I'm scattered lately and don't have SF plans together. I will get there this week, no worries.

We ended up with an inch and a half of rain last night. So, that's about 2 inches this month. Not great, but it is something.

And I didn't have to water today. Yay!

We did get all the crap to the "curb" this afternoon for big trash pick up.

So much to do this week. I'm not trying to be over-the-top, but really do need to get organized because my life will get busier, believe it or not, in the next couple of months. This organization is in preparation for that. If I don't get organized, then there will be no time to do the things I want and enjoy like gardening.

I'm finally sitting down to see the damage that was done yesterday. So sad.

I just didn't have a chance to watch any TV today. And just now seeing the awful damage. It brings back horrible memories from 2013 and 1999. It makes me feel panicky and anxious. My heart hurts for the people affected in those communities that were damaged yesterday. The trauma will stay with them forever.

We have a good friend in ICU and another good friend whose mom passed.

Work today was ridiculous. Our internet was down and somehow I was tasked with getting it going again. ME! I'm no tech person at all. Luckily our IT people picked up the phone this morning and with Facetime I was able to get it back up for ALL the things that we use the internet for. I was fortunate they picked up because they don't work on the weekend.

Tasks for this week: planting peppers and seeds for a few things that I can't remember right now, but they're on a list. Finishing the shop clean-up/organization. Getting the SF list together. Deciding on a dish or two to take. IF I have time, shopping for a door prize gift. If I don't have time, I just won't participate. It's a pretty full week at work and with home tasks.

Already the struggling heirloom tomatoes look better with some nourishing rain.

Still eating lots of the seasonal things: asparagus, lettuce, kale, spinach, arugula, strawberries, and eggs.

The arugula is beginning to bolt, tho.

Anyway...just checking in for a few minutes. I'll get over to the last week's thread and read what everyone else is up to.

Jennifer, thanks for starting the thread. I am excited about SP, but I am afraid that Madge and I almost waited till we were too old to join you guys. Jerry and Emmy came by this evening to touch up our plans ( we need someone to drive us )

We have been having nasty weather, but nothing as bad as some of you. My phone has been going off all evening with extreme weather warnings, but nothing has hit here other than hard rain and some wind. I had plant damage from last night, and I am sure I will find more damage tomorrow, but I still have plenty to bring.

We are looking forward to meeting y’all Larry. How far of a drive is it for you? I haven’t noticed any damage except a broken limb on my largest tomato plant.

Well, that was too much rain all at once. Even yesterday, we ended up getting a crazy downpour. Huge ruts and deep holes in the garden. My theory is that the moles tunnels collapsed when the rain came pouring down. The ruts look like lightning bolts through the garden.

It took out some bean sprouts and about 1/3 or the corn sprouts in the back of the garden. It's always something. I tried my best to fill what I could, but the garden soil is liquified at the moment. Will probably be a few days until we can reseed.

Here's a question: If you had about 1/3 of your corn sprouts taken out, would you pull all of the sprouts and reseed the whole thing again? Or would you just reseed those that were lost and live with stalks that are a few weeks behind the others?

It's a hard call . When I have skips in my corn planting I usually just replant the skips.

I'f I had half or more that didn't come up ,probably would be better to just till it up and replant the whole thing. It all needs to pollinate together.

Rick

Kim, it is not far at all. When I was young I use to go over in that part of the country often. I use to love to camp, and Tenkiller lake, and Green Leaf lake were 2 of our favorite spots to go. I expect that Spring Fling will be a shorter drive, maybe in the 60 to 80 mile range. I live south of Ft. Smith near Sugar Loaf Mountain.

I should have taught my plants how to swim, the ones I left out in the front lawn have been treading water for two days.

The sweet potatoes that I have planted look nice, I expect to make cuttings from the ones I planted in about a month, I will want more of the Covington potatoes. I have a total of 85 plants in the ground now, but only 45 Covington.

Rick, I hear you. It's so early in the season, there is plenty of time for corn and I hate to have mis-timed plantings, especially with corn being the way it is. I'm leaning toward reseeding at this point. They had just come up about 1 week ago and one may have been a couple of inches tall. Now it's just a question of when I can even get into the garden.

