Whisper's Diary

Cate said:
I'm far from being an expert on gardening. There are lots of helpful sites. This is one- https://www.bhg.com/gardening/vegetable/vegetables/planning-your-first-vegetable-garden/ It's Australian so our gardens should be North facing to get the most sun & yours will be South. My problem is wildlife & our fenced off garden is on the Southside of our house. Most of our veggies that we grow are ones that don't mind shade, like lettuce (Cos especially) & spinach. I have lots of herbs. If you make veggie beds you'll have less mowing. If you have raised veggie beds they require filling. Maybe start off with things in large plastic pots, sitting on dirt (to let the worms get in) & see how you go.
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Our backyard faces the West, but it has tons and tons and tons of trees in it so there's a lot of shade. I see lots of worm casings in the yard, so finding some worms won't be a problem lol. The one reason we thought about a raised bed, is quite frankly we don't know how good the ground really is if it is good at all. that was a concern. Where as with a raised bed, we do need to fill it, but have more control (maybe not) of what goes in it. My sister cooks with a lot of herbs. the vegetables I like eating anyway are tomatoes, lettuce, onions, cucumber (on occasion), carrots, corn, green beans, and sweet potatoes. We eat stew, especially during the winter months. The only veggie I'm really allergic to is regular potatoes, hence why I eat sweet potatoes occasionally. My family can do regular though. I book marked the site and will get my sister to look at it also. Thanks.
 
I would google growing vegetables from scratch & type in the area where you live. Can the dog get into the area where you might plant veggies? Growing herbs in pots is a great way to start. We have a seed sharing stall in our local town. There may be a community garden as well near you where you can pick up tips or even get help with starting a garden. There would be people in your neighbourhood who can't have their own garden who would love to have just one bed somewhere. I love the idea of sharing & having company in the garden.
 
Cate said:
I would google growing vegetables from scratch & type in the area where you live. Can the dog get into the area where you might plant veggies? Growing herbs in pots is a great way to start. We have a seed sharing stall in our local town. There may be a community garden as well near you where you can pick up tips or even get help with starting a garden. There would be people in your neighbourhood who can't have their own garden who would love to have just one bed somewhere. I love the idea of sharing & having company in the garden.
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Good tips! If we did the garden at all, it would be in the backyard and the dog never goes into the backyard. The front yard is fenced and she stays out there. We do however have a couple of stray cats that made their home in the backyard. we don't feed them though to encouarge them to move elsewhere, but the neighbor does.
 
I hope you can get a veggie garden going. I spent a couple of hours in mine again yesterday & planted some perpetual spinach seeds. If you could start in your backyard with something small & easy like parsley or mint you might just get the bug. I find it very therapeutic. You would still be near your Dad but outside doing stuff.
 
Cate said:
I hope you can get a veggie garden going. I spent a couple of hours in mine again yesterday & planted some perpetual spinach seeds. If you could start in your backyard with something small & easy like parsley or mint you might just get the bug. I find it very therapeutic. You would still be near your Dad but outside doing stuff.
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I worked in the yard quite a bit today, but it was the front yard. I usually mow on Thursday and do edging and weed eating on Friday since it tends to be much to do all at once for me. That way I can check on my dad here and there and it's okay. I plan on working on the backyard Saturday and Sunday. My sister works on Saturday, but sometimes she is on call. Sunday I can work out there all day if I want to since she is off. The backyard has a long way before it will be in any kind of shape to do anything out there.

I yelled at my brother today. That was therapeutic. (** Disclaimer ** - maybe more info than you would like to know. Again.) I was out about to mow. I had the lawnmower tilted to the side and he came out and asked what the problem was and why I was doing that (when I moved in my 82 year old dad at the time was mowing. I've been mowing since then. My brother hasn't ever mowed here.) He said it was probably the filter (in his know it all attitude). I said yeah it is. I need a new filter, but no one will get one so I've been cleaning it out and using the lawnmower the best I can. Money is tight. he is the same person who takes advantage of everything, tries to tell everyone what to do, but of course nothing is his responsibility, including my dad. Anyway, I won't get into the gory details. I'm done with it.

I told my sister that I need to concentrate on cleaning the property up and do some gardening or whatever. I'm sure my brother, who has never done a garden either will feel the need to tell us exactly what to do and how to do it. The only problem is that when he says anything he is like 95% wrong. I'm sure he is right 5% of the time, but we haven't seen it. LOL. I can say that I've never seen the sun purple, but he would say he has. It's ridiculous how upside down lunacy this world is becoming. I told my sister that having my brother has been training for this time period so we're not as surprised how everything is.

We have 2 things of tomatoes. I saw that tomatoes were a warmer type plant and could be planted in spring, summer, and fall so I'll see what we can do about those as a test.
 
Your brother does sound like a piece of work. I'm glad you get along with your sister. I hope you can get some help with the yard. Ignore your brother or put him to work actually physically (or financially) helping. I'm glad you yelled at him :)
 
Cate said:
Your brother does sound like a piece of work. I'm glad you get along with your sister. I hope you can get some help with the yard. Ignore your brother or put him to work actually physically (or financially) helping. I'm glad you yelled at him :)
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I always protected my sister against him. He was very abusive growing up. It's just verbal these days. I told my sister last night that actually I am quite proud of myself for standing up to him and not cowering down.

Today is Friday. I just want to have a good day. I hope you are doing the same!
 
whispers65 said:
I always protected my sister against him. He was very abusive growing up. It's just verbal these days. I told my sister last night that actually I am quite proud of myself for standing up to him and not cowering down.
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Good for you, Tom!
Also well done being 2.5 lbs down this week already :)
 
Lots of yard work. ** Disclaimer ** I had nothing to do with any of this, but it has been bestowed on me to clean it up.

My tools I can work with: Rake, weed eater (I bought), lawn mower (dad's), and edger (I bought)

Disadvantages: I don't have anyway of hauling anything to the dump.

Main goals: move things around enough to clear out problem areas. Any suggestions I'll gladly take. I have issues lol.
 

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Mowing is pretty difficult. There are shingles, concrete, metal, and other types of debris all in the yard. I can't hardly step a foot without something to stop me. When I try and mow, it guts the lawn mower and flings everything all over.
 

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I've been working on this area. I'll clean an area out and then it will go into regular maintenance and then I will try to conquer another area.
 

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Another part of the yard that I have been working on. There are tons of small trees where the tree seeds or whatever have been spreading uncontrolled. I used an app to identify and they say they are some type of Elm tree. When I cut the small ones down near the ground, I'm left with a stump to trip over or step on. Not the best solution, but I'm not sure what the root system is like to see if I can dig them out easily.
 

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According to your government the root system of American elm varies according to soil moisture and
texture. In heavy, wet soils the root system is widespreading, with
most of the roots within 3 to 4 feet (1.0 - 1.2 m) of the surface. On
drier soils, American elm develops a deep taproot. That's inconclusive, but unless the treelets are truly tiny it'll probably be a bother either way. I guess you could try digging up one to see and if they go down further than a foot you could theoretically cut off the main stem a foot below the surface and leave the problem for whoever wants to do more complicated stuff with the yard in the future.
 
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