I will finish getting my package for Emily ready to send out later this week. Let me know if ya don't want plants....

Also Susan please don't send me coffee I only drink lipton tea and water. I love plants any and all types and will accept cuttings, seeds, anything frog or ladybug décor , stationary, reading material, or garden related. I am not picky and I love surprises. Hope this helps.

Hope everyone has a beautiful day,

Tammy

So far I've received Bingo words from Tammy and Emily. I hope some others will want to play. Any member of OBF can play Bingo. You don't have to be swapping this month.

It's so hot here and we haven't had much rain for about 3 weeks I guess. Yesterday it went up to either 102 or 103. I had a doctor's appointment and came home exhausted. The sun is so hot. Stay cool, everyone!

Jeanne

I'm scheduled for a root canal on Monday so keep me in your thoughts that it goes well. I've had so many of them. I knew when I agreed to let them prepare my tooth for a crown, that it was likely to turn into this. There was no decay in that tooth, just lots of old fillings. My pessimism is based on my past history with dental procedures!

Susan, I received your list of Bingo words. Thanks.

We have clouds, a bit of rain, and cooler temperatures today. Hooray!

Jeanne

Jeanne, I feel your pain. Dentists are always wanting to crown my teeth so surprised that's not the option. I don't get root canals unless there is pain. My teeth are so calcified, I've had them start root canals and then not be able to finish then have to go through getting the tooth pulled. No more root canals for me.

Good luck. Margo

I'll play bingo but won't be able to get words to you until about 11:00 tonight unless I get a chance on my break.

Sorry to hear about the root canal, Jeanne. Hope all goes well.

I'll watch for your list of Bingo words, Margo. No problem.

See everyone tomorrow!

Words sent. Thank you

good morning heat wave here so watering early. Last night noticed 2 kinds of tiger lilies. One has 4 layers of petals and the other the single layer.

Susan, those flowers are so pretty.

Here we go with Bingo. I got your words, Margo.

Words for today:

Potassium

Acidic Soil

A bit about them.

Potassium is a macroneutrient absorbed by plants that helps in the metabolic process. It's essential to carbohydrate metabolism, a process by which energy is obtained from sugar. Potassium raises disease resistance and drought tolerance in many plant species.

Acidic Soil: Yes, that's what I have. Soil level pH values below 7 are considered acidic. The pH condition of the soil is one of a number of factors that affect the quality of plant growth. The major impact that extremes in pH have on plant growth is related to the availability of plant nutrients and the soil concentration of plant-toxic minerals. A near neutral soil suits most plants (a reading of between 6 and 7).

Jeanne

Our Bingo words for today:

pH Level

Loam

A brief discussion of them.

We were "in the neighborhood" of discussing soil pH levels yesterday when we discussed acidic soil. The opposite is alkaline. The pH scale contains 14 divisions known as pH units.

When soil has equal parts of sand, silt, and clay, that soil texture is called loam.

Have a good day!

Bingo words for today are:

Phosphorus

Organic Matter

Phosphorus is essential for the process of photosynthesis. In young plants, phosphorus is most abundant in tissue at the growing point. As the plant matures, most of the element moves into the seeds and fruit.

Organic Matter: Organic matter in the soil is derived from living organisms, unlike the mineral fraction which comes from rocks. Organic matter benefits the soil by improving physical condition, adjusts clay and sand so that it improves the use of water, improves soil tilth, decreases erosion and supplies plant nutrients.

Our Bingo words for today are:

Compost

Humus

I have a doctor's appointment this morning so that's all for now. See you later!

Tammy sent u a message. Making sure if address.

Our Bingo words for today are:

Bone Meal

Alkaline Soil

Susan, such beautiful flowers.

Jeannie, hope your feeling better.

Hope your all staying cooler than we are. Triple digits forecasted until next Thursday. And the worst part is it doesn't cool off that much at night. And not much rain. It's a struggle to keep stuff alive this year.

