I got spring fever

flowerbug

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My granddaughter said to this evening, paw paw can we go out in the garden? No Hun it's to cold and muddy. But I got chicky boots (rubber boots she uses when we go tend to chickens). Then she said ok can we go play in the sand box then? It's cold out there, are you sure you want to? No I guess not and she frowned. Then she said can we look at garden pictures on your phone? Yep we can do that. So we looked at garden pictures on my phone and it gave me spring fever. I am so ready to start gardening now.


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love it to see kids in the gardens... even if they don't get the bug for good to start they may have enough fond memories to use later in life.

in the meantime this too shall pass:

 

flowerbug

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That's a great idea thanks. Since she loves to eat green beans from the garden. This year I want to ---try-- and teacher her start to finish with green beans. See how she does with sowing (the seeds are big and easy to handle). Show her how to weed and mulch, them and how to water and pick the beans. My wife can show her how to clean, snap and cook them). Then I'll show her how to pick & sting some up to dry for seed next year. I'm pretty sure she's ready but if not that's ok to. You don't know unless you try.

mmm, beans!
 

so lucky

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Is that what they are, zinnias? I always called them corn flowers. Cool thanks!

I like to plant a row or two close by my corn patch, because they are Japanese beetle magnets. I'll wait until the get good and infested with Japanese beetles, then kill off the Japanese beetles. Better they eat a little zinnias than my corn.
It sounds a little gross, but one year when the Japanese beetles were really bad, I used a trap, froze the beetles each evening and kept them in a freezer (bagged, of course) then in the winter, fed them to my chickens, who were hungry for some insect snacks by that time.
 

Ridgerunner

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Is that what they are, zinnias? I always called them corn flowers. Cool thanks!

I like to plant a row or two close by my corn patch, because they are Japanese beetle magnets. I'll wait until the get good and infested with Japanese beetles, then kill off the Japanese beetles. Better they eat a little zinnias than my corn.

Look at the leaves. Cornflower leaves are narrower, that's why I think zinnias. If I remember right (relying on my memory might be an adventure) I think cornflowers are perennials and come back from the roots while zinnias are annuals. There are plenty of people on here that can correct me if I remember wrong.

I'm not a big flower guy myself but I'd plant a few zinnias and marigolds in the garden in Arkansas. I did not do that for any perceived gardening benefit for my vegetables but just because i liked the color. I planted my corn in sections spaced about 2 weeks apart so I had fresh corn for a long time. In between each of those plantings I'd put marigolds, plus some at the ends of the rows. They would not do much during the season due to being shaded but after the corn stalks were removed and they saw sunlight I'd get mounds of bright color.

The zinnias were typically at the ends of some rows, though occasionally I'd put one in the middle if I had different things in a row. And occasionally I'd let volunteers grow if it was in an area that suited me. This shot was pretty late in the year but the combination of marigolds and zinnias made for some bright colors.

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ninnymary

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Well no spring fever here! Could be because I garden year round? :p I really need to start planning what and where I'm going to plant. This spring I have my new raised bed so things are getting changed around some.

Love that pic of her holding her chicken! haha

Mary
 

Crealcritter

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Something ain't right with that hen. Everyday the same routine... She sees me open the gate to their yard. She runs into the coop jumps up onto the high roost and waits. When I open the door to the coop she jumps off the roost onto the top of my head and perches there. I gather up eggs that they lay in corners of the floor and in their nest boxes. I leave the coop and step out into their yard and she jumps off my head and everything is cool until tomorrow. I've grown used to her strange behavior and ether wear a baseball cap or the hood of my jacket, if it's cold.

This is the same hen that my granddauther was holding in my previous post. She is waiting for my granddaughter to pick her up.
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And here she is again, being held by my other granddaughter.
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Something just ain't right with that chicken, she loves to be held - which is very odd.
 
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