Hello y’all. Seems like we got 3-4”

We didn't get that much. But maybe over 2 inches. It was good and enough for now.

I was able to spend 4 glorious hours in the garden. Got the cucumber bed weeded and planted. Got the green bean bed weeded but not planted.

That's about it. Time flies when you're in the garden on a beautiful afternoon.

At work, I got 2 1/2 inches. I really don’t know how much I got at home but my neighbor got 3 1/2 inches.

Hey, Y'all. I'm here but too tired to post much. Hope you're all doing well.

The green beans are now planted! Jade and Contender. I'm bringing the giant packet of Contender beans with me to SF. Rebecca and maybe someone else wanted some. Rick ordered them about a year ago.

If everything germinates, I'll have way too many green beans. We don't love canned green beans, but maybe I'll can a few. Depending on harvest amounts and time. We do love fresh green beans, tho.

Planting beans was all I was able to get done last night other than watering the plants in the hoop house.

Did I mention that the hoop house potatoes are popping up now. And there's several in the burn pile too. Rick and I got a 5 gallon bucket of potatoes from the burn pile in 2024.

Things are waking up--berry bushes and trees and all the things.

Still not seeing any volunteer roselle. And I didn't start any seed. Usually there's so many volunteers. Watch it be the one year that I have none. There's still quite a bit of dried roselle in the herb cabinet but not enough to get me through this year and next year. Oh well. It's still early. Maybe I'll get a volunteer. It's probably not too late to start a couple of seeds.

The peppers, tomatoes and marigolds are sitting on the patio table now. They've been in the hoop house, which helps in hardening off but it's not quite the same. It is supposed to be cloudy today so hopefully nothing will get burned. It looks sunny to me, tho. Maybe the weather app is wrong.

I am taking tomorrow off of work. Just got word that my sister in law and brother in law are coming to visit tomorrow. Great. I have the baby this weekend and and now them too. Luckily they stay in their RV as she is really allergic to cats. But, they're really wanting us to cook for them because she can stay at our house for a couple of hours without an allergy issue. But that's after I've cleaned insanely. And there's no time for me to do that. I love them but they always choose the worst times to visit. After coming off Easter week and the week before where I've literally had no days off of work. And worked evenings too. Tomorrow I was planning on doing light cleaning and laundry. And little house things that I've been putting off. And getting the baby's room ready. Then in the evening, I really want to get my front flower beds and porch pots tidied up and ready to plant with annuals.

Anyway...I love to host. I love our family. I just wish it was next week that they were visiting so I had time to prepare more.

I'm heading over to Nichols Hills in a few minutes. I have a mask but hopefully won't work in the mold room.

Goodness Jennifer, just when you think you might get a day off and some rest, somebody comes up with a great idea to come visit. That’s one nice thing about living in a teeny tiny house. Nobody ever wants to come visit except my small grandchildren. My 13 year-old grandson Ryder said I can see how this would work for one person. That’s so cute but he’s right two people we were bumping into each other constantly. I got a lot of planting done in the last two days at work added some more okra seed to the okra section because not all of the old okra germinated and I planted cow peas. Then I put out some more tomato starts and chives. I don’t know if they’ll make it but I wanted them out of the greenhouse. Yesterday I trimmed eight tomato plants in the greenhouse. I’m seeing a lot of blight or something on the tomato leaves. Probably from soil splash. Some of the tomatoes outside are showing signs of herbicide damage. They sprayed down wind last week in the grassy areas for weeds and fertilizer. I will see if these plants pull out of it or get worse. I was gonna ask for an MSDS sheet so I know exactly what was being sprayed. Some sprays I think water makes it worse And some sprays water can help.

No, Larry my sweet potato I put in tray for slips shows nothing!! Ive had it on heat mat and kept it watered but not one tiny little green leaf. However I have a huge tuber from an ornamental sweet potato that my pastor gave me and I put it in a pan of soil and it’s making shoots. What’s with that? Stillwater mill will have slips later but in bunches of 25, no dividing a bunch. It’s okay - I’ll just use that bed for something else.

