Uninvited guests arrived for the
holiday. There were two of them, and they were looking for an endless buffet.
I know they are handsome, but the only thing they got served was another dose of Milorganite spread around on the grass to deter a return visit.
Spring is arriving in between the snow and sleet. Mother Nature just hasn’t made up her mind yet when it will arrive for good.
Planning a garden is contagious and spreading in this part of the country. I assisted at an Organic Gardening 101 workshop last Thursday with well over 50 people in attendance. There were current gardeners wanting to learn new skills and others anxiously planning their first gardening adventure.
Did I learn anything? Yes. I think most gardeners plant a tomato deeper than the size of its pot and usually snip off some of the lower leaves when they do that. The recommendation was to snip off those leaves about a week before planting so they could heel before they were exposed to the soil. That certainly made sense, and I wondered why I’d never heard that before. There was also a very helpful slide on how to layout a garden with twenty different options. I set up a Gardening Resources page on our MG blog. If you scroll down to Garden Layouts you will find the link.
I also ran across a good article on pruning blueberries in a small local newspaper. This gardening guy has some very interesting points on how to determine which branch to prune so check it out if you are on a pruning journey. I could have used this information before I went snip, snip.
I’ve been doing some sewing and finished a really easy queen quilt top that I hand tied. It is backed by fleece and is intended to be used in the trailer during camping season. I also made a tote bag with three pockets on the outside and three on the inside along with rings to attach keys to, and I’m working on a second one as a gift. When I’m done with that, I will start a couple of costumes for my granddaughter. Those should keep me busy until I can spend my days outside.
So, how’s your week shaping up? Are you spending time inside or outside? Got any gardening tips to share?
Love your quilt fabric with the birds!! The flower and butterflies on the bag are great too. Nice looking projects. My brother and his wife are big gardeners in Central Coastal California and have a deer issue. She has a rainbird sprinkler on a large support a-frame that is “motion activated” and it is quite effective. Of course, they don’t get the hard freeze you get, and once their danger of below freezing is over, she hooks it up. Sounds like you have found a good organic solution.
My sewing projects are beckoning, but I have family obligations early this week, so will not get much done unless I can “sneak out” to the sewing room after dinner tomorrow!
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Thanks, Mary. Anything that deters deer is a good thing, and I’m guessing that motion activated sprinkler would work great. Where they have traipsed through the yard all winter looks like someone used a rototiller. Have a good week and here’s hope you get a few hours of sewing in. 🙂
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This weekend, my husband and I mucked about with wood, sawing up branches that had come down and also cutting down a tree that was not thriving. (This always makes me feel bad.) I pulled brambles. I picked up sticks in the backyard. This week, weather permitting, I will start removing leaves from the garden. And this Saturday at our local garden center, there will be a talk on birds that I plan on going to. Finally, what beautiful work you do!
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Thank you. 🙂 We have two chain saws being tuned up. One has the long arm, and we can stand on the ground to get higher branches. I’ve got my eyes on several branches I want to come down, and I know we will have at least two loads in the utility trailer to go to recycling. Spring cleanup is hard work but a lot more fun that fall cleanup because you have all the color to look forward to. Your bird seminar sounds like fun. I’m going to an organic lawn talk this week. There’s always something new we can learn. 🙂
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No matter how old we are 😉 Old dogs can indeed learn new tricks.
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When we lived in Cleveland, deer were everywhere. They even ate the flowers off all my day lilies, which really cheesed me off! I planted some herbs and tomatoes on the flat roof of our garage (accessible by a door at the top of the stairs) to keep them safe from marauding deer and rabbits. I figured any of them that could get up there deserved the food more than I. 🙂
janet
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For two years in a row, the deer came through and ate beds of hosta right down to the soil. Made me so mad and then I got to look at the carnage for an entire gardening season. I love the creative idea of gardening on the roof – way to go, Janet. 🙂
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It’s just good that spring is here! We had a lovely Easter Sunday – 70 and sunny. Today it’s rain and colder, but at least there’s the promise of warm weather ahead. I like seeing your new leaf growth popping up, and the buds on the trees!
