any gardeners?

“Our parsley and cilantro have grown all winter long. Even a few heavy frost did kill them.
our ground is too wet to till.”

“my rhubarb is coming up! and the garlic chives are still growing!

i could really get used to mild winters.”

“What kind of lumber doesn't draw termites?”

“Natalie??”

“Pressure-treated, I believe.”

“we had some bulbs come up this week too, just in time to be hit with a dusting of snow this morning

incorporating a few carloads of partially composted horse manure into it. My poor neighbor next door, she won't like it.

forget your neighbor, you put $hit in your car!!

got an idea from a subsistence farming book this year to use the cardboard toilet paper tubes, cut in half, as starter pot...gonna try that this year...any one else try that?”

“Still in the teens here in N. CA. Ground is froze good. I wanted to make a stew on a bp trip close to home a few weeks ago and was relying on carrots from the garden. Wrong, ground was froze, so no carrots in my stew I cooked over my MSR Dragonfly with Dragon Tamer cap. That thing simmered great with Gary's cap.
Duane”

“Looks like sunday night's forecast is now 14 degrees. We're getting winter all in one night? Crap! Now I'll have to dig up the sprouting glads!”

“Tree, whur you at? I'm in WNC, having amazement at this year's lack of winter. Not a big deal to my apple trees, as they're no bigger than nuthin' still, hehe. I'm in Sylva, 'bout 50 minutes W of Asheville. But my bees are sukkin down the sugar-water tho! I cain't believe how active they've been this winter.”

“I agree on the mild winter. Even in New England some things that usually die are still OK. I think I'll start my tomato seeds indoors this weekend - could almost put them in the ground if things keep up as they are.”

“Remember the Blizzard of '93 tree? (Perhaps that was just a mountain issue.) It shut down Asheville for 3 days! An old man at the post office the other day said this was the type of winter like '93.”

“Nakey, I'm in Huntersville, just north of Charlotte. We've had several days in the 70's lately, but this past week has stayed in the upper 50's. This weekend will stay in the 40's for us.

Thrifty, I have a bunch of 5 gal. buckets, from kitty litter, that I'm going to put the manure in. There's a pile that's been sitting down at the stables for a few months that's already mostly composted, so it won't be too bad. Besides, my car is an 11 year Subaru Impreza sport wagon; it's had worse smelling things in it, like thru-hikers. ;)”

“Dangit, my blueberries are all in full bloom! Now I have to bundle them all up for the cold coming this weekend!”

“All of the tender things are covered up in some form or other...the bed with swiss chard, onions and too many glads to pull up is tarped, tented and heated now, as is the boxed-in camellia that decided to bloom at a weird time. The blueberries are insulated and covered, and the black bamboo well-watered and bundled up. I also dropped an aquarium heater in the 250 gal. quarantine bin, where an assortment of small koi and goldfish have been living for a year or three. Last I looked, it was already down to 24 and the fish were huddled around the heater. Poor little things.”

“Don't use pressure treated lumber-- it may have arsenic and other poisons that you don't want in your foods.

We had our 1st "real" snow this weekend.

Really pathetic when 2 inches = "real" snow....

Unfortunately, it was too frigid outside to play in it. :-( I want to go snowshoeing!”

“I snowshoed 2.5 miles, .5 in the dirt to set up camp for my snow camping trip on bare dirt. :) Only 23 Saturday night. Listened to the half frozen lakes ice crack and pop all night. Sounded like gunshots a couple times. Gotta get busy and order seeds.
Duane”

“Thinking about a cold frame. City dweller here(as if the moniker didn't give me away), for one of four raised beds. Any suggestions for construction?”

“Got my seeds ordered finally.”

“We had a pretty good frost predicted for this area last night, so I covered all the potatoes (24" tall already) and the tender herbs with lots of straw or inverted flower pots yesterday. Looks like everything survived with minimal damage. The outdoor cats, it turns out, just love the straw. They snuggle right in, nap or hide and then chase each other all over the yard. It did get down to 30 this morning, by the way. This has been a really weird spring weather-wise.”

