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Which means tomorrow is my Gardening Monday.

I *was* going to build a new compost bin ... now I might not and go straight to making my worm bin first.

Either way, I have got to get my seedlings started and my salad table started this weekend ...

Any harvesting / fall planting plans this weekend?

Continuing talking to myself - I got pretty much nothing done on the weekend. Kid activities took up the bulk of it.

It did rain a lot so my pickle barrels got rinsed with rain water. Dumped it out on the bushes and lawn as I don't have enough skeeter covers or neighborhly goodwill to leave them out and about.

Whole Foods (had one of those group-discount coupon things) was handing out carrot seeds, picked up a pack (donation to some local gardening fund raiser).

Drove down to expensive stuff store and bought gen-u-wine milk crates. Found out I can fit six in the trunk of my runabout (no cargo carrier yet).

Then, last night, in a half dream, I was grousing about the price of the milk crates and trying to think of easy cheap alternatives (I need mobile, easy, table-residing gardening) and came up with making tubes of about the same size out of hog fence or [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38882]chicken wire[/url].

Next weekend is all driving again so I'll have to get some planting done during the week or early "monday" morning before we hit the road.

Got an email reminder from my local natural centers to start our fall gardens. Eeep! Aside from buying up my supplies I haven't done even a third of what I'd planned.

But. I have a guaranteeed Sat and Sun morning free and I'll be potting my little hands off.

1. Blueberry bush. I have that 20" pot to put it in - need some coir to mix with the soil and half-composted mush.

2. Heel in the citrus trees if they arrive. Probably keep in a cool indoors place until next weekend and hope for the best.

3. Finally xplant those tomatoes and starter onions.

4. Start carrots and lettuces and kale direct seed.

5. Start vine plants in tray.

Other things to do:

[*]hoe under the bushes to get up weeds and re-pretty the mulch
[*]find a couple more big pots for the hazelnut bushes on order
[*]repot some aloe and split my office spider plants
[*]blowtorch the weed crack in the drive

gah, bb [*] doesn't work and there's no edit on this block

Nuked the front porch tomatoes, the two I didn't save had a white frothy thing spread on the stems. We will see if the two stems I repotted survive.

Saved 1 strawberry, cut back & repot stevia. Split up a spider plant, repotted a few aloe. Rescued a couple of wild tropical somethings from the lawn mower - see if they survive. Some tree thing with green on the top of the leaf and purple on the underside.

Tomorrow I'll plant carrots and lettuce and start the other veggies. Want to pot the fruit trees ... Maybe.

Bought a couple of star fruit to try; if they're yummy I'll pick up a tree at the big box store.

White frothy thing might have been spittlebugs. I just wipe them off with my hand (after putting on gloves, of course. ) They can also be washed off a plant with a spray from the garden hose.

Just looked that up. Cool! Well, not thatcool; we have a big ag area just west.

It did rub off when I smeared it ; I'll know next time to smear it all. I didn't want to compost it so I pit it in the regular trash.

One tomato is looking a little wilty (but putting out a top flower!) the other is okay. Right now they are just balanced in potting soil - topped with some tree shavings (rabbit bedding from store) and still watered.

Water obviously pours out of the bottom of the milk crate - it's a 'real' one with a holey bottom, not the cheapy ones from the big box stores. Also square instead of rectangle. I'll persuade someone to lift up the whole bag of dirt (lined with weedblock) and stuff some newspaper under there.

Strawberry is coming back.

Must raid the neighbor's discarded bamboo before bulk pickup day!

Baby trees are looking good. No rain scheduled for this week so no plans to pot them yet. Soak them 2x daily in water per instructions, and have them propped in a bin of damp newspapers at an east facing window. House lizard has taken up residence with them and the blueberry.

Baby trees still looking good. Probably pot them this weekend. I think my two blueberries will cross pollinate, if not, the one I can return will be returned.

Tomato cuttings looking iffy - I'll give them a few more days. Meantime I bought one (or two? probably one) starter plant for bitty indeterminates and will plant it with more onions this weekend.

