It seems that the technical difficulties with blogging are never ending. The GRIT magazine website is a unique website, and I became a regular blogger in February 2009. I had lurked and commented for about a year before actually becoming a blogger. Most websites have a forum for those who wish to leave comments. These websites only have a few dedicated bloggers. GRIT decided to go a different route and allow blogs for as many as had interesting posts. When I became a blogger, the number of bloggers was small in number. Over the years the numbers grew and, along with the numbers, the logistics to run such a vast number of bloggers outgrew the application used to manage them. Having grown up with technology, I know the ramifications of technological growth. Sometimes it gets pretty ugly before it gets better. Trying to integrate new applications into existing ones tends to be a nightmare. Trust me, I’ve been there.
I know that GRIT has a great deal of respect for the blogging community and is just as frustrated as we bloggers are. I would encourage all the bloggers and potential bloggers to please hang in there and ride this snafu out to the end. All of you have great information to share, and I for one want to read all about it. It’s been a long haul and it would be difficult to predict when it will be totally over. I sure hope we all get to know each other better as we struggle together to make our blogging community the best place to be on Internet.
So on with gardening for 2015. Every year I plant flowers in pots and hanging baskets to spruce up the front of the house a bit. After the tulips, daffodils, and peonies are finished blooming, it just seems right to bring in some color for the rest of the summer. I started the process about five years ago and it took a couple years to figure out what flowers did the best with almost complete shade. Since I wasn’t an expert in flowers, it was a big learning curve for me to be able to put together a plan. Most of my information to do so came from right here on the GRIT blogs from an early blogger that no longer frequents the blogs. Her advice as a nursery manager was instrumental in the selection of plants that would survive the shady patio. It’s the best reason for hanging out with the GRIT blogging community.
Yes, I would say that it is time to clean the gutters. We have had an abundance of maple seeds this year, and the above average rainfall has helped to sprout every one of them no matter where they fall. It’s been a prolific year for maple trees everywhere. I posted this photograph on my Facebook page and before the day was over the gutter elves came and cleaned my gutters for me. Well, yeah, it was the neighbors, but when I discovered her up on the roof, she was sitting on her haunches cleaning the gutters and looked just like a little elf sitting on my roof. Her husband took care of the ground work by disposing of the filled plastic bags. It was unexpected and much appreciated. My street has the best neighbors ever.
The potatoes are still the show offs of the backyard garden. The tomatoes are coming on strong, and the green beans are starting to make a show. I finally have gotten ahead of the weeds and grass mowing, but now the storms are coming in again tonight so it will put me behind again. It’s been a challenge to keep ahead of the weeds and grass this year. The circle in the photograph above shows the beginning of the potatoes blooming. Since this photo was taken, the spuds are in full bloom. I don’t ever remember potatoes blooming this early before. What’s up with that?
I’ve taken on mowing a friend’s vacant lot just for the grass to mulch my garden. It’s free of chemicals that are put on most every urban lawn. Much to my surprise I found that most of the lot was this way. For those who don’t know that this is good fortune, I’ll explain. This is clover that is rich in nitrogen and great for mulching and composting. Many decades ago it was intentionally planted in lawns to give the grass natural nitrogen and its deep root system naturally aerated the lawn. In today’s urban lawn, clover is bad and weed spray is used to kill it. My friend’s lot nets me from 5 to 7 yard waste bags of grass every time I mow. I use the grass for ground cover mulch to keep the weeds down at Terra Nova Gardens. It works really well especially when I slit the bag up the side and spread the grass out over the top of the flattened bag. So, yeah, I mow for grass.
I hope your gardens are doing well this year.
No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden. – Thomas Jefferson
