I had a lot planned to do, but as usual, I did't do much. I up potted 4 trays of plants, and I really don't have a place to put them. I had planned to haul an old camper shell over from the old house, but for the past several years I have not felt like keeping the place like I should, and that camper shell has quit a bit of soil and brush washed up on it, and I need to dig it out. I could lift it out with the tractor, but that would more than likely tear it up. I have a lift gate on the back of my truck, I may be able to ease the lift under the end of the camper after I did it out, and then lift the shell with the lift on the truck. I would be very close and be better able watch as I was lifting, I would not have that option with the tractor. Anyway I want to be rested and feel well before I start that project.

I had not been over to the old place in several months, and I found that I have a lot of storm damage over there, and I really don't feel like repairing anything, I am not even able to keep things repaired around here.

I need to water my onion, the south garden is pretty dry.

I have tilled most of the henbit in in gardens. I need to pull some post and remove some trellises so I can get the tractor in to till, I will still till some areas with the rear tine tiller, but It is a lot more painful using the rear tine than it is sitting on the tractor.

My allergies have been worse this year. I'm up now at 2 am, sneezing and blowing my nose. And worrying about whether the posts I set today are holding in this gusty wind, that's near 30 mph.. I'm pretty sure the concrete has had time to set.

I'm thinking I should've paid someone to do this fence repair, but that course is not easy. Problem one is finding someone, then finding someone who won't over charge, then I've got this big opening in my fence until they can get to it, and they will put off a small job like this if they've got bigger fish to fry.

I'm sure there's a lot of others with fence problems. I was in Home Depot getting posts and kwikkrete and saw two other people doing the same.

Lynn, we all face the same problems that you do. The people that will work, and do a good job, already have work lined up for months, the ones that might take on a job at a lower rate may just want work enough to get drug and boozs money, and may, or not show up.

I have a lot of work to be done, but only the stuff that has to be done. My kids can worry about the work after we are gone. Chances are that my daughter will have most of this stuff pushed down, and build what she wants. I don't want to spent my last dollar repairing something I don't need.

I would like to do a few things out side, but we are still having more wind than I want to deal with.

I have been out mowing, there is sure a lot of clean up I need to do. I need to go move some junk out of the way, then finish mowing. I am trying to mow both sides of the fence, the pasture side has dead weed shoulder high, so it takes several passes to get then chopped up.

I gave the onions a drink, I should have done it sooner, but they should be okay.

I decided that my camper shell was not large enough to cover my plants, so I placed them on my conveyor belt that I use to drag things around on, and drag them out into the pasture, and park the pickup over them when they need protection. No one needs to try to care for this many plants in the house anyway.

I am debating when to start to put tomatoes in. I’ve seen a couple meteorologists give the tentative all clear as far as freezes go, and the 10 day supports that. I do have cloches I can use if necessary. I think its going to be a really hot summer so I want to get started. Anyone else feeling this way? I need to grab a couple bags of compost.

Of course, I need to add a bunch of soil to last years beds because they settled so much since last year, and I’m waiting on my tax refund to do that. I need too much to do it all at once. So I can’t plant tomatoes in those beds yet. Or anything else. I have Contender beans and various flowers ready to go in. Oh, and rebuild the cucumber trellises. Trelli? I need the refund for that too.

I need to water, we are so dry. But, I have daffodils and hyacinth blooming, my young peonies have buds, my lilies are coming up, and I see a couple gladiolus peeking out. Good things.

I’m going to try to finish my winter sowing today. Then go water, I think.

I want to put something in the ground also, but my weather is so unstable in this valley.

I get frost when others around me don't get any. I have plenty of plants, so I could sacrifice a few with no problem.

I could go out and be cleaning out places for tomatoes whether I plant them now or not. I have to work the spots under the trellises b hand, which id not hard, but it take a lot of time. I could also be pulling tee post, and rebar so can get the tractor in to till that area.

Whenever I can get a 10 day forecast that covers the first week of April, that's when I'll decide whether to plant. That would be about March 28. Sooo, I'm looking at a week from tomorrow .............. if there's no freeze apparent.

Our 10 day is showing a low of 48 between now and Apr. 6th, I have to knock 7 degrees off of that to be on the safe side, but still, a lot can happen between now and May 1.

Me and my seedling are in Lubbock. Did a great gardening talk at NG and spending lots of time with grandkids

I'll look at the 9 day forecast on April 1 and make my decision then on the tomatoes.

I want to put in the cabbages, kale, spinach, and lettuces, but it's supposed to be really windy and that is so hard on the young plants too. I might wait a couple more days.

Rebecca, we're spacing out soil purchases too. I need to top off quite a few beds. I have some compost made but am saving it for the back garden that I'm hoping to rebuild in a couple of weeks or so. It will be a big job.

The first of my WS zinnias popped up today. A friend saved seed and shared some with me. They are Giant White.

Today, I had 2 hours outdoors and was able to weed a couple of areas and put some sweet potatoes into soil. They had been rooting in water on my window sill. Also watered the onions. Hoping for some rain this week.