Tomorrow I’m putting my porch and patio plants and succulents out. Still holding tomatoes, peppers, and periwinkle plants another week, maybe 2. Our roadrunner showed up today. They come every year about this time and have their usual routines. They are an entertaining bird. I’ve heard the turkeys but not seen them. I know there is a flock of almost 20 less than 1/8 of mile away. I love to watch them and the deer but don’t want them in my garden or flowerbeds.

We got 1.2”Thursday night and another 4/10” the next night. Amazing the difference in the pasture and in the garden soil. Jennifer I used to only can green beans but the last few years I only freeze them. Just blanch about 3 minutes, put in ice water then drain and freeze. So much better than canned.

I think we all prefer company on our own schedule. I don’t like I’m surprises or extended visits. My husband does not like company at all so that’s part of why it stresses me.

I enjoy cooking and hosting but it can be hard on a person

Kim, that's too bad about the herbicide damage. How many tomatoes do you plant for the family? Do they have favorite varieties?

Glenda, I can imagine that a roadrunner is entertaining.

I set the succulents out a couple of days ago. They need to be up-potted. Two of them don't look good. The tomatoes will go into the garden as soon as I can find time to weed and add compost to the beds. They need to go soon. Same with the Crackjack marigolds and butterfly peas.

Depending on what time SIL and BIL come, I might try to get the porch area cleaned up and ready to plant.

I've frozen green beans in the past too. But it seems like they were freezer burned the last batch. Maybe I'll try it again. Do you spread yours on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer after blanching/ice soak? And then bag up?

I've gotten a few tasks done this morning. Break time is over now.

Jennifer, your post is giving me flash-backs. I really don't mind company, but it takes me so long to get things done, I am always running out of time.

Madge ran across an old picture album of mom's. Shown are some pictures of the late 50's, early 60's. I did not like to go on vacation, but mom and my younger brother and sister did. I would stay home and care for the stock while they went on vacation. Most of the people in these pictures are dead now, and I am still trying to take care of the place.

In the bottom left picture is the second new truck that mom bought after dad died, she wanted to keep something that was in good shape so she could go.

Two things that mom and dad regretted, was not having a family photo, and dad working all the time. Some time after 1957 mom had a photo made of what was left of the family.

I may have picked up some of dad's habits. Madge has two daughters, and two great grand children coming to visit today, and I told her that I don't have time to go out and eat with them. Sometimes after I eat, I have to make several trips to the bathroom, and I feel that it is better for me to stay home, and try to get a little work done, and only eat if I really have to.

Glenda, I don't know if I posted this picture or not, but I have a bunch of neglected plants that I need to do something with, but I can't seem to stay out of the doctor's office long enough to get any thing done.

I have the ends of four more sweet potatoes to stick into the soil to get slips. Madge cooked the potatoes last night and made a pie.

Here is another picture that I ran across. I went through a painful divorce in 1996, so I just gave up on everything. I felt that I had lost everything, and that I would spend the rest of my life doing the things that I liked to do. I retired at the age of 52, bought a new pickup, and put a small camper shell on the back, ant took off. I went to California first, then up to Alaska. I spent 4 months living in the back of that pickup. I thought that I would spend the money I had left, then crawl up on some mountain top and starve. But, I die slow, I found Madge, and we were married in 2006, now she wont let me starve

I traveled a good part of north America, Canada, and Mexico. I cam back home and got a job driving an 18 wheeler, seeing more of the USA and Canada, and found Madge in northwest Arkansas.

I hope that I run across more of mom's pictures. I bought a new 35MM camera before going to Alaska, and sent mom over 700 pictures of my 4 month long trip. Mom loved to go, and by that time she was married and did not get to go as much, but she seemed to travel through my phone calls and the pictures that I would send home.

I guess that I need to make this post have something about gardening, I saw the largest cabbage head that I have ever seen at the Fairbanks AK fair, ir weighed 35 pounds.

