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Productive day
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Posted by kqcrna z6 SW Oh (My Page) on Thu, Oct 1, 09 at 20:31
| The frost that they had forcasted for last night didn't happen, but we were really fogged in this morning. I started working in the yard around 10 a.m. I chopped up a couple of hanging baskets and added the potting mix to my 2 new tomato beds, works in progress. Also cleared a bunch on annuals in one bed and trimmed back perennials some. I dug out my lilies, have those packed up for their new home. Giving them away because I refuse to grow them just for the deer's diet.
I also moved and divided some chives and snapdragons as well as 3 clumps of sedum. Also planted a couple of pensetmon started this summer (the 2 the caterpillars didn't get) and finally got some WSown kniphofia in the ground.
It's supposed to rain tonight. It's getting awfully late to be moving and planting all this stuff. I worked until the sprinkles started at 5:30. I've had my Advil and am sitting here moving my hot pack from spot to spot. Getting old is hell.
Still, so much to do out there.
Karen |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Productive day
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Karen,
I'm exhausted just from reading all you did today. Tomorrow I'm batten down the hatches too :( I think I'm older than you, there's no way I can last all day. :)Laura |
RE: Productive day
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| I don't know Laura. I'm 57, but I feel about 87 right now. I have to get up at 5:30 and go to work, then do my Mother's grocery shopping (she's 84), then happy hour and dinner with friends. Will be ready for my own funeral by Saturday. Karen |
RE: Productive day
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| I managed to get out there too, today. I took down the morning glory vines and dug them out of the tub so I could plant the gorgeous pink Chrysanthemums I bought at my local country store. I also planted a Pyracantha, and watched the goldfinches devour the seeds in my dried flower-heads of Moulin Rouge sunflowers. The Pyracantha will add another food source for the birds, it joins a variegated Elderberry and a Flowering Crab-apple tree in my wildlife garden. My WS Purple Majesty Millet is in that bed, and it is now only a foot tall, just sending up a seed-head, it will most likely get killed off by frost before I can ever harvest any seeds from it. Mary |
RE: Productive day
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| I just ordered more Penisetum Purple Majesty from Value Seeds so I will have some for next year after all. Yes, I found a bunch of other things to order from them too. Low shipping, cheap seeds, such a deal! |
RE: Productive day
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| A good day's work, Karen. I spent the morning moving pots of dahlias, morning glories, and perennials still waiting to be planted from my garage back outside. Also starting cleaning up plants and pots to move inside for the winter. I am not ready to let my annuals go yet, maybe because I was gone recently and they are still full of blooms. We should have at least two more weeks frost free. Will not bring them in again though. We had a good soaking rain throughout the afternoon. Still have seedlings in milk jugs that need to get planted. May just drop the whole thing in the ground for the winter. Seems like I usually have a few of those each fall. Most of the seedlings have been planted in borders or holding beds. Planted out some columbine and geranium seedlings yesterday. Understand about an aching body. Age is so relative, with my younger friends I feel old, with my friends in their 70s and 80s I feel young. 57 wasn't so bad for me, now I find I am slower to get started (I use the excuse that the grass is still wet from dew until late morning) and need a slow day between those full days (I work long after dark). |
RE: Productive day
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| Getting old is hell. Yes it is. I'm only 36, but I abuse my body way too often in the yard and working on the house. I've got a busy day ahead of me. I want to install the 5 remaining kitchen cabinets, move a few perennials, pull some more annuals, and start clearing the area for my new patio I plan to build this winter if I get the stepping stone I've been promised from work. It's going to be a long day. And here I sit, drinking coffee.... |
RE: Productive day
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OK since we're all giving up our ages...
I recently turned 29.
by recently I mean 17 yrs ago. :)
I'm still sipping my coffee dreading all the plans I made for today. and it's cold and dreary out there. OK just one more cup of coffee. then I'll get started.
:)Laura |
RE: Productive day
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| So, I guess I should make all of you feel young, and that's OK because I fondly remember being young now that I'm 72. I still have a lot of years to go. Just got to pace myself. I love playing in the dirt. Mary |
RE: Productive day
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Ack frost here any night now. I've been planting things out like mad and potting up as much as I can but I am worried. It might be worth carrying some things up to the eaves of my house for the winter. I still need to move all the perennial thyme out of the veg. garden where I started it as a ground cover and into the herb garden for next year. I still need to decide where to put the two starts of perennial chamomile from lgslgs. I have so many baby perennials that will have to wait out the winter in pots. I have cleared out the last of the sunflowers and dumped some of my veg. bucket dirt in their place to raise the soil level for next year. I have been using other bucket soil to even out the bumps in my yard. I've planted out a dozen things this rainy week. I still have sticks to pick up and the leaves haven't even started falling and killing the grass yet. so much more that I should pot up. I have a few hanging planters to clear yet. Adding them to the garden bed is a brilliant idea.
