Actually you could still say BT was harmful to the environment. It kills caterpillars, including ones we try to preserve (like the monarchs). Obviously there's not likely to be any monarchs on your cabbage, but do remember that birds rely on caterpillars (and other insects) to rear their young. So...a little less cabbage and happy baby birds. It's all related..the ecosystem.
However, I always felt cabbage loopers did an excellent job of hiding from foraging birds! ;)

I am very far behind. I will start with this thread and not try to catch up at the others. I have the day off work (although a huge mess at my house and a huge list of things-to-do)

Moni, while I'm thinking about it--those dishcloths are the best! Thank you!

I like my monkey grass. I trim it up a couple of times a year. A woman who attended our rainy SF (2017?) gave it to me. She posted here for about a month prior to the SF, came to the SF and then we never heard from her again. I can't remember her name....

Nancy, I saw were you tagged me in Jacob's FB profile pic--the one of him holding the chicken. I do have a couple of hens who look like that. So pretty. I couldn't "like" the picture though. Maybe because I'm not FB friends with Jacob?

BUT, Jacob, that picture led me to find your family's YouTube channel. I watched a video last night of the seed starting coldframe using the radiant heat. Very cool. I'm so excited for you!

Megan, I planted tomatoes too (just 7). I have buckets ready to cover them.

Between Rick and I, we have 300 in the hoop house that will go out in a couple of weeks. Some here, some in Okmulgee, some to friends.

Lynn, your cilantro might be bolting. It will drop the seeds and in the fall, it will come up all over the place. You can collect the seeds to use in cooking--coriander seed is good stuff.

Larry, at some point I might need roselle advice!

Friends, don't beat yourselves up too much about early life choices--we all wish we had it figured it out a bit more when we were younger. I know I do. Why didn't we buy a place like this when we came back here with 2 babies in 98? I KNEW this was what I wanted back then. Also, we didn't have the internet to "help" in the ways that younger people have now. Information is so available. (that can be a bad thing too) And seeing other people doing life like you want to do, is an encouragement. I didn't know anyone who wanted to live like this back then...I didn't know how to find them. Now, you can find tons of people all over the world using the internet. Options weren't as known...I'm not sure that makes sense, but hopefully it does.

Looking at FB memories a year ago today, we are behind. I was harvesting enough asparagus for meals. (It is starting to come up now) The columnar apple trees were in bloom. (they are just starting to leaf out now). And other things.

And Rick had just tilled up the Survivalists Garden.

Even though we are behind in some ways, we aren't in other ways.

Out of the 100s of jars we canned last year, I still have over half left...and we use several jars a week. This gives an opportunity to decide what to focus on this canning year. Beans....more beans of all kinds for sure!

So far our biggest fail has been the garlic. It just didn't sprout. It did nothing.

Then, there's the stunted peppers. I am still hopeful they'll perk up.

I am also hopeful about the elders. Lori Darling gave me some advice on their care. How's y'all's elders doing?

Beets, turnips, radishes are popping up. Lettuce, cabbage, and kale are planted. The onions look good. Leeks and shallots look good. Sugar peas look good. Overwintered carrots and parsnips look good.

Rick planted potatoes and peas in the Survivalists garden...they've not popped up yet.

I want to find a goji berry. And want to replace the tree that the October ice storm broke.

Personal life is nuts. Trying to "come back" from Covid life, while still maintaining some of the Covid life activities is making for a very busy work schedule. Plus, it's Easter week. There's several activities that are back on the table this year--the community egg hunt is one. All the preparation for that takes a lot of time. Thankfully we aren't having the community cook-out this year. Hey, at least I'm not in a bunny costume porch dropping eggs like last year. Never doing that again.

We've also just ripped out the hall bathroom. This bathroom is in BAD shape--it's not just an aesthetics thing--so there's that mess.

And so much more that I won't ramble on about.

Ethan is currently in Portland. Mason will be putting her house up for sale in a couple of weeks. She and Mack are looking for a new house (house prices are crazy right now!), but aren't in a hurry because his parents have a large home and they can live there and take their time buying.

