Do you have dirty finger nails?

I have dirty finger nails this weekend it must be getting close to spring. lol I couldn't stand it any longer planted some bulbs that should have been planted along time ago. Cleaned trays etc and started some seeds in the hoop house. I never knew having dirty finger nails could feel so good! There is just something about dirty finger nails that makes ya feel like a Gardner.What have you done that makes you feel spring is near?

I keep my fingernails cut but they STILL get dirty LOL. I have been planting seeds almost daily. Then I wash containers, then I sow more seeds. I have even put some of the seedlings into the garden that I planted last fall. I also planted some oriental lilies this week. If my garden looks half as nice for real as it does in my head, it will be beautiful :-) Don't you just love getting your hands in the dirt?

Ah ha - confessions of a fellow dirt gardener. I know it's getting springtime when the dirt gets down in the dry (winter weather) cracks of my fingers, and no amount of scrubbing will get it out. It's a great feeling, even if it doesn't look too lady-like.

You know? I have dirty fingernails all year! In the spring, summer and early fall, it's plant dirt. But from late fall to early spring, it's HOUSE DIRT! I only clean my house in the winter. LOL!

I had dirty finger nails too this weekend. Where I come from if someone sees you with dirty fingernails they ask if you are in mourning rather than point out the dirt LOL.

Vols

I hate skin cracks, I used to get them quite bad working on the farms. An elderly lady once told me that to get them clean and to help them soften, put on a load of hand cream, put your hands in washing up gloves and wash up in the hottest water you can bear. When you take the gloves off just wipe your hands free and the dirt is gone. It worked for me

I end up with muddy finger-nails and messy feet everytime I do something in the garden. But I have to clean them up on entering my house - we eat our food with fingers and so they have to be clean - no forks! Sometimes I have to clean the deposited dirt with an old toothbrush that lies near the sink.

yeap, here too. the green house is full and so are all the other tables outside. I still have plenty to plant but right now I am getting ready to do my potatoes and garden peas. some radish, greens, beets, more onions, carrots, and leeks into the garden this week. I am a litttle behind from having got the flu but all better now and full steam ahead.

Me, too......I potted up the 18 butterfly bush seedlings that Pebbles sent, sowed an additional 72 pots of morning glories, cypress vine, hyacinth vine, scarlet runner bean, sunflower vine, and zinnias. I also pruned the rose bushes and gathered the cuttings for some friends...:D. Today, I will be potting up some plume celosia, rutgers tomatoes, balsams, 4 o'clocks, and portulaca.......I have a lot to do yet....still need to get the new bed ready for the cannas, corn plants, ginger, crinium lilies, and amaryllis....but yep, it's difinitely feels like spring is blowing in over my shoulder.......ain't it fine!!

"eyes"

I do too. I spent yesterday potting up daylily seedlings that aren't even supposed to be germinated yet. I hope I can keep them alive until the middle or end of April. :-/

I did a really dumb thing in November. I got bored one day and decided to plant the daylily crosses that I wanted to grow this year. There were so many that I was going to have to leave them out in the garage in flats to stay cold because I didn't have room for that many in the fridge. But hey.. no problem. It was the end of November and we are usually heading into the deep freeze right about then.

Only this year we had 70 degree temps clear into December. It wasn't long before the daylilies that I had INTENDED to germinate after April 1 were sending up little green spears, much to my chagrin. So now I have foot tall daylily plants all over the house, and don't quite know what to do with them.

It shouldn't be too much longer before I will be able to put them outside for short periods of time during the day. I am really worried about them getting enough light.

INDA....do you have enough chairs and tables to put them around the windows in you house? Many of my cannas and my hostas are potted up and lining my kitchen and dining room walls.......some now over 2 ft. tall, and growing! The crazy weather this year is playing havoc with the plants, especially the ones shipped from CA! I think we will be okay here in zone 7 after the end of this next week to begin moving some things outside....especially the hostas which tolerate cool weather....hope it's not too long for you.

"eyes"

ain't dirty fingernails great??????? The potting soil I've been using in the house washed out too easy!! Good ole red clay gave me back my dirty in the creases hands, just love it!

Eyes,

Every window in my house has SOMETHING in it right now. I was thinking about getting one of those high intensity lights to put in the basement.

*sigh* I could sure use that greenhouse.

On the plus side, it's not inconceivable that some of my seedling daylilies might bloom THIS year, as big as they are now!

