Hello everyone!

Wow! What a great place! Kudo's to Dave! I've learned more in five minutes on this site than the two weeks of searching the internet.

A big hello to my fellow Michigeese and Michiganders!

You might call me the noob accident on the way to happening. I took an old waterbed frame, dug out a couple more inches to a 12" depth, and lined it with a weed barrier. I dumped in about a yard and a half of organic, composted soil and proceeded to plant everything too close together...LOL!

So, I then had to plan pots for the overflow. I planted most things as seed, so I'm slowly thinning some things to the pots as they get big enough.

Everything seems to be doing fine and all the seeds sprouted, so I think it'll be ok. I'll be better at it next year and have a better idea of how many of each plant to put in.

I just wanted to say hello and good luck to all my neighbors! May we NOT get another frost!

Lena

Hi and welcome....Usually I get out a welcome to all that join..from Michigan..Sorry I guess I missed your joining..but glad you found this place here...for some Michigan get togethers...come often...share.......

again welcome...happy day...smiles..Diana

Hi Lena,

I used to live next door to you in Garden City before we moved up here to AuGres. Your garden looks great. What do you have planted in there? Welcome to Daves. Glad you found your way here.

Brenda

Hi Lena, welcome to Dave's!!!!

Cindy

Hi Lena! You and my daughter share the same name:)

Hello Lena and welcome!! I am in your neighborhood often. My mother lived in Garden City and I had some property in Westland and Inkster, Bellville, and Canton ! I now live in Fenton.
Nice to meet you. Your garden looks good! Good idea with the old water bed!! A garden Bed.
Greta use of old 'stuff'. Looks like you'll fit right in here!! Everyone is so innovative.
Welcome,
Julie

Well, we got another frost, didn't we? Gotta love MI. 85 degrees one day and 55 the next.

Thank you one and all for such a warm welcome! Lena is actually my nickname since high school. My name is Darlene, but I've become attached to the name Lena.

Brenda, I go up to Oscoda frequently. A friend of mine has a cottage there on the AuSable. I stop in an pick up some flowers from the Daylily King every so often. He has some awesome lillies! Julie, my brother in law lives in Fenton, so we're still neighbors, sort of. :)

Oh gosh! What do I have in there? Basically a salad. I kinda got carried away. I didn't think that all the seeds would grow (every single seed sprouted). So, here it is:
Row 1...The beefsteaks (2), Sweet 100's (3), and some basil in between.
Row 2...Carrots and onions, I'll plant a few more every three weeks. A mound of spinach. This is a very skinny row so I could squeeze in---
Row 3... Cukes waiting to be thinned out to planters so they can grow into the fence, thus allowing more room for carrots and onions and possibly another lettuce or two.
Row 4...broccolli and cauliflower
Row 5...A few lettuce, a mound of spinach and some brussels sprouts.
Planters... Pole beans, some Romaine (in the planter so they can be moved next to the maters when I thin out the carrots and onions. They'll be shaded in the hotter months by the maters), and a planter for the cukes.

There's nothing in the middle of the bed, because I can't reach in there (I'm tall, but I'm not the jolly green giant.). Next year we will take the king size down to two twins. Oh! I'll figure out some kind of mulch! What a mess my neighbors tree made!...LOL

My 2 yr old grandson helped me put in the marigolds. He was so proud of himself! He checks his flowers every time he comes over.



This message was edited May 28, 2008 6:08 PM

welcome Lena nice set up hope to talk to you often
Gloria

Hi Lena,

I wanted to tell you that the Daylily King is celebrating his 100th birthday this year. He's still selling flowers. :) Amazing. D-mail me when you're coming through AuGres and maybe you can stop and visit.

I got into veggie gardening three years ago. I'd always grown a mater or two but nothing like I'm doing now. I really like growing veggies. I have my flowers too though.

Yes, we got a frost. We had everything covered and most made it through. It's supposed to be mid 40's tonight so I'm taking a chance and not dragging out all the covers again. I'll water early in the morning and hope the weatherman is right for once.

Brenda

I was wondering when he was turning 100. I knew it had to be soon. Wow! That's a long life. I guess being happy and loving what you do makes a difference in longevity.

I didn't cover anything last night either, but I'm wondering if that was a mistake. It may not have been frosty last night, but it was definately close to it. I'm sticking with the U of M Weather Underground from now on. They are far more accurate, although ABC weather seems to be pretty good.

I'm having fun growing the veggies. It's a lesson in patience. I started this because my hubby's illness gave me a reason to get going on it and I prefer raw veggies over cooked ones. I've been putting it off for a few years. Now the need for organic food has gotten me going and I must say, watching my efforts coming to fruition is greatly satisfying. I fear that this could become addictive. LOL

Lena

Welcome to our Michigan chat.
Always great to meet new people here and share ideas.
Your "bed" is great. mmmm the liner in a waterbed (under the matress) could be a good weed barrier, or even make a pond...mmmmm...I better stay away from the garage sales for a while.

Lena,

Are you reading or posting in the vegetable forum? There is a lot of help and wisdom there. I read mostly but whenever I've had a question I get good answers from seasoned veggie growers.

