Well the seeds are growing .... kinda... Picking our first zucchini... but it is so hot things are looking peaked...
90 degrees in mid MI is tooooooo dang hot


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Have you ever planted a garden with a two year old in tow? I put the plants in... he took them out...

Seeds are in the path not the garden bed... Maybe we will get some snow peas... not sure as he tried eating the seeds.


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FROST:

FROST WARNING IN MI is May 31.

I put my tomatoes out this past week ( half of what I bought. ) Each tomato cage has a cover made from yardage of DO SEW ( type of pellon polyester spun fabric I bought at STITCH AND SEW years ago.) The cover is large enought to slip up over the tomatoe cage if there is a frost warning or possiblity. Before the tomatoes get too big and frost possiblities are over ( Mid June) I pull off the poly cover. This gives me a two to three week jump on the season.

I made these frost covers over ten years ago... I soak them in hot water and dry them in the dryer to prevent disease transfer.
I think the cost of each cover was about $1... but it was and is a great investment.


I usually plant about 6 -10 varieties ... any where from 36 to 72 plants...depending if need to freeze or can. I donate extra to a food kitchen... One of their guys comes out to pick when I give them a call.


Heeling in plants... take a hard plastic kiddy pool ($10.) Put your plants in the pool. You can put the pool /plants out on a nice sunny warm day in the spring.... drag the pool under shelter/garage ( less desirable cover with a plastic sheet) on cold days. I do this with all my new plants usually after I have transplanted them into a larger pot with new dirt. This protects the plants while allowing them to continue growing until after FROST DANGER. I get my pots for about 50 cents each at farm markets / neighbor hood green houses. Much cheaper than a commercial enterprize... better plants too. Most of the people around where I live are into organic and heirloom varities...not the commercial plants that are tasteless.

EACH SPRING I GET PLANTING FEVER.... BUT I AM A FAIR WEATHER GARDNER.
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I only have a few perinneals left after the digger dug up the new well head..... so I am starting from scratch. I am putting in a few flowering shrubs ... low growing that will not take over with under planting of LILLIES OF THE VALLEY. I am dividing my IRISs this fall. I have orange road lillies but plan to get the newer dwarf varieties instead.

NEW PLANTS: I can not afford all new plants, so I have a nursery bed for baby plants I grow from seed then transplant when they are big enough.... I have been doing that for years... MY philosophy is what comes comes and are ment to be... if they do not survive other plantings take there place. I have to use a nursery bed becasue I have used PREEN in the front to kill the grass and weed seeds after I leveled the bed.


I can not grow roses because there is not enough sun... I have planted them three times but never get a rose... ALEX what am I doing wrong?

I only garden in the cool of the spring and fall.... I hate heat that is why I live in Michigan.


http://nonniequiltingdreams.wordpress.com/
Posting pictures later this week on my new blog.




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I seem to be doing lots of weeding these days. We can't plant until May 24 when the last of the frosts will be gone. So now I am just putting in the the annuals. Hopefully the bunnies won't eat everything again this year. My favourite thing in the garden is my large pond. Yesterday I filled it with calla lillies & other fish friendly plants.

:shock: I too, because of heath reasons, let gardens go. But now, I am getting back on track, only 1 garden left, and boy is it grown out of whack !!!! You know how you always leave the worst for last, plus I have to mow every 4 days . Not to mention taking dmlw everywhere and running my own business. whew, sorry. I have to put my happy face back on Have a good day.

We had several HARD freezes in Houston and even where I live south of Houston by NASA. Besides all the dead trees from Huricane Ike, we have LOTS of dead shrubs, palms, Hibiscus, roses.... you get the drift. This is when I wished I owned a plant store...

We have been working at taming our yard. The past few years, while I wasn't paying attention, everything got out of hand. I still have a few things to do but it's looking pretty good now. Now I need to get the imbedded dirt out from the cracks in my hands and from under my nails

Although we have a guy who swoops in once a week - I tend to my beloved roses -

http://nonniequiltingdreams.wordpress.com/

Is gardening calling your name? I am repairing the damage done when my garden was destroyed putting in a new well head. I have tried some hand work in the evening but find myself falling a sleep with needle in hand.

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