I have a plan now for Greenstalks. I want two more (probably not this year) but figured that the shop porch would be the best place for them. It gets some sun relief. The back porch is full sun all day. Anyway....I'm putting a plan together. But had a crazy vision of the OTA changing their route plans (which they are doing) and taking the E/W connector sharper across my property. It was probably just a fear-based vision and not reality. Anyway. I would put more effort into the backyard area (and a covered back porch) if I knew that our home was safe for sure. It's an irritating issue. It's not just the money. It's the heart, soul, and time spent on amending things and building things. There's no way to be reimbursed for that. And the limbo thing is annoying.

The OTA geo techs are still working near Indian Hills and Penn. They're nearly done in this section.

Kim, Yay! I'm so excited for you. I'm glad you had a good talk and got to spend time with your grandchildren. :)

And I LOVE that you took you seedlings with you.

I've decided that I can't be a proper sourdough baker. I'm just not home to stretch and fold and do all the things that it requires. I say that, because I considered hauling my sourdough to work with me. (Kim, you taking seedlings with your reminds me of this) LOL. I can feed, stretch and fold while at work.

But, I'll just be a laid-back, non-award winning sourdough baker. I got a BEAUTIFUL starter made yesterday. It was lovely. But, stuck in the fridge and will bring it out on Fridays and bake on the weekends.

Amy, are you doing okay?

Forecast low last night was 44, low on my weather station says 38. They can miss.

Thanks Jennifer.
I have done it before. Traveled with my plants. The last time I had someone water my seedlings I lost over half due to drowning. It’s very hard to trust someone with such a technical process lol. These cool nights have wreaked havoc on my seedlings. Especially basil. I should have kept it separate and left it under lights. Learn new things every year.

Looking more and more like its time to go in the ground. But I'm still planning on next Monday.

10 Day Forecast from Wunderground

Here

I've been taking baby steps outside; can't rush in to anything, you know. Mostly just cleaning up stalks of dried up plants and pulling a little henbit out in the raised beds so I can see plants that hopefully will soon be cropping up. If only henbit were a marketable crop! A lot of us would be rich!

I have plenty of time for sourdough, HJ, just am not enough of a bread fan. I have had a crazy bent for cornbread the past few months, having said that. I sometimes center what's to eat around the idea that it goes good with cornbread! And biscuits. That's about as much "bread" stuff as I can get excited about.

I have a granddaughter coming in the next week or two and I'll likely gift her most of my seed collection. Maybe I'll go look through that right now, and then get to painting. Happy last week of March, everyone.

Waving at Jennifer. I'm fine, today is a recovery day. We had the grandsons for spring break. We were supposed to pick them up Friday night, but then the fires were everywhere. Their house was across the street from the evacuation area. (Stillwater) So they went to their aunt's and we picked up Saturday. I say we, Ron and my son picked them up. It was a long week, dealing with the noise and activity that two boys and a third during the day can generate. Ages are 4, 7 and 12. Everything would be fine if only 2 were together, but add a third (in any combination) and someone would be crying. And of course normal brotherly bickering. They are good kids, but the wind kept them inside most of the time. That one nice day we had they went to the zoo.

Yes, I expect a hot summer and I'm afraid more drought. Sigh.

It's SO nice outside. I wish I was at home.

Amy, your spring break was busy with 3 young boys. You're probably exhausted!

Nancy, the funny thing about me making sourdough is that I rarely eat bread other than Ezekiel Bread in the morning toasted with my egg.

And, with just Tom and me at home, there's not a need to make crazy amounts of bread either. People with big families use the discard almost daily for pizza crust, crackers, cookies, pie crusts and a 100 other things. I would like to try fermented bread just because I'm pretty sure it's a lot better for us than what is store bought. Honestly it freaks me out that bread now-a-days doesn't mold. Even some of the organic breads. That's just weird and unnatural. Maybe I'm wrong and it's fine....it's just packaged better or something.

But, I would like to try the sourdough for toast in the mornings instead of the Ezekiel bread. I do love the Ezekiel bread, tho.

I have several things on my to-do list for this week including planting out the kale, cabbage, spinach and lettuce. And also need to make decisions regarding herb location including the calendula.

And continuing to weed the garden beds.

Kim, I need to start my basil. I put it off because it likes hotter weather and the time is now to get that done.

Another thing I'm late to do is the garden layout plan in general....but, after sitting outside weeding yesterday, I (think) everything has a designated spot now.

Amy, you guys are tougher than we are!! No WAY could I have managed that spring break visit! Hats off to you. It would take me a week to recuperate!

Yes, we're thinking drought, too. And so hope to have stuff in and ready to eat before the middle of July, and then maybe pick things up first of September.

HJ. . . thanks for mentioning Ezekiel bread. I'll get some!

Larry, also admiring your gardening, and can empathize with things you just won't get to. I actually went out and watered the raised beds that are full of henbit! Hahaha. Yep I did. I had pulled some of it where I expect things to pop up, like asparagus, some milkweed, stuff like that. And I'll pick up some veggie plants next trip to town.

