Not sure if the neem stays good long term. I forget what I just read from tapla about that.
Haha, don't get all #itchy about no black mulch. People are idiots sometimes.
Muddy, top row is Nephew, Daughter, and my brother (62)
On the bench, younger DS, older DS, SIL. You forgot Mark is 62 also.
;)
Yardening along merrily soon into November
Oops...don't tell them I thought they might be older : - )
What a lovely family. Your youngest son is a stitch! Was he hard to photograph when he was young?
My mulching today consisted of using a leaf vac to suck up the nice dry leaves from shrub beds and then dumping the finely shredded ones right back where they came from. I usually blow them into a pile first, but this was much faster.
It's OK Muddy, pictures can be deceiving! Yes, I have a favorite picture on the beach circa 1999, he was 2 or 3. it is my daughter and I crouching facing the camera, and he's facing the other way. I guess it is his trademark, lol. DD on the other hand, is the one who is always aware of the camera in casual shots where no one else is looking at it.
Dinner in Annapolis last night, Galway Bay Irish pub was very nice, and the blocks around there were quiet and just wonderful for strolling with the mild evening.
Been gone in CT all weekend and bummed that I missed the beautiful outside weather. Newest projects to report: I have been salvaging the last few plants (petunias, lantana, pansies) the earlier frost did not get and moving them to the bed in my new greenhouse to see if the will make it thru the winter and I can maybe grow cuttings from them for spring. I love going out there and having a little piece of spring in my backyard when I need it.
We have decided to relocate all of the raised beds into a garden area, in the back, with all of the bricks given to us by our neighbors (woo hoo). We have moved the beds, repainted and spaced them so far. Just have to put in the layers of stuff that will hopefully become dirt thru the winter and finish all the brick work.
What else...Been helping my sister with all of her move in projects and I am expecting my first Robin of seeds on Monday...I am beyond excited for that to arrive.
Hope to be able to do something outside tomorrow if there is not too much rain...might go out anyway even if there is rain....that's what a greenhouse is for - right.
Jill- I want to see the bench too.
Marta, that new greenhouse sounds great! Sounds like you've been busy too moving the raised beds.
I've got Christmas decorating on my mind for today. I haven't pulled out my decorations in a couple of years and I kind of got the itch yesterday while I was out and about. I have so many decorations and it seems like I either go all out or just skip it. End up decorating about every third year and then spend the two years in between putting it all back away ROFLOL...
I know how it is to miss good gardening weather, but the rest sounds like good fun Marta.
Raining steady here. I don't do much indoor decorating and it's raining too much to go out so... I guess I can wait on that too. I have one plant to repot, woohoo...take my thrills as I can get them.
Well the tedious part of getting all the Christmas decoration containers out of the crawl space and carried upstairs is done. I woke Mike up about an hour after I started and was able to get him to help me as I was already running out of steam. Now the fun part to actually decorate begins.
I still need to pot up my amaryllis bulbs and rearrange some of the plants that I brought in to the conservatory from outside. While I was out and about yesterday I got a pretty poinsettia at Merrifield Gardens - they had a whole stock of small leafed/small flowered ones - never had seen that kind before. I got a pale pink and Cheryl got a burgundy. Pretty.
Raining steady here in Lucketts.
Marta, I didn't realize that you had a GH. Oh I could have unloaded, ah er gifted you some of my extra GH plants. I have a few that are still out in the garage waiting for Ric to figure out how he will fit them inside.
I got quite a bit of yardening done yesterday, although it was actually a little too warm for my liking. Perennials that showed any signs of mold/mildew were cut down and I raked the leaves to the curb for the county to pick up.
I decided to compost only some of the oak leaves this year. I don't have the space to compost every leaf on my property, especially since oak leaves take longer than a year to break down completely. It's just too much!
Some of my tropicals are still going strong. When in the heck are they going to go dormant?! I need them to sleep so they can be put away. :/
I thought my sunny backyard would be a warmer zone, but it seems the shady front yard is more protected in the winter. The backyard brug has lost its leaves to frost, but the one by the front door is still blooming! 0_o And so are the begonias in the hanging basket by the front door.
Sally, can't shake the ear-worm for Radar Love.
