it is so nice to be able to get back outside
into the gardens.

the ground has thawed out enough and is even
starting to be warm enough in spots to plant a
few of the early crops and to start cleaning up
and getting ready for the coming season.

the bees are out gathering nectar and pollen
from the crocuses. i'm always glad to see the
bees and amazed they get to work so early in
the season. the bunnies are doing a fair job
at eating some of the crocuses too. i have to
keep spreading the flowers around to make sure
there are plenty for everyone to enjoy. the
chipmunks will be along later in the season to
take their fill too.

in the north central garden the ground was
dry enough to plant some rutabagas, onion seeds
and turnips, and while i was there i also put
some peas in a few spots. perhaps the peas will
be able to sprout before we get too cold weather
again. the forecast is looking ok for some nice
warm days here or there, but the night time temps
will be below freezing once in a while. we'll
see what happens...

and while i've been reading along in some
places about what to do with ashes, that they
would kill plants if used too heavily. well
that's not true for chives. i dumped several
buckets of them on the chives last fall hoping
to kill them off (i want to thin that area back
a bit) so i would not have to turn them. i
took a look at them today and the chives are
growing up through the ashes like nothing at
all has happened to them. hahaha... love it!

many of the turnips left last fall as a
cover crop did not make it and that means they
are now giving off this divine smell of rot
that means chow is on the menu for the wormies.
in a few of the more protected spaces where the
snow was deeper there are enough solid turnips
left that i could eat some, but i'm going to
leave as many as possible to get a population
flowering and reseeding themselves. i'm hoping
i can do the same with the rutabagas.

otherwise, plenty more to do yet to get ready
for other plantings. have many buckets of ashes
to use up as either fertilizer or as deeper fill
to raise up low spots. fences to clear of bean
stalks. general puttering about. i've had
to do a bit of walking to get limbered up and
to remind my body that it really needs to move
more than i have been the past few months. when
there are plenty of good books to read i tend to
keep doing that instead of thinking about
exercise -- i've never been one of those sorts
who can just exercise without having something
useful come of it besides the usual.

well i hope other folks are starting to get
out more and are enjoying the warmer weather
too.

oh, if anyone has any experience growing
sweet cicely that would be good to hear. recently
came across a mention of it and it sounds like
a good plant for me to try.


songbird

songbird wrote:
it is so nice to be able to get back outside
into the gardens.

the ground has thawed out enough and is even
starting to be warm enough in spots to plant a
few of the early crops and to start cleaning up
and getting ready for the coming season.

songbird

I must be quite a ways south of you ... Our new strawberries are doing
well , we have lettuce and bok choy up enough to start thinning , and
yesterday I noticed that the beets are coming up . We're hoping for a few
non-rainy days so I can get the rest planted - it really is "too wet to
plow" here right now .
On another upbeat note , I went by a friend's house the other day to work
on his Harley , scored a pair of outer tines from a tiller he's scrapping
that fit my free tiller . Now I can get close to twice the area done in the
same time . I still have some prep to do before I can plant the new area .
Just as soon as it dries out a little ...
--
Snag

Terry Coombs wrote:
....
I must be quite a ways south of you ... Our new strawberries are doing
well , we have lettuce and bok choy up enough to start thinning , and
yesterday I noticed that the beets are coming up . We're hoping for a few
non-rainy days so I can get the rest planted - it really is "too wet to
plow" here right now .

yes, i'm in mid-Michigan. we've had plenty of snow
on the ground that has had to melt (there's still piles
of it in the shady places yet). the only reason we've
not had flooding this year is that the warm spells
have come without much rain and then there have been
a few days of cold weather here or there to slow it down.
the low spaces the ground is still too wet to plant or
turn, but most of our gardens are raised to avoid the
floods and that lets them dry out early enough to work
if the weather cooperates. for the few lower and flat
areas i try to slope them a little so that they drain
(without eroding).


