It seems everyday, I have a long to do list and on most days I just can't get to it all.
Today I got a little slow start. I got up at a little after 5 a.m. My cat insisted it was time to get up. I had breakfast and got on the computer for a while then I was out of house by 6:30 to go water my community garden.
The water pressure wasn't that great at the garden so it took longer to water than I anticipated. I had only planned on spending an hour. I stuffed three bags full of weeds and dried cornstalk and collected the garbage and drove it all to the convenience center.
Since, I am planning to work on my home garden today, I stopped by Ace and picked up some new gloves, potting soil, steer manure and they had the fencing pliers I have been looking for. I also got more seeds and a scrub brush.
On the way home I detoured to Costgo to get gas and I stopped by Aloun farms and picked up some melons, and cabbage.
Amazingly, I bypassed McDonalds, that hardly ever happens.
I got home unloaded the car, did my hand laundry and started the first load of the cat stuff. Put another layer in the cat box and now I am taking my morning break and it is 10:44 a.m. already
I still have
2 more loads of laundry to do
do the weekly house cleaning
Today's garden task is to clean up the veggie beds and fill at least one green can.
if I have time I want to plant more seeds and get the tomato and basil planted.
I have left overs for dinner, but since I bought the cabbage now I will have to figure out what I want to do with it.
I really should clean the refrigerator too, but that probably won't happen.
So much to do, so little time and energy to do it.
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rainbowgardener
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Yeah, I always feel like that. I just do what I can and try not to stress about the rest. Sounds like you accomplished a lot! Feel good about that.
I still work and have lots of other responsibilities, so the gardening is just around the edges and stuff has to take care of itself a lot. Everything does pretty well with a lot of benign neglect.
I still work and have lots of other responsibilities, so the gardening is just around the edges and stuff has to take care of itself a lot. Everything does pretty well with a lot of benign neglect.
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rainbowgardener
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OMG!!! I can't imagine! I'm not nearly so organized. When I have time to get out in the garden, I just walk around with a trowel and hand clippers and see what needs to be done.
Time will be extra limited this month. It is fall and there is a ton of fall yard work to do, but my job is extra demanding right now AND I have events going on every weekend this month, either out of town or at least something going on much of the weekend. Poor garden may just die early. ...
Time will be extra limited this month. It is fall and there is a ton of fall yard work to do, but my job is extra demanding right now AND I have events going on every weekend this month, either out of town or at least something going on much of the weekend. Poor garden may just die early. ...
It has been raining almost every afternoon this week and sometimes into the night. The rain may be brief but it is hard enough to cause some flooding in my patio and to get a phone alert about flash flooding. I didn't even know my phone did that.
Since I didn't need to water my garden, since it is still wet, from yesterday's rain, I just picked the last of the corn, and went to one of the gardens where I volunteer and pulled weeds. After the garden my friends and I went to Wendy's for lunch and when I got home the skies were getting dark so I just did some very light watering in case it does not rain enough and barely got a couple of my orchids in the patio before the skies opened up. I divided my orchids and re-potted one. One I am using no media and the other I could only take apart in pieces so I am going to put them all together in a basket and hope for the best. They are bare root so it will be sink or swim. These orchids are over ten years and maybe closer to 15 years old and the media and pots were rotten. I only have about a hundred more orchids to do, but a lot of them are dead in the pots and I really need to clean out my orchid benches.
The patio started to flood more than usual while I was dividing the orchids and some of the water got into my shoes. The ground is saturated now so a sudden downpour starts to flood faster. The water will get sucked back out after the rain stops and this happens often enough that I have pretty much got most of the things that can get soaked, like fertilizer off the ground and in buckets. Open bags of fertilizer will become a chunk of concrete after a while but I can't really stop that.
I used to label all the plants in my yard. I had those metal labels with the soft metal you can write on. I may still have a few that are still in the yard. Since I know most of the plants in my yard, I don't do that anymore, but I may have to start doing it again, because I am having more Alzheimer days where I know what it is but I just can't remember the name.
