Last Friday, my Boss relented and let me grow my ten different tomato plants in the greenhouse-within-a-greenhouse at work alongside the other tomatoes for the Garden Center. Every day, I stand before the wee cloche-type affair, and chant *open*open*open* even tho I know full well that they aren't ready to raise their pretty little heads out of the soil to say hello.
AH but Glory! Glory! Seeds in the soil. My new garden plot has received its' 6 plus yards of garden blend, and is half covered with sand which will all get tilled in as the weather permits. The front plot will need to get tilled up as well, to till in all the green manure I planted in the Fall to feed the garden for this year.
It is snowing here now, we got three inches standing last night, and the sky is a steel grey which blends into the land, all silver dark with white puffy highlights. Like some old Grand Dame laughing at the follies of her kin. The early birds are busy stealing the cat food, and dusting my patio with the snow off their wings.
It might be interesting getting off of Song Dog Hill today, my wee truck is a'sceered of snow.
Did you know that a sackfull of seeds running around $20.oo can produce around $650.oo worth of produce in a month? WOW! The Money Garden!
>^,,^<
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Yummy Winter Day Full of Dreaming
Winter is not over, nor will it release His grip upon us, nay. Punxsutawney Phil says so, and who am I to argue with a groundhog of such renown? But today, ah today! Today one can wander about aimlessly with a goofy smile plastered to your face, and the kiss of the sun is like one big smackeroo. Today, the sun is so bright it hurts my Winter-weakened eyes. Today, it was warm to my bones, a grand and yummy 56* Today I yearned to be home building my seed shelf in my wee greenhouse.
You see, I had planned to grow my 9 heirloom (& two favorite hybrids, Celebrity & Sun Gold) tomatoes in my flats here at work, along with the tomato and pepper seeds Alfonso and I just started. He built an "inner greenhouse", using PVC pipe tied to the bench legs in a hoop, and clear plastic covering the benches, with a cloche of clear plastic covering the PVC hoops. Warmth! But the Boss is busy dithering, (why? I ask myself. I offered him all the tomato plants I grow minus the 3-4 per variety I will need for my garden in exchange for the space) so I figured well, I can do the same thing at home in my wee tiny greenhouse.
SO. I will fetch some PVC pipe, three "L" brackets, and some clear trash bags. I will make a long shelf on the south side of my greenhouse just over the over-wintering shrubs. (Meyer's Lemon, Cordyline, Black Mondo grasses, and my banana.. The banana and the Meyer's Lemon have taken a huge hit this Winter. Verrrry c-c-cold 't'was!) About waist high. Then I will line those shelves with my heat mats, line the heat mats with trays of seeds, cloche it with the clear plastic and step back to enjoy my lame attempts at construction. :~D
HOWEVER, if I am very very lucky, this just might work! Today has been so lush and rich with sunshine I can believe in the power of a battery operated screwdriver in the hands of a wild woman. Wild Women With Power Tools. Hold on to your hats, it's going to be a bumpy ride! YEEEEHAW!!! Let's get gardening!!!
>^,,^<
You see, I had planned to grow my 9 heirloom (& two favorite hybrids, Celebrity & Sun Gold) tomatoes in my flats here at work, along with the tomato and pepper seeds Alfonso and I just started. He built an "inner greenhouse", using PVC pipe tied to the bench legs in a hoop, and clear plastic covering the benches, with a cloche of clear plastic covering the PVC hoops. Warmth! But the Boss is busy dithering, (why? I ask myself. I offered him all the tomato plants I grow minus the 3-4 per variety I will need for my garden in exchange for the space) so I figured well, I can do the same thing at home in my wee tiny greenhouse.