I'm sorry I have been so absent. I knew that I needed a break from Houzz. It seems to take an hour to make a post and lately it's hard to find that hour. Happy to have the day off from my paid work....but there's so much to do here. Working the weekends tends to leave the house uncared for...and a big mess. Trying to squeeze in an hour of gardening here and there. Can't wait for summer (although not looking forward to the extreme heat).

I can hear my phone buzzing constantly...so there's probably someone who needs something.

And I need to get back to the house work anyways.

Love y'all. <3

I have lettuce, kale and collard plants that I bought, and I would prefer they not be eaten to the stems before I can plant them. They're the plants being visited by white butterflies. It did sound like I meant to spray tomatoes. We were laughing the other night about a Facebook question that wanted to know what the worst thing you found in your food was. I had a Roach crawl out of a salad in a restaurant once. And Ron mentioned finding worms in his. His fault for not washing the lettuce from the garden. I said those were home grown worms! Organic home grown worms. But I will spray with BT. I have a separate bed for native plants that won't get sprayed. Jacob, bacteria is better than "bug juice". That is when you collect dead bugs, put them in a blender with water and spray with that. It presumably does the same thing, spreading the bug disease that killed the ones collected.

The wedding is this Sat, the 3rd.

Yes, I've used tulle. I made a fancy cover for a bed that I grew parthenocapic zucchini in. It was white.

I also covered brassica. I assumed since I covered when I transplanted that they were safe. Either they already had worms or the butterflies found their way in. I replanted around them (and sprayed BT) and the originals came back. The bed was kind of crowded. After that I sometimes put the plants in laundry baskets with tulle stretched over them to keep the seedlings safe. The trouble with tulle is it tears easily. I put the spray nozzle from the hose through it more than once.

Oh, Jen, I could soooo picture your struggle! Drinking the water, yes, why is YOUR water tastier than the dish by the faucet? LOL.

April 16th is after the wedding. Maybe we'll even be vaccinated by then. So I'm a maybe Danny. Is that when Bustanis opens to the public without an appointment?

Bustani opens the day before...figured good to skip opening day (and it worked with Donna's work days off).

Bug juice in blender (yuck)..lol :) Though it really shouldn't be so off-putting, I mean we probably harvest and eat a fair amt of bugs and never know it. It does make me remember when my great-grandmother made some mashed potatoes and I pulled out an intact earthworm (lol..lucky I still like potatoes).

Danny, your post from the beginning of the week just showed up for me. I grow the variety of coreopsis you asked about. Grew just a few, six maybe, plants last year. Have had quite a few of the rosettes overwinter in the garden where there has been exposed bare soil most all year. I don’t see it in “disturbed“ areas or among the henbit. I’ll keep an eye to see if it emerges among the weeds.

Garry and I visited Lincoln today. I hadn't been there for nearly two weeks. I have to go back Thursday to put in a bunch of blackberry saplings. We didn't know John was going to be there and vice versa--so John was happy to do a walk-through with us to see what everything was. (I wasn't sure what some of it was, but got most of it with help from Picture This.) I didn't zero in on any milkweed, though could have easily missed it, since there are so many things coming up--goldenrod, rudbeckia, coreopsis, agrimony, fennel, parsley, liatris, catmint, frost weed, bachelor buttons, corn poppies, chamomile, cilantro, phlox, echinacea, salvia, yarrow, Husker Red penstemon, cowpen daisies--so many others. . . multitudes of cosmos seedlings. I gave John a big thumbs up, said, "See, John? TOLD you gardening gets cheaper every year!" He was so excited. Two things we did NOT see emerging or turning greenish were vitex and lantana. I'm worried about both. But the elderberry bushes and oak leaf hydrangea look AWESOME! John had built attractive round decorating brick circles around the vitex bushes, elderberries, and hydrangea. Hilariously, one of the elderberry bushes had sent out runners, and we had little elderberry saplings--5-6 of them, growing happily outside of their enclosure.

Amy, I sure wish I could turn off the blankety-blank spell check! SHEESH.

And Danny, sure would love to see you at Bustani, but knowing we'll travel to OKC the next weekend, don't want to push it. But if you and friends want to repeat in September, let us know! And yep, I just saw your post about the same time Megan did. CRAZY.

Now I am really nervous, Amy, about having so many little cabbages and broccolini. Having 2nd thoughts.