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I am so glad that you had lovely weather while enjoying Easter festivities with your beautiful grandchildren. We had sun but it was cold, and today it is gray, damp and rainy. Good day to sew.
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I am in awe of your energy level Judy. I keep looking at our little yard and thinking “I need to clean up this winter debris” but it hasn’t made it onto the weekend to-do list. This week was taxes 😦 Do you have any thoughts on how to get rid of moles in a yard where the dog is free to roam? Most chemical solutions have to be ruled out. Your sewing projects are beautiful, as I am sure your gardens soon will be. Thanks for sharing the photos, and happy spring!
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Oh, taxes. Ours are done thank heavens. April 15th is never a date for celebration except to say it’s over for a year. 🙂 I found a sheet on moles so here’s the link: https://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000563_Rep585.pdf. It’s kind of interesting that dogs usually scare them off – guess Maddie is too friendly. Sounds like traps are the only alternative. I don’t mean to sound heartless, but I wouldn’t be live trapping and moving them anywhere. I’ve never understood trapping rodents and then putting them in your vehicle to take them for a ride. Let me know if you come up with a solution that works for you.
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Thanks Judy. Trapping might be the only choice. Maddie isn’t friendly to them but that means that she wants to dig them out of the ground. She can dig like a backhoe. Not the best alternative. I don’t want to make them someone else’s problem.
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Judy, I liked the bag you’ve done, especially pockets inside, good idea. I’m sure your new quilt on fleece is very useful for trailer. Yesterday I’ve been to my garden, seen to roses and was upset. Too much work to survive them after wet winter.
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Oh, I’m so sorry about your roses. I only have Knockouts and have about six of them. I saw the other day they appear to be alive but we’ll see how they progress.
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Our weather is the same as yours. . I weeded, called for mulch delivery later this week… ya know, right before it snows! Ha! But the mud down the street will spread for $10 per yd. Deal!
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I’m still hesitating about raking the leaves off all the beds. Just about the time, I make a plan to do it, the weather turns colder. Then I’ll be moving on to the mulch brigade myself while I step lightly around mud season. 🙂
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Your garden looks about the same as mine, things popping up more and more each day. The grass has started to grow, too. Soon the world will be green again!
I love the colors in your new quilt – bright and cheery.
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Bright and cherry was what I was going for – pastel colors mostly along with birds. 🙂 It is raining like crazy today so everything is getting a well deserve drink and will probably start putting on more leaves as long as we don’t get another hard freeze. Here’s hoping. 🙂
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Hello from the Sierra Nevada mountains! It’s cold and a little wet here today. Had a beautiful Easter though. I’ve been trying to do winter cleanup all winter to hopefully stay on top of it. But it’s been hard with the snowy/rainy weather. And last time we did some major raking I did something to my leg and it’s been slow to heal. I guess that’s how it’s going to be as I get older. 😩
Thank you for the deer repellent idea. We also have the motion activated sprinklers but they don’t always work well. I’m going to get a couple bags of the Milorganite to try. We have a new nursery open near me and they carry it. Happy to give them some business.
Also, thank you for the tips on the tomatoes. My dad taught me to cut off the lower leaves before planting and planting deep but he didn’t say anything about letting them heal. Makes so much sense!
Lastly your sewing projects are beautiful! I’m a paper crafter and love working with color. I wish I could sew but I have trouble hemming a pair of pants!
Happy spring Judy! Love your posts.