Since I didn't need to water my garden, since it is still wet, from yesterday's rain, I just picked the last of the corn, and went to one of the gardens where I volunteer and pulled weeds. After the garden my friends and I went to Wendy's for lunch and when I got home the skies were getting dark so I just did some very light watering in case it does not rain enough and barely got a couple of my orchids in the patio before the skies opened up. I divided my orchids and re-potted one. One I am using no media and the other I could only take apart in pieces so I am going to put them all together in a basket and hope for the best. They are bare root so it will be sink or swim. These orchids are over ten years and maybe closer to 15 years old and the media and pots were rotten. I only have about a hundred more orchids to do, but a lot of them are dead in the pots and I really need to clean out my orchid benches.
The patio started to flood more than usual while I was dividing the orchids and some of the water got into my shoes. The ground is saturated now so a sudden downpour starts to flood faster. The water will get sucked back out after the rain stops and this happens often enough that I have pretty much got most of the things that can get soaked, like fertilizer off the ground and in buckets. Open bags of fertilizer will become a chunk of concrete after a while but I can't really stop that.
I used to label all the plants in my yard. I had those metal labels with the soft metal you can write on. I may still have a few that are still in the yard. Since I know most of the plants in my yard, I don't do that anymore, but I may have to start doing it again, because I am having more Alzheimer days where I know what it is but I just can't remember the name.
I took some pictures. I found some orchids blooming when I cleared off some of the overgrown hedges. There is no show or meeting to go to, but I have proof they bloomed.
I finally cleared the main garden bed. I still have a lot more to do.
https://s1325.photobucket.com/user/imafa ... l%20garden
I finally cleared the main garden bed. I still have a lot more to do.
https://s1325.photobucket.com/user/imafa ... l%20garden
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applestar
- Mod
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- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
It's like a gardener's curse that when seasons change, there seems to be more things to do than ever. It sounds like you are managing though. I really enjoyed the photos.
Isn't it strange how you can become less appreciative of old plants you've had "forever" -- ones that you know their habits so well they don't require your extra attention any more -- then by chance you see them growing or blooming as best they can in spite of your neglect and you admire them once again?
I often end up apologizing to them and doing what's needed to revitalize them because I know they can do so much better.... Then they get pushed out of my mind again because of the pressure from the needier plants....
Isn't it strange how you can become less appreciative of old plants you've had "forever" -- ones that you know their habits so well they don't require your extra attention any more -- then by chance you see them growing or blooming as best they can in spite of your neglect and you admire them once again?
I often end up apologizing to them and doing what's needed to revitalize them because I know they can do so much better.... Then they get pushed out of my mind again because of the pressure from the needier plants....
I have lost a lot of orchids and I don't buy as much anymore. I used to be stable around 300 orchids. I actually have lots of duplicates because the ones that are easy for me to grow survive. And because most people like certain colors and kinds of orchids and I just forget I already have one and buy another then realize when they bloom again that they are the same.
Because of the escalating water bill, I have been trying to change my media and pots. I used to use hapuu and clay or baskets. It is still the best, but good hapuu is expensive and very hard to find. I can still get the clay pots but wire baskets have been replaced with plastic.
I have been trying plastic pots again with extra holes and bark. Bark is still not working out for me unless I use decorator bark and it breaks down faster. The breakdown of the media accelerates root rot. Cinder works better but is a lot heavier and plastic pots aren't what they used to be, they are a lot thinner now and don't last as long.
I am now going media less, but that means I need to water more, so I am back where I started. I have cut back on watering since one of the reasons I used open baskets and media was because I watered too much or they held too much water in the rainy season in plastic and bark media. However, in the rainy season, I don't have to water at all, but in the dry season open baskets needs to be watered almost every other day.
Orchids should be re-potted every couple of years and I usually wait until it gets into trouble and that usually is too late to save them or I let a plant become a specimen and it gets really hard to divide them. Slugs and snails love them too, especially the seedlings.
I keep expanding my potted plants. I have weeds instead of grass in the back yard now and I have capped off the sprinklers. I just have a narrow path to get between the pots. Some of the pots in the picture are behind those big plants. Without light and the overgrown plants all around , some of them are probably empty pots now.
Because of the escalating water bill, I have been trying to change my media and pots. I used to use hapuu and clay or baskets. It is still the best, but good hapuu is expensive and very hard to find. I can still get the clay pots but wire baskets have been replaced with plastic.
