Dawn, about the milkweed--thanks for the attempt! Dawn--all's good--I am getting a big laugh out of it. What is it about milkweed! First, I almost murder it in the stratification. . . then managed to grow a few, along with the echinacea and rose campion; and then lost track of where I planted it, and so this is perfect. By gosh I know it's out there somewhere. Problem was that it was awfully small, as were the blue pimpernel and echinacea seedlings. . . too little and skinny to be out there amongst everything else. . . not yet clearly differentiated. And since I'd previously grown none of those three, well, that's the deal. Those little spindly plants were still struggling to make it, but the inclement weather hasn't helped one little bit! On the plus side, the 3 echinacea I got from Almost Eden are faring well, so that's good. My seedlings don't look much like THOSE. . .yet both are echinacea purpurea. Will be interesting to see if the little skinny ones develop like the plants.

Boy the cabbages certainly love this weather, right? I see a couple that I need to transplant, and am going to have to begin cutting out some of the outer leaves of a couple of them. Question--do you all do this as a matter of course, or as needed?

Another bit of confusion. . . the little broccoli seedlings had a rough go of it on the grow cart, so I threw my hands up and resigned myself to failure; and the cabbages were very leggy as little ones, too. So I figured planting all these were going to be an exercise in futility. Nevertheless, stuck them here and there. . . well of course, all are doing great--but there are 3 in the full sun bed, where, if it ever warms up outside will be too hot for them, I'm sure. . . can I safely transplant those (they're about 14-15 inches tall, I'd say.) now? (Where, I am not sure!)

First. Happy Birthday, Amy! You are a blessing to this forum and I am happy you were born.

Second. I hope everyone who is feeling sickly, feels better soon. Including myself. It was my long day at work and I'm so tired. I have one of those annoying coughs that won't let you sleep at night. It's my own fault. I've neglected my fire cider regimen, as well as a few other things including getting enough rest and downtime.

Jen, congrats on your new freezer.

We got about 2 seconds of hail last night. And a half inch of rain. I didn't have time to check the garden this morning and it was dark when I got in tonight...hoping everything is well and good.

Dawn, I feel sad about your rooster. I know. I know. It's the circle of life and natural selection (the dumb won't survive) and all. A friend just found out that her pullet, Ethel, is actually a male...so, Ethel's new name is Chicken Noodle Soup! Eeee...I can't take it.

Let me just say that I feel jealous of you who aren't working outside the home. I like my jobs and love the people I work with, but am so sad to be away from my home for 13 hours on Wednesday.

Okay. I am going to sleep. Or not and cough instead.

Ahh yes, Amy! Hope you are having a splendid birthday!

And Hazel, sleep well. I do remember those long hours of work away from home. Like you, I loved my job, but hated not having productive at-home time.

Went to bed. Woke up. Can't sleep. Need to go over what plants I said I'd bring for folks, make sure I got em all, get name tags on. Was so agitated today, not being able to be outdoors. It finally got not so cold about 11 pm!! Crazy. Still, have to laugh. Of everything I potted up to bring, they seem to be A-ok with the chilly weather and are looking splendid. Plants are eager to get on with it, apparently, and I'm tickled pink about that, but I was a little down and blue today, which is something I rarely experience. I am SO looking forward to meeting you all on Saturday, and know it might be ugly, weather-wise. Umbrellas probably a good idea, eh. We'll be there, come hell or high water, and God-willing and creek don't rise. . . And here we thought we dodged the bullet LAST weekend. Well, it is what it is.

But just want you all to know that I appreciate you, so much.

Nancy, Broccoli and cabbage can tolerate full sun and I grow them in full sun every year. Most years, the broccoli makes heads in May. I'm often harvesting broccoli around Mother's Day. If you cut off the main head at harvest time, and leave the plant, you'll often get side shoots for several weeks afterward.

With the cabbage, are you wanting to remove the outer leaves for a specific reason, like the monster plants are intruding on one another's space? You can remove them if you choose. Just remember that leaves are the factories that conduct photosynthesis, so when you remove leaves, you slow down the plant growth. Wanting to remove leaves often is a sign that the plants were planted too close together. Cabbage plants can take up a huge amount of space. I choose varieties that are smaller and more compact and that helps a bit. Because standard cabbage varieties need to be planted at least 18" apart (and 24" is better with some of the larger varieties) in rows 3' apart (which doesn't really work well in my 4' wide raised beds, I like to grow small varieties often referred to as mini-cabbages, although they produce decently sized heads.

Cabbage is surprisingly heat tolerant. I often don't harvest it until late May or early June, depending on what variety I planted. When you harvest your cabbage, if you will use a big kitchen knife to cut off the head a little high, leaving a couple of inches of the main stem, you can get 4 more heads out of the plant. Just cut a big X about 1/2 to 1" deep into the main stem, leaving you with an intact main stem with four separate sections. Each little section will then grow you a small cabbage head that you can harvest in a few more weeks. The plants do this because, remember, they have a biological imperative to produce seed in order to perpetuate their species. When we remove the main head, they've lost the chance to send up a flower stalk from within it to make seeds, so they form the small heads hoping they will live long enough to form a flower head and make seeds. It is a fun way to get 5 heads of cabbage from one plant.