But I was going through seeds and thought, oh yeah, I need to plant some of that basil and some of those peppers. What is it about peppers! Why do I love growing them--I rarely use most of them. But I have a ton of wonderful pepper seeds. . .

Almost finished my fence repair, still need a couple of pickets , though. And I'm done, I'm gonna be sore in the morning.

My purple leaf sand cherries just busted out all at once, little late this year.

Amy, I admire you for keeping the kids, I am not sure Madge and I are up to a task like that. We are expecting company this weekend, and I am sure we will be worn out next week, some of the kids that will be here will be hands full type of kids. I remember hearing some of the folks say when I was a child say," we are glad to see them come, and, we are glad to see them go", LOL. It sound mean to me at the time, but I understand it better now.

Nancy, I planted a pepper seed that I got from you, it was called Fire and Ice. I had never heard of that pepper before, it was an old package, and only had one seed in it. I planted the one pepper seed in a tray that had 98 cells in it, and I got a pepper in the cell I had number for Fire and Ice. It is a pretty plant, small, but pretty. I put it in a special single pack so I could keep up with it. I have given many plants away from that bunch of seeds that you sent me, and I am sure all have enjoyed those plants as much as I have. I actually still have a few of the seeds you sent me. I think that we enjoy growing peppers because they are pretty plants, and so easy to grow.

I will have a few extra Basil plants that I can bring to Spring Fling if anyone would like one. I will have to sit them aside because basil seems to be a hot item. I expect that many of the people that come this weekend will want one. Dark Opal is the only basil I started this year.

Lynn, the fence looks nice. I don't do much with privacy fences anymore, I have a hard enough time string up an electric fence.

Madge and I are still having a hard time getting young again. I took her car to town to get the oil changed, on to Atwoods to see if they had any plants that I had to have, I left, my plants looked better than theirs. I then went by the Kubota place to buy fuel and oil filters, the to the Ft. Smith co-op to stock up on the seeds that I might need for next year, then to Harbor Freight to buy tools and supplies, then to Olive Garden to feed my sweet wife, by then we were worn out. I came home and watered the garden, moved my plants, then called a day. We just cant do much anymore.

You have to understand, my son is living with us while he looks for a new place. This was part of his visitation with the boys. And the 4 year old loves his cousins. It was us or daycare and there was some complication with daycare. But yes we were exhausted. Our daily routine was changed. I hope the boys enjoyed their time here. But everyone prefers sleeping in their own bed, don't they? Personally, I don't relax, always on "mother alert", listening for trouble noises.

Nancy and I posted at the same time before, I didn't see her post!

We're still in danger from fires, stay safe! Apparently the fuel is still dry, humidity low and winds too high. Stay safe!

It is a warm one out there today. Went home at lunch and mowed some of the left over clover down. We've got some onion skips to put in, but so far the cabbage and broccoli are still there. I think we had to replant two cabbage so far that either broke or blew away. That is a record for us, but we aren't done with bad weather yet.

Went ahead and seeded the old garden border with sudangrass on 2 sides and buckwheat on the other 2 sides. Hoping they take root before another monsoon happens and washes the area out again. If those take root, we may be in business for a while. I was worried that we sowed too soon, but these temps have really been high.

The purple potatoes that had longer shoot have emerged. We seeded a couple rows of carrots on Sat, and I believe that is all that's in the garden so far. Peppers were really spotty on germination this year. It may be time for some fresh seed. I really hoped to get our Arbol & Marisol/Guajillo seed up, but it doesn't look like it's gonna happen. Tomatoes had no problem sprouting, as usual.

Paid off my small chainsaw about 10 times over this weekend by cutting down a big red Maple. Unfortunately it was the only shade the garden had. But it was time to go. On the bright side, we dug out one of its child trees from the drainage creek several years ago and it is now growing about 60 ft away.

I’m watching the forecast closely, but I think I’m going to start putting tomatoes in this weekend It’s normally a two weekend process to get it done anyway, plus I still have to top off the old beds with compost. I think they’ll be fine with cloches. Not all my plants are ready, so I’ll give those another week. Then I’ll know what I have for SF.

I have lots of flowers ready to go in as well.

HJ, I’ll have basil and zinnias at SF, if you want.

Larry, I'm tickled you made use of the seeds. Got plenty more great pepper ones if you're interested. I started "organizing" seeds last night and I got to sidetracked and confused. Only was going to pull out a couple basil packets for me, then found myself adding a few pepper packets, couple tomato ones, and before I knew it, I had quite the "to-plant" collection. Maybe I'll try it again this evening. No, no, no, Nancy, after I remember the cabbage whites, grasshoppers, drought, and chiggers.

One of my garden helpers brought me a goji berry bush last year. Thought I'd killed it for sure when I neglected to move sprinkler over close enough to get it about three times in a row, but hallelujah, it's up and growing. Also thought I'd killed the thornless blackberry bushes, but nope, see a couple of them going. Waiting to see asparagus come up--it should be good this year--I think this is it's 5th year. It seemed to take off awfully slowly, but each year has done better.

