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It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

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Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

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Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

You are here: Home / Garden Chats / Open Thread: Thursday Garden Chat

Open Thread: Thursday Garden Chat

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From commentor Pukebot (last Friday):

I’ve been meaning to you send some shots of my western mass garden and so when I saw your post that you were fresh out of shots I decided that it was about time. Everything you see was forest 15 years ago. I’ve been picking away at it ever since making new beds and filling in with easy things like day lillies. My garlic is drying in the basement, artichokes are growing and it’s the time of year when you can’t eat enough to keep up with the garden. I have a quick job to do today and then I get to spend the rest of the weekend in the garden, weeding, supporting phlox, and picking veggies. Tell me if the world blows up.


***********

Of course this weekend all the Northeastern gardeners are gonna be frantically tying up what can’t be taken down, as our Southeastern neighbors hunker down and wait to see how bad the damage from Hurricane Irene will be. The latest local predictions are that Pukebot’s garden will get the flooding rains, while my area north of Boston gets “tropical storm strength” winds. So if there’s no Sunday Garden Chat, it may be that we’ve lost power due to a fallen branch. Here’s hoping nobody has anything worse to report than some tomato trellises turned into tomato tunnels…
__
How are things looking in your gardens, whether or not you’re in the storm track?

***********


Reader Interactions

87Comments

  4. 4.

    TaMara (BHF)

    Beautiful garden and pictures. I harvested a 5 gallon bucket of crab apples today and am in the process of making apple butter. I’ll put pictures and results up on the blog when it is all done. But so far, between my pressure cooker, my vitamix blender and my crockpot, this is pretty easy. Don’t think I would try it without those tools. I’m nothing if not lazy.

  8. 8.

    WaterGirl

    @TaMara (BHF): My mom used to make plum-apple butter, which was amazing. Lots of spices. I miss that. If you have some plums, you should try it. (sorry, no recipe)

  10. 10.

    Ripley

    With a handle like ‘Pukebot,’ of course I would have expected such beauty. Really something, lovely.

    Does the chicken have a nasty name too?

  16. 16.

    TheWorstPersonInTheWorld

    Just freaking gorgeous, Pukebot! Wow, stunning and magnificent only begin to tell the story…congratulations on a living work of art, which is what I consider my garden to be also.

    And thank you for sharing the pics. You’ve inspired me to love gardening even more than I already do.

    I’m in Eastern Mass, Jamaica Plain inner suburb to be precise. We’re bracing for Irene too. :P

  17. 17.

    Linda Featheringill

    My spring garden is winding down and I’m still trying to get the fall garden up and running.

    Maybe I’ll get lucky and winter won’t really come to stay until well into November. That would be nice.

    And yes, you East Coast folks: Take care of yourselves and be safe. It looks to me like flooding could be a real problem.

    And do you really want to stay in NYC this weekend?

  18. 18.

    Calming Influence

    If you don’t want them to end up on Prince Edward Island, you’ll get those chickens in the storm cellar, pronto!

  22. 22.

    beltane

    There is some type of creature going into my greenhouse and eating the bottoms of the ripe plum tomatoes. I found a white hair on one of them so I’m thinking skunk.

  23. 23.

    Violet

    Absolutely gorgeous! A real work of art. I love the chickens.

    @General Stuck:

    Get any hummingbirds

    Speaking of hummingbirds, I’m absolutely sure I saw one today. I was on my front porch in the early evening talking on the phone and one flew from the tree across the street to somewhere on my property. It’s the right time of year for us to be getting them. I’ve got to get the hummingbirds feeders up and running. With the drought we’ve had, all my hummingbird-attracting plants have done really poorly, so I’m depending on the feeders to bring ’em in.

  24. 24.

    General Stuck

    @Violet:

    This year was n near complete bust here for hummingbirds. This time right now, at the end of August, normal there would be dozens if not hundreds buzzing around the feeders. Since I was only getting a handful showing up each day, I took the feeders down. It has been a very weird year, both with extreme drought, after extreme cold last winter.

  25. 25.

    Liberal Sandlapper

    We just bought a new house and I have been pondering the possibilities for the garden. After seeing these pictures, I give up. I’ll never measure up!

  26. 26.

    And Another Thing...

    If I promise to be very quiet, can I come sit in your spectacular garden?

    How about posting bigger files so we can really enjoy Eden.

    I see lots and lots of hard work,skill, patience & faith.

    Well done…

  29. 29.

    Mark D

    If I am ever in western Mass., I am sssooooo dropping in for a visit — whether you want me to or not — and am just going to spend a day in your garden.

    It’ll start before sunrise as I listen to the nocturnal animals wrap up for the night. Then I’ll sit there as the sun comes up, watching the light change as the morning goes on. Then a wonderful lunch of organic greens and veggies, followed by a peaceful nap. Afterward, the early evening critters, light fading, and then sunset.

    And all the while, I’ll enjoy those nice cocks.

    Wait. What?

  31. 31.

    Anne Laurie

    @beltane:

    There is some type of creature going into my greenhouse and eating the bottoms of the ripe plum tomatoes. I found a white hair on one of them so I’m thinking skunk.