And, no, you cannot safely move established brassica plants now. The shock will make them bolt if they survive being moved, which they might not. Annual and biennial vegetables just do not tolerate being moved around as much as flowers do., and they particularly do not tolerate it when they are getting close to producing a harvest. I am sure they'll be fine where they are. I plant mine close enough to one another that they all spread out and meet one another, forming a solid mass of green or (with red/purple cabbage, a solid mass of green/red/purple) with no soil/mulch visible between them. This is an important growing technique as the solid mass of plants shades the ground, thereby keeping it cooler and also cutting back on weeds that might sprout beneath or between the plants. It doesn't hurt them if their outer leaves are bumping elbows and appear to be fighting for space. That's perfectly normal. To have them spaced out further apart just encourages weeds by allowing sunlight to reach the soil.

I would only remove outer leaves of cabbage plants if they are developing diseases like downy mildew and if removing the leaves and allowing better airflow would help prevent disease or slow down its spread. I don't usually have diseases on cabbages because usually we are too dry down here for those diseases to develop, but if you have prolonged, heavy rain and stay unnaturally cool, it certainly can happen.

Hazel, I hope you can get enough rest and get rid of that cough.

The coyote or coyotes preying on the chickens are annoying. This is the worst it has been since the year of the cougar when everyone in our neighborhood lost every one of their poultry. If it gets much worse, I'll stop letting them free range. Sometimes, once predators hone in on your poultry, you almost have to take off a year from having poultry so the predators will learn that you no longer have them and will stop coming onto your property and preying on them. I hope to prevent that by cutting back on their free-ranging. Once poultry has free-ranged for a long time, they do not like being kept in fenced runs, but we're just about to the point where that's what it has come to. We used to keep a big alley of cleared land between our yard and the woodland, but the rainfall of 2015 (200% of normal) and also in the first half of 2016 made the woodland explode into growth and advance about 10' across our cleared alley so now the woodland comes right to our yard and to our garden fence. We need to do massive cutting of trees and undergrowth to correct that, but once snake season arrives, that sort of project is better put off until winter. I don't know if we'll try to cut anyway and risk the snakebites sometime in May or if we'll just start keeping the chickens up more, but we need to do something. My solution would be an 8' tall fence after we cut back the advancing forest, but Tim hates, hates, hates fences. He likes to look out and see nothing but wide open spaces and has stubbornly resisted putting a fence between our yard and the woods.

Being at home full-time is a choice I made way back in 1993 and I walked away from a good career in logistics at a major aircraft manufacturer to do it. My extended family and friends thought I was crazy to give up a great job, but I knew that my heart longed to be at home taking care of my family and pets and raising a garden. It is not something I've ever regretted. However, going from being a two-income family to a one-income family is not easy, and there's lots of things you give up when you give up that second income. We certainly learned to be a lot more frugal and to make more careful decisions about how we spent our more-limited income, but I still don't regret it. Big vacations and the regular purchase of new cars, for example, became a thing of the past. Guess what? We never really missed them. I love being at home all day and am busy from sunrise until dark. I remember friends asking me in the early days "what do you do all day?" and they just couldn't believe I was still busy all the time. I guess they pictured me in their minds sitting on the sofa eating bon bons and watching soap operas all day or something similar. Who has time for that? The only difference is that instead of working for someone else, I work for myself, and the reward is not a financial reward. Tim always tells his coworkers that I work much harder every day than he does, and maybe that's true, but since I get to do it at home, it doesn't really feel like work, and the stress level is different. I know I wouldn't have a huge garden if I had a full-time paying job because there wouldn't be enough hours in the day.

Amy, Happy Birthday! I hope you have a wonderful day today. You are indeed a blessing to everyone here on this forum.

Nancy, I feel like when you found this forum, you found your "other" family that you did not yet know existed. Isn't it awesome to find a community of like-minded folks? I am looking forward to meeting you on Saturday. As for dodging the heavy rain/flooding bullet, we seem to be having one of those years where we'll be dodging it every week for a while. That's a typical rainfall pattern in April, May and sometimes all of June some years. While it gets annoying for us gardeners, it is more annoying to go 30 or 60 or more days with no rainfall at all and, as you might have noticed, OK weather doesn't do moderate. It seems like we either get drought or flood with not much else in between. I think it is getting worse. Back in 2007, when the Red River flooded down here and the water at Lake Texoma, which is a huge lake, went over the spillway, it was only the second time ever in modern history and had been almost 30 years since it happened the previous time. We thought we were witnessing something that we might never see again in our lifetime. People flocked to the lake just to watch water flowing freely over the spillway so they'd always be able to say they witnessed history being made, and everyone was in awe at seeing the Red River flow out of its banks. Another rare event...ahem! Or so we all thought at the time. Then it happened for a 3rd time ever in 2015, and the 4th time ever, and the 5th time ever......and then again multiple times in 2016. Things are changing and I think we are seeing more extreme weather events like that. What preceeded the flooding of 2015 at our end of the state was 4 years of drought, which included, especially in 2011, the death of many native plants that normally don't die in drought. We knew when the drought ended that the rainfall would be a doozy, and it was. It seems like all we do any more is swing like the pendulum on a clock from drought to flood to drought to flood over and over again.