Ruth, I know exactly what you're talking about with struggling to keep the garden alive. We face that so many summers. Finally we got rain twice this week so that was wonderful.

Our Bingo words for today:

Lime

Clay

One of these days I'll explain a little more about the words I've been listing. When I took the Master Gardener program the first unit we worked on was soil chemistry! That was not a favorite, but it's good to know and even while I'm adding things here it's helping me remember some of that.

This root canal has decreased my productivity this week!

Jeanne

Our 2 Bingo words for today are:

Soil Test

Calcium

Shirley, I'm working on your swap package. It will definitely go out by Monday. I might even manage tomorrow if I get up early enough to get to the post office before it closes.

Everyone have a good weekend.

Jeanne

I have a St. John's Wort bush and love it. Mine is in kind of a confined area so it hasn't given me any problems. Yours looks beautiful and I hope someone will want it and give it a new home.

Jeanne

Jeanne, I dropped your package off at the post office today. It should arrive Monday according to my receipt.

Tracking number: 9505514508438202167351

About Bingo: I selected the two words for today:

10-10-10 Fertilizer

Cover Crop

and those should give us a winner! Check your list and I'll wait for someone to post Bingo.

Shirley, your package is all packed up and should get mailed tomorrow. In keeping with the theme of trying to keep costs down I'm hoping it can get mailed first class parcel rate, but we'll see. Now that it's packed up, it gets shipped anyway it needs to go! I packed two swap packages yesterday and have a family gift to pack up today so my hands will be full heading to the post office.

Happy Sunday, everyone.

Jeanne

no bingo for me. I have been looking for nitrogen. I listened to a gardening program about trees in Ohio. It seems that they r registering high in nitrogen, From lawn care companies. Trees absorb most of their nitrogen from the year before. so any added this year will not benefit them and build up in the soil base.

No Bingo for me either. I still needed three words.

Susan, that is interesting about nitrogen. I did not know that. I guess I have to start working on next year's soil!

Not me!!

So sorry, everyone. The words that I posted on the 21st are not showing up here. I was going by that list and it will give us a winner. I hope the winner comes back and checks here again.

Words picked on the 21st were:

Nitrogen

Sand

(Have no idea why some of the posts just disappear sometimes. It seems I always hit submit and check after that to make sure they are there, but maybe I slipped up or they just disappeared into the "missing socks" of the internet!)

I hope everyone had a good day. We got out to visit with our horses today so I was happy and so were they. Whether they like us all that much or just the horse cookies and carrots that we bring, I don't know but they are always happy to see us!

Jeanne

good afternoon I have bingo. This was short and sweet. this is Lynda dawn. I grew begonias this year.

Congratulations, Susan! That is pretty foliage.

Congratulations, Susan! That was a strange episode of Bingo on my part ... LOL

I'll get a little prize to you soon.

Shirley, your swap package was mailed today. It shouldn't take very long to get there since you are the next state over, but you never know. My husband took it to the post office for me so I don't know if the package has tracking, but it should arrive just fine. I had fun putting it together for you.

Jeanne

Emily, I was eager to get off the computer yesterday with the bad storm coming in all of a sudden. I see I posted that your package arrived on the other heading. At least you found where I posted it!

Emily sent me a wonderful package. There were two irises in the package and I just finished planting them. Emily sent me a picture and they are so pretty! Everything was wonderful: seeds for planting a type of corn that can be ground, Brazilian Pepper, Nutmeg (which get ground), Pistachios (one of my favorite nuts and I have fond memories of pistachio ice cream with the chopped nuts included from when I was a child). She sent Himalayan Pink Salt Crystals in a GRINDER. There's also Taco Seasoning Mix and my husband and I really enjoy Taco Noodle Casserole so I'll make that soon --- and more --- a book called The Pie Life which is about living a grounded and well-balanced life. How perfect for this swap. Thanks so much, Emily.