I'm so anxious to see what perennials will show up. . . I can't even remember what all's out there. And I need to get out and get some sunflower seeds sown!

Nancy, the thing about Ezekiel bread is that it's really only good toasted or grilled. Normally I'll toast it and put a fried egg on top of it. (and a sliced tomato when they're in season. Also, I like peanut butter and toast. It's also good for grilled sandwiches. Cold sandwiches....not so much.

Peppers are so much fun to grow. There's so many varieties and all shapes and sizes. More so than tomatoes.

Amy, I'm sure you had a great weekend with the boys and they did too. Even tho it was tiring. I think that about every Tuesday I spend with my one. Love it, tho, and wouldn't change it.

Josh, sounds like you had a productive day. The one time I tried to grow guajillo, I didn't have luck getting them to germinate.

I would love some zinnias, Rebecca.

Nancy, I have a goji berry going on it's 5th year maybe. It was slow to get going and really struggled but it has done well the past couple of years.

I didn't get much gardening done today--just watered the things that I got planted yesterday and the other things too.

The kale and cabbages are in now as of yesterday. Hoping to plant a few more things tomorrow after work.

Garden news:

I have tomato plants. LOTS of tomato plants lol. Every year I do the same thing and overplant. I need to add my list to the spring fling group over on facebook, then the rest will get planted or sold. They have been sufficiently hardened off and moved outside. Hoping we don't get any more cold snaps, because I'm not sure I have space to haul them all back in.

Most of my peppers didn't come up. That's what I get for going easy on them. I planted gobs of tomatoes, then got stingy planting peppers. I might try some more, though I doubt they'll get very big by spring fling.

And I have a nice crop of celery coming up. Most transplanted okayish, though I did manage to slaughter a few. Same with peas. It's getting too late for peas, so I thought I'd try overplanting and hope for a decent crop before they die out.

I really need to plant some flowers. I have this huge 30ft diameter bed in our driveway, and it looks like an overgrown weed patch. Last year I tossed out a bunch of seeds and it came up in a riot of colors. Mostly zinnia and partridge pea, with a few verbena bonarenisis, coneflower, and tithonia mixed in. I also successfully transplanted some indian paintbrush from the field, something I'm pretty proud of considering everyone told me you can't do it. I guess you can if you dig a big enough hole, lol.

Wildfires were bad out here. Had 2 within a mile of us, and I swear I'm still smelling smoke.

Lynn, I don't know how it is where you are, but we have had MISERABLE luck finding contractors who will work. It took 3 tries to get our bathroom remodeled, and even then I had to finish painting, and the floor never got done so it's bare concrete. People are lazy today.

Kim, congrats on your talk! I'm really enjoying your youtube channel. I've kinda fallen out of habit, but yours is one I try to keep up with.

Bread....I was on a kick for a few weeks and would try different recipes each time. I found one really good one that turned out pretty light and fluffy, instead of dense and heavy like mine usually are.

I tried to do some tilling, other garden work, repairing tractor and RTV. But I forgot to water, and move my plants that I am hardening off. I have 700-800 plants on a conveyor belt that I drag from sun to shade. I get frustrated trying to do repair work, and forget a lot of things, now I have sunburned plants.

I've missed you all, but really haven't had anything to contribute. We had grasshopper plagues 2 years in a row, and they decimated everything, and then intolerable drought last year. And I'm so out of shape that I can go out and work for like 15 minutes and then have take a 2-hr break! Hahaha. BUT I'm going to call the garden helper we had last year and see if she'll come back this year. . . It's brutal, just trying to keep the Bermuda and Johnson grass at bay. And will plant only a very few things--couple tomatoes, peppers, summer squash and cucumbers. And Kale. Bet you never thought you'd hear me say I want to plant Kale, Amy!

But it's fun to "see" you all here. Congratulations, Jen, on your flower patch! And I'm so impressed you're getting celery to grow. I wish I lived closer to you.

And always love your upbeat attitude and sense of humor, Larry.

And HJ, your Ezekiel bread sounds Perfect for me. That's how I eat eggs, on a slice of toast, and am a fan of toast, in general, but love grilled cheese or other grilled sandwiches.

I'll have to find Kim on Youtube and will be fun to see you. I miss you, Amy, and Eileen, and our lunches.

Thanks Jen. I am trying to get out there and get it done but videos are so hard to be really consistent. I’ve done two garden consultations with great success. It’s lots of fun to pass on the garden bug. I up potted a bunch of plants just in time to get them home and settled. We have a big plant sale at market April 5th and I have very little to sell. It’s all right to every bit helps. I can’t wait to get home and see what’s growing on.

Good morning.

Jen, if you have an extra dwarf variety of tomato, I'll happily take it. I'm glad you've got such a great amount. Is it pretty easy to sell your starts?

