Welcome MJ, so glad you finally got logged on. Your house sounds like an adventure, I'm trying to imagine "bird beak" windows, we'll be needing pictures of those LOL, M (aka Martha, believe it or not,aka also Muffy Jane),Mora

Greetings from Canada and welcome to cottage MJ, hmmm," bird beak" windows, we definately want pictures.

Annette

Count my vote for the bird beak windows. I want to see them too. And welcome!

Rosefolly

Welcome MuffyJane and lurking Betty, any friend or relative of Stvens is a garden friend of mine. As you already know, this is a warm place. I hope you enjoy your visits and decide this is gardening home.

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome. I would expect nothing less from gardeners. I will get some pics posted soon of the bird beak windows. I'm trying to set up a Photobucket page but I'll have to call my wonderful BIL to get some instructions. BTW, I looked at his bio and he really is a little spitball of energy. I wish I could borrow some of it! And he is much loved by everyone in my family.

So, related to gardening - how many of you are organic gardeners? Believe it or not, it's really big in Central Texas, at least, but I'm wondering how widespread it's become. Just curious.....mj

Welcome Muffy Jane! I can not claim to be a COMPLETELY organic gardener, but I'm working toward that goal. It's very, VERY big here in western Mass. where many of us ex-flower children hang out.

We love your BIL too. Never really thought of him as a spitball, but I'm sure you meant that in the nicest way possible! (TEASING!!!) He does liven up the joint.

Patti

Hey Muffiejane! Welcome..I enjoyed reading your post.

And I feel your pain about the Gerber daisies - I don't have much luck with them either! :) But I'm trying again this year...one more time.

A big ol' welcome to the Cottage from Nebraska, Muffy Jane!

Congratulations on your new/old home purchase! How excited you must be to be getting a place in the country. And one with views and river to boot. That's wonderful! I've heard that the "hill country" is a very special place.

I too live on a river and I gotta tell you that after a long hot day, dripping with humidity, there is nothing so refreshing as throwing yourself in the water and letting it wash over you taking all the heat of the day along with it.

I too am looking forward to seeing pics of your home with the bird beak windows ;) And the layout too. I love homeimproving stuff! Instructions for posting pics are at the top of the gallery threads!

Now....Betty Butticus...Olly, olly in come free!

MeMo

Welcome Muffiejane!! I am also looking forward to seeing those birdbeak windows and anything else you might care to post! It's so nice to have family members joing in because we are all like one big family here!!!

My Cottage garden is all the way out on the East coast in a house built in one of the first ever suburban communities called Levittown after the man who built it. The first Levittown is on Long Island NY but the second one is here in PA. My little house was built in 1953.

I just love the informal look that cottage gardens with their riot of colors and textures give to a home. Of course I drool over Steven's beautiful gardens. Mine are nothing as gorgeous as his. Right now I am trying to grow a lot of flowers to attract hummingbirds and butterflies. I have been having fun watching the one male Ruby Throat that I have seen so far and I have named him Mr. Ruby Tuesday!!!
Joann

Welcome MJ from Alabama. We all love your BIL's posts and his great supportive comments. His pictures are OK too...well actually they are breathtaking. Do you mean dormer windows when you say birdbeak?? Can hardly wait to see. Caroline

Betty Butticus and Muffy Jane. I already know you two are a hoot, just from those names. But if Steven says you are, then we KNOW you are. Do you know how much he is loved around here? A lot, I tell you. We all adore him.

Muffy Jane, I am an organic gardener (except for when I just sprayed the poison ivy with weed killer - I have to so DH won't get slimed with the stuff)...I organic garden here, teach organic gardening to disabled people at the church I attend - work in a garden center which is becoming MORE organic (working on that!!) and also teach organic adult garden education at a community garden and the garden center. So clearly, it is really becoming more popular here. Atlanta is really a dual city: young urbanites from other cities coming for the jobs and relatively inexpensive homes and now many ammenitites like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's which offer organic food. Then there are the older, more Southern residence who make up the more traditional aspect of the city. Many of the African American long term residents are organic gardeners, many of the rest are not. Plus we have a new wave of Asian ethnicity and many of the older gardeners from that group are also completely organic.

I am also very concerned about gene modification in food and seeds.

So nice to have you here!
Girlgroupgirl

Hi, Muffy, and welcome. I garden (and work) in shoes that tie and socks, myself.

Back in the 1970's my mother bought a book on Organic Gardening. She was astonished. "Why, that's what I've been doing all along," she said.

My opinion is that I can't have it both ways. If I want birds and butterflies, I can't be spraying great clouds of chemicals everywhere. I'll squirt a little oil soap water, or some baking soda water and tolerate some things that fly off when I shake a branch, some ratty chewed on foliage and a bit of mildew here and there. On the other hand, I'm not so rabid I won't sprinkle a little fertilizer sometimes, or Round Up a grassy weed patch to start a new bed.