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Glad you had nice holiday weather, Cheryl. You were proactive with your outdoor cleanup. I deal with back and knee issues so I understand. It doesn’t take much to set it off, just a little twist the wrong way. It is really funny the number of ‘tools’ I have to work around it. I have a pair of wooden grabbers that were my Mom’s a long time ago and that is how I pick up sticks so I don’t have to bend over, and there’s the snow shovel that I use to scoop leaves up off the ground into the cart. Then I have a wagon seat thingie from Garden Supply that I can sit on and prune/deadhead/weed without bending over. Of course, I still get a sore back because I do plenty of bending, but I keep on going. Hope your leg gets better soon. 🙂 That Milorganite works pretty darn well but don’t put it near any food crops, and the tomato advice makes such good sense it blew me away I’d never heard it before. I can sew but you can do paper so we’re both contributing to the craft world. Happy spring to you too. 🙂
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Mostly I’m still doing inside things. The gorgeous days, though, I go out and piddle how I do. Limbs in the yard, beds to uncover, things to prune — tomorrow’s supposed to be another gorgeous day for outside work 🙂 Tomorrow I will try to get my family to help me with the largest bed.
Those are some beautiful quilty things. I love the sweet and cheerful colors of the one on the left!
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Flower beds? Vegetable beds? Or both?
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Both. Front is mostly flower and side and back are mostly vegetable, but I find I get a good mini ecosystem when I plant a bit of fleur in the veg. Brings pollinators and predators 😛
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Nice to see spring is awakening in your area.
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I love your quilting projects…I just don’t have the sewing knack, so I love seeing your quilts and bags and creating them must give you a lot of pleasure.
Thanks for the tip on taking lower leaves off a tomato a week or so before planting…that makes good sense.
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I won’t tell you how beautiful it is here (but it is!) Determined not to use anything on the roses that will affect the bees this year, I tried a milk spray on the first aphids. The aphids are gone…but those dried milk spots…not so sure about this! We’ll see.
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Now, that is interesting, and you enjoy that beautiful weather for both of us. 🙂
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We’re still not spending much time outside and not seeing many signs of spring, although the weeping willows are getting that odd shade of yellow green that says they’ll bud before too long. Since there isn’t much I can do outside, i’m still focused on the inside crafts–your new blanket sounds like it will be perfect for chilly nights in the camper!
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Such a beautiful bag and I love the quilt, I never knew or even thought about letting wounds heal after snipping off leaves, thanks for the tip.
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Our garden is so pathetic, the deer aren’t even interested. Sad, but true.
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On Monday we came back from a long weekend visiting our son and his girlfriend in Minnesota. Then it was back to the salt mines.
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Beautiful quilt work💕
I plan to get some seeds started when we get home next week😊
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I had never heard of taking the lower tomato leaves off a week before planting. It makes sense but it’s unlikely that I’ll be that organized at planting time. I love the idea of a fleece backing for your trailer quilt and the bird fabric is gorgeous. Our plants seem to have survived the snow and cold although some of the tulips look a bit mangled. It’s a spectacular sunny morning, so pruning’s on our agenda–lots and lots of pruning!
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The sun and the leaf rakes are calling to me. Have a great day outdoors. 🙂
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If you are pruning blueberries, check out this article. I found it fascinating because of the information and pictures on the buds. I wish I had read it before I went snip, snip, and I really appreciated the author letting me repost it. 🙂 https://scmga.wordpress.com/2016/03/29/pruning-blueberries/
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There just isn’t room in my small backyard to put a garden – at least not the vegetable kind. But I am having fun watching my plumerias sprout all kinds of leaves and I have 5 Oriental lilies popping up and the calla lilies are in full bloom and just gorgeous! Can’t eat them but I can sure spend time outside enjoying them!
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Lilies normally have a beautiful fragrance. Do your plumerias have a fragrance?
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My lilies do have the most amazing fragrance which is why I planted them under the bedroom window! The plumerias have a very light floral fragrance but they make up for it in color!
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The quilt turned out beautifully even if it was NOT really easy, lol. That tote bag is amazing! It will be fun to view these costumes later on; can’t wait to see!
I had never heard of trimming the tomato leaves early on, prior to planting either…great tip.
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I never would have gotten that hand tied without your help – thank you, friend. 💗
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