Friggin weather...I love to watch it, love the sound of thunder, but it can really wreck things. I feel terrible about Sulphur, Holdenville and the other places that have a tall mountain to climb.

On the bright side, the cabbage is looking excellent! Broccoli is holding up really well also. Potatoes are flowering & carrots are putting on foliage. And I don't know how, but the tomatoes made it out unscathed. I'm not much of a "silver lining" type of guy, but all in all, it could be a helluva lot worse and I'm thankful that it ain't.

So, what is the story on this Spring Fling that I'm hearing about? I have no idea what it is or what it does.

Larry, some of our sweet potatoes last year are trying to grow slips inside the house. They're white, of course, because they've been in the dark. Can you teach me how to get slips off of these things? Is it too late at this point to try? We usually plant them around mid May and normally just buy slips at our local place.

Josh

Josh, you have heard that there is more than one way to skin a cat, well that applies to sweet potato slips also.

You can see on the right is a pan of Covington, on the left is a hand full of purple sweet potato slips that I pulled this morning. The purple slips were grown by placing the potatoes in a flower pot with the sprouting end up, and then covered with potting soil, you get more root this way. The cake pan on the right has Covington potatoes in it, if the potatoes are very large you cant cover them using this method. I like using the flat or cake pan method best because they fit my heat pad better, but I did not use heat this year, and its been hard to get the Covington to sprout. All of my Covington slips this year came from potatoes grown in 2022.

If you are at spring fling, there will be a lot of slips there, if you are interested in trying different kinds. I plan on having 3 kinds there.

Josh, the Spring Fling is a get together. Mostly people who met here, and before at Garden Web. When I first came here, the event was held just about 10 minutes from me at Paula's house. She no longer lives there. People came from all over the state. We had it at Thunderbird for a couple of years afterwards, and last year it was at Jen's house. This year it is at Webbers Falls.

Normally, we eat (all bring a dish or two). Bruce is making pulled pork or brisket. We bring plants to share. Usually there's a table for plants that are spoken for. Those will have people's names on them. Then a table to shop from. It's really nice.

The first one I attended I was like, "we can just take these plants?" Jen was the first person I met and remember shopping the table with her.

If you want to participate in the door prize, bring a garden related item that is around $15 to $20.

If you're interested in going this year or in the future, let us know. Are you on Facebook? We have a group there especially for the Spring Fling. This year it may be a bit smaller. Someone guessed around 20 people.

Many of the people who used to post here, no longer do. We keep up at a specific Facebook group. Originally there was a fear that this group would be lost before Houzz took it from Garden Web. I was really new at that transition and didn't understand it all. That's why Facebook groups were created.

I'm glad several of us still check in here to keep this going.

They even let people from other states come. I am from Texas and I have been coming for about 11 years

Jennifer looking at old threads it amazes me and makes me sad how many people are missing. I am thankful the ones hanging in. Larry your slips look so good. I am going to get my plants ready for the fling. I had them all separated but my kids came Friday and we needed my tables to sort through tools. It won’t take long to pull it back together. They are growing like crazy since it rained.

Kim, me too!

I think about the people who used to post regularly from time-to-time. I recently thought about the man who took care of the gardens at St. Francis of the Woods. He liked all the tractors and equipment because they grow on such a large scale to share with people in the community. I can't think of his name. Was it Johnny?

Jen, we will miss you! Enjoy your time in Canton, tho. Best wishes for a successful open house too.

I'm impressed that you were able to get the Indian Paintbrush to take. Not everyone is able to do that. Is the antelope horn milkweed the "green" one that's showing up all over meadows and fields right now? It's really pretty. I don't have it on my property for some reason, but it's next door.

Someone mentioned somewhere about not hearing from Tim (Coyle). He's probably really busy helping with clean-up there in Marietta. Dawn would be taking food and drinks to all the workers if she was still with us.

I'm drinking my tea and waiting on the laundry to finish so I can head out to plant the peppers. I'm happy to get this done. I'm also happy to have a quiet day at home.

I made chamomile simple syrup this morning and my house smells delightful.

