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You are here: Home / Garden Chats / Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Hope, Someday

Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Hope, Someday

by Anne Laurie|  March 15, 20154:38 am| 112 Comments

This post is in: Garden Chats

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marvel 2015 PinkDaffs6

From faithful commentor Marvel:

We’ve had a mild Winter and a lovely saunter toward Spring — warmish with just enough rain. Everything’s freakishly ahead of schedule, e.g., we’ve been harvesting asparagus for several weeks — the first of them burst upon the scene at the end of January (I know!!!!!!).

The daffodils are blooming all over — the lovely salmon/pink ones knock me out every year.

We’re happy to be off our duffs and finally working & playing outside again — I hope you can too, soon.

***********
Here just north of Boston, my “tomato garden” — empty planters on the blacktopped driveway — is emerging from under the melting snow piles. But it’ll be a few more weeks before the now-compacted mounds melt enough for my own cherished pink, white, and yellow daffodils to spring up in sequence, first in the sunny south-facing front beds, then in the eastern chimney-pocket corner, then against the backyard chainlink, and finally in the western side yard under the neighbor’s overhanging oaks. (All these microclimes, on a parcel merely 75×80 square feet!) Of course, since this is New England, there’s about a one-in-four chance that the poor little shoots will be battered by at least one last snowstorm as they grow…

How are things going in your gardens, or garden plans, this week?

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112Comments

  1. 1.

    Gvg

    March 15, 2015 at 5:32 am

    I had 10 Yds of mulch delivered yesterday. It was in the 30’s for us 2 weeks ago and that is late cold for here. Now we have had 10 days mostly reaching the 80s which is early to be so warm and the weeds have taken off. I want to mulch the beds fast and deep so I won’t spend all season weeding and can get other things done. my Bach is already aching. I have more mulch spreading to do today. Kid thinks it great to climb pile and fall down it in various ways.

  2. 2.

    NotMax

    March 15, 2015 at 6:03 am

    Mowed the property and feel like warmed over sh*t, as per usual after cutting the grass and weeds.

    But had to take advantage of the first non-overcast day without rain in nearly two weeks.

  3. 3.

    rikyrah

    March 15, 2015 at 6:10 am

    Good Morning, Everyone:)

    Got 3 more hours to go of my overnight shift.

  4. 4.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 15, 2015 at 6:24 am

    My crocuses sprang up this week as soon as the snow finally receded. Kind of late for us. My daffodils are peeking up and the iris beds are showing life as well. All my seeds are going great guns with a few exceptions so the MFA will still get a visit or 2 from me. I have to go up to STL and get 4 yards of composted manure this week (one of these days…. I’ll get it together and compost it myself)(sigh)

    Plus there is the imminent arrival of my chickens to prepare for. The Taj Majal of chicken coops is not quite finished yet (why can’t I go cheap when I build? It’s just a frickin’ chicken coop!). I was going to work on it yesterday but when I woke up my back said, “Nope! Not today mf’er!!!” Spent all day spooning a heating pad and by 4 pm or so I felt human again. A little tight this morn but, knock on wood, all systems are go.

  5. 5.

    raven

    March 15, 2015 at 6:32 am

    It’s bustin out here, 78 today and the bradford pears are leading the way. I posted this tulip magnolia last night but, what the hey!

  6. 6.

    geg6

    March 15, 2015 at 6:34 am

    No peeking daffodils or tulips yet, but the pu$sy willows burst out last week, so as far as I’m concerned spring has sprung!

  7. 7.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    March 15, 2015 at 6:35 am

    @NotMax: My landlord finally decided to mow the lawn here today. If he gives me crap about dog sh*t being in the yard, he should have mowed the lawn earlier so I could see where the dog shat.

  8. 8.

    liberal

    March 15, 2015 at 6:38 am

    Just north of Boston…yeah, that’s where I live.

    My question is: how the hell are birds surviving with all this snow on the ground?

  9. 9.

    raven

    March 15, 2015 at 6:48 am

    @liberal: Did they cancel the parade?

  10. 10.

    satby

    March 15, 2015 at 7:20 am

    We went from drifts of snow to mud and bulbs coming up in less than 4 days in this warm-up. I have those same pink daffodils out in a bed, and I’m looking forward to them.

    I only seed started this weekend, it’s still 8 weeks away from our usual last frost date, so I won’t have gangly, stringy seedlings this year (I hope). Lots of yard cleanup to do, but way too muddy and wet to do it yet.

    And I appreciate all the orders last night! I’m working on them today, four more days like that and I can fend off that mortgage company! Thanks you guys!

