Dandelions - have I ever told you how much I hate dandelions?

this will be unusual - two posts in one day.  

I'll be heading off to the store soon. but since my last post I've mowed my front lawn and sprayed it with a dandelion killer.   It's very diluted so I think I need to buy one of those dandelion bars and it turns out that they have them at Canadian Tire for $30 each   I hate the smell but I need to do this each time I mow the lawn which is about every 10 - 14 days..    

I've so had it with picking those *#^*&ing dandelions tops (blooms and buds).   This year only a few have gone to seed but I was able to pick those off before they spread.   That is how on top of it I am in the front yard.   The back yard is a different story...  

After shopping I will clean up the back yard and mow. or at least move a lot of the stuff around and mow.    It's a forest of dandelions but they have yet to go to seed - just a carpet of green and yellow interspersed with a variety of junk that I must clean up.

I am just cooling down before I go to the store.  My face is crimson from wearing a mask and mowing the lawn and spraying it.    Between allergies and chemical sensitivities, the N95 does a pretty good job to keep me going after any yard work.    I don't know if I will be able to even find them anymore of these masks with COVID, but I still have enough left at the moment.  Cloth masks won't work because I really need that high micron filter when mowing or using chemicals.  What I have been doing with the masks when they are in reasonable condition is I spray them with Hydrogen Peroxide and hang them up for a week.   Where possible I put them out in the sun when there is not a lot of chemicals in the air.

I have this gorgeous smelling facial wash.   It is fragranced with Vanilla & Clementine.   I think I need to find perfume with this scent mixture.     So strange that I can wear perfume and really enjoy most of them but not be around most chemicals.    The only perfume I can't tolerate is hibiscus and patchouli.  Patchouli is so strong if someone is wearing a lot of it I start choking - interestingly if you smell patchouli within a couple to three months of picking it is gorgeous but most put it in some sort of oil and it turns into a completely different fragrance.   Hibiscus I'm just allergic to and generally start to sneeze or get headaches.   My poor daughter can't be around most perfumes so I always need to be aware like yesterday when I was at work and brought her some lotions that I don't wear any scents.

Today also is Kombucha Day.   Every couple of weeks I make kombucha.   I think I've made it a bit too sweet.   I like things sweet but this is almost like lemonade and because I changed sugars but it doesn't go with the right bit of sour/bitter that Kombucha has, I think I need to use much less.   

I'll have a quick late lunch and then I'll be off to the store to miss the main rush.   Hopefully there will be enough WeedEx dandelion bars left.   I will buy Scotts stuff but not Monsanto.   Monsanto is not a company I feel good about in any sense of the word since they have sued Canadian farmers when their proprietary crops end up cross pollinating with other people's crops and when the farmer uses some of his own seed for next years crops Mosntanto sues the farmer for their proprietary gmo - through no fault of their own.   It is absolutely disgusting!

Ouch!

I'm really happy as I am able to hoe the garden all in one go and it takes me about 15 minutes.   As little as few years ago I couldn't hoe more than a couple rows without aching and feeling completely sore and  exhausted - this is what Fibromyalgia does to a person.    It seems that every couple of days I have to hoe -which is ok - because now it is quick and not a whole lot of effort and pain despite at the moment going through a bit of fibromyalgia flare.

I sprayed against dandelions the other day and today I will once again spray my front yard because it will be hot this afternoon and I just want to ensure that it helps to remove these stupid weeds.   