On another upbeat note , I went by a friend's house the other day to work
on his Harley , scored a pair of outer tines from a tiller he's scrapping
that fit my free tiller . Now I can get close to twice the area done in the
same time . I still have some prep to do before I can plant the new area .
Just as soon as it dries out a little ...

free stuff to reuse is great instead of
having to pay for it new.


songbird

Derald wrote:
songbird wrote:

it is so nice to be able to get back outside
into the gardens.
An overzealous cold front delivered a day of rain and one chilly
night (46°) down here but, otherwise, temps have been normal.

the ground has thawed out enough and is even
starting to be warm enough in spots to plant a
few of the early crops and to start cleaning up
and getting ready for the coming season.

the bees are out gathering nectar and pollen
from the crocuses. i'm always glad to see the
bees and amazed they get to work so early in
the season. the bunnies are doing a fair job
at eating some of the crocuses too. i have to
keep spreading the flowers around to make sure
there are plenty for everyone to enjoy. the
chipmunks will be along later in the season to
take their fill too.
Honeybees have discovered the second-year onions, to my chagrin,
but in no great number. I won't begin discouraging them unless they
find the brassica (many, but not all, are in full flower and/or
setting seeds) which, along with the onions, are pretty much all the
solitary bees and the wasps have available in the garden this time of
year.

Why is it a problem if the bees work on your veges?

"Discovered" an abandoned bathtub which I shall move into the
garden this weekend and prepare to receive its blessings. Maybe
tomatoes will go into it.

Make sure it drains well, if the drain gets plugged you may drown your
veges.

D

On 12/04/2014 8:13 AM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
Derald wrote:
songbird wrote:

it is so nice to be able to get back outside
into the gardens.
An overzealous cold front delivered a day of rain and one chilly
night (46°) down here but, otherwise, temps have been normal.

the ground has thawed out enough and is even
starting to be warm enough in spots to plant a
few of the early crops and to start cleaning up
and getting ready for the coming season.

the bees are out gathering nectar and pollen
from the crocuses. i'm always glad to see the
bees and amazed they get to work so early in
the season. the bunnies are doing a fair job
at eating some of the crocuses too. i have to
keep spreading the flowers around to make sure
there are plenty for everyone to enjoy. the
chipmunks will be along later in the season to
take their fill too.
Honeybees have discovered the second-year onions, to my chagrin,
but in no great number. I won't begin discouraging them unless they
find the brassica (many, but not all, are in full flower and/or
setting seeds) which, along with the onions, are pretty much all the
solitary bees and the wasps have available in the garden this time of
year.

Why is it a problem if the bees work on your veges?

I was wondering exactly the same thing. I'm always happy to see the
bees at work and because of reports of declining population now spend a
lot of time just watching out for where the bees are working to make
sure I have a healthy active population in my garden.

Fran Farmer wrote:
On 12/04/2014 8:13 AM, David Hare-Scott wrote:

Why is it a problem if the bees work on your veges?

I was wondering exactly the same thing. I'm always happy to see the
bees at work and because of reports of declining population now spend
a lot of time just watching out for where the bees are working to make
sure I have a healthy active population in my garden.

One way to have an active healthy bee population in your garden is to have
a hive or two of your very own . We've wanted to do this for several years
and are now in a place where we can . I'll be picking ours up established
colony , from a local beekeeper at the end of May after the sustainability
weekend beekeeping class . We've seen bees here , but very few - and we're
putting an orchard in this year . There are other pollinators around , but I
like the other benefits of having bees .
--
Snag
I love
country livin' ...

Terry Coombs wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:
On 12/04/2014 8:13 AM, David Hare-Scott wrote:

Why is it a problem if the bees work on your veges?

I was wondering exactly the same thing. I'm always happy to see the
bees at work and because of reports of declining population now spend
a lot of time just watching out for where the bees are working to
make sure I have a healthy active population in my garden.

One way to have an active healthy bee population in your garden is
to have a hive or two of your very own . We've wanted to do this for
several years and are now in a place where we can . I'll be picking
ours up established colony , from a local beekeeper at the end of
May after the sustainability weekend beekeeping class . We've seen
bees here , but very few - and we're putting an orchard in this year
. There are other pollinators around , but I like the other benefits
of having bees .

