our house in boulder was a beautiful little midcentury gem, but the windows that opened were tiny and we couldn’t even capture the nice evening breezes that’s when perimenopause started for me, too, it was brutal!
i did love the april snows, though. snow on a blossoming tree is so beautiful! especially when it’s gone the next day. spring and fall and winter there were pretty magical. but the summer … it made me feel like gollum … “it burns us precious!!”
anyway i am excited to see my garden grow too! and yours! and turtlegirl’s and holly’s and everyone else’s! i think flowers have turned me back into a summer person and it’s all just thrilling to me.
Is it normal to have some damage when hardening off? I’m wondering if I was too aggressive. Most stuff looks like it will survive but there are a few seedlings that I lost in the process.
You can also just put dirt/soil/vege mix down on top of the cardboard where you want the garden beds to be and use the chips from the chip drop to make the paths.
Well this won’t work if you normally water every day (or frequently) but I practice deep watering typically once a week (if it has been very rainy I won’t). I don’t typically water more than that unless it is a drought or heat wave. This trains the roots to grow far and wide to seek out moisture deeper than they would with drip. However, I also grow in-ground, which also helps, as the soil stays cooler, and does not dry out as fast as in containers or raised beds. I live in New England now, which is typically hot in summer but also thunder stormy, so there’s a decent chance of rain any given week, but this also worked in hot, dry Utah. Having deep mulch also helps especially in hot dry climates.
Check the weather for the week you’re away. Deep water the night before you leave (less evaporation). Keep your fingers crossed there’s an unannounced rain event that keeps your garden going.
I have a set of solar powered timer set drip watering. They are pretty cheap and easy to set up. The water source is just a bucket of water too. It might be something that could work!
Divided and transplanted peppermint yesterday (into cloth bag pots).
Today I divided sage and lavender into cloth bag pots.
The idea is to surround the garden with stinky, smelly stuff to deter critters. We also have a 4 foot nylon fence around it. But the deer just reached over and ate my Swiss chard last year! This year it’s 7’ of chicken wire going up around it…and a barrier of cloth pots.
Hopefully I’ll be able to eat my Swiss chard this year!
Well I had hopes of dividing and transplanting oregano today, from 3 plastic pots into 4 cloth bags and 2 plastic pots. Only one problem. The cloth bags were full from last year and one had ginger mint in it. The roots are embedded in the cloth bag! I’m thinking I’ll have to toss the whole thing! . Darn ginger mint! I don’t even like it. Much prefer peppermint.
I caved. The spray the plant nursery sold me did not kill the powdery mildew on my homegrown starts. It just beat it back a bit. Now it’s worse than ever! I made the executive decision to toss them all, including the cheap pots they’re in, and buy starts from the nursery.
So…$107 CAD later I have 24 plant starts. That just herbs and marigolds. Mostly herbs.
3 oregano starts
2 thyme
2 rosemary
2 basil
3 parsley
4 peppermint
8 marigolds (came as a unit. Have way more than I need).
I’m soaking them now. Some were pretty dry. Today’s job is to get them in pots.
Aside from that I paid for a $25 annual loyalty card for the nursery. It gets me 10% off plus a 2 year guarantee on anything they sell in the nursery. As I’ve already spent over $200 there this year before today’s shopping spree, I’m kicking myself for not asking about it before. I knew it existed. Just thought it was only for contractors. It’s not.
I still haven’t figured out my vegetable garden needs. That will come next.
We set to and transplanted all the above plants today…and then some.
Found lemon balm coming back in one long low railing pot, so added some soil and lft it to grow.
Found sea holly doing its thing in another pot. We transplanted it to a bigger pot.
Found German chamomile had self seeded in pots from last year, so let them be. The soil in the pot was wet. We’ll let it dry out and the seedlings get a bit larger before topping up with more soil.
Only had 6 marigolds…not 8. Planted all of them in cloth bag pots and placed them around the perimeter of the raised bed garden.
We also placed the lavender, Mojito mint and sage around the raised bed garden. It should be good and stinky to hopefully deter deer!
We planted three parsley plants - one in each of the 2 large raised beds. And the third in a pot for the deck, by the kitchen door.
We transplanted 4 peppermint plants for the deck.
We transplanted 5 oregano plants - 4 on the deck and one for around the perimeter of the raised bed garden.
Also 2 rosemary and 2 basil plants transplanted and on the deck.
We moved 2 medium sized plastic half barrels inside the raised bed garden area (which is fenced off) to grow Scarlet Runner Beans this summer.
That’s more than enough for one day! We’ll be working on the vegetable garden tomorrow.
My tomatoes are planted! I am debating putting my peppers and basil out. We have a couple of nights in the upper 40s projected in the next 10 days, all days in the 60s or higher. We’re leaving on vacation at the end of May, and I think they need to go in before then or they won’t be watered while we’re gone. Would you risk the cooler temperatures?
that’s when perimenopause started for me, too, it was brutal!
. Darn ginger mint! I don’t even like it. Much prefer peppermint.