My fingers and knees are swollen but here is a funny thing that happened early this morning.   I couldn't sleep over night because my left leg was swollen and sore so I put this Delon Angalgesic Gel and it has this applicator (plastic with three steel ball bearings).   I really don't know how this happened, I rolled my PJ pants just above my knees and started applying this to both my knees and calves.  For my left leg I was laying down with my left angle across my right knee (somehow the gel must have fallen on my PJs or ran down my leg).   I put the cap back on the gel and pulled my PJ pants back down overtop my knees and then put the blanket over me.   Fifteen minutes later, I feel the inside of my left leg and crotch having that same feeling when you put menthol on your skin and it tingles and feels hot/cold at the same time.  (Where menthol and thyme is part of the ingredients of this stuff.)  Of course this was happening on my knees and calves when I rolled it on and maybe that's why I didn't feel it elsewhere.  So, as these sensations start burning I'm like WTF is going on?!?  I didn't feel the gel running up my leg when I was laying down and applying it to my left knee.    Needless to say at 2:00 am I had to feverishly wash down my crotch and leg.   I can see the humor in it now, but then I was thinking to myself:  how do I get another PJ pants on without getting this stuff back all over myself because of course I didn't wash my right lower leg and you can't always get everything when you wash this stuff off.   So very very carefully I put on some undies and back to bed with the tingling starting to wear off.  Thirty minutes later and also a couple of robax, I was able to drift off to sleep.    I think I'll be usintg tiger balm instead as this doesn't go anywhere when you put it on.  HA HA HA HA HA

Time to get out there and spray again while it is hot and that it will absorb into the ground.

  

Hoe, hoe, hoe.....

No real photos today. 

The rows are sprouting  only have about five rows are sprouting up (Khol Rabi, radishes, Beets, spinach or swiss chard and lettuce).    

Yesterday I was able to hoe the whole garden.   It keeps the weeds completely under control easily.  But I will need to get a bench grinder and a the special grinding stone for sharpening blades.    Where things went well in the garden, it didn't go so well in the yard.

My new favorite line is "Have I ever told you how much I hate dandelions?!?"

For the last week (or so) I've been pulling the tops of the dandelions off  (the blooms and the buds) because if I dug them all out I would not have much of a lawn.    So what seemed to work last year was that I picked the tops off and then when it was dry enough I sprayed a diluted broadleaf killer.   This reduced the dandelions by about 15 - 20%.  

That being said, I've had a new neighbour since Spring 2019 and he doesn't spray.   YAY!

The previous fellow who I've lived next door to almost all my life sprayed very HEAVILY each year for at minimum three weeks (dandelion bloom time in the spring) and I had had an inkling that the unusual swelling of my body for years in the spring may have been associated with his annual chemical spraying but seeing that I'm also terribly allergic to grass, certain trees AND dandelions, well, you can imagine that it's hard to really pinpoint the cause.    The last few years I use latex gloves and kneel on a mat to ensure I reduce exposure.  My hands and knees still swell but last year and this year it's quite minimal so I'm now fairly certain its the heavy chemicals.  

So this is the paradox, in years past, I couldn't go outside whenever a neighbour heavily sprays their yard (as I start choking and of course the bizarre swelling) .    The dandelions got worse but I always tried to get on top of them by mowing frequently so they wouldn't go to seed (not always successful).   So this is now why my lawn is filled with dandelions.    So last year I tried an experiment.   I had some old dandelion herbacide that you attach to a hose and spray your lawn.    I diluted it so I don't get sick.    So today I sprayed my front lawn.  I wanted to do this earlier but with the rain lately, it would just wash it away.

I also had some ecological full strength stuff that smells not as nasty as some of the other soil sterilizers out there, so I sprayed behind my garage as I have a different neighbour that lets all of their driveway go to seed.  UGH!

But this weekend, it will be tacking the back yard as my back yard is about as big as my garden so time to tend to that!      I suspect by the end of the weekend I will have a photo where you can see some of the sprouts.  hoe hoe hoe.

Rain, rain, go away...

Waking up to snow Friday May 22nd was not a happy moment.    I had to run out to ensure I got the garbage but then I had to cover my tomatoes with some sort of covering.  I improvised with clear plastic garbage bags that you use for leaves in the fall.   Worked ok as all my tomatoes looked like they survived.

Uh-oh!!!

With the barometric changes from low pressure systems to high - well, I spent most of the weekend in bed nursing a migraine.  By the time I got outside on Sunday, I saw a field of yellow in my front yard.    It's probably the same behind my garage which I will need to clean tomorrow.   I pick off all the dandelion blooms and buds so they can't spread anywhere or reseed themselves on my lawn.    I can't spray the lawn until it has been dry enough for at least a few days as I can't use full strength broadleaf chemical spray as the smell is too strong.   Dut during the picking of the dandelions on Sunday, I found a robin's egg.   I'm surprised it survived the fall from the tree above which is at least 2.5 storeys.  But it's been out of the nest so long that it's likely dead.   