I'm telling myself that dental pain and keeping things in order when being hostess do not go together well, but we all managed and had fun!

Jeanne

Glad you liked it Jeanne. I had fun putting it together. I actually had the package all taped up and realized that I forgot to add the pistachios so had to open it back up. If it looks like someone opened the package before you got it, it was because I did!

Hope the pain gets better soon.

Jeanne-I received my awesome potato goodies. You are ever so creative and I can't wait to make the sour cream and ranch mashed potatoes, mayflower shepherd's pie, greek chicken and potatoes.

Potatoes Word Search

Potato Bag (potatoes last longer in this bag) Never seen one of these.

Ranch Dressing (For my recipe)

Potato Card

Potato Brush

Thank you so much Jeanne.

Susan-Your swap package was mailed yesterday along with prizes from our June swap.

I'm glad you liked your package, Shirley. I have planted potatoes for several years now and they are fun to grow. Like most things, I only get a few, but it's fun to dig and see how many are there. Over the weekend I'll do some catching up on the extra Bingo words that I didn't explain and who has sent and received.

We had several days of rain this week --- not all day long, but a good hard rain so the plants are looking green and happy! I was able to pick a cucumber yesterday. Yum!

Jeanne

Shirley did me a special favor with my grounded box. She sent me loads of daylilies . I have been following Facebook daylily sites. But just can't do the prices and shipping. I expressed to Shirley I would buy her extras to start a named collection. As of now I just do Springhill. So she gave me plenty to play with . I'll post later when I get them written down. I am in the clouds ready to look up the names .

Shirley has the most wonderful daylilies, but I can't even imagine all the work that goes into them.

Wonderful package, Susan!

Waiting to hear if Tammy and Emily received their packages. (The way this month went, I could have missed it.)

I would say my pain from my dental procedures has lessened by 40-50% but it seems to be taking so long for the pain to totally go away. I'll be calling both dental office tomorrow and see what they think of next. Tomorrow morning is my last dose of the antibiotics.

I hope everyone had a good weekend. Amazing that we are getting so much rain in July. I'm happy to see it though and my plants are, too.

Jeanne

Catching up on some brief discussion of the Bingo words that I didn't comment on.

Lime: Those of us with acidic soil sometimes need to add lime. Of course, it's best to do this according the the results of a soil test (another Bingo word). I don't get a soil test every year so I just add some lime in the fall each year. I should get a soil test done in 2019 to see where I'm at with my pH.

Clay is a pretty common type of soil in South Carolina. Some areas have that striking red clay that you see in pictures. Clay retains water much better than sand, but it's really hard to dig especially when it's very dry. Sand is the other common soil in SC and just think of the beach. Sand is what I have. Rain travels right through it and isn't retained so everything dries out very quickly. Obviously there's not much nutrition in that soil either!

Calcium is an essential part of the cell walls of plants and provides for transportation and retention of the other elements as well as strength in the plant.

A 10-10-10 fertilizer is a complete and balanced fertilizer. The 3 numbers give the percentage by weight of Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium. (There is a bit more involved with all this but this explanation will do.)

Nitrogen is most likely to be the deficiency inhibiting plant growth. Plants use large quantities of nitrogen and most soils simply cannot supply enough.

Cover crops are planted to help prevent soil erosion and improve the soil. Regular use of cover crops over a number of years slowly raises the organic matter content and increases the activity of soil organisms such as earthworms and fungi. Really something I should look into a bit more even though I only plant in small areas since most of our property is heavily wooded.

I hope the further explanation of the Bingo words is useful to a few. Will wait to hear from Tammy and Emily and then this month is completed. (Susan I'll get your Bingo prize in the mail on Monday or Tuesday.) Thanks to all who participated in the swap and the game.

