I can sure duplicate what you are saying with all angles here...I thought that I would just kick the bucket in my little house that I have put a lot of work into to make it into something that would give me some comfort with my senior years including these last few years with getting a wood burning stove just in case the grid goes down or something but that ended up bad because I just got out of the doctors office with sumac poisoning so I cannot burn my wood in the stove and I love my stove.. I will have to buy the other type of wood to burn--those other type of logs---but if anything should happen to the grid at least I feel more secure now...with my beautiful stove...as well as having a stand by generic generator that I really love..Because of this city be such as one with a "high tech and wired atmosphere" I have no other choice now but move to a less populated area and I dread this at my age at this time...almost ten years older than you..You still have some energetic years ahead of you but when you get towards the middle of 70 you really begin to slow down and it is those particular years you need to be real careful and not fall because one thinks they are still like they used to be "strong" but find out different when they fall...so be smart and listen to me on this so that you continue to have wonderful health..If your leaving the house and you think there is just a little bit of snow out there and you do not need your good boots------don't do it---go back and get your boots...and put them on---lesson number one---and that goes for you too thread starter...lol old clancey at it again...lol... I am in contact with two realtors now and we are looking for just the right property for me to move too and I truly dread this...especially since I am nearing 80 years old..., but I have no choice but cannot get into it because it might be considered some kind of conspiracy theory or something on this forum...Yes I will take my wonderful wood stove with me as well as my generator...I would very much like to have a green house and i really am liking this garden thread so that I can pick up information here and there about gardening...I am very curious about your almond tree and might read up on that tonight--almond trees--wow--who would have thought...enjoyed..thank you...clancey
2022 Garden Thread
- Thread starter DuaeGuttae
- Start date
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Dan Freeman
Minister of Fire
Dan Freeman
Minister of Fire
Thanks for the advice, Mrs Clancey. I am becoming more and more conscious of falling or tripping, of which I have had my share. Amazing how "little mistakes" take their toll as we get older. Here is the info on the almond tree we bought today.
All-in-One Almond Tree California
California all-in-one-almond tree delivery. Discover the benefits of easy fruit and growth with the All-in-One Almond Tree!
www.fast-growing-trees.com
I just started hardening off a few broccoli, cauliflower, and kale plants as wells as some lettuce. Inside I just started more seeds of some sugar snap peas. I have not successfully managed to get a good crop here in Texas from those. It seems as though we’re either too hot or too cold or swinging in between. I figure that if I can keep them inside through the next couple of cold snaps, maybe I can get in a crop before it heats up too much in the spring. We’ll see.
Your weather is really strange this year and it just snowed near you I think...freezing too..Hope you have your wood stove on...Been so busy and in reality have not have time to do some investigation on the almond tree but I think they need real hot weather but not sure...Checking out SD and wonder how that is growing plants...thanks for the postings..We just got about 5 or 6 inches of snow here in the city and its pretty but now I am tired of it already...Put a half of avocado in a cup with some toothpicks so that done one time at a friends house--does that work and could I get a avocado? You see how green I am...thanks..clancey
To get an avocado, @clancey , you’d have to grow a full tree from that little pit. You can grow a seedling and keep it in a pot, and you could transplant it to a bigger pot as it increases in size. You’d have to be able to move it inside in the winter, and you’re not realistically going to be able to do that long enough to get a mature tree that would bear fruit. You could still sprout your pit and enjoy it for a while, though. Just the wonder of watching the roots and sprouts can be a terrific lift to the spirit. I’ll know I’ll get excited when the seeds I planted today start sending up shoots.
We’re a pretty long way from snow as far as I know. The panhandle was supposed to get a storm, but that’s easily 500 miles away from us. We’re pretty far south, but it has snowed significantly three different times since I’ve lived here (only five years), though two of those were in the same week during last February’s freeze. My five year old actually believes that winter means snow even here.
We’re a pretty long way from snow as far as I know. The panhandle was supposed to get a storm, but that’s easily 500 miles away from us. We’re pretty far south, but it has snowed significantly three different times since I’ve lived here (only five years), though two of those were in the same week during last February’s freeze. My five year old actually believes that winter means snow even here.