I pulled up the oregano for drying yesterday and need to get the basil. I was really hoping for some seeds though. Hmmm.
I'm not giving my age, my back hurts no matter how old I am. Stinky cold rain. |
RE: Productive day
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Love this post,
I will be 62 in November.
More aches and pains than i ever thought were possiable,and i mean this.
Then i think of Not a Contessa,Mary,who i refeer to as MY Hero!I picture you several times through out the day,doing your gardening,and you are an insprition ,don't know what you look like, but in my minds eye, i have my own picture of you,and you are sweet,your garden beautiful.
I will keep on, keeping on, doing what i love,even if i have to do it with a walker.
Today, will be my productive day,much to do,and time has run out, the weather is getting cold,with never ending rain,today,no rain,tomorrow,yes,so,today will be my day.
Happy gardening friends.
cAROL |
RE: Productive day
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| Hey Karen - When you get caught up over there you are welcome to come here and help us pick up sticks. We're cleaning sticks out of the wooded hills so that we can blow the leaves off the hills. The leaves will get shredded, collected and composted. Sticks all get chipped. Getting the leaf out of the woods will let understory grasses and weeds fill in - yummy for goats and Connie the cow. We've probably got 2 - 2.5 acres done so far. Only 12.5 - 13 more to go! This is going to take more than this season to complete but it's going well. Wow, does my knee ache, though. The woods includes sections with 45 - 60 degree slopes. Much easier for the goats to climb than for me to climb with an armload of sticks. As for the flower garden, I moved the sea holly to an even sunnier and drier location. I'm resisting the urge to move anything else - since the perennials are almost all first year plants I want them to keep using the Fall to grow and root in. Moving them now would set them back for a week to adjust and could also increase my risk of them getting heaved by frost. The flower beds have all been weeded and hoed. Next up will be acorn harvest and leaf pick up. Then a gentle winter sow this year (unless I keep buy seeds like a crazy lady) and move a bunch of perennials in early spring. Lynda |
RE: Productive day
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Hi Lynda,Forgive me if I am wrong,are you the Lynda who tought us(me) how to grow tomates in pots?
Well, i grew about 75 this year,amd they all did great,will only grow them in pots from now on.
Even my friends,who have been growing tomatoes for years,could not bebieve how well they did.
I have not really been on WSing much over the summer, to darn busy,ha ha
But, thank you so much.
cAROL |
RE: Productive day
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| Yes, Carol - My hubby and I are the 5 gallon bucket folks. We had 220 tomato plants in buckets this year. With the rest of the veg we had between 400 - 500 buckets in service this year. That's one of the reasons our fall cleanup is mainly woods work - cleaning up all of those sticks will let us harvest huge amounts of leaves for composting, and for filling future year's 5 gallon buckets. We save veg garden clean up work for gun hunting week. (First week after Thanksgiving.) During that week the goats and cow are confined to a smaller area alongside the house. We spend the week delivering them the dead veggie plants and non-poisonous annuals, then we put the bucket compost on my flower garden to augment the soil. It won't take long for the herd to process those 220 tomato plants. :) Lynda |
RE: Productive day
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| Okay Lynda, Carol has thrown down the trowel....what's the SECRET you gave her to grow tomato plants in 5 gallon buckets??? I've tried garden patch (ok); straw bales (forget it!); raised bed (hum, still thinkin on that one). I'm game AND already have the pails so GIVE IT UP (or I'll send some of the cold Iowa winter to you)!!! Happy gardening to all from Iowa. |
RE: Productive day
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- Posted by lgslgs z6 SE ohio (My Page) on
Tue, Oct 20, 09 at 17:18
| No trick, nbaces - We grow ours in a mix of homegrown compost with a bit of perlite in it. You could also use any good potting mix. We start the tomato plants from seed in small pots and then put them in the gallon buckets when danger of frost is past. After that, just keep an eye on the soil moisture, water as needed, pluck off tomato hornworms if they show up, and treat for blight if it shows up. At the end of the season we put the container soil into my flower garden beds and always use fresh mix the next year to keep disease and pest levels low. It's funny that this post surfaced again. We are STILL up to our ears in stick pick up and leaf pick up. We have some HUGE piles of shredded leaf already and the leaf drop has barely started. This has been our full time job on every dry day and the end is no where in sight. Time to get back out there and pick up more sticks. Lynda |
RE: Productive day
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| The end of fall clean-up is within sight for me now, but that's only because I'm far-sighted. We went to the Smokies last week, our 30th anniversary. It rained for the entire 4 days we were there. We came home to the prettiest tree we had seen all week, right in our own front yard.
