Happy New Year, Christie, and all my friends on here!Hope this new year holds everything you want.
My hasn't the wind blown, supposed to be in low teens to single digits wind chill all day.Lets bring this post back up when its 99 in July, perhaps we can enjoy a bit more.
This is a good time of the year to sit by the fire and look through seed catalogs. I didn't think I needed a lot this year, but how it adds up!
I'm going to order 3 new Apple trees, and 3 new Plums, along with 18 raspberries and 4 blueberries. I was stung so bad by Starks on my orchard, so I'm going to try Gurneys, they not only have a $25. coupon, they also have a lifetime guarentee.
The blueberries I'm a bit apprehensive about, understand they can be a bit picky on soil.
Need I say I didnt stay up to watch the new year in? I figured it had done so for years without my help(plus I cant stay awake that long!!)
This weekend looks like a good time to get a few beds ready to plant--I think I will dig a trench in my cucumber bed, and fill it with the ever present horse manure! Maybe a watermelon bed or 2 also, watermelons have a short life here--one year, mower got them, another year a uninvited guest stepped on them.
William, I have seeds of Long Tom tomato coming, I'm sure you'll want to try some too?
I only have one book unread, hope the cold snap is short.
Has everyone noticed some of our friends are coming back to the forum? Lets get this site interesting again and bring more in every day!! (heavens knows I dont know anything interesting)
Has anyone else tried the new Echinaces Hybreds? I havent had any luck, I've had Orange Meadowbrite, Mango Meadowbrite (says they cant be started from seeds)Doppleganger, Razzmatazz, none of which lived. Several others did live, so I know it wasnt site or soil.
Someone mentioned once about the wild aminals being hungry this winter? I have several shrubs, including a dogwood, in big pots, waystation, beside my deck, that the deer have eaten into the ground.
Stay warm, everyone

Happy New Year! I didn't see it in...:-)
I went to bed shortly after 10, then later on I heard my DH using his nebulizer. I got up to see what time it was, and thought the clock said 11:45. I turned the TV on to see what was going on, then discovered it was actually 12:45! So back to bed I went.

I haven't got any seed or nursery catalogs yet. Since I haven't sent an order to anyone except Vernon Barnes for several years, they will all stop sending to me ( except the 'junk' catalogs). I sure used to get dozens of them !

My Vernon Barnes order came last fall, and I put them in a large bucket of potting soil. They are spending the winter in our well house. If I am still not up to putting them out in the spring, I will send them home with our son. I think most of my gardening, from now on, will be spring bulbs and containers...plus all my house plants. Otherwise, it will be just maintaining all that I planted in the past.( And the mowing..of course.)

I hope all the rest of you have a good gardening year.

Marian

beat all of you, crashed at 9:40 last nite. got up at 5:15 and went back to bed. had first cup of coffee at 8:15 and it was 27 outside. the wind sure was cold today!

thanks gldno1, my bean/ cucumber trellis was finished 2 days ago. turned out ok. ended up making the beds out of cedar and they are 13 ft long. 3 cattle panels.

worked on my strawbale planter boxes all day yesterday. they are going to end up 1 ft deep and 6 ft long by 2 ft wide.

i ordered from 2 places only this yr. ordered grafting clips from johnny's and a few things from totally tomatoes. smallest yr in ordering ever!

ceresone- how do you get all the space for planting? everything here is so unlevel and so many rocks everything we do has to be in raised beds. be glad for a few seeds. no more then 6 needed though. am also interested in how the leaves are going to compost through the winter and spring! you gotta make some compost tea this spring. it is so easy!

william- who is frigid!

I didn't stay up either; haven't for years.

It is 10° here this morning.....really looking forward to tomorrow when the temp is supposed to be in the 40's. We have the grandkids this week and I want them to be able to enjoy the farm and I think today may be a little too cold for much outdoors.

I got Select Seeds too. I have ordered from them before, mostly seeds. I need to get my thoughts together on ordering a few seeds too and maybe some more grasses.

william, congrats on getting the trellis bed ready and ceresone, you guys make me feel like a slug...I haven't been doing a thing except adding to my compost pile with kitchen waste.