Thanks and I am not going to grow a whole tree but will keep it away just to see it sprout or whatever then figure out what to do....Thought you lived where the snow fell but glad you do not have to slush through the stuff but it is pretty "once in awhile"--lol...thanks for the information and I am so glad and happy for you to have some "grandchildren" a nice gift for you...Bless all,,clancey
You’ll have to post some pictures if it does sprout.
No grandchildren here, just children ranging from five to fourteen. I’m an older mom, though, so I feel creaky enough sometimes to be a grandma. My mom was an older mom, too, so the real grandma is already well into her eighties. I hope that I can be a spry as she is when I’m her age. You should see her garden!
Seed orders have arrived. I started some lettuce and spinach in the greenhouse yesterday. Today I will make some remay tunnels over the lettuce plants that made it through the winter. They are sprouting nice greens, but I want to help accelerate production before the spring crop kicks in.
Dan Freeman
Minister of Fire
I know you are all just "counting the days"--massive storm tonight starting on the east coast--lots of snow...Tomorrow I will take a five hour car trip to the other side of my state to see if I can still hear this noise(humming)--high tech city here--lots of 5G and towers real near my house--looking for a new place to live and if I find just the right place I want a green house--yes--getting into this gardening with only having one plant...Yes will take a picture of my avocado--lol---Wow DuaeGuttae pictured you "old like me"--sorry mama...That begreen getting ready making tunnels now--lol---hi freeman and bye everybody--happy planting...ha..
Dan Freeman
Minister of Fire
Trip was beautiful and saw some peach tree farms in a place called Palisade--beautiful trip with a excellent driver but scary as well around all those mountains---very pretty and really enjoyed being out of the city for awhile and enjoyed "eating too"-lol...Still heard the noise so it must be global from the satellites or something and only I could hear it but the vibration attached was much lower..So It was a very nice productive and seeing all the country things was nice..Gosh there are a lot of peach trees in that area...very pretty not tall trees but pretty needing their leaves at this time of year. Saw the 1/4 of moon coming over the mountains too--very pretty you all and enjoyed..clancey
Mrs Clancy,
Visit this place to see if it's cell phones, wifi, etc.
www.google.com
(broken link removed to https://greenbankobservatory.org/growing-up-in-green-bank/)
Visit this place to see if it's cell phones, wifi, etc.
No Cell Signal, No Wi-Fi, No Problem. Growing Up Inside America’s ‘Quiet Zone’ (Published 2020)
Green Bank, W.Va., is home to a telescope so large that it requires near radio silence to operate, a technological restriction that has created a unique kind of modern childhood.
(broken link removed to https://greenbankobservatory.org/growing-up-in-green-bank/)
We’re predicted to have some very low temperatures at the end of this week (19 for us is very low). I’ll have to protect the citrus again, and I think I’ll wait to set out my brassicas and lettuce. I’ve been working on getting them used to sunshine, but they haven’t had practice with freezes.
My husband and I had some unpleasant surprises yesterday when I was carrying water to some trees. The first was that our very small satsuma had been completely dug out of its planting spot, and most of its root system was destroyed. We replanted, but I don’t know that it will be able to survive the trauma. We’ve been in drought again, and because I do water the tree, the soil there is more tempting for a digging animal. We have a makeshift wrought iron fence up that keeps the deer from nibbling, but the spacing probably allows a small animal to get in. I think we’ll have to put a wire cage up. We think this time it might have been a skunk.
The next surprise was one of my olive trees. We have three planted on the south side of our property, and they are all surrounded by wire fencing. There are not posts driven into the ground because that’s a big deal, but there is one stake holding the fencing, and a circle of rocks holds it down at the ground. Yesterday I saw that one of my fences was completely gone, and the little olive (which had had to grow back completely from the roots after February’s freeze) had been stripped of almost all its leaves. My husband and I looked all around the area and found no sign of the cage, so we took a big one away from a bigger satsuma in the backyard which had been being eaten by deer jumping the back fence, and put it around the olive. Later in the afternoon when we were processing firewood, my husband was walking to a different part of the property to collect some downed cedar stems, and he found the mangled cage hidden in some tall growth.