   

Robin egg in the grass

My flowers are blooming better than other years.  Here are a few at blooms... with all the dandelions and so much gardening all at once I hadn't had the chance to weed the flowerbed yet....

Pulmonaria 'Sissinghurst white' - aka lungwort

Auricula Old Yellow Dusty Miller - aka primula

Heartleaf Bergenia - aka elephant ears

The one lovely thing was today some of my garden is sprouting.   I was able to see that the Kohl rabi, raddishes and lettuce are sprouting   I didn't expect it quite this soon.   I was more concerned with all the rain things would take much longer with teh soil being water logged.   I've turned my auto-watering device off due to the soil being so wet.   It looks like it might rain tomorrow......

Gnomenclature

This will probably be a bit borming, but being from German/Dutch heritage, I have a thing for gnomes.    

The gnomes from Germany were manufactured by Philip Griebel starting in 1880.  They were still in existance five years ago, although they might have closed as I don't know if they found a successor for the business.   I have yet to get one of these gnomes, but I have several others....    Most of the original Grieble gnomes look kinda creepy to me if I'm being honest.

I decided this year to name all of my gnomes after male ancestors at least five generations or more in the past on my German side (staying true to the German origins).    I've put them in alphabetical order with the meaning of their names

Enjoy the photos of my gnomes:

Blasius 

Etomology:  Ancient Roman name meaning:  Lisping

Blasius

Dagobert

Etomology:  Ancient German name meaning: Bright Day

Dagobert

Ignatius

Etomology:  Ancient Etruscan name meaning:  Fire

Ignatius

Kaspar

Etomology:  Ancient Hebrew name meaning:  Treasure

Kaspar

Leopold

Etomology:  Old German name meaning: Leud - people  Bald - bold

Leopold

Ludgardis

Etomology:  Ancient German name meaning:  Leud - people  gard enclosure 

He's hiding.   (In other words, I can't find him.  He is an original German gnome who is laying down.... time to clean out my garage)

Valentin

Etomology:  Ancient Roman name meaning:  Strong, vigorous, healthy

Valentin

Wendelin

Etomology:  Ancient German name meaning:  Vandal

(Currently being refurbished)

Huzzah!!!

The garden is fully planted. 

My knees are still swollen and my back can't take anymore.  I'm glad I will have several days where I won't need to kneel again.   I've been taking those Kirkland Extra Strength Muscle and Back Pain Relieve (with Acetaminophin) and that has saved me along with slathering Tiger Balm on my lower back, knees and ankles.

It doesn't look much different than yesterday as I had the stakes up, but yesterday I had this idea because the soil looks like tiny pebbles that I would use potting soil.   I add the vigoro shake and feed as I didn't want to put sphagnum, manure and other amendments in this year.   This has kept, earthworm castings, feather & bone meal in it.   so I mix that in the surrounding soil and then I put some potting soil down, then put the seeds in at the appropriate spacing and then put a bit more potting soil on top and tamped it down.   I shouldn't mix up where the rows are at all as I have the strings and you can see a different coloured soil where the seeds are planted.  I think this will help the seeds germinate faster - I don't know why I didn't think of this before.

So today I planted Beans (yellow and burgundy), swiss chard, spinach and lots of lettuce.

HUZZAH, it's all sown

After all this was done I saw that my front lawn exploded with dandelion blooms after yesterday's mowing.   So I sat there for 1.5 hours and took all those blooms and buds away.   I don't want them going into seed and last year I spray at half strength.  I would do that again, but you can't really do that just before it rains and it's supposed to rain the next few days.  The pot below is a 12 inch pot and is pretty big and is about a 1/3 filled with the tops of dandelions except for a few full dandelions.    On this photo you can see also my attempt at reproducing Zima tomatoes and my Costco Basil.