After a couple of nice rainy years down here in southern OK, I think people are kind of forgetting how horrific extreme and exceptional drought can be, and that's not a good thing, because the one thing about drought in Oklahoma is that it always comes back. I love living here anyway.

Dawn

Checked the plants last night and everything seems ok after the hail. A couple didn't survive my potting up, but that's a separate issue. Peas, beans, & potatoes are the only things planted right now and I didn't notice major damage to any of them. Now to get the beds ready for next week's planting extravaganza. Listening to y'all talk about spending "the day" playing in the dirt makes me look forward to retirement. Only 20 years and 6 months to go.

Jen, Only 20 years and 6 months sounds like a long time, but I expect the years will fly by more quickly than any of us think they will.

Playing in the dirt all day sounds like fun, but it is exhausting too. And dirty. I get dirt on my clothes and shoes at incredible levels. I don't even know how the washing machine gets out all the ground-in mud, clay, grass, etc. stains, but somehow it does. I do make it easier by trying to avoid wearing my better (i.e. fit to be seen in public) clothes in the garden.

My standard gardening uniform is men's white t-shirts, usually the crew neck type Hanes undershirts, purchased several sizes larger than I need, so they are very long in the back and there's no gap of exposed skin when I bend over in the garden. That helps avoid sunburning one's lower back. I usually buy a package of size 2X or 3X and they are heavenly---like working in a big loose mini-dress worn over leggings, shorts or pants. Since they are white cotton, I can bleach them if needed and a 6-pack will last me the whole gardening season, although even with bleach they eventually become stained but who cares---I am only wearing them in the garden.

When I worked, I had a much smaller garden, though a lot of the blame for that falls on the fact that we were in an old, well-established neighborhood with huge trees and our neighbors' trees on all sides shaded our yard heavily. I did the best I could with the small sunny patches where peppers, tomatoes, melons and such would grow, but never was able to plant veggies to my heart's content until we moved here. Back then, I had more flowers than veggies because there were more flowers that would tolerate shade. I sort of worked around that by helping my dad with his garden and, for a couple of years, my brother (who had back trouble and several back surgeries) completely turned over his large sunny garden space to me and that's when I began to realize how my gardening dreams could run hog wild if only I had a sunny spot of my own. And, here we are...with the hog wild garden in full sun, although now increasingly I do fight shade on its northern and western edges. I used to think that I'd never cut down a tree for any reason, but I'm about to get over that. I've now concluded that protecting the garden is a good enough reason to cut down trees and hope to do a lot of tree cutting on the northern side of the garden, maybe next month or maybe not until next winter. Regardless, some of those trees will be coming down. We've lived here long enough now that I've come to realize that if we don't get busy doing some tree cutting soon, we won't have any sunny spaces left open.

If you're not in your forever home now, be sure the place you select for your forever home still will give you abundant sunny spaces for gardening when you retire. A lot of our friends who garden have let the shade gradually take over and wipe out their gardening spaces. Then, when they reach retirement age, they regret letting the shade win and take over all their formerly sunny spots because they don't feel up to taking out all those large trees once they're in their 60s or 70s, especially if they live in town with other houses nearby and have a higher risk of a big tree falling on someone else's house. Plan ahead to ensure you'll always have that sunny garden spot.

Dawn

Okay, that's good to know about the broccoli, Dawn. I wasn't sure when it's normally harvested around here, as I have yet to accomplish harvesting any. Mine haven't made heads yet. They look pretty healthy though...just a few holes here and there.

Well, I'm being called into a meeting, so I'll wrap this up later. Have a good day, friends. Hope you have a fun day outdoors. Enjoy!

Thanks for the happy birthdays, y'all. Such nice things to say! Yes, turning 30 about killed me since I was no longer trustworthy. I don't know why this one is bothering me so much.

The sun is shining, but it went down to 40 in my closed up greenhouse last night. I didn't bring anything inside. The mesonet was 42. I'll bet the garden dipped into the 30s. Haven't been out to look at it yet. Will this make the bush beans not produce?

Dawn, I'm sorry for your chickens. And fencing is so expensive!

H/J, please take care of yourself. Hope you feel better.

Nancy, hope you got some sleep.

Thanks so much for the discussion of cabbage and broccoli, Dawn. You know the saying, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear."! Yeah, got it. Leave the broccoli and cabbage alone! For better or worse, their home is where I put them! ag love hearing if cut properly, might have more cabbages and broccoli! Note to self: Plant veggies as though you believe they will survive. That's how I got 32 tomatoes and 32 peppers. . . is that how you ended up with 32, too, Rebecca? Never occurred to me that they'd all grow. Certainly never occurred to me that the broccoli would. With the cabbages, I simply had NO idea that they get so big. I LOVE it! Think I'll get out next week and do the Florida weave treatment on the tomatoes; can't get er done today. SO excited to make sauerkraut!