We try to reserve Sundays for worship and rest, but we may need this afternoon to go out and see what we can do about putting cages around the two satsumas. At least it will be a pretty day today (60s and sunny) before the cold comes in later this week.
My husband and I had some unpleasant surprises yesterday when I was carrying water to some trees. The first was that our very small satsuma had been completely dug out of its planting spot, and most of its root system was destroyed. We replanted, but I don’t know that it will be able to survive the trauma. We’ve been in drought again, and because I do water the tree, the soil there is more tempting for a digging animal. We have a makeshift wrought iron fence up that keeps the deer from nibbling, but the spacing probably allows a small animal to get in. I think we’ll have to put a wire cage up. We think this time it might have been a skunk.
The next surprise was one of my olive trees. We have three planted on the south side of our property, and they are all surrounded by wire fencing. There are not posts driven into the ground because that’s a big deal, but there is one stake holding the fencing, and a circle of rocks holds it down at the ground. Yesterday I saw that one of my fences was completely gone, and the little olive (which had had to grow back completely from the roots after February’s freeze) had been stripped of almost all its leaves. My husband and I looked all around the area and found no sign of the cage, so we took a big one away from a bigger satsuma in the backyard which had been being eaten by deer jumping the back fence, and put it around the olive. Later in the afternoon when we were processing firewood, my husband was walking to a different part of the property to collect some downed cedar stems, and he found the mangled cage hidden in some tall growth.
We try to reserve Sundays for worship and rest, but we may need this afternoon to go out and see what we can do about putting cages around the two satsumas. At least it will be a pretty day today (60s and sunny) before the cold comes in later this week.
Dan Freeman
Minister of Fire
Sorry to hear about your marauders, DuaeGuttae. Fencing and other deterrents are my major cost when it comes to growing on my property. Just the physical and electric fencing supplies for my food forest have cost more than the 33 trees, bushes, and vines I have purchased so far. It is annoying, but I try to remember it's just animals being animals. Their job is to eat; my job is to keep them from eating what I grow.
That's a bummer. I have found that the only thing that keeps deer out is a tall deer fence, anchored at the bottom. To keep marauding skunks at bay put a 36" square of 1/4" galvanized hardware cloth around the base of each tree. Make a slit and 2-4" hole in the middle to clear the trunk and use landscape cloth staples to anchor it in place.
I get occasional diggers in our beds and have found it's worse any place where I have used a good organic fertilizer or compost recently in the soil. They smell things like fish emulsion in it.
I get occasional diggers in our beds and have found it's worse any place where I have used a good organic fertilizer or compost recently in the soil. They smell things like fish emulsion in it.
That’s a great suggestion about the hardware cloth. Does it need to be 1/4 inch to be effective? I’m wondering because I already own 1 inch fencer wire, and I could configure a square around the tree with it when we replant if it survives this trauma. That won’t be for a couple of months, I’m sure, though, so I certainly have time to get hardware cloth. I’m thinking I’ll use it around the olives, too.
Right now we decided that we would put the poor satsuma in a pot and keep it indoors. Part of that is because the weather this week is going to be crazy (70 degree days followed by 19 and ice). Even though satsumas can take fairly cold temperatures compared to most citrus, we figured this one had already had so much trauma in its short life that we weren’t sure it could take it even if I tried to protect it. We lost almost all of it last year, but there was one branch hanging on at the bottom, and we were hoping to keep that one going. What was so sad was seeing how many nice roots it had that were severed by the digging (the whole thing was dug up and thrown to the side).
Here’s a picture of it on our dining room table (the plant ICU at the moment).
![[Hearth.com] 2022 Garden Thread](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/291/291190-8f11054fb950b9f61e71c76cade0bc89.jpg?hash=PzJTkY73pJ "[Hearth.com] 2022 Garden Thread")
I do use a homemade organic fertilizer on the plants (cottonseed meal, alfalfa pellets, kelp powder, bone meal, blood meal and that type of thing), but it had been several months at least. I stop fertilizing in fall because I don’t want to encourage too much growth during our short but crazy winters. I start again (if I’m diligent) in February. I do think, though, that it was the rich soil in the area and that fact that I water the tree that encouraged the digging in this area. I’m sure that worms and the like are attracted to the moisture while everything else is so dry.