  11. 11.

    satby

    March 15, 2015 at 7:20 am

    @liberal: If people aren’t feeding them, they won’t survive.

  12. 12.

    Zinsky

    March 15, 2015 at 7:31 am

    In Minnesota, 45 degrees in March would be considered warm. It hit 70 the other day! Tulips have already started poking through the ground. Freakish is the right adjective. While it’s nice to be able to take walks again in shirt sleeves, this is a sign our climate has definitely gone wackadoodle!

  13. 13.

    bemused

    March 15, 2015 at 7:40 am

    @Zinsky:

    I’m in the northeast part of MN where we still have a lot of snow cover although we have had a few days in the 50’s. We’ll be back to the 30’s this coming week.

  14. 14.

    MomSense

    March 15, 2015 at 7:40 am

    @liberal:

    Lots of suet and seeds.

  15. 15.

    WereBear

    March 15, 2015 at 7:45 am

    It’s snowing here, and we still have huge drifts. Daffs are at least a month away.

    Keep those pics coming!

  16. 16.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    March 15, 2015 at 7:51 am

    @Zinsky:

    In Minnesota, 45 degrees in March would be considered warm. It hit 70 the other day! Tulips have already started poking through the ground. Freakish is the right adjective. While it’s nice to be able to take walks again in shirt sleeves, this is a sign our climate has definitely gone wackadoodle!

    2 weeks ago I was in Mpls and it was -10 degrees in the morning. The week after I was in south central Nebraska and it hit 70 degrees at mid day.
    Here in Detroit the last snow piles are still clinging, but won’t last the week.
    Today I’ll cut some pads from our prickly pear cactus in the garden and put them in a pan of damp soil to root. It has gorgeous yellow blossoms in the spring but at the moment is shriveled and collapsed from being under a foot of snow. A colleague wants cuttings for her own garden. I warned her that NOTHING can touch these plants without coming away full of needles like glass splinters.

  17. 17.

    Gvg

    March 15, 2015 at 8:10 am

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: There are spineless prickly pears available.

  18. 18.

    HeartlandLiberal

    March 15, 2015 at 8:12 am

    South Central Indiana is soggy from repeated 36 hours of rain every three to four days for past several weeks. My plan was to till up the 2,000 square foot vegetable garden, and just plan wildflowers, sunflowers, and maybe a bunch of potatoes that can just take care of themselves, since we are leaving for Europe on Apr 22nd and will not be back in the states until June 4th. At that point, I could probably still stick some tomatoes and other vegetables in the ground, we will just have to see. But to be honest, that big a garden is a lot of work, especially since I have to get the water scarecrows set up, then turn them on every evening, and off every morning, to keep the deer from destroying everything. I do plan to till up the strawberry bed and turn it into an herb garden this year. Too much work with not enough return, we decided.

  19. 19.

    gelfling545

    March 15, 2015 at 8:34 am

    It’s been in the 30’s to as high as 50 this past week with rain yesterday but I still can’t actually get out my back door yet. Driveways are narrow here with nowhere to pile the snow between the houses so only the front gets shoveled. Gardening this spring might actually be more like seeing what can be saved & composting the rest.

  20. 20.

    opiejeanne

    March 15, 2015 at 8:36 am

    Here (15 miles east of Seattle) we cleared all but one raised bed of weeds three weeks ago and went to Maui for 11 days. It was a nice trip but there was a bit more rain than we expected and people who come every March were whining about it. We used the rainy days to do things other than sit on the beach.
    We came home to two days of near 70s and the daffodils are almost all in bloom now. This is all at least a month early, especially having the garden prepped for planting. We had the greenhouse all repaired after the disastrous windstorms of this winter, but yesterday’s wind ripped off the door and one of the vents. Honestly, the rain is fine but I am tired of wind.
    It’s just as well that it started raking yesterday because we immediately overdid it in the garden the day before and messed up both of our backs a bit. I had intended to spend yesterday planting seeds in the greenhouse, but Motrin helps, as does lying still and reading.

  21. 21.

    opiejeanne

    March 15, 2015 at 8:38 am

    @gelfling545: We had little snow this year but a week of very cold weather for this area, and I am now trying to decide what we have lost. I think one variety of thyme is gone, lime thyme, which surprises me because the plants are so tough.

  22. 22.

    Phylllis

    March 15, 2015 at 8:45 am

    The dogwoods bloomed on Tuesday or Wednesday in these parts, and I already see some azalea buds. As far as vegetable gardens, we had good luck with a couple of upside down tomato planters from Lowes last year; gonna look for those again. I figure since we liked them and they worked so well, they’ll be nonexistent this year.

  23. 23.

