What's Growin'

[houghchrst]

well trying a different method for seed starting this year. THe ones that needs to be started inside are going into cut down Hawaiian Punch, juice, applesauce plastic containers with the top narrow part cut off. THinking of burying some of those tops to water roots.

I figure this way I will have less to move around can keep track of what is what easier and they will be easier to replant.

Going to be using a lot of pallet wood to build with this year. I have seen some lovely furniture and other things made from repurposed pallets. Hopefully tomorrow I will have the energy lol.

[clouds z]

can you use card tables?

[houghchrst]

you sure can clouds. Depending on what they're made of you may want to cover them with something like a cheap plastic table cloth from the dollar store or a small tarp. I use camping tables to put my smaller pots on. The stuff that needs a bit of deeper dirt to grow and gets tall I put in 5 gallon buckets. Less bending over. Even a couple of concrete blocks will give a five gallon bucket some height.

i just saw some beautiful cabbages growing in nothing but the bag of dirt. They cut two slits in the bag of dirt and planted. This would be great for tabletop growing also. No pots to mess with.

[lor]

That poinsetta ened up with just a few leaves so I threw in away. I was large & beautiful at 1st. My friend gave it to me when I was in the hosp. I read instructions on keeping it so I thought...why not try? For the last 7 or 8 years I have had a beautiful plant. A Madigascar Palm. I can keep track of the years cuz in winter it slows down growing (& leaves drop) and leaves a dark stripe. Just count the stipes. I gets very lovely in the summer with full flowing leaves. It realy isn't a palm but looks like it when in full bloom (I was thinking of it but never did, send a photo to FB). We have a mexican restaurant nearby that puts a couple fake palms in the front. I keep thinking, they outa' get one. It was just a foot at first then in year 2 it sprouted another next to it. So now it looks like a 3.5 foot tree next to a 5.5 foot tree. The trunk is like a cactus with spines (I knocked into it once but caught it...ouch, my figers started bleeding). Accually, it is a suculant.

[houghchrst]

This weather really sucks, I already have seedling started since this is the time on the planting calendar to start them. My Snap Peas are already 5 and 6 inches tall!! and they haven't been in the dirt but maybe a week. We still have snow on the ground, fortunately it is melting and will continue to do so but the nights aren't even close to being frost free lol.

I may wind up with a garden in my living room.

[lor]

We drove down the interstate past empty brown corn fields & a few bare trees back & forth from Toledo to Chicago. We started this in begining Feb. & now, in mid March, you can see a little green out there.

[houghchrst]

well I have been a busy bee here. Building flower boxes to put outside my gazebo. Hopefully it will make it a bit more stable and am going to plant something that vines during the summer and hopefully they will give me a bit of privacy. Thinking of hanging some sheers to get more privacy from neighbors. plan to fix it so my main view is the creek and the woods.


I built these in two days and had exactly enough wood for four, Exactly!


Sure am paying for it now and my brother and his new family are coming tomorrow for Easter not gonna be pretty in the pain department.

[tic chick]

lookin' good, chris!

sorry it was so painful, but by the time the veggies come up, you'll have forgotten it...that's why you had more than one child

good goin',
jeannie

[houghchrst]

image.jpg Working on some more stuff for the yard and here's my babies. Yes Jeanie I am wiping myself out and despite the pain thanks to the med change I am sleeping like a rock.

the first set of attachments was a twin bed from that was left over from shortcake's bunkbed set.
Just needs a coat of paint and cushion and it'll be ready to go under the our huge walnut tree.


i have no idea why the first four went as attachments and the last was a direct insert lol.

[dawnmn]

great idea chris!!

[houghchrst]

Hee hee, got a new tool today. A mini multi saw. Slowly but surely building up my tools. I've become a huge fan of Pinterest they have some great ideas.

[Buttons2]

Lookin' real good Chris! what do you have planted so far? I'm reluctant to plant anything cause of the deer & doggie. do have some Swedish spuds coming up on their own however.

[tic chick]

hey everyone !

well, two and a half days of waves of rain and thunderstorms. the yard is flooded again, but not that badly. the water is being absorbed better and faster.

the forsythia is opening, although it looks bedraggled because of the rain. the tulips are tall and will bloom when the forsythia is finished, in 2 weeks.

the backyard is lively. the rhododendrons are ready to burst. my peony has little red stubs coming up, they're about 2-3 inches tall. those are this years plant. i can see that there are more of them, so the peony will be bigger this year. the purple sand leaf cherry is getting buds. i trimmed my rose bush and pricked my cheek and was stuck on a thorn for a half hour one day (just kidding, but i did get my clothes caught on them). my salvia looked really straggly last week, still with the dead sticks and leaves from last year. a couple days ago there was a brand new beautiful green mound of leaves! the coral bells are getting new leaves and the daylilies my neighbor gave me are about 6 inches high and have several leaves. they might get more flowers than one per plant this year.

the leaves of the irises are greening up tall and perky. i got a plant called a "veronica" that is blue. that is coming up nicely also. there are buds on my big hyacinth, but i didn't notice any on the 2 little ones. the pink alliums i planted in my brick circle are getting their long, thin leaves and they all sprouted from the bulbs i got last year. i haven't seen my alliums from last year yet, the yellow ones in front of the irises, nor the one bluish-purple one in front of the echinacea. my boston ferns are getting some green sprouts. the euonymous bushes i planted at the end of last year took a bit of a hit this winter. they are all still alive, but many of their branches came off. i will fertilize them and see if that helps. the french lilac bush that my son and i moved is getting SCADS of buds!!! i am so happy. and the other bush that i don't know the name of is getting buds too.

i treated myself to a new camera a few months ago. the one i had was working, but it only had 2 pixels (i've had it for about 8 years!) so i got one with 16 pixels and a great optical zoom. now i have to take a day to play the cd that came with it that shows you how to operate the camera....and quickly, cause i want to take pics soon!!!

so, that's what's growin' .

happy spring has sprung!
jeannie

oh, i forgot to mention i also planted some seeds in potting soil to plant later. i soaked the seeds overnight, which helps to soften the outer shell of the seed so that it sprouts faster. i planted some zinnia seeds, those are annuals, and some dwarf sunflower seeds that will grow to about a foot high. i thought they looked darling. i also got some big sunflower seeds and i soaked those and didn't have time to plant them yet. i looked at them today and some of them have a little sprout coming out of the seed!!! i am also starting my sweet pea seeds for chris' ferret "sweetpea". i am planting them directly into the ground this year instead of in pots. last year when i planted them in a pot, the leaves would come out but then the leaves below them started to die. i don't know if it was the pot, but i will try the direct sow method this time.

[lor]

I stop in here but you guys are mostly talking about gardening & I don't have one, so I don't usually come. I was thinking of maybe starting a veggie garden where we were sting our pop up camper in the backyard. Now we have a about 5x5 area with no grass. For years we had cannas by our fence but John got tired of dealing with them every year. (You have to chop down the stalks & dig out the bulbs after summer.)

[clouds z]

i dislike gmo and monsanto