tie the thing out of the way  
>>>> so it
>>>> had
>>>> to go. I have been hoping to see new sprouts at the base but  
>>>> nothing
>>>> so far;
>>>> it is protected by some chicken wire so if it does resprout at  
>>>> least
>>>> they
>>>> won't get eaten immediately.
>>>> Tomatoes sprouted in the greenhouse last week, all except for Super
>>>> Roma and
>>>> Persimmon. I bought both those from Tomatofest, I hope this  
>>>> isn't an
>>>> ominous
>>>> sign. Only a few peppers are up but it takes them longer. My bay  
>>>> tree
>>>> that I
>>>> fried is starting to sprout again from many of the branches, so I'm
>>>> encouraged that it will recover eventually.
>>>> I am a little pessimistic about getting fruit this year since  
>>>> many of
>>>> the
>>>> trees were in bloom when we had the snow and the hard freeze.  
>>>> Wait and
>>>> see.
>>>> I didn't do anything in front except order a few plants, and I made
>>>> lists of
>>>> the plants I want for the dry garden which still has a lot of empty
>>>> space.
>>>> And lists for plants to grow along the back fence, they have to be
>>>> very very
>>>> drought tolerant. How I'm going to keep the sheep from eating  
>>>> them is
>>>> another problem. I'm hoping to get in a trip to Theodore Payne  
>>>> nursery
>>>> this
>>>> week, they seem to have most of what I want. I'm going to try  
>>>> sambucus
>>>> mexicana, an elderberry, if I can find one - I saw one growing  
>>>> halfway
>>>> up a
>>>> canyon only a couple miles from my house, so I figure it's worth  
>>>> the
>>>> attempt. Atriplex canescens and atriplex polycarpa, both are
>>>> saltbushes, are
>>>> on the list, and prosopis (mesquite) if I can find it.
>>>>
>>>> Cyndi
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: owner-gardenchat@hort.net [mailto:owner- 
>>>> gardenchat@hort.net] On
>>>> Behalf
>>>> Of Donna
>>>> Sent: Sunday, March 19, 2006 3:50 PM
>>>> To: gardenchat@hort.net
>>>> Subject: [CHAT] Are we ready?
>>>>
>>>> The first day of spring is just around the corner, are you  
>>>> ready? What
>>>> happened to us exercising so we don't have the trauma of muscles
>>>> rebelling
>>>> as we clean up the gardens? :)
>>>>
>>>> I had an unexpected weekend off, so today we had choices- do we  
>>>> go to
>>>> the
>>>> Garden show at Navy Pier, continue on cleaning out the basement,  
>>>> or go
>>>> outside and do something...
>>>>
>>>> The garden won, since it was a nice day here.
>>>>
>>>> I will probably be looking for more trees this year, as I FINALLY
>>>> pruned
>>>> them- and I am the worst pruner in the world. My trees are a bit  
>>>> bare
>>>> now,
>>>> but at least we will not be running into the branches while mowing
>>>> anymore
>>>> (well I won't be anyways). I think I got carried away after  
>>>> starting -
>>>> which
>>>> took forever trying to decide which ones to take out.
>>>>
>>>> Then on to the roses, bushes, and everything else I didn't get  
>>>> to last
>>>> fall.
>>>> Did notice some of the trees were thinking about budding, but I  
>>>> pruned
>>>> anyways. Also took out a huge part of the trumpet vine that was  
>>>> going
>>>> the
>>>> wrong way since I wasn't around to train it last year. Hopefully I
>>>> didn't
>>>> kill it.
>>>>
>>>> As I was cleaning up the pond, since obviously DH didn't get all  
>>>> the
>>>> plant
>>>> remains out last fall, did notice the lilies are already  
>>>> starting to
>>>> grow.
>>>> Seems early.
>>>>
>>>> The animals (assuming rabbits since that is what I saw) have  
>>>> already
>>>> done
>>>> some pruning throughout the yard, may have to start a coffee can
>>>> design. And
>>>> dang nab it, someone cut off the clematis again-- lotsa of vines on
>>>> the
>>>> fence and this one foot of nothing then the ground... sigh...  
>>>> fought
>>>> getting
>>>> them off the fence since obviously they are not going to grow since
>>>> nothing
>>>> reaches the ground.
>>>>
>>>> I left most of the ground/plant cover there as I felt we are still
>>>> going to
>>>> get some weather and they will need it. But the daylilies were  
>>>> already
>>>> peeking out! Got some other things growing all over and I can't for
>>>> the life
>>>> of me remember planting anything like it. But last year was lost
>>>> between
>>>> train convention meetings and working enormous hours...there was no
>>>> gardening done here by me so... who knows what Pat  
>>>> planted...need to
>>>> call
>>>> her!
>>>>
>>>> Only got about half of the gardens done, but maybe I will still be
>>>> able to
>>>> walk tomorrow - LOL!
>>>>
>>>> Donna
>>>>
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>>> Island Jim
>>> Southwest Florida
>>> 27.0 N, 82.4 W
>>> Hardiness Zone 10
>>> Heat Zone 10
>>> Minimum 30 F [-1 C]
>>> Maximum 100 F [38 C]
>>>
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>> Island Jim
>> Southwest Florida
>> 27.0 N, 82.4 W
>> Hardiness Zone 10
>> Heat Zone 10
>> Minimum 30 F [-1 C]
>> Maximum 100 F [38 C]
>>
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>>
> Island Jim
> Southwest Florida
> 27.0 N, 82.4 W
> Hardiness Zone 10
> Heat Zone 10
> Minimum 30 F [-1 C]
> Maximum 100 F [38 C]
>
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> To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
> message text UNSUBSCRIBE GARDENCHAT

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