Zeedman
Garden Master
So that's where they go over the winter...
What Did You Do In The Garden?
- Thread starter digitS'
- Start date
Dirtmechanic
Garden Addicted
Just what is that "stuff" that accumulates in the bottom of a bird bath? They are clean now but a wire brush and armstrong cleaner was barely enough. I re-planted a bunch of lillies. You know the giant ones where there is a kid in the picture looking up at the flower but when you grow them they are 2 feet tall? Those ones.
Ridgerunner
Garden Master
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2009
- Messages
- 8,229
- Reaction score
- 10,062
- Points
- 397
- Location
- Southeast Louisiana Zone 9A
Aw, you took the character out of that bird bath. What will the birds think. Mother Nature abhors a vacuum, how long do you think it will take her to create life in that sterile environment? What is that stuff? Sediment, stain, and microbial life. A world of its own.
Don't worry, it won't be that long before Mother Nature reclaims it. A cleaner? I usually just use a brush though that reminds me, I need to clean some algae off of a few walls and a shed door. I usually use a bleach solution and elbow grease.
Dirtmechanic
Garden Addicted
Arm - Strong. As in elbow grease. Now you are making me feel old!Aw, you took the character out of that bird bath. What will the birds think. Mother Nature abhors a vacuum, how long do you think it will take her to create life in that sterile environment? What is that stuff? Sediment, stain, and microbial life. A world of its own.
A cleaner? I usually just use a brush though that reminds me, I need to clean some algae off of a few walls and a shed door. I usually use a bleach solution and elbow grease.
Trish Stretton
Deeply Rooted
I've been so lax at posting, didnt notice how long its been.
Last week was a busy one, picking up the peaches and making jam, harvesting the cannellini beans and yellow 'Whero' peas and drying them in the courtyard.
Did another lot of sundried tomatoes, but had to do another lot yesterday cos the jar wasnt full.
The arborists arrived on Thursday, so that huge horizontal trunk got cut out and just as well too! I was right, there was a huge split running horizontally through a third of the way up. So most of the weight was below the split and it ran for a good 8 feet. The gap at the widest was almost 1/2 an inch!
They were more than happy to leave the wood chip behind for me, so Fridays job was moving that to mulch the beds. There is still maybe a third of it to spread around.
I got them to cut down the last 3 leaning trunks of the cabbage tree as well. I wasnt game to do them after the last one I did started falling the wrong way and almost took out the fence- the wind just picked up as it was falling so I had to really lean on it to get it more on track.
The bed outside the bathroom looked terrible with all the alpine strawberries dying back- I forgot to water them. I dont like the fruit anyway, so I pulled the lot out, laid cardboard down and mulched with leaves from the Avocado tree.
I'm going to put winter savory along the edges and have bulbs around the lemonade tree.
Monday was a cook up day- I decided to have a go at 'canning' the passata. I used my tallest stock pot and managed to fit all the jars in, sitting on a trivet with cloths around the jars to stop them from banging against each other. It seemed to work and all the jars sealed.
So harvesting yet more tomatoes in the morning once the dew was off, then cook up, then back outside to play in the garden... getting the next lot of mowing strip worked out for the lawn.
I havent done much of this for a while, so I thought I had better get back to it.
It needed to be levelled and I'm using the red bricks my neighbor gave me which tie in really well with the other pavers and.... weeding.
Last week was a busy one, picking up the peaches and making jam, harvesting the cannellini beans and yellow 'Whero' peas and drying them in the courtyard.
Did another lot of sundried tomatoes, but had to do another lot yesterday cos the jar wasnt full.
The arborists arrived on Thursday, so that huge horizontal trunk got cut out and just as well too! I was right, there was a huge split running horizontally through a third of the way up. So most of the weight was below the split and it ran for a good 8 feet. The gap at the widest was almost 1/2 an inch!
They were more than happy to leave the wood chip behind for me, so Fridays job was moving that to mulch the beds. There is still maybe a third of it to spread around.
I got them to cut down the last 3 leaning trunks of the cabbage tree as well. I wasnt game to do them after the last one I did started falling the wrong way and almost took out the fence- the wind just picked up as it was falling so I had to really lean on it to get it more on track.