    Tommy

    March 15, 2015 at 8:52 am

    Cold here this year. We went from the teens most days to 60s this week. A welcome change. I can almost imagine planting my garden this year.

  24. 24.

    Elmo

    March 15, 2015 at 9:12 am

    @Phylllis: I tried those upside down thingies last year. Epic fail. Once the plants got a certain size and weight, the wire hangers ripped right through the plastic pot and down went the plants.

    So we planted them in the garden right side up and they did fine.

  25. 25.

    Josie

    March 15, 2015 at 9:43 am

    My oldest son and I are experimenting with raised beds in our new central Texas location. We planted carrots, lettuce, kale, beets, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli and spinach about a month ago and everything is coming up except the spinach. Next week it is bush beans. Later we will put out starts of tomatoes and peppers that I am working with at my house. I am so excited to see if it all works. I have gardened in pots and small beds before, but never in such quantity.

  26. 26.

    Cervantes

    March 15, 2015 at 9:45 am

    @Josie:

    Sounds exciting — and delicious!

    Good luck.

  27. 27.

    moonbat

    March 15, 2015 at 9:45 am

    In Philly, our community garden group is meeting for its first workday this morning to clean up and prep the common spaces. I am hoping the work inspires/jettisons me down to the garden store to pick up some potting soil and start sprouting seeds.

  28. 28.

    Phylllis

    March 15, 2015 at 9:46 am

    @Elmo: These came in their own plastic pots–not the topsy turvy thingees. They kept putting out fruit well into November last year.

  29. 29.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 15, 2015 at 9:48 am

    @Josie: I experiment every year. My failures are legend, but I learn more from them than I ever do from my successes.

  30. 30.

    Violet

    March 15, 2015 at 9:48 am

    Wow, those daffodils are gorgeous! My bulbs are a riot of color at the moment. Tulips, daffodils, freesia, iris, hyacinth. They’re all blooming together, which usually doesn’t happen. Fruit trees are blooming. Pretty.

    As for food, I’m harvesting sugar snaps and snow peas like crazy. Too many to eat so giving them away. Lettuces are gorgeous. Eating plenty of carrots. The brassicas are finished–or I missed them and they’ve started blooming and are bringing the bees in.

    Tomatoes are already in. Need to foliar feed today because I’m way behind. Peppers are in as well, but it’s still a bit cool for them. I hope we’ve had our last freeze but I guess we’ll see.

  31. 31.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 15, 2015 at 10:00 am

    @Violet: N Arkansas, right? Dang, you guys are way ahead of us.

  32. 32.

    Violet

    March 15, 2015 at 10:03 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    The Taj Majal of chicken coops is not quite finished yet (why can’t I go cheap when I build? It’s just a frickin’ chicken coop!).

    For sheer over-the-top-ness, I think not much can beat this chicken palace. Seriously. Take a look at the plans. It’s insane.

  33. 33.

    Baud

    March 15, 2015 at 10:03 am

    OT: You can read the text of Obama’s Gridiron speech here. It’s pretty funny.

  34. 34.

    WereBear

    March 15, 2015 at 10:11 am

    A spring storm is dropping visibility outside to very low. I picked the wrong week to throw my parka into the cleaning bag.

  35. 35.

    opiejeanne

    March 15, 2015 at 10:11 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I keep a journal for the vegetable garden every year since 2010, because I am finding out what will and won’t do well here. I list seed names and note how well they did, planting and germination date, etc. It has really helped, and I just got it out on Friday and started assigning the beds for this year. We have eight 4X5 raised beds plus one very large area, maybe 8 X 20. I think I will have to just buy the tomatillo plants rather than starting them from seed. They replanted themselves for two years and then last year nothing came up in that bed; I eventually used it for cucumbers and lettuce and beets.

  36. 36.

    Violet

    March 15, 2015 at 10:12 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: No, much further south than that.

    @Josie: Don’t be disappointed if your brassicas don’t do well. You got them in late for that location. They’re more of a winter vegetable. It’ll depend on how fast it gets hot. If it stays cool then you might do okay. If it warms up they won’t produce much in the way of broccoli crowns or cauliflower heads. The cabbages especially need longer, cooler weather.

    I need to think about getting bush beans in as well! Been cool here so I’ve held off. I”m still holding out hope the Brussels sprouts might do something, but, alas, I think spring is here and they’ll be pretty much done.

  37. 37.

    opiejeanne

    March 15, 2015 at 10:17 am

    @Violet: That link goes to the Financial Times site called Alphaville, and I can’t figure out where the chicken palace is. Am I on the right page?

  38. 38.