We lost a chicken this week. Same as before it is damaged in the neck area and this one didn't survive. I have no idea what is happening. This is the third one to be bloodied, but the only one to die. The grandkids got a little carried away chasing them and one flew out of the pen and their dog and ours had a wonderful time chasing and grabbing them. The feathers were all over the yard. She is still alive, but doesn't get out of the chicken house....so I am not very hopeful for her....one of my best pullets.

christie, my first winter sowing attempt was not a success and I haven't tried it again.

Everybody keep warm today.

nothing done yesterday but put the christmas stuff back in storage. too cold to work in the garage. looks like today will be the same. was 12 here this am.

spent about 3 hrs on the internet yesterday and visited the soil and compost forum on gw. there is a lot of info there. some very bright people. there is a great thread on container soil that is a long but very interesting read. if you do a search and type in talpa soil mix, i think it will come up. we will probably do close to 20 containers this year cause we had great luck with peppers and eggplant and i am going to give that soil mix a go.

hope it warms up soon.

william

correction to above post. i put in talpa, should have been tapla!

william

Well, its COLD!! was 6 degrees this morning, wind chill -3.coming back from doing chores, I have to face into the wind, You'd think after 40 years, I'd be used to it--not!!
William, I mostly garden in 16 raised beds, although they still need more blocks to finish. And, hopefully this spring, I'm putting in 3 more 4x25 beds for asparagus, rhubarb, and strawberries. might not plant them till next year, because it will take awhile to fill them to my satisfaction. I have a huge pile of 3 year old chips that will help. also, with one of my cattle panel inventions, i wired 2 together, and put them over two raised beds, so I didnt have to step in the bed. I believe it worked better for me than a single panel did.
I couldnt garden without cattle panels, they fence my garden, they're used in the beds for tomatoes, cucumbers, squash--etc. lot more room up--than out.
I fight with myself each spring, not to try something new, either in seeds, plants, ways of planting, etc.--but as I said before, I dont listen to me.
Gldno, is something able to reach your chickens through the wire? or is it happening at night?
Oh, yes, william, did you read the post on wiring your bales together? gentleman said he could get several years out of them this way. try idigmygarden.com and put straw bales in search, if you're interested.
Christie, this weather is good for going thru your seed catalogs, my orders about finished.
Marian, can you stick a few cherry tomatoes in the pots too? best I've found is Isis Candy, and Black Cherry. Have some seeds if you want to try.
Stay warm, everyone

Good morning.

What wonderful weather we have had for the last three days....soon to end I hear.

The GKs are gone and life is back to normal for us...meaning very quiet. I almost have the house cleaned and all the laundry is caught up (that's DH's job).

My plan today is to return library books, send a package of things the GK's left behind, and try to get a small seed order together. I may just call Hummert and see if they have their seeds out yet.

I caught dh's cold and don't feel up to par, but not really sick with it. I hate colds.

Christie, how is the kitchen coming along? Did you have to redo the entire kitchen, appliances and all?

Ceresone, bet you have been outside building raised beds.

Have a good day.

Glenda

Gldno, I do hope you, and anyone else living in the path of the storms last night are O.K.? I'm sleepy this morning after watching the storm reports all night. So terrible, at this early hour, 2 confirmed dead. It had fizzled out before reaching us, despite a tornado warning for Howell Co., and its still thundering.
Wasnt Sunday beautiful? yes, I did do some work on my beds--william, dont believe all you read on compost forum. I was told cutting my Bermuda so late, there wouldnt be seeds, in the mulch I put on the beds. Wrong!!
Has heart checkup yeaterday, and blood work-up done. Dr. put hubby on Aricept, jurys still out on if it helps, or causes worse episodes as it actually did.
Getting close to time to start seeds!! Am I crazy, or what??It seems to make me believe spring is getting close!
Thunder getting worse, I have good protection on my computer, plus battery back-up, but seems lightening takes out the phone connection to it, and that means a replacement trip.
take care, all

We had some wicked weather passing through southwest Missouri last night. I hope everyone is all right. Nothing much happened here but between the storm sirens going off for two hours straight and the constant storm reports on television it made for a tense evening. I slept in a basement room without windows so I have no idea what went on after midnight.

