It's become clear to me through posts and PMs that there are some gardeners here just waiting for the chance to discuss gardening!
So, I was thinking... how do you use gardening, or how does it affect you if you need a break, need some respite, need to relax, need inspiration....how do you use it as a therapy tool in caregiving?
What are your activities: Do you go out and pull weeds, read a magazine, design new beds? Look through garden catalogues? Go to garden stores?
And what interests have you added to your gardening? Visit estate or garden displays? Do you go to garden shows?
Does anyone design and plant Knot Gardens? Raised bed planters? Assistive gardens? Pollinator gardens (and have you thought of ways to help the bees and butterflies?)
Are your gardens primarily for pleasure or food, or a mix of both? Do you grow plants for medicinal purposes? Which ones, how do you harvest and process them? Any suggestions?
Do you grow plants that can be used in crafts, such as grapevines for wreaths and lavender for lavender wands? Do you make herbal products such as creams, lotions, chapstick?
What else can you share about gardening and the means in which it nurtures your soul?
I think this is the best time of year, at least for my yard - everything is green and growing and blooming and hasn't yet succumbed to the insects, disease and lack of water that make everything more challenging in summer.
In my natural area the redbud tree is just finishing (it finally put on a show after all these years😁) and the trillium is just about done, but the hosta and ferns are up and the cranesbill, bleeding heart and sweet woodruff are in bloom.
We haven't had a tornado for several decades. I think the last one was over 20 years ago.
But 9" of snow??? I guess this is an example of what we can expect if the politicians can't get out of their me first approaches and think of the nations, countries and people who'll be disadvantaged as climate change progresses.
I'm wondering if eventually more people will grow in greenhouses (assuming they have the space), or at least weather protected outdoor structures.
Ariadnee, your insights are "spot on", but there are some other factors. House interior was last painted in 1979, and some rooms even before that. Exterior is a different story, but then it does get the brunt of severe weather, as well as uncontrolled auto exhaust b/c the city no longer monitors traffic. (One of the roof crew almost 10 years ago observed that my street was more like the Indy 500.)
Both exterior doors do swell, but only in weather of high humidity. They're on the schedule for replacement this year, but I haven't started looking - more research to do. I carry screwdrivers and a mallet with me during the door sticking season.
Visited my little flowering plants yesterday. The Lillies of the Valley are just coming into bloom, and I counted 45 (+/-) white trilliums. Last year there were 80. There are a few lilac lunaria, but this year there are more white varieties than lilac. And on the subject, the lilac tree is still blooming. I think I'm going to try to start more by letting the seeds mature and plant them. I've never tried that before.
The first lawn mowing took out almost of the blooming violets, and now the little wild plants are replacing them. I can't remember the name of that plant right now.
The grapevines are on steroids. They're climbing up the house! They're too thin now to harvest for wreaths, and I don't want them to get any farther on the roof than they are now, but I'm not climbing a ladder to cut them down.
Climbing roses are in bud; other flowering plants were slaughtered when the new lawn crew decided to mow the garden, although some of it needed to be mowed as it's gotten out of control.
Still, all in all, it could be worse.
Yard tractor, a JD 130. A ride on mower with light tractor capabilities.
I was able to cancel the contract on the house there, and with A 5K refund of my earnest money! The more I learned about the lot, the more reasons to cancel.
About that paint-might be the brand and it may be of poor quality. Could also be the swings in humidity that is affecting the paint. Are the doors working properly? If not, could be structural issues.
I was washing some broccoli from the grocery store and noticed dirt and a couple of tiny worms in the bottom of the bowl, that's not something I normally see from a grocery item. I cut the head into little pieces to make a thorough second wash and examination for more worms easier and I couldn't help but remember the great broccoli fiasco from my youth - a big bowl of steamed broccoli that was positively riddled with inch long cabbage worms. Uh no, I don't care what you say I will not just pick them out and eat the broccoli!!
Another related memory, my dad dusted the green beans heavily with bug dust just a few days before picking, the beans tasted like bug dust. Nope, we can't eat that either.
