Over the Fence Chat for 5/11 - 5/17

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Here I sit again late at night starting this OTFC and not really knowing what to say. I'm tired, it's raining and dreary and wet and depressing. But all in all, it's a good life. I have my health, my wonderful wife and two daughters, I still have my freedom and I still have a little bit of hair :-P!

Before it got the garden REALLY soaked like it is now, we were able to get all our plants set out (tomatoes of all sorts, peppers, herbs, and some flowers). We got sweet corn, potatoes, onions, lettuce, radishes, squash (several kinds), okra and beans planted. Think we will have to redo the okra and about 1/4 of the squash row didn't come up. We have all our melons to plant, cucumbers, more squash, beans, pumpkins and several makes of gourds. I'm sure there is more that I can't think of late at night like this. Anyway, I'm ready for a little dry weather, even though I'm thankful for the rain. Just like a human, isn't it? There's no pleasin' em - rain or shine! :-)

Guess on that note I will get this posted and get to bed. You all have a great night, and here's wishing a wonderful week for everyone!I look forward to hearing how your week is going!

G'nite!

-- Phil in KS (cshomestead@planetkc.com), May 11, 2002

Answers

Good morning all!!! Looks like we're starting off with some sunshine, (wish I could send it to ya, Phil).

Spent the week working in the garden and trying to get it finished. Everything is growing good, especially the weeds. I've finally got them under control. Thursday I went to town and got some straw to put around the tomatoes. Haven't got that finished yet because I'm running the soaker hoses before I lay down the straw. Laying the hoses by myself has been a fun experiment!!! They never lay where you want them to and it's always at the opposite end of where I'm standing that the hose is laying on a plant.

For some reason I usually wait until May to put the garden out, but this year I put all of it out in April and kept my fingers crossed. It's been the best thing I've ever done. The new plants and seeds got the much needed rains we get in April and the temps were moderate to give the plants time to adjust. Sometimes it got really cool at night, but even the tomatoes didn't seem to mind. I've kept a calendar so I'll remember next year. I thinks that's why I love gardening so much, I'm always learning and it's never boring. I've strictly adhered to planting by the moon like the oldtimers around here and I think I'm finally beginning to learn their secrets. By planting by the moon, I was forced to plant on the "good" days in April. If I didn't plant then, I would have had to wait until the best days in the middle of May, which I knew was too late for this area. Does that make sense? Hard to explain? It's been a fun experiment.

Dave, Laura and I are going over to my moms' this morning for Mothers' Day (Happy Mothers' Day everyone!), and then going to have his mom up to our house later this afternoon. Busy day! Dave is off tomorrow, so hopefully we can finish up the garden and then sit back and watch it grow. uh-huh........

Phil, I want to once again thank-you for keeping this forum going. My computer is 7 years old and it just doesn't have what it takes to handle the new site, not to mention that I'm lots older than it, and I don't think I've got what it takes!!! :) Chuck has done an outstanding job over there and I wish the new sites the best, but I guess I'm getting too set in my ways to make changes.

Here's hoping you all have a wonderful day and the sun shines upon your faces and gardens.

Annie

-- Annie (mistletoe6@earthlink.net), May 12, 2002.


Raining here, again! Pop called from his cell phone a while ago to tell us not to try to go out until it stopped raining for a while - said he'd tried 4 different roads so far and they were all flooded; he finally called and was able to get to town - over an hour for a 5 mile drive. Lots and lots of cars flooded out; and the police have closed the highway south of town. Reckon we'll just stay home today!! We planned to go to town to drop off a Mother's Day gift, but Mama Gano will have to wait a day for her little yard windmill - though she could probably use it to pump out her basement about now!! Jessie made it in about 0230 this morning; she worked til 1 am in a different town at one of her bosses other businesses to cover for that towns prom - glad that I don't have to worry about her being out on the road in this!

Hubs and I went shopping last night for Mama Gano's windmill - not a smart move on his part! "Why sure, Honey-bun; I'd be just delighted to help you pick out a present for your Mama...why don't we go to Rural King and get her one of those little windmills she's been wanting?" BWHAHAHAHAHA!! Go ahead, turn me loose in a farm store in the springtime!! One windmill, 3 packs of seed, 5 tomato plants, a strawberry jug planter and a bag of circus peanuts later....

I don't believe that I'll be planting those tomatoes, or anything else today, given the weather; but that's okay - Jessie and I need to address her graduation announcements anyway. Only two more weeks til graduation; only 3 until she turns 18. Milestones galore! She can't understand why her Dad and I are acting so goofy, huggy, sloppy, sentimental! Just wish my Mama could be here to see her graduate; she passed away when Jessie was in kindergarden, and not being her to see Jessie graduate, and not being able to sew her wedding dress were two of her major regrets. Reminds me to take my joy in life whenever and wherever I can find it - I'm counting my blessings right along with you, Phil!

