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Post by ILoveRogerColeridge on Feb 3, 2014 0:30:49 GMT -8
I love the fall, and I like winter, but I really miss my garden...vegetables, sunflowers, berries, fruit trees.
I also miss the critters that try and break into my garden (everyone is either in hibernation or torpor nowadays). It always entertains me to see how far they will go to get a bite of a hot pepper. (and then drop it once they realize it's too spicy for them heehee)
I miss the spiders looming over my security cameras at night.
Anyone else miss their garden or critters?
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Post by reindeermoss on Feb 3, 2014 7:14:23 GMT -8
Absolutely! I am in total agreement. What part of the country are you in, Catherine?
I looked out at my frozen pond a few days ago, covered with snow, and thought, "I don't even remember what my gardens look like in the growing season."
If memory serves, the water lilies start sending up leaves in March and the toads are in the water laying eggs in late March, long before the overnight freezes have ceased – but the eggs survive and the tadpoles are soon everywhere.
I think it is coming once we tough it out through February.
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Post by ILoveRogerColeridge on Feb 3, 2014 10:24:02 GMT -8
I am in Northeast PA. Last year I had 13.5 ft sunflowers in my garden! This year I plan on expanding my garden 3x bigger than last year.
I will definitely need the netting for my berries this year. The birds werent satisfied with the wild bittersweet nightshade & virginia creeper berries I left for them on my fence, they got all of my blueberries and blackberries last year. Nightshade& creeper berries can be toxic to anyone but birds, I thought they would go for them but instead they picked off all my edibles.
I am also thinking about a adding small greenhouse and maybe a cold frame. I will add pumpkins and squash to the mix this year. This is only going to be my 2nd year in this house...so I am still experimenting.
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Post by Fia on Feb 3, 2014 10:47:38 GMT -8
Wow! What an ambitious plan Catherine.
My veggies are done for now, but some of my flowers are doing very well. Mainly my geraniums. We don't usually have critters bothering our veggies, altho they did get several zukes last year...pulled the whole plant down into the ground. The main garden has a fence around it to keep pesky little dogs out. I have a raised herb garden on the side patio that's all dead this time of year. However I am successfully growing basil inside on the window sill. Some years I'm lucky enough to get a volunteer grape or cherry tomato from the year before.
Can't wait for spring!
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Post by reindeermoss on Feb 3, 2014 11:05:51 GMT -8
Catherine, I got my little greenhouse from gardener's supply (http://www.gardeners.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-Gardeners-Site/default/Home-Show) several years ago and it has served very well.
My notes on sunflowers would be to remember they take a LOT of nutrients out of the soil, so if you plant them in the same place as last year, make sure you have added a lot of fertilizer. I agree, tall sunflowers are really exciting.
I have blueberries and the cardinals would take every berry given the opportunity. I discovered cicada netting last year which worked much better than the black netting with larger spaces between the threads I had used before. Don't know how difficult it might be to locate cicada netting in an off-year for the noisy guys, but it is easier to work with and gentler on your plants.
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Post by Fia on Feb 3, 2014 13:07:27 GMT -8
Diane, I didn't know that about sunflowers and nutrients. Thanks for the tip.
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Post by ILoveRogerColeridge on Feb 3, 2014 19:28:31 GMT -8
Diane I also want to say thanks for the tip about the nutrients for the sunflowers. I will plant this year's sunflower row in one of the new sections. Last year because of the abundance of bedrock I ordered a truckload of 'mushroom soil' for the garden, with all the new sq footage I will be adding maybe I should order more soil. I already got more rolls of chicken wire! And bricks for the perimeter around the bottom.
I will definitely check out the greenhouses and the cicada nets. I know for sure I will need the netting this year, but I am worried about having enough level ground for a greenhouse. I have about a half an acre of backyard here but its on the northwest face of a mountain. I can probably fit a longer, slim greenhouse somewhere. I have plenty of natural springs in my yard (will hopefully serve to make great spring-fed ponds someday NEXT year if all goes well...) but lots of underlying bedrock and not much of my yard is level.
Fia You are lucky to be able to grow plants indoors. The angle of this house is so weird, hardly any southern exposure.
I had some nice red geraniums out front but Matilda the groundhog decided to have the flowers for lunch one day. She bit off the upper stem on each one and left most of them on the ground. I know it was her... I saw it on the security footage! She was my thief this year. Grand Theft Horticulture. I dont mind Matilda, it's fun to watch her scheming to get into the garden.
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