Gardening · Hobbies

I need a rototiller…

I keep buying more large containers to avoid having to chop up the sod in my backyard.

Container gardening gone mad

It was past time to plant the sweet potato slips I received from my new favorite binge-buying company, Park Seed Co. (Thow some sponsorship $$$ this way!) I still have a few more to plant – I am exhausted with planting. I’ve got so many lessons learned: prep the soil and containers in March – don’t plant then! (Except early spinach and lettuce.) In March start all the things that need to be started indoors, under the fancy grow light and biodome set I acquired this year from who else? Say it with me, Park Seed.* Then, in early April, start the real sowing of things that can be sown in the soil.

My original plan this week: dig up a patch of my grass the dimensions of the pallet collars I purchased last week. Remove all the grass, hoe up the dirt, situate the pallet collar, then fill with bags full of the best raised bed soil. Plant those slips, position trellis (already purchased) and voila! My crop of sweet potatoes, planted and ready for their five-month gestation in the good earth. I was shocked to learn how long it takes for sweet potatoes to grow.

What actually happened:

Have any of you recovered from the Covid-19 pounds (or more?) you must have gained? I haven’t. PLUS – I’ve stopped going to the gym as much as I should. Once or twice a week is just not getting it. Though I walk each day, it’s at the pace of a dog who strolls, stops, sniffs, inspects, and generally meanders. It isn’t cardio – it’s just enjoying fresh air.

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Accentuate the Positive! · Beauty · Gardening · Hobbies · Podrick

My how the garden has grown….

In the image above, Podrick is inspecting the Iris. I’m so grateful a previous owner planted these beautiful bulbs. And I’ve managed to keep them alive – no credit to me!

It is thrilling to see the plants coming up. Now I have to search for YouTube videos on how to know when they’ve finished growing … I’ve never grown spring onions or garlic before – when are they “finished”? When do I get to harvest them? I just did a search – and I cannot believe how many wonderful gardeners there are out there who have posted helpful tips on when to harvest garlic – and how. The word on Spring Onions – 8 weeks after sowing. Which is in about 2 weeks … I think. Perhaps I should start writing down when I sow the seeds. Ah, improvement for next year, and anything else I plant this year.

Spending hours on Gardening YouTube

Since it is raining now I have the chance to look at YouTube videos (again!) Looking at gardening videos is now my favorite form of web surfing. One of my favorities is GrowVeg, run by a lovely British man. This morning he taught me the best way to take care of my newly sown carrots.

Thanks to this gentleman’s tutelage I’m now investing in pallet collars for my next raised bed, and to replace the broken-down bed I’ve currently jerry-rigged together with baling wire. Actually after perusing the available options I may not – Uline.com wanted $151 for freight shipping for 2 pallet collars! That was more than the price of the items. Home Depot doesn’t have them. Argh, back to Amazon.

I’m so excited about the potato plants coming up I had to take pictures to share with you all. After many more YouTube videos I quickly realized I should have poked more drainage holes in the bottom of the five-gallon buckets (another lesson learned) but at least I’ve put them up off the ground slightly, to aid in drainage. The plants look terrific.

Those odds and ends of wood always come in handy in the garden.
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Accentuate the Positive! · Cooking · Gardening · Hobbies · just plain fun

It’s Saturday and time to garden

I begrudge the time spent indoors on a day like today

The gardening bug bit me

Question: How do you know your green thumb is turning from lime granita to grasshopper green?

Answer: When you start eyeing potted plants your neighbors put on the curb for the yard trash guy, and think, that’s some really good soil. I could use that.

Me, last Monday

This happened this past week, along with another gardening bonus: One day this week I walked my dog at lunch and came across my elderly neighbor raking good, brown dirt off one part of her lawn – onto the street. Just to leave it there, like trash! I hustled back to my house, dropped off the dog and took the wheelbarrow back to Miss Jane’s house to pick up some of that good dirt. It’s going into the base of my latest raised bed, to nourish my new plants. I haven’t yet gotten to the point of picking up dog poop to work into the garden, but if the price of fertilizer goes up any more, I just might. Fortunately, our local zoo sells “comPOOst” – produced by the rhinos, giraffes and zebras.

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