Can you believe that multitudes of people are freaking over hen bit and dead nettle?? It certainly is prolific this year. And we see more dandelions here than usual, too.

I have more asparagus arriving in a couple days. I think John is having doubts about permanently sacrificing one of the 4'x12' or 16' beds to asparagus. But I am gleeful about it. One less bed to worry about, plus will be full of my favorite veggie. He intimated that he might make another raised bed just for it. Well if he's ready for war with the other partner, go for it, I say, John. LOL. I was growing slips for sweet potatoes, but two of the potatoes rotted (my fault), so I ordered a bunch more from George. Thank you George!

Larry--Jacob and you should be neighbors--you'd be a pair to draw to!

My grow cart plants are doing well. The peppers are PLUSH. Tomatoes are okay. I still have many densely planted seedlings that will need to be potted up, but I'm postponing as long as possible. I have four trays out on the deck tables and I expect I'd best throw frost covers over them tomorrow evening. I am SO pleased I planted things so much later this year.

So what's the magic number when I can leave plants out overnight? I know frost can form above 32, and peppers can stall if they get too cold when young, but what temp is "too cold"? I'm out of space in the garage, still have a bunch to pot up, and just plain tired of hauling them in & out when I have more I need to start hardening off.

Huh. Did my last post show up?

Jen, I'm going to cover my tomatoes tomorrow night with buckets. Everything else is on its own. I'm not sure what temp is too cold for peppers. Mine aren't growing well and still on the light shelf.

Danny, thats funny about your trip to Bustani. :) I have resisted so far, never ever been... but on the 17th I am going to the Herbal Affair in Sandsprings... I will meet Tulsa friends there... and hopefully we can all agree on where to eat.

Jennifer you are welcome. :)

I swallowed a bug today, as I was riding west up on the Lake Hefner dam. I am happy to see the first hostas.

The one big thing I miss since moving to OKC is the Sand Springs herb fest. I loved going to it, and the Jenks & Tulsa ones too. I haven't found any here yet.

Nancy, don't give up on the lantanas for 2 or 3 more weeks. I think it's too early. It depends on how well established they were. In 2007, when I reached -27F for one night, the lantanas (which were huge) survived fine, despite being ice locked for 3 weeks under up to 3 feet of snow. However, mine here (planted last summer), I do worry about (lol).

I have heard don't plant peppers until 2 weeks after tomatoes. Maybe Dawn said it. Maybe someone else that I thought knew what they were talking about, because it stuck. All my plants stayed outside until last night. They will be in tonight, too, then they're out for good. I don't have peppers yet though.

I don't think I saw Danny's early post (with coreopsis) either. I have seeds for green thread. I wanted it for medicinal purposes, which I THOUGHT was UTIs, but Googling didn't turn that up. I would still like to grow it.

I'm glad the school gardens are doing so well, Nancy. don't worry about your brassica. Spray them with BT someplace safe from butterfly plants before you plant them. It will keep them safe for a while and should be ok under tulle. Or put Garry to work building clotches with window screen.

I need to get my behind in gear. TTFN

Jennifer, I doubt I would be much help on the roselle, I let a lot of my seed go bad. I may not have let them cure enough, or harvested them too green, but I planted some seeds last night, I feel sure some of them are good. I just hope I can get them to produce a good crop for this year. I will soon be running low on light shelf space, but it is getting to the time that the plants can stay out most of the time.

Nancy, I would love living close to Jacob, but I am foo old and beat up to pull my fair share of the work need to grow crops. I have a pretty good deal worked out with my neighbor. Neighbor has a produce stand/store, and I have more equipment than he does, so we help each other out, he does most of the work where walking is involved and I do the heavier tractor work.

After the next two night I think most stuff can sit out day and night. It is going to take a while to get the ground ready to plant because it is so wet, plus we have more rain in the forecast.

HJ, I can see your post.

Hi HJ! Yep, see your post--I've been away most of today. Main reason I don't like the monkey grass is that I put on either side of our front side walk, total of six clumps (8?) What I did, in effect, was to create a mighty maze for the lawn mower person--ME. I'm going to try and eradicate it this year.

Ripping out the hall bathroom?? That sounds like a nightmare--how are you guessing it will be out of commission?

