countrylane's Blog

demand for maple trees??
May 30, 2008 | 11:29 AM PST
Too bad there isn't a demand for maple trees. Think I've pulled up hundreds of the little seedlings out of my flower/veggie beds. Planted the pumpkins that Ben gave me. Called Rumba Pumpkins. Not sure where he got them, but said the pumpkins are so sweet that you don't have to add sugar or anything else to it. Planted it part way up the side yard. Planted more pole beans around the hog panel arbors. Put in a suet feeder and the birds all love it. The finches loved the seed "sock" I put out last year, but they won't touch it this year. Maybe should wash it first? They won't touch mom's either. Peas are coming up and so are the okra, carrots, onions, glads, beans. Tomatoes are doing well. Still looking for any sign of life in the watermelon seeds I planted.

Start on some projects and elephant ears
May 23, 2008 | 6:15 AM PST

Been nice the last few days. Lots of planting. Planted watermelons in the incline outside of the twins' window on the south side of the house. Lots of sun there and no one runs around right there. Should  be safe there. Planning on planting the pumpkins on down the hill toward the road. There's a place that I can't get the mower to very well, so I thought that the pumpkins would do well there. Moved some hostas that weren't doing well. Someone told me there are actually some that do well in sun/part sun. So I moved them under the SW maple tree, as a jump on the new project I have started. I plan on making a fire pit on the concrete pad that used to have the old brick BBQ "pit" sitting on it. I took it down two years ago. It was crumbling and really a home for all the chipmunks. I didn't know what to do with it until I saw a picture in a magazine where someone built a fire pit on a concrete pad. Then I am going to rip up what grass is around there. Not much grass is growing; result leftover from the paver patio that brother John put in 3 years ago. I am going to put in some part sun/shade loving plants around under the maple tree and then mulch in the rest and place the adirondack chairs around the pit. I haven't quite decided what to make the pit out of. Concrete blocks, or something else. Whatever Joe and I decide, it will have to have some fire bricks on the inside to prevent cracks, etc.

I planted the elephant ear bulbs that my mom gave me. I planted 3 where those hostas were that I transplanted (on the N side of the shed). The other hostas back there are doing very well. The run off from the shed's roof will help keep the bulbs wet. I also planted some on the west side of the LP tank. I would have planted some on the E side of the LP tank, but I had already planted some okra and gladiola bulbs there. Maybe next year. It would hide the tank from view when you came to the house.

Drip, drip, drip...
May 19, 2008 | 2:34 PM PST

I cannot believe this Indiana weather! It's raining...again! Enough to make one depressed. This morning I woke up to sunshine and blue skies. It started to cloud up around noon. After the kids and I ate dinner, we headed into town to get groceries. It started raining as soon as I dropped off the recycling. It poured then the whole time we were in town. I was thoroughly soaked by the time I got home and not in good spirits. The kids definitely see the worst side of me at times. The strawberries fell out of my hands and hit the driveway, spilling all over the rocks, some of the cardboard of boxes had gotten wet and were starting to rip apart. Of course, one of the twins wanted to play in the rain, but since it was a cold rain, I herded them in and put a movie in for them to watch, turned up the heat a tad, and changed into dry clothes. Ugh!!!

I did get some more plants while in town. Two mildly hot pepper plants and two yellow squash plants. I'm still trying to figure out if I could grow garlic here in Indiana. Some people I know from around here have not had success doing so.

Dear hubby is on the road today, driving to NC. He'll probably call and tell me that it's beautiful there, in which I usually tell him that I didn't ask for a weather report. He likes to tease when the weather whereever he is is wonderful, especially when the weather at home stinks. :) But I still love him to pieces! 

Sun, Sun, Sun!!!
May 19, 2008 | 6:28 AM PST

It's been a wonderful Friday afternoon and weekend! It was warm and the sun shone and no rain, except at night! I've been outside enjoying every minute of it, planting, digging, and more planting. I'm not near done yet, maybe half? I have to plant the rest of the pole beans yet and the pumpkins, watermelon, marigolds, more tomatoes,cucumbers.  I do have all the peas, onions, carrots, and okra planted. I need to find some more things to set up so the viney things like pole beans and cucumbers can climb on. Maybe I will use some more hog panels to make arbors with. The kids sure like to watch me bend those things. :) I did see a trellis that was easy to build in the Cottage Living, May/June 2006 issue, that I would love to make. She has tomatoes growing on it. It would be perfect for pole beans, cucumbers, etc. But we'll have to see. The budget might not budge on that. The kids are eating so much now, that groceries cost more each week.