I am lucky, no hive required. I have more than you can shake a stick at.

D

David Hare-Scott wrote:
Derald wrote:
....
Honeybees have discovered the second-year onions, to my chagrin,
but in no great number. I won't begin discouraging them unless they
find the brassica (many, but not all, are in full flower and/or
setting seeds) which, along with the onions, are pretty much all the
solitary bees and the wasps have available in the garden this time of
year.

Why is it a problem if the bees work on your veges?

Derald favors native bees over the honey bee.

here i see such a wide variety of bee species
that i don't worry about it at all. the bees i've
seen the most of recently do look like the honey
bee.


"Discovered" an abandoned bathtub which I shall move into the
garden this weekend and prepare to receive its blessings. Maybe
tomatoes will go into it.

Make sure it drains well, if the drain gets plugged you may drown your
veges.

rubber ducky weather.


songbird

David Hare-Scott wrote:
....
I am lucky, no hive required. I have more than you can shake a stick at.

plus there are ways of setting up things
to encourage other species of bees too other
than just the honey bee. no hives needed
for many of them. we have a species of bee
that likes to use the electrical plug outlets
in the garage as nesting sites. the holes
in the shop vac that are countersunk down a
bit had some action last year too as when
we used it the other day several of those
holes were packed with mud.


songbird

On Sat, 12 Apr 2014 00:52:16 -0400, songbird
wrote:

David Hare-Scott wrote:
...
I am lucky, no hive required. I have more than you can shake a stick at.

plus there are ways of setting up things
to encourage other species of bees too other
than just the honey bee. no hives needed
for many of them. we have a species of bee
that likes to use the electrical plug outlets
in the garage as nesting sites. the holes
in the shop vac that are countersunk down a
bit had some action last year too as when
we used it the other day several of those
holes were packed with mud.


songbird

Yesterday I saw at least 1 wasp visiting the citrus trees in the
greenhouse. This time of year I have to open the door to the
greenhouse during the day and even then it can get up to 90°F .

I have 3 potted citrus trees (Mexican Lime, Key Lime and Meyer Lemon)
that go into the greenhouse in the winter. They will go onto the deck
when it gets warm enough. The 10 day forecast is for lows in the 30°s
next week. Thankfully I have no more plants that need to go out yet
and everything that is out will do fine.

--
USA
North Carolina Foothills
USDA Zone 7a
To find your extension office
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/index.html

Derald wrote:
songbird wrote:

it is so nice to be able to get back outside
into the gardens.

An overzealous cold front delivered a day of rain and one chilly
night (46°) down here but, otherwise, temps have been normal.

today will be nice and then we are in for
some rainy weather and a retreat to cold too
for a few nights below freezing. the rain
is needed as i much prefer rain to using the
well water.

i hope this cold doesn't make it that far
south.


the ground has thawed out enough and is even
starting to be warm enough in spots to plant a
few of the early crops and to start cleaning up
and getting ready for the coming season.

the bees are out gathering nectar and pollen
from the crocuses. i'm always glad to see the
bees and amazed they get to work so early in
the season. the bunnies are doing a fair job
at eating some of the crocuses too. i have to
keep spreading the flowers around to make sure
there are plenty for everyone to enjoy. the
chipmunks will be along later in the season to
take their fill too.

Honeybees have discovered the second-year onions, to my chagrin,
but in no great number. I won't begin discouraging them unless they
find the brassica (many, but not all, are in full flower and/or setting
seeds) which, along with the onions, are pretty much all the solitary
bees and the wasps have available in the garden this time of year.
Mostly, though, I don't want to get up and out that early ;-)

i only get early gardening started when it
gets to be around tomato worm season. i'm
more of a night owl. getting up too early
is rarely easy. some times it is much easier
for me to just stay up all night.

are you letting those second year onions
make seeds for you to replant or just enjoying
the flowers?

i still have onions growing from seeds i
planted three years ago that are hiding under
some birdsfoot trefoil. i check them once in
a while to see if they are big enough to
harvest. last year there were a few onions
about 8cm across from that patch. considering
i completely ignore them the rest of the time
that is prime low impact gardening.