    Josie

    March 15, 2015 at 10:20 am

    @Violet: I was afraid of the warm weather affecting the brassicas, but we had the raised beds ready and thought we’d take a shot. We can always pull them out and put in the warm weather stuff if we need to. I’ve grown the typical warm weather plants – tomatoes, peppers, okra, eggplant, cucumbers – before but never cool season ones due to the lack of winter in
    South Texas. I was surprised by the difference in daily temperatures involved in a distance of only 200 miles, so it is a learning experience.

  39. 39.

    Aleta

    March 15, 2015 at 10:21 am

    Ha, this question made me laugh since snow is still knee deep or higher here ! But some birds showed up yesterday. Maybe time to check the pussy willow, though. It’s a black one, which is fun because the catkins turn from black to red to yellow.

  40. 40.

    opiejeanne

    March 15, 2015 at 10:21 am

    Those daffodils are seriously gorgeous. I think I need to plant some like that for next year.

  41. 41.

    Violet

    March 15, 2015 at 10:21 am

    @opiejeanne: Huh! That’s weird. It worked for me and now it doesn’t. Now it’s asking for a login. Okay, here’s the original Telegraph article, but it doesn’t include the plans. Let me see if I can figure out the other one.

  42. 42.

    Violet

    March 15, 2015 at 10:25 am

    @opiejeanne: Okay, I think I’ve figured out the problem. If you go to the link directly it requires a login. But if you search for the link on Google and then link through from a Google search you can see the page. So…if you want to go to that trouble, copy and paste this link: http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2012/09/25/1176701/crispin-odeyous/ into a Google search box. When it comes up in the search list, click through from there. That worked for me. Another search engine might work as well. The plans are hilarious they’re so over the top.

  43. 43.

    opiejeanne

    March 15, 2015 at 10:27 am

    @Violet: Thanks.

    And Odey strikes me as an odious individual, !30,000 pounds for a henhouse? but then my stockbrokers hate hedge fund guys with a passion.

  44. 44.

    Violet

    March 15, 2015 at 10:29 am

    @Josie: Yeah, you never know. And every year is different. If it’s a late spring or a cool spring you might be rewarded!

    Brassicas are heavy feeders so if you want to help them along use good organic fertilizer, tons of compost and foliar feed with quality liquid fertilizer, maybe a seaweed type. I did the foliar feed on my Brussels sprouts and onions a few weeks ago and am amazed at how much greener they are and how they’ve taken off. Worth a shot since you got them in late.

  45. 45.

    opiejeanne

    March 15, 2015 at 10:33 am

    @Violet:

    From The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/sep/26/fowl-extravagance-crispin-odey-chicken-house

    A humorous accompanying article referred to in the Guardian article about Odey’s chicken coop: Vigger’s duck house: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/sep/07/pass-notes-duck-house

  46. 46.

    Violet

    March 15, 2015 at 10:36 am

    @opiejeanne: I know, it’s completely hilarious it’s so over the top. Did you get to the FT site yet to see the drawings? The north door even has a Latin motto over it: “Bibete Me” (Drink Me). I mean it’s ridiculous. Here’s another FT writeup: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/e5f50a1a-0bb1-11e2-b8d8-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3UStFpdsq. You might have to do the same copy/paste/Google search technique to read it. This one discusses the history of elaborate hen houses and the choice of architecture.

  47. 47.

    Cervantes

    March 15, 2015 at 10:36 am

    @Violet:

    Yes, Cluckingham Palace, someone called it. The final price tag exceeds $250,000.

  48. 48.

    Violet

    March 15, 2015 at 10:37 am

    @opiejeanne: Yes, the duck house! I’d forgotten about that. I think that one was first and Odey was trying to out-poultry the other guy.

  49. 49.

    bemused

    March 15, 2015 at 10:38 am

    @Baud:

    Was this televised, on cspan or elsewhere?

  50. 50.

    Violet

    March 15, 2015 at 10:40 am

    @Cervantes: It’s so ridiculously over the top it’s comical. But at the same time, this guy has enough money to spend that much on a chicken house! Appalling.

  51. 51.

    Baud

    March 15, 2015 at 10:42 am

    @bemused: I don’t think so.

  52. 52.

    scav

    March 15, 2015 at 10:43 am

    @Violet: That government guy built a duck house to protect the ducks from harm (ignore the fact the supposedly govt mooching ducks scorned it). Hedge fund guy had to demonstrate you should build palaces in order to exploit the labor of the poultry. peons. polloi. The foxes now build the henhouse.

  53. 53.

    Violet

    March 15, 2015 at 10:46 am

    @scav: Hey, at least the hedge fund guy is giving the poor chickens a nice place to work. I can’t imagine current plutocrats doing the same thing for human.