In good news, my brassicas and lettuce are looking very green and happy. I think because I’m not going to put them out this week, I’m going to root prune them instead of potting them up. Is that a horrible idea for any reason?
It’s definitely heavier than poultry netting. I think it’s 16 gauge.
I will admit that I’m trying to avoid potting up the plants at all. I started them in a little hydroponic system (an Aerogarden that my sister-in-law gave to my daughter years ago, and then I liked it so well for starting seeds that I bought another one used. New prices are insane.). Since we’ve moved these are the only grow lights we have, but it has worked well for me. Because the roots are in water they grow really long, really fast. I had hoped to put these in the ground this past weekend. (I harden off in the Aerogarden and often skip the potting up stages for plants like lettuce). Because the forecast is for the coldest weather of the season later this week, however, I need to keep them out of the ground for now. That’s why I’m thinking of root pruning.
![[Hearth.com] 2022 Garden Thread](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/291/291242-1ff53e55bdd5e41493ea1fca8c9d0f38.jpg?hash=QTK3ICxdk3 "[Hearth.com] 2022 Garden Thread")
About the deer, we are technically not allowed to put up deer fencing by covenant on the property, but we are allowed to protect plantings (hence my fencing the garden). We didn’t know when we moved here what an issue the deer were, but we’ve been protecting our plantings as much as possible by creating small enclosures that the deer hesitate to jump into. Technically they can, but they tend not to when it feels crowded. We think that a deer pushed its head through the old fencing around our Koroneiki olive to eat it and then got stuck and pulled the fencing up and carried it off. It was staked, but not super well because there’s so much rock there. (It was lots of work with a pickaxe to dig holes for planting.). Here’s a photo of the defoliated olive. (It had been killed back by the freeze in February but had grown back really nicely from the roots.)
![[Hearth.com] 2022 Garden Thread](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/291/291241-c1cc71a9c6256ff85db84b98614575a9.jpg?hash=CzkKLzWlJF "[Hearth.com] 2022 Garden Thread")
We managed to get some better temporary protection up yesterday, but it still needs more work, especially with securing it to the ground. I had been planning to replace the larger-holed fencing with the smaller mesh that we had, but since it had been working I hadn’t gotten to it. (I want to make plant cages for tomatoes and other vegetables out of the larger-holed version).
It’s hard to see the wire, but the first picture below is our Mission olive with the old style protection. (We didn’t have enough fencing to replace it yet.). The second picture is the replacement around the Koroneiki. I’m sure hoping that this will be even more of a deterrent.
![[Hearth.com] 2022 Garden Thread](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/291/291244-9c0c7711a3ede5569031f7e2b6b9facd.jpg?hash=UdTe1RU0oj "[Hearth.com] 2022 Garden Thread")
![[Hearth.com] 2022 Garden Thread](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/291/291243-913c102ff95daa860c614b33d4f95149.jpg?hash=wZekkD8AmL "[Hearth.com] 2022 Garden Thread")
The Koroneiki really is inside that second picture. It’s just terribly hard to see without its leaves. Thankfully I have a couple of cuttings that I took a while back and poked in rooting hormone and put in one of my planters that have stayed green all this time. I’m hoping that they are growing roots in there.
And just for a bonus photo, here’s a shot of our formerly huge Satsuma that lost all its branches during the February freeze. It used to be eighteen feet in diameter. Thankfully with frost cloth and poultry brooding lamps, the trunks lived and resprouted this spring. Sadly, perhaps because there was more room in that corner of the backyard, deer started jumping in and eating the growth, so we put up an interior fence inside the backyard. There’s a lot of river rock still inside the enclosure. We’ve been removing it from around trees so that we can mulch and fertilize, but it’s another ongoing project around here.