We continue to make progress on the shop tidy-up. Got the other shelves made and all the holiday tubs up.

We moved a few things around. I was able to sort through my garden shelf and clear out some things that were just sitting unused. Bought a couple of tubs with lids to store little things in. It's nice to have things in tubs. It keeps them cleaner and spiders can't get into the tubs.

There's a huge pile of garage sale items that will be taken to my Mom's house in a couple of weeks. I'm finished with having garage sales, but she wants to have one.

We still have a ways to go, but I can see the difference.

There's a house close to my daughter that I really like. It's on an acre. It has a small coop and raised bed garden. But, the utility room is what dreams are made of. There is a passway between the kitchen and utility that has a wall of cabinets with a counter. THAT would be a perfect spot for ALL the ferments. It's hard to find a place for the kombucha jar, the fermenting crock and all the jars of ferments. THIS would be it. The cabinets could hold all the herbs for all the things--teas, culinary, medicine, spiritual. And that's just the passway. The utility room is so nice. Could house the garlic, potatoes, and onions and jars of preserved foods. There would be plenty of room for herb drying racks, plus all the animal stuff. It's just giant. It's almost obscene.

We're not prepared to move and this house is just a little more than what we want to pay. But, wow. It's perfect for us.

I do like my house, tho. It's just far from my kids.

Anyway...Roomba finished and the laundry is about done, so it's time to head out.

Have a good day.

Jennifer, could you be thinking of Johnny Coleman and Vision farms, and his 8N ford tractor, and potato digger, and other equipment? I think of Johnny often, but I don't know of any new news on him, but I would like to hear from him. I think he has, and maybe still is doing a great work.

You can follow Johnny on fb. I do and it’s nice to see his work

Here

Yeah! Larry and Kim, that's him. Thanks!

I planted 42 peppers this morning. They were looking a little sad with the wind and sun. For some reason I thought we were going to be overcast today. Maybe they'll make it.

I tucked Seminole seed into odd and various places.

After Pilates, I was able to walk around the gardens and grab the asparagus and more chamomile before dark.

I see several smallish chamomile plants that will be good for transplanting. I'm not going to try to dig up the large ones to bring to SF. The smaller seem to transplant better.

Hoping to get that done Thursday evening.

Not much garden time today. Had to get new tires, check in on my sister in law, grocery shop and bring it all home. Then the dog and puppies were out again. Watered a few things but the mosquitoes were so bad.

Hey Larry , I thank you for the Covington sweet potatoes.

Wish I could make it to SF and meet you and others personally , but it's just not possible with the way I have to do.

All the storms aren't helping any.

Here's what's bugging me now :

https://www.fox23.com/video/video-morris-residents-working-to-repair-damages-following-sunday-morning-storms/video_61cfc76b-791a-5136-928a-5cc416bc5f9a.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0b_QaX0oF-4fozJFvz0Gncmg-ipit1zvfsqoJ3FpWzRCtShqxlj0YuPh0_aem_AciMUgkT_KhIoza9_EuL7QcelXFqYbQnkPD3hVEQtQmEKr9XIoSQFsMuGpy_-ya2JWoCDknGjr_EbML0qUmWdQM_

It's not as bad as Matietta , or Sulfur or Holdenville but a tree penetrating your house roof isn't to be taken lightly either.

Rick

Rick, you are welcome. I am not 100% sure of my sweet potatoes. I grow 3 different kinds, and store them in the same area, and I have grown others in the past which I have weeded out.

Several years ago there was a lady on this forum that talked about "Landrace", something I had never heard of before, relating to plants. If I understand the process correctly, you just save the best of what you get. It they cross or mix, its just fine. I dont think sweet potatoes well cross, and I store the tubers in the same area, and pick out what I think is the best potatoes ( of what I want, which is on the small side ) to make slips. The ones I like best, I call Covington, because I was given some slips years ago that I was told were Covington. I grow one that I call Red Wine Velvet, it is ugly, but taste great, and will keep 3 or 4 months. I also grow one that I just call purple, because that is the color it is. I don't care a lot for it, but my kids do. I will send some of all three and you can judge for yourself.