We want to see photos with great detailed descriptions -- you know how we are.

Nell

Welcome Muffie Jane ~ Do post pictures when you learn how. Want to see those bird beak windows and anything else you want to share here. Do get Betty to join in here also. There are a great bunch of fun, knowledgeable people willing to share info, tips, pictures, etc. Steven's gardens leave us all drooling! He and Brian have done a fantastic job with their place, gardens, brickwork, and remodeling inside.

FlowerLady

This is a recipe for Girlgroupgirl but if any of you are trying to go all organic, listen up. This will kill poison ivy (and probably everything else)and is organic. It's from a great organic nursery here in Austin called the 'Natural Gardener'.

Recipe to Kill Poison Ivy

* 1/2 cup Orange Oil
* 1 gal 20% vinegar
* 1 tsp liquid soap

Mix above ingredients and spray on poison ivy leaves. If vine is in tree, cut the vine at base of tree, when it sprouts spray with mixture. Typically, poison ivy will sprout again after 1 application, but will not after the second application. Caution: be sure to clean your tools, hands and possibly clothes with Tecnu cleanser to remove the poison ivy oils.

NOTE that this mixture will kill any plant on which it is sprayed, not just poison ivy. Also, 20% vinegar is very strong and you will want to protect your self, children and animals from fumes.

Recipe from TS at Lake Austin Spa and Resort

I've included the link to the Information page of The Natural Gardener. There are recipes for other all natural pesticides so check it out.

And you're right, foxesearth, you don't get the diversity of flora and fauna when you use chemicals. I actually saw a new type of big lizard in my pecan tree yesterday that I've never seen in the ciy before. We both stared at each other for a long time. Of course, we have foxes and skunks in Austin in addition to the usual racoons and possums. The only thing that we really do battle with here is Fire Ants and Carpenter Ants but there are so many organic gardners here the 'exterminator' companies all are as organic as possible. I'm going to advertise my house as 'organically gardened for 15 years' as a selling point. Of course, I came home last year to find my Dad spraying something like RAID under the house on a wasps nest that was about 6-8" in diameter. I just can't seem to convince him that it's not any harder to garden organic than it is to use toxic chemicals. Ok, so he was an industrial paint chemist. Anyway, you will hear me 'encourage' everyone to be nice to Mother Earth.

Hope to post bird beak windows later today. Maybe y'all can help me figure out what to do with them. ;-)

Here is a link that might be useful: The Natural Gardenerl

Welcome, MJ ! It's always good to have another Texas girl on the boards. I appreciate your organic ethic, and hope you'll share your thoughts on that in coming days. I've joined the ranks since I have so many bunnies, birds, turtles, snakes, etc who are my gardening friends. I'd hate to see any harm come to them. Can't wait for pics from you too.

Carol

Aren't these folks the best, Muffy Jane? Such a wealth of information and so friendly. I love my Cottage Gardner pals!

That was a fun link to The Natural Gardener. I stray but rarely from natural gardening practices. I have to admit to intervening with my roses. I had such an outbreak of powedery mildew that I decided to use a fungicide. And I did just spray a small amount of Round Up in between our pavers where it's virtually impossible to get the roots. Other than that, I use nothing. For most weeds, I use the labor-intensive yet satisfying method of pulling them. If a plant gets chewed, it gets chewed. The vast majority of mine recover just fine and go on to lead happy and productive lives.

I had to laugh about Mr. E spraying Raid under your house. Yep, that's our dear Patriarch. There are so many reasons to love him you can't get mad at him.

I'm so happy you are here!

Steven

Welcome to the Cottage Garden forum, Muffie, so glad you could join us! I tend to not use too many chemicals in my gardens because of my animals (2 dogs and 4 cats)and the fact that we live on the eastern end of the Ballona Creek Wetlands, a protected area here in West Los Angeles....we get a lot of birds and other creatures visitng our yard. Like your BIL, however, I had to spray for PM recently....it's a bad year for it. I look forward to learning more about organic gardening from you and others on the forum.

welcome ya'll. I recently joined the forum and have already learned so much.Am envious of Steve's garden.I would like to see pics of the hill country- my neighbor hails from there and am curious to see. But most of all I want to see bird beak windows!!! is your house canary yellow too?? green like a parrot?? no? enquiring minds want to know. Sue

I would like to add my welcome to muffy jane too. I am not a regular poster here but check in almost daily. I cottage/country garden from southwest Missouri. I am not totally organic but headed in that direction.

I love the pictures too even though I am still on dreaded dial-up and sometimes can't get all the pictures or get so tired of waiting that I give up. They still don't offer high-speed where I live. I am checking into an antennae type reception that is available.

Greetings from Dallas/Ft. Worth and welcome aboard!

I remember when you first tried to sign on, and I'm so happy that you have had better luck this time.

I try to stay as organic as possible, but admit to falling off the wagon when it comes to those !@#$%^ fire ants! Round Up also makes an occasional appearance in my garden when I am at wits end.

