Everything I have planted is on hold. They are just sitting and waiting for warmer weather. I don't think it's getting cold enough to harm anything. But as Dawn says, hot weather is just around the corner. I get tired of wearing a sweater around all day but I do dread the really hot dry weather that's coming.

I am on the fence. I look forward to the tomatoes and peppers etc taking off for the market but I still have cabbage and broccoli in the garden I wouldn't mind giving a chance. It's not like I have a choice. Just hide and watch. I am enjoying the break from weeding and watering for sure. Perfect day/week for regrouping. Catching up on house work. 4 weeks till market and I am a little nervous but it is what it is so I will take what I have when I have it and pray these tomatoes produce like mad.

Hi all, new to the forum. It's my first time gardening and most of it is taking place in containers. I've moved all the pepper plants that were in smaller pots and had not fully recovered from transplanting yet into the garage under a fluorescent light to try and get them out of the cold wet rain and get them a little light even if it's not the perfect setup for it.

Some of my plants that I intended to put in our small little bed in the backyard were accidentally ran over when I brought them home and sat them in the driveway while I prepped the bed thinking my roommates were out of town. I was wrong about my roommates being gone, but even though there were quite a few plants that took damage, only one of them has shown no signs of recovery in the past two days. I'm hopeful the other ten or so plants will make recoveries.

My tomatoes and peppers that I've had the longest and are in the larger containers are still doing well and I'm leaving them outside to face the weather. All my tomato plants either have a few tomatoes starting to show or are at the very least budding. All of my pepper plants that I've had for a month or so are sprouting buds except for the few that were really leggy so I topped them off. One pepper plant that had been knocked out of its container by a squirrel had all the leaves fall off. It appears to be slowly recovering, but I assume it will be stunted pretty heavily.

I'm going to have some mystery peppers at this point as I came home one day and some critter had somehow removed the tags from 5 or 6 plants. While I think I got most of the tags back in the right pots, there was a red bell and green bell right next to each other and I'm definitely not sure which is which at this point.

All the peppers that I topped are looking great, except for the one that was ran over.

Here's most of my container plants that I've left outside to face the weather, they're all doing great except for the newest tomato plant (Brandy Boy) which the closest plant in the picture. I just brought it home a week ago and transplanted it, but it's starting to look better and has started to flower in the last couple of days. The big red cherry tomato is next to it and is my tallest plant, it looked about as bad as the Brandy Boy when I first brought it home, but now it's setting fruit and looking pretty healthy.

The plants I've had the longest seem to be doing the best, which has to be a good sign for a first time gardener...right?

Here's all the plants I've moved inside mostly because of the weather. Some of them were ran over by a car so they look pretty bad, some of them were recently transplanted and also haven't fully embraced their new home so I brought them out of the cold and into the light to encourage a little more growth. The bigger pots are jalapeños that were really leggy when I got them and I want to top them, but all of the leaves were at the top of the plant so I'm not willing to do that yet. The plant on the left is a Serrano and was getting too tall for how small it was so I topped it yesterday before I brought it inside but it looks like it's about to start filling out.

Some spiders have set up shop on a few of the plants since I brought them inside, I figured I'd let them stay for now.

Here's my Charleston Gray watermelon that is probably done for after being ran over. The rest of the plants seem to be surviving the incident, although a few are still in the ICU.

Our poor gardens...insects, wind, hail, too cold, too hot..and now being ran over by a car! That's gotta be a first. Welcome ak_ok!

"It takes a village to raise a plant....", er, wait...maybe I"m comfused with human children....what the heck.....it STILL takes a village! Welcome ak_ok! You're a breath of fresh air if you aspire to raise veggies amongst "room-mates"!

Well hazel, I have something in common with those plants as I've also been hit by a car, and I'm still kicking so I've got faith in them as well.

P_mac, my grandfather always had a really big garden and I always tried to get my dad to help me with one while I was growing up but it just never quite happened. My father is in the nursery and landscaping business, so I feel like coming home to more plants was not something he had any interest in. I worked for my dad most summers of my life and through that I learned how to plant them and care for them, I just never had any of my own.