If I HAD asparagus, I'd be harvesting it. The two lone spears I saw were ready a couple days ago. Now I have a dozen more planted--and 300 tomatoes sounds like about 296 too many! I'm not sure how many peppers I have--but way too many of those, too.

Do the rest of you use Bt? I ordered some from Amazon 2-3 years ago and it never came. Where do you all pick it up? HJ, you're growing brassica, right? Do you put Bt on it?

Where do Mack's parents live? I hope the kids find something wonderful in short time. I hope to leave my stuff sitting out, too, Amy, starting in a few days. Need to get them hardened off first.

I'm not giving up on the lantanas (or Vitex), but sure hoping they make it. Ours weren't THAT well established. This is the third year for them. I don't know how cold it got at the school, but the lantanas and Vitex weren't well protected with mulch. Here, the lantanas WERE. We'll see.

Yep, my big Empress Wu hosta is popping up. I can't really have hostas here because of the deer, but I had to have just this one. I keep it pretty well protected from deer.

Well, outta here for now!

I'm glad the post showed up.

I want a perennial (do you know that I can never spell this word. I have to let spell check fix it for me) lantana. My Mom's gets giant every year. I want that kind but she doesn't remember what it is.

I sure am hoping my vitex makes it too, Nancy! This is it's 3rd year at our house. The tiny crepe myrtles are slowing showing life.

The plant that I believe to be either a red honeysuckle or coral honeysuckle is really growing this year! It was one I picked up from the SF--a gift from Dawn. BUT, now I'm wondering if it really is a honeysuckle. It has never had flowers. I'll try to get a pic of it and show y'all.

Mack's parents live in Edmond. Their house is quite large--2 living rooms and plenty of bedrooms and baths.

Yes, our bathroom situation is such a nightmare already and Ethan is still in Portland. We are spoiled for sure. Tom is trying to do most of the work himself so it will take a bit longer. I want a stand alone tub--not a clawfoot but something similar...and that will take a bit of figuring out. The man who built the house lives down the street. He is getting older, of course, but he is still a wealth of information about our house. He literally built it himself in 1985 for his mom or mom-in-law, I think. A bit of plumbing will need to be moved, but nothing too major. I'm actually fine with just replacing the type of tub that is already there, but Tom heard me say that I want a stand alone and he won't back off of it. Which is sweet, really.

Nancy, I purchased Bt for the first time last year. Don't remember where I bought it. I think I used it once. I will use it specifically on the greens and brassicas if needed. I have the lettuce under the hinged hoop, so hopefully the little loopers won't find a way in...but just in case.

The over-wintered collards that I just pulled out two days ago already had little worms on them. The things is, they will eat every bit of your greens/brassicas. They leave nothing so you either spray it or cover it.

There's plenty of flowers and herbs for the other caterpillars and pollinators and good guys. I hoping to pick up some milkweed at the OKC Flower and Garden Festival in May.

How was the bug, Moni?! :D

The kombucha was really fizzy when I put it in the individual bottle for the second ferment. yay!

Larry, your roselle plants got really big and pretty, though, right? I seem to remember a picture of them.

I rambled way too much. But I had a few minutes before my event tonight. Luckily Rick is checking in on the seedlings and plants in the greenhouse tonight.

Jennifer, my roselle did very well last year, but I dont remember when I started the seeds or when I set them in the garden. I am thinking I am running late this year, I just planted the seeds and placed on the light shelf.

I use to buy BT almost anywhere, Dipel , I think is one brand name, and I have seen it at walmart. I have not use the stuff in several years. I have tried to make my garden bird friendly and have fewer insects.

Nancy, BT is the one thing I use prophylactically. I might as well not grow brassicas without it. Im not a fan of even OMRI listed pesticides and did a lot of reading on it. I also specifically googled for negative features or side effects to ensure Google wasn’t showing me what it thought I wanted to see. BT was tested by the USDA back when their testing was a lot more stringent. One of the things they do now is allow for breaks in the research so long as it adds up to the required amount of testing tome. Not when they were testing BT. The research had to be continuous making it much harder for companies to hide undesirable results. That said, due to mice, rabbits and my dogs, I’m using mesh trashcans from the dollar store as cloches this year. I’ve seen several cabbage moths frustrated that they can see or smell the plants but can’t get to them. once Plants get big enough that I have to remove the cloches, I will start spraying. I get Safer brand BT from Ace. There is a powder form or a liquid concentrate. I like the powder because you can see it and know when to reapply, and Also see when you’ve gotten it all washed off. But the liquid works just fine and covers a lot more plants for less money.