Also going to finally start carrots and lettuce - last weekend was a bit crazier than I thought. Need to start my squashes and peas, at least in starter pots.

I wonder if I can scavenge enough wood for a potting table or worm farm ...

Sooo sore today ...

Planted a lot of starter plants and seeded some direct-sow veggies.

Ended up with the trees in milk crates.

More to come - need to start beans before it gets too cold (nights are down to the 60s already - may be too late?).

The cut tomato I tried to repot did pretty well - dozens and dozens of root starts but I needed the pot so in the compost pit it went.

Well, got some more direct-sew veggies growing - it was raining yesterday so I piled the dirt and pot soil into a bunch of ready planting containers and loaded them up with seeds this morning. I'll go home at lunch and cover the direct sow seeds with wet paper towels and a bit of dirt, then pop the lid on the starter plant box (bought a "jiffy kit" that I can reuse with paper pots next round).

DS - carrots and lettuce and kale. Will sow more pots when I see sprouts or two weeks from now.

started - several squash, an egg plant, some melons and peppers; lots of snow peas and a few onions (I don't know where my starter bulbs went .

Left to pot before the weekend: two pepper plants (soil bags sewn) and some more herbs.

fjaksfjdsk;ljfd;sljkfdsjalkf edit button!

Direct-sow, direct-sow I do know how to spell but "sewing" up garden bags for the garden I'm "sowing" has my fingers boggled.

Also need to make a potato bag, the potatoes on the counter didn't get used in time and are eyeing me ...

Also need to start worm box auuuuuuugh this week is not going in the direction I would prefer ...

Tilde, I love watching you have this conversation by yourself. I read this regularly, just thought I'd let you know. Keep it up!

Thanks, Stella. I figure I have a few lurkers given the read to post ratio on this thing.

Think I figured out a watering plan for zipping out of town if needed, phew.

Well seedlings are popping along. Direct sewn carrots and lettuce and kale are showing bitty plants.

Transplanted a few more tomatoes and herbs. Did up a jalapeño, need to get a hot banana and something ... Brought home some broccoli and some more greens ....

Oh, and 200 corn starts - we will see if they survive ... Transplanting next weekend

Very big sprouts. Gonna have to move to real pots ASAP! I didn't keep my key near the plants so not sure what the biggies are.

Lettuce & kale are green and tiny but no true leaves yet. Carrots are peeping up more. Strawberry bigger, herbs thriving. Toms & peppers still settling in; pinching flowers.

Trees aren't dead yet, yay.

Broccoli still has whiteflies. Maybe I need to wrap the ball in cloth & take a shower with it, lol.

"monday" plan - use sourced bamboo to make a couple of shelves to put plants on (wrap bind and set on buckets).

Move nightshades out to the back of the house; side of the house isn't cutting it.

Set up side of the house as a 'greenhouse' some how - start with a shelf on which the starters are repotted. Move other side yard detrius to make space for the worm bin.

decide if the garden storage bench is to repurpose as the worm bin or build something from sourced wood.

"tuesday" - plant corn and started peas at friend's house. Save a few to replant on the real monday @ lunch.

Get the whiteflies OFF of the BROCCOLI

Getting real leaves on some of my starter plants. Not sO much on the carrots & lettuce - those cheap paper towels are tough. Now I see why seed tapes are made of cheap toilet paper.

Above ground nightshades are doing well. Seem to be over xplant shock.

Potted up some weeds as a gift for a friend. Should be well rooted once she's back from vacation in a few weeks.

Today me & a kid trimmed back some bushes. Starred raining so I quickly put them in the front composters.

Worms seem okay. I think I'm going to put them in the old tower this weekend. We still have more food waste than they can eat for now; I'll probably take a big big big pot & dig up some dirt from the yard & "trench" compst that way. As I start dumping spent bagged dirt (December) I'll use that, too.

Also started collecting coffee grounds at work. Yay, nitrogen. Compost it, worm it, refresh potting soil ,...

