steelnut

When I went outside this morning, all the tops of my sunflowers were gone. All of my stella d'oro flowers were chomped off and spit out!

I'm assuming deer, and they didn't like the taste of the lilys? I spray with Deer Off, what the heck!

I'm ashamed to say that a couple of expletives were said.

Does anyone else have this problem? Could it be another critter besides deer?

And does anyone know if the sunflowers will come back. Only the tops were eaten, the rest of the plants are still there.

Everything was looking so beautiful, I could cry!  :'(

 

They don't have any set up in the store. But there is a picture on the box. Hubby always drops me off at A.C. Moore and he goes to Harbor Freight.

 

Thanks, Bon!

I think there is one left. I used everything I could get my hands on in front of the garden across from Harley-Davidson. I have the pink form of bugle weed and chameleon plant that can be dug for a sunny area. Also a number of different kinds of sedum. My sweet woodruff was gorgeous this year but that needs some shade.

Thanks, I'll stop to see you at the Farmer's Market.

I think the one at Lowes only comes with one shelf?  Did I miss seeing more?

 

The one from Harbor Freight does not have shelves but I think they have some you can buy.  

 

I got 2x2s, small L brackets and a roll of vinyl coated 2x4 wire and made them solid around the greenhouse.  I think there are twelve total, deep enough to set a flat length wise on them when there are a lot of plants.  54 flats in all and more if I get inventive.  

 

If I didi it again I would just run them along the sides and not the back.  I don't think much space would be lost.

The one at Lowe's has two shelves, one on each side.

Hubby says there is a Harbor Freight in Altoona, I'd like to take a trip down to see one.

If there is anything special you want there is a good chance I can get it for you. We'll be thinning out all summer both from our own yards and the beds we maintain for the city. What we don't sell off by the end of summer we will winter over. That is why we have such a large number of perennials in the spring.

Lavender, do you have any creeping phlox? By our barn, we have a small bank that I'd like to try phlox on.

I'll definitely stop at the Farmer's Market to see what you have in other perennials, too. Thanks!

Petee, does this one come with the shelving like the one at Lowe's?

Here you go Brian..... http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=47712

 

Sure would make a nice gift for your wife.....  

Thank you, that's what I want!

Petee, is this the same one you have?

Hubby wants to order one through Lowes for 1000.00! I said, "No way!"

Onions on the grill

 

*peel a medium to small onion

*cut a small slice off the bottom so that the onion sits flat

*cut a hole in the top and insert a beef bouillon cube  

     * I use the small square ones if you use the larger ones cut it in half.

*spray sides and top generously with spray butter or coat the top and sided with softened butter

*wrap in a double layer of foil up around the onion twisting the top of the foil tightly

*place on the grill for 10-15 min.

*if you listen carefully you will hear it percolate  

*remove from the grill, slice and enjoy

 

~ we like to sprinkle shredded mozzarella on ours to make it like French onion soup  

I'm trying these tonight, sounds yummy, thanks!

There's nothing better than home grown veggies! There are costs, but it's sooo worth it all. We had an Amish gentleman build us a garden shed, I love it. We have to have an electric fence (solar powered) because of the critters. Hubby is going to build me a greenhouse add-on to the shed next year. That way I can go back to planting my own seeds, I can't wait!  

I always have good luck with peppers. If it's a very dry year the skins are tough, though. I plant 8 kinds.

The Down to Earth Garden Club sale was the 10th and 11th of May but we'll be at the Farmer's Market. Too bad you missed it, we had 6 truckloads of perennials. Sold most of them too! I'll post when we will be there since we don't do every week. We're thinking about concentrating on the month of July this year.

I don't think there is a problem with seeds being put in now. They will sit there until the soil is warm enough to germinate. It has to be getting close. I keep forgetting to check.  I put beets in weeks ago. Cold doesn't hurt them.

Tomatoes and pepper plants just won't do anything as long as the nights are this cold. At least they don't at my house. We are still having spotty frosts so it depends on where you live. The tomatoes would probably survive but a slight frost and the peppers are toast.

Darn, I missed your  sale!  We  just  made   another  flower  bed  8'  x   4'  and  I planted  a  few  perennials, but  I'm  looking for  some  more.  Later  this year, we're going  to   finish the  other  half   in the  back  of  the  house  landscaping.  I'll have  another  bed   about  12'  x  6'.  A   friend of mine is  going  to  get  me  some perennials   from  her   cousin, so I hope  to  finish the small  bed  over the next  two  weeks.

Thanks for  all of  the  advice, I truly do  appreciate  all of your help!

Has  anyone seen any  yellow  cherry tomato plants?  The  grandsons   love them, and I haven't  found any  yet this year.

Got broccoli, cabbage (red and green), cauliflower and brussel sprouts in. I put in a few of the Graffiti cauliflower. It is purple and cooks to a pink. Watch them poke that one with a fork and say, "ewww!".

I forgot to soak  the seeds last night. If I don't coat them with something foul smelling the critters eat them. I'll check the soil temperature today but I'm betting it is still too cold to put in squash and stuff.

Tomato transplants are out and hardening off. Peppers and eggplant look too small to go out. (Except the weird yellow one from South America.)  Got them in late. Too cold for them anyway. It was 36 this morning.

Lavender,  do  you think that it's too cold  to plant the peppers  and  tomatoes?  I planted  my  green  and wax  beans,  cukes   and  some  more  beets   over the weekend, was   it  too cold   the last  two nights  for them?  God, I hope not!  Back to the peppers  and tomatoes...I went looking  for  some over  the  weekend,  and  they were  all sooo  small.  I've been  panicking  a  little  thinking that  I  won't  get any  to  plant!