Logistics. Makes sense! (That's a good thing!) I loved reading your story, Dawn.

Damn coyotes. If I tried to "grow" chickens here, I'm sure it'd be dogs roaming the vicinity that would be a big problem.

And, yes, I feel that way about the family I didn't know existed. Got a grateful lump in my throat. Unbelievable! You all are a very special group.

Oh, what a beautiful morning! I wish I could put a dehumidifier out by the boggy low spot, as the chances of it drying out a bit before the next round are not good. hahaha! But am thankful, it's a pretty insignificant area. Will be a good test for the butterfly bush. Oh heck, if I get ambitious, maybe I'll move it.

The brugmansia appears to be loving its spot in the garden. Always wonderful to meet a new plant friend. I'd gotten a Scotch broom last summer at Lowe's; then came home and read that Scotch broom is a horrible invasive shrub in OK. So was going to let it flower this spring and then chop it down. But upon further reading, it appears that it is the common Scotch broom that is the problem, and that the Lena is a sterile hybrid. Which is great. . . except now I'm faced with trying to move IT. . . oh well. If it dies it dies, because it must be moved. And soon, as it is a prolific grower.

I'm rambling. . . have a great day, all!

haha, Amy. Yep, second time it took! And up bright and early and happy to see the sun!

Amy, Oddly enough, for me it was 25. I don't know why. Maybe it was the thought that I was a whole quarter-century old! lol. What I'd give to be only a quarter-century (or even a half-century) old again.

Honestly, though, by the time I reached 50 I was 10 years past my cancer battle and just so happy to be alive still that even 50 didn't bother me like I thought it would. Sixty is approaching in a couple of years, and I don't think it will bother me.

Our 60 or 64 or 70 years of age nowadays is not our parents' 60 or 64 or 70. People live longer now and, thanks to the many miracles of modern medicine, can fix a lot of things....like joints that need replaced! I'll never forget that when I met my dear friend, Fred, as we were building our house, he was in his 70s and just had had back surgery. Since then, he has had knee and hip replacements and is the youngest 94 year old (almost 95) that I know. He still is ranching and gardening, albeit with help from his son, and lives each day to its fullest. I want to be like that as I age too. He's my hero and a fine example to his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great great grandchildren, as well as all the rest of us.

Nancy, When I was in logistics, no one knew what it was unless they were ex-military or worked for a defense contractor. Now, logistics is a big thing, but back them it was obscure and considered 'weird'. I loved my job, but not like I loved being an at-home mom who could volunteer in the community, etc.

We have the best family here. Our annual family reunion at the Spring Fling is the most awesome experience. I cannot describe it, but when we are together, I feel like everyone there is just a cousin, aunt, uncle, sister, brother, niece or nephew.......I suppose we bond so much over gardening that we feel supremely close to one another.

Of course, talk here often strays from gardening to real life, and we all share that here. We've shared births, deaths, weddings, divorces, disasters, illnesses, joys, recoveries, etc. All of that makes us a closer, tighter group. Gardening, for all of us, is bound up in the shared experiences of life, not just of gardening. I have such a deep appreciation for each and every person here. There are times when gardening is hard. We all find solace and comfort here. There are times when life is hard, and we find the same kind of solace and comfort here then too. When times are good, we share the joy. When times are bad, we share the pain. I think that is what makes this group so remarkable---it is as much about sharing real life as it is cabbages and aphids and daffodils and daylilies. I'm so glad it is that way.

I guarantee you that when any one of us is sitting here in our home looking at a radar screen and seeing tornado warnings, our first thoughts are not of gardens getting smashed---our first thoughts are of our gardening family members who live there and whether they are in danger. We look out for one another and worry about one another all the time..just like family. I cannot tell you how many times I've gotten text messages, FB messages or Messenger messages from someone on this forum who's wanting to be sure I'm in the tornado shelter. It is good to know that even as you're watching out for yourself, others are watching out for you too. and that is where this group excels---in caring, sharing and looking out for one another.

Dawn

Now I'm even more heartsick that I can't be there Saturday...

Well. You just brought tears to my eyes, second time in a day!

Oh NO, Rebecca. I missed that you wouldn't be there! Bummed!

About working at home...many of my friends have said they would get so bored because there really wouldn't be much to do once you cleaned the house and did the laundry. I'm like...are you kidding me?! I have no less than 100 projects on the to-do list currently. And that's not including just maintenance stuff like weeding the garden or keeping my kombucha going and bottled up. I would never run out of things to do. Ever. And if for some reason I did (which I wouldn't) there's only about a million books I would like to read. But that is me and it's not everyone. I did stay home when my kids were little or did very part time work. Started working full time when Ethan began kindergarten. Until I get Ethan through college, I probably will continue to work. I am blessed that I enjoy my work and my co-workers. It makes working outside my home bearable.

Sorry, you won't be there on Saturday, Rebecca!

I only glanced at the garden today and all seems to be in order. A few little holes in the potato leaves was the only difference. I'm happy to see the peas growing so well. Hoping to get a harvest in a few days.