I'm still in school and living in rent houses at this point, but hopefully I can have my own house and own garden in a few years. One of my roommates bought a couple pepper plants recently and along with a random assortment of other plants that she kept in the house through the winter and I have been pretty much the main person tending to them (she keeps wondering why this is the first time she's been able to keep plants alive). One day I just decided to bring back a bunch of vegetable plants. What's the point of only having two pepper plants and a bunch of plants that you can't even eat!? Well now I'm addicted and have read everything there is to read on this forum. Gardening is fun!

We enjoyed weeding in the mud,today. Honestly, I'm sick of the cold. I'm cold right now, but refuse to turn the heater on lest it warm up ten degrees within the next hour. By the time the heater is radiating, it'll be too warm.

I didn't know hwat else to do so I started throwing out perennial flower seeds before the rains came. The rain really has been nice. It's just a slow easy and gentle continuous rain that nurtures the soil.

But it's too cold, darn it.

bon

Bon, I feel kinda tired of the cold too, but I still have firmly resolved to enjoy it while it lasts because I know what kind of heat will follow it. And, when the heat comes back, none of us are going to be used to it because our bodies will have acclimated to the cool, cloudy, drizzly, foggy weather. That means the first few warm, sunny days likely will feel unbearably hot until we adjust to the heat again.

The weather patterns this year are almost as bizarre as the ones we had last year. I haven't looked at a national weather map, but I suspect it is warmer in Alaska today than it is here, and that is just so wrong.

We needed the rain, and we haven't gotten nearly as much as the 7-day QPF had predicted, so I am hoping for a lot more. I ought to get my wish granted tomorrow because we are supposed to have heavy rain tomorrow. So, far the rain we've received in May hasn't been heavy enough to be called heavy rain.

The sad thing is that this cool, moist spell likely will induce a whole new round of weeds to sprout. That won't matter much in the areas that are heavily mulched, but I still have some areas of the front garden that don't have enough mulch on them yet to prevent weeds from sprouting. With May having been so dry, the grass hasn't been growing fast enough and every time we mow, I end up thinking that there's just not as many grass clippings for mulch as usual.

It was 55 degrees when I went outside early this morning to feed the chickens, and I do think 55 is too cold for a morning in mid-May. However, we won't be in the 50s much longer.

Dawn

My problem has been the silly chickens who wouldn't climb the ramp and roost in the warmer house. Turns out they really like meal worms, and a couple of nights coaxing them upstairs with treats and last night I didn't have to. But there's no grass left in the run and the rain has made it muddy. We're debating putting straw there or sand. Have any of you used sand? Does it get too hot in summer? We're going to make a larger day pen, but it hasn't happened yet.

We put down any organic matter we can get our hands on....hay, straw, grass clippings, shredded autumn leaves, etc. It doesn't really matter what you use as long as you use something that keeps the mud to a minimum. We don't use sand because it does get hot. (Ever walk on sand in your bare feet in July or August?) If your run is shaded, you might be able to use it, but we don't. Our run is partially shaded but not shaded enough that I'd use sand. Our native soil where the chicken run sits is sand, by the way, and that's what we are covering up with organic matter.

Ooo...they do like the meal worms, don't they. If I shake the meal worm bag, they'll follow anywhere!

During the dry times, the dirt floor of the pen isn't bad at all. When it rains excessively, it's a mess..and a bit smelly. Our current coop and pen can be moved with a truck. However, our coop/pen of the future will not move and I'll need help with this as well. Although, the plan is to let them free range a bit more so they'll not be in the pen as often.

Our chickens like canned cat food, which doesn't mean they get to eat it, but if a cat leaves any canned food in a dish on the front porch, the chickens race for that dish the minute the cat walks away. I use the chickens' understanding of what sort of food can be found in a cat food dish to my advantage. If the chickens are free-ranging and I want them to go up into their coop earlier than their usual time (around sunset), all I have to do is walk out to the coop with a cat food dish in my hand and the chickens follow me like I'm the Pied Piper. There doesn't even have to be cat food in the dish.....all that has to happen is that they see the dish and come running. It always is a good thing to have some sort of technique that gets the chickens to do what you want and to go where you want because you never know when a predator (bobcat, coyote, rabid skunk, feral dog, etc.) might show up and you might need to get the chickens into their coop and/or fenced chicken run for their own safety.

