Gardening

[inspiresuccess]

Elaine,

RE: gardening.

1. If I didn't have to drive 20 minutes each way I'd get more done but that's just the reality of the situation. It makes me feel like I have to do more work all at one time which is hard for me. If I had a home garden I'd be able to do small bits. But driving 40 minutes to do 20 minutes work doesn't make sense.

Problem 2: It's a mess. I didn't plan it so it's really haphazard. I really only need 1.5 plots not 2. Areas that i don't have something planted, weeds grow. The herbs I planted last year are too close together. I have to dig them up but with dry weather I'll have to wait until fall. They look messy which is discouraging.

3. The walkway between our plots is filled with tough weeds. I would buy something to spray on it but I know my fellow gardeners would be upset (I've asked). It keeps growing and I feel more and more overwhelmed. I'm going to post a note on the bulletin board here to pay someone to pull all the weeds. We have horse manure available for free and things don't tend to grow well under it so I'm going to have the person cover it afterwards and hope it will keep the weeds down. In front of my plot is the only area where this grass grows!

4. I don't really want to go to the garden much but feel guilty about not watering enough. Other people's plants are doing better than mine and I think the watering makes a difference.

5. Timing. Because of hot weather I have to go morning or evening. Last year I went every evening but just to sit and rest and meditate not to work. Working in the evening isn't working because I'm too tired. Mornings I'm slow. The best time for me is mid-day but can't because of weather.

6. Walking versus gardening. I started walking for health reasons but I don't have the energy to do both gardening and walking on same day. I tried to alternate days but.....

Whew! Didn't mean to take up so much space in the exercise thread! Maybe I'll move this somewhere else.

[BarbaraSher]

Not sure what comment you're answering, inspires success, but I've been in your position and I think I know what you're feeling. I think you should garden succulents in little pots on your window sills and give or loan your gardening land to one of your neighbors who has more time and needs more veggies. When gardening causes stress, there's no point in it.

[inspiresuccess]

Hi Barbara. Last year I loved it when I just had herbs and flowers in one plot. I used to sit in a chair there and enjoy being there. This year I took on a 2nd plot that opened up next to mine. Too much. I'm thinking of going back to one plot for herbs and flowers and ask my fellow gardeners to give me some of their extra veggies. I'm just not enjoying work. Last year I didn't work and I loved being there because I hate living in an apartment. I got to just sit!

[inspiresuccess]

The thing about having just herbs and perrenial flowers is I don't have to water very often. That way I could not go there for a week if I didn't feel like it and not feel guilty about the plants not getting enough water.

[SquarePeg]

Yes, we abandoned the tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplants and various leafy greens in favor of herbs. The Chives are the only perennial that's left. The sage and oregano didn't come back last year. Rosemary didn't survive the first winter. Lavender took a beating so I finally dug it up and put a new, hardier variety in a couple of months ago. Plus, I caved in and bought a lilac bush. The past two winters have been brutal in the Northeast USA. Temperatures were especially frigid and we didn't get a nice protective snow layer until mid February or March, so even the lawn was beaten down.

I'm overly fond of geranium and begonia. These are sold as annuals for outdoors. But I buy them in the fall right before the nursery is ready to throw them out. So they're like 90% off. Not only are they "dirt" cheap, but if they survived all that neglect, they'll survive the somewhat less neglect they'll get from me. You see, I repot them and grow them indoors. I take some to work (because the begonias seem like salad to our cats).

Geranium and begonia are easily propagated from stem cuttings (best way) or even leaf cuttings. Two tiny little begonias I bought two years ago have spawned two new plants. I can give away plants as gifts or decorate my work place with them.

Hmm, I haven't photographed my house plant collection in a long time. It seems like a great thing to do this long Independence Day weekend, especially since I have so many new additions!

[Elaine Glimme]

Hi, Everyone,

I'm enjoying all the gardening talk.

Square Peg, I've been trying to propagate geraniums. When I was a kid, I did it - no problem. The last couple of years, I've tried it several times and had no luck. I gave up and bought a couple of small geranium plants.

Inspire, I've had a lot of trouble keeping up with weeds, etc., and the gardening felt like nothing but hard work until I cut back, and only worked on a small area at a time. I hope you figure out what to do to make the gardening fun. I think it's cool that you're working a community garden. It sounds like one plot is plenty, but that's your decision.


I'm enjoying my garden a lot now, except that the pompilid wasp is back. I want her/them out of my garden. (they have the second most painful sting of any insect.

I should just make peace with the pompilid - I know that. It's part of the circle of life, just like anything else. But . . .

[LalithaN]

Hi Elaine,
Making peace with pompilids. That was wisdom itself. That reminded me,'Oh God , Give me the strength to cure what can be cured, endure what cannot be cured and the wisdom to know the difference'.

[LalithaN]

Hi Inspire,
How is your gardening going on? Haven't seen you for some days. Take care.

[Elaine Glimme]

Lalitha, you are a voice of wisdom - which we need.