I have been trying plastic pots again with extra holes and bark. Bark is still not working out for me unless I use decorator bark and it breaks down faster. The breakdown of the media accelerates root rot. Cinder works better but is a lot heavier and plastic pots aren't what they used to be, they are a lot thinner now and don't last as long.
I am now going media less, but that means I need to water more, so I am back where I started. I have cut back on watering since one of the reasons I used open baskets and media was because I watered too much or they held too much water in the rainy season in plastic and bark media. However, in the rainy season, I don't have to water at all, but in the dry season open baskets needs to be watered almost every other day.
Orchids should be re-potted every couple of years and I usually wait until it gets into trouble and that usually is too late to save them or I let a plant become a specimen and it gets really hard to divide them. Slugs and snails love them too, especially the seedlings.
I keep expanding my potted plants. I have weeds instead of grass in the back yard now and I have capped off the sprinklers. I just have a narrow path to get between the pots. Some of the pots in the picture are behind those big plants. Without light and the overgrown plants all around , some of them are probably empty pots now.
Very pretty and green, Imafan26!imafan26 wrote:I took some pictures. I found some orchids blooming when I cleared off some of the overgrown hedges. There is no show or meeting to go to, but I have proof they bloomed.
I finally cleared the main garden bed. I still have a lot more to do.
https://s1325.photobucket.com/user/imafa ... l%20garden
My gardens have been hit repeatedly by light frosts for nearly a month, now. After this morning, we are supposed to have milder temperatures.
Only a few things are completely dead and many of those have been pulled as compostables. Some, still have the "potential" of ripening fruit or being harvested as greens or roots. As a whole, the gardens look terrible! I feel like closing my eyes when I go out there ... but I have to do the opposite and search out what can be carried away ...
It will be a relief when really hard frost comes and they can be cleared. Hopefully, the ground won't be frozen or snowcovered by that time!
Steve
Loved the pics, thanks for sharing them. Right now is a busy time for me as every plant is waking up and needing my attention. I may have to mow the ''lawn'' this weekend.....haven't done it since June as it stops growing through the cooler months. I usually venture outside with a specific plan in mind but unfortunately I tend to get distracted by other gardening tasks that catch my eye. I then come inside at the end of the day and realise the one job I wanted to do is still waiting for me! Oh well maybe tomorrow...... 
I have to mow, well weed whack the front yard more now too. Grasses here are dormant in summer when there is less rain, they slow in growth and unless you can give them an inch of water a week, they always turn a little yellow. When the rains come they green up quickly and grow fast.
It has been raining heavily (enough to flood my patio) for the past few days so the ground is saturated again and the grass and weeds are going gangbusters. I have to wait for a relatively dry day since wet grass will cause my weed whacker to smoke.
I also have been putting out slug bait every week. They have more or less stopped chewing on my seedlings but now are after the basil in the garden. I am using iron based snail bait not methaldehyde.
I am having trouble with all the rain with the seedling dampening off and the growth is slowing. It is still warm and humid around 87 degrees F in the daytime but there is an hour less sun now and by the end of the year the day will get a couple of hours shorter to around a 10 hour day. Young and fruiting plants grow a lot slower then and it will get a little cooler with the days about 68-72 degrees F. My longest day is around 13 hours.
It wasn't until I visited Seattle in summer that I fully understood the meaning of long days and short days. My day only varies about 3 hours a year, but it is why I can never grow a whopper tomato and why I need to have day neutral strawberries, soft neck garlic and short day onions. And I can grow winter corn only if they are a short day variety that only needs 10-12 hours of light to produce. But I can grow something year round.
It is interesting how you said everything was green. I kind of take that for granted, but I did look back on some of my pictures and I had one of my corn in tassel and the sky was so clear and blue, even I was amazed since the sky always looks like that exept when there is vog or cloud cover.
Right now I have a circle of dead grass in my front yard. I think it is from the decaying roots of the tree that I cut down a couple of years ago. I probably have to fill it since it is probably hollow under the grass, but hey, it is an opportunity to put something else there if I can find the time.