Amy, I always wait at least 2 weeks after tomatoes before peppers. I just fell into it because that’s how long it always took before ground temps were good for them. I’m sure Dawn did something similar because if she didn’t, I would have taken note!

Jen, for anything tropical, my general rule is that it comes inside of its forecast below 45, unless it’s against my south facing walls. The brick radiates quite a bit of heat so if it is along my south facing walls, I’ll let lows Get a little lower - 42ish - before hauling things in. I do fudge on this for tomatoes, but growing in my deep beds mean their roots are warm even when it gets chillier. They are already planted and are covered tonight of course. My backups are in the house, just to be safe. I saw frost on a 38 or 39 degree morning last year so low 40s is pushing it but I do a bit of natural selection (survival of the fittest) gardening over here. lol

Lantana roots readily in mid to late summer, though I would grow it as a houseplant till the next Spring.

If you are talking about, what I use to grow as lantana ( flowers that seem to change colors from center of cluster to outside of cluster). I would love to try to grow them again. I thought the flowers were very pretty, but I could not over winter them well.

I would like to try black landscape cloth along the base of my peppers to see if it warms the ground enough to improve production. My peppers produce well lat in the year, but a little slow getting started.

We had frost this morning, my min/max showed 30, Ft. Smith shower 35, that is very common here even though I am south of Ft. Smith.

I wish Madge and I were younger with more get-up-and-go. A person with just a little land a lot of food. We still have a lot of sweet potatoes and pumpkins. My daughter and grand daughter came over last night to bring Madge her Birthday present. They also said that they were still pretty well stocked, they also gave produce away last fall.

We had frost this morning. My weather station isn't reading correct temp. It said it was 53, mesonet says 35. Says Tulsa went to 33. Seedlings were inside. I hope my WS stuff is ok.

BT from Lowes, any garden supply. I think mine is Thuricide. You just don't want something that's got extra chemicals in it. I don't spray continuously. (Hense the worms in Ron's salad). I spray 3 or 4 times a season. Last year I really neglected the kale bed and the wasps took care of them until the Harlequin bugs showed up and decimated the kale. I spray tomatoes at the same time hoping to deter fruit worm, I'm not even sure if it works.

SIL comes today. Gotta go finish cleaning the bathroom. We're getting manicures this evening with the female half of the wedding party.

May not be here for a few days. XOXO

It was 31 here (according to weather service) and there was frost. I don't believe anything was damaged, but really don't know yet, but that's my gut feeling.

It looks as though my potatoes that were exposed may have some damage, but not enough to be concerned about.

I have been cleaning along the highway, people sure are nasty. I dont like trash in the ditch, nor in the pasture.

I am going to rest a while and clean the pasture more.

Jennifer, tell me more, like date and time for: Flower and Garden Festival in May.

Okay, Amy, we'll see you when we see you! Have fun going to get all foo-foo-ey.

Now for the rest of you. . . I'm seeing that asparagus likes full sun--in OK, how much sun can they get by in? I just got a bunch more asparagus in the mail and am trying to figure out where to put the school's. We have a sandbox with a roof over it, but it gets full sun in the morning until, well, close to overhead, so I'm going to guess it gets full sun except for like 11-2. Think that'd work? I'm thinking it would. Then my thought was that we could have basil and marigolds in there--I expect eventually the asparagus would crowd them out?

Larry, I know the trash! PIGS. So aggravating! It's like that down the main road just a block from our house. In the past I've spent time each year picking up litter for a block both ways on the main road. Doubt I can do it this year, being gimped up.

Oh my oh my. . . . I have a pork shoulder slow roasting in the oven. And I have to smell this all afternoon? Torture. Might be my favorite cut of meat.

I couldn't stand it one more day--Garry and I cut my hair. I've no idea how it looks, but mission accomplished. It's shorter.

