Ducks Ragtag 2019 gardening

[ducks4you]

Had to share~

Nothing is so beautiful as Spring—
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;
Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing.
–Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–89)

 

[ducks4you]

Been busy, slightly recovering Today from yesterday. STILL need to get my tomatoes in, but, ya know, EVERYTHING is preparation, right?!?!?
Had to clean up the south side of the garage, first.

I hand pulled from the 2018 corn and okra, then mowed it, then dug right next to the foundation to hunt for burdock. Not as much as I thought, but I DID dig up a lot last year. If you are fighting burdock, it is not impossible, so have some faith in yourself. After mowing...

After tilling...

 

[ducks4you]

...this is what it looked like.

I dug down and sawed a sapling that I swear has it's root underneath the garage foundation, poisoned it, then covered with cardboard and a brick.

You can see my pale pink mini rose that I planted back in 2000. It has survived both the weather and the weeds, the black raspberries that I HOPE are all dug up now and...me. More pictures of it's blooms later...

 

[ducks4you]

I poisoned around my roses inCLUDING This one, on probation. I planted this rose many years ago, it didn't look great, kinda dried out, so I moved it to the SE corner of the yard where it thrived. When I dug out iris (bc I have poison ivy there) I dug this one out 2 years ago, and moved it back to it's present location. NO flowers last summer. NONE so far this year. If there are none by the time I get back from CO at the end of the month, I will dig it up and replace it.

Dug out the weeds around my hydrangea, peony and a tiger lily, protected them all with cardboard while I sprayed around them, covered the area with cardboard, and I expect to mulch around them sometime today. AGAIN, an area I won't have to weed this summer!

 

[ducks4you]

Came in to take a break and ask for help. No help from Lynx, one of the orphan kittens from 2018, now 15 mo.

Pyg complained, "I got no hands!!! ONLY Feets!!!

Eva was in jail for running to meet my neighbors walking in the street. It IS a struggle. **sigh**

 

[baymule]

It always feels good to see smooth clean dirt where a mess a weeds was.

 

[ducks4you]

Today I am by Clear Creek in Georgetown, CO, in a rented 1920's era cabin. I spent the last 2 days sleeping at every opportunity. I slept on the drive to Indy (for the plane). I hit the sack early at the hotel. I slept on the plane, and I was asleep before 9PM (local time.)
On Tuesday I mowed ALL of the edges in the Inner Sanctum. It has as much grass as a 1/4 acre suburban lot, and ALL of it was knee high. I also had 3 ft tall Burdock, which I sawed off at the base with my reciprocating saw, AND I mowed underneath all 5 trees, except I mowed around my new apple trees, and mowed around the chicken's run plus the firepit and surrounding pavers and the wood cut and ready for a fire. I left a swath and DH used the riding mower to finish. Since it was so thick, it took him 30 more minutes, but it was a full day for ME.
I needed some dirt bc I had to transplant my tomatoes, but the bed is full, AND I didn't want to plant the 5 replacements until I was home to monitor them, plus DD's are pretending that they want some...we'll see. So, I tilled right next to the wood pile bc I have been dumping soiled stall bedding there for several years, so I knew that it was fertile enough soil. I moved over one of my leaky horse troughs, filled it 3/4 full, added the tomato seedlings, and watered heavily Wednesday morning.

 

[ducks4you]

Meanwhile here are some shots from earlier this week.
The last 3 yellow mums that I bought last Fall for $1/each and raised in my office all winter, until they got potbound, got moved over by my roses. I didn't want them to bake in their pots on top of my cement cistern. After walking by several times I decided that they should live there.

Here is my tomato bed, with the cattle fencing. I have saved metal fence posts. THESE all have that metal "V", and the trick is to pound them in so that the v is buried.
I planted sunflowers, cosmos, and okra against the garage.
I planted beans at the base of the first row of fencing.
I planted nasturtiams on the inside of the second row of fencing.
I planted cucumbers on the Outside of the second row of fencing.
AND, of COURSE, I planted 27 tomatoes, with an extra on the outside, to the east.

Weather reports call for a lot rain until I get home on the 19th, so I will go out with my coffee on the 20th to see how they did.
Btw, blue dent corn, 2 rows of okra, and pumpkins are up on the west side garage bed.
Certainly there will be pictures by next weekend. Promise!!!

 

[ducks4you]

Btw, since I am planning on buying 2 more fruit trees and treating them just like the Johnagold trees, I have saved several old metal fenceposts where the "V" and the rest of the bottom has either broken off, or has rusted off, but the post is still usable. I do NOT want to pull them out next to a tree and rip any of the roots.

 

[ducks4you]

I deposited 11 comets in my 110 gallon horse tank before I left for my CO trip. Tons of rain, so DD doesn't need to refill. Our water has chlorine in it and I have to trickle the water to fill when they drink heavily from it during the summer IF I am keeping fish. So funny, you float the bag from the store for an hour to let the temperature regulate in it, then empty the fish. The fish dive to the bottom and eat the algae all summer. I won't see any unless one dies, or, later in the year they will top feed. Sometimes early in the morning I will see them eating mosquito larvae at the top, or their eggs, and that is another benefit.
For 28 cents/each, the fish are a bargain. AGAIN, picture when I can GET them of the fish will be coming.