Preparing for next year 2008

Harper's going to jail and I'm going to the basement and may never see the light of day again!! And victor's already in jail for burying socks in his backyard!! I'm posting in my sleep or else I haven't made it to bed yet!! I think this post sounds like nightmare. Maybe I should have posted this on the thread that I can't spell any of the words for!! Eleanor

And this is not the illogical thread!! How scary.

Just goes to show, we can be logical on the illogical thread and be utterly illogical on the logical threads. No one can contain us!

And we're four hours ahead of ourselves!

I'm totally lost, to tell you the truth.

That's how you know you're in the right place.

Oh, phew!

I've never posted on the illogical (needed to look back to victor's post to spell it - hope he spelled it right) thread cause I get so lost I would probably make sense. I'm usually out in left field somewhere on all of the other threads also so I basically never know what is going on. Just skimming through this thread it looks like victor buried Jimmy Hoffa in his backyard in his socks (was Jimmy in his socks or victor) and two kids dug him up. Hope the FBI isn't reading this thread!! Or some of Jimmy Hoffa's FRIENDS!! LOL
Pirl and David-Paul - I did get lots of good info off this thread and it has helped me tremendously. Eleanor

I love an early morning giggle. Each of you brighten my days and make gardening even more fun. I hang out in the field just past way out left, and I don't even care whats going on, but it sure is nice having you for neighbors. :)

Eleanor - Since I started this thread you and everyone else can take it wherever you'd like.

I'd have said it was "my" thread but that would get one person attacking me ......again! Not anyone who's posted here on this thread, though.

Since we're rambling, how come so many of us use lower case for our names, especially the first letter?

For a minute I thought I had clicked on the illogical thread. Its all good. Morning everyone.

Less work? I usually make a cap. letter when addressing someone anyway, but not always.

Caps are a habit

I agree it's a habit but our DG names aren't caps. Why?

Because most are nick or screen names?

Sherrie

Could be. Yet nicknames still are capitalized. It's a puzzlement, for sure.

But some choose upper case, right?

Wow - I think I'm missing something (I'm sure that'll open up a can of worms - "I could while away the hours, conferring with the flowers") I can answer the question about caps for me - I just copy the screen name the way it is unless I am using a real name. Victor can go either way cause that's his screen name and I'm assuming it's his real name - depends on how fast I'm typing and sometimes my cap key doesn't go way down. How's that for rambling?
Now for what I want to post on this thread this time - what I have been working on all day yesterday and today. Referr to the pic!! I put this shelf unit together yesterday and worked on the lights today all by myself. I will eventually get two more lights - $9.00 at Lowes and $8.00 apiece for the tubes (plant and acquarium bulbs). I've spent a grand total of $150.00 so far. I priced plant carts with lights and they run about $700-$800. Eventually I'll put this in the basement. I'll just use the lights on cloudy days for now. It's a little difficult right now for me to go up and down stairs with my knee so I'll keep it in the kitchen where I have my water supply. Eleanor

Looks great Eleanor!

Looks like a great job to me too. Did the little chains come with the lights so you can adjust them up and down as needed? I think like you say you have saved yourself a bundle by doing this yourself. WTGG!

Yes the chains came with them - they are shop lights and they can be adjusted. Now I just have to get to work and get some cuttings and start them. Eleanor

COOL

Eleanor:

What a great job you did on those shelves. And what an inspiration you are.

Since this is our first real year of gardening, I am mostly learning, and reading, and wishing, and dreaming, and planning for next year. That is not to say that we haven't had such great sucesses this year - we have.

The one rose bush is still giving us blooms! The one clematis I have is still traveling outwards and upwards and still blooming. The primrose is still blooming. Everything else is doing its thing very well this year.

The worst problem we will have about getting ready for the cold fall and colder winter is keeping DSIL and his dumptruck full of mulch away!! We learned the hard way to NOT over-mulch!!!

Thanks everyone!! Eleanor

pirl, why didn't you capitalize your screen name? It's an acronym, right? Mine's after a real person, Sofonisba Anguissola, a 16th century woman painter. No too many women painters back in those days.

Eleanor, your shelves look fantastic. I built some shelves for myself in the basement, but I didn't leave enough space for the plants to grow very tall, so I can start seeds, or grow short cacti... next group of shelves I'll learn.

I don't remember why I didn't capitalize mine.

I didn't bother to hide mine, capitalized or not.

grammy, you did a great job!!! Would not dream to sen you a picture of the contraption I put up down cellar, eatly this year am just not handy with things like that, My DH has a workbench there I used it for seeds putting a small table on top of it so the light would be close. I used to quilt, that able wa down there too but had no lights, I just used three of the clamp=on ones, I needed to see while quilting (reason I gave it up, going blind with macular degeneration) but it worked, had sunflowers, and heerbs, it was a humble beginning bu they made it , perhaps I will try again

Where did you get the shelfs, grammy@

My name is my real name

Eleanor: wonderful job! You may want to buy another yard of the chain since, when you start seeds (for those that want light to germinate) the light has to be close to the tray - not 5" away. Then, as the plants begin to grow you adjust upward with the chain so the plants won't burn. Water only from the bottom, never from the top, and a small $5.00 Home Depot fan will help the stems grow strong. You won't have to run it all day long, just a few hours and only when they're a few inches tall - like 3 or 4 inches.

Harper: no caps for pirl because the real PIRL is my role model. Call me the imitation pirl.

Candyce: what happened with too much mulch? Did it end up too close to the stems and rot them?

Okay, Imitation pirl.

At least I'm not imitation plastic.

Had a pleasant surprise this morning when tearing out a border of Zinnias which succumbed to mildew. Montage: what the Zinnias look like now and what they looked like in their prime:

And what was growing under that row of withered Zinnia's:

Wow, David! Big difference there and what a nice surprise for you!

Nice surprise.

Could have saved myself some trouble by just letting the asters reseed. But it was fun seeing what the Zinnias did. Think I'll go back next year to asters (but more of them) The same border in the fall of 2006:

Victor....see the magnolia bush on the right in the last photo? That is gone now too (mildew and just old and ratty) The heptacodium you educated me about is going in there. Side of the house is about 6 feet past the edge of the photo. A little tight maybe? Or doable with proper pruning?

This message was edited Sep 14, 2007 8:41 PM

Should be okay with some pruning. Ultimately they can get up around 12' hight and wide so it may come close.

Maria - I got the shelves at Lowes. Thanks pirl for the advice about how close to put the lights. Also thanks for the info on watering from the bottom and the fan. so much to learn and I'm glad for the advice. Eleanor

What is imitation plastic, anyway?

Lovely aster walk, David Paul.

pirl:

With the too much mulch some of the plants rotted, but most just had a hard time breaking through to the sunlight. And, after putting out all of that effort in the Spring to break through the mulch, they were stunted and didn't bloom.

Now we know better for this winter, and we will keep a close eye on DSIL. He's in the 'more has got to be better' category of thinking. He kills rose bushed by over-fertilizing, for example.