I slept horribly last night, but by the time I had decided to take some medicine, it was too late. Ethan is on a band trip, so I'm about to indulge in some NyQuil and hopefully it will prevent the stupid coughing that keeps me awake. AND I don't have to worry about waking up early to get him up for school. I can sleep in late and go to work late. That's the dream anyways.

Hope everyone has sweet gardening dreams.

Hazel. Amen! When I was retiring 3 years ago, various people asked me if I'd get bored, since I liked work so much. I laughed REALLY hard. I'm devoted to painting, gardening, quilting; and love reading, like you. And as it is now, may end up giving up quilting, because there's just not enough time for everything. Yep, some of us are born to be retired!

Nancy, yeah, I have a prior commitment on Saturday that now may or may not go off as planned, weather depending. Unfortunately I won't know either way until too late to get myself down to the festivities. Just as well, I guess, because I seriously don't have a spare inch of space to plant anything else. And I have plenty of plants to get rid of, lol. Just wish I could see everyone.

Nancy, C'mon now. No tears unless they are happy tears. I know you're pretty new to this group, but I see you've already figured out that as important as gardening is to all of us, the relationships we build between us here are equally important if not more so.

Rebecca, I am so sorry you will not be able to attend, but you know, we all have schedule conflicts and have to miss a SF or two. I think I've missed 3 since 2005, and I hated missing all 3 but there were either other events that needed to be attended or something else that had to be done that weekend. It is painful to miss the SFs, but sometimes it is necessary.

Hazel, I agree about all the projects that await. I don't understand how anyone could stay at home and not have tons of projects going on. My To Do list still greatly exceeds the time available to do all those projects, but not like it did when I worked full time and had a young child in school.

Nancy, We moved into an old established farming/ranching community where many, though not all, of the existing residents had lived here literally for their whole lives (as had their parents, grandparents, etc.) and were in their 60s-90s when we were in our early 40s. Some of them were retired, some were not, some worked until the day they died, some never will retire because they think they'll drop dead if they stop working. The ones who actually are officially retired say over and over, and have done so for years, that they don't know how they got everything done when they worked and they are so much busier now than when they worked. I suspect you can relate to that.

Anyhow, what I have noticed is that when the farmers and ranchers retire, they don't really stop ranching or farming. They just do it at a smaller level and a slower pace. One of my friends who retired from ranching but still has about as many cows as he's ever had insists that now that he is retired, his cows are for fun but before he retired they were business. lol. I think old ranchers never really retire, just like gardeners never really quit gardening. Some of these ranchers love their cows so much (just like we love our plants) that I think giving up their cows would be about the same as giving up their children or grandchildren---it's not going to happen whether they claim to be retired or not.

We also have friends who are retired from corporate life but work harder with their cows and horses than they ever worked in the corporate world, and they are blissfully happy. So, I think the perfect retirement still involved massive work, whether for an income or not, and that people who are busy are happily retired.

Haven't y'all ever known someone who was dying to retire, then they retired and sat around feeling old, useless and forgotten? And then they died a couple of years after they retired? I always have wondered if retiring early and not having a plan to stay busy after retirement made them feel their life was essentially over and led to their early demise? I guess there's no way to know for sure. What I have witnessed here is that the old farmer or ranchers who retire and just sit on the porch and watch the world go by do not live into their 90s like the ones who just keep on farming and ranching a little bit. That little bit keeps them active, engaged and alive.

I'll never retire from gardening. It isn't a hobby or a past-time for me. It isn't something that I do. It is my lifestyle, it is who I am. You don't give it up. You just keep on keeping on.

Dawn

Happy tears of course!! Busy today, as I'm sure the rest of you are.

Thoughts on pine shavings as mulch?

I have used pine shavings, Melissa. The disadvantages are they are light so wind can blow them and rain will disturb them if they aren't layered thick enough. Some how they seem to be gone quicker than say straw. Advantages, you can buy them in a convenient big bag, you can control where you put them more easily than something bulkier like straw. They have no seeds in them. I have never found snakes or slugs in them like I have straw. I have cedar shavings around my tomato plants now, because they are growing among carrots and spinach that I didn't want to crush with straw. I like them for pots, they are easy to use in pots. But you will need more than you think when you first put them down.

l like pine shavings too. We buy them in the big bags at TSC. Last year may have been the first year we used them in a couple of raised beds or we might have used them in some other previous year once upon a time that I don't remember. I prefer them in the raised beds where, at least early in the season, the bird netting over the low tunnel hoops largely keeps them from blowing out of the beds. By the time I have to remove the bird netting, rain has packed them down enough to largely stay put. This year, as an experiment, we put the usual chopped/shredded leaves in the pathways, so far, and the pine shavings in the raised beds.

I like how clean the pine shavings are and the fact that there is no chance they have diseases on them like leaves or grass clippings might, at least when you first open the bag and start out with them, and no weed seeds. We don't have enough on the raised beds to serve as summer mulch, so we'll either have to layer on more of them or add layers of other types of mulching materials as time goes on. Mostly I wanted to see if starting out with pristine, clean pine shavings would reduce disease transmission in a wet year. So far, it seems to, but then we haven't had massive amounts of rainfall here. We have had fairly steady rain, but not large amounts. The only month we had a lot of rainfall was January, so the garden wasn't planted yet.