We certainly had a couple of days of beautiful weather preceding this storm. I heard someone say that the only good thing about January was that you didn't have to worry about tornadoes. And now this...
Happy New Year to everyone. Anise

What a night! We were up most of it watching the weather. This time it missed us totally, except for some heavy rain. I no longer just go on to bed..............I know what it can do. It got very close to us. We are about 12 miles north of I-44 and these darned things seem to follow the I-44 corridor every time. My heart just goes out to those who suffered hits; what destruction.

I knew the weather was way too hot for January. That always makes me nervous.

I envy all you with basements. Our cellar is way across the yard and we almost never go to it.

I have taken up crocheting again....have now made two pair of slippers and am working on the third. I guess it's like riding a bike; it is all coming back to me. I have had to do some ripping out, but finally get it.

Ceresone, hope the new meds do some good.

All for now,
glenda

SCORE!!! This weekend, great deals.....

We went to Orscheln's this weekend, and got fleece lined denim shirts for $10, saved $20. Bought 3 for me and two for DH. I also got a new dehydrator, an American Harvest for $45. I still have my old one, but this one has temperature settings! WooHoo! Also bought 4 chicken watering lids that fit on Mason jars, did not know why just got 'em cause they were cheap.

Picked up two 90' rolls of garden hose, heavy duty. $45 apiece, but DH said they were worth it AND a good deal.

Amaryllis bulbs for $2.50, my replacements for the ones my Mama had but got lost in our move to MO.

And the wonder of how God looks out for me.....I had ordered 3 bags of beans, thinking they were #50 bags. WRONG, paid the price and they were only #25 bags. But it was my fault, so I bit the bullet and got them. (It did not break the bank, and I honoroed my own mistake.)

But lo and behold, I saw this box of canning jars, marked $1.50 per dozen. I pointed it out to the nice lady, and asked if that was the right price. She said it was, so I asked again, just to be sure. Yep. $1.50 a dozen. So I got three boxes of quarts, two boxes of pints, and a box of 4 ONE GALLON JUGS THAT MASON LIDS FIT!!!! (Now I know why I bought those chicken watering lids!) I was blown away by the price, and of course, asked if there were any more. She called Grandma, who said yes.

Apparently, she is tired of canning, and no one needed them in her family. (Go figure....I always think that you can never have enough!) On top of it all, she has MORE! I ordered 2 #50 bags of sea salt at a great price (yes, I checked this time, lol) and told her I would take all that she had, will pick them up next month when my salt comes in.

The Lord does indeed look after me, lol.

Also bought my seeds for the year, and caught a slae at Henry Fields online. Buy $50 worth and get $25 off the total. Good deal!

Cheri

Not much happening here. I did make myself clean out the dresser on the back porch where I store some seeds and other gardening things. I found lots of lettuce seed! I will be testing it and other seeds for viability soon.

For those in the area, Hummert/Springfield Seed has their seed out. They are only open Mon-Friday right now. I found out the hard way by going in yesterday.

My daylily seeds are up and about 8-10 inches tall. So far, I only have one cutting of lavender that has taken.

Do any of you do the old-time way of planting lettuce on St. Valentine's Day? If I can clean off a spot, I think I will give it a try.

Hi everyone, I've turned up again,like a bad penny. LOL. Sure hope it's for good this time.

Was in the hospital the last of Dec. and first of Jan.(For depression) Feel a lot better now. Changed medications.

Found (fingers crossed) one problem with my computer. Some wires were crossed. So far it's working great.

Glenda, had'nt heard about planting lettuce on Valentines day. but i'll sure try it in one of my containers. How about radishes? I just don't remember when we planted them tho i know it was close to lettuce.
I took up crocheting again too this summer.made an afghan. You're right it's amazing how quick it all comes back.