They have started to expect food any time I come around. I went to look at them earlier and they all went upstairs to scratch around and see if I left treats. I've been giving them the bolted lettuce and chickweed, if I can find it. I read yesterday chickens like oregano, which I have too much of, but mine didn't care for it. It did give them something to walk on though. I guess I will go out and throw something in the run to dry it up some. They have 2 perches so they don't have to stand in the damp. I also set up a wind block on the north side because the wind has been so cold. I think we will move the whole thing this weekend. To an east/west orientation instead of a north/south. The area is shaded in the afternoon, and part of the morning and the run has a roof, so overhead sun is blocked. I had read an article about how great sand was, and was all set to get some, when I read another article about how bad it was, and hot. Sigh, I should quit reading.

Chickens are gonna do whatever they are gonna do. Mine don't always eat things that chickens supposedly adore, and sometimes they eat things that chickens are said not to like.

I wouldn't give up reading. I'd just take it all with a grain of salt because what works well in one region may not be suitable for another region. I'm sure sand works well for some people in their climate, but I just don't think it works that great in combination with our summer heat here, especially if in full sun. We have friends who have chickens who hate getting wet. Our chickens are the opposite and will play in a wading pool or in a sprinkler in the summer heat and absolutely adore it. Different strokes for different chicken folks, I guess.

When my chickens have a choice (and since they free range virtually every day, they always have a choice), they avoid full sun except in the mildest of weather, they avoid hot ground, and they avoid being out in the open where they feel exposed to predators. They love shady spots, even in winter. (More about the predators in a second.) You can learn a lot about what they like/need just by watching how they act.

We have lots of big shrubs and trees in the yard to shield the birds from predators. I don't prune the shrubs down into nice, compact shapes because the birds need to be able to hide under them. The other day a predator was around and a flock of about 10 hens and 1 rooster were crouching under a peach tree in a tight mass that looked like one gigantic chicken. I don't know why they chose the peach tree as they had tall shrubs and undergrowth only a few feet away that would have given them much better cover, but they seemed to like the more exposed location better than the more sheltered one, which doesn't necessarily make sense but then, they are chickens, not rocket scientists.

So, today the chickens are acting hinkey, including sitting on the front porch, hiding under the porch and even sitting on the porch swing (where they know the aren'y supposed to be). They were very hyper, but I couldn't find anything in the yard...no stray dogs, bobcats, skunks, foxes, etc. Finally, around noon, the two young dogs who like to hang out in Tim's office and stare out the bay window started going ballistic, barking in a tone I've never heard before (and that is saying a lot because they bark a lot). I went outside and still couldn't see anything but I looked off into the woodland in the direction the dogs were staring and barking and knew something was there. I came back indoors. They went nuts again. In the meantime, the chickens now are holding a convention on the front porch, joined by cats and turkeys. Chris went and stood by the dogs and tried to follow their gaze....and saw a big coyote lurking near the bay window. By the time he got outside with a gun, it was gone. He fired a warning shot to make sure it understood it needed to go away and stay away. I praised the puppies, brought in the cats and told the chickens they could chill. They did, and are happily roaming around the yard again. Somehow all those chickens and turkeys (and even the cats, and of course, the two dogs) knew that coyote was there even though I had been outside and walked through that area over and over looking for whatever was making them uneasy, and I saw nothing. I think chickens and turkeys are smarter than people often give them credit for being. This is not the first time they've sought shelter from a threat that none of us humans have been able to find or see or figure out. It would be a lot easier if they could tell us what they want, what they like or dislike or what they need....or what they see....but they can't.