Is  your  group  having  a  sale this year?  If so, when and where?

Sorry again  for  the  misjointed   typing,  darn  keyboard!

Ahhh,  gooseberries, I love them!  I  grew  up on a  farm and we had the red ones.  I  want to plant  some, I think I asked  on  another thread  about having to plant more than one for pollination.  I'm just not  sure where to put them yet.

I usually plant Celebrity, Rutgers and Roma's. WE mostly eat ours in salads and sliced up. WE make Luigi's tomato salad out of the roma's. My daughter works there and makes it all the time. Cannot wait to eat it with fresh tomaotes!!!!

How would you feel about sharing the recipe?  

I'm a recipe hound, always looking for new ones and we love fresh veggies!

Super Marzano is the best canning tomato I have ever found. It is large (about 5 inches in a good year), easy to peel and not at all watery. It ripens evenly and cooks into a nice red puree.

Are there any available locally?

I used to always plant Big Boy and Better Boy. but last year I tried some Celebrity, they are much better tomatoes, yum!

I love to try a few varieties each year. Those different colored ones sound great, I'll have to do some shopping!

We're   still  doing  landscaping, so I'm  still planting  flowers  and everything looks  beautiful!

But, I  have a  question  about  planting  grapes,  blueberries,  gooseberries, red  raspberries...  Do  I have to  plant two  of each?  I know  when  we  planted our  fruit  trees,  way   back,  I   was told  that  I had  to  plant  at  least  two  of  each  for  pollination.

Thanks in  advance.

And  don't  mind  my  misjointed  typing.  My  wireless  keyboard  has   decided  to  double and  triple  space   everything  and  I can't  seem to fix it!!!

I'm tickled that you all enjoyed the article I wrote!

I had such a good time writing it.

Our communities are full of people with stories to tell. This was just one of them.

 

Thank you for the article, I really enjoyed it, nice job!

 

If it keeps your deer away from other things it will keep them away from the hostas as well but deer do love hostas. They cleaned mine up every year just as they were flowering until I moved them closer to the house. They still eat the ones in front that are under an apple tree but so far they haven't found the ones to the side or the ones at the back. The back ones will probably be toast next year as we have a deer right up under the back window this winter. Too bad, they are my exotic ones. I ordered a new black one and a blue one last year from a co-op when we redid the Reitz. They were allegedly less expensive. Huh! Sum and Substance grows there too. It is my favorite and huge.

Snellma, do hostas grow in South Caroline? We have relatives that say they won't grow in Texas.

Well, I'm definitely going to give soap a try and cross my fingers that it works. If not, I'll look into the sprinkler.  

It was a great article and a great picture. Way to go!  

Tracy, thanks for the tip on the soap. I'll give it a try this year. I'm wondering if it'll work around my hostas?

Weird, I've had my hostas for probably 10 years now. They were planted on just one side of my house and the deer never touched them. Over the last two years we've been working on landscaping. We dug up the hostas and replanted them along the front of our house along with some other plants. Now, the deer are eating them to the ground! They also chomped down my Russian Sage. Little buggers!

 

Oooh, I'll have to look those up, they sound perfect for the front of our house, thanks!

They're beautiful! I have to get some...I just told hubby and he groaned, imagine that?!?

The tame ones don't compare to the wild ones do they? I don't even want the wild ones in the house they smell so bad.

I'd rather dig holes and pull weeds than prepare for the holidays. I'm beat!

The seed catalogs are coming in. I found some new coral bells (Huecheras). Villosa hybrids.  Pistache is lime green/chartreuse yellow, Beaujolais goes from burgundy/silver in the spring rose pink in summer and Tiramisu goes from gold/yellow in spring to burnt orange to chartreuse/silver. In the fall it is purple with a line green edge. (Gotta have Tiramisu)

Picked up a bunch of these last year they are great plants for semi-shade and are said to do well in the sun too. Even last years drought couldn't kill them and I didn't water much.

Oooh, I'll have to look those up, they sound perfect for the front of our house, thanks!

 

Nope, they say decorators gone wild.

Snellma, I'll start leeks in February and maybe some flowering annuals. You should have seen my leeks this year. They were as big around as a medium sized onion. Still haven't dug them all. Must do it before the ground freezes.

 

This was the first year that I tried leeks in the garden and they did great. We love wild leeks, so I wasn't too sure about trying the tame ones. I'll be planting them again next year.

I can't wait 'til spring. To me, after the holidays is just the longest time of year.  

For some reason I always think of the trees that are beautifully done in the non-traditional colors as something a decorator would do or someone with no interest in sentimentality. My ornaments don't match but they all have a story.

We do a Lenox tree as well (I collect Lenox) and my husband keeps telling me to quit putting up the traditional tree just do the Lenox one. Like that is going to happen!

I might just get one of the odd colored poinsettias as I have a room that red looks really bad in. I was disappointed to find that they were dyed. I don't like plants that are messed with.

I'm looking for seeds for different kinds of catmint this spring in the catalogs. I have a friend who says the newer varieties are not as rambunctious as the older ones and that it is a great bloomer. Going to give some of them a try. Walker's Low sounds good.  

lol, ya see, red is my favorite color, that's one of the reasons that I love the red poinsettias!  Hubby get so mad because it's like every room in the house, I just have to have something in red.

I don't even know what catmint is, is it an herb???