What sorta peppers do you like? I have extras if you want some. I have Olympus Bell, Pepperoncini, Marconi, Sugar Rush Peach, Scotch Bonnet, Lunchbox (those little sweet peppers that you buy in a bag at the store. Usually yellow, orange or red. These aren't from saved seed tho. I actually purchased the seed this year), and even an extra "Dawn" pepper.

I'm impressed that you have celery. And even more impressed that you have Indian Paintbrush that was TRANSPLANTED! That's so cool. We had some show up about 4 years ago. I can normally hold Tom off of mowing our property (other than around the house) until the end of May. The wildflowers really show up if we let them grow and not mow it all down. I always say that I "will" them to my property.

I do like the area around my house tidy, but enjoy the wildness on the rest of the property.

Larry, sorry about your sunburned plants. I hate when that happens. But, yours will probably recover just fine.

Nancy, what are you gonna do with the kale? Is it for ornamental or eating....or both? It's always good when you post here. You always have something to contribute even if you're not growing as much as you once did. I miss you talking about the school garden. I'm sure you miss it too! My native bed is really wild right now. Why didn't someone tell me that one gaillardia plant can lead to 5000 two years later??? lol

I do regret putting an obedient plant in that garden. It's really spreading and doesn't really bloom or do much. Probably the one plant that the bees/butterflies like the most in the late summer is a Greg's blue mist. I can't remember what all I have planted back there right now, but it's a lot. It's really pretty at certain times of the year and not so much at other times of the year when the critters eat it down. But, it's there for them, so it's okay. It's all waking up now, so I'll see soon enough what I have.

Kim, I have people pressuring me to do YouTube, but it's not really as easy as they seem to think it is. I do have a channel for my job....and it wasn't easy figuring it all out. And it's been 6 years since I've done anything with it. Maybe it's easier now.

Maybe I'll try to make a video in a month or so....and will need to pick your brain if I do. Do you use CanvaPro to help edit and all?

I need to catch up on your videos. Right now, the first one that shows up is the one I watch....normally it's R & R if they have a new one out. By the time I sit down to watch something, I'm so sleepy and doze off. Occasionally I'll watch one during my lunchbreak.

I don't want to be at work today. I would love to be home to: take a nap, finish my laundry, and spend the rest of the day outside.

I enjoy reading about the things y'all are doing. Nancy, I can sure relate to working 15 minutes, then resting for 2 hours, sometimes even taking a nap.

Madge is gone today, She and her sister went to Shady Point OK. yesterday to visit a sister-in-law, and going to Mena AR. to visit a sister today. The sister was in ICU yesterday, hopefully out today. But, anyway, I want her to visit all friends and family she can, we never know when is the last time we will see them alive. We are getting to the age that we are losing friends and family often. I was married to a woman that seemed to resent me going to see my family, and that was a tough life, and I sure don't want to push that on someone else.

Here is one of the projects I worked on yesterday. I am going to have too many plants, so I am trying to make an "Over Flow garden". I have no idea what I will have here, because I have no idea what I will have that I cant give away. I think that year before last I planted those Egyptian Walking onion there. I have only planted here in the pasture one time, but by amending the soil a little it produced okay. Those onions have had no care, and seem to be doing as well as the ones in the garden, I was wanting to burn this area to get rid of that brush pile, plus the limbs that I need to trim from the trees in the lawn, but we have a burn ban, so I think I will push off the brush, and till what is left.

My north garden does not drain well, so I started digging a ditch to allow a path for the water to drain from my soil. I fill the ditch with organic matter, and when it decays I toss it upon the garden. My soil is shallow but you can see how it has improved my soil, It is almost like having a low raised bed, but with a border I can drive over. This may be a good spot to push the brush and trash from the pasture garden.

This is how I plan on fighting the upcoming drought. I am sitting a water tank next to each garden. I have 2 wells and a pond I can haul water from. I hope that it does not come to that, but I am trying to teach the kids not to depend on someone else for your food. I hope to leave then with the knowledge and tools to survive if the going really gets rough. I need to drag that tank out of the way and finish cleaning the decayed organic matter from my garden drain. I will need to pull a few post and fix this area along the north edge of the north garden for a row of sweet potatoes, they have done well here the past 2 years.

Larry, that's some impressive gardening!

Last night, I finally started the basil. For some reason it got overlooked. The truth is I'll probably have 1000s of them coming up in about a month. Especially the tulsi. I didn't start any of that, tho.

And got the larger lettuces all planted in the Greenstalk, the spinach in a large pot that I'll keep in the hoop house and the borage in one of the herb areas. I think that's all I did, other than organizing some things for the SF. Very few things because only Kim is taking any of my plants.

I'll need to get some potting soil. I'm completely out...even out of the not-so-good stuff.

The second round of lettuces need to be separated and up-potted to get a little growth on them. Supposedly this Muir variety takes our heat a little better than others. And I have a few flowers too that need up-potted, but I'm considering just fertilizing them well and putting them directly into the garden in a couple of weeks. They're in sterile seed starter so have no fertilizer at all.