Sounds like for tomatoes I'll need to buy bagged dirt each time. I can refresh the dirt for a couple go arounds in greens or beans or carrots but unless I keep expanding I'll end up with more dirt than I need. I know: cart, horse.

I may yet end up with mini raised beds, lol.

Made a salad bowl for a friend, will take up & plant it & corn this weekend. Peas in a few weeks.

Need to plant Potatoes this wkd, as well as beets and daikon. If I can, I need to plant the rest of my salad & peppers. Peppers need one pot. Salads four. Radish beets 1. Corn ?????

Also need to start a lot of peas.

Oh my. It has been pouring buckets for two hours. Guess I don't have to worry abiut the level on my rain barrel being low. Also drowned some of my plants a bit, they were in trugs & floating water.

Got them moved to a basket, glad for all the extra water. Wish I had my extra pickle barrels handy.

When I went out back I sunk in mud up to my ankles. Dang.

Yeah, it's going to be a grreeeeeeaaat weekend to plant corn starter plants



At least the lake level will rise some more. #needsit

Potted the peppers. Moved all nightshades out back. Potted big broccoli and some cabbage. Ran out of dirt and weed block (lining baskets).

Got the mesh hardware cloth and the zip ties out, put together some mutant planters. Tall ones for potatoes, smalll ones for greens and beans.

Tired. Bought more dirt and a big plant on clearance to hide some of the side yard clutter .

Plant or get off the pot with that corn. I don't think it's worth the effort of planting up north, will pot a few and some peas and just see what happens.

checked in on the cabbage - surprisingly all still alive. Kind of migrated them in from the pot edges and put more dirt "behind" them in the corner.

All this rain I haven't had to water for days. I dug out my pickle barrels yesterday (still smelling of pickle) and set them out on the back yard. Got some rain, need to xfer to the rain barrel tonight before the skeeters find it.

also got a used shelving unit to set out back as a mini greenhouse once I get some plastic. Can put "jiffy boxes" out there for now. This will get my starter pots off of the front porch. Need to start some flowers and more beans.

1. plant the small plants and some potatoes.
2. Make a table for the rest of the greeens - flat hod-trog like basket with plastick - set on bamboo shelves for now
3. build big shelf for nursery, temp cover with plastic
4. start more seedlings (flowers!)
5. drill and plant some corn
6. Feed worms
7. think about how else to compost ...
8. plant radishes in the last green bucket up front


Next week

start more carrots and more leafy salad greens
start more peas and build trailer things for the squashes
start onions

Question for anyone reading along - I want a LOT of loos leaf salad. Any reason I cant plop some into the tomato and chilie plant pots for now to eat as baby greens? I don't think there's an issue but don't want to miss a good reason ...

Also sold my kids on planting some of the beans at the base of a tree (in baskets) so the plants can climb the tree (bean tree!). The tree is very stunted and doesn't grow much - if it still had supports you'd htink it was just planted instead of 15 years old. Probalby planted too deeply (had that issue with one of my pecan trees back in the day).

All right! Carrots are showing true leaves.

Boy, this whole gardening at lunch is not yet working. Probably because I just have sooo much to do to get the garden set up.

Maybe once I get my nursery shelves up and something resembling a potting table it will be easier.

don't know if I've been lifting too many bags of soil or just need to get in better shape or both. oh my back. Container gardening isn't easier if you don't take it easy on yourself. I think me and the furniture dolly will be doing the bag moving this weekend.

Planted a couple of small fruit bushes in the front ... a few leaves are yellow from stress but hven't dropped yet. Funny that I bought them from someone in PA and their origin tag says FL ... duh! but it was cheaper online than local.

All that wind the last few weeks had a consequence - broke our rain gutter, yay!

Well, not yay but yay because it means I need to get the gutter guy out (I'm not allowed on ladders at the moment). He has a minimum job charge and for that charge I can get him to gutter the rear of the house and pipe the downspout into a couple of rain barrels ...