I think the cold weather will delay our vegetables from putting on blossoms............like the squash and tomatoes etc. I'm wondering if the seed I sowed on Saturday will germinate? I guess I'll know in about a week. I may have to sow them over again. I sure hope not. :(

The price of fresh veggies in the stores is just ridiculous. I won't pay that and will do without first.

wow the dl king is 100 now!!! seems like he was just 93!!!

Welcome to Daves, Lena. Really like the veggie garden you got going there!!! I do not have enough of the sun stuff for a veggie garden... I have to have hostas and other shade lovers. Sure hope you enjoy your time here with the other Michiganderians!!!! Nice to see your photos. Keep them coming. We all love to share our gardens... Ronna

Hi again everyone,
Loon, are you getting any activity from your seeds? Any sprouts? I'm not posting much in the veg forum, but have been spending a lot of time reading!

Cpartschick, LOL! The lining would make an excellant weed barier, but I'm afraid it wouldn't work for a pond, as they tend to leak. Good ideas though. Can you really stay away from a good garage sale? I probably couldn't!

Gardenlady, thank you for the welcome. You might be just the person to ask...Are there any bushy bushes that get 6-7 feet tall and love almost complete shade? If you'll pardon the expression, we have a huge redneck mess in the backyard behind us that we need to disguise. Dead vehicles, crumbling sheds, the whole nine yards...except for the dead appliances on the porch. He hasn't gone that far yet. LOL

Lena

Here's a pic of the new addition to the garden. I was having some trouble with the birds. Off I went in search of an effective scarecrow.
This is what I found:
"An effective but inexpensive device for scaring pests, such as birds, from an area to be protected is formed from an elongated, vertically extending post; a resilient wire mounted on, and extending from, the upper end of the post; and a pair of large, thin, light weight, highly light reflective discs rotatably suspended from the remote end of the wire in cantilever fashion and responsive to wind forces on the discs in order to provide a random, distracting motion as well as to cast darting light reflections in a random, erratic manner on the area surrounding the post."

I was saving the discs from an old hard drive to make a windchime. They are exceptionally shiny. I modified the design, added a tube from an old windchime for an occasional noise, and voila! It's seems to be working. I need a really big one for the pool cover and I may have those birds beat! Ha ha ha!

Lena

Hi Lena,

My sister lives in Westland and had a similiar situation with the neighbor behind her. She called and complained to the city and they sent the ordinance officer out and he made them clean it up. I think my sister told them she saw a rat and that got them going fast. :) Just a suggestion. My sister had some kind of hedge she had along the back fence but it needed yearly pruning to keep it looking nice. I think it might have been a privot hedge but not sure. She had sun though. Not sure what would work in the shade. Lilacs will grow in the shade but won't bloom well. Same for Rose of Sharons and they get big pretty fast. I had some in partial shade and they even bloomed at my old house. Maybe you can throw up a privacy fence. That is the quickest solution and makes a nice backdrop for flowers or birdhouses etc. To get one six feet high you have to have the neighbor's permission though. If your lot isn't that wide you wouldn't need many 8' sections and it's not that hard to put up.

We sowed seeds a week ago this past Saturday. My cucumbers have germinated and are up but I haven't see the beans yet. My Heavenly Blue morning glory seeds are up. I wonder if the freeze affected the seed? They were under the soil so I wouldn't think so but I'm really not sure. If I don't see any signs of the beans and squash in a few more days I'm going to sow them over again. They are usually up in ten days. I've put the water to them daily too so there is no reason for them not to have popped by now. Of course, beans need a soil temperature of at least 55 to germinate but I know we had it that hot already. I know because I planted my garden barefooted and the dirt was so hot that day it was burning my feet. :)

Like you little scarecrow. I planted a kitchen garden in an antique double galvinzied laundry tub by the back door. I put some of my granddaughter's whirly-gig thingys in all four corners to keep the birds out and so far so good. We have so much wind here. They spin constantly. Now, all the seed I planted in those tubs are up. I put in all kinds of lettuces, radishes, carrots, few tomatoes, basil etc. It's all up. I had a big sheet of plexiglass over the seed till it was up about an inch plus I keep it soaked daily. Seeds won't germinate if they are allowed to dry out. That reminds me I still have some sunflower seeds to plant. :)

Brenda

Loon
I would like nothing better than to put up a privacy fence, but hubby's illness has our finances in the toilet. He went back to work after his treatment and they fired him. Not for the cancer, of course, but they found an excuse eventually.

My friend (the one with the cottage) is an avid gardener and once her Rose of Sharons are established, I plan to get some cuttings. I'll probably pot them untill they're healthy enough to plant along the back fence and then see how it goes.

This message was edited Jun 5, 2008 7:39 AM

Rose of Sharon is a good choice. I had tons of them at my old city house in Garden City but we sold it. Before we left though I dug up dozens of good sized seedlings and transplanted them up here. Not all have thrived but a lot of them have. The soil is more sandy here and I wasn't able to get around to water them all regular. They're tough though. I had some pop up in my flower bed that must have traveled along in seed form with some of my perennials I brought with me. I just let them grown wherever they show up. I think that is a good choice for you and nice you have someone to share the bushes with you for free. In the nurseries they charge as much as thirty or forty dollars for them. They bloom from mid July right up till frost and the hummingbirds seem to like them as well.

Sorry about your husband's discharge. I hope he gets a better job with someone else. When one door closes a window will open. Good luck with that.


Brenda