I may have shot myself in the foot with this landrace idea, because I cant get the last years Covington to produce slips, all the slips that I have this year are from 2022 potatoes. When I get caught up I plan on placing those potatoes on the heat mat till they slip of they are cooked so I can eat them.

I am not sure what kind of slips I have either. I will bring some to the fling as well.

Kim, those are really big nice slips. I don't have any that large. I pulled some today that don't even have any roots on them, and not over an inch tall, but I often plant slips without roots on them, but I will bring some of the better ones to fling. I have plenty already planted, and if the extra I have at home flop I will still be fine. Matter of fact, I plan on planting some runners off of some of my plants in a few weeks. I will just strip all but a few leaves off of then and plant them in the north garden and keep them damp till they root.

Larry how should I prepare mine to come to the fling? I am used to just pulling and planting.

About this tomato I am bringing to you Larry

Giant crimson

Indeterminate - Plants produce decent amounts of tomatoes with a pink/red hue when fully ripe, weighing around 8-10 ounces, sometimes close to a pound. The fruit is a bit of beefsteak with meatiness but also the juiciness of a slicer. Seeds are medium size but few.
If you haven’t heard of this tomato, don’t feel bad. Most haven’t for over 45 years. It was extinct until we sprouted seeds that came from 85-year-old packets.
Two germinated, and 1 survived; we produced cuttings, saved seeds, and continued the process. It isn’t about the money as much as the story behind this variety, the journey it took to get here, and the mission to preserve genetic diversity in seeds!

Kim, that is interesting, and I have not heard of it, but I do like to try different types of plants. Another , new to me, tomato this year is the Green Zebra, which does not look fit to eat, but I think I want to try it because it looks so different. I have more beefsteak types of tomatoes than anything else. I guess that Brandywine is my favorite tomato, but they can be slow and lazy. Another new trial this year is Early Treat, I have read that it is like 4th of July, but I am out of 4th of July seeds.

How do y'all plant your cucumber seed ? I've done this only two years now and I'm thinking two seeds every 3" apart . My row is 8 ft long. Then I'll thin to 5 or 6 plants. I lost plants to cutworms last year.

I plant my cukes in hills about 2 foot apart , same way I do squash. But I don't trellis them , I just let them sprawl on the ground.

Rick

I got a cattle panel I use for a trellis. My memory is terrible, but I think I grew the plants one foot apart last year because I could trellis., now that I think about it.

I like to use a trellis, I plant my seeds about 4 to 6 inches apart, then thin to about 12 to 15 inches apart, but only make my row about 5 or 6 feet long, if we canned I would plant more. I am trying to grow cucumbers in a mineral tub this year, those are planted about like Rick plants. I have one tub of Long Green, and one tub of Straight Eight. I dont have a trellis built for them, and they are needing one.

Kim, I got a better stand on my carrots the last time I planted them, I covered them like you and Amy said. I used a tool cabinet drawer liner. I think I will buy more of them, or something like them, because they are easy to roll up and store when not in use.

I don't expect to get any production because I expect that we will soon be getting hot weather, but at least I think I know how to get the seeds to germinate.

Larry those look awesome. My carrots are coming out very soon. I need room for cowpeas

Lynn, I probably plant the cucumbers too closely. I grow on cattle panel trellis. Normally about every 6" and I don't thin.

Everyone must be pretty busy today. I'm still at work for an hour and then have an errand to run. Pretty tired because I went with the school to the science museum. Way too many people and way too loud. I went to their "sensory" room that is geared toward autism and other neurodiversity. I felt great in there! (I checked all but 1 out of the 11 signs of autism in girls "test" that I took awhile back. But, I'm not autistic....just struggle with noise and sensory overload so easily) I also felt great in their garden.

Anyway....I have to do an errand after work and then home. I'll dig up the plants for SF. Tomorrow, I'll go to the store and get the ingredients for the pasta salad I'm taking on Saturday.