I was trying to plant by the moon this year as well, Annie; but work got in the way again. Dad-dratted job, anyway! I've told Hubs that he can quit work as soon as we get Jessie through college - he's overjoyed! Only because he hasn't seen the list of projects that I have in mind for him, though! I told Pop that I had gone and drug home a man to help him out with the chores (that would be Hubs!); how come he couldn't go find us someone to help with the housework and garden? Since this is a family forum, I won't tell you his reply!

The weeds are ahead of me in the garden - so what else is new?! I've been pulling extra shifts at work once again - day shifts, even! Ick, ick, ick!! I hate day shift - "I'm allergic to neckties", I keep telling my boss; but really I just can't stand to waste daylight when I could be out and about in the garden! An RN quit with no notice and sort of left us in the lurch; but since she had managed to alienate 14 of her 15 co-workers (and she'd only been with us since December); we couldn't really say we were sorry to see her go; so we've been pulling together to cover her shifts with only a bit of whining!

I'm behind on my planting, but not horribly so. I do love my raised garden beds! I'm thinking about putting some sort of border (bricks?) around my perennial beds and slowly raising the soil level in them, as well. Poor Pop....last year I had to fill in the perennial bed with some petunias and other annuals to cover up the bare spots 'cause he griped so much about how pitiful it looked; this year he's telling me "You've got too much stuff growing in there - where'm I gonna put my petunias?" I TRIED to tell him last year that those plants were going to get a lot bigger...

Our Hummingbirds came back last week, on the day before Pop's birthday. All of my hanging planters have flowers in them that attract hummers: petunias, fuschias, moss rose, nicotiana, geranium and heather; and my perennial bed is full of flowers for them as well; so with all those, and the feeders too, we are treated to quite a show! Pop's friends from town like to come out and sit on the porch to watch them - I'm going to have to go buy some new cushions for the glider so I won't be embarrassed to have them out!

Well, it's getting toward lunch time here, so I reckon I'd better head to the kitchen. I'm fixing ham and pasta salad, some sort of potato and a few side dishes as well. I think I'll make up a pan of apple crisp too; it's Jessie's favorite, and after all, she is the reason that I have to celebrate today!

Happy Mother's Day!

-- Polly (tigger@moultrie.com), May 12, 2002.


We got at least another couple inches of rain overnight with a little more due today, spotty showers. The official rain for the month is a lot less than the actual here. Gary planted the rest of the brocoli and cabbage yesterday, the replacement plant for the one that didn't make it in all that rain, the ones that are turning white. The potaotes are doing great and finally well mulched, the peas hopefully will pull out of it. We're supposed to have mostly 3 days without rain, Maybe we can get the corn planted in front of the barn where I cleared it. This place is extrememly overgrown, but I really enjoyed clearing that area. The ground should be great for planting and the dogs are right close to keep the coons away.

We'll be eating the first green onions and radishes out of the raised beds for supper tonight, that helps when the weather is so depressing. Otherwise it's time to do housework.....

-- Cindy (S.E.IN) (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), May 13, 2002.


I saw a hummer this morning!!!! Its REALLY spring! I better get a hummer feeder..or maybe I do have one now that I think of it..and boil up some water for nectar. hee hee I had an awesome mother's day. Breakfast in bed, cards, presents, and dinner out at a nice restaurant (non fast food). How great is that? My presents were a highbush cranberry shrub, a russian olive shrub and a gift certificate for my favorite nursery. I went 12 bucks over though. ;oD 1 Stanley plum, 1 Montmorency cherry, 2 russian blue sage, 2 moonbeam coreopsis, and 2 red lupins. Today I am contemplatin' laundry and barn cleaning. Its getting a dis- stinkly piggish aroma so I think hubby should fix the pen roof so we can move them outside. Maybe I'll get that highbush cran planted today as well as the coreopsis, russian sage, and red lupin. Oooh my back!!!!!!!!!!

-- Alison in NS (aproteau@istar.ca), May 13, 2002.

Planted peas today. I WANTED to plant the tomatos, which are 18" tall and blooming, but it is to sunny. I will wait until tomorrow afternoon, as it is supposed to rain more tomorrow night. I have been wanting to get those tomatos in, but it's been so muddy and cold I have been afraid to.

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), May 13, 2002.


We're having a colorful day despite the filtered sunshine, wild mustard, the bright leaves,the brown fields that are just now getting plowed, and Mr Bluebird for my companion while I was tilling. He sat on a small tree limb and every time I'd pass he'd swoop down and find a worm and go to another tree then come back and wait for me to pass again. He's sooo pretty!

-- Cindy (S.E.IN) (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), May 16, 2002.

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