No dead mini blinds anywhere to be found. I have some tyvek to repurpose but I haven't gotten there yet. All bottles for recycling and repurposing have been clear ... it's been a bad year for finding something to use for tough plant markers!

Finally just bought a bunch of "craft sticks" at the craft store. Made up my plant markers last night to answer the mystery of the mystery seeds.

Most everything sprouted except some of the chilies and onions. I'll water them a bit longer to see if they germinate.

Got my nursery shelf built last night - want to try to site it this weekend. I was going to put it up against a wall but now that I might get rain barrels I may need to rethink that. Not sure where to put it, frankly. It's almost the height of the fence so I might look into siting it there. Alternatively, just freestand it near the bushes perpendicular to the rain barrels.

Rain barrel placement is tricky with the flow of water currently and the zero-line restrictions.

"monday" plan:

Set up nursery shelf unit. Likely "against" bushes, "planted" and leveled in pickle barrels with holes and plants (snow peas?) (flowers?) or sand. Maybe water with a screen on top

plant as many starters as possible.

Plant potatoes.

mmm cold weather crops ...

Nursery shelf set up with some protection from direct rain. Need to drill and fill buckets its in.

xplanted winter squash, summer squash.

planted 1 potato in my potato tube.

set up second garden shelf for ready plants - need to set up a third and keep xplanting

poor nearly dead corn ...

Broccoli is getting bigger ... need to pot out the little ones

Light rain last few days - rain barrel is full yay. Not gotten others or scheduled gutter guy yet.

White flies, I never did get them all off of the broccoli as they moved to the tomatoes and peppers. Squishing like crazy only found one today.

Little super tiny black bugs around the bok choi - moved against the fence and a smart little spider set up shop and is doing fantastic business.

Found a stink bug - usual shield body - green ish with a brown or red tint on the edge and legs - hope it wasn't a soldier bug ooops if it was. Squished it before I got a pic ooops.

xplanted squashes are sooo happy and exploding. The peas are envious. Must plant those soon.

finally just threw in the towel and got a basic cheap compost pyramid style thing at Big Orangy Boxy Store (clearance) (boy are their rain barrels useless looking). Will try to assemble this weekend.

Started using the hitch on my runabout to haul bikes around. one repaired, two to go. So nice to have decent weather again.

wow it's Friday again!

Busy week, time change is good for morning gardening.

Big broccoli I posted last week is getting big. Has a second plant coming up near the main plant stem, yay. Have small xplants to plant soon.

Tomatoes are doing okay. Biggest/first xplant Husky cherry has shown and had pollinated a couple of flowers - should be bitty tomatoes in a few days. Bonnie hybridy tomato growing - had to strip a bunch of leaves for fungal black spots. Will make a milk spray this wkd. Other husky cherry starting to show flowers - might flower next week. Also had to strip a few bottom branches. Killed 3 whiteflies. I think a couple of my starter seeds are ready to uppot.

Peppers are just kind of there, growing but slowly. Looks like flower buds are trying to form but it's slow going. My starter seeds are getting bigger, need to uppot.

Bok Choi is perking up nicely. Long way to go but nice to see them mostly healthy. Not much more holes on the leaves, I keep checking but not finding bugs. I'll hold off on moving more xplants for now, but need to get some icebergs in.

xplanted squashes are happy. one winter squash had leafminer - picked and dumped the leaf.

Potato is damp but not poking out of the dirt I stuck it in last week yet.

Hasn't been raining significantly for a couple of days, just some sprinkles, so I've been pickle-bucket watering from the last downpour. I hope to get and set up a rain barrel over the weekend - just open air near the back garden for watering, started with some hose water I'll let sit.

Avocado tree looks good, getting taller. I've got to pick a height (probably 8 foot) and eventually start trimming it. Mom has a HUGE pot I'd love to put him in ... we'll see.

Clementine tree is going gangbusters. I'm getting leaves atop it, as well as from the graft host ... tempted to leave that on to see what I get. Meyer lemon not so much, but we'll see. Maybe it needs more sun than what it gets.