One of my big worries was that the copperheads would be harder to spot in the pine shavings. That's not the case. I actually think, based on my limited copperhead encounters so far this Spring, that it is easier to see the copperheads in the pine shavings than it is to spot them against a background of grass clippings or chopped leaves.

They are nice and fluffed up like Amy mentioned when you first spread them, and then become a lot more packed down over time, and really quickly if you get heavy rainfall. Surprisingly, since our garden slopes, they haven't really floated downhill yet either. That's another plus. The sow bugs and pill bugs don't seem to care much for them either, which I consider a huge bonus.

The pine shavings I put on the tomato beds last year still were there when I planted in March, only slightly decomposed this spring, so they also seem long-lasting. You can just layer new ones over the old ones. I'm sure they'll eventually decompose, but apparently not very quickly.

Melissa! I am so glad you asked about this. I spent a good bit of time in the past two days reading up on various mulches. My inclination was to go for pine shavings, and I thought I'd check with you all. haha!!

I don't know where all our leaves went, but they're slim pickings now. I like what you guys had to say about the pine shavings. Thank you!

I have been SO tired today--have no idea why. Just plodding! Or sitting and loving seeing the plants grow, putzing a little in the garden, and a little bit of cooking. But excited about seeing you all tomorrow! GORGEOUS weather here today for the plants. Not too hot, not too cold (uh. . . speaking of Goldilocks), but really nice and humid. (Aha--that's probably why I'm tired! Humidity often saps my strength.) I hope they enter this evening feeling renewed vigor and strength, as they'll likely lose it over the next couple days.

I was just rereading some of the past messages above and laughed--regarding your standard uniform, Dawn. Mine is my current pair of $12 mesh shoes from Walmart (That way when I destroy them while working in the yard, don't feel bad and just go buy another pair.), levis levis levis; and either a lightweight T-shirt or heavier weight one; or one of my standard 3 long-sleeved black sweaters when it's cool. My amazing daughter-in-law in Mpls called me a couple days before we drove up to meet them in Des Moines last weekend and asked me if I needed her to go to (our favorite) the thrift store and see if she could find some levis. "YESSSS!!!! I LOVE you!!" I LOVE levis, they're the only jeans I wear, and I wear them every single day (but change into slacks for church on Sundays). And they don't last nearly as long when you're on your knees out in the garden and yard, as you all know. She found 3 pair in my size, and I was overjoyed! Steph's gold.

Got such a kick out of the DH and white bucks story, too, Amy.

Hold everything here!! My Burpee order FINALLY got here today. Drat. . . guess I'd better get untired fast! My 3 ARP rosemary (in great shape but really puny, but still glad to get them); my 3 lantana (had forgotten I ordered these and had ordered 3 from Almost Eden, too. Bummer. NOT!--they're also in great shape but puny--but were a bargain); AND my three twister purple verbena. I was excited to see them, and they're in great shape! AND my begonia Whopper Red-green leaf. Woo-hoo. (Best of all, I paid for them clear back in January, so it's like they're free!)

Good timing, eh. . . OH MY gosh! NOW what. Well now I have to get some more big porch containers! oops. GDW pointed out I cannot open a nursery with these, as the Burpee customer agrees to use these only for their own home! LOL

Okay, on to dinner and the pea salad and washing the hair.

And then preparing for lots and lots of water..........

Then up bright and early. . . and off we go.

I'm sorry I won't be meeting you in person, Carol, Al, and Rebecca and Bon. Good luck with the rain and water, Carol, so sorry to hear about that; I know what a pain it is, have had it happen three (four?) times in the past with commercial fans blowing and then repairs and replacements--no fun at all. I expect we'll get more water than we want this weekend, but probably will get off lucky compared to you.

Thanks for the pine shavings input. I was actually at TSC when I posted it, lol. I was contemplating whether to go ahead and get some or not and thought MAYBE if I looked around enough someone would respond before I was ready to leave. I didn't end up getting any because I got a raised bed kit instead and we were in the Fiat and everything wouldn't have fit. However, I did get a kiwi tree, a beautiful variegated rose of sharon, some other pretty bush, and a fig tree. They were all on clearance. Oh, and if anyone sells eggs, they had egg cartons on clearance too. There were 16 flat cartons in one package for 36 eggs, I think. Anyway, they were $2 for the package so I got 3 of them. Though I don't need them for eggs, I thought they'd be great for starting seeds in.

My oldest daughter and I cleaned out the front part of the flower bed where old ornamental grass and liriope had taken over but looked a bit too overgrown. Dug all of that up and threw most of it away. Kept some of the liriope to plant in the back around my hydrangea. I started removing the bricks the previous owners had as a border. I didn't like it. I'm replacing it with something thinner and easier to work with. We loaded up quite a few rocks that were in the bed and dumped them at the back of the property in the "creek-like" bed.