And, I'm deciding on where to put the calendula. I've considered putting it along the edges of some of the veggie beds. The ones that get a little more shade in the afternoons. Once I get the herb spiral finally finished (hoping it's this weekend!), it will be crammed full of all the herbs that I started so there will be a lot. There's already a trailing St. John's Wort and a couple of lemon thymes at the lower level of the spiral. They've overwintered well. Unfortunately, my valerian did not. And my seed didn't germinate this year either.

Anyway....the calendula. I have a few of the Pacific Beauties, which I love, but am trying a new variety called Oopsy Daisy that came in the witches garden bundle.

And foolishly I started more chamomile. There's already tons of it everywhere in the garden. It overwinters well too. I'm not complaining, tho. I'll just plant the peppers and tomatoes around it.

Y'all, there's just so much work to be done out there. It's very unruly and quite a mess.

And we really need to rethink the chicken pen. We've lost soil right outside the coop where the chickens scratch around and dust bathe. The problem is our Cox line is buried along the chicken yard and it's now exposed. Apparently they didn't bury it very deeply. This is going to be quite a task. We'll need to build a pen on the opposite side of the coop with access to their yard. The new pen will need a little door to get in/out of the coop too. And we'll close the human door to the current pen, so they can still use that pen, but it will be closed to the yard. I've wanted to do this for awhile and now it NEEDS to be done because of the Cox situation. Before, I just wanted the area around the door to be cute and chickens don't respect "cute" flowers and pots and flower beds. But, maybe the new pen can just be a fenced in area for now and we'll do a properly enclosed pen with roof later.

I really like my coop and need for Tom to be careful with cutting another hole/door in it. I want it to look nice--not all crooked and janky.

Anyway...time to get back to work. Have a good day.

Jennifer, that style of gardening is a lot of work. When I first started gardening like that I did it by hand. I would dig the ditch one shovel width wide, and toss the soil up on the garden. Because I live in a low area, and I don't get good drainage, this type of gardening has helped me. When I lived in town I used raised beds, but I though that raised beds cost more per sq. ft., I never could keep enough soil in them. Out here in the country I don't have to buy as much stuff to maintain a garden, but I am always trying to come up with free stuff, and I can justify a tractor now.

I have worked on the pasture, and north garden a little today, but most of my time has been spent on the driveway. We have lived here almost 19 years, and some of the gravel has wash or pressed into the sub-base. I had 15 ton of crushed rock delivered a few months ago to be used on the driveway, french drains, and a parking pad for my RTV. I am pushing some of the top soil back in the pasture garden and digging out clay to put on the driveway along with the crushed rock.

I have always enjoyed doing things myself. To many times in the past when I would hire someone to do a job, I would end up firing them before the job was done. It is hard to find someone that will show up and take pride in their work.

We are getting some much needed rain, but it sure has messed up my plans for the day. I had planned on playing in the dirt, but if I go out now I will have to play in the mud. Madge has gone to the beauty shop, so to make good use of my time, I told her that I would take her out to eat when she gets back.

My gardens are looking much better, but there is never a time when you cant find something that needs to be done in the garden, they are sorta like a house, always needing tweaked in some way.

We are going to celebrate Madge's 86 birthday tomorrow, we will have kids, grand kids, great grand kids, inlaws, and outlaws running around everywhere. The RTV is full of diesel, the pond is full of fish, and there are 60 acres of weeds that needs to be run over. I don't drink, but I need a 5th of whiskey to help me get through this weekend. I cant help but to worry about the kids getting hurt, of what they will tear up, but I think back to when I was a kid, and makes me think that my folks probably need whiskey also.

Larry, what a blessing to have MADGE so many years on this earth. I know you enjoy every second with her. I am also enjoying some rain. We had a little bit on Wednesday maybe a quarter of an inch. Today it feels more like we’re gonna get close to an inch. I came home from five days gone and my garden has grown exponentially. It’s amazing what a little heat and rain can do to a garden.

Well I’m jealous of those getting rain - looks like maybe next weekend is our first really good chance. Hopefully I will get corn and maybe some early beans and flower seeds planted before it rains. My lettuce, onions, greens, snd spinach are looking good, a few potatoes are up. Garlic is iffy. We’ve still been fencing and between allergies, dust, and smoke my eyes look like I’ve been on a drunk. Had to go to Dean McGee today because I felt like a piece of Texas was stuck - just irritated - she said stay inside out of the wind and dust. Obviously not my world.

Larry, you remind me of my husband - he is very particular and we have always done things ourselves. His vision is mostly gone and we needed some welding done on the corral (above mg level if expertise 😂) Well he watched the guy do it, paid him and right after he left he knocked most of it loose and we redid it! I asked ”didnt we just pay to have this built????” Yes, my mistake, should have done it myself!!

Tell Madge Happy Birthday - I understand a big celebration and the happiness and stress that comes with it

Glenda, it is really frustrating when you reach the point to where you have to rely on someone else. Weak eyes, shaky hands, and really bad hearing goes against you when you are trying to weld. I am lucky in the fact that I have access to some pretty good welders, and mechanics, but I still don't like to ask for help.

