How is your garden looking today?

rain , rain and more rain ... ...
the rain in eastern ontario just won't stop .
wanted to take the veg and fruit scraps out to the composter at the backfence - no go - the backyard sits under at least two inches of water .
have been taking about half-a-pail of water out of the basement dehumidifier every day - and that's in addtion to what the C/A collects - about another half-pail .

but getting to the garden :
the lawn is lush and green and should be cut again today , but a wet lawn and an electric lawnmover don't make a good combination !
hbg

Just found this thread. I've been missing out.
Hello to everyone.
Michigan summer is starting to wind down. Had a few nights in the mid fiftys. I've had one of the best years for my garden and flowers. I attribute this to two things. One: In the month of June, it rained close to every other day, with, the sun coming out later. Two, I got a hold of some of the richest compost soil mix. It literally, gave off smoke, as I shoveled into it.
Does anybody have any experience on harvesting sunflowers, or the first year of growing asparagas?

still more rain for today - it's rumblimg already !
the grass sure is getting long - well , the frost will take care of it eventually .
maples in the city turning a nice shade of red .
hbg

My garden is looking good right now. I add some new plants, flowers, and hexagonal gazebo to look mo re beautiful and have place to relax. Lots of types of outdoor gazebo here in this site http://www.oldgrowthagain.org/gazebo.html But i choose the simple hexagonal garden gazebo. What do you think ? Is it nice to put that in a garden?

Bounty!

Nice photo, dp. I like a nice fresh tomato. We're frozen out here. Very cold last night, the ground under the gate had frost heave.

McT, When you and Fiona were here, my garden was bare of flowers. It looks like this today.

Very pretty indeed, c.i.

Cyclamen and primula, that looks like.

Still too cold and too early here for flowers, but the crocus and the daffodils are on their way. And snowdrops.

MINUS 16 C for tonight - not much gardening to be done - unless i want to use a jackhammer .
we do have some nice pot-flowers ( not THAT kind !) in our south-facing windoows . having lots of sunshine - rain expected this weekend .
hbg

I was wrong, there are some little primulas out here now, and the dwarf daffodils look imminent.

Pics later I hope, especially if the sun shines tomorrow.

Good evening to yall.
So I own 3 acres of land just 3 or so miles from the center of Charlottesville. I remodeled the main house and the cottage that 70 years ago was a general store. I fitted in 5 townhouses and a small office building. And I still have land lying fallow, which seems a shame in these times.
So here is the message I plan to get out:
"Communal garden space available near Fashion Square. 2500 sq/ft of tilled land. Participants, not owner, develop rules. No monetary investment required; sweat equity is. Details at [email protected]"
It is going to cost me about $500 to till the land, add 5 years of compost I have, and till it again. I have absolutely, I say absolutely, no desire to get involved in the politics of how the structure of the organization is set up. I will sit back and watch. Could be interesting.
Any of yall had any experience in this type of thing?

rjb, You're a generous individual to share your land with strangers, but I would recommend that you have liability insurance coverage before you invite them to your property.

eastern ontario
.........................
nights are still below freezing . spring-rains expected to arrive by mid-week .
while it is sunny , the daytime highs are only about 3 - 5 C - and the ground is rock-hard - just about normal for this time of year .
some doffodils and crocus have stuck their heads out on the south-side of the house , but have decided to hold back - can't blame them .
in another month there should be plenty of blooms .
the cold nights/sunny days are good for the maple sugar harvest ; sap is rising nicely and the "sugaring off" has started .
will take a drive into the country tomorrow and see how things look - parka , warm hat and gloves still required .
hbg

bringing in the maple sap

I am aware of that issue, Tak. Fortunately, here, we rednecks in the mountains of VA still take responsibility for our own stupidity and judges routinely slap down what few frivolous lawsuits come up when someone gets hurt hunting or fishing on someone else's land with permission. But, alas, that attitude is slowly changing. We still get away with having the "tenant/visitor" sign a short waiver absolving the owner of any liability.
But I do carry a million dollar umbrella liability policy on all my properties...just in case.