![[Hearth.com] 2022 Garden Thread](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/291/291248-22253c1ee131198770e91367cb812ccd.jpg?hash=GHIw0iV9TM "[Hearth.com] 2022 Garden Thread")
I will admit that I’m trying to avoid potting up the plants at all. I started them in a little hydroponic system (an Aerogarden that my sister-in-law gave to my daughter years ago, and then I liked it so well for starting seeds that I bought another one used. New prices are insane.). Since we’ve moved these are the only grow lights we have, but it has worked well for me. Because the roots are in water they grow really long, really fast. I had hoped to put these in the ground this past weekend. (I harden off in the Aerogarden and often skip the potting up stages for plants like lettuce). Because the forecast is for the coldest weather of the season later this week, however, I need to keep them out of the ground for now. That’s why I’m thinking of root pruning.
About the deer, we are technically not allowed to put up deer fencing by covenant on the property, but we are allowed to protect plantings (hence my fencing the garden). We didn’t know when we moved here what an issue the deer were, but we’ve been protecting our plantings as much as possible by creating small enclosures that the deer hesitate to jump into. Technically they can, but they tend not to when it feels crowded. We think that a deer pushed its head through the old fencing around our Koroneiki olive to eat it and then got stuck and pulled the fencing up and carried it off. It was staked, but not super well because there’s so much rock there. (It was lots of work with a pickaxe to dig holes for planting.). Here’s a photo of the defoliated olive. (It had been killed back by the freeze in February but had grown back really nicely from the roots.)
We managed to get some better temporary protection up yesterday, but it still needs more work, especially with securing it to the ground. I had been planning to replace the larger-holed fencing with the smaller mesh that we had, but since it had been working I hadn’t gotten to it. (I want to make plant cages for tomatoes and other vegetables out of the larger-holed version).
It’s hard to see the wire, but the first picture below is our Mission olive with the old style protection. (We didn’t have enough fencing to replace it yet.). The second picture is the replacement around the Koroneiki. I’m sure hoping that this will be even more of a deterrent.
The Koroneiki really is inside that second picture. It’s just terribly hard to see without its leaves. Thankfully I have a couple of cuttings that I took a while back and poked in rooting hormone and put in one of my planters that have stayed green all this time. I’m hoping that they are growing roots in there.
And just for a bonus photo, here’s a shot of our formerly huge Satsuma that lost all its branches during the February freeze. It used to be eighteen feet in diameter. Thankfully with frost cloth and poultry brooding lamps, the trunks lived and resprouted this spring. Sadly, perhaps because there was more room in that corner of the backyard, deer started jumping in and eating the growth, so we put up an interior fence inside the backyard. There’s a lot of river rock still inside the enclosure. We’ve been removing it from around trees so that we can mulch and fertilize, but it’s another ongoing project around here.
A lot of garden work and tactics to use to keep the plantings surviving after all the commotions in the garden with the wild animals. I feel for you...Its hard I imagine when you tenderly raise a tree or plant and you come out to see your garden and its gone--terrible..poor plant and that poor tree with only a few leaves left--sure hope it makes it...I have doubts---we will see..thanks for all the nice pictures. If I ever got a skunk in my yard it would be dangerous for my pigeons so I had my carpenter build me a "fly pen" --outside one---and put about 18 inches of concrete strips on the bottom of the hard wire (1/4) and made the "fly" with a roof on top and in time--maybe I will take the roof out or put sky lights in and make it into a sort of green house..just ideas here..but it will be closed in and about 12x10 and that should work--although you live in the country and have a lot of wild animals around you..but you could bury the hard wire in concrete so it stops the digging of the animals. Maybe that would work--just saying....enjoyed --thanks..clancey
![[Hearth.com] 2022 Garden Thread](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/291/291491-18324d4a01b9a0f4621038486765c345.jpg?hash=6ByTT-ibvZ "[Hearth.com] 2022 Garden Thread")
Ha Ha Ha--That's one way of looking at it...so innocent and the real wording would be okay especially for seniors who are really old....could be funny....thanks..I could wear that shirt. lol clancey
![[Hearth.com] 2022 Garden Thread](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/291/291552-3d29b28c4c588bb06dee50dc9863d165.jpg?hash=P_KiineFlv "[Hearth.com] 2022 Garden Thread")
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