My plants don't look as good as I would like for them to look. They are outside now, and have been for a few days, they got sunburned on the second day, and nearly drown last night, and today ( I don't have holes in the trays ). The plants are out in the pasture under my pickup. There is a chance of bad weather tonight, plus I want to protect them from some of the crew that may be here tomorrow. I went around taking keys out of everything, unloading guns and hiding them, now I will probably forget where I put everything.

Larry and Lynn--great looking gardening! I bet that soil is glorious, Larry. Larry, for sure a bottle of whiskey would help with an event like that!! In fact, I might have to take a page from your book. Now I know why my own grandparents arrived for events at someone else's house and left shortly after dinners! Having said that, I loved visiting them for quiet times and walks even into my 30s. Absolutely adored them.

Haha, Jennifer--yes, I'm growing the kale to eat! It took me many many tries. . . Amy helped a lot. But when I tried the grocery mix of kale with cranberries and poppyseed dressing, I was sold! Add to that it can be disguised in many recipes, it's a winner, as are summer squash and cucumbers. And onions. And garlic. Tomato sauces, onions and garlic are staples here.

Jennifer, would love to see some big pics of the yard, gardens, chicken stuff. I still mildly regret not making the dive into chickens, but know it was for the best, with all the dogs running loose out here and hearing the many stories of chickens being killed. AND because now it seems to take a lot of energy just letting unsynchronized cats and dog in. And out. And in.

And I finally got my own basil planted. It was hard to confine it to just three--Cardinal, Holy, and Lemon.

In going through my seeds, the ONE thing I had to have was not there--sunflower seeds. And so we'll pick some up tomorrow, along with tomatoes tomorrow in town. We have great new neighbors (of about 4 years now) to our immediate north and they have a full view of our raised veggie bed area, so I put sunflowers in there last year for them to enjoy. They loved it, so will put more in this year.

Obedient plant! I'm a little perplexed about why yours aren't blooming much, Jennifer. Now that I'm thinking about it, the ones I grew in Minneapolis were stronger, bigger and blossomed more than the ones I have down here. Hmm. If you have space, one killer plant for me has been Virginian Mountain Mint. It makes a large clump and has a long bloom time. Another is the blue wild indigo clump. Lori Darling introduced that one to me.

It was blustery today, but we only got 100 or so drops of rain. Bummer.

Nancy we got a dog door last year about this time. It's in the storm door. I'm pretty sure the cat could go through it, but she hasn't tried and she's meant to be an inside cat anyway. It's wonderful except when the wind blows it open. We close the house door when it's cold or windy, but it's so nice not to have to constantly be opening the door.

Lynn, I love your tomato method!

Larry, when the grandkids left after 8 days I was like "can I have brandy now." At 3:00 in the afternoon. They were more than ready to go home, too. The 4 year old went to school on Monday and throat punched a kid who wouldn't leave him alone. The cousins are more "hands on" than the school. If it's not one thing it's 6.

X O X O

Happy BD to Madge! I hope you're able to have a little fun with the family, Larry.

Glenda, I'm jealous of the rain too! Maybe tonight?

Lynn, I love your tomato set up. I know I've said this before, but I want to copy it at some point, I won't this year, tho. With the smaller number I'm growing, I could to that. Where do you store your cages?

Nancy, I know what salad mix you're talking about! It's one of my favorites too! Another brand has a similar one with a honey mustard dressing. I have the poppy seed one in my fridge right now. I'm making it to take to a lunch tomorrow.

Also, our property isn't very pretty. It sounds pretty when I talk about it. It's especially not pretty right now. It has pretty spaces and places that give a feeling of beauty so it seems prettier in person than in pictures. Maybe the smell and sounds add to it.

The native garden isn't pretty for long. Those little munching things chomp plants down before they can really look nice for long. I have a mountain mint, but I'm uncertain of the variety. I knew at one time. There's a falso blue indigo back there too (is that the same as yours?). But, it doesn't really get to bloom much before the caterpillars get it. Same with the passion vine I got from Larry. We have some very hungry caterpillars out here.

Anyway, I"ll see about taking some pictures of the property once we get it planted up a bit and things look a little more gardeny. Maybe there's a drone pic online that can be posted so you can see how it's laid out. I didn't realize how crooked everything is until I saw those air shots. LOL

I worked outside for about 3 hours last night. Got the herb spiral and 4 elements gardens weeded and a couple more beds too. It felt good to get those tasks done. I still have about 5 evenings worth of weeding in the kitchen garden. And probably about 8 hours worth of work in the native garden. AND then, there's the front, side, and back flowerbeds. It's a mess. It will get there slowly. Maybe by May. haha.

Today, we tore out the back garden. We're thinking about tilling it. Maybe Rick will help us out there. And then rebuilding it. It's 3 raised beds in a U shape sort of. And the inside of the U is a skinny bed for flowers/herbs. It has an arched trellis between the sides of the U. It's all out now, tho. It was really beautiful at one time but it hasn't grown things very well in a couple of years. The soil is bad. Needs amending.