I'm done for today although I had more on my to-do list. I have 3 huge elephant ears that I really need to get in the ground. They are starting to sprout. I guess they are getting impatient with me, lol. That's ironic. I also had a bag of 50 bulbs that I needed to get planted but didn't. I was just going to dig a trench and put them in then just cover them up.

Whew today wore me out. I think I got a bit of a sunburn on my neck too. I still need to finish some laundry and sweep the floors.

I sure do hope it doesn't rain on you all tomorrow at the SF!! I'll be praying it away for you. :)

Guess Sunday I might be going back to TSC and getting some of those pine shavings with the suv.

The internet insists on eating my posts.

Did I tell you all I have beets??? Not puny little 2 leaved seedlings that never get bigger or even like the ONE ping pong ball sized one I got 2 years ago. They are 8" tall with multiple leaves. I'm so excited. The lemon cilantro has also come up. Can't wait for that.

I made miso soup tonight. I like miso. And now I find I can make salad dressing with it (and tahini). Most miso soup is made of a broth called dashi. Can you find that in Owasso? No. It's made from dried kelp, and I couldn't find that either, unless it's the stuff they wrap sushi in. But I found a recipe that used vegetable broth. I'm not crazy about vegetable broth, but it was good with miso. And some greens and mushrooms, and even tofu after it sucked up some flavor.

Yay for beets. Why DIDN'T I plant them. we love beets. (I know--we had no ROOM!) Need more room for veggies.

Nancy, I keep planting beets, spring and fall and up till now they have just thumbed their little red noses at me. The turnips get harvested Sunday when we get back.

Amy, You must have exactly the right weather for them this year. Beets are weather divas, just like carrots.

I get them to grow by using reverse psychology when planting. Scatter the seeds where you don't want beets to grow and where they cannot be allowed to stay. They'll sprout there just to spite you.

Dawn

I have baby sugar snaps! But only on one plant. None of the others look like they're even considering blooming. Maybe after the rain I'll hit them with a bit of bloom booster. The tomatoes keep setting fruit too, even in this weird weather. When we get a sunny day, you can almost watch them grow.

My purple basil is coming up green. Does it turn purple later?

My brand new temporary crown just popped off. Of course, on a Friday night.

Pretty much, Rebecca, though I could tell mine were supposed to be purple as smaller seedlings. But they are getting more progressively purple, kind of a pretty variegated purple and green right now.

Rebecca, I have been told Walgreens has a kit for emergency dental kit. It has something to fill in for lost fillings and re stick crowns.

LOL, Amy. Okay okay. Kinda noisy and rainy out here. But looks short-lived for Round I.

I don't like this storm. I love storms, but not this one.

Tulsa mesonet says 4.03 total for last 7 days. I dumped 3 3/4 this morning and previous was 2 1/4. A walk around the garden showed some spinach and brassica with holes from the brief pea sized hail we had. One piece of bermuda pulled out real easily, but not all did. Some of the little flower seedlings I planted look very unhappy. Carbon tomato is blooming. Maybe I can taste it this year! The sun gold had blooms when I put it in the ground.

Couldn't we have a day with out wind to play in the garden? I know, I know, it will help dry things out. So can I have a couple of hours without wind, please?

I plan to harvest turnips today. I think I will put all the greens in the crock pot and then package for DH. I don't care for turnip greens. Maybe if I blanched them first they would taste better.

I had some Kailaan in my soup Friday, along with some Barese Chard and Yokatta-Na. I've grown Yokatta-na before and like it. Short DTM. Barese is new to me. Very earthy raw, but didn't offend me in the soup. Same with Kailaan, (pronounced guy lan), didn't care for it raw, but acceptable cooked.

We went to Walmart yesterday since we didn't make the fling, but mostly did nothing all day. I'm really sick of gray skies and rain.

Those look great! I'm trying to hard to not look at new varieties, not until my beds are well established. I have plenty of seed to work with now. I love turnip greens in a simple saute and a little lemon juice. I grew seven-top turnips which are greens, but it wasn't the same. I like the turnip portion in a pinch, but it's not my favorite. I'd like to try different varieties for the bulb for one that I might like better. So far I've only tried purple top.

My husband is pacing the floors. He needs to work on the truck. Both properties are flooded and we're expected to get more rain later this week.

bon

I harvested most of my turnips. I hope the parsnips don't get sunburned now that their shade is gone. It rained on me then and it is flipping raining right now. Mutter mutter mutter. And stupid wind. I got a LITTLE weeding done. Now on to other things.

The turnips I planted are Tokyo Cross salad turnips and Tokyo Market. I grew Tokyo Cross last year. 35 DTM, very mild turnip that you can eat raw (not the greens, the root). Of course you can cook them, but they are meant to be harvested small. TC is a hybrid, so I got TM this year to try because it is open pollinated. Some of the TMs grew longer and pointier (probably too close together, but they are both beautiful white roots that look pretty against the green. (Kim, these are real pretty, bet the would sell well at market.) Part of me is looking for a place to sow another crop, since they should grow quicker now. But then if May warms up... The purple tops I grew last fall didn't do as well as these.

Please ignore the cast iron stains on my countertop. I don't know which variety this is, they look alike. But the pointy end makes me think Tokyo Market.