Jeanne

Hmm I posted last Thursday that Emily’s pkg was going out but don’t see it now with tracking number. She should get it by Monday.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Tammy told me her internet company went out of business. so I didnt expect a posting. I hope she has picked this up. I emailed her Friday. But here is the Tracking Records

Tracking Number

9505515414828200202960

Carrier

USPS

Origin

DAYTON OH, 45414

Destination

SEMINOLE TX, 79360

Status

Available for pickup

Tracking Details

July 21 10:04 am Available for Pickup in SEMINOLE, TX - Available for pickup

Sat Jul 21 2018 - SEMINOLE, TX

July 21 8:27 am Sorting Complete in SEMINOLE, TX - In transit

Sat Jul 21 2018 - SEMINOLE, TX

July 21 7:23 am Arrived at Post Office in SEMINOLE, TX - In transit

Sat Jul 21 2018 - SEMINOLE, TX

July 21 3:08 am Departed USPS Regional Destination Facility in LUBBOCK TX DISTRIBUTION CENTER - In transit

Thanks for the update!

I got Tammy’s lovely package. I think it actually arrived yesterday but my mail was delivered much later than usual so I thought I didn’t have any mail yesterday but it was waiting outside my door when I left for work this morning. Tammy sent a well grounded coffee swap with an espresso themed kitchen towel, a coffee scoop, yummy looking packets of sea salt caramel latte and java chip frappe mixes, a small wall calendar, seeds for carpet of snow alyssum, royal carpet alyssum, prizehead lettuce, purple top white globe turnip, and ruby queen beet, as well as permanent markers and craft bags to use for seeds. Thank you so much Tammy for a great package filled with things that I will use. Love coffee and I was just wondering the other day about what seeds to get for groundcover so you solved that for me! Thank you again!

Susan, that is gorgeous. How are you planning to pick the ones high up?

What a wonderful package, Emily! I love seeing what ideas people had for this swap.

Susan, your Bingo prize will go out on Thursday. I'm having a busy week since my niece is getting married on Saturday. I have another package to mail on Thursday so they will go out together.

Thanks for being patient.

Jeanne

Susan’s pkg was full of fun loving items. She sent candy coated chocolate sunflower kernels ( had never heard of these before) 4 pks of seeds- broccoli, cucumber, sweet basil, spinach. The cutest plant markers hopefully you can see them in picture they look like quote balloons. She also sent a hummingbird flag with a stake holder. Metal hand spade and a rooted cactus. I planted him and he is already out enjoying his new pot on my patio. It will all be used and thank you again for the wonderful package. Thanks Jeanne for hosting a great swap this month.

Let’s try again to get the picture to show up...

I I was going to cut off the highest branch and pick from there. last year when one broke off . the plums ripened on the broken branch. the braches are breaking from the weight. Question??? Last year all the lower brachs were loaded. I cut the top so the lower braches would be easy picking. . Flowers were all over the tree in spring. But the longer higher branches have most fruit. Is it new growth for fruit production?

Tammy so glad you got you package . Those seeds should be good for 2 nd season planting in Texas. this is Pegasus begonia. I might have to learn how to root these.

Susan, I also love begonias. I had one indoors for several years and it really was declining and the past 2 years in all but winter I've had it outdoors and it's so much happier. Of course, I think different kinds like different conditions. I had some I planted from seed last year, overwintered them and they are blooming this year. I never have any luck rooting them so if you have success, let us know.

Wonderful package, Tammy! Thanks for posting.

Susan, your Bingo prize will go out tomorrow. I had a terrible headache today and I'm not inclined to get headaches so I don't know what was up with that.

Jeanne

Susan, that is a good idea about the plum. This spring, I cut off the tall branches because I thought that there was no way I could pick so high but then it didn't flower (I had stuck some cut branches in water and those flowered, but that was of no help to me!) I guess I can leave the tall branches next year and prune when I harvest. I know apricots bear on second year branches so maybe plums are the same way.

nice to know helps me figure out what not to trim. Jeanne thanks for the seeds and skiddles. I am going to split them with my grandson. .