Bunnies,
squirrels and deer never are much of a problem in these parts. I
suspect the population people, cats and dogs might have a little to do
with that. Have no chipmunks and the armadilloes, which dig and
arbitrarily walk into stationary objects, cannot get into the raised
beds or containters.

you can tell how bad the winter is here by
looking at the cedar trees and bushes. in
one place the bush has been completely stripped
of bark about 50cm above the ground for another
40cm. the snow was piled deep enough they didn't
even get to the lower parts of the bush to munch
on. they also chomped the bark off much of the
remaining sumac that i've been trying to get rid
of. i can thank them for that, but it will be
back, it's a pretty stubborn plant to get rid of.
sends roots out quite a ways and will send up
shoots from those.

how is your garlic holding up? it looks
like what you sent to me survived the winter.


in the north central garden the ground was
dry enough to plant some rutabagas, onion seeds
and turnips, and while i was there i also put
some peas in a few spots. perhaps the peas will
be able to sprout before we get too cold weather
again. the forecast is looking ok for some nice
warm days here or there, but the night time temps
will be below freezing once in a while. we'll
see what happens...

Although, many of the cool-season veggies are still doing well, the
last of the fall tunips, well past their prime, came out of the garden a
few days ago and the English peas that I planted in November were
removed this morning in order to make way either for okra or peppers;
not sure which, yet. Have more peas coming on but can't say that I'm
particularly optimistic about their wellbeing: Frequently, by the end
of May, if the heat doesn't shut them down, some kind of mildew does.
Have been introduced to a OP garden pea purported to be more heat
tolerant and better suited to the South than others. My intent is to
test it next season.

please remember to write up how they do as if
they can survive even a bit longer in your heat
down there they might do well through our whole
summer.


Cowpeas, green beans, okra and eggplant are all up
and seem to be doing well despite the chilly weather of a few days ago.
Removed collards from two containers and transplanted a "voluteer"
tomato into one of them from a spot that was too close to the composting
area. May be the only tomato I'll fool with this spring; dunno, yet.
Depends on how space works out, I guess. "Discovered" an abandoned
bathtub which I shall move into the garden this weekend and prepare to
receive its blessings. Maybe tomatoes will go into it.

have you ever tried rutabaga aka swedes?


songbird

Derald wrote:
songbird wrote:

David Hare-Scott wrote:
...
I am lucky, no hive required. I have more than you can shake a
stick at.

plus there are ways of setting up things
to encourage other species of bees too other
than just the honey bee. no hives needed
for many of them. we have a species of bee
that likes to use the electrical plug outlets
in the garage as nesting sites. the holes
in the shop vac that are countersunk down a
bit had some action last year too as when
we used it the other day several of those
holes were packed with mud.

Same here. Power taps, extension cords, tool handles, locks etc.
even the tubular wind chime are nesting sites for something. It seems
to me easier to conserve a healthy local population of native bees and
wasps than attend to a flock of poorly adapted alien species that is
of questionable benefit to backyard gardens.

My aliens are very well adapted. They work hard all year round in large
numbers fertilising a very large proportion of my flowering plants. During
clover season the pasture hums - quite literally. I never have to hand
pollinate anything.

Simply provide them
holes in which to nest, eschew pesticides, minimize tilling and
mulches; a little something to eat doesn't hurt, too. Enthusiasts
size the "nest" holes according to the species desired-primarily to
exclude "robber" bees-and even line them with paper tubes but I'm
(subjectively) nowhere near that obsessive. Right now, pollenation
is not an issue in the garden but I'd like for future generations of
Mother's little helpers to emerge in or near the garden.
Despite the occasional chilly night, we're definitely into
seasonal, warmer weather down here. Except for the coldest days, we
have insect activity year-round but bee and wasp emergence really
picks up in late February, when the peas are in bloom. But now, the
only flowers in the garden are a few onions and numerous brassica,
with more of those to come along, if I can leave them in place for a
while longer. As you know, wildflowers are as close to the garden as
is
practical, even in the aisles, and certain deep-rooted "weeds" remain
in the beds for as long as practical.

