Still Waiting for Weather Changes

We were driving back from Hogansburg where we had dropped off a donation to the Indian Nation. I noticed that a couple of folks along the road back to Helena had set out bedding plants in their gardens. I would give them an “A” for enthusiasm, but not as good a mark for their gardening skills. It has been my experience that until the ground warms up, bedding plants, if not outright killed by frost, will set and sulk until the soil warms. Some plants like cool weather (cabbages, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts) and carrots, beets and spinach seeds will germinate (slowly) in cold soil. Beans, on the other hand, will simply rot, and you can plant them again, later on. My tomatoes and peppers, among other stuff, are still in the garage, waiting for their turn.

According to various sources, our last frost date was May 20^th, which was also the date of the full moon, and I haven’t seen any sign of a warm up yet. I haven’t even finished tilling my main gardens yet, and I am happy I waited. It seems to be raining every day, and the temperature hovers around 50 in the daytime. According the TV weather forecasts, it does look like it will warm up this weekend so maybe a break is in sight. One year, a combination and cold and wet weather delayed my planting until the first of July, but that garden did nicely once things cleared up.

Our daffs have come and gone, and the tulips will follow them shortly. On the other hand, the Shirley Poppies have flower buds, as do the lupines, which seem to relish the damp, cool weather. The strawberries are in full bloom, although whether they can set fruit or not is anybody’s guess. The variety I planted are Ozark Beauties, which are supposed to be ever-blooming so I don’t get too worried. The summer bearing raspberries are also forming flower buds and they look ok. Our lilacs were gorgeous this year, just like everybody else’s.

This is short, but their isn’t much to brag about when it is too nasty to work outside.

Waiting for warmup

I am waiting for the world to warm up a little (my part, at least). Had a couple of comments about the black flies. Seems like all my readers have them and they all want to share. No thank you, have enough of my own. Someone tells me that a few nights of 60 degree temperatures are supposed to end them, but Google says live with it thru June. I don't know. I do know that the black flies will be followed by the mosquitos and then the deer flies (they are the best biters of the bunch). Someone asked if we had black flies when I was a kid. Well, it is ancient history and yes, we had them. Of course we did not have any repellent of any kind but my parents were convinced that hard work would keep them away, and they (the parents) provided plenty of hard work.

I have set a few plants in our flower bed out front, probably early, but they survived a light frost this morning, so may be ok. I certainly won't set out any tomatoes until it gets considerably warmer. We also planted beets, carrots, lettuce and onions in the raised beds. I don't worry about the cool weather bothering them too much. I have started tilling my main gardens, but I hate to get too serious about it this early. The price of gas is making me cautious. I explained to Shirley that it costs about $8 to mow our lawns, but I don't think I have managed to curb her enthusiasm for this project. My new apple trees are budded out nicely and I am optimistic that I may actually succeed with them. The strawberries are in bloom and the raspberries are looking good.


Our lilacs are blooming nicely, and the white lilac, which is just a little behind the purple ones is trying to show off. My plum tree finally blossomed (after 8 years), but the blossoms were sparse and I don't know if it will set any fruit or not. I got the trees from Herb Todd, so of course neither Herb or I know what variety they were. Research tells me that some plums need another blossoming tree nearby and other are self-pollinating. Time will tell, if I last long enough.

We had a shooting on the Porter-Lynch road last night or early this morning, lots of police activity. The shootee is reportedly now in Burlington in critical condition. Speaking of shooting, I had a shooting in my back yard yesterday. I was working out front and heard my chicken flock (all three of them) raising hell. When I looked out at their pen, a fox was doing his best to get in to them. I went and got my trusty 12 gauge and the stupid fox was still hanging around when I got back outside. I can assure you that he will not bother my chickens (or anyone else's) ever again.


I will sign off for now. I am considering writing about local politics, a subject near and dear to my heart, and if you have any opinions about this let me know.

Triumphs and Failures

Like most gardeners, I have a tendency to loudly tout the successes I have and gloss over the failures. In an attempt to compensate for this tendency, I will have to admit some of the stupider things I have done, which are probably more common than some folks think.

In an extremely experimental mode, I started some flower seeds in January to see if I could get them up to blossom state before time to transplant. That was a tad early, a big, big tad early. My marigolds are in blossom, and with the weather as unsettled as it is, I don’t dare set them out. Hopefully, I will be able to keep them alive and healthy for another week or two. Next year I will try again, but about a month later.

I started “Big Beef” tomato seeds on the boiler, and had a horrible germination rate, only got four plants from an entire packet of seeds. I also had total failure with the “New Ace” peppers and also some hot peppers I was interested in. I thought I had screwed something up, but didn’t know what. Luckily, I had a few packets of other varieties of tomatoes hanging around (Rutgers and Big Boys) and they started well and I will be planting them this year. I will probably pick up a six pack of peppers at a local store (and possibly a six-pack or two of something else).

My gardens are still way too wet to till, and I will stay off them until the world dries up a little. The raised beds should be OK for some hardier stuff like carrots, beets, and onions, and I will start some of them as soon as possible. I also started three dwarf apple trees, which I bought from the nursery on the Brookdale road in Norfolk. I think the owner’s name is Shyne, and he is pleasant, knowledgeable, and reasonable, an easy person to deal with. I had to put cages around those trees because they are outside my electric fence, and the dear would think I planted some treats for them. Incidentally, if you are thinking of planting any fruit trees, you had better hurry. Most reputable dealers do not like to sell them later than mid-May.

I had a complaint from one of my readers, who complained to my wife because I have not posted for quite a while. My only excuse is that I was blogged down with other stuff. Heh, Heh.

P.S. Any black flies where you live? Want some?