Do you like to garden ?

[Tony Page]

Yvonne,
I don't remember seeing this thread before.
I read a few post.
Don, I hope your pain is gone and your feeling better.

I really enjoy gardening, however this year because of age, medical condition, other task that need to be done, we (wife & I) decided to bypass gardening this year, except for a few plant I ordered back in March, that need to be planted. I do miss it, there just too much other stuff to do. I hoping the B12 shots will give me energy to get some task finished.

Hopefully I'll be here for next year, looking forward to it.

 

[Don Alaska]

That's an idea.

I already spout seeds indoors. No light required except to green some of them up to finish.

There are probably things in the onion/garlic family that don't require full growth (to get large bulbs) as well.

Onion sets grow fine in windows or under artificial light. It is difficult to grow fruiting plants unless you get a setup like a large Aerogarden, but that is artificial light as well. Most greens like lettuce will grow in mostly shade too.

 

[Don Alaska]

Yvonne,
I don't remember seeing this thread before.
I read a few post.
Don, I hope your pain is gone and your feeling better.

I really enjoy gardening, however this year because of age, medical condition, other task that need to be done, we (wife & I) decided to bypass gardening this year, except for a few plant I ordered back in March, that need to be planted. I do miss it, there just too much other stuff to do. I hoping the B12 shots will give me energy to get some task finished.

Hopefully I'll be here for next year, looking forward to it.

Pain is is still with me @Tony Page. It is back in my left foot now that my eye has healed. Hopefully it is not a sign of something much more serious , such as what you are suffering. I get regular check-ups but no thorough work up since the pain started. I am developing cramps as well.

We are finally getting into the outside gardens since our greenhouses are mostly planted. I tilled during a warm, dry period in late May, but we have be unable to get back out there since due to the wet weather. I am trying to flame weed the gardens a bit at a time, and my wife plants when it is done. We have potatoes, peas, and beans done outside. Carrots are supposed to go in today. We have 50+ tomato plants and about the same number of peppers in the greenhouses and about 30 cucumbers.

I hope you will be around next year too, @Tony Page!

 

[Tony Page]

Pain is is still with me @Tony Page. It is back in my left foot now that my eye has healed. Hopefully it is not a sign of something much more serious , such as what you are suffering. I get regular check-ups but no thorough work up since the pain started. I am developing cramps as well.

We are finally getting into the outside gardens since our greenhouses are mostly planted. I tilled during a warm, dry period in late May, but we have be unable to get back out there since due to the wet weather. I am trying to flame weed the gardens a bit at a time, and my wife plants when it is done. We have potatoes, peas, and beans done outside. Carrots are supposed to go in today. We have 50+ tomato plants and about the same number of peppers in the greenhouses and about 30 cucumbers.

I hope you will be around next year too, @Tony Page!

Your garden sounds great!!!
I remember when I grew about that much. Be careful with the flame thrower. I had plastic compost bin that I got to close to, it caught fire quickly. It was close to my house, I got burned pulling it away from the house, some melted plastic stuck to my skin. I put it out with dirt then water.

On another note I know every body is different, but I never had pain in my foot or eyes. I hope you feel better, your in my thoughts.

 

[Marie Mallory]

Pain is is still with me @Tony Page. It is back in my left foot now that my eye has healed. Hopefully it is not a sign of something much more serious , such as what you are suffering. I get regular check-ups but no thorough work up since the pain started. I am developing cramps as well.

We are finally getting into the outside gardens since our greenhouses are mostly planted. I tilled during a warm, dry period in late May, but we have be unable to get back out there since due to the wet weather. I am trying to flame weed the gardens a bit at a time, and my wife plants when it is done. We have potatoes, peas, and beans done outside. Carrots are supposed to go in today. We have 50+ tomato plants and about the same number of peppers in the greenhouses and about 30 cucumbers.

I hope you will be around next year too, @Tony Page!

I didn't know you were dealing with pain, Don I hope you feel better soon.

 

[Marie Mallory]

Your garden sounds great!!!
I remember when I grew about that much. Be careful with the flame thrower. I had plastic compost bin that I got to close to, it caught fire quickly. It was close to my house, I got burned pulling it away from the house, some melted plastic stuck to my skin. I put it out with dirt then water.

On another note I know every body is different, but I never had pain in my foot or eyes. I hope you feel better, your in my thoughts.

Tony, I hope you're doing better too, I too deal with illness, like somebody said on a site, " getting old ain't for sissie's" that was sure an understatement.

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

Checking out my grass reseeding for germination, a noticed something sorta kinda beneath a very tall and gangly spruce. At first I was thinking "rhubarb!"

But nope, one feel of a leaf and I knew I had a first-year burdock to deal with. Pretty invasive, so I'll probably dig it out.

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

I'm sure we don't need a picture of burdock seeds. We probably all have repressed memories of trying to get them out of our woolen socks, dogs, and sister's hair.

I think this was the original inspiration for Velcro.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

I'm sure we don't need a picture of burdock seeds. We probably all have repressed memories of trying to get them out of our woolen socks, dogs, and sister's hair.

I think this was the original inspiration for Velcro.

It ight have been, because cockleburrs are definitely nature’s Velcro, @Jacob Petersheim ! The very worst was when my horse was out in summer pasture and got the all tangled in his mane, and it took me forever to get them all out and try not to get the hair of his mane and tail along with the cockle burrs. I didn’t want to cut them out , so I spent hours and hours picking out cockleburs.
I think that I remember reading about burdock as being a healing plant, and maybe @Mary Stetler knows about using it ? The leaves do look like rhubarb !

