Ducks ALIVE in 2025!

[ducks4you]

It must drop hundreds of seeds.
REALLY the very best killer of these weeds in your yard is cardboard.
I KNOW it sounds like, "leave the problem for the Next person to solve," BUT, that keeps them from going to seed and getting Waaayyyyy out of control.
I will Never bash anybody for poisoning these plants.

 

[flowerbug]

...
I am afraid no blooms for my Amaryllis THIS year.
Looks like only more leaves. Still, THEY are Healthy leaves. I think that I should have let the Fall leaves die back. I cut them back, hoping to revive it and get flowers in the winter. Certainly the inTention of the grower who glued it to a board last year was to Let it die after Christmas 2023 and have me buy a new one.
No bother. I Guess I'll keep it going, put it outside on the north side of the house come late Mayish, and let it get some sunshine and breeze, bring it inside Septemberish and try again for more flowers Next year. **le sigh**

any bulbing plants get energy from those leaves dying back so cutting them off reduces any energy they may have for forming a flower. this is why daffodils, tulips, onions, garlic, etc. they say to only remove leaves after they've died back or most of the leaves have faded. Mom hates that look but unless we're trying to get rid of them i leave them leaves alone.

 

[flowerbug]

Myosotis sylvatica is an invasive perennial. LINK

It is here along the border, even in my yard before I arrived and continuing. LINK

Yes, Summers in a dry climate with several hundred feet of glacial till beneath the soil means a need for irrigation. There's no getting around it unless I want to grow only cheat grass and sage brush.

i went to look for forget-me-nots and mistyped forget-me-notes...

 

[ducks4you]

Been studying online YouTubes of knee replacement therapy. One PT has a 10 minute workout for post surgery 6-12 weeks. I am at 10 weeks right now, so it is applicable.
Most of the therapy I am watching online is identical or similar to that that I experienced. A few exercises are slightly different and helpful.
The best advice has been to make it MY job to work on my right knee and leg and also, build up as much muscle as possible in my left left in the next 7 months.
I see the surgeon's nurse on Jan. 23rd for last post op.
It was disappointing to ME that both knees measured only 123 degrees bend at last PT appt.
My therapy job This week is to:
1) stretch knee bends as often as possible during the day
and
2) stretch straight leg--Right knee measures 0 degrees, Left knee measures 12 degrees
**The 10 minute video has a runner's stretch that is very helpful, better than the foot against the wall runner's stretch
And
3) work on ankle strength
And
4) work on quad strength
NEXT week I will teach myself the 10 minute workout referenced.
DD's helped me turn out the ponies yesterday and cleaned both stalls. It is definitely easier to take care of them while outside. Gotta decide if they will go in the stalls after the 17th (DD's will be on a cruise for a week.)
I only have to climb the loft stairs and put hay in the shelter manger, fill the small water tank in the training area, and put their grain in shallow feed buckets under the training area fence.
Youngest DD is a trooper. I kept her company in the barn and wondered what I was hearing with the wheelbarrow. She was pushing it with a flat tire!
I got my HV portable "blow up your car tire" machine that I keep in my car's trunk, and then it was easy peasy to push. Surprisingly it needed 30 pounds of pressure. Tire said to not exceed it, so I set it for 28, which you dial to set.

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

Ducks4you great to hear you have been looking up knee surgery and techniques along with PT.
The more you learn the more you know.
Sending healing blessings your way.

 

[ducks4you]

I am not really shopping for more seeds BUT, I like to post when I heard about sales, and this one ends this Thursday, January 16th. I have also linked their tomato seeds starting video, in case anybody here is interested.

Tomato Seeds | Shop %count% Varieties | Eden Brothers​

Nothing says summer like a homegrown tomato! Plant this warm season crop in a full sun garden bed and grow any one of our rare or everyday varieties. Sweet, fruity and juicy tomatoes in a rainbow of colors from red and orange to yellow to almost-black! Each new growing season offers the promise...

www.edenbrothers.com

Enter code TOM20135 at checkout for 20% OFF tomato seeds.​

Tomato Seeds - Gardener's Toolkit - Eden Brothers​

About Tomatoes With a speculated 25,000 different varieties of tomatoes, it’s no surprise that Americans obtain more vitamins from tomatoes than from any other vegetable. Yellow, pink, purple, green, orange, rainbow and yes, red tomatoes are now available to grow, each providing various ways of...

grow.edenbrothers.com
]

 

[ducks4you]

Now is the time of the deep snows - and thrice blessed is the neighbor who will plow you out. A mug of good steaming coffee . . . will be just the thing for him when he has bucked out your drifts. A touch of neighborly kindness goes a long way - and there'll be more storms coming.
—The Old Farmer's Almanac, 1946
I little bit of cash helps, too.

 

[ducks4you]

Bought myself more seeds at Hudson Valley Seed Company, which has FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $40.

Hudson Valley Seed Company

We are your source for heirloom and open-pollinated garden seeds and beautiful garden-themed contemporary art. We are a values-driven seed company that practices and celebrates responsible seed production and stewardship.

shop.hudsonvalleyseed.com

Here is what I just bought:

 

[ducks4you]

Today, I just finished another well paying loan signing witnessing (Notary) at the place that pays me SAME DAY, so I spent some cash gratuitously, guilty pleasure stuff...
SOME seed company online sites are so easy to navigate. THIS ISN'T ONE OF THEM!
You have to search. Just letting you know ahead of time.

 

[ducks4you]

Here is how I justify my expenditure:
DD's have a mostly shady area, pretty dry, BUT, that's a lot harder to grow in than wet. I DO have a 3 ft long windowbox plastic planted without a job. I am thinking of starting the Forget Me Nots inside, then transplanting them to this planter. Should be pretty easy to keep them watered.
Same space is a MAGNET to weeds, so ANY PLANTS/FLOWERS/HERBS/VEGETABLES are welcome there.
The blonde cucumber seeds are bc @heirloomgal suggested them, and I Liked the hybrid blonde cucumbers that I grew last year. Boothby's Blonde Cucumber is an heirloom.
The Woodland Nicotiana and Cupani's Sweet Pea are for smelly nice and the lettuce's struck me as nice to start inside as soon as I get the seeds, to harvest for winter eating.
I should note that my mother's family is from Yugoslavia, therefore I had some curiosity about the lettuce.
Here are links to my purchases, in the case that you are curious.
Forget Me Not-
Woodland Nicotiana-https://hudsonvalleyseed.com/collections/flowers/products/woodland-nicotiana
Cupani's Original Sweet Pea-https://hudsonvalleyseed.com/collections/flowers/products/cupanis-original-sweet-pea
Italienischer Lettuce-https://hudsonvalleyseed.com/collections/vegetables/products/italienischer-lettuce?_pos=149&_fid=2441af553&_ss=c
Yugoslavian Red Butterhead Lettuce-https://hudsonvalleyseed.com/collections/vegetables/products/yugoslavian-red-butterhead-lettuce?_pos=339&_fid=2441af553&_ss=c
Boothby's Blonde Cucumber-https://hudsonvalleyseed.com/collections/vegetables/products/boothbys-blonde-cucumber