It is not normal to have a coyote in the front yard in the middle of the day, but with free-ranging poultry, it is not unheard of either. Tomorrow I'll probably leave the poultry in the fenced runs and keep an eye out for that coyote. Once the coyotes start coming around that close to the house (when spotted by Chris, it was less than 10' from the front porch), they usually don't stop until you shoot them. They are not overly nervous around humans, but they are very uneasy around humans with guns.

Dawn

if they could tell us what they want, what they like or dislike

Oh gd, no!!

I tolerate most wild life, as long as it stays in the wild, but coyotes give me the creeps. When I worked at the ranch I would hear them if I worked late, sometimes see them. They scared me. They ate the ears off a couple of calves while they were being born.

I wasn't happy about having the coyote come right up to the house. A few more steps and it would have been on the porch. We walked around last evening and followed its track as it edged along the space where the heavy woodland ends and our yard begins. It was creepy to see how close it had gotten to our animals in broad daylight. Coyotes are nothing new here, but having one that close to the house in broad daylight is not normal, though you sometimes see it in drought when they are really hungry and trying to find something to eat.

This was a particularly large coyote too, so it isn't like it was starving and not eating well.

It has been years since a coyote came into our yard and got a chicken in the daylight hours, and it almost happened yesterday. I'm glad our little yappy dogs were barking loudly and shrilly because it made us realize something really bad was out there.

One of our neighbors who lives closer to the Red River than us (his property backs up to the river, whereas ours has other property between it and the river) has been looking for his 3 missing dogs for a week or two and hasn't found them yet. They are big dogs and ought to be able to protect themselves, but having that big coyote so close to our house reminded me that maybe he hasn't found his dogs yet because maybe something got them. I hope that didn't happen.

Could it be a dog coyote cross? Would that make it more likely to roam in daylight? Or maybe its running with dogs. I dream of living in the country, but I think I'll pass on your wild life. Some times things come up the drainage ditch from the river, which is only a mile or so south. There is some undeveloped land between here and there, as well. I have seen a coyote on a street here in the neighborhood. Racoons, possums, skunks, fox and ferel emu in the area. But it is a rarity, not an every day occurance.

It could be. We've had them before. I've seen dog-coyote crosses that obviously had Irish Setter in their parentage (they looked more like the extinct Red Wolf than anything else, which threw me for a loop the first time I saw one) and and another time that obviously had Golden Retriever in their parentage (the most gorgeous coyote hybrid you'll ever see). The Golden Coyote, as we called it, roamed our neighborhood for months and it was scary because it would approach human beings, even human beings walking 3 dogs on leashes. I finally stopped walking the dogs for a few months because the Golden Coyote was coming too close to us. I have watched the woods carefully today and haven't seen it back and haven't seen any new tracks beyond what we saw yesterday, so at least it doesn't seem like it came back today.

We hear coyotes every night, sometimes all night long, sometimes up close, sometimes far off. We don't necessary see them all that often because they'd really rather not be seen most of the time. Skunks, possums, coons, foxes, etc. also are not something we necessarily see every day, but sometimes we have periods of time where we see them a lot more than we'd like. We do see minor wildlife daily---cottontails, whitetail deer, voles, sometimes moles, sometimes gophers, and always tons of birds. The larger wildlife that normally is out more at night doesn't get seen as often, and Tim and Chris both have to remind me sometimes that just because I'm not seeing them doesn't mean they aren't there because I don't venture out much after dark (precisely because I might see wild things I don't want to see). Since they both leave for work when it is still dark outside, they see a lot more of the nighttime creatures than I do. Then, there's the ones we don't see often, like feral hogs, but which we hear fairly often. They often run in gullies and creeks, so you may hear them off running through a gully, but you won't necessarily see them. I've only had feral hogs close to me a couple of times, and it was horrifying and I couldn't get back to the house fast enough. A feral hog thinks nothing of attacking a human, and they are capable of killing people, so I'd just as soon never run into one again.

I like living in the country surrounded by wildlife, but it does teach you to be aware of what is going on around you at all times, and it teaches you to always have on your running shoes because you never know when you may have to outrun a rabid skunk or something worse.