Carrots are doing well, I'm getting ready to start a third pot of them, maybe Danver this time.

Kale is awesome, lettuce being destroyed by leaf miners, darnit. Since so little of the lettuce and kale are popping up (mostly around the edges) because of how I had the kids seed it I may re-seed some of those pots a bit.

Strawberries are just sitting there. Moved to a sunnier spot but they're just hanging out. I think they need some fertilizer as I popped them in "used potting soil" without any food (just about everyone else except for the carrots are in "new" potting soil).

Herbs are hit or miss. Rosemary and lavender are nearly dead. Dill and cilantro suffered from over watering and possibly a fungal infection - I'll give them a few days and a milk spray. Mint and basil (basil is from 4 years ago, been volunteering all over the yard) going gang busters.

all my seedlings are doing well. Need uppot and weather protection. Maybe this weekend ... we'll see.

Also doing research to make a 'garden calendar' for some young friends hither and yon. Remote gardening and cheering them on should be itneresting. One of the house kids here doesn't like the planting part of gardening, is fine with everything else - likes looking at things growing, catching whiteflies, and thanking pollinators. I attribute a lot of it to a change in the weather and 'growing' interest in what we can eat from the yard ...

Given the projected weather for the next few weeks, I'd better get on enclosing a couple shelves of my nursery shelf for plant protection this weekend, and xplant a few things if I can find the time ....

Ack, spittle bugs on the avocado ... Good thing they're harmless

Xplanted the surviving corn (yeah, I let some die eek) & all my peas. Broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant & I think some lettuce? I don't remember.

I think the potato is poking out a bit; still some ways to go on it.

I can't remember what else but I drilled all my pickle barrels. Waiting for my chilies to get a liilte bigger. Slow starters.

Love peas so I'm gonna start more. Oh! Cukes! I xplanted the cukes. As all the climbers get bigger I'll need to trellis up.

I put sticks in with the peas; I don't expect to be able to let them climb the corn but you'll never know if you don't try.

I managed to assemble the giant cheapo compost bin & moved the worms to the tower. Ants in the darn thing, ugh. I'll move it back inside in a week or so.

Also put some of the found wood I've been scavenging to use; made a potting table that folds up if needed. I can't put a lot of weight on it but it works. Yay zip ties

My lawn out front is suddenly full of borrowing creatures. Step and crush their trails in the yard, & I think they are coming onto the porch & disturbing the carrots. Dug a few up. Nothing but greens yet. Patted them back in place ...

Might move them to the back yard or make cages ...

TIRED.

Oh! Ittttttty bitty tomatoes! Husky cherry yum.

Starting to get flowers on the bigger tomato, & flowers on the other husky.

A flower on the jalepeno, buds on the other peppers I was worried about them.

I love reading this thread! Keep up the great work.

Thanks, applestar.

I don't know why I can't sleep tonight. Weird.

I think I'm going to start some onions and schmancy organic garlic from the schmancy food store in my last 5 gal buckets (until I get more). I did put a couple of onion starters I made in with ... cauliflower? I don't know. I'll know when they keep going (or not). I don't know how many hours I spent outside today but I've nearly used up all my 5gal and my dirt. Yay/boo. Can't wait until the next fall when I estimate I can start digging it out of the backyard big ol' composter bin. Maybe summer but I am not going to get my hopes up.

Meantime I'll direct sow some and get more carrots started. Maybe I'll leave the front yard ones for the critters to have .

Probably by the end of November I'll have to stop planting fully. We might start getting frosts then and I've only got so much in the way of plastic bags for all these pots (or I could put down a tarp in the den and drag everyone in a few nights in a row)

I'll do more starter plants at the end of the year but will start them in big 3" pots rather than the little ice-cube ones I'm in now. That will give me more time to mature them. Probably just newspaper - I've saved some of my pots from the garden center but I don't really want to go buy bleach just to sterilize the darn things.

Need to look for brussels sprouts starters at the big box stores. I've heard they're delish fresh from the garden.

