This was formerly called "Planting done" but I never got back to making the video that would go with it. So here is what I had planted...
Front garden:
Easy Wave White Petunia
Easy Wave Red Petunia
Black Petunia
Gatekeeper
Coral rose zinnia
Dreamland mix zinnia
Zahara starlight rose zinnia
Double zahara cherry zinnia
Ironweed
Cardinal climber vine
TBD
Deck bed
Bufferfly something...
Moon Garden
Moonflower (discovered these are annuals :( )
Bridget garden
Britt marie Crawford Big Leave Ligularia
Food beds
German grape tomato
Yellow pear tomato
Black cherry tomato -- These are the ONLY ones that were productive. The rest of all the tomatoes either did not grow, did not bear very many fruit, or bore fruit that appeared to be super susceptible to the very wet-then-very hot conditions of the summer, so that they burst easily on the vine, allowing bugs, etc. to come in :(
Romas
Berkeley tie die
Cherokee purple
some other red
Patio planters
Impatiens
Lanais blue verbana
Setcreasea
3 California wonder sweet bell
nasturtium
lemon grass
geranium
Basil
Rosemary
Marjoram
Oregano
Thyme
Parsley
Cilantro
Showing posts with label frustration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frustration. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Monday, July 20, 2015
And there we have it.
On June 11, I had started a new post entitled "Managing the Inevitable." In it, I updated Janet's recent and abrupt change and decline in Alzheimer's symptoms. She had become combative, would refuse food and medicine (but could usually be cajoled into them). She was packing her stuff in a very haphazard disorganized fashion because her nephew (she believed) was coming to take her to her sister's.
We got emergency nursing home placement. She got sick. She went to the ER, then ICU. She recovered some. We placed her in our first choice nursing home. The first night she fell trying to get out of bed. That afternoon she was gone. June 29, 2015. I hadn't yet adjusted to her being across town, but at least then I could check in and see her. Now I can't even do that.
And that's nothing compared to my husband and his sister's pain.
I mentioned before, Alzheimer's is more than just memory loss. It attacks all parts of the brain; even those parts that are responsible for things like being hungry and breathing and the like.
But...if I am at least grateful for two things.
1.She had a good visit with her son and daughter and granddaughter the day before. She knew who they were.
2. She did not decline further. She will not be in that line of people at the nursing home, staring off into space, not knowing where they are, who they are. Alzheimer's didn't beat her after all.
The last few weeks...months, really... have been a blur. But life requires we move on, as it keeps happening regardless. I see events happening that I may have once been invited to, but care-giving-related invitation declines have seen me fall off many 'must invite' lists. I need to get back to social life.
AND, back to my garden, which actually has been happening in the midst of all the other. I could read back to see what I've already talked about, but instead I'll just state where we are. Today Jim and I staked the tomatoes and peppers. The tomatoes had outgrown the little thingies I had, so we got proper stakes for them. The rain has left them loaded with green fruit, so hopefully the dry and heat of this coming week will start the ripening process. there are blossoms on the peppers, too. I normally don't stake them, but rain keeps beating them down.
The zucchini and squash are doing .... so-so. I've gotten two zucchinis and one squash off two plants of each. It looks the rain just smashed the plants completely, so we'll see what the dry spell does.
I think I am going to have to give up on broccoli. I never get the big bunches I see in stores, and it bolts really quickly. The Brussel sprouts are starting to form though. They seem to take forever, though, so I may want to rethink them both in favor of something that produces well and doesn't take so long.
I did finally plant beans and they have sprouted up nicely. Allegedly there is no trellising required for these (but we shall keep an eye on that).
Strawberries and raspberries are sort of mediocre this year, but the apple tree is LOADED. We don't spray so they aren't "pretty" but they are definitely bigger this year than last, and more plentiful. One of these years we will look at the 'organic apple growing' sites and figure out what we're doing. Jim also finally planted our grape vine, so hopefully it's not too late for the plant to survive, even if we don't get grapes this year.
