New Bees Chat - Friends old and new, come on in 12-9-2011

We're getting into the Christmas spirit a little. Livy is helping Grandma build a batch of cookies, I think "testing" a few of them for quality control, too.

Al

Our old ceramic Christmas tree sits on the new windowsill. We've had it nearly since we were married 40 years ago.

Al

We're going to be gone for a few days, everybody have a great Christmas and Happy Holiday!!

Al

Have a good time Al. Charley sends you love nuzzles.....Merry Christmas and a safe Happy New Year......
Char and Charley

Beautiful Al! Love the little cookie tester. :-)
Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! For those of you traveling, be safe and enjoy the trip.
For those sick, stay warm and get well soon.
May you all have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Likewise - thanks! :)

Trying to stay off this machine and stay busy. Since I don't have travel plans there's so much to do right here at home. :D

A.

Merry Christmas to All
And to All a Good Night!

But who wants to do housework. It's Christmas, Enjoy the day.....

Hope everyone had a merry Christmas and that your stockings were filled with blessings.. Kaylee is sure growing I know she must have loved Christmas this year..Such a beautiful lil girl..Al livy is just the right age to start helping to bake those cookies and test them too, im sure..She looks so cute in her apron.. I hope everyone is doing ok, staying warm and dry....Raining here today.

We had our rain yesterday, but was still a great day!!!
The kids all want to say they had a great Christmas too!!!!

Charlie, you're such a handsome dude with your stable friends and all!

Hope everyone had a great holiday. I'm trying out my new Gateway laptop received for Christmas. Also got a new travel case to put it in and a neat place for our "Charlie" to ride along in real cushy comfort. This one is designed to go places, which I didn't have before. I can take tons of pictures and send them back, too.

Al

WE will be looking for the pictures Al.

Congrats, Al. :)

Also want to comment on the picture of Charley and friends - very rough looking crowd! :D

Enjoyed poking around in the garden here. Passed a neighbor's house around the block walking with the dog and noticed she'd pulled out a bunch of "weeds" which happen to be native wildflowers that I cultivate in my own yard. Had fun asking her if she would mind me taking her weeds with me.

Feeling much like a nap.

Have a good night.

A.

Hahhahaha Great find Amanda! I always love those kind of finds. LOL
Hope everyone had a great Christmas and almost rested back up from it.
Now just get ready for the new year get togethers.
I figure we all need lots of prayers for the new year! I know I do. I'm thankful God gave me another Christmas with my babies and grand babies and especially my gardening friends. I love you guys and miss not hearing from you . If I make it to gardening time again this year I am really going to do my best to make the flowers bloom and look their best ever. I'M hoping all our flower gardens bloom the best this year!

~The Warrior's Prayer~

Heavenly Father,
Your warrior prepares for battle.
Today I claim victory over Satan by putting on the whole armor of God!

I put on the Girdle of Truth!
May I stand firm in the truth of Your Word
so I will not be a victim of Satan's
and his demons' lies.

I put on the breastplate of Righteousness!
May it guard my heart from evil
so I will remain pure and holy,
protected under the blood of Jesus Christ.

I put on the Shoes of Peace!
May I stand firm in the Good News of the Gospel
so Your peace will shine through me
and be a light to all I encounter.

I take the Shield of Faith!
May I be ready for Satan's fiery darts of
doubt, denial and deceit
so I will not be vulnerable to spiritual defeat.

I put on the Helmet of Salvation!
May I keep my mind focused on You
so Satan will not have a stronghold on my
thoughts.

I take the Sword of the Spirit!
May the two edged sword of Your Word
be ready in my hands
so I can expose the tempting words of Satan.

By faith your warrior has put on
the whole armor of God!

I am prepared to live this day, in spiritual victory!
In His most Holy Name!!!

Amen




This message was edited Dec 27, 2011 2:37 PM

Okay, here it is my trusted tomato friends - my very first attempt to ferment tomato seeds. My germination test last week, resulted in 9 out of 10 seeds popping up alive. I thought they would work, but didn't expect 90%.

These were from an Italian heirloom "Costoluto Genovese" grown from original seed imported from Italy by Pagano. Yes I have lots of seeds available if any of you Southern folks want to try.

Al

Here is a mature pix of the Costoluto. They are medium size with heavily ribbed shoulders, some would say kind of lumpy looking. Certainly an eye opener in the garden compared to others. Grew on tall indeterminate plants. Original package said 80 days from transplant, but mine came a bit early. Most thought they had a pretty good taste.

Al

Just one more - everybody thought they were great just to look at! Send me a D-mail if you want to try some seeds.

Al

Wow Al! Growing up in PA my grandfather started his seeds early, but this is ridiculous! What are you going to do with all those poor tomato seedlings?!

Like I said Amanda, this was a germination "Test". I do demonstrations for the local 4-H groups too, but most of them are far too early to practically plant around here. Unfortunately most end up in the trash, but a few go to a friend that has a tunnel greenhouse, even then it's hard to keep them alive.

Al

AL, what's a "tunnel greenhouse" ???
I'll take a half dozen seed. give it a try....

Tunnel greenhouses are popular around here and even further north into Ontario. They are huge plastic structures with a semi-circle shape for growing indoor crops. Many are heated and lighted for winter production. Driving above Niagara there are thousands of acres of tunnel farms that grow local produce for the northeast region. Sorry, I don't have any photos, but I'll try to get some when I'm up that way.