We were on our way to a friends gold claim up at the base of the Brooks Mountain range. We camped above Coldfoot Ak.. The river was too high from all the snow melt to drive any farther. We tried to hick in to the claim, but there was too much water for hiking also. We did try to pan for gold in some of the streams, but I would not turn loose of my gun long enough to pan for gold, I was afraid that someone might find any of the nuggets that I might find in a pile of bear poop. It was calving time for the moose, and I was afraid that a bear might think that I looked like a moose calf.

Larry absolutely love these pictures. Jennifer I have a variety of large and cherry. Mostly cherry types. I wanted a big beefy one but never got seed for one. I do have seeds for three different types of peppers on their way. My tomatoes, I have sun, gold, super sweet, 100, large, red cherry, Porter, husky, cherry, orange hat, dwarf, and I know I have a Lincoln and Cherokee purple.

Kim, this has been a day of walking down memory lane. Madge is reading some of mom's old recipes, and I am going through old pictures. I wish I could find some of the ones that I sent mom from Alaska.

I will try to bore you with another picture. This one is the first or second garden that I made after I bought the old home place about 23 years ago. I had a much better garden spot over on the east side of the property, but the old house needed too much work, and my health was going down hill, and so was my savings.

I don't know mom wound up with a picture of me and my garden, but mom was proud of her kids and most of the things they did.

My little brother and I spent a lot of time on our hands and knees playing under that walnut tree behind the house. I had to trim the tree a lot to keep it from shading the garden, and tomatoes would not grow near the walnut roots.

Thanks for sharing the pictures, Larry. Those are so fun to look at.

I feel ever so much better today after taking a day at home. Got little things done that were on hold and light house cleaning.

And the flowerbeds at the front of the house weeded. I'm trying to decide about a mulch there because cottonseed hull is out. Only ornamentals are grown there.

It didn't take long so the east side flower bed was weeded too. And some of the things pruned back. It felt SO good to get that done.

The weather guys called yesterday's wind "light" and today was going to be more windy. If yesterday was light wind, I dread what today's will be. Yesterday the hardening-off plants got beat up in the "light" wind. SO, today they were put back into the hoop house.

Other than that, I just started 4 varieties of basil--Genovese, lemon, Thai, and Purple Petra.

Santa Fe South is in our offices at work making remodeling plans, so I better shut this down.

Have a good day!

I moved a broken round bale of hay from the creek to near the pasture gate to where I could get to it with the pickup, and disc most of the wildlife spot, but it was too muddy to get to all of it.

Two of Madge's daughters, and two great grand daughters came to visit. The little girls helped me move my neglected plants outside. I am not sure how many I can save, but I expect to still have plenty of plants, especially pepper plants, I have not counted them, but the count may be up near 100.

I have a bunch of old seed ready to toss in the wildlife garden. I expect that I have at least 20 pounds of seed, maybe more to toss out.

I need to mow the lawn, and maybe some of the pasture, but I am not sure I will get it done, I need to up pot my plants first.

Sounds like y’all are getting it done. One project at a time. My home garden is lacking attention. I will show some love tomorrow. I am off and resting is my main priority along with gardens. I need to harvest a ton of mint to dry. I need to level my greenstalk and finish planting.

I need to weedeater tomorrow. Not my favorite but I like how it looks when it’s done

Glenda, I pulled 85 slips out of that tray of sweet potatoes. I was planning to have 36 slips by the first of May, but as it looks now I will have at least 100. Most of those slips came from the ends of the potatoes, where I cut off about an inch or so of the sprouting end and Placed in in the potting soil on 3-12, and on 4-10 I harvested 85 slips. I still have sweet potato pie in the kitchen. I still have a good bunch of budding ends that in a plastic bag that I have not done anything with, I may just plant the extra ends in the flower bed, or in the wildlife garden.

