Re: May so far
gardenchat@hort.net
  • Subject: Re: May so far
  • From: b* <b*@ix.netcom.com>
  • Date: Fri, 6 May 2011 07:18:25 -0600 (GMT-06:00)
I'm behind at the home garden. Planted peas, onions, lettuce, and
potatoes yesterday. I have to remember that I garden on limited water
availablity,so cannot plant every single garden and pot that I own. To
justifiy the water use from the rainbarrel, I am consentrating on
vegetables.

    In the garden plots at work, I have planted the above and hope to plant the tomatoes tomorrow in the wall of waters.

betsy


-----Original Message-----
>From: Aplfgcnys@aol.com
>Sent: May 5, 2011 3:33 PM
>To: gardenchat@hort.net
>Subject: Re: [CHAT] May so far
>
>There was one almost hot day last week - new growth on my Hellebores
>wilted and daffs leaned over - but it has been cool since.  Yesterday was
>just plain nasty - rainy, windy, with temps around 45 degrees. Today is
>sunny, but chilly and windy, and frost is predicted for tonight.
> 
>The late daffs are blooming now, and lots of other things are coming
>out.  The native columbine is in full bloom.  It is really a weed, but I do
>love it, so let it stay wherever it wants to be until I need the space for
>something else.  Pulmonarias - three varieties, including a lovely white
>one - are doing well. Speaking of weeds,  there are masses of white
>violets everywhere in the lawn and around the edges of the woods and
>boulders.  I don't ever remember seeing them so thick before. 
> 
>As for the vegetable garden, I have not done much.  Planted peas as
>soon as I could get out, but not until late March. They are several inches
>high, and every time I go down to the garden I fear they will have been
>eaten.  I am using a "small pest repellant that Park's put out this year -
>here's hoping it will protect them.  It's still too early to start squash 
>and
>beans, and since all my beans were eaten off as soon as they blossomed
>last year I am waiting to see if the peas survive.  I put onions in, but 
>didn't
>plant them too well.  The weather has just not been conducive to spending
>time in the garden, and when it was fairly nice, the shad flies make life
>miserable. Add to that, these old bones just don't move as well as they
>once did.I'm hoping to have a helper to come work one day soon and get
>things in better order.  
>This past two weeks have been mostly dominated  by plans for and 
>execution of Horticulture Schools.  I did not go to Rochester for the one 
>there
>last week, but spent much time on the paperwork and preparations.  The one
>here this week went very well, but  was totally time consuming, and I am 
>still
>in process of grading exams, etc.  I have a big box of that to do for last 
>week's
>school, but I told them I couldn't get to it until I finished this one. And 
>then there
>is one in early June in the Buffalo area.  I have officially retired from 
>this job 
>after 22 years, but have promised my successor that I will still wind up 
>these
>three schools togive her time to get established.
> 
>In a message dated 5/5/2011 5:15:44 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
>cyndi.johnson@edwards.af.mil writes:
>
>We are having a minor heat wave, it is 86F at the moment. Not terribly
>hot and it will probably cool off a bit later in the week, but spring is
>definitely here and summer is coming. 
>Despite my best intentions I was later than I wanted planting the peas
>so they are just starting to bloom. In misplaced optimism I reused one
>of the "leaky" hoses for them, but I should have known better. After
>only a year our hard water clogs the hoses up so much they need to be
>replaced. I thought this one was okay when I tried it but I'm having to
>hand-water them every day now which never does all that well. I might
>try unhooking that hose and dropping a new one in the bed - I'll never
>get the old one out without tearing up plants but I might manage to
>maneuver a new one into place.   
>The lettuce/spinach/cilantro bed has a new hose, so those are growing
>like anything. Rabbits got under my little fence and chowed down on the
>lettuce, so I'm having to wait for that to grow out again, but the
>spinach is lovely and the cilantro is lush. I'm giving away bags of
>spinach at work and I'll be chopping and freezing cilantro this weekend
>for future salsa and cilantro pesto. 
>I'm late on the tomatoes as well but we had frost only two weeks ago, so
>maybe it was just as well. I'm putting them in the ground this week and
>hopefully the peppers too. The frost took out half of the six zucchini
>seedlings but those grow fast. I have not looked under the row cover
>over the corn and beans, hopefully they are all okay; I can see a couple
>seedlings peeking out the sides. 
>My roses are going to be covered in maybe a week, lots of blooms right
>now. Lots of weeding to do out there too, the gardeners are doing very
>well but unless I pay them more they can only spend so much time. I'm
>pretty happy with them, all in all. 
>Every year around this time I promise myself to get out in the garden
>after coming home from work and I'm actually doing it this year. So far
>anyway. Even with all that needs to be done I can see the results, just
>need to keep at it. 
>DH put a trap in the chicken coop and has caught and disposed of three
>ground squirrels (caught one cat, looked too well fed to be a stray
>although maybe it was eating well on ground squirrel, anyway we let it
>go). That is saving a lot of chicken feed, which doesn't cost chicken
>feed let me tell you. And we sold our Suffolk ram plus one ewe, so we're
>down to two sheep now, by the end of the year we'll be sheepless. I will
>miss them, but it was a lot of work. 
>How's your garden?  
>
>Cyndi  
>
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