Al

That would be great AL. I know Charley has seen them, he just didn't educate his mama....
Hugs and mule nuzzles,
Charleen and Charley

I've seen them in use at nurseries. They just call 'em a cold frame, I think. Unless it's heated! :D

hi everyone ive been sick for a while, but give me a couple weeks and ill be better. hope you all had a good christmas things were good here. love and hugs nettie

Happy New Year Nettie!

Hope you're feeling better soon

Have a great New Year everyone!!

Al

Happy New Year Al. see if this link works for you

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/live-video/

Okay - Time to start seed shopping.. Spring's only three months away, I'll start my tomatoes and peppers around March 15th. Lots of catalogs in the mail already, just have to pick some out. Local stores don't quite have their seed racks up yet, but likely will in the next couple of weeks. Maybe I'll start a few winter sows this year, weather has been nice outside for January.

Al

Where's Lil Nettie? Anyone heard from her????
Our winter freeze is coming in the next couple of days. I'm not looking forward to it at all.

Hi Nettie hope your feeling better soon...Hi Mitt hope you are doing well..
Al I would love to try a few of those tomato seeds also, if you still have them available....Hope you all have a great new year..

NETTIE!!!! i missed you , so glad you are getting better....Hugs girl...

Hi everyone, Nettie you take care of yourself and stay warm and get over that stuff. Hope you feel better soon. Little seedlings look good Al. You did great with that experiment.
Hi Mitt and Hope you all are having a GREAT NEW YEAR.

Nice job Al! And the grandsons absolutely love the snowman glasses that someone sent me last year at Christmas. I think it was you Al?? Anyway, whoever sent them, they were a huge hit still, and several family members are going online and ordering some for themselves, lol!

I need some suggestions from you all. We need to plant some bushes or shrubs this spring to block wind and snow from the west. We have chain link fence, to keep the dogs in, and the fence is about 20 ft from the road on that side, and ideally, I would love to plant something on the outside of the yard between the fence and the road. Dirt is really bad there, but it is everywhere in our yard, so would be amended. The city doesn't have a problem with us planting there and look at any plantings as improving the looks of the town. But, when the city plows snow in the winter, they tend to pile it there, between our fence and the road, so anything planted there will need to be extra hardy and tough, and not mind snow on it all winter, along with sand and such. I'd like it to be something that grows at least 3-4 feet tall, but it they grow taller that's ok too, and evergreen would be awesome, but as long as it grows thick enough so the branches will cut down the wind, deciduous would be okay too. Of course, for a bonus, if it had some kind of berries, or flowers, or something for eye candy, that would be wonderful. So, any ideas??

Hello all. Been really busy last week cooking and cleaning for my DH families Christmas here at our house on Dec. 31st. Was a great day but I am still worn out!

Happy New Year to everyone. Hope it is healthy and prosperous!

I have been getting seed catelogs and am trying to hide them from myself. lol I need to keep watered the plants I brought in, THEN think about seeds.

If anyone is interested in the Sock, Sniff and Sip swap I am hosting in January, please go to this link and check it out. Sign up is until January 15th. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1233609/#new

Yep, seed catalogs are out - ready to dream about the new year. For tomatoes this year I'm going to stick with my usual Big Boys and Better Boys, and throw in Jung's Grandaddy and a large Roma type called Marianna. I'm also trying an old herloom called Amish Paste that seems to be getting good reviews from local friends. We don't start seeds here until mid-March to transplant in late May.

For flowers I have tons of marigolds, zinnias, and of course sunflowers for annuals.

We got our first taste of winter last night, about a 2" dusting of fairly dry snow, with more expected tonight.
Our temps right now are about 2 degrees with howling winds, it's a good time to be inside. Since we live in "ski country" the businesses around here needed it badly.

Al

Tempting as they are I love those seed catalogs..I just dream of all the beautiful flowers I could be growing in my yard come spring..I make a big wish list but seldom do I get around to ordering them.. Gas and food are priorities around here and seem to gooble up all extra cash on hand before I make it to the order sheets...

Trying out my new Gateway tonight wi-fi ing at the Rochester Comfort Inn 70 miles north of home. So far seems to be working okay. We'll be here for two nights while visiting daughter Becky, sil Jason, and of course Livy. We get to do some winter shopping in our favorite big city, too. So far weather has been cold but not too messy for driving.

Al

Sandi would pretty Cedar trees not be good along your fence line? I love the smell of cedar and they love the cold snow and grow in almost any soil. I have some awesome blue ice cedars, they are gorgeous blue color and smell so good even a few feet before you get to them. You can see some in this arrangement I made for my table.

Cedar is a good idea - good for wind break and provide ample protective cover for birds as well as berries.

How about wax myrtle/Myrica pennsylvanica? It's a native - at least on the east coast - and has berries which also provide food for birdies in the winter. NPIN database says it's distribution is thru OK and Texas.

http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=MOCE2

Hmm. Maybe not the one for you, perhaps another species? I'm just bonkers about natives. ;)

A.

Jan, like the idea of cedars! I think I have one out front that was here when we bought the house, but it could be a juniper too. I have a terrible time telling them apart. We actually have 2 trees out there, and for the first couple of years we were here, I thought they were both the same. Then I went out a cut some branches off of them for decorations, and found out they were totally different, lol! So, I'm thinking that one is a juniper maybe and one a cedar maybe?? I'm guessing that one of the previous owners just dug some trees when small from the wild, and planted them. Regardless, I'll do some checking and see if I can find some cedar that wouldn't get too fat and broad.
Al, have a wonderful visit! And of course, we'd love to see pictures, especially of that little one!