  54. 54.

    bemused

    March 15, 2015 at 10:47 am

    @Baud:

    Rats.

  55. 55.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 15, 2015 at 10:48 am

    @Violet: I don’t feel nearly so bad about making my little 10×10 coop able to withstand 100 mph winds, foot deep snows, 100 degree plus temps (-20s too), as well as coon, coyote, fox, possum, skunk, rat,and mouse proof. (easy to clean out too) Thanx!

  56. 56.

    Violet

    March 15, 2015 at 10:49 am

    Just turned on TV and see that Senator Tom Cotton is on Face the Nation. Ugh. He’s a weasely looking creep. Un-muted it for a moment to hear his voice. He doesn’t sound stupid, and indeed Wikipedia informs me that he went to Harvard and Harvard Law. He’ll be a rising star in the Republican party.

  57. 57.

    opiejeanne

    March 15, 2015 at 10:49 am

    @Violet: I could read that, but I still haven’t been able to avoid the dreaded requirement to sign up to read the other.

    Drink me?

  58. 58.

    opiejeanne

    March 15, 2015 at 10:50 am

    @Cervantes: Wow!

    I wonder if he’ll actually keep chickens in it.

  59. 59.

    Cervantes

    March 15, 2015 at 10:51 am

    @bemused:

    No, the event itself is not televised.

  60. 60.

    may

    March 15, 2015 at 10:52 am

    It is snowing in NH. The sugar has started to run a bit later than in the past several years. Hopefully if we have nights in the 20s and days in the high 30s to 40s, there will be a good long sugar run this year. Sometimes we have daffodils in April, but I expect them for May Day this year. We have had less snow than Boston and coastal MA, NH, and ME, but we still have plenty on the ground. No gardening here on the mountain until May and usually just in time for the black flies. That is also when every possible shade of green shows at once in the rushed short northern spring, and the whole mud season slog seems to have been worth it.

  61. 61.

    opiejeanne

    March 15, 2015 at 10:52 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: That’s what I need.

  62. 62.

    Baud

    March 15, 2015 at 10:53 am

    @Violet: Everyone in the Republican Party is a rising star according to your liberal media.

  63. 63.

    Elizabelle

    March 15, 2015 at 10:54 am

    @Violet: I think so much less of Face the Nation that Tom Cotton is their guest.

    The Sunday shows are all about forcefeeding us Republicans.

    Can you imagine that “public affairs programming” TV in years past was all Joe McCarthy and John Birchers? That’s what it’s become.

  64. 64.

    Violet

    March 15, 2015 at 10:59 am

    @opiejeanne: Don’t know why it’s not working. It’s a short blog post that mostly includes the plans. So here’s the link to the actual Planning Department application for it: http://publicaccess.fdean.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=LMGXZRHI88000. This worked for me. Go down to the drawings.

  65. 65.

    BruceFromOhio

    March 15, 2015 at 11:02 am

    The last of the snow mounds are almost melted, exposing flat piles of wet deer shit everywhere. If I saw this in a neighbors yard, I’d think they were raising domesticated deer. The deer were obvious on occasion, and I ran them off a couple of times after one took a liking to the dogwood, and stripped the bark completely from one of the lower, smaller limbs. But Gaia slay me, there’s as much deer shit as there is lawn at this point.

    Everything is still soaking wet and cold. Daffodils are something seen only in the coupon section of the Easter adverts.

  66. 66.

    Violet

    March 15, 2015 at 11:03 am

    @opiejeanne: That link was just one section. Check out the actual plans I linked to see the entire thing. It’s unbelievable.

  67. 67.

    Violet

    March 15, 2015 at 11:04 am

    @Elizabelle: All the Sunday shows have all those people. It’s not like Face the Nation was some shining star holding out from getting down in the mud and now, with this interview of Tom Cotton, they finally have. They’ve all been awful for decades.

  68. 68.

    opiejeanne

    March 15, 2015 at 11:08 am

    @Violet: That worked.

    Still wondering about “drink me”. From Alice in Wonderland (or Through the Looking Glass)? Because the door is too small for a man to walk through, maybe?

  69. 69.

    Cervantes

    March 15, 2015 at 11:10 am

    @Violet:

    Here.

    By the way, you/ve mentioned some of the inscriptions in the blueprints. Here’s a different one found on the structure:

    “Quis primus venit?”

  70. 70.

    scuffletuffle

    March 15, 2015 at 11:12 am

    The sun just came out here in Western Mass. after a rainy, chilly Saturday spent touring the Smith College and Mount Holyoke College bulb shows. Just beautiful, and now I am pumped up to grow something. If my hoped-for raise comes through, I am going to try one or two raised beds for veggies on my sunny front lawn. Have been dying to get rid of the grass for years.

