Baldur

Baldur remembers the story about the woman who called the highway department about a 'Deer Crossing' sign on the side of the road.

"I don't think that's a safe section for the deer to be crossing. They keep getting hit by speeding cars.... Can't you move the sign to somewhere safer for them?"

Baldur

There are definitely beet seedlings up now at Boughbreak, I think I'm going to put in a second row of them.

In the past few days I have planted:
a row of Aegyptian onion bulblets that were saved last Fall
2 hills of Summer squash
2 hills of zucchini
a mixed row of Bok Choi, Tat Soi and Pak Choi (I don't know the differences between Bok and Pak, they may end up being identical)
2 rows of my own personal selection of marigolds.

The marigolds have been personally selected varieties interbred over years.
Baldur tends to like very deep rust to mahogany coloured blossoms with a faint ruffle of gold around the edge of each petal. These are about 80% of the mix. The other 20% are a deep solid orange.
Any of the other colors don't get saved unless someone asks for them.

Each year I harvest seeds and dry them.
They get planted rather thickly in rows in the vegetable garden and then transplanted out to the flowerbeds.

Dragon

In the Rocky Mountains there are wonderful deer crossing or elk crossing signs that are quite large and cut out in the shape of a deer (or elk possibly) with a full rack of antlers. These are white and have a round reflector right where the eye should be. At night they certainly catch your eye as your headlights hit that reflective eye and the silhouette becomes suddenly visible.

Dragon

I looked up bok choi/pak choi and they appear to be the same veggie. The Wikipedia article did carry a warning about the toxic effects it can have. It seems the veggie contains glucosinolates which in small doses are thought to prevent cancer but in large doses can be toxic. I suspect you'll be alright though, the case they cited was of a woman who got hyperthyroidism after eating 1 - 1.5 kg of raw pak choi daily. I somehow geuss that Baldur won't be chowing down on the raw choi in these quantities.

Baldur

I don't believe that Baldur has ever eaten either spelling raw, and certainly never in any great quantity.

This shall however be the year of the beet at Boughbreak. A second row of Crosby Ægyptian beet has just been added, with more to come.

Baldur

There was also the small matter of building a 9 foot tall cucumber trellis this morning. Gardening is such and adventure in Primrose.

Baldur

and - d = d

Baldur

Baldur rescued a snapping turtle from certain death this morning.
He was crossing the road from the Widder's pond to the larger Primrose pond and apparently decided to rest in the middle of the asphalt.
Dear Lord, he would have been turtle puree when the first car drove by.

Baldur

Marius, I suppose you are correct and I should have angled the trellises so they would top out at only 7' but that's not as dramatic for the neighbours.

Dragon

I'm curious about the cucumber trellis. I've only ever seen them grown on the ground like pumpkins. Do they grow their fruit up high?

On a related note I bought a strawberry plant at the farmer's market yesterday and it's in a hanging basket. All the shoots that it has sent out are hanging down in the air and it's quite beautiful. I'm hoping I can keep it healthy so we can enjoy the occasional fresh strawberry every now and again. I'd never seen them grown this way and I just couldn't resist them. The only question for me now is where to put them. I'll either hang them on our deck or perhaps from the shepherds hook I have. If I put them on the hook though they will likely reach the ground sooner or later and start spreading, if I put them on the deck that's not so much of a worry but we'll have to figure out a way to attach a hanging hook to the siding of the house.

Baldur

'You don't have a soul.
You are a soul.
You have a body.'
C.S.Lewis

Baldur

If you grow cucumbers on trellises the fruit is more likely to grow straight, there is less chance of rot, plus they don't end up yellow on the bottom surface.
That being said not all cucumbers are of the vining type that will actually climb a support. Some are of the bush type that simply will never climb.

Baldur

Those dangling strawberry babies will need to eventually be potted up or otherwise planted.
The mother plant cannot support them indefinitely.

Hazer

Sometimes a C.S. Lewis quote pops up at the oddest times!
Great quote, Baldur, whatever inspired it.

Baldur

Oddly I ran into that quote on Facebook. Thank you.

Baldur

..and of course a big booming Happy birthday to matthew frpm the entire staff here at Radio Baldur.

Dragon

Happy Birthday to matthew! Hope there's a great deal of pole dancing and thong wearing at Chez matthew in celebration!

Baldur

#10420 frpm - p + m = from

Baldur

Today's garden update...
Some of the rattlesnake beans have sprouted as well as the marigolds!
The first pumpkin seedlings went into the new garden as well.
Things are going apace.
Baldur also drove out to the garden center and purchased 4 more eggplant seedlings.

Baldur

The irises are at their peak and just today the first brilliant orange Oriental poppy opened.
The peonies are also starting to show a bit of colour. Tomorrow the first few may actually open.