SO. I will fetch some PVC pipe, three "L" brackets, and some clear trash bags. I will make a long shelf on the south side of my greenhouse just over the over-wintering shrubs. (Meyer's Lemon, Cordyline, Black Mondo grasses, and my banana.. The banana and the Meyer's Lemon have taken a huge hit this Winter. Verrrry c-c-cold 't'was!) About waist high. Then I will line those shelves with my heat mats, line the heat mats with trays of seeds, cloche it with the clear plastic and step back to enjoy my lame attempts at construction. :~D
HOWEVER, if I am very very lucky, this just might work! Today has been so lush and rich with sunshine I can believe in the power of a battery operated screwdriver in the hands of a wild woman. Wild Women With Power Tools. Hold on to your hats, it's going to be a bumpy ride! YEEEEHAW!!! Let's get gardening!!!
>^,,^<
Friday, February 13, 2009
Why I Garden
I garden to forget
I garden to remember
I garden to share
I garden to be alone
I garden to feel the silence
I garden to groove to the music
I garden for the bountifulness
I garden for the solitude
I garden for the holiness
I garden for the pure sensual pleasure of it
I garden for hope
I garden for joy
I garden for tomorrow
>^,,^<
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Saving Your Own Life
I am holding my tomato seed packages in my hand... I have a ziplok baggie filled with other veggie seeds I'm going to try this year, plus, I have some seeds awaiting my tender monetary ministrations at work, from Territorial. Next year, I am going to plant a TON of Drunken Woman Frizzy Headed Lettuce no ifs ands or buts about it. *grin*
I hover about the seed trays, and the seed cells, I moon over new DayStar grow lights for my wee little 15' X 10' "greenhouse", I quiver over the thoughts of tender fresh vegetable foraging in the summer. I know it's too early, but my anticipation is a tangible thing!
More later, must -- resist -- soil.......
>^,,^<
I hover about the seed trays, and the seed cells, I moon over new DayStar grow lights for my wee little 15' X 10' "greenhouse", I quiver over the thoughts of tender fresh vegetable foraging in the summer. I know it's too early, but my anticipation is a tangible thing!
More later, must -- resist -- soil.......
>^,,^<
Monday, February 2, 2009
Happy Groundhog's Day!
The sun is shining, it's up to 50*, and here I am tuckeled up in my silk thermals, cushy-comfy weather socks with woolen oversocks, thermal-insulted boots, thermal undershirt, and vest. I had my woolen fingerless gloves on, and my comfy cushy fleece-lined jacket, but it actually got too hot for them. I'm socking down cough & cold medicine, along with apple cinnamon herbal tea with a brandy-rum & "hot buttered rum" goop. I feel like dried up dog poop on a desert hiway. *gah* Me's'a really hates colds. Feels like everytime I swallow I have slivered glass grinding down my throat. *yuck* I can't wait to get off work, feed the Song Dogs, and go to bed. I know I could sleep for another twenty hours.
Groundhogs are cute as weather forecasters, but not as garden pests.
In Harold Ramis' Groundhog Day movie (1993), Punxsutawney Phil, the Groundhog, is pulled out of his burrow on February 2 and asked for his famous prediction: will spring arrive early this year, or procrastinate until March 21? The "Groundhog Day" movie's guru in charge of consulting this prognosticator of prognosticators claims to be translating from "Groundhogese" (the sacred language of Groundhog Day) when revealing Phil's mystic message to the Groundhog Day audience. Presumably, Punxsutawney Phil tells the guru whether or not he has seen his shadow in Groundhogese. Then the translating "Groundhog Day" movie's guru informs us ordinary mortals of the prediction.
In real life, Punxsutawney, PA is the home of Phil and of the Groundhog Day activities of which this furry oracle is the center. It is also home to the "Punxsutawney Groundhog Club" that pays homage to Phil. And Bill Cooper, President of the "Inner Circle" of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, is officially listed as the Groundhogese expert responsible for the translations from Groundhogese into English every Groundhog Day -- just like the "Groundhog Day" movie's guru. I do not jest; the following comes from the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, itself:
Bill is the man charged with the daunting task of translating Phil's message in Groundhog-ese on Gobbler's Knob so that the forecast can be accurately delivered to Phil's followers.
