I can’t see the 2nd pic, but 2k for a yard couch?
Ok, missed that you may get it closer to 1600, maybe less if the sale price drops. Still a lot.
I’m not getting it, waiting for sale. I’ve been waiting because I thought it was expensive. But my daughter like Pottery barn and she wants me to get from Pottery barn. She said the stuff she gets from Pottery barn is great.
Picked a few Yellow Cherry Tomatoes last night. Disappointing. More tart than I expected and the skins were a bit tough. Going to try a different variety next year. More disappointment; blossom end rot has gotten to two of my Cherokee Purple tomato plants. I thought I had licked that problem by adding bone meal and calcium enhanced fertilizer in the planting hole.
Just an update that Miracle Gro seemed to be what my peppers and cherry tomato needed. So far, that is. The tomato is a lusher green, had a growth spurt and is starting to flower, the peppers are also lusher and have a few buds.
I’ve had the tough skins issue and it helped to pick them a day earlier, plus make sure the water was consistent, throughout. At this point, my only yield is still peas (eating them young, like snow peas) and the Contender green beans. But despite upping to 5 bean plants, this is no weekly bounty for more than one person.
I can’t see the 2nd pic, but 2k for a yard couch?
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Others on CC spend that for a wedding dress, and at least you will use your lawn furniture more than once!
My cucumbers are thriving, we have been eating cucumber in a variety of things, and since they are pickling cucumbers, am on my second batch of brine pickles:).
@lookingforward: I have found it makes a big difference to do supplemental feeding. We put organic stuff into the soil at the beginning of the year (these are container beds), and have been worked for several years, I use a small tiller (a Honda, which I love!!!), and it still needs the feeding. My tomato plants are very healthy, and are loaded with tomatoes, so hopefully soon we will see ripe ones, it is a bit backward because of the crappy weather this spring.
"I can’t see the 2nd pic, but 2k for a yard couch?
Ok, missed that you may get it closer to 1600, maybe less if the sale price drops. Still a lot."
Yard furniture is amazingly expensive. If you aren’t buying cheap crap from Walmart or whatever, ti is really expensive. We have been looking for cushions for our picnic benches, that are 5’ long, and the cheapest prices are around 100 bucks a piece…and that is just the bottom cushion, no back cushions.
We also are looking for loungers, and the prices were shocking, went to a couple of outdoor stores and a decent reclining lounger was running around 300 (on sale!), and that didn’t include the cushions, that were another hundred bucks. What made this even more insulting was they weren’t well made, they were not the cheap cheap aluminum, it was powder coated aluminum, fairly heavy duty, but they were otherwise not particularly strong, were made in places like China or Thailand, and yet they were charging a premium. They were 400 on sale with the cushions, regularly like 600…
Yard furniture is a racket to me, it is as bad as Jewelry, the markups are staggering. If furniture is made with exotic woods I can understand the cost, but I have enough background in how things are made and materials knowledge, that these are way, way overpriced.
We have been looking for a dining set for our deck for ages! I’m just not comfortable with paying more $$ for stuff that birds would be pooping on than for my gorgeous granite-top kitchen table set! We ended up buying a Rubbermaid plastic picnic table with benches for about $150 or so - it is a table.
I have green tomatoes all over the bushes. Eggplants need some sort of a miracle to make them look better though. MiracleGro might do the trick, but then I can’t claim that my garden is organic. 
Ek, I paid that much for a wedding dress almost 30 years ago. You are right at least with furniture I get to use it more than once.
This outdoor furniture will be inside but outside area. There is a special name to it. It’s attached to the house and has a roof, so it’s not outside for bird to poop.
But the lounge seats are outside. But in the past when we have outside furniture, there was rarely any bird poop. I’ve made good use of the outdoor set that I’ve bought from Target for $250, it lasts forever but it’s plastic not real wicker. So this time I want real wicker.
On the garden front, I need more cucumber plants. I’m trying to seed more today.
I have cheap, super low maintenance yard furniture. Metal mesh that needs a little touch up paint every 5 - 7 years of so. They’re comfortable, they rock and glide and all, but I live in a rainy warm climate and I would worry too much about cushions and whatever they may be harboring. I’m too lazy to oil teak or clean glass!
The tomatoes, one pepper and the peas are in containers. My “bed” is an elevated sq foot garden, a cart. Frankly, the Mel’s recipe soil mix should have been all I needed. Last year, using a 60/30/10 combo of organic veg soil, peat, and old compost (from the prior year,) all in containers, I never even pulled out the MG. I know I have an addl issue with this growing cart- the soil seems moist throughout, but I’m pretty sure the fact that it doesn’t touch ground, is open on all four sides, means the soil temp is more variable, may be too hot. (The other containers sit on the ground.)
It’s just frustrating. If I had known this odd micro-climate, I would have planted eggplants and melons, ha. Live and learn.
D’s bf brought home 4 blueberry plants from where he works. I don’t know what to do with them. Not enough room for the 4’ spacing, where it can give them the 3/4 day of sun I see recommended. Anyone have luck with less sun? I may nee to find big containers, keep moving them.
My blueberries get less than that, lookingforward. They still produce, and they are not soaced 4 feet apart, for sure! 
I’ve picked a few handfuls of the little yellow “sugar sweet” tomatoes I planted - lots more growing. Tomato plants still look a little scrawnier than last year! Picked my first yellow squash last week! Also was able to cut my first zinnias for a small bouquet last night.
Stopped at the garden store and picked up three rose bushes last night (knock out variety) to replace the ones I lost this year after two tough winters. Hope it’s ok to plant them now in July! Also picked up a couple of big flower baskets to replace a couple hanging baskets that did not survive this year. I love my flowers so much it was worth it to me to replace even in July! Half price and beautiful! Also an 8 pack of geraniums for $2.99 - why not?!
I was at a tomato taste test last year and for the cherry varieties Sungold was the winner. I liked a variety called Goldy even better, but we ran out of them. Clearly Sungold is tasty and prolific!
^^^ Actually I think that’s what I have - Sungold - better than candy!!!
So I was roaming at my community garden yesterday looking at our people’s gardens…I’m in northern Ohio - I was SHOCKED and EXCITED to see that someone has an artichoke plant with full sized artichokes almost ready to pick! Who knew this could happen here!? I so want to do this!
Anyone in any region grow artichokes before? Tips?
Artichokes are biennial but you can trick them into thinking it’s their second summer if you live in a place where they wouldn’t survive the first winter. It has to do with exposing the seedlings to cold air for a while and then putting them back in a warm environment. I tried once, and failed. The next year I found a grower who sold plants that had already been tricked and had a coupe of artichokes!
I saw them once for sale at a farmer’s market in Lake Placid, NY so apparently you can grow them in many places.
I’ve grown artichokes and they are the easiest things to grow. So easy unbelievable. Interesting leaves too. But I buy then little seedlings from the nursery. I have seeds to saw but have not had time. But I live in California.
My garden has large red beets. So lovely. My cucumber seedlings are sprouting sparingly. These are new seeds but some animals have been poking in this seedling pack and therefore I was not sure there are any seeds left. Yesterday I checked and I have 4 seedlings emerging. I love homegrown cucumbers, so tasty and fresh.
Yes, I could understand artichokes in California - but was so surprised to see them here in Ohio. Putting this on my gardening list for next year!
I’ve seen the large fields of artichokes growing in CA and it’s quite a sight.
If you can start the seeds indoor before planting them outside it should be ok to grow in colder places. Mine grows through the summer.