And.... local asparagus is in the stores! I don't know why my parents never mulched the asparagus with straw, lord knows we had plenty to spare. Sometimes if there had been a lot of rain even after repeated soaking the spears were still gritty from dirt, not a way to foster love of asparagus.
On a related note - I don't care what some people say, bigger spears are more tender than thin ones!
Some people will learn how to cope, especially gardeners as we'll see the effects quite prominently, but others will just complain and whine.
I think change includes recycling (the massive piles of plastics are disgusting and disgraceful), but also learning to live with less, and in a more healthy manner, as well as growing up and taking responsibility for our own individual uses and practices.
I remember the oil shortage/crisis in the 1970s (if I actually remember correctly!). New Shelter Magazine addressed solutions, new concepts (such as earth sheltered houses), people conserved gas, and many more options were raised.
Now, many people seem to feel they have a right to cheaper gas, to living the lifestyle to which they're accustomed and want (including massive houses with more room than anyone needs), spending, discarding and refusal to acknowledge that we're each responsible for ourselves, but that responsibility affects others.
We used to get orioles visiting the hummingbird feeder at my Mom's - bonus birds!
A heard lot of air conditioners running last week (not me, I refuse to turn on the air in May!) but for a few seconds this morning I contemplated turning the furnace back on 🙄
In the American Southwest, there are numerous abandonded native settlements from hundreds of years ago, not enough water to live on.
If people really wanted to address climate change, then maybe they would invest in much better recycling programs. As well as removing the huge gyres of plastic in the oceans which I think certainly are severely underrated/studied influences on changing weather patterns.
They died.
Or you can plant early crops, let them mature, and plant a second crop in late summer or early fall, depending on the maturity time needed.
One of the male gardeners on the forum I visit grows most of his plants inside, but I really wouldn't want to do that b/c I think plants benefit from the real sun instead of just grow lights. However, some gardeners have a dedicated set of indoor gardening tools and equipment and grow entirely inside. To me, that eliminates much of the pleasure of being outdoors.
My mother and I used to start our plants inside; one year Mom had almost 1,000 tomato starts! Her grow cart had 3 levels of trays, with fluorescent lights above to enhance growing conditions. You can also get a grow cart for outdoor use; it's covered with a type of screen to keep critters away. (I don't know how effective that would be for some types of critters, though.)
I used to start geraniums in the standard green trays, on a small bookcase, until one day my cats decided to rearrange the seedlings, apparently thinking that some of the soil would look good on the floor.
As to how well a plant will do in an area, that too is changing b/c of the weather, and there are other factors as well, including amount of rainfall, how well the ground is prepped, sunlight, predatory insects, and sometimes animals, such as deer.
The animals in my area who dined at my garden were primarily racoons, who took over the pumpkin, mulberry, corn, and sometimes the gourd gardens. Unfortunately, they sampled more than a few pumpkins before deciding on their favorites. They also ruined the corn by using it for climbing.
Organic Gardening magazine used to be the best source for gardening and indoor starts, but it's changed a lot over the years.
Anyways, the third wave planting is really popular when growing lettuce greens. It works really well. Same for spinach. Folks in Philly used to plant fall spinach, as the Springtime temps went from about 60 to 80 in less than a week. Whereas the fall temps were far less brutal.
cwillie-how old are those zone guides? If over ten years, better check online how much they have changed. At one point, in my old Philly garden, had something in bloom nearly year round. I couldn't grow the big tulips any more-too warm and transistioned to the species forms-which are so lovely-and quite suited to warmer temperatures. I had a row of mature Rosemary bushes that bloomed in Feburary-they were so pretty and the aroma was wonderful-they were nearly three feet tall.
Glad I can write about plants here-been a very difficult couple of days-so this is much appreciated!
Of course I am not an expert, but I am researching how to plant our own food, still.
I think I remember reading that you can start a few veges, then a few more, then a third wave. Thus having a chance at something surviving.
Also, a crop that matures at different times, secures a continuous supply over the growing season.
But then, I think you already know this.
As far as gardening zones go, if the local nursery sells it, it better well grow in my area. Does that make sense? Or is there some 'magic' involved?