Remember when I planted a whole slew of kale last year? I must have had a dozen and a half various kale out there. For the most part, there wasn't much damage. Frankly, it never dawned on me they were part of the brassica family. Duh. Well, I better prepare, because I have a lot of cabbage, broccolini, and kale. Now you can all laugh at me some more. Couple-three years ago when I was looking for Bt, I was looking for "Bt,", as opposed to Safer, Dipel, Thuricide, etc. LOL No wonder I had such a hard time finding it.

HJ, Miss Huff is undoubtedly the lantana you're thinking of. It gets big--5 x 5 x 5 or even 6'. It is cold hardy through zone 7. I'm not sure about -15 degrees cold snap of 5 days, however. Remains to be seen. If mine survive, they will have made it through their third year. This is the one recommended by Greg Grant, too.

If your honeysuckle came from Dawn, it is a coral honeysuckle. I have one, too, though so far it hasn't bloomed. Might get too much shade where I put it.

Okay, time to go to work again.

Moni, here is a link OKC Flower and Garden Festival

I helped Dale and Carrie with a booth a couple of years ago...but only attended last year.

Prairie Wind will be there as well as The Goat Farmer's Wife Goat Milk Soap--it's expensive but my favorite and a bar lasts a LONG time.

I'm not going with a group this year. I had too many cranky people. LOL Someone was hungry and very grumpy... and someone else was rushing me through the booths and someone else was spending WAY too much time looking at every item. I might take Tom. I might take my Mom. That is it. haha!

Then, you can walk over to Scissortail Farmer's Market to purchase veggies that you aren't growing or aren't ready in your own garden. It's a great morning. Can't wait.

Dale and Carrie's goats are going to do the "ribbon cutting" this Saturday at Scissortail. It's the grand opening.

All right, tonight is my moment of truth. Seedlings that have been carried out every day are getting left outside all night. If they don't make it, I guess I'll be begging plants off y'all at spring fling. They look pretty good though, and have had almost 2 months of hardening off.

I chickened out, and brought mine in again. I need to pot some up bigger, and guess, plant some.

Depends on how far I get tomorrow.

Moni

PS, Jennifer, thanks. That must be, where I was with my older daughter a couple years ago... cause she did buy me a plant for Mothers Day there. I just didn't recall what it was called.

My low was 35 and no frost. I did manage to break the top off one tomato plant while either covering or uncovering but it’ll be fine.

I have a three day weekend and have never been so ready! I really need to think about taking a few days off but I always say that in the spring and never do. I usually. hold onto my time off till fall and End up losing days that don’t get used at years’ end. Regardless, I’ll enjoy an extra day of gorgeous weather this weekend.

I planted tomatoes yesterday. I'm off and running and the 9 day forecast looks like clear sailing.

And my cilantro is now making tiny white flowers, yep, its bolting.

I can’t catch up with y’all right now. Kids are coming for a work day. Hot water tank going in!!!!!
After a year and a half I will finally have running hot water.
I forgot how convenient that will be.
A friends daddy found out I had no water heater and gave me one. So so thankful

Y'all have more guts than I do. We had frost yesterday, and my min/max is showing a low of 32 for last night, I have not gone out to check on frost, but sure we had some. My wife is using the spare containers to cover her flowers, so I will be carrying plants in and out for a while.

I took a peak at the light shelf this morning and the soil looked a little puffy where I planted roselle seed. I did not pull the flat out to check closely, but I hope to be potting up some small plants soon. My sweet potatoes are starting to make slips. I hope to have enough for my neighbor and I to have a good crop this summer. I noticed that my neighbor was getting more ground ready yesterday. He will be operating a produce stand this summer, he did not operate last summer because of fear of covid.

Well the temp is up to 45 now and I told Madge I would plant some stuff for her, so I had better get after it.

Larry, I’m surprised at how different your weather is and you’re basically straight east on I-40. Before the dip down to 35 yesterday, it’s been 3 weeks or more since I’ve dipped that low. There was one day it was supposed to but it actually stayed close to 40.

Bit of a chilly start but the weather should be nice after lunch and all weekend. My family probably won’t see much of me if they don’t come out to the garden! I have Easter baskets for my niece and nephew so I’ll see them at my nephews soccer game. We’ll see how interested my soon to be teenager is in dying eggs. If it means prying her away from Youtube, she probably won’t be interested.