  71. 71.

    Botsplainer

    March 15, 2015 at 11:14 am

    Some Pixar artist has taken scenes from your favorite R rated movies and turned them into a children’s book.

    http://m.mic.com/articles/82665/this-pixar-artist-took-your-favorite-r-rated-films-and-turned-them-into-a-children-s-book

    I am so buying this for parents of toddlers that I know.

  72. 72.

    the Conster

    March 15, 2015 at 11:15 am

    @liberal:

    I started feeding them as soon as it stopped snowing every day and man, the word went out. I’ve got birds, man. One poor cardinal yesterday looked like he’d been through a wood chipper. It’s been wicked hard on them.

  73. 73.

    Elizabelle

    March 15, 2015 at 11:20 am

    @Violet: Oh no, I agree. All the legacy Sunday shows devolved years ago. Face the Nation is hardly the holdout paragon.

    My sister was just visiting. She is less “rabid” than the rest of us here, but started pointing and laughing at Meet the Press last year, and agrees it’s too depressing to watch the news.

  74. 74.

    Violet

    March 15, 2015 at 11:27 am

    @Elizabelle: I keep wondering what is going to happen. There was that brief period where people thought blogs or the internet somehow would supplant the mainstream media. Obviously that hasn’t happened. Twitter and social media and cameras on phones have changed some things but Twitter so often gets things wrong initially. It’s not the same as actual journalism.

    Meanwhile the media becomes more and more sensationalist in the hunt for eyeballs. Hours and days and weeks on “What happened to the plane,” when things that will affect the entire country or world get almost no coverage. It’s terrible.

    So as we go forward and our media consolidates more and more, what is going to happen? Will actual journalism and reporting exist? Will it turn into each outlet being a mouthpiece for a different rich person, like it used to be? How can actual news coverage break through?

  75. 75.

    Dolly Llama

    March 15, 2015 at 11:27 am

    Here in Raleigh, my daylilies are about an inch tall and the irises are gathering pith. Waiting another couple of weeks to set out hanging baskets and herbs. I don’t trust this weather not to go Arctic one more time. Better to plant late than early, I suspect.

  76. 76.

    satby

    March 15, 2015 at 11:29 am

    @the Conster: I’ll have to shovel up the sunflower seed casings from the sidewalk under my feeder. But without the feeders it would have been bleak for a lot of birds here. I’m down to only suet cakes, I ran out of food last weekend, but the snow has melted off and they can find seeds and worms again. Ane the suet cakes are a nice supplement, I have enough of those to last another couple of weeks.

  77. 77.

    Violet

    March 15, 2015 at 11:33 am

    @satby: I noticed a couple more comments and replies to you over in the thread last night where you asked for feedback on your etsy site.

  78. 78.

    opiejeanne

    March 15, 2015 at 11:44 am

    @Violet: She’s already done some work on the site, I see. The cuticle oil is now advertised separately from the beard oil.

  79. 79.

    SFAW

    March 15, 2015 at 11:47 am

    Anne Laurie –
    Did you ask Marvel why s/he has a Donnie-Darko-themed figurine amongst the flowers? Seems a little incongruous.

  80. 80.

    Violet

    March 15, 2015 at 11:56 am

    @opiejeanne: I think they need a separate picture to distinguish them. Also think the sections need some overhaul. Maybe a Men’s section with unscented soap or more “manly” scents? Plus beard oil.

  81. 81.

    Marvel

    March 15, 2015 at 11:58 am

    @SFAW: House Mouse. Benevolent, u-bet.

  82. 82.

    Mary G

    March 15, 2015 at 12:02 pm

    @raven: Your pictures are amazing, but this one is Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Why don’t you send in a whole batch for garden chat? Your wife is obviously a garden guru.

    @satby: I was out a lot yesterday, and the sudden change in weather made the arthritis in my hands act up, so I didn’t comment on your soaps. You sent me one after the fundraiser last year, even though I didn’t donate the minimum amount, and I love it. I hope to order more when I have a bit more income coming in next month. I have never bought a soap other than Ivory in my life, so yours changed my mind!

  83. 83.

    eric

    March 15, 2015 at 12:19 pm

    two palate cleaners from the incredible Jimmy Herring.

    Here is covering the beatles

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdkt55XGEw0

    Here is covering zeppelin

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVp7uS6uaDo

    this is what you are left with when you are in the office on a stunning Chicago day.

    peace to all and enjoy the weather if you can

  84. 84.

    Violet

    March 15, 2015 at 12:19 pm

    @satby: Was wondering if any of your soaps are made without soybean oil?

