September mornings still can...
make me feel that way.
So back in the days of old we used to try (mostly unsuccessfully) to keep at lest some of the off topic ramblings of th eforum in a monthly thread in the gazebo. Often the monthly thread would wind its way through the rest of the posts in the forum and weave the whole of th egarden community togethre into a condensed look into the lives of the folks on the fence.
It was this thread where we would share things that were too offtopic to fall into the main posting area, but too on-topic to be lost. It made for a great read with a cup of hot chocolate (and a splash of peppermint schnapps and some whipped cream on top.) Here we did a lot of laughing, crying, hugging, and smiling. Here's an example: http://forums.taunton.com/n/find/findRedir.asp?webtag=tp-overthefence&mg=FBE7B6C1-C3CB-4DD7-8236-FEAA6107B4DB
of course, Octoberish-September mornings still can make me feel that way...
If it can die, I can kill it.
Certified Brown Thumb, 4th degree
Edited 10/21/2009 12:20 pm ET by Dagwood
Edited 10/21/2009 3:07 pm ET by Dagwood
If it can die, I can kill it.
Certified Brown Thumb, 4th degree
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(post #11537, reply #1 of 64)
And since I started the thread I'll put in the first story...
Last week I was out doing I don't remember what now, and came home after dark to get some work done on the deck we are building to replace our front steps. Since it was getting dark fast, I was in more than a bit of a hurry to get to the house, and came quickly down our road (unlit rough asphalt in the country). As I came to our house I saw something really big in the road ahead. Just a dark shape, too big for a deer, wrong area for a bear, and harly moving at all.
Being curious I went for a closer look, and was almost to the big thing, when I realized I was surrounded by his friends on all sides. Turns out the dairy farm down the road for us had a herd of escapees, and I was in th emidst of them. Big slow cattle, all over the road in the black of night. Black cows, no moon, black asphalt, you could hardly see them.
I went and woke the neighbours, drove back and put my 4-ways on, and started herding them home. I have never herded cattle before, but I was amazed at how easily they were led once you got one or two moving in teh right direction. Just walk over nad yell/whistle and slap the cow's butt, and off it would trot with the rest of the herd following.
After a few minutes the farmer and his family came down th eroad from the other way, and funnelled the cows back into their field, and then we went and rounded up half a dozen strays that had jumped fences or lurked behind in ditches. If I were a real cowboy, I'da never let those few get away. Cattle can really be hard to find in the dark, but eventually we had them all back in their field with the gate secured.
I didn't get any work done on the deck that night, but the night was still a success!
If it can die, I can kill it.
Certified Brown Thumb, 4th degree
Edited 10/21/2009 12:32 pm ET by Dagwood
If it can die, I can kill it.
Certified Brown Thumb, 4th degree
(post #11537, reply #2 of 64)
Hahaha! I'd forgotten I spoke in haste (once) and you snatched it for your signature:
"Chris (JAG) is right about everything"
Jeana "Gardening Savant", Oct. 17,2002 9:28am
Zone 5b Brantford Ontario, Canada
Sad to read thoughts of members past and no longer have them around. Well, I mean the're "around", but they're not on the board anymore.
Jeana
Never try to baptize a cat.
(post #11537, reply #6 of 64)
I see that comment was made at 9:28 AM - it must have been before your first coffee.
What is scary is that those posts were from when I lived in "the little house" and as I read through them, I could still remember typing them - Since then I've called 3 other cities home. There is a lot of history on this board.
If it can die, I can kill it.
Certified Brown Thumb, 4th degree
If it can die, I can kill it.
Certified Brown Thumb, 4th degree
(post #11537, reply #3 of 64)
Btw, you must be using that metric calendar. It's Oct. here.
Jeana
Never try to baptize a cat.
(post #11537, reply #4 of 64)
I'm getting a head start on next year.
If it can die, I can kill it.
Certified Brown Thumb, 4th degree
If it can die, I can kill it.
Certified Brown Thumb, 4th degree
(post #11537, reply #5 of 64)
For some reason that song is just stuck in my head. Oh well. I need an october rhyme then. Whatcha got?
If it can die, I can kill it.
Certified Brown Thumb, 4th degree
If it can die, I can kill it.
Certified Brown Thumb, 4th degree
(post #11537, reply #8 of 64)
"October be a hammer than nail."
Jeana
Never try to baptize a cat.