Hard to see, but here are the first autumnal bitty tomatoes:

Looks like the big tomato plant is flowering today or tomorrow. The squashes are about to lose their starter leaves? They're kind of yellow and at the bottom.

Everyone looks pretty happy; I didn't water yesterday morning and then last night it 10% rain-chanced all over the back yard for about 15 min. So everyone is nice and wet.

I don't get why the pepper plants aren't growing; maybe they're establishing roots or I just don't notice the gradual change enough to notice they are growing. Or compared to the tomatoes they look like they're not growing, lol. Lots of buds, hopefully to be lots of flowers soon ...

I counted up my containers and I have 24 ... so far ... of plants and that's not even a third of what I want to plant (and doesn't include fruit bushes or nut bushes on order). The average width of the containers is 12x12 so I've got 24 square feet of ground under cultivation. This includes the herbs, but not the fruit bushes (half in the ground, half not) or the nut bushes (where ARE THEY!?!?!).

When I was doing in-ground gardening back when my kiddos were babies, that was about where I maxxed out, 24 square feet, due to time (babies do take a bit of doing, 2+hrs commuting daily) and just starting gardening at the wrong time (I always used to start in the spring here).

Now I think I've only got a quarter of what I want to plant planted. Not going to need the lawn guy to do the back yard for much longer, not going to be much of anything left.

One of the cauliflowers died or got eaten by whatever is going after the bok choi. I need to get starter plants going on that again. Or see if there are any at the store ...

Quick check before work, dumped coffee grounds and edemame skins into the compost bin ...

okay, more jalapeno and pepper flowers. The onions planted with the broccoli seem to be doing well. More flowers on the second husky tomato plant. lettuce and kale are growing ... slllloooowly ...

"winter" is coming ...



Post in another section reminded me - I saw a bee this morning. I had the kids cleaning up their breakfast dishes and doing the shoes/backpack/homework dance while I watered the back yard (FYI, the 2lb 10.25oz coffee cans hold just over 2qts water) while I hit the rain barrel. Right by the barrel was a little bee wandering about.

A few days ago I saw a wild swarm about 60 feet up and three miles out on the drive from my house to somewhere - late afternoon on Sunday I think. I have driven that way once or twice since then but not seen it.

Have also sighted a few dragon flies, a couple of butterflies, done some whitefly squishing and also seen tiny little flies that I worry are medflies (we've had a few quarantines over the years). I guess I need to make some yellow sticky cards to catch and check with the ag office.

The lizards LOVE my garden. I be they are keeping the pests down; whenever I go out I see at least half a dozen.

There are little tiny black flying bugs (I mean TINY) in the compost bin but it doesn't smell. When I first loaded it with kitchen scrap it STUNK but I smothered it with leaves and coffee grounds (by the back fence, don't want to wreck my neighbor's enjoyment of their yard). I'll need to get out my pitch fork to give it a stir ...

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHH!

Glad I have a garden, a good cure for a RAGEY FEELING DAY. I should not read medical studies on grumpy days. GRR.

Took the kids out in the garden this morning - we had a touch of fog and it was pretty out. Looks like one of the Bonnie tomatoes is about to fruit (the flower has that wilty look). I'm going to shake the rest of the plants at lunch today (grumpy = shopping I'm going to go buy that second rain barrel).

A LOT more pepper flowers, so hopefully they'll get pollinated - might take a small brush to them tomorrow or "garden monday" if I'm still feeling ragey and not get-work-doney.

Carrots are perking up, and all my watering seems to be waking some of the carrots that didn't germinate at first. so a nice staggered batch. Must plant more ths weekend since it's going to be balmy for us through the next two weeks.

Goal: plant ALL my starter plants this weekend, set p the new water barrel, and start new starter plants. Plant potatoes if I have dirt/buckets.


Potatoes!


Corn (perhaps) and snow peas



bok choi or other chinese cabbage


Carrots

Rain Barrel is balaneced on a pickle bucket in the back yard. Might 10% in it tonight & will set up something more permanent this weekend. Maybe more scrap lumber will do the trick. I only need to get it up about 18 inches for watering; or just toss another pile of cinder blocks together. Its another fancy overpriced on but it's a "sensble" color & has a brass cutoff and hose connection.

