Week of April 23, 2019

We got home from California to very nice weather.  On April 24, I planted arugula, lettuce, spinach, snap peas and carrots on the southern half of the garden, rotating crops this year.

We are leaving on April 28 and Paula has agreed to water that area.  We are also supposed to have snow this week as well as rain so that is good. Tom did a great act of service for me. I don't know if the stupid rabbits will try to get in but he put a fence around the garden.

 I bought this today:
I will put some of it around the fence near the Baileys and the gates before we leave on Sunday and then I will use it as the season goes on.  Tom said really only coyote urine works.  This is available at Walmart so I will get some of that too.
Tom chased a rabbit today.  They can get in through tiny holes. I hate them. But the squirrels are the worse. And get this, so last fall Scott was so upset that we trapped squirrels and relocated them but he told Tom today, "This peanut thing is really getting bad. We are FINE with you trapping them this summer." What a turnaround.
I went to the Ace 99 cent for 4 pack sale. The petunias were not in good shape, very spindly. One of the other crazy gardeners there at 7am told me to trim them back, prune, baby, prune.  Joan is going to babysit them until I get back. I got 36 4-packs. Linda told me she had bought a 4-pack for $2.49 the other day. This is the lowest price of the season.

And dear Linda got me some potting soil. Two huge bags of potting soil.  When I get back on the 11th, I'll be busy with potting tomatoes, planting the zucchini, cucumber, summer squash seeds.  It will have to be different this year with the fence.  Here are the scalped petunias and the ones I'd not scalped yet.

2019 April 6 Starting a new garden year

Well, it's a new year.  I will be traveling a lot and kind of hoping the Hemperlys stay at our house when we are away.

On April 1, I really gave the rose bushes in the front a huge pruning.  Um, I wonder if I should do that bush in the  back?

We have been clearing out leaves and pine needles for weeks.  Did more today on the 6th.  Tom worked on the sprinklers in the flower garden that the nasty squirrels had damaged. He plugged 30 holes. I hate squirrels and rabbits.

How I wish Tom would bring up changing our powder room bathroom.  Alex, Ellen, and Beau surprised Tom for his birthday so it was nice to have them around this weekend.  I got Tom this:

I have high hopes it scares the squirrels.  I think we need to move it around.  Although squirrels are stupid.  Rabbits are smarter.  Yesterday I was yelling at the squirrels and did not realize Paula was out there. oops.  So I told her about the holes in the sprinklers. She seemed sad for us and said she thought it was the raccoons as squirrels are dumb.  But she is the one who has fed them peanuts that were probably salty so they tried to get water from our sprinklers. 

My pickles are now too soggy to enjoy.  too bad.  they lasted about 3 months so now I have to eat them. Well, they are dill so not a lot of calories.

I need to get potting soil and some garden soil.  My plan is to plant the sugar snap peas, carrots and lettuce (spinach) when I am home for 4 days before we go to Europe. 

I put one of the dahlias in the basement, still in the soil in the green pot.  Beau pee-ed in it. We'll see what happens.