Again, welcome...and I hope Betty joins in too!

Marilyn

Welcome MJ, I have been checking in on this forum almost daily for several weeks now and I have learned so much about cottage style gardening! I know you are going to enjoy reading/seeing what all these wonderful gardeners have to share!

I don't always post on all of the threads because in a lot of cases I don't have the knowledge or experience needed to answer! But the more time I spend here, the more I learn!

Tammy

Okie-dokie, BIL et al, I finally have pictures so you can see the Bird Beak Windows on this house. Go to the link below. There are pics and videos but don't laugh at my video commentary as the accent was intended for my dear old Bro & BIL. I'm starting to get cold feet about buying the house because it seems like so-o-o much work and as you can see, it is the Hill Country which doesn't exactly lend itself to anything close to 'cottage' gardening. The biggest obstacle to any gardening at all here are the deer so you either need to build a high enough fence that they can't jump over it or plant what they won't eat, usually thorny type things. I might have to go to Container Cottage Gardening. Suggestions for those windows and ugly '70's style are welcome! I think the building was an old hippy who was weeding his garden a bit too much. ;-) MJ

Here is a link that might be useful: Photobucket

Hi Muffiejane:
I'm finally back on line here after the electricians accidentally dismantling my phone lines next door (we are renovating and didn't bother to hook up telephones over here).

I don't know where I can get the 20% vinegar here in Georgia. The application of this product, is not considered "organic" and I'm not even sure if it is "all natural" by Georgia Organics (who supplies our guidelines here). I am meeting with them later this AM so I will ask. I will also ask the gal I garden with at church if she has tried this mixture. Her work men who are of african-american descent come and treat the poison ivy. Did you know that culturally many people of that descent are not vulnerable to the plant oils!
If it works, maybe it could help the hiddious ivy that needs to come out this winter.

Muffie, do you not have problems with Termites in Austin?
We do have to have our home treated with termiticides. During these renovations, it showed me how badly that we need it here. We re-use very little of the beautiful old sturdy wood. The carpenter ants are also bad on my property although I did get rid TOTALLY of the fire ants with constant douses of boiling water. Annoy them beyond belief and they seem to eventually move on to greener and less boiling pastures.
We also spray annually for bees, especially carpenter bees. Although it is not organic, we are replacing some of the exterior wood in eves etc. with "plastic" woods in hopes to stop having to use these pesticides.

I'm off to paruse the Natural Gardener! Thanks for the link!!

GGG

Muffy Jane, that does look like a lot of work. But you certainly would have a lot to work with. The bones of the house look good. Brian even sort of liked the Bird Beak Windows (or BBW's), but heavens yes they have to go. First of all, the views are breathtaking. What a sweep of the valley! Location, location, location. Speaking of which, how did the river fair during these rains? I assume you would be high up enough to not worry about flooding. As far as not being able to do cottage gardening, I disagree. Certainly Janelle's idea of doing pots on the porch is a great one. Lot's of cottagy potential there. Windchimes and sculptures and flea market finds would go along way to give you that look. I LOVE the yard area! There are so many things you could there. Terraced beds with fieldstone walls and winding steps leading down to it would give you a woodland cottage atmosphere. There are plenty of things you can plant to give color and texture. MJ, don't turn your back on this house too quickly. Cold feets be only natural. We'll talk this weekend.

Love ya!!!

Steven

Ok, BIL, I'm inspired again. Thanks much for the encouragement. And one thing for sure - the view and the river access are not available in the city - not at that price. We'll talk more later.

girlgroupgirl, I'm surprised that the vinegar/orange oil would not be considered organic. I know that the 20% vinegar is not something to handle lightly but I think our standards here might have more to do with how the product breaks down in the environment and from that standpoint, it should be considered organic. But 20% vinegar is topically toxic, that is true.

And yes, termites are a problem here. In fact, you have to have a termite inspection done in order to sell a house. Carpenter ants are a problem. I have noticed that as the biodiversity in my yard has increased, the fire ants have decreased although I'm not sure if that's the reason. I used to get rid of them just by spraying the mounds with my water hose. Then they leave but they just go to my neighbors. But nobody around here complains much about them. I think they went to the 'burbs' of Austin where people use more chemicals. When there is a lot of rain and flooding, I do hear people complain that they all mound up together on floating wood, etc. and you'll see these floating fire ant mounds in the lakes and shores and you have to steer clear of them. Pretty funny, huh? Do y'all have organic pest control companies in Atlanta?

That is really interesting about your friend's workmen not being as sensitive to poison ivy. We used to have a bunch around here but we've managed to get it under control in our yards. But our neighborhood park and creek are full. I was never allergic until I was in the landscape business and cleaned out a long row of Azaleas not realizing that I was pulling out poison ivy. Yikes! I was covered and have been allergic since. TECNU is the product to use. Very effective.