I've planted the purple zinnias along with a variety of others down by the road, in the same bed as the knock-out rose and the rose of sharon. Hope they all come up. That would be real pretty. I want to plant them around the raised beds, along with cannas. I planted cannas in planters last year. It was okay, but didn't turn out like I wanted. So, I'm going to try around the raised beds.

Mom's also giving me some elephant ear bulbs. I would like to plant them on the east side of the house. It's part shade there, and I think would be neat to have there in the front bed.

Friend from church is bringing out a start of raspberries. I will be planting that next to the LP tank in that flower bed. Mom suggested planting that there. It will protected from the north wind.

I thoroughly enjoyed this past weekend, and hope the trend continues with the weather. Sunday I got a well-deserved rest, or at least a well-needed rest. Parts of me were hurting that I never knew could hurt! :)

Seeds and plants I bought
May 15, 2008 | 11:38 AM PST

In my last entry I talked about getting some seeds in the mail. I had also splurged a little and bought some plants during my last weekly grocery trip to town. (This made me feel a little better. I spent Mother's Day without my mom-she was in CA visiting friends- and without my hubby-he was on his way back from El Paso, TX. He's a truck driver.)

Here's the list of seeds I bought: McCaslin Beans (Pole), Purple Podded Pole beans, Atomic Red Carrots, Chantenay Red Core carrots, Japanese Long cucumbers, Perkins Long Pod okra, Red Ripper cowpeas, White Wonder watermelons, Will's Sugar watermelons, Sweet Pepper Mix (free gift for ordering). A friend also gave me some Rumba Pumpkin seeds from some he had last year. I also bought some California Wonder Peppers, National Pickling cucumbers, Table Queen squash, and White Lisbon Bunching Onions. I also got some other kind of sweet onions to plant. I bought some Early Girl tomatoes, some Big Boy tomatoes and an heirloom variety called Mr. Stripey. (It's orange with red stripes. Known to be low in acid. My grandma used to grow this type of tomato and it was so good and sweet.)

I also bought some flowers, of course. Some mail order seeds that I bought are: Fragrant Delight Nicotiana (to go next to the patio, so we can enjoy the smell in the evenings) and Lavender Queen zinnias. I try to get some new type of zinnia to add to those I already have. Lavender will be a new color for me in the zinnias. I also planted some bee balm, dill, and sage in the gardens this spring. I've also added some various annuals to brighten things up until the other plants do their thing. I found a coleus that is orange with dark red edges. Very pretty. I'm always trying something different for containers that go on the porch and the patio.

I've never written all the plants down before, though I usually kept the markers. I hope this will be a new page for me. I've always wanted to keep a journal, but would always misplace what I had written. This will be a great place to keep that info for future reference. 

May and raining
May 14, 2008 | 2:27 PM PST

In Indiana, the 10th of May is our frost-free date. Usually, the weather is cooperative being sunny and warm, perfect for planting. Yet, here it is, in the 60s and raining. My poor mom basically lives in a mud-hole. We, at least, live on the side of a hill, so we do have good drainage. My mail-ordered seeds arrived today and I can't plant them yet. Ugh! At least the plants, seeds and bulbs that I planted yesterday (it wasn't raining) are getting watered.

I am trying something new this year with planting some seeds that are heirloom seeds. Also, I received some pumpkin seeds from a fellow gardener. I love to plant my veggies in with my flowers and herbs. Mix it up a bit. I used to do the conventional method of tilling and hoeing, but the flattest part of the property is where the swing set is now, though I use part of it as an herb, flower, and some veggies garden.

I'm also trying something new in that I am planting pole beans. I've always done bush beans. But I figure that if I make something that the pole beans can crawl on, I will be able to get more beans in a relatively small space. Lack of space isn't really a factor here, but the kids love to run and we all love the big yard (and I love to mow). I'm constructing pole bean "tepees" from large branches that our maples lovingly bestows upon us throughout the year (ever hear of self-pruning trees?). I figured that I could figure out something to do with these branches, besides burning them in the brush pile, so...