 

[Don Alaska]

It ight have been, because cockleburrs are definitely nature’s Velcro, @Jacob Petersheim ! The very worst was when my horse was out in summer pasture and got the all tangled in his mane, and it took me forever to get them all out and try not to get the hair of his mane and tail along with the cockle burrs. I didn’t want to cut them out , so I spent hours and hours picking out cockleburs.
I think that I remember reading about burdock as being a healing plant, and maybe @Mary Stetler knows about using it ? The leaves do look like rhubarb !

And the Japanese eat the root often.

 

[Mary Stetler]

It ight have been, because cockleburrs are definitely nature’s Velcro, @Jacob Petersheim ! The very worst was when my horse was out in summer pasture and got the all tangled in his mane, and it took me forever to get them all out and try not to get the hair of his mane and tail along with the cockle burrs. I didn’t want to cut them out , so I spent hours and hours picking out cockleburs.
I think that I remember reading about burdock as being a healing plant, and maybe @Mary Stetler knows about using it ? The leaves do look like rhubarb !

I hated burdock when mixed with horse hair but we eat a lot of burdock here. The roots of first year plants are very healthful and the stalks of second year plants makes the absolute best vegetable broth. It is high in bio available magnesium which we all need and I have never over dosed because of it. My sheep and cow liked the leaves.

 

[Marie Mallory]

First time I've ever seen blackberry's not maturing. The bushes are full of starts but they never matured.
Figs and lemons are green and doing ok. I want to plant some okra if I have seeds. I need to check freezer to see what all's there. Had them in freezer for several years so not sure. Haven't planted any for 4 years or so.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

I just discovered an interesting idea……… using a shower curtain as a decorating idea in the yard or garden ! There is a facebook group with pictures of people putting up beautiful shower curtains on their fence or even the side of an ugly old shed that they want to cover up.
Here is an example of one along a fence, and it looks like a real walkway into a garden.
I am thinking that if we put something like this on the big wooden gate into the back yard, it would look really nice.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

The rain has finally stopped, at least for the next week (maybe). But now, it is 86 (f/l 92) and really humid air outside, so hard to breathe or do much out there.
I am going out for a little bit (10-15 min) and then back inside to rest and cool down. I have a small area out back that used to be a little garden area, but I didn’t use it last year, and it is now a backyard jungle, so I am trying to clear it out and use it again
We have so many trees around us that nothing gets much sunshine, and my red raspberries are trapped between the back of the house and the fig tree, so they are blocked from getting much sunshine at all, and barely had any raspberries this year.

My plan is to cut them all back, cut off the last years canes, and then let them start to regrow while i am getting the new area cleared and ready to transplant the bushes. It will get lots more sunshine than where they are now, and the new growth will have all the rest of this summer to grow, so i may get berries by next year.

This is the area where i want to move them, and how it looked when I had it fenced in for a garden spot. I built the fence from bamboo and plastic chicken wire, and I have taken most of that down now. There is a large Four O”Clock growing there, and i am going to prune it back and maybe transplant some of the new starts out front, because it has beautiful bright pink flowers .

 

[Don Alaska]

The rain has finally stopped, at least for the next week (maybe). But now, it is 86 (f/l 92) and really humid air outside, so hard to breathe or do much out there.
I am going out for a little bit (10-15 min) and then back inside to rest and cool down. I have a small area out back that used to be a little garden area, but I didn’t use it last year, and it is now a backyard jungle, so I am trying to clear it out and use it again
We have so many trees around us that nothing gets much sunshine, and my red raspberries are trapped between the back of the house and the fig tree, so they are blocked from getting much sunshine at all, and barely had any raspberries this year.

My plan is to cut them all back, cut off the last years canes, and then let them start to regrow while i am getting the new area cleared and ready to transplant the bushes. It will get lots more sunshine than where they are now, and the new growth will have all the rest of this summer to grow, so i may get berries by next year.

This is the area where i want to move them, and how it looked when I had it fenced in for a garden spot. I built the fence from bamboo and plastic chicken wire, and I have taken most of that down now. There is a large Four O”Clock growing there, and i am going to prune it back and maybe transplant some of the new starts out front, because it has beautiful bright pink flowers .


View attachment 768View attachment 769

Just be aware that raspberries bear on canes a year old.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

Just be aware that raspberries bear on canes a year old.

Yes. Mine have already had whatever berries they are going to have this year, which was very few, because of no sun . So, I should be able to cut down the last years canes with no problem.
The new floracanes I will prune back a bit and leave them where they are until they start new growth, and then transplant them while they are still short, and they have all the rest of this year to finish growing for berries next summer.

 

[Mary Stetler]

I just discovered an interesting idea……… using a shower curtain as a decorating idea in the yard or garden ! There is a facebook group with pictures of people putting up beautiful shower curtains on their fence or even the side of an ugly old shed that they want to cover up.
Here is an example of one along a fence, and it looks like a real walkway into a garden.
I am thinking that if we put something like this on the big wooden gate into the back yard, it would look really nice.

View attachment 748

A few years ago I got a couple of those on Amazon. Soooo pretty and so reasonable. It turned a bathroom into a small Italian village with beautiful geraniums in huge pots and window boxes. I don't think they are so reasonable now but the idea is great.
I have used murals to do the same to walls.

 

[Mary Stetler]

After all the rain last week I was dumping all the catch plates under flower pots and planters. Today I looked out and all the plants had their tongues hanging out because it is in the NINETIES for three days!!!!

 

[Smithy]

I just discovered an interesting idea……… using a shower curtain as a decorating idea in the yard or garden ! There is a facebook group with pictures of people putting up beautiful shower curtains on their fence or even the side of an ugly old shed that they want to cover up.
Here is an example of one along a fence, and it looks like a real walkway into a garden.
I am thinking that if we put something like this on the big wooden gate into the back yard, it would look really nice.

View attachment 748

That looks awesome! @Yvonne Smith