  85. 85.

    Marvel

    March 15, 2015 at 12:19 pm

    PS SFAW: She.

  86. 86.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    March 15, 2015 at 12:20 pm

    @Violet: For those of us who don’t want to bother registering at FT, the plans are also at the Daily Mail.

  87. 87.

    Violet

    March 15, 2015 at 12:22 pm

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Yeah, read through the thread. They’re linked in various places once we figured out the FT required login.. Thanks, though!

  88. 88.

    raven

    March 15, 2015 at 12:27 pm

    @Mary G: Aw shucks! We’ll see how the whole thing plays out when they start the addition in a month. Lots of changes comin.

  89. 89.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    March 15, 2015 at 12:27 pm

    @Violet: The thread exploded while I was hunting for the plans.

  90. 90.

    SFAW

    March 15, 2015 at 12:29 pm

    @Marvel:

    OK, thanks.

  91. 91.

    J R in WV

    March 15, 2015 at 12:51 pm

    Well, the past week here in W VA has ranged from mid-winter to sudden spring. Hard freezes, which we certainly had, and quick thaws often result in soil events, but not usually events so large that they make headlines, like the end of the CRW runway falling off the mountain!

    Here more locally, the waterline thawed, we had water running for nearly 3 weeks after it froze off briefly, starting the night I got home from my shoulder surgery. The water temp at the kitchen sink was 40 degrees, while we know that at the bottom of the well it was around 55 degrees, so there was some serioujsly cold pipe between the wellhead and the house.

    Then last week it thawed and rained a lot, rain in the 40-50 degree range. So all the tiny hibernating amphibians woke up. We have had wood frogs cavorting right outside the front door, pretty much all say and all night. They save the actual mating dances for night time, but they splash and chase each other around the tiny 6×8 ft pond with quacky glee.

    Wood frogs make a sound like a tiny 3 inch baritone duck, and when 8 or 12 of them are calling out spring it is quite funny. When someone uses the front door, they do stop for 10 or 12 minutes, but then they come back out, splishing around in the leaves and frog eggs.

    So far there are about a gallon of tiny eggs, in maybe 8 egg masses, an amazing amount of eggs when you consider than the average frog is probably only 3 or 4 ounces. Each egg mass is the product of several female frogs, and their swains, working together all night making little quacking sounds as they reproduce.

    We also have peepers – really tiny tree frogs – calling persistently in the woods, peep, peep, peep. They’re so small you need a lot of luck to see one, less than an inch, more like 3/4 inch. But you can hear them, out there in the dark. Usually we’ll see one sitting on a window or under the foliage of a plant on the back deck, just by chance on a rainy morning.

    There are other amphibians too, salamanders, newts, toads, even a bull frog we rarely see, but whose call is unmistakable. We don’t have a freeze in the foreecast, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be one, there usually is in March or early April. When to take the snow tires off is always a topic of much debate, too early and you might miss an appointment in town, too late and you waste that expensive high-traction rubber tread!!

  92. 92.

    Violet

    March 15, 2015 at 12:52 pm

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Never hurts to have another source! Looks like it’s going to be another sloooowww day on Balloon-Juice.

  93. 93.

    trollhattan

    March 15, 2015 at 12:57 pm

    Winter? We hardly knew ye.

    85 yesterday, breaking the record for the date. Kept the bedroom window open the first time since October, and still sweated. Blooming things include the wisteria, roses and the lime tree–all at least a month earlier than usual. What if this is the new usual?

    Jack Ohman’s take on the Rick switch, Scott for Perry.

  94. 94.

    J R in WV

    March 15, 2015 at 1:21 pm

    @Violet: Well, it is spring – and a weekend. So lots of people are out enjoying it not being freezing sleet.

    I bet there’s more traffic this evening!

  95. 95.

    TerryC

    March 15, 2015 at 1:23 pm

    We’re a week into sugaring season. Doing it this year for the first time as an experiment. Have plenty of trees to do it for real in future seasons. Finished off three pints of combination Black Walnut and Sugar Maple syrup just now. Beautiful stuff, that was about 8 gallons of combined sap yesterday morning.

  96. 96.

    WereBear

    March 15, 2015 at 1:29 pm

    @TerryC: Smells so good cooking!

  97. 97.

    MomSense

    March 15, 2015 at 1:41 pm

    @raven:

    Gorgeous. I’m envious. I lost my pear trees, my lilacs had serious damage, and the hydrangea tree may not be salvageable.

  98. 98.