Right now the bumper crop is cucumbers, which are following the 'three years to success' model that almost everything else has. Of course, I was growing them for Janet, who LOVED them. I see relish in my future.
Also in addition to the tomato stakes on our trip to Lowe's, we got birdseed. I need to fill the birdfeeder (edit: done) and refill the hummingbird feeders. Janet was insistent about those.
Herbs are drying in the window, but I need to get those taken down and stored so I can hang more.
The cicadas are singing, signifying for me the beginning of Lughnasadh, and now the hope for having things to can and preserve. While my hope is only for hobby's sake, it's a small snippet of how people must have felt this time of year. I know my garden this year isn't going to do much (survival on apples, tomatoes, and cucumbers would not be pleasant!) so already we are planning for next year. The last remaining pallets will be replaced with actual raised beds, and maybe one more. I'm also not using straw as a mulch again. It may keep weeds down, but those that do land get hopelessly tangled with the straw. But, those are all things for future posts.
We got emergency nursing home placement. She got sick. She went to the ER, then ICU. She recovered some. We placed her in our first choice nursing home. The first night she fell trying to get out of bed. That afternoon she was gone. June 29, 2015. I hadn't yet adjusted to her being across town, but at least then I could check in and see her. Now I can't even do that.
And that's nothing compared to my husband and his sister's pain.
I mentioned before, Alzheimer's is more than just memory loss. It attacks all parts of the brain; even those parts that are responsible for things like being hungry and breathing and the like.
But...if I am at least grateful for two things.
1.She had a good visit with her son and daughter and granddaughter the day before. She knew who they were.
2. She did not decline further. She will not be in that line of people at the nursing home, staring off into space, not knowing where they are, who they are. Alzheimer's didn't beat her after all.
The last few weeks...months, really... have been a blur. But life requires we move on, as it keeps happening regardless. I see events happening that I may have once been invited to, but care-giving-related invitation declines have seen me fall off many 'must invite' lists. I need to get back to social life.
AND, back to my garden, which actually has been happening in the midst of all the other. I could read back to see what I've already talked about, but instead I'll just state where we are. Today Jim and I staked the tomatoes and peppers. The tomatoes had outgrown the little thingies I had, so we got proper stakes for them. The rain has left them loaded with green fruit, so hopefully the dry and heat of this coming week will start the ripening process. there are blossoms on the peppers, too. I normally don't stake them, but rain keeps beating them down.
The zucchini and squash are doing .... so-so. I've gotten two zucchinis and one squash off two plants of each. It looks the rain just smashed the plants completely, so we'll see what the dry spell does.
I think I am going to have to give up on broccoli. I never get the big bunches I see in stores, and it bolts really quickly. The Brussel sprouts are starting to form though. They seem to take forever, though, so I may want to rethink them both in favor of something that produces well and doesn't take so long.
I did finally plant beans and they have sprouted up nicely. Allegedly there is no trellising required for these (but we shall keep an eye on that).
Strawberries and raspberries are sort of mediocre this year, but the apple tree is LOADED. We don't spray so they aren't "pretty" but they are definitely bigger this year than last, and more plentiful. One of these years we will look at the 'organic apple growing' sites and figure out what we're doing. Jim also finally planted our grape vine, so hopefully it's not too late for the plant to survive, even if we don't get grapes this year.
Right now the bumper crop is cucumbers, which are following the 'three years to success' model that almost everything else has. Of course, I was growing them for Janet, who LOVED them. I see relish in my future.
Also in addition to the tomato stakes on our trip to Lowe's, we got birdseed. I need to fill the birdfeeder (edit: done) and refill the hummingbird feeders. Janet was insistent about those.
Herbs are drying in the window, but I need to get those taken down and stored so I can hang more.