Kids begged for tomatoes at the grocery store, so I got a pint for $2 on sale. I'm going to have to get more tomato plants to keep up with them. Jeepers.

Speaking of my snack-sized garden(s) ....

Thank GARDEN it's Friday!

So I ran to the big box store to pick up more tomatoes. Not much bitty ones out right now - mostly sandwich tomatoes. I got a yellow something, something patio, and more husky cherries. Hopefully six bite size tomato plants will keep us going until I get the new ones started from seed.

Also got cilantro to replace my dead one :boo: and found ... STARTER ONIONS. Short day Texas white ones, smell goood. I'll stick a bunch in my current pots and plant some up north on the holiday weekend. Will also talk to my remote gardener friends and see about trying to save a few to mail out for the holiday (I'll stick them in the fridge and mail them in a wet paper towel in a zippy bag).

Will also plant a few in cut-up soda bottles to "watch" them grow, misshapen as they'll be, but FUN! Also found Brussels Sprouts, will plant some down here and some up north a couple zones away to see who has better results.

I'm also doing a garden calendar project, like I said, for my young gardener friends - will use it for me, too. I'm starting the food garden for my family very very expensively with all these $3 starter plants ... I want to be seed-driven the rest of my season.

come on parkseed, start a seed sale!

File under: I left it too late:



Going to harvest it now ... only a couple of yellow buds, no worries. But they sure weren't yellow yesterday.

Put a few starter onions in with the night shades. Probably won't be "done" by the time we cut down the 'shades and put in squashes or lettuce, but they shouldn't mind new room mates.

I have a ton of things to plant this wkd. Going to do a quick count and then make planting baskets and bags tonight.

Very tired tonight, busy tiring day in general.

In the garden department is getting there. Potted up all or almost all of the new tomatoes. I think I'm finally out of 5+ gallon containers; the last few pickle barrels I found weren't drilled out

Also did up another chinese cabbage; need to get more of that and some herbs potted up for Turkey Day gifts. From what I'm reading, I can grow those in coffee cans (why call them that when they are plastic and square now?). Finally, went through on a couple of the tomato plants and stuck onion starters here and there.

Also had a bit of rain this afternoon ... the new rain barrel wasn't filling up fast enough for me so I grabbed some coffee cans and added to it from the gutter drain 2 quarts at a time. I guess I got it filled about a quarter of the way before the rain petered out and so did I. Left the coffee cans and 5 gal pickle barrels out in the rain, maybe they'll catch a bit more overnight I can use this week to finish my potting.

Made a bunch of growing baskets for things about 3 gal size; need to make a few more and the landscape cloth liner. Experimented on a couple of tomatoes with newspaper only; we'll see how it holds up over the season.

Thought of a last minute funny to confuse the kids - planted the yellow tomato in a yellow milk crate. mmmm too bad I'm not growing anything purple - but if I set it next to the clear crate maybe I'll convince them those tomatoes are going to be clear ...

Have a good holiday, everyone.

Oh ... Looks like the warm weather is at an end. We are going to be hitting the 50s & lower at night. Time to do some serious sheeting thoughts.

Probably put my garden shelf on one end of garden row, then posts in pickle barrels on the other, & sheet around, opening during the day & closing at night. Might do a rush order on some frost cloth instead of plain plastic ...

I was afraid this was going to happen.

I cut that broccoli ... and it's still in the fridge.

Thinking very hard about raised beds. just thinking though, I'm reluctant to commit to that again. Helps that we have a guy in to do the mowing, maybe that and a good grass - incursion plan will make it possible.

I'm really admiring the ones I see with seating on the edge. Makes me think about getting some cinderblocks and facing them with a milk painted wood, lol. Nice balance between practical and pretty enough for landscaping opinion ... I used to have just plain brick out but mildew grows on EVERYTHING ...