Lawn And Order: Special Seeds Unit 😂

Did more manual labor earlier in the week, UGH!

We raked all the old straw from the entire knoll; top to bottom and from left to right and carted it all off.

We then spread pelletized lime and grass seed over the entire area, and then covered using 100'x6' straw seed blankets, 17 rolls!

Before, with old straw -

After, with straw seed blankets laid and stapled in place -

Fingers crossed that our hard work pays off and the grass takes off and starts growing!

Of course, it will depend greatly on making sure it's kept watered and doesn't dry out but that'll be the challenge, as that area sits and bakes in the hot sun all day AND it's a super large area that requires the sprinklers to be moved constantly to ensure the entire area is getting plenty of water.

“Seed, Water, Pray: The Holy Trinity of Lawn Care”

It's Right Around The Corner!

I picked up some veggie seeds this past weekend, can't wait!

I'm starting to give some thought to what I'm going to plant and where.

These items here I'll plant directly in the soil when the time is right.

Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and perhaps some others, I'll pick up at a local farm already started.

Fuzzy Floating Things

It's that time of the year when the poplar and cottonwood trees release their seeds.  They're released in what looks like fluffy pieces of cotton that float in the air similar to dandelions, which also looks like it's snowing.

The picture below kinda gives you a sense to what it looks like. Annoying really and messy. It's a terrible feeling when your out and about in the yard and inadvertently swallow or snort these things, YUK!

Fortunately, the pool is still covered but in years past with the cover was removed these cotton seeds would literally coat the top of the water.  What a pain in the tuchus too, as it clogs the skimmers and taxes the pump.  When using the hand skimmer, it clogs it too and gets super heavy.

Here's a short video I took that gives you a better idea of how crazy this is a times -

Good times!

Inquiring Minds Want To Know

Came across this seed pod (or balls) on our URI tour.  There were oodles of them on the ground around this one tree.  I pocketed this one to aide in my investigation in identifying.

Lo and behold I present to you what's known as the Sweetgum tree balls, which are spiny brown balls of fruit that drop off the tree over time.

Apparently, they're more of a nuisance than beneficial with most Sweetgum tree owners complaining.

Feed The Bee!!

Received, in the USPS, yesterday my free package of bee friendly wildflower mix seeds from Cheerios.  Not sure yet what wildflowers seeds are in this package but I'll get them planted soon and we'll see what pops up...

And We're Off...Update

 

Wanted to provide an update to my "And We're Off" posting from March 24.

 

Admittedly, the results could be better especially if we were looking for seedling from each seed planted.  Unfortunately, that not the case for us.  Since we have limited space for vine growing vegetable, all I was looking for was one plant from each group of which there are five.  With the exception of seeds from the 400+lb pumpkin we accomplished our goal.

As of this morning 25 seedlings have emerged, which makes us at 50%.

 

I need to replant into larger pots, as some of these dude are getting too big and already outgrowing their starter cup.

I Caved In...

I broke down and decided to start some seeds indoors.  Typically I'm against this practice because I simply do NOT have the setup or space to do it properly.  In the past this exercise proved to be too cumbersome, messy and a royal pain in the arse.  I find it SO much easier to take a ride to my favorite local nursery and purchase plants that have already been started, hardened-off and ready to be planted.

However, when I ordered my garlic last fall, the company also sent along a half dozen packages of seeds as a bonus.  Mostly veggies but a couple flowers too.  This is what I've started indoors - Sunflower, Butternut Squash and Eggplant.  Also started was White Campion, otherwise known as Lychnis coronaria (White Lambs Ear).  We have oodles of Rose Campion (Pink Lambs Ear) but no White.  It just so happens that on her way to work one morning last summer JoAnne noticed a yard that had a single, lonely White Campion plant so we patiently waited until the fall when the plant turned to seed, then stopped and "borrowed" a small clipping containing our sought after, precious seeds.

Walla!

I'm happy to report that since this picture was taken (4/26/2012) some of the plants are making an appearance and poking through the soil, with the White Campion being one, yippee!

Note:  White & Pink Lambs Ear is what we were told their names are and what we've come to know these plants as.  We do have a couple true Lambs Ear plants - Stachys byzantina, that again, we "borrowed" from a rest area in New York a couple years ago.