(post #11537, reply #9 of 64)
Well if you're gonna have a song floating around endlessly in your head, I'd rather have it be Neil's voice than anyone else's. Unfortunately the Neil song that floats around in my head when I'm gardening, in the middle of the summer, is one of the Christmas carols he recorded. I can't figure out what that's all about. I started a garden song posting this summer but no-one was much interested. I feel sure you could have made some good contributions.
(post #11537, reply #10 of 64)
You know I had one of those "gees, I'm getting old" moments yeaterday. After I posted this I went into thelunch room whistling "September Morn" mostly because it was still on my mind, and a (younger) co-worker asked what song that was.
I told him.
He asked if that Neil Diamond guy had sung any songs he would have heard of.
I stood there slack-jawed, and rattled off a few others he might know. Nope. So I asked him if he knew anything by Gordie Lightfoot. Nope. How about Harry Chapin? Nope? "Cat's in the Cradle?" - "Oh," he said brightening up, "Thats sung by Ugly Kid Joe. He wrote it about his kid or something."
I coulda cried.
If it can die, I can kill it.
Certified Brown Thumb, 4th degree
If it can die, I can kill it.
Certified Brown Thumb, 4th degree
(post #11537, reply #11 of 64)
Yeah, I've had that last thing happen with my son a couple of times. Some song will be on with some new singer I never heard of and he thinks it's a cool new song and I get to politely tell him who originally recorded it in the sixties. I've been to a couple of Neil concerts and was surprised how many very young people were in the audience. Maybe you should put on an oldies station in the lunch room and educate this poor kid!
(post #11537, reply #12 of 64)
My husband is a concrete contractor and they were listening to the radio on the way to work one morning (couple yeARS AGO) and ACDC came on, one of their old ones. Black Ice was not released at this time. The boys (in their 20's) were talking about this great new band. Hubby had to laugh and point out that this "new band" was from the 80s BACK IN HIS DAY!
I think its funny how the popular stations with the young kids today play a huge amount of stuff from our day, that the kids love. our daughters agreee that Zeppelin, Def Leppard, Scorpions, etc. are great bands. I never thought we would agree on any music, let alone anything else.
REAL ROCK AND ROLL NEVER DIES!!!!
(post #11537, reply #15 of 64)
I hate to tell you this, but all those 80's bands are my kids' music! I can't imagine what my grandchildren will be listening to in a few years!
(post #11537, reply #13 of 64)
When I was shoppin gfor my boat a while back, I thought everyone was silly to buy or turn away from a boat because of its name. Then I came across "Stewball" which was a beautiful, well equipped, well maintained racer that looked like it never drank water, but always drank wine. Just about bought it just because the song matched up so well to it.
Then I bought another named "Efficacious" because it made me think of th eIrish Rovers song "lily the pink" ... and promptly renamed it. Isn't it funny how music can find its ways into the deepest corners of our heart, stay there for years, and then find its way out at th emost unexpected time/place!
If it can die, I can kill it.
Certified Brown Thumb, 4th degree
If it can die, I can kill it.
Certified Brown Thumb, 4th degree
(post #11537, reply #14 of 64)
Somebody sent me one of those pass around emails recently that had a list of years from the early 50's through the mid 80's and you could click on any year and a whole playlist of songs from that year would pop up and then you could click on them and listen to them (in the actual original version). So of course I clicked on my senior high school year and clicked on all these great old songs and suddenly realized I remembered the lyrics to almost all of them. Well, no wonder I can't remember the names of new plants, etc., by brain is stuffed with old song lyrics. And I would probably have bought Stewball, if I had wanted a boat.
Edited 10/22/2009 4:59 pm ET by 1946
(post #11537, reply #16 of 64)
I think all those songs that I knew the words to in high school were why I didn't have much school learnin' stick at the time. A teenager only has so much available brain space and not much of an attention span. I try not to listen to the radio too often. Every time I learn a new song, I lose cute things my son did once upon a time.
Jeana
Never try to baptize a cat.
(post #11537, reply #17 of 64)
I'm headed off to a friends place after work today for an Oktoberfest party. It looks like it will be fun, but I really need this rain to go away. I know you folks in Texas are having a drought, but I'm not - maybe you could turn on some rain magnets and pull it all your way or something.
Jeana this wasn't meant for you. Forgot to change the "to" thingy to say all.
If it can die, I can kill it.
Certified Brown Thumb, 4th degree
Edited 10/23/2009 11:36 am ET by Dagwood
If it can die, I can kill it.