 There are fresh deer tracks in a back flower bed. They seemed to totally stomp out my newly planted knifofia seedlings, and ate the sedum. In the front yard, something ate and uprooted newly planted pansies as well as huge geraniums. Had the first frost while I was gone, tender plants disintegrated. I had to work yesterday and today. I'm off tomorrow, and the weather is supposed to be nice. Hopefully I'll make some more progress in the yard. Karen |
RE: Productive day
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| That is a beautiful tree!!! I love it! Danielle |
RE: Productive day
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What a beautiful tree!
Do your neighbors take pictures? I used to do that, I love the changing of the colors. And the compost to follow!!! I'm hoping to have enough to fill at least 3 more bed.
:)Laura
Oh yea, and top off the others. |
RE: Productive day
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Thanks, I love it too. It's still such that each day it's a little prettier. But the leaves are falling fast. This was today.
 BTW I had another one of those productive days outside today- flipped both full compost bins, screened and added finished compost to house plants, cleared the rest of the stuff from the front bed and also down one side of the house. My aches and pains are back. I've already showered and am ready for bed- very soon. Karen |
RE: Productive day
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- Posted by mcbdz 8 Louisiana (My Page) on
Wed, Oct 21, 09 at 20:45
Love the tree,
Finally got some work done, cleaned up east side bed, added mulch to the west side bed, cut back my Loropetalum (Plum delight), that was the biggest chore. Those shrubs grew to 6' this year. Also worked on collecting more seed. My back is screaming at me now. :O(
Pattie |
RE: Productive day
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Today/all week, I raked and shredded leaves, millions and millions! then I added them to my compost. For days and days and days...
I mulched and mulched and mulched. I'm so happy it will be raining all weekend. I need a break. I was so excited about the leaves falling but now I'm sick of them!!!! This is too much work.
I know come spring I'll sing a different song.but for now, I'm tired.
:)Laura |
RE: Productive day
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Pretty tree, Karen.
Didn't you get any rain?
It's been raining here for over 2 weeks with only a short break on Sunday and Monday. everything is soggy. I spent the entire day last Sunday digging up and cleaning & storing Dahlia. Had to go back to work on Monday. I am trying to rake all the leaves from the front of my house and neighbors. I plan to shred them and use them to mulch my garden. Didn't have enough last year. Still have a bunch of bulbs to plant and several more clumps of dahlia to dig up. The ground is muddy, though.
What a cold and wet October. |
RE: Productive day
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| Pitimpinai: We were away, in the Smokies from the 15th thru the 18th and it rained the whole time we were there, but the weather was nice here at home then. Of course when we returned it was back to work, tons of laundry, grocery shopping, etc. I did get one day off with nice weather when I made some progress in the yard (Wednesday). Now, it's been raining for the past 2 days. My beautiful maple is almost naked now, the rain brought down all the leaves. They're several inches thick all over the front lawn. Doing laundry now, grocery shopping soon, then will clean up the leaves if they dry out enough. But I still have lots to do in the yard. All those Yvonne's salvia are still in the ground, totally brown post freezing. Some day.... I can't believe it's almost Halloween. Karen |
RE: Productive day
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Great post! You've been kickin some garden tail Karen! I'm laid up with a bum foot and can't get out there for awhile... sob, sob...
Oh well, we just got back from 10 year anniversary/vacation recently too, so I guess I'm lucky to have gotten the laundry and some cleaning done before this happened.
That tree is GORGEOUS! Sorry about the rainy Smokies. Same deal with us in the Finger Lakes. More rain and chilly weather and heard it was in the 80's at home (DE)- sheesh. At least there was loads of wine to drink up there to keep me warmed up! LOL Laura- *recently turned 29*, me too (47) ! Pitimpinai, how are you feeling these days? Hope all is well. Your gardens are so lush!!! Shore |
RE: Productive day
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another productive day for me,
I mowed,shredded leaves and grass. added them to compost#1 and turned it.
shredded more leaves and mulched them around my final bed :)
Yeay, every ones tucked in for winter.
did the house hold "have to's" cleaned ,shopped ,cooked blah blah blah.
Made another batch of seed starting mix. I have enough to fill 2 30 gallon trash cans :)
Can I hybernate yet?
NOPE, I still have to cut,label,fill,and seed my jugs.lol
I'm so excited, but with the days getting shorter I'm feeling so tired.
I want to start filling my jugs now but I'm afraid I'd have to dig them out of the snow come Dec. And I'm waiting to see what I get in the swap before I order anything.
anyone else?
:)Laura |
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