    Tree With Water

    March 15, 2015 at 1:47 pm

    Just yesterday I (almost) capped a four year restoration project on my 94 year old house in west Sonoma county by planting mucho drought tolerant, bird & bee friendly plants and flowers around the house. If all goes well, travelers on the shaded frontage road along the Russian River that leads here- a road lined by redwood trees- will come around a bend and be greeted with an unexpected splash of bright colors, that will as suddenly disappear. My neighbors love me.

  99. 99.

    Yatsuno

    March 15, 2015 at 2:05 pm

    Am I the only one who thinks this might be ill timed?

  100. 100.

    WereBear

    March 15, 2015 at 2:23 pm

    On a Crowdsource note, I’ve got somebody who needs to work at home, and I’m thinking with their typing speed they can do legal or medical transcription. Are there any decent places that train and handle that?

  101. 101.

    WereBear

    March 15, 2015 at 2:24 pm

    @Yatsuno: It’s a bit of a problematic source…

  102. 102.

    Cervantes

    March 15, 2015 at 2:27 pm

    @Yatsuno:

    How so?

  103. 103.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    March 15, 2015 at 2:50 pm

    @Yatsuno:

    It’s dated almost a year ago — May 2014.

  104. 104.

    WaterGirl

    March 15, 2015 at 3:14 pm

    @opiejeanne: Yes, but is the bush oil listed separately yet? I’m pretty sure Dancing wanted to buy some of that.

  105. 105.

    WaterGirl

    March 15, 2015 at 3:26 pm

    @Baud: That really was funny. I laughed out loud many, many times. I could even hear him saying the lines as I read it.

    My favorite is when he chuckles at his own joke. I mean, how can you see that and not love the man?

  106. 106.

    Tree With Water

    March 15, 2015 at 4:01 pm

    Posted today at Salon.com:

    Kimmel opening statement to Clinton last April:
    “If I was president… I’d demand to see all the classified files on the UFOs, because I want to know, I’d want to know what has been going on. DID YOU DO THAT?”
    Clinton response: “Sort of.”
    Kimmel opening statement to Obama on March 12:
    “If I was the president… I would immediately race to wherever they have the files about Area 51 and UFOs, and I’d go through everything to find out what happened. DID YOU DO THAT?”
    Obama response: “That’s why you will not be president, because that’s the first thing that you would do.”
    During this short exchange, Obama fired back with more potentially provocative comments.

    “The aliens won’t let it happen. You’d reveal all their secrets, and they exercise strict control over us,” Obama said. “I can’t reveal anything.”

    When Kimmel pressed Obama, telling him how Clinton claimed to have looked into government files on UFOs and found nothing, Obama replied, “Well, you know, that’s what we’re instructed to say.”

  107. 107.

    satby

    March 15, 2015 at 4:33 pm

    @Violet: @opiejeanne: @Mary G: : I got great suggestions and I have lots of updates to make: you all really helped me better than the shop critique I paid for!

    MaryG, I’m so glad you liked it, I thought for such a great lady a little treat was in order.You rescued a human!

    Violet, I do use soy, but as allergies to soy are increasing, I’m going to start making some alternative soaps without it too. I still owe MazeDancer some in rose!

  108. 108.

    satby

    March 15, 2015 at 4:39 pm

    @WaterGirl: When Dancing started that, I was laughing so hard my eyes got swollen!

    and my answers to everyone else are in moderation!

  109. 109.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    March 15, 2015 at 4:42 pm

    @Tree With Water:

    Jimmy Kimmel started as a local radio sidekick here in Los Angeles (on KROQ) so it’s still so weird for me to see Jimmy the Sports Guy on my teevee.

  110. 110.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    March 15, 2015 at 4:43 pm

    @satby:

    Hmm, G never used that beard oil, and the scent is pretty unisex …

    I think I’d better leave it there.

  111. 111.

    Violet

    March 15, 2015 at 5:17 pm

    @satby: Great! Thanks! I’m not a fan of soy and avoid it except in traditional formats or limited quantities. It’s not great for people with thyroid problems. I’m concerned about the quality of soy oil and don’t really want to be putting it on my skin. Where do you source yours?

    I’ve seen some goat milk soaps using olive oil but I understand that’s supposed to be much harder to work with.

    As I’m typing all that I’m wondering if you might want to outline those sorts of things on your etsy shop. Maybe state where you source ingredients, whether or not they’re organic, etc. If you get your goat milk from a local source, maybe you could partner with them and if they do farmers markets they could take some of your soap to display/sell.

  112. 112.

    Aleta

    March 15, 2015 at 6:16 pm

    @liberal: yeah, it does seems real rough for them. I have some burning bush; always before there are some old berries on it still remaining in May. It’s been completely eaten bare of them right now.

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