Dandelion tops, Zima tomato plants, Basil

Plan B

I use this groveg.com garden planner.    I like it as it lets me plan my garden quicker than going through all my gardening books as it shows companion planting and a variety of other items.   Here is my plan.....  (Obviously I didn't put in the right location as I don't want people seeing exactly where my garden is. 😊)

https://www.growveg.com/garden-plans/1136747/

I changed some things from my original plan (so this is Plan B) because I decided not to go with onions and potatoes.  As much as I like them onions never do very well in my garden.  Although potatoes do 'ok', it's just too much work for the amount of potatoes that I end up eating.  I may try planting a sweet potato and cut it into 4.  I should have made slips earlier in the year but they will likely take and if not it's only one sweet potato.   

Today I planted peas, radishes carrots, beets, and tomatoes.   I put in the rest of the stakes with mason's cord because it was easier than kneeling and planting the beans.   I had extra peas so I planted them along the fence.  I also bought two more tomatoes and planted them as well as put the one board missing from the fence (on the right) but you'll see that photo tomorrow.   

I hoped to get this done by the end of the weekend and I think I'm on target to do that although my lower back may disagree.

May 17, stakes with mason twine 

Sow it goes....

Sleeping in didn't happen today, so I was out in the garden by 8:30 (AM!!!!).    This is rather remarkable, unless I am on vacation somewhere and need to get to somewhere for an excursion I sleep in on Saturdays.  I guess I'm excited to get my garden planted.

 

I'm working from the back of the garden to the front entry way.  I started by planting courgettes (zucchini) beside the garlic that I planted last year and didn't do so great but garlic is one of those things you need to plant in fall for a good harvest the following year.   I have to tend to my raspberries and tie them up but once I'm done planting, that will be an easier job.  It doesn't look like much but there are mounds there where the green, yellow and butternut/winter squash are planted.

Courgette mounds beside garlic row

 

Then another more difficult job in the garden is constructing my cucumber trellis.   It's easy when you have two people but with one, the galvanized steel is a little unwieldy.   The trellis took time because I wanted it to be very sturdy.   I was more patient than usual as I really didn't feel rushed.   I sowed an Italian variety that looks like English cucumbers and then I had a mini cucumber plant that I picked up and planted that and the end of the row.   Towards the end at the fence (yes it needs to be replaced), I planted some lemon thyme.

Cucumber Trellis

 

I sowed some kohl rabi which I really like fresh and then at the end of the row at the fence I planted two strawberry plants.  The string is the row marker for the kohl rabi.  I always use stakes and the bricklayer's twine to mark where my rows are as it really helps when I hoe when the weeds start growing.    

 

The pea trellis is up and that's about it for today as the peas need to soak overnight.  I put one of my gnomes (of which I have several).    You can see some lovae and then where the two tomato cages are there are blueberry bushes.   I need to put some sulfur down as that will take the pH down a bit as they like a lower pH.   

Pea Trellis beside Kohl Rabi row

 

The garden is watered and also I mowed my front lawn.  

Watering the newly sown seeds and plants

 

I dug out my knee pads but I wasn't as much on my knees today - that will happen with the rest of the garden.    

In the beginning....

...there was weeding, weeding and more weeding.  On May 9, my good buddy Chris popped over and helped me with my rototiller and lawn mower.   He's great with motors and anything mechanical.   Last year we changed the spark plug and filters on the mower and this year we changed the spark plug and filter on the rototiller.   The rototiller still has a hard time starting after sitting all winter.

So today after even more and more weeding over the last week, Chris popped over again to help because I don't have the strength to start the rototiller.   I have this other technique with the mower with the rip cord where I pull the cord and push the lawn mower away and voila it starts without much needed strength  :)

Thankfully,  Chris was able to start the rototiller straight away made two passes on my garden one east to west and the other north to south.  I was so grateful because I'm too sore this year to actually do the tilling because I prepped the garden way better than in the past.  While he was tilling, I was picking up the last bits of quack grass roots.  A huge Thank you to Chris!

After the last raking it is finally ready for planting the victory garden.

Rototilled and raked garden 23' x 45'

My knees are swollen and a sore back, the Epsom bath with baking soda was wonderful and I'll be slathering on the tiger balm and laying down.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll be ready to start planting.

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