The 2021 Gardening Thread

[MoochNNoodles]

I’m glad my tomatoes are still in the store pots. We are supposed to have a few cold nights and we had some storms earlier. I just got back from the Lowes garden center and it was a bit of a mess. Landscaping size plants were blown down/around and a lot of other flowers looked wilted and damaged. I saw hail in some of the storm warnings so maybe they got that too.

I picked up a few bags of potting soil and composted manure for the garden. I’ll need more but it can wait for the car with a mud thing in the back.

I also got myself this guy:

It has decent reviews and isn’t too big for my level of gardening. I hope we’ll love it!

 

[NY cat man]

I’m glad my tomatoes are still in the store pots. We are supposed to have a few cold nights and we had some storms earlier. I just got back from the Lowes garden center and it was a bit of a mess. Landscaping size plants were blown down/around and a lot of other flowers looked wilted and damaged. I saw hail in some of the storm warnings so maybe they got that too.

I picked up a few bags of potting soil and composted manure for the garden. I’ll need more but it can wait for the car with a mud thing in the back.

I also got myself this guy:
View attachment 377378
It has decent reviews and isn’t too big for my level of gardening. I hope we’ll love it!

Cute little devil, that. I have a tiller attachment that fits on my gas-powered string trimmer, and it works well enough for me. I really have small use for a full-sized one, although renting one could be an option. I have about 4 inches of snow on the ground right now with more predicted for tonight, but that should help insulate the new growth from the cold.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Last year we borrowed one. Everything else is in the raised bed so I’ve done it by hand (and back ). I figured by the time we rented one a few times; this would pay for itself. Our friend who loaned us his dads had ankle surgery and isn’t able to this year. This was around $125. The rental place isn’t cheap and a good 35/40 minutes away. Most of the reviews seemed to be from people who don’t have big needs. I have a 10x12 patch to do for the corn and our soil is so sandy it turns fairly easily after the settled layer.

 

[NY cat man]

Last year we borrowed one. Everything else is in the raised bed so I’ve done it by hand (and back ). I figured by the time we rented one a few times; this would pay for itself. Our friend who loaned us his dads had ankle surgery and isn’t able to this year. This was around $125. The rental place isn’t cheap and a good 35/40 minutes away. Most of the reviews seemed to be from people who don’t have big needs. I have a 10x12 patch to do for the corn and our soil is so sandy it turns fairly easily after the settled layer.

Lucky you. The 'soil' here is so heavy that I have to dig down with a shovel, then let the clumps dry for a few days and then attack them with a mattock. After that it's the tiller to break it up and blend in the amendments. With a full-size machine, I could save steps 1 and 2- and my back- and go straight to step 3.

 

[WillowMarie]

Large tomato sprouted! Moved all my plants back outside as no more below 35's overnight for a while. Succulents are enjoying a day of sunshine, too, after a week of being back inside.

 

[NY cat man]

Wednesday, we got over 4" of heavy, wet snow. Yesterday morning, it was 28°F when I got up. This was the result when the snow finally melted this morning

However, there is still hope for the flowers.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Poor things! I cut a few tulips a few years ago because the wind was battering them. The figured they’d die outside so it was better to bring in some and enjoy what I could.

I just bought some trays of wave petunias from Walmart. They are all light pink instead of my usual variety. I’m getting ready to paint the shutters and doors of the house green so I think it will look nice having a solid fixture of light pink like that. Yellow or white would have looked nice too. But I’m only fussy about getting wave petunias and not up for stalking the garden centers for them. So I got them! Everything else can wait a little longer.

 

[NY cat man]

Poor things! I cut a few tulips a few years ago because the wind was battering them. The figured they’d die outside so it was better to bring in some and enjoy what I could.

I just bought some trays of wave petunias from Walmart. They are all light pink instead of my usual variety. I’m getting ready to paint the shutters and doors of the house green so I think it will look nice having a solid fixture of light pink like that. Yellow or white would have looked nice too. But I’m only fussy about getting wave petunias and not up for stalking the garden centers for them. So I got them! Everything else can wait a little longer.

The majority of the tulips seem to be recovering, probably because the buds haven't fully opened yet. I can see colors starting to show in many of them, and Michele said some of them are multi-colored, so your guess is as good as mine as to what the final product will be.

 

[Mr. Meow]

Well, been trying to replace the 2x4s with 2x10s, but work has had other plans....
And of course this Saturday it's supposed to rain, heavily all day...maybe Sunday

 

[WillowMarie]

My tomato seedling looks so sad... May need to plant some more just in case. It didn't get that cold overnight.

Lettuce and rhubarb look fine and lettuce has a couple more leaves on some!

 

[game misconduct]

gotta watch for these if your growing tomatoes

 

[WillowMarie]

gotta watch for these if your growing tomatoes

What are those? Didn't really have any pests last year until the end when the squirrels found the red tomatoes. My pots are on a second story deck, which may help some.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

It was windy and cooling off this evening when I was outside weeding my gardens (I'm 3/4 done with weeding the veggie gardens ) so I put on an old white button down shirt of DH's that I confiscated for gardening years ago. Well I was standing on the back patio with my fists on my hips stretching when something BIG and BROWN caught my eye as it traveled from my shoulder down behind my arm. It was my hair. But .

 

[game misconduct]

What are those? Didn't really have any pests last year until the end when the squirrels found the red tomatoes. My pots are on a second story deck, which may help some.

they are called horn worms the larval(caterpillar) stage of a sphinx moth

 

[MoochNNoodles]

they are called horn worms the larval(caterpillar) stage of a sphinx moth

They are definitely my enemies in the garden. I’ve had a few and wished I could just borrow some guinea hens to take care of them!!

 

[NY cat man]

Two years ago, I picked over a dozen of those big green ugly things from my two plants. Last year- not a one.

 

[Winchester]

I planted red beets, white potatoes, and lima beans this afternoon. I'll do another planting of lima beans next weekend. Rick is in the garden, working on a bit of weeding. He wants to call for a rototiller on Monday (last week was really cold). I'll do another planting of white potatoes next week, too. The asparagus is up and we'll have some tonight with dinner.

 

[WillowMarie]

One carrot germinated overnight!!

And tomato seedling looks a little less sad...??? But still not very happy. I planted two seeds and waiting a few more days to see if the other sprouts. If not may plant a couple more seeds in case this one doesn't survive or just isn't healthy.

Winchester ohhhhh, beets sounds good!! Those are one of my favorite root veggies. Cube then asking with sweet potatoes and roast them in the oven. Yum! Wonder if they do well in pots. I'm getting excited about growing them now.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I finished prepping my raised beds today and will plant tomorrow. I covered the beds with newspaper, jobes landscaping fabric and mulch a few years ago to help with weeding. It was time to remove it. I don’t think I’ll replace it or maybe just sections that are hard to reach.

 

[catapault]

Shades of the movie Alien. If you see a hornworm that looks like this, as if it had little white rice grains stuck to it - leave it.

A tiny wasp has laid eggs on the hornworm. The larvae will consume it, from the inside. They emerge and pupate (that's what you see here.) Then hatch, at which point the weakened hornworm will die. The adult wasps fly off looking for more hornworms to parasitize.