The hubs got his first Moderna shot on Wednesday and started feeling a little clammy last night. He shrugged it off as having 2 dogs laying on top of him on the couch but he still seems to be a little sluggish today. What a lousy way to spend a holiday, especially when he has to work on Saturday! I sympathize because I had a my shot on a Saturday and the bad backache after pretty much ruined my weekend. I get my second next weekend so already planning to be doing a lot of Netflix next weekend.

Have a beautiful weekend everyone. I have 30 more minutes on the treadmill but can’t think of more to say.

Well I received some plants ordered Jan 3rd today. They're outside hardening off (box trauma). I also picked up plants from a 'local' (St Louis) vendor who delivered Wednesday, they were awaiting the end of frost (today) to be planted.
Tomorrow, I am picking up 5 free milkweeds from the Monarch Foundation.
Then...dare I hope I get it all planted before Bustani on the 15th?

I guess it's time to move house plants outside soon too..and let them start hardening off to sun and wind.

And soon direct sown warm seed annuals (including winter squash) Yeah!

Happy Spring! Happy Easter!

Nancy, If you Google bacillus thuringiensis spray you will see the BT selections.

Megan, thanks for the mineral tubs. The shape and the color makes them look less like mineral tubs than the others I have.

I feel like I live in a wind tunnel today but I must go out and do some more work.

Lynn, if it were any Friday other than Good Friday, I'd be right there with you. As it was, not a typical Good Friday here. Usually it's very thoughtful, prayerful, reverent. Today, with no in-person church services, easy to have forgotten it was Good Friday. And plumber coming out, and signed up for gardening webinar. . . and friends supposed to be coming out help garden. The fact that it was Good Friday quite got away from me for much of the day. But I finally recaptured the momentous occasion it is for me every year!

I won't impose my beliefs on the rest of you, but this day is absolutely monumental to me, and God-given.

But Lynn, a Bloody Mary sounds delightful, and my mission next week is to get a Bloody Mary mix and vodka, I'll salute you next Friday!

I pray to God that He blesses all of you --and us--and that we all receive from Him the assurance that He love us.

Bloody Mary Friday is every Friday here, especially in the spring when I can sit on the patio.

If you're looking for a good BM mix, I've found one that I love, its called The Real Dill , and its heavily pickle influenced. Its made in Denver. Their site has a store locator to find it in your area. For me, its a lot cheaper to buy it locally than order from their site.

https://therealdill.com/

I was raised in a very religious family. If the church doors were open, we were there. My Grandad was an elder in our church, which my recently deceased Mother attended all of her 95 years. We were Church of Christ and Easter was not recognized ( and neither was Christmas ) as a religious event. Something to the effect that the real dates were not know. Easter was just another Sunday. My parents were critical of people who only showed up to church on Easter Sunday because they thought we should celebrate Christ every Sunday.

Its a lot of mixed emotions for me that I'd rather not deal with. I left it all behind. So Easter is non event for me.

For years I would plant something on Good Friday to sort of remind me of the reason for the Easter weekend. I did plant something yesterday, but I had forgotten it was Good Friday. Many times it would have to be a hardy plant, or a bulb of some kind because we would still have cold weather ahead of us. I planted two lilac bushes. I am not overly fond of lilac bushes, but Madge likes them, and they will serve as a reminder for me.

Nancy, I tried to take a picture of the calendar Madge's grand daughter made, but so much white in the picture is causing back flash into my camera. We laid this little boy to rest in a flower bed that is starting to look really nice. I still have his bed set up in the living room, I use his bed as a reminder to thank God for allowing us to have such a sweet baby for over 14 years.

It is warming up slowly today. I want to get out and clean more scrap. It is up to 50* now, so I need to fire up the tractor and start piling hay and manure.

Nancy, I did not get these picture in order, but, one is the grave site of our fur baby. We will get things looking better as warmer weather gets here.

I started these slips on 3-25-21, more potatoes have been placed in potting soil since, but no sprouts, may have to use the heating mat. I am trying to grow for more than one family.

Larry--I forgot his name--Hercules? His flower bed IS looking nice! How much did he weigh? I just met the neighbors who moved into the house north of us. They have a little female who weights 2.5 lbs. That's CRAZY. She's awfully cute.