My lavender has stayed beautiful all winter outside. It's a French Provincual.(sp)

Cherig, you did good on your mason jar buys. A word of warning tho. It'd be a good idea to check seed companies out here on GW before ordering. Some are not up to par. Glad you joined us.

ceresone, 4or 5 years ago, after a bunch of tests i was diagnosed with Alzhimers and given Aricept. It turned out i'd had a stroke. But i beleive the aricept helped me alot anyway. I recovered everything i'd lost except some trouble with my words. I really hope it helps your DH too. You neglected to tell us what your blood work showed.

William, you and ceresone work so hard i don't wonder you fall into bed early.

My pot plants are starting to look good. My pink Christmas cactus that did'nt bloom Christmas has buds all over it. Geraniums and Begonias are putting out pretty green leaves. My other plants are too. There is hope Spring will be here. Now i need to go look outside and see if any spring bulbs are coming up.
Hope everyone has a great 2008 garden year.
vickie

oaklief- had no idea you were raising pot plants! LOL

i sent you some china pics again. let me know if you get them!

william

Yep!! have some great pot plants. Thought about smoking some but Christmas cactus pot is very gummy and does'nt smoke much.

Have'nt received pictures yet. I have an MSN2 webtv type computer. All information is stored at
MSN and my information including mail comes to me piggyback through internet connection, i think like photobucket works. At any rate my phone wires(in my MSN box) were not working right and not hooked up like it should have been. Most info was not getting thru or coming back thru.MSN is having troubles with their e-mail system too and sometime back they upgraded their e-mail security and my mail has'nt been too dependable since. Some mail never make it through because of the junkmail filter. DD has a regular computer and told me to go to my junkmail file,but i don't have one except for the e-mail i get and put there.
So thanks for sending the pictures,william i may get them tomorrow. I appreciate you trying. I'm too grateful just to be on line to try to hold my temper trying to talk to MSN tech support and convince them i'm not getting all my mail while they're telling me "But you have some mail in your in- box."

Sometimes i think, i wish i lived in the 1800,s but then i conjure up an image of me walking across the road in knee deep mud and horse poo all the time. Guess i'd rather sit here in a comfortable chair and scream and hollar at MSN and modern irratations. LOL
vickie

Yeah!!! my computer is still up and running!!!!

Oakleif, glad your computer is still going. I would miss mine terribly if it died.

I planted three pots of lettuce yesterday and put under the lights. Be nice to see if the seed is still good before I plant it out next month. I got all my seed together and need to put some between towels to test them before ordering more.
I do want Kwintus pole beans again and will probably order them from Park Seed.

It got really cold here last night, 10° and will drop more at daylight. Winter is here at last. Now it needs to stay here for a while.

Can we barely remember what we did before computers? what did we do in the morning hours? (Maybe clean house? Naw--tomorrow)
Its 4 degrees outside, windchill of -5, felt every bit of it doing chores this morning too. glad we have a heated stocktank, I remember all too well, chopping ice--once having to use chain saw. Dosent stay cold like that anymore, now I'm in zone 6-7.I didnt move--zones did.
Perhaps this next week will drain off canadian air, and keep us from getting it in April again.

I remember receiving quite afew magazines before computers. Then it seemed there were more advertizements than articles about the time i got a computer and i quit ordering them. I only get 2 now,Arkansas Gardening and Science News.

I got an e-mail from Dorothy but not one william sent, but i'm still on line.

It's cold here too. I see we have 3 chances for snow or snow-ice mix next week. I must be an ugly woman, i keep gleefully thinking of those ticks and chiggers freezing to death in this cold weather. I know,i know, The survivors are gleefully thinking how good i'm going to taste next summer.LOL

a deer tore down a bird feeder of a neighbor to get to the sunflower seeds. I guess they are hungry. I can't see a deer liking sunflower seeds.

I read today,vegetable oils are going to be the next prices to go skywards. The Canadians don't use much vegetable oil. They use shortning.
vickie

Another Score, in a way. As I was unpacking MORE boxes, I found my daylily seeds! A few daylilys had bloomed for me when we were renting in Springfield, so of course I crossed them. I also took pollen in to work to cross with the unknown yellows that grow at work. So now I have about 100 seeds to plant......

I am updating my seed list, as I find them. Amazing that I packed boxes without labeling them, lol. Hope to get a trade list up soon.

