Well, it's April 18th and I am cleaning off snow from my roses and evergreens with record breaking cold tonight.. My tomatoes are in Wall of Waters (WOWs) and I had to cover the top openings with plastic bags so that snow would not enter from the top. WOWs are supposed to protect down to 18 degrees F. and I will get a chance to test them out this weekend as we are expecting the upper 20's at night for the next 2-3 nights. Should be an adventure!
Thanks for the heads up. It really didn't feel that cold out there tonight, but man there's lots of snow. I've got my little ones covered. Here's a picture from my place in Woodinville at around 7:15:
And another picture
Last one.
mbabbitt - have you thought about coming to the plant swap in Newcastle at Jacquie's tomorrow? You're not far from me and Katye. It should be fun and it's always great to put faces to names.
Kathy
Hey mb - how did those WOW's work out for you? Were you pummeled by the snowfall, or was that further north from you?
Are we all tired of this stuff yet??? :-p Were getting hit pretty hard down here by this too: snow, ice, 20 deg temps. I've been seeing some of the pictures posted by folks in the northeast and I'm soooooo jealous! This is the first time i've ever bothered to cover anything in the yard since I usually figure if they're not hardy enough then why bother. But so many plants have had there flowers or new growth frozen off already that I don't want to loose any more. Maybe someone should start a thread about what we've lost so far. (or did they and I've missed it: :-p)
Someone told me recently that a shorter growing season is just another result of global warming. Oh, joy.
The Wall of Waters saved my tomatoes The sun today really warmed them up again and the tomato plants inside look in good shape. Placing plastic bags over the openings saved them from the heavy snow. I am glad that crazy weather is over for now. Areas of South America last fall (their spring) was similar to our weather: wet snows that did not end till November (equivalent to our May). I don't buy the global warming hysteria as everything that occurs is blamed on it. But let's not go there in this forum. Suffice it to say that this was this winter was a steady cold one and I celebrate whenever we get over near 55 degrees... Boy, that's sad.
Here's our deck:
.
.
.
.
.
From the great snowfall January of 07. So all of these flurries and a few inches that will melt quick mean nothing except irritation and delay in gardening pleasures. I do want to know what is a Wall of Waters made of and how do they work?
Summer is just around the corner- get the shorts and tank tops out. Root for global warming and fast.
Think of them as cylindrical plastic baffles whose chambers are filled with water, thus creating an insulatory layer for the plant that is inside.
They are open on top, but mb had a stroke of genius by covering the top with a plastic bag.
Perfect place for baby plants...
I will take the opportunity to share what I did:
I have these clear plastic collapsible "umbrella cloches" (30" X 44") that I placed over my younguns. But the beauty of this is not in the usage of this cloche - but where they are sitting: out in my veg garden, are 2 4' X 4' beds that had a mix of soil, leaves, manure, alfalfa pellets & shreddings. Over this mix I applied a soil drench of water mixed with a small amount of feed grade molasses.
I placed all the pots on those two beds & covered with the cloches. That bed heated up overnight, and the temp inside the cloche has stayed at 75°F + over the past 9 - 10 days.
All credit goes to Docgipe on the soil & compost forum for turning me on to this trick. Initially presented as a cheap way to heat up a compost pile, and also a cheap way to create a hotbed.
A 6 mil vinyl covering over mesh wire also works as a nice enclosure.
Wow, Annie, that is a lot of snow on your deck!!!
Carol
And I can second that the soil was actually pretty warm. Kate, where did you get the cloches?
Well they were from Kinsman, but they no longer sell them. However, there are another type (similar) sold at charley's greenhouse. BRB - will get link.
wow that's daunting! - couldn't remember which thread, LOL...
http://www.charleysgreenhouse.com/index.cfm?page=_productdetails&productid=1705&cid1=174&cid2=271&cid3=-99
This message was edited Apr 22, 2008 9:16 PM
Thanks, Katye. These look like a great thing to have, but now, of course, I can just see Magic running through the yard, cloche in mouth . . . when will puppyhood end ?