The cicadas are singing, signifying for me the beginning of Lughnasadh, and now the hope for having things to can and preserve. While my hope is only for hobby's sake, it's a small snippet of how people must have felt this time of year. I know my garden this year isn't going to do much (survival on apples, tomatoes, and cucumbers would not be pleasant!) so already we are planning for next year. The last remaining pallets will be replaced with actual raised beds, and maybe one more. I'm also not using straw as a mulch again. It may keep weeds down, but those that do land get hopelessly tangled with the straw. But, those are all things for future posts.
Friday, January 24, 2014
Update on Mom-in-Law and more Winter Garden Dreaming
I suppose, as I am sitting here bemoaning the briefest January thaw ever and wondering how hard Mother Nature is laughing at me about my last 'woohoo Imbolc' post, I should do an update on Janet.
(It also occurs to me, I should have pseudonymed her at some point, but it's too late now...)
She's actually still doing fairly well, all things considered. She knows her name, knows our names, takes care of breakfast, lunch, and dinner as needed. She does her laundry, she cleans her room and bathroom. She can still bathe and basically take care of herself. We did get her a chair for the shower and a hand held shower head to make it easier on her. There were a couple of other minor adjustments to living arrangements that I can't remember right now.
She does look to us a bit more for validation. She will ask to verify the date and day of the week, and nine times out of ten, she is right. She gets numbers more and more confused in her speech, and possibly in her mind as well. There have been some near misses involving money. She misplaces things, and typically I find them for her, usually very quickly. They just aren't in the first place she looks so she gets mad at herself and just stops looking. She blames it on her age. Of course, she laughed the other day when it took me twenty minutes to find my coffee cup.
J: "Oh, you do that too?"
L: "Yes...at least three times a day."
J: "Well, I don't feel so bad, then."
We've taken over helping her to pay her bills, largely because she has cataracts and a hard time seeing. Those are getting taken care of in March. The larger issue though is at night, she has gotten very confused over her evening insulin shot. It's been the same number of units for, well, ever. However lately we have to help her set the number on the insulin pen, and even one day had to explain to her how the pen is used. She hasn't had this problem (she says) for her post-meal shots, though. It's very concerning, as we can't be there during the day to monitor it or help her out if she gets confused.
It would be hard for someone with cataracts to see the numbers on, so we are hopeful that the cataract surgeries will fix it. If it doesn't, it is shocking how quickly it came on. One day everything was fine, the next it wasn't. It makes me wonder what will be next, and if we'll be home to help, or even recognize it when it does.
BUT, we had good holidays I think. We splurged and bought an upright freezer for the garage. Janet paid half (at her insistence). It's large and beautiful and we can see everything in it. The crappy old chest freezer is dead in the garage. It had a good life.
Already I am thinking about all the things I can put in it this harvest. Last year I didn't care too much about yield for freezing because where would we put it? Now, however, we can put it in the big gloriousness in my garage.
AND...gentle reader, if you have made it this far, I am the proud owner of a PRESSURE CANNER! Thanks to mom and dad for Giftmas. I'm ever more excited for spring to get here so that planting can happen, then growing, then harvesting and preserving!
In sum: Everyone's hanging in and waiting for spring.
(It also occurs to me, I should have pseudonymed her at some point, but it's too late now...)
She's actually still doing fairly well, all things considered. She knows her name, knows our names, takes care of breakfast, lunch, and dinner as needed. She does her laundry, she cleans her room and bathroom. She can still bathe and basically take care of herself. We did get her a chair for the shower and a hand held shower head to make it easier on her. There were a couple of other minor adjustments to living arrangements that I can't remember right now.
She does look to us a bit more for validation. She will ask to verify the date and day of the week, and nine times out of ten, she is right. She gets numbers more and more confused in her speech, and possibly in her mind as well. There have been some near misses involving money. She misplaces things, and typically I find them for her, usually very quickly. They just aren't in the first place she looks so she gets mad at herself and just stops looking. She blames it on her age. Of course, she laughed the other day when it took me twenty minutes to find my coffee cup.