Success with the sourdough! Yesterday I brought the starter out in the morning and fed it. Then made the dough after work...and came in every 30 minutes to stretch and fold. It went into the refrigerator over night. It proofed for a couple of hours and then I baked it. I'm glad it turned out after all that work.

We're about to see a movie now.

How's everyone's weekend going?

Hazel, thanks for the compliment, about my cages, when I pull out my plants I set them along the fence until I get my winter cover planted. Then I move them back into the garden. I just let the cover grow up around them.

I will be looking for some cardboard, I think you mentioned a place in Norman that I can get cardboard ?

So far so good. Lots of planting done. Compost tea made. I will use that on Monday. I can’t remember everything I did but I am tired. Happiest Birthday to Madge.

My weekend is going pretty well. All six of Madge's kids came for Birthday. Madge and I are worn out, I don't see how she holds up to what she does. Madge's kids worked around here and helped us get some of the things done that we just cant do anymore. One of Madge's sons said that he would come down and work on my generator and tractor, I just cant see well enough to some of the stuff that I use to do, nor am I strong enough to break the bolts loose.

I sent sweet potato pots home with 2 grand daughters, one grand daughter took home a lot of onion plants. The same grand daughter saw the bunch of plant that I have, and wants a lot more plants than she has room for, but I told everyone to send me a list of the plants that they want, and I would try to have some up potted for her. I gave some of the grand kids plants last year, and they did quite well, and are eager to try again.

I tried to make things safe for the great grand kids. I unloaded and hid the guns and ammo, took the keys out of the outside stuff, tied the keys with a white braided cord, and I guess I must have eaten those keys, I cant remember where I put the, but I know they are in a safe place, we have looked high and low and cant find them.

That's our property. I wonder if it was taken during the late summer when things were dry because it's very brown but the trees are green. You can see the house with our cars parked in the driveway. Ethan was still here so the picture is at least 2 years old. His car is the white one at the back. The house has a small patio. We had the umbrella opened and I have pots of stuff and the Greentalk on it. The clump of trees between the house and the kitchen garden (to the east) really gives the garden shade in the afternoon/evening. The shop is the other large structure. It's 40' x 20'. It has a covered porch that you can't see. and a retaining wall that doesn't show up in the picture, but I have flowers and plants on those.

The smaller structure behind the house, is the coop. It has a covered pen and you can see how we have a strip fenced off for the chickens almost all the way to the back of the property. You can also see the two little coops we have within the chicken yard for broody hens/chicks/injured chickens or whatever)

Behind the shop, is the native garden. It doesn't show up well but you can see a few things growing in it. Then, the thing that looks black, is a shade cloth that is on the hoop house. Behind and on the west side of the hoop house is the back garden (that we're rebuilding) It is smallish but very useful when the soil isn't a dud. The tree at the back is where I have the beauty berries planted and the wild violets. They obviously don't show up. You can sorta see the 3 elderberries scattered about back there. Then....to the south east corner is the survivalist garden. Rick must have been here that day, because his truck is parked next to it. (the clump of stuff in between the back garden and the survivalist garden is our burn pile. It's a delight for pollinators too. Sunflowers and all sorts of stuff come up in it.

The crooked kitchen garden has elderberries planted to the east and blackberries and columnar apple trees to the south. There's a little askew bed (the small coop sat in that spot many years ago so I build a bed on it) was full of herbs and plants for pollinators. It sorta shows up. You can't see the compost bins, the area with the rhubarb and horseradish or the hinged hoop bed. They are hidden by the tree. In the northeast area, is a lot of wildflowers normally very pretty until about June.

You can't see the front flower beds or the side ones either.

I guess picture was taken during drought because so much is brown.

Jennifer, you have a pretty place. I had a pretty place at one time, it sure is a lot of work to keep a place like that up. I was a lot younger then, and I did all the out side work, and home repairs, that and raising a family sure keeps you busy.

I got a chuckle out of opening my Messenger, it looks like the kids want some of almost everything I have. I think they are making a mistake, but that is how you learn. The first step is getting beds ready, and have not done that yet. The kids are retiring this summer, so maybe they can swing it, but with 4 grand babies there will be a lot of distractions.

Jennifer - love the picture! It’s like a tour if your property - which seems well arranged. Knowing where to put certain beds is a constant trial and error effort. Just because it looks suitable doesn’t mean it will work, and owning property is constant maintenance - that’s half the battle, keep preaching that to kids and grands but most of them wait until it breaks. Then some fix it snd some don’t, drives my husband crazy but they have to learn things themselves. I was never smart enough to learn from someone else’s mistakes - I learned some hard lessons.

Larry, I’m glad you survived Madge’s party and understand the relief of having it over with. Hope the ones who took plants plant and care for them - I should plant a lot less than I do but keep thinking next year they will do better.

Not a drop of rain here, but at least we missed the wind and hail too.

Neat picture, Jennifer. Did they do that for Google earth?

.7 inches of RAIN! That will wake things up around here!

Going to start a new thread, I'll try to get the week right this time.