[inspiresuccess]

Okay. Here's where I'm at.

I contacted the manager of the Community Garden and told her I'm giving up my 2nd plot. Since I have things planted there, I can't give it up now and get my money back prorated. I could if I wanted to dig up everything I've planted (including 7 tomato plants that have just started producing) but I don't want to.

The weeds in the walkway. They are impossible for me to pull -- really tough. I'm going to hire someone to pull them and them lay down black plastic to keep them from growing again. I'll have the person cover the plastic with the horse manure so it looks like a soil walkway. I'm not up to dealing with someone yet so it's on hold.

There are things that I need to have someone dig up but the soil is too dry to do until fall.

So right now, I'm not enjoying the very messy 2 plots and the path of weeds. But making the decision about 1 plot with only herbs and perennial flowers is something I have to look forward to next year.

[Elaine Glimme]

From what you've written, giving up the second plot sounds like a good decision. I hope you get to the point where gardening is a pleasure. Pulling lots of weeds is not a pleasure.

Inspire, I don't want to steal your thunder. This is about your garden, not mine. But I have a couple of garden stories that I want to share, and this looks like the place to do it. I'm having my first party in my garden this Wednesday. Sounds like fun, but I have several messes in the garden that should be cleaned up before people come. Heavy tools to put away - lots of heavy tools to put away Stuff that needs to be hidden or covered over. In a way I scheduled the party to motivate me to get busy and fix the messes. And my friends are not the kind of friends who would turn up their noses at a little bit of clutter, but - this is really too much.

My second story is cool. A couple of years ago, my physical therapist told me about buying worms on Amazon (1000 worms) and planting them along with kitchen scraps to improve the soil. My soil is adobe clay, so hard you could make pottery out of it. Weeds grow just fine, but nothing else does. The worms sounded like fun, but - can you imagine buying 1000 worms, and storing enough kitchen scraps for 1000 worms (P.U.), and then digging up enough of the garden to house 1000 worms? There''s no way I could do all that digging in any reasonable time. I see 950 dead worms, and a pile of rotten food in the kitchen. So I started burying kitchen scraps - a little at a time. And then I forgot about it. The next year I went to plant some things using purchased potting soil to put them in. I was digging through the adobe, and suddenly I found this beautiful composted soil with fat happy worms in it. I didn't have to buy worms at all. So I've been planting garbage here and there in the garden ever since.

Okay, I'm done. You had a great garden (last year?) you said. I hope you get that again.

[SquarePeg]

Nice stories, Elaine, especially #2. I enjoy composting about as much as gardening!

IS, seems sensible to give up the second plot. I found that thick-stemmed weeds can be cut down with a large kitchen knife wielded like a machete. It's really fun, but also very dangerous because it requires quite a good swing of the knife with a lot of follow through. I would think that brown mulch would be a better substance to put on top of the plastic to give the appearance of a dirt walk. Mulch is cheap this time of year, too, and doesn't have quite the same scent as horse manure or attraction to flies.

I placed a few pictures of my outdoor house plants on my blog.

[SquarePeg]

-snip-
Square Peg, I've been trying to propagate geraniums. When I was a kid, I did it - no problem. The last couple of years, I've tried it several times and had no luck. I gave up and bought a couple of small geranium plants.
-snip-

A coworker had trouble rooting a Golden Pathos cutting a while ago. So I've been thinking about why it might fail....

• Tap water was used instead of well water or rain water. The chemicals in "city" water might be a problem since they're put in there to inhibit grow of organisms that include algae.
• Frequent water changes. I think a healthy root system needs to work symbiotically with some sort of Mycelium, which, in turn, requires stagnant water.
• Too much light. I think roots tend to grow away from strong light sources. Indirect or indoor light is good.
• Metal containers. Some metals are used to discourage plant growth. For example, zinc is used in roofing shingles to prevent the growth of moss and lichen. Glass containers are a much better choice than a "tin can."

[LalithaN]

Hi Gardeners,
All your posts are very interesting.I have a terrace garden with plants in grow bags and earthenware pots. I have 3 mango trees, one pomegranate, a neem, some varieties of jasmines and some herbs like Basil, Aloe vera etc.. So I have no experience in 'to the earth gardening'. I am very much interested and I hope one day I'll have a nice garden for myself.
The post about worms and kitchen scrap brought a smile. I too have four bags of compost going on. But I don't add kitchen scraps often. Instead I add dried leaves and flowers used for worship.
Some questions.
Why glassware and tin cans? why not earthernware pots? [terracotta]. Terracotta will adjust itself according to the weather and provide a good home for plants. Also more cheaper than glassware and you can paint them to your taste.
Pulling weeds and pruning is a real hard work and need a lot of energy and expertise. Sure to make an inexperienced person think again about gardening. In a community garden, can't two or more persons together get hired help and share the expenses?

[inspiresuccess]

Square Peg, the manure is dry and scent free and looks and feels like soil. And it's free. And right there.