If you put soil around the base of those cloches, they should stay in place and the puppy shouldn't want to bother them.
You want puppyhood to end??? I never do! My puppy will be a year next month and I love this stage!!!
Carol
He's not such a little puppy anymore - he'll be two this summer. But he still has the heart of a puppy. Magic is such a sweet and exuberant boy. Very gentle at heart, but he doesn't know his size - he is in many ways a bull in a china shop.
No, I don't want to lose his youthful exuberance, but I'd love it if he's lose interest in chewing up hoses, pulling out plant tags, digging up plants, shredding rolls of toilet paper, chewing shoes and magazines . . . and a little soil around the base of the cloche probably wouldn't do much to deter him - that just deepens the challenge!!
What kind of puppy do you have?
Here's my wild man, LOL
Button.
I guess I am so glad Button isn't like a totally real puppy.
He loves paper so that can't be on the floor at all. But as far as chewing things, he just doesn't do it. He does like to chew up green sticks that I cut for him, his bones, some toys but..................not really.
He does like to dig but I shut that down very fast! I at first thought it was funny and cute but...............then realize how dumb I was to think it would be funny.
So if he even thinks of digging, he gets yelled at.
I love the idea of a bull in a china shop, LOL
Carol
What a cute little boy.
He is so cute.
Reminds me of my Tyler. Bunny Butt LOL Likes to chew on any doy toy made of rubber other than he is pretty good, he will be 2 in Dec.
This is Ester she is 6 (lab) and the man
Katye- thanks for the description of the wall of waters and, moreover, the description of that hot bed mixture! I used molasses in my compost tea one year. Boil, boil, bubble and toil! That stuff was working! I'm going to have to try your recipe for a hot bed.
I have a long-legged bull in a china shop dog too. I am tossing a tennis ball for him as I type. Going out to feed goats tonight, I hauled a bag of kitchen scraps and a withered whole cantalope on the side to put in the compost pile. I set them down and turned my back for a minute. On my return, there was Buddy prancing around with the entire cantalope in his muzzle. If it's relatively round and rolls, he thinks it's treasure. I did not throw it as he wanted.....
Katie59- I had a couple hose lengths lying around from an earwig catching experiment last summer ( they didnt' work) The labrador boy found one and it made an excellent throw toy for a couple days til I found it chewed up to smithereens on the lawn! Choking hazard, gut hazard: it's just like having a toddler. I guess labels, interesting planting holes, shoes, etc are all fair game for the young at heart dog.
And I DO love the young at heart . . . I was just in the closet changing from my work clothes and petting the cat and looked at my shoes - about 5 pair have some part of the shoe taste-tested. And for some reason I keep them!!! It is nice to get past that part.
Here's my Magic boy:
My heart just melts looking at all the beautiful doggies - each one is precious!
LOL about saving those shoes. Of course they are so special, LOL It is like saving the special things from the human baby stage, LOL
Yes, all doggies are precious looking!
K59, there's a lot of old sole in those pretty puppy eyes....... ;)
Daisyruffles, if it would make Button's day, you may assure him that I am properly terrified of his fierce appearance. (and that of course I don't really want to scritch his little ears....Besides, as a cat person, I'd never admit that I'd like petting a puppy....)
More pets for al the other cuties around, too, and now it's off to bed for me, an early night tonight..
Daisy - It's nothing so sentimental as that. I just keep thinking that they'll fix themselves, that it didn't really happen, or that I can "just hide" the fact that there's no longer a heel when I wear them. And then I put them on and get ready to go out and realize that it looks awful. LOL Denial.
Sue - Magic is a pretty spectacular dog. He is rock solid - he's just a natural therapy dog. His worst trait is that he hogs the bed. He cuddles as though he were a cat. And, as catlike as Silkens are, Magic is pretty big and heavy-boned to be trying to curl up between my legs.
I won't tell the kitties if you don't that you are ok with dogs . . .
