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| Author |
Message |
ball
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"And so it begins..."
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Feb 25 20:40 UTC 2009 |
It's a beautiful day: warm and sunny. I turned off the
furnace, opened some windows and headed out to tackle the
BigUgly Bush on the front lawn. I cut it back severely but
if last year's anything to go by it will interpret that as a
challenge to grow impossibly tall (and impossibly ugly)
before the next winter. I got some potentially useful pea
sticks out of it too.
While I was out there, I noticed some strong shoots from
bulbs planted along the dark, neglected East side of the
house, which adds to the false-sense-of-security feeling of
impending Spring.
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| 60 responses total. |
keesan
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response 1 of 60:
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Feb 25 21:07 UTC 2009 |
It is raining here and snow all over the place, with predictions of more cold
for Friday (about 5 above at night).
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ball
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response 2 of 60:
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Jul 1 01:34 UTC 2009 |
The small square plot where the Mulberry tree used to be
gained some perennials today. I planted a couple of Sea
Pinks and a Dianthus and Mrs. ball and I planted a few other
things. It will be interesting to see how they fare.
The 'big ugly bush' in the middle of the front lawn
turned out to be suckers from a buried tree stump. Every now
and again I dig down and beat it repeatedly with a hatchet
but not long afterwards, new suckers appear. A chainsaw may
be in order.
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ball
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response 3 of 60:
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Mar 14 16:42 UTC 2012 |
It looks as though we'll have two flower beds this year
(not counting the odd plants at the front of the house): the
(slightly) raised bed where the Mulberry used to be is about
2x2m and has a few survivors from last year. I'm thinking of
cone flowers and daisies for some height at the back with
medium stuff in the middle and perhaps some mounding or even
(slightly) trailing stuff at the front. Might see if Peonies
can give the bindweed some competition on the chain-link
fence along the side.
Elsewhere we have a plot that's roughly 3x3m where we
grew cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes and pumpkins last year.
Mrs. ball may have plans for that, probably annual flowers
though she may surprise me. I had hoped to build a veg plot
elsewhere, but we can't agree on a spot so I may have to
sneak one to two veggies in with the flowers.
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keesan
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response 4 of 60:
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Mar 14 20:09 UTC 2012 |
What do you mean 'build'? I dig my plots. With such limited
space as you have I would not try to grow pumpkins. Have you
grown lettuce or beans?
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ball
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response 5 of 60:
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Mar 15 02:28 UTC 2012 |
Last year the pumpkins grew out of the veg plot and ran
off across the lawn. I didn't complain, just mowed around
them. My daughter grew them from seeds that she'd scooped
out of her halloween pumpkin. She grew a row of lettuce
too.
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keesan
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response 6 of 60:
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Mar 15 04:42 UTC 2012 |
We grew pumpkins unintionally one year on the compost pile, where they got
plenty of nitrogen etc. and actually produced fruits that ripened. How old
is your daughter now?
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ball
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response 7 of 60:
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Mar 16 02:36 UTC 2012 |
She's six. Come to think of it, I think I put a scoop of
compost in the hole before she planted the pumpkin seeds. I
think I did it for the cucumbers too.
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keesan
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response 8 of 60:
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Mar 16 16:48 UTC 2012 |
I hope it was fully composted first. It is better to mix it with all the soil
so that the roots will not stay in one small hole eating the compost.
Spread a layer on top before you dig up the ground.
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ball
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response 9 of 60:
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Mar 19 22:25 UTC 2012 |
Typically I'll mix it with the soil I dug from the hole
but it does depend on what I'm planting.
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keesan
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response 10 of 60:
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Mar 19 23:16 UTC 2012 |
We transplanted a cherry tree seedling yesterday, a couple of days after the
leaf buds started to open.
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ball
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response 11 of 60:
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Jun 19 01:27 UTC 2013 |
Two of the three huge Spruce trees in the back yard were
been removed last week and the stumps ground out. We now
have an area that's roughly 5x8m (16x26') that's mostly wood
chippings and Spruce needles. It's been suggested that we
could plant a Black Haw (Viburnum prunifolium) in the corner
of the yard and there are some flowers native to the midwest
that I would like to plant too, once we have more soil and
less wood chips. I should probably rotovate the area and
hope that they start to break down a bit.