Cheri

Vickie, I do not remember an ugly woman but one that took a dodge ram on and won, I think (At Jay's swap). I think there is still something I owe you, was it canna's or angel trumpets or both.
Beerhog

LOL Greg are we sure i won. I'm V-E-R-Y careful to stay away from loose gravel on an incline now.
That was a fun swap.
No, you don't owe me.I still owe you some spring flowers. I guess the only way you'll get them is if i dig them up while they're blooming.

cheri, you must have a lot of patience with all the seeds and daylilly hybridizing. Do you ever go to the daylilly forum? An ozark poster use to hangout there, deafblossum (Kat). Wish she'd check in here. Have'nt heard from her in awhile. She grew a lot of her own daylilly seeds. Do you mean people actually label boxes!!!
vickie

The fresh lettuce seed is already up! I wish I had Buttercrunch, but all I ordered was Black Seeded Simpson. I need to get in to Hummert's this week and see what they have available.

Glenda, glad you're lettuce came up. i always felt finding forgotten seeds was like getting free seeds. Hope my lettuce seeds get here by the 14th I want to try planting then.

Cleaned out frig. Will work on cleaning kitchen drawers tomorrow. Can't beleive the stuff i can put in a drawer in a short time. Just remembered i've got to go to Clarksville tomorrow so have to put off doing drawers. Maybe someone will have new garden things to look at.

Cheri - I've been unpacking boxes too. We've finally moved back into our house after a kitchen fire in August. It took much longer than we expected to do the remodeling. Somewhere I have some seeds packed away but not sure where. They were heat and smoke damaged but I saved them anyway. They were also exposed to cold for awhile because I stuck them in the shed and forgot about them. It will be interesting to see if they germinate.
Oakleif - I am bad to drop stuff down in my kitchen drawers also and trying so hard this time not to start a "junk drawer" as I put things away but have a feeling it won't last long. In the home forums, someone was showing off pictures of their new "clutter room" with with cabinets and drawers. That's what I need. lol It would have to be a fairly large room.

what a day. put on a sweatshirt this am and had it off before lunch. temps hit 72 before 1:00 and at 3:30 it was 38. crazy! wind has been gusting like very high. blew the finches off the feeders. this is gonna be a wild year!

william

This is surely a crazy day. The winds were bad here too but not as bad as in the valley. Trees were uprooted and shingles blown off. Temp was in high 60,s now a cool 27.
Fort Chaffee near Ft.Smith had a fire when the wind was so strong. It burned a lot of old barracks. I wonder if it burned the one Elvis stayed in when he took basic there.

Christie, I wish it were that simple to have alot of storage space,but the more space i have the more stuff i accumulate.:^(
I'd like to know if your seeds germinate. some will take a lot of abuse and still germinate.
vickie

Wasnt it windy!1 Saw my SIL's swimming pool raise up, and fly into his state truck-luckily all that suffered was the pool. Havent checked the tin on all the outbuildings yet, I'd just mentioned a few days ago, I saw some loose spots.-But neither one of us is going on a roof anymore!
I had cashew chicken for dinner yesterday--what does this have to do with gardening? well, i had green onions in my garden to add to it--walking onions are so great in the winter, when there isnt anything else.
And these were a present from a very dear person right here, I am so appreciate of these jewels! Thanks again, Gldno, for the gift that keeps giving, year after year.

Oh my yes it was so windy here n of I 44. Has the windows open in the a.m. to let some outdoor freshness in. Well by 3 p.m. so cold had to start a fire. Sure glad I got that new roof on in nov. Glad to hear you still have onions. Mine died last year. haven't gotten around to putting in more. Sure wish I could learn to grow cauliflower or broccoli. never could get the hang of those . oh well I guess the supermarket keep me supplied. Stay warm ,we are to get snow here tonight , again tomorrow and maybe the next day. they aren't sure yet? ha

Have to make a correction. Elvis did'nt have basic training at Ft Chaffee, just a haircut.

We've got snow today abt an inch and a half.
vickie

We got some snow here. About 2" my family south of here got 3 1/2" the night before. not bad road are melting now. I got drive and walk clean late last night.