Long Time Gone…
It sure has been a while. I’m not dead yet, but you probably thought so! Lots of reasons, but the worst was the arthritis. Really got bad this winter; hurt to move at all most of the time. Finally got that under control, with the help of Joint Juice, Schiff MoveFree, and finding an arthritis prescription that actually works.
So…when last I posted, the Winter Garden was looking promising. Didn’t last long, for sure. Something started eating the leaves on all my cukes and melons, then the changing sun angle made the bed too shady. Ended up just pulling it all in disgust.
Still had tomatoes in containers and basil for a while, till we got an almost-unheard-of early frost. Even though I covered them, poor things just got too cold and expired. I did manage to save most of my flowers in containers, though I lost a few. Nothing special, though, just annuals. The lettuce, peas, spinach, and swiss chard did quite well, though, despite my neglect. We had substantial rain, for a change, and enough cold to discourage most of the buggies.
We’re also sort-of-looking for a bigger place, so was undecided about starting seeds for spring. In the end, I decided to use mostly containers, in case we actually do move. Still starting too late, but, now that I can actually move without pain, I’m gonna give it a try.
Some things are blooming, new stuff is growing, and the volunteer tomato plants in the compost are already flowering and fruiting. Found them in there a while ago, in the foot or so of compost left in the bin. Moved them into the sun, and have been adding a couple inches of potting soil at a time, as they grow. Kind of like potatoes, I guess, and the tomatoes seem to be thriving so far!
So here are a few pics of my poor neglected garden thus far. Working on it, though; it should get better soon!
Mouseover to see bigger pic.
My side-of-the-stairs container flowers.
The Tipsy Pots are gonna have purple basil in the bottom, sage is in the next pot you can’t see. Next one will be cinnamon basil, then there’s Calibrachoa next up, with heliotrope seeds starting in there, too. Top one is summer savory, with a mini, trailing morning glory seeded. Got some mini roses in there, some spring annuals growing, my shrubs, wildflower seeds in some of the pots that are sprouting, and all sorts of stuff.
So that’s a peek into my garden thus far. Got seeds starting and plans to be implemented, so I hope I can manage to keep updating with some frequency…
Welcome back
Boy, everything looks so big and green in your pots! Nothing but babies here, although I did harvest some lettuce, onions and tomatoes through the winter (the AZ garden). I’m sure glad you’re feeling better. I have arthritis, too, so I know what you go through. Fortunately, mine’s not too bad as long as I take a couple of Aleve every night….that lets me get out of bed pain free in the mornings.
Been sporadically reading your blog all winter, so sort of kept up with things. We had a wet winter, for a change, and even a couple freezes, but I didn’t lose anything important.
Now that the arthritis is under control, I hope to keep up with things better. But Hubby informed me that we are definitely moving out of the park into a house, as he is tired of the bills here. Now I have to start house-hunting, and will have to stop new gardening ventures until we get settled. So I’ll just plant what’s already growing in containers, and wait for the fall garden to really get going.
We really want to sell our AZ property, too. The traveling back and forth, 1200 miles each way, is getting too hard on us at our ages. It’s also hard finding places to stay while we travel, with two dogs and a rabbit. We had our place up for sale all winter, lots of people picking up fliers, a few lookers, but no offers. We lowered the price and left it with a realtor, but still no bites. I hope we don’t have to lower the price much more, I’d hate to lose money on it. We probably won’t go back down until January, then just spend two months. Hardly worth the trip.
I don’t imagine Motel 6 leaves the light on if you have 2 dogs and a bunny. And that is a VERY long drive! Good luck with it, hope it sells soon.