If ever there were a personage who could answer the immortal question, "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" then President Cooper would be the man.
Groundhog Day Language vs. Groundhog Sign Language
"Woodchuck" (Marmota monax) and "whistle pig" are other names for the groundhog, a rodent related to squirrels. And while this rodent's wood chucking abilities shall remain a mystery to all who are not fluent in the Groundhog Day language of Groundhogese, many a gardener is all too aware of the groundhog's ability to damage a garden. It thus behooves anyone considering gardening in groundhog territory to learn at least the sign language of groundhogs, if not Groundhogese itself. For, fortunately, gardeners don't have to communicate directly with groundhogs. It is enough for the gardener simply to be able to recognize groundhog sign language.
So don't be like Bill Murray's character (Phil Connors) in the "Groundhog Day" movie and ignore the signs that are all around you. For if you do, your garden, like the protagonist in the movie, will have no future! Through a sign language readily understood by wise gardeners, the groundhogs themselves translate all the Groundhogese of concern to gardeners into tangible signs in your backyard:
Groundhog Sign Language: A 10"-12" hole appears in the ground in your backyard or under your shed with mounds of dirt outside it.
Translation Into English: "A groundhog lives here."
Groundhog Sign Language: A cucumber in your garden has had a good-sized bite taken out of it.
Translation Into English: "Groundhogs like to eat vegetables."
Groundhog Sign Language: The feathery tops of the carrots in your garden have been mowed down.
Translation Into English: "Groundhogs don't just eat vegetables. We like to eat green succulent things, too, whether growing wild or in your garden."
Groundhog Sign Language: Your young fruit tree is being damaged by something gnawing at its trunk.
Translation Into English: "Remember, we're rodents. That means we have to gnaw to keep our teeth from growing too long. When I picture a perfect tooth-filer, what I see is your tender young fruit tree."
Groundhog Sign Language: The rat poison that you set out to try to kill the groundhog that's been raiding your garden hasn't been touched -- and you continue to observe damage in your garden.
Translation Into English: "You'll have to do better than that. I'm a groundhog, not a rat. I'm not stupid enough to eat poison. If you're going to set a trap for me, you'd better bait it with the same foods I'm raiding from your garden."
Assuming that you are grasping the essentials of groundhog sign language, on Page 2 we'll have a look at strategies for groundhog pest control in the garden. If you fail to take effective control measures against these garden pests, you'll find yourself reenacting the "Groundhog Day" movie in your own yard....
Punxsutawney Phil Strikes Again!
BUT! & but but but.... My Dear Friend Greig did a Ninja Tilling, and tilled me up a 50' X 20' patch of garden, and me's'a gonna add 5 yards of a yummy garden compost from work to it (sandy loam base, Ph neutral, composted chicken manure, composted steer manure, and composted fir bark) plus all the ashes from the garden burnings, and several wheelbarrows of sand. This will be my new tomato patch! (plus companion veggies. Have I mentioned this before? I'm excited!)
so me's'a sick. me's'a needs to get well. But me's'a has a new veggie garden! & Punxsutawney Phil has told us we are to have yet another 6 weeks of winter. Am I surprised? NOT at all!
Sniffling from Wolfdancer Creek
>^,,^<
Groundhogs are cute as weather forecasters, but not as garden pests.
In Harold Ramis' Groundhog Day movie (1993), Punxsutawney Phil, the Groundhog, is pulled out of his burrow on February 2 and asked for his famous prediction: will spring arrive early this year, or procrastinate until March 21? The "Groundhog Day" movie's guru in charge of consulting this prognosticator of prognosticators claims to be translating from "Groundhogese" (the sacred language of Groundhog Day) when revealing Phil's mystic message to the Groundhog Day audience. Presumably, Punxsutawney Phil tells the guru whether or not he has seen his shadow in Groundhogese. Then the translating "Groundhog Day" movie's guru informs us ordinary mortals of the prediction.