Certified Brown Thumb, 4th degree
(post #11537, reply #18 of 64)
All you guys are doing this nostalga thingy and no one remembers that this Forum was named "SPROUT OFF". And we called ourselfes "the sprouts". John Lively, who was Taunton CEO and Ruth Lively, who had been th editor of Kitchen Garden came to a humongus plant sale in Northern Virginia where all the local "sprouts" showed up and there musta been a dozen of us eating hamburgers at Fudruchers on Tauntons nickle. Well, I've emailed Jean from back when and she will prolly show up on the Garden Sheds thread pretty soon.
BJ
(post #11537, reply #19 of 64)
i LOVED the old name and hated to see it changed. sprouting-off was such a terrific pun. even tho chatting over the fence is also a garden reference of a sort, it doesn't compare, IMO. and "fencers" just doesn't have the cachet of being "sprouts"! why is it so difficult these days to get things going in the Gazebo? seems as tho most posts there simply wither away and die, sadly. back in the good ol' days, it was a very lively place...
(post #11537, reply #20 of 64)
You know, when the topic of changes came up recently, that was something we should've *strongly* requested. Nobody asked us if the change to OTF was ok, they just did it. I'd rather be a "sprout" again.
Jeana
Never try to baptize a cat.
(post #11537, reply #21 of 64)
me, too!!!
(post #11537, reply #22 of 64)
I was never a sprout so I'm neutral on that topic. But I was thinking of you today and wondering if you got all those daffodil bulbs planted? I have a few bags that I need to get to if it ever gets a leetle bit drier out there.
(post #11537, reply #26 of 64)
am i still planting?? does the earth circle the sun? hee. i am doing the best i can, more slowly than i would like, tho. only managed to get 50 of those blasted bulbs planted today. here's the usual routine:
heave self up and then immediately into kneeling position. groan as body creaks. ignore it. begin attacking the soil with my hand mattock-- what will we find here? sandy loam (wouldn't THAT be a treat)? clay? ah, joy, some rocks the size of my fist... and more even bigger. le sigh. whack, hack and dig out with my trusty small shovel -- thank heavens i can use this little item whilst kneeling, so i don't have to do the vertical rise-and-groan bit.dress appropriately for grubbing in dirt. rub gloves-in-a-bottle into hands so washing up afterwards will be easier. remind self to order more of this fabulous product from lee valley tools (fabulous company). gather up both large rubber baskets filled with tools, bulbs, oyster shells, bulb booster, kneeling cushion. trudge out to the area in need of bulbs. lay down tools, etc. and go drag the hose up. oh, da*m, chuck left it tangled -- i'll deal with HIM later, he's a dead man. grrrr. spend 20 minutes de-tangling hose and dragging it to location. bloody tiring, that. rest a few minutes. prod self to get started.
dig to China. well, okay, 6 inches or so, but it might as well be to China. sprinkle bulb booster on bottom of trench/hole to feed the bulbs. sprinkle a bit of soil so roots wont burn. place bulbs. fill to top of bulbs, press down and water in well. add remaining soil and water again.
rise to vertical if possible, gather up tools, etc. and move on to next designated area. repeat until exhaustion sets in, darkness looms, or bored with the whole mess (whichever comes first) and lug everything, including remaining unplanted bulbs - which have multiplied when my back was turned, i swear it - and go to bed.
repeat whenever the weather cooperates, isn't actively snowing, or until the ground freezes hard.
i may still be doing this until Thanksgiving... le sigh.
=)
(post #11537, reply #27 of 64)
Oh my, what a chore. More and more I am starting to appreciate my light sandy soil. First there are never any rocks in it-if I want any rocks we have to haul them in from somewhere else. I stick a trowel in the ground, throw in a little Bulb-Tone, plunk in a bulb and throw the dirt back in on top of it. Which is not to say I don't do that up and down groaning thing, but at least I don't hit rocks. I am wondering why you are using the crushed oyster shells, as daffodil bulbs are generally pretty pest-proof. They are actually poisonous so critters don't eat them or usually even bother them. Now with tulip bulbs it would be a whole other story of course, which is why I now plant a lot of my new tulip bulbs in pots that I sink into the veggie garden. In the spring I haul them out and put them on the deck or wherever I want them (that the deer can't get to of course). And with all our rain this month, there will be no watering in. Our forecast for next week? Rain. I'm hoping for a few dry planting days at least. My routine seems a little less work than yours. But let's face it, your bulbs did multiply!!!!!!