The bed outside the bathroom looked terrible with all the alpine strawberries dying back- I forgot to water them. I dont like the fruit anyway, so I pulled the lot out, laid cardboard down and mulched with leaves from the Avocado tree.
I'm going to put winter savory along the edges and have bulbs around the lemonade tree.
Monday was a cook up day- I decided to have a go at 'canning' the passata. I used my tallest stock pot and managed to fit all the jars in, sitting on a trivet with cloths around the jars to stop them from banging against each other. It seemed to work and all the jars sealed.
So harvesting yet more tomatoes in the morning once the dew was off, then cook up, then back outside to play in the garden... getting the next lot of mowing strip worked out for the lawn.
I havent done much of this for a while, so I thought I had better get back to it.
It needed to be levelled and I'm using the red bricks my neighbor gave me which tie in really well with the other pavers and.... weeding.
Dahlia
Deeply Rooted
Dirtmechanic
Garden Addicted
Well I actually dug up the catnip inside the garden fence so I guess its officially starting over here. I just realized I have to do a grow test to check for the ameanoldpyralid that stunted last years garden. What a pain. Be very careful with the cow compost. I doubt much has changed in the supply of southbound amendments from northbound cattle. I may raise the garden. I can hear it now: Hey honey, whatcha building? Me: Carrots!
Zeedman
Garden Master
Today might be the last day with a high below freezing, which has been traditionally the day I defrost & clean the freezers. So transferred everything from both freezers to some large utility buckets, and put those outside during cleaning (it was 20 F. degrees at the time). This is also the time when I inventory the frozen veggies, and get rid of anything which might have been buried & forgotten. DW & I will be transferring some of the excess to our adult children & their families... most of which was intended for family dinners which never happened. 
Ordinarily, having viewed just how much of each veggie was left in the freezers, I might adjust how much I planned to grow... but this year is pretty useless as a reference point. If anything, more pickling, canning, and dehydrating this year; but I have been gradually shifting in those directions already.
Ordinarily, having viewed just how much of each veggie was left in the freezers, I might adjust how much I planned to grow... but this year is pretty useless as a reference point. If anything, more pickling, canning, and dehydrating this year; but I have been gradually shifting in those directions already.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #4,319
digitS'
Garden Master
Pruned the peach tree.
Dug carrots, parsnips and celeriac out of the clamp from the 2020 garden. The fridge is once again stuffed with root veggies!
Big loss of carrots splitting, probably half. That hasn't happened before! I'm wondering if those microscopic nematode nemesis enemies nn-nn-nn-nn
were in that carrot patch. Those grew near the garage south wall and it's a hot location. Not doing that again!
Turns out that the ground is still frozen with about a half inch of mud on top. It was a mistake to put the clamp in the middle of the backyard beds because I made an absolute mess out of my yard shoes and the path. Next time, dig clamp at the edge of the lawn grass!
Positives. Celeriac was just fine even with the scraggly roots cut off last fall. Parsnips too! Funny contrast to carrots and they grew in nearly the same location. They also like to grow in the clamp. Best not to put them in too early in the fall or take them out too late but, I knew that.
Steve
Dug carrots, parsnips and celeriac out of the clamp from the 2020 garden. The fridge is once again stuffed with root veggies!
Big loss of carrots splitting, probably half. That hasn't happened before! I'm wondering if those microscopic nematode nemesis enemies nn-nn-nn-nn
were in that carrot patch. Those grew near the garage south wall and it's a hot location. Not doing that again!Turns out that the ground is still frozen with about a half inch of mud on top. It was a mistake to put the clamp in the middle of the backyard beds because I made an absolute mess out of my yard shoes and the path. Next time, dig clamp at the edge of the lawn grass!
Positives. Celeriac was just fine even with the scraggly roots cut off last fall. Parsnips too! Funny contrast to carrots and they grew in nearly the same location. They also like to grow in the clamp
. Best not to put them in too early in the fall or take them out too late but, I knew that.Steve
henless
Garden Addicted
I got my onions planted over the weekend. I also trimmed up the dead leaves on my elephant garlic that died from the -6 degrees we had during our winter snow storm. Does anyone know if the garlic will continue to grow?