    Chipmunks will do that, around here, unless I remember to keep the ‘varmint bath’ topped up. Big plastic pot saucer, which I can refill when I’m watering the tomatoes.

    Of course, if a skunk wanted to ‘reap’ my tomatoes, I wouldn’t argue with him/her either. But chippies climb a lot better than you’d think, and they can fit through much smaller gaps than your average woods-puddycat.

  32. 32.

    TaMara (BHF)

    @WaterGirl: No plums handy, but if this experiment turns out, maybe next time.

    I just finished the first round of ‘applesauce’ about 6 quarts of sauce which I’ll reduce this weekend to butter. Need to pick up more sugar and some spices. I have no idea how much this first batch will make, but I must say, it barely made a dent in the bucket of apples, even after I culled what seemed like 1/4 of bad apples during the washing phase.

    And Pukebot, again I say, stunning garden. I keep coming back just to look at the pictures.

  36. 36.

    Cat Lady

    I love this state. Massachusetts is teh awesome. I grew up here, and it’s a little state, but there are just still wonderful little pockets of awesomeness I still get to discover, like the Buzzards Bay communities, the deep clear kettle ponds on the Cape and in the western suburbs, pristine ocean beaches on the north side of Ptown, the west side of the Connecticut river north into the hill towns, and then the Berkshires and the culture there – dance, music, art and spiritual centers. And everywhere there are the gardens and the history, the colleges and the artist colonies and the enlightenment principles that have permeated the place. Thanks revolutionaries and transcendentalists!

  37. 37.

    opie_jeanne

    @Comrade Kevin: I love Icerberg roses. In Anaheim, CA, they are used as landscaping because they just bloom and bloom and bloom. They should be the official city flower, just like the jacaranda should be the official city tree.

  38. 38.

    pukebot

    i thought this would go up in the middle of the night so i’m sorry i wasn’t around to immediatly answer comments but thank you all so much for your kind comments. it is a labor of love.

  39. 39.

    opie_jeanne

    Truly beautiful, Pukebot, and you’ve given me some ideas for a couple of empty garden beds in my yard.

    I love the chickens, but don’t they eat every green sprout in sight?

  53. 53.

    TaMara (BHF)

    @Cat Lady: When we lived on the Cape, it was just lush. Grapes, raspberries, blueberries, all wild. Flowers and trees everywhere. Of course it was wasted on me, I was in middle school. I did love canoeing through the salt marshes and walking along the trails leading to the beach. Always see some new wildlife. I did enjoy my ancient cottonwood that held my beloved tree swing. It still stands, surviving nor’easter and hurricanes. Hope that holds true after this next storm.

  57. 57.

    Yutsano

    @Big Baby DougJ:

    Chicken make a lousy house pet.

    LOLwut? How many house pets not only do pest control but produce natural fertilizer AND organic edibles more or less constantly? Durn city folk, can’t find their way to sense even with a GPS.

  58. 58.

    pukebot

    @Cat Lady: oh god i could wax poetic about mass all day long. i grew up in eastern mass and moved west after college. the hilltowns of western mass are as close as you’re gonna get to heaven without shooting yourself in the head. evrything you just described and more.

  59. 59.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @pukebot:

    You are hysterical

    Your garden is breathtakingly beautiful

    Your chickens are adorable

  65. 65.

    pukebot

    @bookcat: why thank you my good man. and those pictures sucked. when it comes to photography i’m a black thumb. wait, maybe that’s the problem.

  73. 73.

    pukebot

    @And Another Thing…: i don’t know much about them there file sizes and all. they were like 3 megs apiece. maybe it is a balloon juice thing. i’m just good at pullin weeds, not all that high falootin technical stuff, but i’ll try to look into less sucky photos for next time.

  74. 74.

    pukebot

    anne, thanks for letting me share my garden and thank you all for the kind words. if i missed anybody then i suck. goodnight and remember, “in summer the song sings itself”

  77. 77.

    Calming Influence

    @pukebot: [Smile]
    In truth, I had no doubt. gorgeous garden, and I’d be happy to send some hummers your way if they would only listen. We have five feeders around the deck that we refill every 3 days, and they buzz-bomb us when we do ’cause we’re cutting into their drinking time…

  80. 80.

    Munira

    Fantastic garden year here in southern Quebec. I’ve been harvesting like crazy. Yesterday I made tomato sauce and baba ghanoush and shelled lima beans, which are drying all over the house. I’d send you pictures if I had your email address. When I click on your name under Contact, I just get a screen asking me to configure web mail and I don’t know how to do it.

  81. 81.

    Libby

    Late to the party but let me add for the record anyway — Just wow. Garden is so gorgeous it leaves me nearly speechless. And as an expat from lovely western Mass, a little verklempt. I do so miss the Happy Valley.

  82. 82.

    kindness

    Beautiful garden there. Like the chickens running free. My pups would be oh so happy if I tried that. The chickens sadly would not.

  83. 83.

    HyperIon

    Looks like a buff orpington and a rhode island red maybe.

    My buff orpington went to the stew pot around this time last year. And I doubt my RIR will lay anymore eggs.

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