Boy oh boy did I want dirty fingernails yesterday! I was going to avoid starting seeds this year, just figured I would be too busy to take care of them. Hubby promised me this spring would be less turbulent than the past year. He even helped me drag out my Rotogro, clean it off and bring it upstairs. I got it all set up, tested it to make sure everything was working then went out for seed mix. Wouldn't you know, my favorite nursery is closed on Sunday's right now! WHY?? WHY??? Someone is against me, I tell ya! I have seeds, my stand is ready, my plug trays are ready and no dirt. Waaaahhhh! I am going to try again today!

you guys are just CRUEL!!! I don't figure that potting soil counts as real dirty fingernail material and I have MONTHS to wait. Even though it was well into the 50s today, tomorrow we are headed down down down and then more snow, measurable snow, maybe lake enhanced snow, maybe real SNOW. I'll just go pout for awhile...

kathleen can i join you? here in massachusetts we are having weird weather too. i want to go out and start my spring clean-up on the 55 to 65 degree days, but it goes down to the 20's to 30's at night or the next day could be freezing weather too. it is winter here still, but spring is sprouting some of my daffodils and other plants. i'm worried about all those dear bulbs i planted last fall and my plants who don't know what is going on here. so i'm painting the bathroom instead of getting dirt under my nails. i haven't seen a robin yet so i know spring isn't here.
debi z (over in the corner with kathleen)

AWWWWW Take heart Kathleen and Debi_z, when you are having a wonderful spring, Baa will still be soaking wet waiting for the gales to subside LOL.

Oh Kathleen and Debi its going to get back in the 20's here tomorrow and the rest of the week too so don't feel bad. We just got to enjoy a few nice days but still more winter to come. The nice days just give ya some hope that spring it near. lol

ok, a little hint for those of you who want to try, if you don't want all the dirt to get under your nails, just scrape your nails over a bar of soap and the soap will get under your fingernails, when done in the garden, just wash hands and get the soap out from under your nails and clean nails you will have :)

But Flowox that's no fun.The dirt under your nails is what makes it fun you feel like you are one with the garden then,like its apart of you.Its a great tip and it does work but I just love the dirt.lol(okay I am weird)

Well the old fingernails got pretty dirty today! The sun was shining and I was fianlly able to get out and begin the great spring cleanup! Amazing how much accumulates over a long winter! We did manage to UN-Garden two areas today and the plants are all potted and labled. We will Un-garden a few more beds tommorrow. Hope to have most everything out of the ground and ready to move in a month. Not that we will move that soon but I need to start now to get ready! It is sure more fun putting things in than taking them out though!

Oh Zany - what a tussle! But just think of all the fun you'll have RE-gardening in a new spot!

Baa, you've obviously never been to western NY in the spring, all two or three days of it! We slide out of winter into mud season, wake up to glorious spring followed by midday with summer, hot and humid.(ok, hot to me is anything over 72, but it really does get hot, 80s and sometimes 90s here, honest!)

Deb, we will just be strong in the face of all this spring talk!

And Mystic, I figure if you don't get dirty, you ain't a gardener! Even my good goin' to town jeans sport grass stains when things get going and my hands, ah, well, I'm not up for any modeling jobs!

LOL Kathleen, sounds like here!

Can't join this happy band in their great Spring endeavours but spent a marvellous day yesterday searching for pallets. Found them and built us a three bin composter, so this is one very happy lady this morning. However I agree, there is nothing like getting down and dirty - feeling the soil in your hands and and getting your nails all clogged up and your knees and your feet.......lol!! We have one more warm day, so the project for today is building the cold frame.......Yee-haw!!

I do this year for the first time in yrs-minus the 2 i bite for wrestling! I quit biting them!!!!!! This dirt under them drive me CRAZY!

The only thing better than dirt under your fingernails is dirt under your toe nails! It hasn't happened yet, but I know that spring is truely here when I can walk around my gardens bare foot and dig my toesies deep in the dirt! AHHHHHH!!!! I can't wait!!

Trish

Well I transplanted 125 spider lilies from my yard to my DIL'S this past week end. Sent out some also to Iris and Cala. Removed about two hundred iris from a bed that had been rooted out by Butterfly Bushes. Don't know where I will put them. I already have a large bed of them. I guess my DIL will have a bed also.

Trish you don't have red clay do you.LOL

I do Jim :-) boo-hoo!!

I'm with louisa :) wish I lived closer, I would take a few iris from you :) it's freezing here though :(

Lousia it's sort of hard to sink those toe nails in that clay.LOL
Lousia and flowox I'll send you a few iris if you want them. They came out of a bed that had a lot of doubles but also singles. They are generic. No Name brand. LOL

Let me know how much postage would be, I can do it if it's not too much. I don't need many, just a few :) Thanks so much!!!

Guilty here too, it's bee the only thing that has gotten rid of morning sickness in this house!! I have planted calla lilies, Oriental lilies, caladiums, tomatoes, broccoli, and a few other flowers. We had such nasty freezing temps the past few days! I can't wait to get out of this house and start digging again.

Guilty too and love it,nearly 70 today and then snow this evening,fooey' Been watering,mulching and dragging 200ft. of garden hose around all day,tired' Plus putting up bulbs to force again' Probably should have pruned some more but it'll wait'

Someone, somewhere is SO terribly against me! LOL I cannot get my favorite seed mix until next week. Oh boo hoo, boo hoo! With the snow and cold temps again, I cannot cut anything back yet either. This is just wrong! So here I am stuck with clean, long nails, doing laundry, cleaning and working on drywall. Waaaahh! Maybe someone can just mail me some seed mix! LOL

8 inches of new snow and more forecast - you all have a good time and I'll just sit here and pout......