Jennifer, I think that you ask about Madge's sweet potato pie a few weeks ago. When I though about asking Madge how she made the pie, she told me " just like a pumpkin pie. I think she said, a cup of pet milk, two eggs, 1/2 to 1 tea spoon of vanilla, a small amount of lemon flavoring, then spice it sorta like a pumpkin pie. I don't know anything about cooking, but I often get to skin the potatoes after they have been baked, then beat up all the mixture with an electric mixer. Our hands are always too sore to do anything the old fashion way.

I have well over 100 plants other than these. I have cut back this year, but I should have cut back more.

I wish my slips would make faster. I think I have 4 and need 30.

Yours look amazing

Larry I want a bottle of whatever you took to give you all that energy! i intended to put out tomatoes this week but we got delayed by other jobs and cattle. Tonight watched the news/weather and they have 37-38° for next weekend so glad i was delayed.

I have corn, beans, cucumbers, zuchinni, squash, carrots, and of course potatoes up and a carpet of volunteer zinnias.

Jennifer I just blanch my green beans and drain them well then package in freezer bags. When I take them out I don’t thaw or rinse - just put in skillet with an onion and a little bacon grease or olive oil and stir till they start to brown then add a drop or two of liquid smoke, salt,pepper, a pinch of sugar and just enough water or broth to put the lid on and steam until tender

Glenda, I have no energy, and I am so slow that it takes me all day to fall down.

Our long range forecast looks good, but that could change in a heart beat. The Ft Smith forecast shows a low of 46 next week week end. Our weather sometimes gets a little crazy, but it is seldom more than 6 or 7 degrees off of what Ft. Smith is.

Glenda, I cant think of anything that I have up yet, other than what I have started in the house, but I would like to plant some stuff in the next few days

I was over at my neighbor's place to day, and he already has 100's of plants in the ground, but he has a greenhouse, and can get plants ready sooner than I can, plus he buys a lot of his plants.

Larry, thanks for sharing Madge's recipe. That sounds delicious.

Glenda, your green bean method sound delicious too!

I see that low of 37 next Sunday morning on my weather app. But, the news channels were showing low 40's. Ugh. What to do?

The tomatoes really need to be planted now. They are beginning to struggle in their little pots. But...my lack of time, the potential frost next week, and now the rain is hindering this.

I'm planting only 10 tomatoes this year, so could cover them with buckets next week and then drape a frost cloth over the buckets....that's IF I can get the beds ready and the tomatoes planted.

The peppers can be on hold for a couple more weeks. They look good still--not too big.

But, the butterfly peas, sage and some of the other herbs need to be planted soon too.

I'm at work so better get busy, but wanted to check in. I'll start a new thread later today.

Hoping it's dry for Spring Fling.

I don't even know how many plants I have, but I know it is too many.

It is trying to rain a little here, and I need for the rain to hold off, but I seem to never have any control of the weather.

I have broken a fan belt on the tractor. I also need to do the 50 hour service on it, but not being able to run the engine pretty well had me shut down. I also need to work on the tiller, if I could get the tiller to run I could plant out some of these plants, but I had rather not do it in the rain, or muddy soil.

Glenda, I still only have two of the sweet potatoes up where I just placed the sprouting end of the potato in the flower bed, my best guess is that it is still a little too cold.

I saw 50 degrees for next week. I will be ready with bricks and pots to cover my peppers. Just in case

The spring fling is coming up really quick and I decided I am going to go this year. I always enjoy meeting the people that I converse with. Most of the people in our group came from this garden web group. This year we’re meeting up near Stroud And I’m driving up the day before because that is a very long drive for me. It’s always exciting to get together and discuss who grew the biggest tomato. Just kidding. It is a cloudy overcast day perfect for gardening. I’ve got my door open, but I am stuck inside doing housework That must get done today. I will probably go out and tear something up later and do some weed eating. I think I have some stuff to plant, but I can’t be sure until I look in my stash. Everything is growing like gangbusters here we’ve had decent rain in the last 2 1/2 three weeks and all my rain barrels are full. And we’re supposed to get more rain tonight. I hope you are getting rain where you are.