Great way to concentrate while chopping ingredients for Copycat Chipotle Chicken.
Off to land of Mozart tomorrow. Gute Fahrt!
Have a fabulous time, Lisa! Looking forward to stories when you return...
and pictures!!!
HollyAnnS my GH feels small already with all the empty pots waiting for new plants. Found a mouse hiding in some of them today...grrrr they chew up everything.
Played out there most of the afternoon potting plants from my MIL garden.
You will love it. If you have any ??? just ask. Ric will be glad to help you with anything.
I pulled a down spout extender out of my shed this weekend so I could direct water further away from the pond I was partially emptying so I could clean it. Anyway, I saw a confused looking mouse at the time. I didn't know where it had come from until water washed a mouse nest out of the tube. I don't mind having mice in the shed so much if it keeps them out of my house!
I know there are mice in the basement... came back from PA feeling poorly so will wait until I'm better to set traps... just like not setting them while we were away, when I'm pretty sure of catching mice I want to check traps daily, just in case one doesn't kill a critter outright.
Every fall we get new mice coming in from the fields and such. Less so now that the meadows next door have be tamed and we no longer have animal feed in the barn. We also have some natural controls as in black snakes and hawks. I just found a 5' snake skin in the garage while cleaning up. They mostly keep to themselves and avoid us as much as we avoid them, although once in awhile we startle each other. LOL Once in a while I'll find a clutch of eggs, usually hatched, in the compost. I have learned not to put bird houses where they can get to them. I could not find the pic showing why, but it is a 3-4' black snake coming out of a bird house mounted 6' up a telephone pole.
I would love to have a snake in my basement to take care of any mice that venture in. Someone once saw a baby black snake in our basement, so maybe we have some natural rodent control down there. I haven't put traps down there for awhile, but maybe it's time to put the humane ones there and see what catches itself.
But you need the mice to eat the 'spickets' (camel crickets)
True. I was wondering why I don't see many camel crickets down there anymore ; - )
I'm not sure about having one in the house. They can be quite menacing and irritable when shedding, having just fed, or are egg laden. They really are not a threat but I have been told they can have a septic bite and since their teeth are grippers they can be broken off in the bite site. They can definitely release a unpleasant musk if they feel threatened or are mishandled. On that note, if you ever smell spoiled cucumbers while working outdoors get away, that's what most people think copperheads smell like.
D:
I need to quickly spoil a cucumber so I can remember its smell.
haha, me too!
You're way more likely to be bitten by a garter snake than a copperhead -- they're one of the most docile snakes, maybe because they know they can rely on their bite if it really comes down to it. They're the only venomous snake I've really ever handled much... the one time I had to move a rattlesnake, you can bet it was with "gear."
Y'all have probably heard about the spring that copperheads kept showing up in my landlady's kitchen... there must have been a group hybernaculum in her foundation. I never told her what kind of snakes they were, just went over when summoned by shrieks and popped them into an old pillowcase so they could go "for a drive in the country" (or into the high marsh in this case). Not as brave as it sounds, as they were generally sunning on the warm stone floor and not inclined to pay any attention to me.
I guess I never startled a copperhead enough to make it musk, since I've never smelled the spoiled cucumber thing. Snake musk is pretty putrid, even from a "harmless" little garter snake.
Speaking about blooming plants, I looked out the kitchen window Thanksgiving morning and low and behold I have a beautiful white hellibore going at it and one of my pink camillias. I thought I was seeing things. Made the whole day for me I can tell you!! That and I actually got my son out with the lawn mower with the bag attached to get up the leaves to use as mulch. If Sunday isn't too cold I'll start rounding up the neighbors leaf bags for extras to put on my cold beds where I have all the potted up bulbs from this years sale. I checked them the other day and the pots are full of lovely roots. I've brought in two pots of freesias that were putting out leaves and am now waiting for them to bloom.
sounds lovely yehudith!
I'm getting tempted to try a Camellia, although I think I'd keep it in a large pot that I could put in the garage for the winter. I'd love to have something beautiful and fragrant blooming right now!
yehudith, Tell me more about your potted bulbs and the sale?
Blessed technology. I have started a new thread but can't ad d links from my phone. No big rush but it is there if any one is fed up with length of this thread.
You got it, Miss Sally!
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