J: "Oh, you do that too?"
L: "Yes...at least three times a day."
J: "Well, I don't feel so bad, then."
We've taken over helping her to pay her bills, largely because she has cataracts and a hard time seeing. Those are getting taken care of in March. The larger issue though is at night, she has gotten very confused over her evening insulin shot. It's been the same number of units for, well, ever. However lately we have to help her set the number on the insulin pen, and even one day had to explain to her how the pen is used. She hasn't had this problem (she says) for her post-meal shots, though. It's very concerning, as we can't be there during the day to monitor it or help her out if she gets confused.
It would be hard for someone with cataracts to see the numbers on, so we are hopeful that the cataract surgeries will fix it. If it doesn't, it is shocking how quickly it came on. One day everything was fine, the next it wasn't. It makes me wonder what will be next, and if we'll be home to help, or even recognize it when it does.
BUT, we had good holidays I think. We splurged and bought an upright freezer for the garage. Janet paid half (at her insistence). It's large and beautiful and we can see everything in it. The crappy old chest freezer is dead in the garage. It had a good life.
Already I am thinking about all the things I can put in it this harvest. Last year I didn't care too much about yield for freezing because where would we put it? Now, however, we can put it in the big gloriousness in my garage.
AND...gentle reader, if you have made it this far, I am the proud owner of a PRESSURE CANNER! Thanks to mom and dad for Giftmas. I'm ever more excited for spring to get here so that planting can happen, then growing, then harvesting and preserving!
In sum: Everyone's hanging in and waiting for spring.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Watching leaves grow
Gardening is kind of boring. You walk out, you check things, nothing has happened, you come back in. Next day, wash, rinse, repeat.
BUT THEN...some day, you peak out the window, wondering why you should bother and you find your squash plants are HUGE! You rush out to see lots of large yellow flowers, and then you notice the cucumbers have blossoms too. And there are tiny green beans and tiny bell peppers. The tomatoes...well, they're growing. They smell like tomatoes, so you take that as a good sign.
Then there's a holding pattern again, and suddenly it's August 5. Which brings us to today.
Janet had pulled a few onions already, and cleaned them and put them in the fridge. She said we could use the leaves as seasoning too. She is not sure about the potatoes, as she only saw one or two blossoms on one plant. I don't know what that means, or if it even matters, so I just agree.
Well, backing up a bit, I had gone out to see if ANY of the blossoms on the squash were turning into actual squash and that's when I saw it. The dreaded cucumber beetle! It flew away before I could do anything, but it confirmed what exactly was eating my squash blossoms. To the Googlesphere I went, and there found all sorts of helpful information on cucumber beetles, including that not only did they like squash, but also cucumbers (hence the name) and beans. All of which I have in the same raised bed. It's like I made a buffet specifically for them.
In searching for what to do about them, there was the usual round of toxic chemical advice. However, since I want to actually eat the stuff I'm growing, that is out. The organic options are not much help. "Find beetles and squish them." Okay, they fly away. "Plant baby blue Hubbard squash to distract them, since they like it better." Yeah, I don't have room for that. There's rumors of traps as well. But the basic solution for everyone is to find them and squish them.
Thus, I have been looking. And looking. And looking. And not since I saw the one have I seen any others. I did go to a garden store in search of the aforementioned traps, but no one there knew anything. I did get some insecticidal soap. This will do pretty much nothing to the beetles, what with their hard shells, but it will make me feel better. I think I will apply it in the morning.
Tonight when I got home I raked up some of the grass and tossed it into the compost bin, which is not really composting as much as it is just holding leaves and garbage. I need to get a pitchfork to help stir that up. Then I picked about 5 or 6 more tiny strawberries (a grand total of 10!), and then turned to the onions. I picked about 12-15 of them (I didn't count) and watered everything. At that point the leaves were probably too wet for the soap, or maybe they weren't, hell if I know. I'm just winging most of this. I was thinking of pulling the potatoes too, but I'll ask Janet what she thinks.