(post #11537, reply #28 of 64)
guess i didn't really make clear that i don't do the one hole/one bulb approach -- it's trenches several feet long or a really large-diameter hole. that's a lot of soil removal for 6-8 inch depth! i am nothing if not extravagant...
light, sandy soil??? just when i was starting to really like you, humph. you just had to mention that, did you? remember i live in stony New England, where rocks are a principal crop! le sigh.
one of the main reasons i usually plant only daffs IS their poisonous quality -- so nice not to have to worry about them being eaten! the oyster shell stuff is for the tulips, which i was unable to resist buying far too many of this year. i like your idea of sinking pots of them and lifting for display. i think i'm going to try that. much easier than lining the planting hole with wire cloth... i wonder if they would get thru the winter by tucking pot of them next to my basement wall and covering them with leaves. i did this with daffs i didn't have time to plant last year, and they came thru just fine. what do you think?
(post #11537, reply #29 of 64)
I'm not sure how cold you get there, but I can get some surprising stuff through the winter next to the basement wall on the south side of my house. I overwinter quite a few things just buried in leaves, but if you can sink the pots into the ground just a bit it helps too. I had quite a few bulbs sitting around that I lifted this spring to move them and was not planning to buy any this fall. But then I got an email from the garden center about their getting-ready-to-close sale. Ah well, I needed some fresh tulips for my patio pots. How cold do your winters get? Are you colder than zone six? I plant lots of late purchased bulbs in pots and I have never lost any of them yet. If you have really bad critter problems, just lay some screen over the tops of the pots before you cover them with leaves.
(post #11537, reply #30 of 64)
screening over the tops is a good idea, and on the south side. i'm in zone 5, so we can get really cold and stay that way all winter. i always pray for snow cover, otherwise survival can be problemmatical for some plants. of course, snow can enable the critters to wreak havoc. guess there's never a win/win situation! on the other hand, either way i tend to hibernate just like the bears do. comfort food, lots of books, polartec, and i'm all set to blow raspberries at Mother Nature! unless She decides to throw an ice storm my way, as happened last Dec. not fun!
(post #11537, reply #31 of 64)
Yes, sometimes ole Mother Nature can be a real bi***. Must be all those raging hormones set her off sometimes. If she ever reaches menopausal age we will really have global warming! We are technically in zone 6 because Lake Michigan mitigates our weather somewhat so it is rare for us to see a zero, but that does not mean our winters aren't looooong. We usually get enough snow cover to get us through the coldest months to protect our plants a bit. Last winter we got nearly 200 inches of plant protection from November till March, but it had been a long time since we had seen a winter like that. When we first moved here I thought this sandy soil was just awful but I have come to appreciate that it has some good points. We don't tend to lose any plants in the winter through crown rot thanks to the good drainage underneath. And I can leave bulbs like calla lilies in the ground over winter on the south side of the house even though conventional garden advise tells us not to. The down side of this soil is that it does not hold nutrition or water at all well, so we have to add endless amounts of compost, which the sand just sort of chews up and digests, and in dry summers, which we have had a lot of lately, we have to water endlessly. I don't think there are a lot of places with totally ideal soil. But having previously gardened in heavy clay I can tell you for sure this is easier to weed and plant in.
(post #11537, reply #32 of 64)
Where I grew up it was all nice luscious black loam. I didn't realize the value of that soil until I moved north when I got married and started to garden. What a nightmare to try and figure out heavy clay soil. Dh had not gardened much and I had done it under protest. We were forced to help out when we were kids. Didn't like it but sure didn't hurt any! We have added bags and bags of leaves to our veggie garden and buckets of compost until now it is in pretty good shape. Imagine my surprise when I noticed that a new area of my perennial bed was drying out so quickly during these past few droughty years. I dug around and found sand! So I have sand over by my stone fence on one side of the house and clay on pretty much all the rest of the place. So guess where my rock garden went!! I am putting lots of compost on the sand to hopefully get alittle better moisture retention. The tricky part for me is to keep extra material off my peonies. Maybe I should dig them up next year and reset them higher? Opinions?
(post #11537, reply #33 of 64)
If they are blooming nicely where they are I would not disturb them. If they are not I would move them. Are they on top of the sandy area? Mine did not want to do anything in the sandy soil so I put them in a bed where we had real actual soil brought in. That helped a lot.
(post #11537, reply #34 of 64)
They are blooming fine where they are now. It is just that I feel if I keep amending the soil they will get too much soil on them and then they will stop blooming. I'm afraid they will eventually be set too low.