Kathleen, pass me the box of Kleenex. I'm past pouting and have moved on to shameless blubbering. Little white flakes are flurrying past my dormer window, even as I write. The only way I'm going to get dirty fingernails is to clean my basement, and I'm not that desperate yet!

Oh, I think of you often - how do you do it???? I know our zones overlap a bit - but your season is so short and even with the long daylight hours - HOW DO YOU DO IT??? Anyone that gardens that far north desevers some kind of award!

(I'm not cleaning my basement, either, but maybe the backroom...)

Hey WZ...and Kathleen...little and big white flakes are blowing outside my Bay window right now...and IMHO, that shouldn't be happening at all!! Winter is late coming, slow leaving, and it sure makes it hard on a body that has already started, not to mention the poor plants "state of mind".

"eyes"

Hey Weezingreens,
I met and traded with a neat girl from Alaska, I think it was Juno? Anyway her hubby is in the service and they moved to California. Talk about your culture shock! When they say it is cold there, she cracks up. LOL I believe she said she was in zone 6 in Alaska and I was amazed with all the things she could grow. Keep your chin up, the snow will go eventually. :)
I finally got some seed mix!!! They aren't carrying my favorite kind this year so I bought what they are using. Hopefully I will start a few things this weekend.

We're on the inevitable late-winter roller-coaster - 60 today, snow tonight, high of 30-something tomorrow. Makes it really hard to do anything because you never know when the next round of cold will hit.

But I won't complain because at least we can get out in between the cold spells. Yesterday DH (emphasis on DEAR) built me a two-bin compost frame from scrounged pallets and we raked and shoveled my compost heaps in them. (I didn't tell him he'll have to add a third bin pretty soon - I figure I'll surprise him, LOL.)

Today it's rainy, so I'm off to the GH to finish potting up all the tomato seedlings, and putter around a bit. (The GH is definitely proving to be a sanity-saver for me this year. I can at least play at growing stuff without making a mess of the whole house!)

Assuming the weather forecast is accurate, by mid-week I'll be putting in my onions and peas - woohoo! Real dirt under my fingernails :)

Hi, Guys: I'm beginning to feel some hope. Daylight broke about 8am, and it looks like a sunny day. It's beginning to feel like spring around here, in spite of the occasional snow storm and night temps in the teens sometimes.

As go_vols said, it's really hardest when it's looking like growing season, but there are still those nasty nights that happen unexpectedly, so planting out would be a disaster. I can recall times, looking at the garden plot and visualizing what was going into it. The plants would be on the porch out of the wind, looking eager, and I would be itching to plant them...but too early! At least I have no such illusions now, since my garden is under 3 feet of snow!

Kathleen: It's been so long since I gardened in the lower 48 that I don't even consider the extra effort we make up here. I am reminded when penny4 sends me pics of her garden in Washington state, however. While my pots of zucchini sit sedately all summer, hers vine across her garden hills like hungry monsters, putting out green babies like a factory. I, however, am teary eyed if I get three zukes per plant!

In a way, it is a trade-off. Warm weather gardeners have to cope with garden problems that I never worry about. Barring the occasional heat spell, veggies seldom bolt here. Lettuce heads can be kept going all summer by harvesting the outer leaves. It never gets too hot for them. The rainfall levels here make watering minimal, and we are free from most of the garden pests warmer climates suffer from. Our dogs don't get fleas or ticks, and there are no snakes. Our greatest garden pest is the slug, due to the moisture and cool temps, but they are not the big banana slugs that besiege the folks in warmer climes. Up here, we cannot depend on nature to take the initiative in germination. With the exception of carrots, radishes, etc, all seeds are started indoors or purchased from the greenhouses. I'll be sharing photos and info over the course of this growing season so that you guys get a better idea of what growing in Southcentral Alaska is like.

Badseed: Glad to hear you got your seed mix. I've got about three batches to sterilize in my oven tomorrow, or I will be out myself. I use so much of the stuff, I'm thinking of making my own from perlite, peat, and vermiculite. I just have to come up with a way to grind it all up smaller. I can't imagine doing it in the blender! Maybe I can use the sausage grinder attachment on my Kitchen Aide or run it through the Salad Shooter! At any rate, I imagine you are planting seeds like crazy about now!

go_vols: Sounds like your DH really is a dear! My DH made us a two-bin compost structure last spring, and it has served us very well. He also took an interest in making compost, so he tended and fed the pile while I gardened. Maybe your DH will do the same!

Badseed: If your friend was from Juneau, she has milder weather than we do here, but more rain. It is quite beautiful down there, when it isn't overcast! I've seen some lovely pictures of gardens down that way. Yes, moving to California would be different, particularly if she moved to southere CA.

eyesoftexas: Looks like we're all feeling a bit frustrated about the weather. I take it you have little babies out there in the elements already?