In real life, Punxsutawney, PA is the home of Phil and of the Groundhog Day activities of which this furry oracle is the center. It is also home to the "Punxsutawney Groundhog Club" that pays homage to Phil. And Bill Cooper, President of the "Inner Circle" of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, is officially listed as the Groundhogese expert responsible for the translations from Groundhogese into English every Groundhog Day -- just like the "Groundhog Day" movie's guru. I do not jest; the following comes from the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, itself:
Bill is the man charged with the daunting task of translating Phil's message in Groundhog-ese on Gobbler's Knob so that the forecast can be accurately delivered to Phil's followers.
If ever there were a personage who could answer the immortal question, "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" then President Cooper would be the man.
Groundhog Day Language vs. Groundhog Sign Language
"Woodchuck" (Marmota monax) and "whistle pig" are other names for the groundhog, a rodent related to squirrels. And while this rodent's wood chucking abilities shall remain a mystery to all who are not fluent in the Groundhog Day language of Groundhogese, many a gardener is all too aware of the groundhog's ability to damage a garden. It thus behooves anyone considering gardening in groundhog territory to learn at least the sign language of groundhogs, if not Groundhogese itself. For, fortunately, gardeners don't have to communicate directly with groundhogs. It is enough for the gardener simply to be able to recognize groundhog sign language.
So don't be like Bill Murray's character (Phil Connors) in the "Groundhog Day" movie and ignore the signs that are all around you. For if you do, your garden, like the protagonist in the movie, will have no future! Through a sign language readily understood by wise gardeners, the groundhogs themselves translate all the Groundhogese of concern to gardeners into tangible signs in your backyard:
Groundhog Sign Language: A 10"-12" hole appears in the ground in your backyard or under your shed with mounds of dirt outside it.
Translation Into English: "A groundhog lives here."
Groundhog Sign Language: A cucumber in your garden has had a good-sized bite taken out of it.
Translation Into English: "Groundhogs like to eat vegetables."
Groundhog Sign Language: The feathery tops of the carrots in your garden have been mowed down.
Translation Into English: "Groundhogs don't just eat vegetables. We like to eat green succulent things, too, whether growing wild or in your garden."
Groundhog Sign Language: Your young fruit tree is being damaged by something gnawing at its trunk.
Translation Into English: "Remember, we're rodents. That means we have to gnaw to keep our teeth from growing too long. When I picture a perfect tooth-filer, what I see is your tender young fruit tree."
Groundhog Sign Language: The rat poison that you set out to try to kill the groundhog that's been raiding your garden hasn't been touched -- and you continue to observe damage in your garden.
Translation Into English: "You'll have to do better than that. I'm a groundhog, not a rat. I'm not stupid enough to eat poison. If you're going to set a trap for me, you'd better bait it with the same foods I'm raiding from your garden."
Assuming that you are grasping the essentials of groundhog sign language, on Page 2 we'll have a look at strategies for groundhog pest control in the garden. If you fail to take effective control measures against these garden pests, you'll find yourself reenacting the "Groundhog Day" movie in your own yard....
Punxsutawney Phil Strikes Again!
BUT! & but but but.... My Dear Friend Greig did a Ninja Tilling, and tilled me up a 50' X 20' patch of garden, and me's'a gonna add 5 yards of a yummy garden compost from work to it (sandy loam base, Ph neutral, composted chicken manure, composted steer manure, and composted fir bark) plus all the ashes from the garden burnings, and several wheelbarrows of sand. This will be my new tomato patch! (plus companion veggies. Have I mentioned this before? I'm excited!)
so me's'a sick. me's'a needs to get well. But me's'a has a new veggie garden! & Punxsutawney Phil has told us we are to have yet another 6 weeks of winter. Am I surprised? NOT at all!
Sniffling from Wolfdancer Creek
>^,,^<
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)