Bloody mud wasps! We have the black and yellow sort the size of a small
bird. They will build mud nests in any opening that they can get to. If any
appliance (pump, trimmer, mower) has an exhaust pipe between one and two
fingers wide you had better check it before starting. Even if they don't
fill the hole completely a blockage produces weird performance issues, you
squeeze the accelerator and it goes slower.

D

Derald wrote:
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:



Why is it a problem if the bees work on your veges?

I meant, specifically, imported honeybees. We get them in these
parts primarily because of the local concentration of blueberry farms.
I give precedence to native bees and wasps, provide "nests" for them
and prefer to feed them instead of the honeybees. Honeybees roaming
at large in the environment are not the unmitigated gift from the
heavens that generations of indoctrination would have us believe but,
then, what is, eh?.

What exactly is the drawback with honeybees?

More to the point what coual you do about them?

D

My garlic (which I got in horribly late last fall) is performing
"textbook" - ie, what those who scribble much claim it should do (put
out roots in the winter but not put up shots until now) - where I
usually have 6-8" tall greens that have been laughing at the cold all
winter by now. We'll have to see if it does better or worse than normal.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by
Please don't feed the trolls. Killfile and ignore them so they will go away.

David Hare-Scott wrote:
Derald wrote:
songbird wrote:
....
plus there are ways of setting up things
to encourage other species of bees too other
than just the honey bee. no hives needed
for many of them. we have a species of bee
that likes to use the electrical plug outlets
in the garage as nesting sites. the holes
in the shop vac that are countersunk down a
bit had some action last year too as when
we used it the other day several of those
holes were packed with mud.

Same here. Power taps, extension cords, tool handles, locks etc.
even the tubular wind chime are nesting sites for something. It seems
to me easier to conserve a healthy local population of native bees and
wasps than attend to a flock of poorly adapted alien species that is
of questionable benefit to backyard gardens.

My aliens are very well adapted. They work hard all year round in large
numbers fertilising a very large proportion of my flowering plants. During
clover season the pasture hums - quite literally. I never have to hand
pollinate anything.

one reason to be glad not to live in parts
of China.


Simply provide them
holes in which to nest, eschew pesticides, minimize tilling and
mulches; a little something to eat doesn't hurt, too. Enthusiasts
size the "nest" holes according to the species desired-primarily to
exclude "robber" bees-and even line them with paper tubes but I'm
(subjectively) nowhere near that obsessive. Right now, pollenation
is not an issue in the garden but I'd like for future generations of
Mother's little helpers to emerge in or near the garden.
Despite the occasional chilly night, we're definitely into
seasonal, warmer weather down here. Except for the coldest days, we
have insect activity year-round but bee and wasp emergence really
picks up in late February, when the peas are in bloom. But now, the
only flowers in the garden are a few onions and numerous brassica,
with more of those to come along, if I can leave them in place for a
while longer. As you know, wildflowers are as close to the garden as
is
practical, even in the aisles, and certain deep-rooted "weeds" remain
in the beds for as long as practical.

Bloody mud wasps! We have the black and yellow sort the size of a small
bird. They will build mud nests in any opening that they can get to. If any
appliance (pump, trimmer, mower) has an exhaust pipe between one and two
fingers wide you had better check it before starting. Even if they don't
fill the hole completely a blockage produces weird performance issues, you
squeeze the accelerator and it goes slower.

sounds like you'd have to put a screen,
cover or plug on about everything.

we have blue/black mud dauber hornets that
will put nests on the front stone wall, but
nothing that large. they are very pretty
creatures and not very aggressive. the ones
that fill in the screw recesses are much smaller
and i'm not sure if they are a bee or hornet,
but they are pretty mild mannered too.

a friend of ours has a hole in the ground
that was dug by bees using the dirt for nest
building material. he said it took him a
long time to figure out what had dug that
hole because there were no tracks around to
give it away. bees/wasps are not the most
immediate thing that comes to mind.


songbird