“Several varieties of pumpkins, and 3 varieties of sweet potatoes are on my agenda this spring.”

“Onions are starting to bulb up, I have more garlic than I know what to do with growing, potatoes are rocking along, and I'm ~this~ close to pulling up what I consider underperforming peas. They're just starting to set pods now, but they're going a lot slower than what I think a variety called "Alaska wilt-resistant" should be.”

“Lettuce, carrots got planted a few weeks ago, soaked peas Friday night and planted a couple double rows Saturday AM. Worked on getting the 8' high fence redone, pulling back to just protecting the garden and a few apple trees from the ravenous deer instead of half my place. Still got a bp trip in, leaving from my house and hiking up the FS roads about 3 miles.
Duane”

“Cool beans, Duane. We just had a pretty good frost this morning (30 degrees)so in a little while I'll wander out and look for any damage. Potatoes don't seem to care one iota. They're already waist high on me. The peas are still underperforming. The herb bed got covered up last night, much to the chagrin of a couple of outdoor cats. It's their favorite nap spot. Just wish they hadn't squashed the black nigella/ kalonji seedlings. Kalonji seeds are incredible in baked goods, soups and stews. I need to start pulling up some of the bazillion onions to make way for other crops, too.”

“I usually have sunflower volunteers all over, I transplant them around the fringe of the garden on one side. Surprised we have not had a freeze in over a week, as normally it will freeze in N CA until early to mid May and sometime later. Up to a point you hold off planting, then things gotta get planted to make it, have to deal with the freezes.
Until my neighbor started fostering even more dogs, her cat would hang out in my garden for gophers and birds.
Duane”

“Got the last of my garden planted last weekend, even with morning temps around 29F Sunday AM. Beans were the last thing planted, the corn is up, poking out of the black plastic I put down before planting thru it. Chased deer out of the yard two mornings in a row and Saturday evening too. Split and stacked some firewood, so when the four day weekend I have off in two more weeks rolls around, I should be about done, can then get back to bping after a weekend off.
Duane”

“I ordered 3 varieties of sweet potato, 3/4 of them didn't survive planting including all of one of the varieties (Georgia Jet). I have 3 of one (Beauregard), and 1 of another left (O'Henry) although the 1 wasn't looking that great when I checked on it today. I guess I'll try again next year.

I also have 3 varieties of pumpkins in the ground, they are all doing well.”

“It's been ridiculously warm in MIchigan this spring. My poor garden is currently overgrown with weeds from last season, but the leeks & garlic are going to town!”

“I've got some 'maters and bell peppers in big containers on the back deck that are doing great. My new peach tree got hammered by Japanese beetles so I had to sevin dust it. Been picking black and dew berries every evening. We have millions! Thinking about making some wine. 8)”

“The quail are attacking my garden from above and the gophers and moles from below. I'll have to find a good hole :) to set a trap in soon. Off next few days for a few days of vacation and a small group bp trip NW of Truckee Friday and Sat nights.
Duane”

“my chili peppers are going bonkers, tomatoes are growing good, getting loads of purple podded peas now, my potatoes are waist high and my corn is knee high. Cucumber plants are looking great.”

“Need to dig up the potatoes and garlic. Funny how being unable to get stuff done in the garden for 2 weeks throws every stinking thing out there off. At least I'll have a chunk of garden open for replanting after that, though. I just need to get about a half cubic yard of chicken s--t and I'm set.”

“My spuds are not even blooming yet, the peas started a week ago.
Duane”

“Anybody know how to tell if a peach is ripe? It's pretty much turned all red now but it still seems too firm...”

“Should have corn next couple weeks finally. Fresh fingerling potatoes have been great as usual. Caught a big gopher, hopefully that was the only one that has gone thru everything in my garden, at least it has not eaten anything, just makes watering a pain, plugging holes so my furrows can fill with water. A doe jumps thru my fence somehow, I'm guessing since it is in the air, the electric fence does not zap it. Next year, a high fence, do away with the electric fencing. Last day of vacation after spending 6 nights in the Mono Creek drainage area, hitting the lateral trails off of it.
Duane”