LysmachiaMoon's blog: Feed bag grow bags

Those feed bag grow bags are doing very well. I've got 6 with potatoes in them and now 6 more with eggplant. If I can find a few more, I'm going to plant hot peppers in more grow bags. I've got a big veg, but after a major redesign some years ago, a lot of the area is taken up with paths. There's a wide area between the greenhouse and the two cold frames that during the summer stands un-used so these grow bags are a good way for me to get some production out of that spot. (I like to have that area wide open so I can maneuever wheelbarrows in and out at that spot.) I think the reason these recycled bags are working well is that they "breathe." They are made of that crinkly "sort of" plastic that if you hold it up and look closely almost looks like it's woven. We've got chickens and cats so I tend to have a stack of empty sacks on hand. Normally I try to use them for trash bags, but now I'm going to hold back at least a dozen each winter for grow bags. I just have to remember to water/feed the plants in them.

My gardens are reaching their peak. All the iris are in bloom and I've got colors/forms I dint remember I had! The peonies are just starting to open. We had a couple of days of very hot weather (90F!), but then it suddenly plunged into the low 70sF so I'm hoping the display lasts a bit longer. My white tree peony only had about 7 blooms this year and what with heavy rain and then the heat, they melted very quickly. (Last year, the temperatures were cooler and the display of tree peony blooms went on for nearly 2 weeks.)

I'm still working away at that new section where the Aux. Garden used to stand. I've got some ornamental grasses planted in there and a small patch of "Chocolate Chip" Ajuga. Yesterday I seeded in some wildflowers and SlowCala's pink babybreath seeds (thank you girlie!). We've been getting light rain off and on for the past few days so gardening is a bit "hit or miss."

I had some very sad news on Saturday. One of my dearest friends passed away late Saturday. Karen has been struggling with severe Ulcerative Colitis for nearly 40 years. When she was first diagnosed, there were no immune-suppressive drugs available to treat it, as there is today. The only "treatment" was repeated surgeries that removed more and more of her digestive tract to the point where, for the past 10 years or so, she has been receiving nearly all her nutrition thru her veins from an IV drip. Because of the terrible strain this put on her body, slowly and inexorably nearly every system in her body failed: she had kidney failure, congestive heart failure, liver problems; she suffered several strokes and bad falls. And yet, she soldiered on, making the best of a very bad hand. I don't think we ever spoke that, no matter how worried, scared, sick, in pain, or tired she was, we didn't end up laughing about something. I'm going to miss her forever. But I would never wish her back, even for a minute to say goodbye, into that wrecked and suffering body. So I'll end this post the way we ended every conversation: "I love you Sister!"

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