Our Spring garden is coming right along and we’ll be planting warm weather crops in the coming days.
Over the weekend I managed to do a lot of weeding and that made me feel good. There was one bed I let go last year and boy was it bad. Many years ago I gave the bed to Chatter to grow herbs. She used it some and then life got busy and she moved onto other things 🙂
There’s one thing she planted that is still plaguing me. I’m not sure what it is, but it grows by runners underground so it’s terribly hard to remove completely. I’ve researched the plant to see what it is, and even tried an app on my phone, but haven’t discovered it’s name. For the last few years I’ve worked hard to stay on top of removing any new growth.
But last year I let all the progress I’d made on eradicating the plant go. Every time I’d go in the back yard I’d avert my eyes from that bed to keep from seeing it 🙂
But it’s all clean now!! And I plan to keep it that way!
Here’s the best planting signs for May 2022.
Taurus: good for all root crops and above ground crops 1, 27, 28
Cancer: best for planting above ground and root crops 4, 5, 6
Scorpio: best for flowers and above ground crops 14, 15
Pisces: Good for planting and transplanting above ground crops, trees and shrubbery 22, 23
Last night’s video: Making a Garden in Appalachia – April 2022.
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Weeding is actually one of my favorite things. I kinda drift off into my mind and pull all those bad thoughts out w/the weeds. Helps to clear my mind, or gives me quiet time to pondering things. I don’t like to be bothered when I weed & I have to do it on my knees, as I have quite a bad back. I get so “lost” that the family can be calling & calling, or neighbors can sneak up on me without my knowing. Startles me a bit. Its the harvesting that gives me such a time. By then, you have to bend over & I come in spent. Nothing but Irish potatoes, peas, lettuce in mine so far. had 3 frosts this week up in CNY. But I think I wrote on an earlier post that it wasn’t spring until I had my chicks, my piglets, my irish potatoes in, & hung laundry out. Well all of that has occurred so I guess its spring.
I like to weed right after a good rain. It’s easy to pull the weeds in our clay soil here in Tennessee. If it dry everything just breaks off and leaves the roots.
I have lemon balm and mint in places that are a pain. They were planted a few years ago. I am trying to move some to the other side of the barn and cover some to try to get rid of it but it takes time. I love both of them but not everywhere! Lol
Both sides of my family, the Mauney side and the Byers side, planted by the signs.
I think I am through planting now. However, I discovered a dozen or so tomato plants down by one of my compost piles…. Of course I have no idea what they are. And I have 19 tomato plants already. Should I plant them or not? I have some unused tomato cages. I have a limed and fertilized row ready. And I have a bit of room to make some more rows….. But we really do not need more tomatoes.
Today I did hill up 10 or 11 “volunteer” potatoes that escaped when I dug up their relatives. I didn’t buy any “seed” potatoes this year but I will have very nearly as many hills as I did last year when I did buy 10 lbs. of them.
By the way, a “weed” has been defined as “a plant out of place”. I have lots of them: chickweed, purple dead nettle, cudweed, clover, grass, miniature geranium, sedges, Venus looking glass, cilantro, violets and various other unidentified kinds.
With the way the world is these days, you plant any extra plant the good Lord sent your way. Or pot them up & put them out by the road with a free sign. Might be some folks can’t afford plants this year @ $4 a plant (in some places). You might be gifting some the gift of life. Gotta think big picture. All Love!!!
All the hard work is visible in your garden, as is the love y’all put into it.
I enjoyed the visual tour of the garden on Celebrating Appalachia. I could hear in your voice the eagerness for the planting to be done and the harvesting to begin. I can hardly wait to see more. The garden would make a great subject for videos every few weeks to show how it grows and what you like and dislike about it. I’m sure others in addition to me would love to see it.
Blessings to all in Brasstown.
Tipper, you all have done a great job, the yard looks great. Actually, what it looks like is a blank canvas waiting to be fulfilled as I know it will be!
You produce a tremendous amount of food considering how much shade the mountain provides you.
This is always a lovely time of year in the mountains that we call God’s Country!
Thank you Tipper for letting me know when to plant my flowers as I do not know how to read the planting signs. My Mom and Granny always planted by the signs but after they passed and I married and moved in the city I just planted a few tomatoes in buckets. I made a couple of flower boxes over the weekend so my cardinal vine could run up my building and some one said it wasn’t a good time to plant Sat. So thanks for the info.
Weeding is not fun nor enjoyable, so it’s the least thing I want to do in the garden. Last spring’s garden I let it go. I did have a good excuse, I had two cracked ribs which hurt when I bent over to pull them. It got so over grow I called it the jungle. Funny enough it produced the most I’d had in a while. Not worth letting that happen this year. As much as I don’t like weeding, I will stay on top of it this year. It’s scary going in a garden jungle. I’d rather my garden be enjoyable to work in and not scary, so I will weed regularly. Plus it’s good daily exercise for me.
There is a phone app called Picture This that I use quite a bit to identify plants. It may, or may not, help identify your unknown plant. Thank you for your daily words sharing something that is always happy, helpful, insightful, inspirational and a joy to read. We need more joy in our lives.
Thanks for the chart info…I have jotted it down on my calendar and for sure use it in the months to come. I am having fun harvesting seeds and the most fun one is the different colored bell peppers. I know what you mean about getting rid of vegetation that you don’t want…I sometime will cover the ‘bad’ spot with cardboard, it seems to work on a small area. God Bless and keep supplying us with all your info.