2nd pic is a rhododendron, the third is a late bloomer daffodil!
The bottom is sort of what I looked like a few mins ago when I was rehooking up my rain barrel and I took the winter cap off the downspout - a LITTLE spurt of accumulated guck!! ![]()
I was able to get my tomato plants in the ground this past weekend:
Seventeen (17) plants of several different heirloom varieties; weāll see how well they avoid the various types of tomato blight.
Next weekend I hope to finish weeding the remainder of my garden, and get hot peppers in the ground, plus planting seeds for watermelon, carrots, Swiss chard, and okra.
You may end up with LOTS of tomatoes!!! ![]()
Not much planting happening yet (other than some salad greens), as weāve been busy with some infrastructure projects that needed attention before we can start growing things.
We finally finished setting up our complex web of soaker hoses in all of our backyard beds, and spent the weekend mulching everything. It looks so good and even better, I am now going to be able to turn on one spigot and water everything. I feel like Iām going to get hours of my life back each week.
Our other exciting irrigation news is that we had our first rain since we hooked up a rain barrel to one of our downspouts. The rainfall was just under a half inch, and it entirely filled (likely overfilled) a 40 gallon receptacle. Weāre now inspired to get one or two more set ups for other sides of the house. Weāve had drought conditions here for the past few summers, so a priority for us was to figure out a way to conserve water. I am so encouraged by how much we can harvest.
Iām counting on it! Lots to eat, give away, and can!
Thatās right! One can never have too many tomatoes! ![]()
I love my rain barrel. We purposely put it I. A spot where it would be a little limited in how much water drains in.
I am ENVIOUS of your soaker system!
I am losing my battle with the rabbits. Last year I assumed I was too late putting down the liquid fence deer and rabbit because we were on vacation so this year Iāve been vigilant about putting it down after every rain. Itās still not working.
Today I planted lilies, marigolds, and wild onions throughout my hosts beds. I also reapplied the rabbit repellant. Not an hour later, one of my marigolds was decapitated and 6 rabbits were sitting in my beds nibbling away.
My H ordered Natureās Mace to try next but I think itās going to take a metal critter fence buried and blocking the bottom of the existing fence.
And my dog is zero help. He walks by the rabbits like their buddies and now they arenāt afraid of him.
Anyone have a tried and true method to repelling rabbits???
Is it a raised bed or an in ground plot? Chicken wire fencing is a possibility but I know I hate using it!
In the ground. The planting beds go all along the perimeter of the yard. The raised bed where we grow veggies and herbs is thankfully too high for them.
Not rabbits, but something was digging in my raised beds. I tried repellent spray with iffy success. This worked for me: https://a.co/d/9bXoY4b
When our son was visiting he asked how we could stand the high pitched sound from the device. H and I canāt hear it. I guess old people ears may have an advantage!
Unfortunately we have a dog.
Good news for gardeners!
Thanks! I just bought one and am trying it out. It looks like E.T.!
It definitely does! ![]()
I also got one. The noise is really nasty.
I used the sonic mole repellent device in a built-in herb bed on my deck. My D heard the sound from the device, but neither H nor I did. The sonic device helped some, but the Have a Heart trap did the trick.
This year Iāve opted to not plant the usual backyard veggies (tomatoes, zuc, herbs) due to a planned 3-4 week July/Aug road trip. Iāll still pay for watering help, but this time only for flowers in the front year. It is nice that the chives come up each year - it was dandy to have them on cottage cheese yesterday.
Itās been lovely to have Motherās Day garden colors. Iris in many colors (I donāt plant new, but I have been dividing bulbs that my mother planted way back when). And on Sunday I started planting āherā geranium plants, that I have been wintering and propagating inside since 2020.
I will always love that you did that with her geraniums ![]()



