Posted on January 1, 2023January 1, 202301/01/2023 new year frolic at Lexington Liverworts near the parking area! Briar is always blinking when she gets her picture taken. We saw some very green fine stuff covering the Sandy loam. Some obvious moss nearby. Then the green stuff with moss capsules! When I got home I saw Mom’s blog post from today. The very fine green coating appears to be the protonema life stage of the moss! Thanks Mom! Guess ‘tis the season. Dog eyes open this time. A big cluster of dead ants. No idea why. A mystery plant on the edge of the path cut. The leftover seed heads of the mystery plant. A second smaller individual of this mysterious plant. The habitat of the mysterious plant. Paula spotted this gorgeous greenbriar leaf! Briar leaps from the water. It was warm out! Bounce bounce bounce! miraculously she wasn’t muddy. Good clean water. Enjoying some last smells before we head home. The Chef made Hoppin’ John for dinner. The green is chard from our garden, frozen from a previous season. The black eyed peas were from the farm share. Paula made cornbread from scratch.
Posted on December 22, 2022December 22, 202212/22/2022 big cold and bigger wind This screenshot from the Oklahoma Mesonet weather app shows that it is currently 7 degrees F with winds 28 mph from the north sustained, and gusting to 38 mph, though at some point the maximum for Norman was 49 mph. It will stay below freezing until at least Saturday. Hmm Briar sees a dusting of snow. But she was willing to go out! Snow is ok. It doesn’t get in her ears like big rain. The herb bed covering held. This is in a sheltered corner that faces east (picture windows) and south (plant window). The cactus planter covering held. it looks like there are still some leaves with some snow on the native sprouting planters so that should be good. In the front yard, my last minute sheets and concrete blocks covering of the rosemary held up. The greens greenhouse did not. It was opened right up on the north edge. We had gusty winds up to 35 mph a week or two ago, but I don’t remember what direction it was. This sustained north wind peeled it right open. The plant leaves are frozen solid. I put three gallon jugs of hot water in and secured the plastic sheeting in with twice as many or more clothespins. But, even though these greens are cold hardy, this may have been too much and too suddenly. We’ll find out on Sunday when things warm up. Big wind pushed an empty rain barrel over. All the others were fine though empty (to prevent freezing damage) so this one was at just the right angle. Snow outlined these frog stepping stones that Judy gave me. I didn’t cover the strawberries this year. They already had a hard summer with heat and drought, so we’ll see how many make it through to spring.
Posted on December 17, 2022December 17, 202212/17/2022 greenhouse ice We got some greens out and there was ice pooled in the greenhouse edge. The greens were fine! Cozy enough in the greenhouse on the bok choy for some caterpillars!
Posted on December 11, 2022December 11, 202212/10/2022 finally turning The greens are doing well. Seedlings are in the raised bed but I’m not sure what they are. Hoping for field violets? The apple trees still are mostly green but one pear tree is turning. The three pictures below of leaves turning yellow and orange are from the one pear tree in front. Later we walked the dog at Saxon park. Lots of rabbit’s tobacco sprouting.
Posted on December 11, 2022December 11, 202212/11/2022 greenhouse Paula and I tidied up the greenhouse plastic and secured with clothespins.
Posted on November 24, 2022November 24, 202211/24/2022 plenty of thanks We thought it was supposed to rain today, so yesterday we picked up all the tomato cages and put all the vegetable debris in the city compost pile. (I don’t know that ours gets hot enough to kill any diseases.). We piled the dead marigolds on the bed where we’ll put peppers next year. We put some sugar pea seeds there to see if the debris will shelter them. We took the plastic off the greens so they could get rain. We put cilantro seeds everywhere and carrot seeds among the greens. For Thanksgiving, Paula started our Corrientes cowpeas soaking. The Turkey is from Paula’s aunt and uncle in Texas where they raise some. All the veggies in the beans are from the farm share except garden poblanos. Wes used some store apples and store ham as flavors. But otherwise the veggies are all our garden or the farm share!
Posted on October 29, 2022October 29, 202210-29-2022 fall things continue We got another package of bare roots from Prairie Moon. One rattlesnake master (since we have one already, maybe they will make seeds), one Camassia angusta- they only had one left), and several Ohio spiderworts. Up front, the pineapple sage is blooming. Two slightly different looking seedlings in the Penstemon cobea pot. I’ll keep an eye on them. Winter greens looking good. The purple Salvia greggii are really blooming right now. The showy milkweed seems to be shutting down for the fall with some yellow colors. I had to use one of the Chef’s big food grade buckets to hold all the fruit from the 17 lb watermelon from a few weeks ago when I cut it open today.
Posted on October 24, 2022October 24, 202210/24/2022 greens survived one night We were worried the front yard earwigs would eat them all up, but the various greens we transplanted from backyard pots survived the night and seem happy with an inch of rain overnight into this morning! the metal raised bed is surrounded by scattered leaves and individual plant species and varieties are marked by small white metal signs. There’s some bluish bok choy in the front, a more yellow green lettuce in the middle, and frilly scotch blue curled kale in the back next to a tall Fordham giant Swiss chard. Smaller plants are scattered nearby but I’ve forgottten which ones.
Posted on August 3, 2022August 3, 202208/02/2022 fall and winter greens starting now Seeds, but you can’t see them. Basil you can see. New root extending from plant window.
Posted on July 31, 2022July 31, 202207/31/2022 reminder for later planting One 3×8′ bed. We’re planting in containers now and will set out later.