LysmachiaMoon's blog: All clear re: covid

My friend E tested NEGATIVE for covid, despite having a home healthcare worker who tested Positive. So we are all clear, but really taking the precautions and warnings even more seriously now. I've got a spray bottle filled with rubbing alcohol and we're spritzing all door knobs, computer keyboards, phones, and car handles at least once a day. I'm also leaving mail outside in a box on the porch for 24 hours and when I bring groceries home, I put them in the bed of the truck instead of in the cab and (weather permitting) leave them there for a few hours of fresh air and sunshine. It can't hurt.

****
Weather is holding, so I'm still able to get gardening chores done. Yesterday was another "move from point A to point B" day, but today I'd like to try to get those honey locust out of the below the deck garden and into the Pine Gap. I realize that I need to seriously get down to clearing another stretch of the Pine Gap because I've got other things that could go in there. There's a massive barberry that forms the end of the hedge in the front yard; every year, R clips it into a rounded end shape but it's getting too big despite clipping and those thorns are horrible. We've agreed it's got to go. I'm going to cut it down and dig it out, but you know me, I'm thinking instead of throwing it away, I'll pop it into the end of the Pine Gap and let it do it's thing undisturbed. It will be such a relief having it out of the hedge/driveway bed. I'm always getting stuck with those thorns on the clippings that get left behind. Here's a pic of the barberry, it's the big purple round shape in the center of the photo.


Got the cold frames cleared out and put in a bunch of potted stuff that will hold til next spring. I've got 12 old storm windows that I use to cover the cold frames, but I did not cover the potted stuff, I think it would get too warm yet. I had put weed block plastic down in the bottoms of the cold frames, but realized that water was pooling on it and would rot anything sitting there over winter, so got that out and replaced it with some raised, perforated plastic trays i had laying around. Ideally, I should put down a good layer of gravel for drainage but that will need to wait til next year. I've also got some of that very coarse wood chip mulch spread in there, which should provide adequate drainage.

We are STILL eating tomatoes from my veg garden! I picked all the green/semi-ripe tomatoes in early October, put them in a single layer in shallow cardboard boxes in my bedroom (coldest room in the house; i hate a warm bedroom, never turn the heat on). I covered them with a single sheet of newspaper to keep too much light from them and they have been slowly ripening. The flavor is good, not what you get in summer, but definitely better than supermarket. The trick is cool temps and dark, which seems counterintuitive but works. I tried putting a few on the kitchen counter to ripen but they invariably rot instead.

Did an inventory of my veg seed. I only need to buy some beets and zuchinni. Would be nice to get Ambrosia sweet corn, but I have 2 varieties that were given to me so I might just try those instead. If anyone is interested in trading a couple of veg seeds, let me know. I've got a good many pole and bush bean seeds, etc.

Trying to get the planting scheme worked out for next year's veg. I think I've got it, but need to go over it and see if I forgot anything. One year I did the whole layout and was so pleased with how much room I had and then realized I forgot to make room for sweet potatoes *LOL*. That explains all that extra space! it will be nice to get those 2 crescent beds back into veg production now that I've opened up a new space for a strawberry bed. I still need to get in there and dig it over, add amendments, etc. But at least all the daylilies and roots are gone.

I got two pkts of artichoke seeds and i figured i'd go ahead and try them. Been taking notes on how to grow them. I think I'll put them in the flower border outside the veg garden fence since they make big coarse plants and can be perennial. I have a blank spot where I moved the bird feeder out, near the garden shed, so that should be good. it's full sun and good soil, which artichokes need.

Used some of the juniper prunings to make little tee-pee shelters for my small hydrangeas. I've learned the hard way that if I don't protect them, I'll get no flowers. It's very frustrating. My neighbor right next door has a hydrangea that is planted against the north wall of her brick house. It flowers without fail every summer (blue). Mine almost never do unless I cover them or mulch them to protect the buds. This, in my opinion, is a real drawback of these newer varieties of hydrangeas that set flower buds in the fall. My old Annabelle flowers without fail, as does the oak leaf. Oh well, at least these newer varieties make very nice green plants!

( No account? Join now! )