...Which reminds me of the story, hopefully fictional or perhaps not, about the New Yorker who came down here. He had a 3'2" span between the bottom of his feet and his crotch. He attempted to step over a 3'4" barbed wire fence and, um, got hurt. He sued the farmer. He lost.

Which reminds me of my friend Lee who was my friend and partner in the ranching business. Lee was born on his pa's ranch up on a mountain side north of Guffey Colorado in the year of 19 and 22. In the year of 19 and 28 Lee's ma ran off with the widower who owned the ranch on up the mountain side and Lee's pa didn't take kindly to this turn of events and because his ranch was between the widower and the town of Guffey the widower and Lee's ma had to drive their buck-board right through Lee's pa's ranch every sunday on their way to town to get their supplies. Now Lee's pa was an ornery old goat so he would put Lee up behind the saddle of cow horse and ride up the side of the mountain above the wagon ruts people in that neck of the woods called a road and take their picnic basket into a small meadow looking down on the road and hunker down with their cold fried chicken and a can of beans. Lee's pa always carried his 30-30 carbine with him on these sunday picnics and when the widower man and his new bride would come by in their buck-board Lee's pa would take pot shots just over their heads forcing them to lay dow n on the floor of the buck-board and letting loose the reins of the old plow horse who would take off in any direction but straight. Lee's father would then finish eating his fried chicken and his can of beans before putting Lee back behind the saddle for the ride home for a smoke and a pint of whisky.
But, that's not the story I be telling here, what I was meaning to tell was the story about when Lee was living next to my uncle Dave who was a coal miner and had lost a leg in a cave-in as worn (when he felt like it) a wooden leg. Lee's horses kept getting out by going under/over and around the barbwire fence Lee had put up so one spring day Lee strung an electric fence all around his horse pasture. My uncle Dave spent that sunday at his kitchen table watching Lee string up that electric fence and when he finished and was walking back to the barn to plug it in my uncle Dave came over beside the new electric fence lifting up just slightly on his good let so that only the wooden leg was on the ground. About then Lee came walking back from plugging in the electric fence and jaw-boning to my uncle Dave about his just finished new and modern electric fence, my uncle Dave, just standing on his wooden leg grabbed ahold of the electric fence and said "I don't think it actually works" to which Lee took ahold of the electric fence and it knocked him across the corral and on the top of the manure he had shoveled out of the barn that morning.
Uncle Dave stood down on his good leg and walked back to his house never saying a word.

I think that you may be a candidate fo the CSA(XCommunity sponsored agriculture programs that are being started nationwide. However, they are mostly succesful in more urban areas. Charlottesville aint exactly downtown Detroit. Its a nice gesture though. Id google up CSA 's in Virginia. Im sure theres somebody nearby who can help you steer through your specific states programs.
Youre a better man than I am Johnboy. Last time I allowed hunters on my farm, they shot my cat.

Just saw the tomatoes and eggs photo.. makes me want to paint it. Terrific, Mr. Pad.

Just saw the tomatoes and eggs photo.. makes me want to paint it. Terrific, Mr. Pad. But wait, those are mozzarellas, aren't they? Or are they?

which reminds me of ... ... our visit in texas in the late winter of 1979 .
was on a computer software training course in austin for several weeks .
thereafter mrs h and i decided to explore texas a bit - all the way down to "big bend national park " .
we were travelling on some country road with wire fencing on both sides .
we were looking for a place to stop and just limber up - saw a car parked in a bay and decided to pull in too .
were greeted by some friendly texans who had also pulled over for a break .
after chatting for a while , i remarked about the steps (stile ) that led across the fence .


(there wasn't as much greenery as on this picture)

"that's to allow hunters to cross the fence ? ", i enquired .

they just about laughed their heads off and pointed to a some sparse shrubs a few feet away . "it'll allow you to get to the 'wash-room' across the fence " , they pointed out - and we joined in the merriment .
hbg