That raises the question of what to do with the empty bed. I think I might take the lettuce and spinach seeds and toss them in there just to see what happens. Trying to sprout them from seed indoors hasn't worked, so what could it hurt.
Our harvest thus far is kind of disappointing, and it's largely because much of it went in late. The canning and preserving I was hoping to do is going to be either way delayed or there won't be enough to preserve. Already I'll have to supplement the raspberries, and maybe the apples, for jellies. I don't know that we'll get enough cucumbers for pickles or tomatoes for salsa. I'm a little disappointed, but again, it's a learning process. Janet is going to go with us to a farmer's market so we can get some cukes and I'll see if they have raspberries, and hopefully we can get started.
BUT THEN...some day, you peak out the window, wondering why you should bother and you find your squash plants are HUGE! You rush out to see lots of large yellow flowers, and then you notice the cucumbers have blossoms too. And there are tiny green beans and tiny bell peppers. The tomatoes...well, they're growing. They smell like tomatoes, so you take that as a good sign.
Then there's a holding pattern again, and suddenly it's August 5. Which brings us to today.
Janet had pulled a few onions already, and cleaned them and put them in the fridge. She said we could use the leaves as seasoning too. She is not sure about the potatoes, as she only saw one or two blossoms on one plant. I don't know what that means, or if it even matters, so I just agree.
Well, backing up a bit, I had gone out to see if ANY of the blossoms on the squash were turning into actual squash and that's when I saw it. The dreaded cucumber beetle! It flew away before I could do anything, but it confirmed what exactly was eating my squash blossoms. To the Googlesphere I went, and there found all sorts of helpful information on cucumber beetles, including that not only did they like squash, but also cucumbers (hence the name) and beans. All of which I have in the same raised bed. It's like I made a buffet specifically for them.
In searching for what to do about them, there was the usual round of toxic chemical advice. However, since I want to actually eat the stuff I'm growing, that is out. The organic options are not much help. "Find beetles and squish them." Okay, they fly away. "Plant baby blue Hubbard squash to distract them, since they like it better." Yeah, I don't have room for that. There's rumors of traps as well. But the basic solution for everyone is to find them and squish them.
Thus, I have been looking. And looking. And looking. And not since I saw the one have I seen any others. I did go to a garden store in search of the aforementioned traps, but no one there knew anything. I did get some insecticidal soap. This will do pretty much nothing to the beetles, what with their hard shells, but it will make me feel better. I think I will apply it in the morning.
Tonight when I got home I raked up some of the grass and tossed it into the compost bin, which is not really composting as much as it is just holding leaves and garbage. I need to get a pitchfork to help stir that up. Then I picked about 5 or 6 more tiny strawberries (a grand total of 10!), and then turned to the onions. I picked about 12-15 of them (I didn't count) and watered everything. At that point the leaves were probably too wet for the soap, or maybe they weren't, hell if I know. I'm just winging most of this. I was thinking of pulling the potatoes too, but I'll ask Janet what she thinks.
That raises the question of what to do with the empty bed. I think I might take the lettuce and spinach seeds and toss them in there just to see what happens. Trying to sprout them from seed indoors hasn't worked, so what could it hurt.
Our harvest thus far is kind of disappointing, and it's largely because much of it went in late. The canning and preserving I was hoping to do is going to be either way delayed or there won't be enough to preserve. Already I'll have to supplement the raspberries, and maybe the apples, for jellies. I don't know that we'll get enough cucumbers for pickles or tomatoes for salsa. I'm a little disappointed, but again, it's a learning process. Janet is going to go with us to a farmer's market so we can get some cukes and I'll see if they have raspberries, and hopefully we can get started.
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