Amy, I bookmarked that. They look like interesting varieties to try. After reading that source, maybe catching them smaller in size will make them more pleasant to eat. I still have some purple top seeds. I don't have a problem throwing a small crop into a pot with other veggies and making some broth.

Today I'm weeding a small section to the dismay of the local frog population. It's riddled with English Ivy and other vining roots that come right up in this mud. While there I was thinking of what type of veggie I could grow quickly. I think I'll throw some beet seeds in there.

Turnips grown in spring tend to get woody, because of the heat, but also because they are day length sensitive. Supposedly grown in fall they don't get woody. Mine looked like carrots, long and skinny, but I had lots and lots of greens from my purple tops. Some that I harvested today may be too big. We will see how these do when tennis ball sized.

ty! At least I can eat the greens. yum

Pulled feet long portions of English Ivy roots from one of the beds. Makes me feel like a gawd! Thee ivy shalt not intrude on thine garden beds!

Bon, what are you DOING! It's freezing cold outside!

I'm unstoppable. haha Nah, it wasn't too bad.

I told GDW today that our plants must REALLY want to live, getting beat up with the wind and rain (maybe some small hail, too--wondering) and now today with the wind and a high of 55. Brrrr. Onions and potato greenery got tossed around pretty good. I was surprised the tomatoes looked A-ok. And some of the smaller flower seedlings got laid over, temporarily, I trust.

I'll be able to get the SF plants in tomorrow. In somewhere! I hope you all have a good week.

Amy, Congrats on the turnips and I think the parsnips will be fine. With all the cloudy days we tend to have at this time of the year, even if the parsnips leaves sunburn a little in the first couple of days after you harvested the turnips, I'd think that new growth will appear and the plants themselves will be fine.

Turnips grown in the fall can turn woody too if the gardener leaves them in the ground too long. I know people who are stuck in that bigger is better mentality (with which I strongly disagree) and they leave their turnips in the ground until they are huge and woody and not fit to eat.

Bon, If you were out in the wind and cold pulling weeds yesterday, I'm fearing you're crossing over to the dark side. The wind here was gusting in the upper 40s and lower 50s and I stayed indoors as much as possible as did Tim, the dogs and the cats. The chickens didn't like the wind either and spent a lot of time huddled under the shrubs and even came up onto the porch and huddled up close to the exterior of the wall to stay out of the wind. Augustus the turkey spent most of his day huddled underneath the gigantic Burford hollies on the south side of the porch, gobbling away. That wind was strong and cold.

I hate ivy and all kinds of it try to invade from the northwest corner of the garden. I have some smilax, poison ivy and Virginia creeper vines to pull out of the corner of the garden this week, as well as some unknown ivy-looking creeping and crawling vines that I don't want there either. Where does all this crap come from? I blame the wild birds. I think they sit on the fence and plant things.

Dawn

I think I was in a lucky warm spot among the counties yesterday. Not 30 minutes after those posts, it suddenly got stunningly cold and I lit a fire. Just a lucky opportunity I was keen to jump into. Yay!

Hi everyone, I am starting to garden this year for the first time. So far I have a few varieties of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, marigold, basil and lavender that are hardening on my patio. I plan to plant some of them in my raised beds today. I also sowed some wildflower seed mixes in my front flower bed (North side shaded). I dug out two elephant ears that the previous owners grew and dried them in the sun coz they were mushy in February. Going to plant it back. They look like they have some new growth.

Amy, you can get dashi from the Asian supermarkets like Nam Hai (21st & Garnett). Maybe Sprouts would have the miso paste for you to make miso soup.

Hi Elleen, those are some beautiful seedlings! Congratulations! Your little friend is a real smile-jerking species. So cute!!

bon

Eileen, thank you. I like that store at 21st and Garnett. I used to work near there a decade ago. I wondered if they were still there. I personally loved my soup made with miso (from sprouts) and veggie broth. I am not a big fan of veggie broth. But mixing in a little miso made it much richer. DH doesn't like tofu, which I added, just to see if I could. I'm not crazy about tofu either, but it soaked up the broth flavor pretty good. Going to try salad dressing with miso, lemon and tahini next. It will either be fabulous or horrid, we shall see. You helper looks ready to protect those seedlings. He made me smile, too.

I just potted up all the dwarf tomatoes from solo cups to 3 gal root pouches. Some of them will need to be moved again to 15 gal root pouches or 5 gal buckets, but this will hold them for a while. The tomatoes I was going to bring to the fling are in a laundry basket ready to go to work with DH. I don't know if those guys appreciate my heirlooms, but they don't turn down free plants. I feel like I should go see if they are worthy of my babies. These babies are BIG.

I got 25 of the 3 gal root pouches and they are almost all used. I have 10 of the 15 gal ones. I think I will try sweet potatoes in 4 of them, so I can mix with sand, and also in the bed I had planned, to compare how they do. So far I am pleased with these pouches. Summer weather will be the test. Debating getting more in different sizes.

BTW, the bigger turnips were fine. One I tasted was actually quite sweet, I was surprised. I made some up last night with a mustard sauce.