Have to share this from today. I was potting African Violet leaves this afternoon at the kitchen sink. I turned around to find our cat Feisty Kitty making her self at home in the towel drawer..which I forgot to close.
This is the view I saw after going to grab my camera from down the hall.
To funny with that furry tail!
This message was edited Apr 24, 2008 9:47 PM
This message was edited Apr 24, 2008 9:48 PM
Isn't that just classic. She's probably thinking, "Cool. Nobody can see me here." Glad you were able to get to the camera!!
Even funnier was the view I first saw. She hissed and me a cried when I took her out of the drawer. Cats sure are quirky!
She has a toy hippo (beanie baby size) that came with her when we adopted her. She will carry that thing around and cry & cry until you take it from her and throw it. She will chase it..but that's all. Game over!! Not much fun at 3am...
Have enjoyed all the dog pics. That Button is too cute!
I LOVE quirky. You just know there's something behind it - but what?
Here are a couple of my kitchen cats. Two of them are gone now. And nobody's allowed on the counter anymore (there are too many!!). But they just loved the heat of that stove light.
Sort of a grow light for cats. I should probably construct something like that somewhere else. LOL
Great looking bunch! Mine is not allowed on the counters either.LOL
With my back turned at the sink..I guess she thought I would not notice! The living furniture is another forbidden place for her. Yeah right! I put foil across the seat last night..so now she has moved to the arms of the sofa.... Recent photo of her napping on the couch!
Queen Feisty..her royal pain in the xxx. Got to love her... :)
How can you keep her off that, evil Yooman? She matches totally. It's a throne-couch. It was maaaaaaade for her. Yawn . . .
the couch in the family room is just as comfortable..older..lived in..
but just as comfortable. Will she sleep on that one....no. It's funny but not. She does have hair balls from time to time with that crazy thick long fur. Hate to find one on a cream sofa.. The family room couch has washable slip covers.. Yuck!
Well time to find the cat..& go to sleep. Good night!
It's no fun to ack hairballs where yer Yooman expects it . . .
Night night, little ones. I'm on my way as well (and will need to tuck Nick in).
That is indeed one gorgeous kitty!
Beahive.... feisty kitty is great. I love that sort of personality in a cat.
Katie you a couple of fluffy puffs with 4 legs!!! they're all cute!.
I posted one of this pic in one of the other threads, but it reminds me of Feisty Kitty. My kitty is well aware that she is not supposed to be in this chair, this is where I "caught" her sleeping. She woke just in time for the camera. and no, she's not a huge cat! she's great at conforming to the shape of things (for proof, go to my profile page, her pic is there). She can actually fit under that same chair.
This message was edited Apr 25, 2008 1:15 AM
This message was edited Apr 25, 2008 1:21 AM
Well, this might not be the right thread for this, but oh well. This link is to a couple of videos of mine that I posted. The first one is of all my humming birds. The second one, that for some reason shows up as a 'black box" is of my cat doing a trick that she does to get peoples attention. It's very hard to ignore her. It's only about 20 sec. long. Just click on the black box.
http://picasaweb.google.com/redchic/TheHummersAndMyCat
redchic. your cat looks very much like mine except mine is big & chubby! The video of her is great! She even has the tufts of hair sticking out her feet. Mine too! Maybe they are cousins!
Loved the humming birds. How terrific to get such a closeup video
of them. My feeders are up and I had one guy visit recently. can't wait for his friends & family to come around.
katie..Nick is so cute! Well the sun is up..no rain so far..out to the yard to get some things planted while I have a chance!
Have a good day everyone..
LOL - very amusing kitty (very smart, I should say - knows just how to get the attention she wants!).
They do look very much alike! that's what made me think of posting stuff of her. Maybe that's what gives them their quirky personalities! I can't believe you noticed the tufts! Yes, it's very cute. Also a big pain when it comes to trimming her claws, hard to cut a claw that you can't see! I'm absolutely positive that she relies on her "cuteness" and those big eyes to get what she wants!
I bet the hummers will be there before you know it. This lovely weather has been much colder than they like.