Lynn. . . I love Bloody Marys! How did you find these guys? I loved their story.

Up in Minneapolis, My daughter-in-law and I. used to stop at a bar/restaurant called "Legends" to have what we called lunch in a glass occasionally. A big 'ole Bloody Mary, with a stalk of celery, dill pickle, pepperoni stick, skewer of shrimp and skewer of big green olives.

I know an awful lot of folks who feel as you do about "religion." A lot! A lot of my close friends through the years, in fact, who say "the church" actually turns people away instead of bringing them in. And I can't disagree.

I. think GDW and I have sleeping sickness. He's sitting near me snoozing away. I expect I will be soon, too. I believe the dog and our cats are carriers of the disease. Brats.

I'm working on sleeping sickness today too. Good thing the dogs are always ready to sleep too. Amazingly, sleep overrides just about every other priority for them. I turn on oxygen and everyone runs for the bedroom (gotta give them way, they're in a hurry).

I've always wondered how a dog could sleep so much. They must burn a lot of energy in their wake hours.

Nancy, that BM mix was recommended on a barbecue forum I visit. The fella said it made the best BM he's ever had. Its pretty close to that for me too. I drive to Newcastle to buy it, its the only store halfway close.

Nancy, out dog's name was Hercules, we called him Herc, his adult weight was about 6 pounds, but he got up to a little over 9 pounds as old age and bad health got a hold on him.

Lynn, you know... I grew up C of C too. As did Rick (HU).

I still attend one...and am actually employed by one. It's not accepted by other C of C really because we're not so...C of C'ish. The one I am at is very, very near where you live. (I remember you telling me your general area.)

I had a similar experience growing up. Sort of. My parents and people near me were NOT so hardcore with the "we don't know the true date of Christ's birth and it is wrong to celebrate it on a date that is not in the scripture." Of course you're familiar with the whole "speak where the Bible speaks, be silent where the Bible is silent" thing they had going back then. Some still do.

My family celebrated these holidays as mostly a fun, family time.

However, our C of C celebrates it all now. (I could ramble on about this, but won't. SO much to say.)

Rick (HU) is like you. He left that behind a long time ago. I think the difference is my family (and people near me) weren't so strict. Y'all's people were. And that will make thinking people run far away.

And...to prove the point that I'm not strict C of C, I'm enjoying a glass of wine RIGHT now. And coming up with an Easter lesson for my littles tomorrow morning.

Sorry. That had nothing to do with gardening.

I was just checking in....but had to chime in. I'm late to post on the Saturday night, so it's doubtful Lynn will even see this before the next week's thread will be created.

Huh, how bout that, others here raised in " The Chuch ", as I was taught to say ( It was always " they're members of .... the church " ) . I understand there's been a lot of relaxing of the standards, like musical instruments in services, etc. That's a long way from my Grandad's days.

Yes, they had strict standards, but still, I don't think I'd trade my upbringing.

What an odd coincidence. My grandma was Church of Christ so that was one of the churches I grew up attending. I don't remember celebrating easter really, but everyone always showed up in their new outfits. It's funny how many of us have ties to the same faith community.

Jennifer, I see it, and like it. I think we all have our struggles as just what to believe, and how to understand the scriptures. I think we have to understand that we are human, and we are expected to be human, we just don't have the wisdom to understand it all at this time, and that is okay. I think it is more important to concentrate on the message rather than the dates.

I miss being with family. It seems as though most people are afraid to mix with others, maybe that is good, but it sure is lonely.

I have at least 2 dozen baby roselle plants, I must have had 100% germination.

Happy Easter everyone.

Larry, family is what I miss also. My grandparents and parents built strong family ties. We had big family get togethers that ended with my generation. My brothers and I aren't nearly as close as my grandparents and parents. Family meant more to those generations.

My wife's family still has that, her Dad and his brothers and sisters are in their 80's, but they still in good health and if not for covid, would still be getting together. In fact, they would have a large gathering today of maybe 30 people if not for covid. But when they pass, I wonder if it will continue.

C of C upbringing ? Yep. Got my butt beat black and blue about it with a rubber hose out of the dairy barn when I was a boy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcXBF357G4o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtZqNAI4pBk

HU