It has been raining heavily (enough to flood my patio) for the past few days so the ground is saturated again and the grass and weeds are going gangbusters. I have to wait for a relatively dry day since wet grass will cause my weed whacker to smoke.
I also have been putting out slug bait every week. They have more or less stopped chewing on my seedlings but now are after the basil in the garden. I am using iron based snail bait not methaldehyde.
I am having trouble with all the rain with the seedling dampening off and the growth is slowing. It is still warm and humid around 87 degrees F in the daytime but there is an hour less sun now and by the end of the year the day will get a couple of hours shorter to around a 10 hour day. Young and fruiting plants grow a lot slower then and it will get a little cooler with the days about 68-72 degrees F. My longest day is around 13 hours.
It wasn't until I visited Seattle in summer that I fully understood the meaning of long days and short days. My day only varies about 3 hours a year, but it is why I can never grow a whopper tomato and why I need to have day neutral strawberries, soft neck garlic and short day onions. And I can grow winter corn only if they are a short day variety that only needs 10-12 hours of light to produce. But I can grow something year round.
It is interesting how you said everything was green. I kind of take that for granted, but I did look back on some of my pictures and I had one of my corn in tassel and the sky was so clear and blue, even I was amazed since the sky always looks like that exept when there is vog or cloud cover.
Right now I have a circle of dead grass in my front yard. I think it is from the decaying roots of the tree that I cut down a couple of years ago. I probably have to fill it since it is probably hollow under the grass, but hey, it is an opportunity to put something else there if I can find the time.
Yes, the landscape is a little parched and only the watered lawns and "evergreens" are green. Now, the other trees are changing to fall colors. Funny how Washington state is officially the Evergreen State but like all of the West, it gets very little summer rain. As well, about half of the state is semi-desert ...
Shorter days, yes but not too far from 12 hours. By the end of the month, we will be down to 10hour days ... and, it just gets worse!
https://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/longest_day.php
There you are, below the 25 degrees of latitude. I'm at nearly 50 degrees. So, why didn't I get everything done when we had 16 hour days?
Steve
Shorter days, yes but not too far from 12 hours. By the end of the month, we will be down to 10hour days ... and, it just gets worse!
https://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/longest_day.php
There you are, below the 25 degrees of latitude. I'm at nearly 50 degrees. So, why didn't I get everything done when we had 16 hour days?
SteveO.k. I pulled the nut sedge from the veggie garden that came up and added in more compost and manure. I'll water and weed once more before planting.
The slugs are still after my seedlings and they are chewing up two of the basil in the garden. I spread more slug bait. That stuff is candy to them. I am seeing more African snails now and not so much slugs. I got another one this morning.
The slugs are still after my seedlings and they are chewing up two of the basil in the garden. I spread more slug bait. That stuff is candy to them. I am seeing more African snails now and not so much slugs. I got another one this morning.
Full moon, Imafan26.
Are you out there after sunset? Not me anymore ... it helped before sunrise in September but this is too late for harvesting much here.
There is bok choy and the slugs have damaged it seriously! It is in 1of the beds I will cover with a pvc pipe and plastic film hoophouse in March. THEN, I will do battle with the slugs that show up!
There has been too many times I've needed to run the sprinklers on those beds lately ... You know what water does to that bait ... shoot, I should own shares in Sluggo and try to recover some of my $$$!
Steve
Are you out there after sunset? Not me anymore ... it helped before sunrise in September but this is too late for harvesting much here.
There is bok choy and the slugs have damaged it seriously! It is in 1of the beds I will cover with a pvc pipe and plastic film hoophouse in March. THEN, I will do battle with the slugs that show up!
There has been too many times I've needed to run the sprinklers on those beds lately ... You know what water does to that bait ... shoot, I should own shares in Sluggo and try to recover some of my $$$!
Steve
It has been raining a bit more and that brings the slugs and snails out even more. I find most of them in the morning after an overnight rain. It has slowed a bit down to less than 7, I was getting upwards of 50 a couple of months ago.
The slug bait said it should cover 5000 sq ft, well, it was more like 800 sq ft.
The slug bait said it should cover 5000 sq ft, well, it was more like 800 sq ft.