I was able to persuade the tree people to also grind out
the buried stump that the BigUgly Bush grew from each year.
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keesan
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response 12 of 60:
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Jun 19 03:46 UTC 2013 |
We found a few morels the year after a spruce was removed.
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ball
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response 13 of 60:
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Oct 4 03:08 UTC 2013 |
The woodchips where the Spruce trees were removed are
breaking down nicely. I've dug in some compost, a little
wood ash and some unidentified leafy plants that looked as
though they'd make a reasonable "green manure". Most of it
has been forked over a few times. In the Spring I'll sow
some of it with grass seed and hopefully keep a flower bed
in the corner.
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keesan
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response 14 of 60:
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Oct 4 03:57 UTC 2013 |
Do you grow any fruits or vegetables?
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ball
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response 15 of 60:
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Oct 5 02:14 UTC 2013 |
This year was less successful than last year in the veg
department. We grew some green "zebra" tomatoes that tasted
good once they were ripe but it took me a while to get the
hang of telling when that was. My daughter planted a nice
row of lettuce. I failed to thin out the carrots so they
weren't useable. I don't think the peppers even germinated.
I grew an experimental crop of potatoes and I enjoyed those
so I'll probably plant more of them next year. The vegetable
plot has been cleared and forked over for the winter but the
Zucchini (planted elsewhere in the garden) keep on coming.
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keesan
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response 16 of 60:
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Oct 5 02:25 UTC 2013 |
Did you plant the peppers in little pots to transplant later? They need warm
soil to germinate. Tomatoes are often ripe when they fall off the vine.
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ball
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response 17 of 60:
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May 24 13:11 UTC 2014 |
I've been out digging. It's good exercise and it helps
get the soil ready. The area where the Spruce trees were is
ready for planting. I've been told to grass some of it over
but that looks like a costly proposition, what with grass
seed, straw matting and a spreader. I may visit the local
nursery in search of that Viburnum, too.
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keesan
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response 18 of 60:
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May 24 14:09 UTC 2014 |
Why waste potential garden space on grass? We have spent the last few days
removing grass and sifting compost to make new garden space.
If you do plant grass, it supposedly does better in August or September.
You can spread seed by hand, and cover the seed with plain straw also
spread by hand.
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ball
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response 19 of 60:
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May 25 02:26 UTC 2014 |
Mostly because I've been told to. That said, we'll have
some ornamental stuff at one end and I'll plant a few
vegetables at the other end this year. I try to move the veg
around a bit. Waiting until the fall appeals to me but I may
not have that option.
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ball
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response 20 of 60:
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May 26 23:20 UTC 2014 |
Well, that's a new ornamental bed dug out and mostly
planted. We had to bring in some topsoil. We planted
through weed membrane and spread a bit of mulch on top. I
should probably take a picture tomorrow if the sun's out.
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ball
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response 21 of 60:
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Sep 25 23:54 UTC 2014 |
The flower bed by the back door was a success. I can't
remember the names of all the flowers we put in but I think
all but one of them thrived. In the middle is a Buddleia
that the butterflies love. That's open and airy enough that
the shorter flowers planted underneath still get enough rain
and sunlight to do well.
Lots of zucchini and cucumbers this year along with a
modest crop of tomatoes and a surprise eggplant. I should
have planted spuds again. I still don't have that Viburnum.
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keesan
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response 22 of 60:
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Sep 28 14:15 UTC 2014 |
Do your tomatoes get fungus diseases? Ours got them bad this year due to
the cool nights, with condensation.
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ball
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response 23 of 60:
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Sep 29 01:56 UTC 2014 |
Thankfully I haven't seen that yet. I should probably
start thinking about what to plant in the Spring.
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ball
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response 24 of 60:
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May 27 00:41 UTC 2015 |
Yesterday I planted a tomato plant, some cucumber and a
watermelon plant. We have more things in pots waiting to be
planted when weather and time permits.
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