Have you thought about bartering? Manure is not always the easiest by-product to get rid of on a farm and perhaps instead of paying for the delievery, you could offer your peppers as a trade? Fresh manure does smell-can it go into a composting section? And what about composting? Great way to keep soil ammendments prices down. I generally don't rely on heavy fertilizing as it is. Is your soil that over worked it needs that much in ammendments? Or is the growing season short and the crops need to be grown quickly?
If you can, try a row or two of the expensive seed potatoes, as what you've been using isn't yielding the results you want. I have to do the same thing if I want top results when growing asiatic lilies-pay more for the bulbs and get better flowers.
I've had luck using Milky Spore powder for Japanese beetle control-when I used to grow roses. Won't use the bait traps, as that attracts more beetles into the garden.
Maintenance can be challenging. Have a mental running list of what needs to be done and get to it as I can. Today was light pruning, weeding at one point, tagging daffodil clumps to be moved, and so on.
Yeah, I'm not paying extra for the same thing they sell to my local store.
My problems all boil down to the fact I'm a lot more enthusiastic about the garden at planting time than I am about maintenance, plus mentally I have a hard time paying the exorbitant prices for the fertilizer that is marketed to gardeners. I wish I had a farmer willing to deliver some manure, but I don't think my neighbours would agree with that idea!
Years ago gardening was what poor people did as a necessity but seems it has now morphed into a hobby for the well to do and prices reflect that. I'm not willing to pay double or triple the price per pound for seed potatoes than I'm paying for the ones I eat, and I'm not willing to pay more for a lettuce plant from the greenhouse than I would pay for a head at the grocery store - KWIM?
I do grow lots of bell peppers here, they are one of the crops I have the most success with, plus when I freeze the bounty they are very much more economical that store bought ones in the winter. I'm also good at growing beans - green and yellow and pole beans.
Tomatoes are not my thing but I do grow a few just because it's almost expected. Cucumbers and zucchini, but I have problems with borers killing them off by mid summer.
I've been experimenting with parsnips because they are a ridiculous price at the grocery store.
Zinnias are a favourite of mine too, especially since you can save seed easily. But unfortunately I have to battle Japanese beetles every year.
Had my soil tested awhile ago, too high in lead-this is an old neighborhood and besides the paint, there are old lead pipes. Contacted a soil specialist for a second opinion on the results, they even ruled against raised planters, as there would be splashing from the rain off the soil up on to the vegetables or herbs. Soil remediation would very costly. So, flowers it is, and will be planting zinnias again, they do well here, easy to grow. Especially important now, as a good deal of my time and energy is as a caregiver to my husband.
Now, there's a good garden topic-super easy plants to grow, which a caregiver could enjoy with minimal effort. I nominate zinnias as the first on the list. Seeds can be bought at the dollar store, once the last frost is done, sprinkle on lightly raked, soil, pat into the earth. Water very gently. Wait about 7-10 days and there should be sprouts. Put a bit of chicken wire around the spot-keep the bunnies/critters out, and enjoy very colorful flowering, hardy zinnias. When the first frost of Winter comes, leave the flowers/buds on the stems, wintering birds will find the seeds and great fun to watch them eating the seeds.
I think that the seed potatoes are key. I cannot grow rudders but, purple, red, golden and fingerlings in those have worked well. My biggest thing was only watering once a week, it took me years to figure out the right water.
We would starve to dear if we had to live on the garden but, it sure is entertaining to garden and enjoy what does produce.
I have watermelon and cucumbers coming on now, so I am hopeful for those and my swiss chard. Fingers crossed for sure!
Thank you for your comments about the birds!
Trying not to take myself too seriously.
I don't think the birds need an intervention or my help.
But my husband does.
Yea! Potatoes are so unpredictable to grow, actually getting a harvest is reason to celebrate at our home :-)
The robin that was pecking on a bedroom window earlier this spring made a halfhearted nest on my office window and then move on to make a real nest on the bathroom window, I guess the frosted glass and lack of much activity in there made that window ledge more appealing. I cracked open the window to peek and there are babies!