FInbar had a re-check on his ear infection (still has it) and also a mass on his shoulder that ended up being an abscess from another cat's bite. So, the vet opened it and put a drain in it. He was sedated, of course. He has to wear a "cone of shame" , which he managed to take off last night. The drain comes out on Saturday, so I'm going to run him up to the vet at 8 before heading out to Webbers Falls. He's stuck in the hall bath because I don't want him draining all over the new floor or furniture. He's not happy.

It gets us on the road a little later than I would like on Saturday.

I looked at the pepper plants last night. A few leaves are ripped, but overall they look good.

What else....

Oh, I tucked in a few butterfly peas into pots that I hope will climb a specific arch in the kitchen garden.

Really need to plant the cucumbers and Kajari melon but will wait until next week. Time is limited right now.

I have been crazy busy. Got home at 3 and I have been running since. My plants are too tall to fit in the crates so I had to rearrange the entire van to be able to fit a huge box of plants in the backseat. I am not sure how much luggage my friends are bringing so I can’t fill all the spaces. Larry’s giant crimson is probably taller than a 5 gallon bucket at this point so I tucked it in where it won’t get damaged. I need to chop my veggies Paul carrots and finish up a few last minute things. I will leave here at 6:30 in the morning to start picking people up. On the gardening news my peas are just about done I’ve got another little flash of blooms. My nasturtiums have exploded they are bigger than a beach bowl and blooming beautifully. My squash is blooming male and female so I have been hand pollinating those. I planted my orange glow watermelon‘s. I’ve tried to cover everything with insect netting and hope it works for now. We’ll see y’all Saturday morning. I will probably be there about 10

I need to do a better job of getting cuke plants to climb the trellis.

Mine don’t like to trellis either. I plant mine way too close together and hope for the best.

My Parisian cucumbers are just now reaching for the trellis.

I don't even have a trellis for the Straight Eight, and Long Green. I have the material cut, but the trellis wont build itself.

Some how I have got my Dwarf Sweet Sue, and the Fred's Tie Dye tomatos plants mixed up. I have never grown either one before, and what I have I cant tell them apart. I plan on bringing some to the fling. They are pretty plants, and if you take any, be ready for a surprise,

I want a dwarf variety. I’ve never grown one so I hope there’s an extra

Yes, Kim, I will put you name on one, or more if you want them. I have a Bush Beefsteak that I have grown in a container that worked out well, I think it is a determinate, but the soil in the container was so soft that the tomato plant should have been staked. Madge likes the bush tomato, and I have extras of those also.

Anything is fine. I’ve never grown a small tomato plant and I don’t eat them. I like to grow them and give away the tomatoes.

I'll take a dwarf Sweet Sue too!

I'm about to pull the lettuce out the hoop house and want to put a couple of dwarf tomatoes in those beds. I have one left that Jen brought to me a couple of weeks ago.

Jennifer, I have some for you to, but I am embarrassed that I cant tell which is which. I don't know if I mixed them up, or the people picking through them. I have some containers with no tag at all, but I still have too many plants.

I have some lettuce to pull also, its too bad that I don't have any chickens or rabbits to feed it to.

I live in a housing addition in the city, can't tell it by the visitors to my backyard

Last Monday a possum and last night a raccoon

And oh yeah, my next door neighbor has chickens in his backyard. He said one night this past winter, he was woke up by a fox trying to take one of his chickens. He opened the window and yelled at the fox but the fox paid no attention. He had to go out to run the fox off.

I don't know where these animals come from.

Lynn, I am missing some critters, I am glad that they have found a good home with you. They will enjoy eating you scraps and sleeping on your lawnmower seat, and it is best if you don't leave any seed packs out where they can find them, they will scatter them all over your lawn and plant you another garden.

It is raining again here, I may never get to mow the lawn again.

Kim, I have not been able to plant the tomato you gave me. I want to make a special place in the south garden for it, that garden drains much better than the others.

I hope that the garden dries enough to plant squash and okra. I also have cow peas and beans to plant, but I will need a boat to plant them now.

I'm looking for Marlin Perkins to show up to do an episode of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.

These animals must have some place near where they can nest in the daytime. And IDK where that could be.

Larry I just got home. Unloaded plants and cooler and considering crashing early.

Kim, I am glad you are home safely, you have had a busy weekend.

Madge wanted me to tell you all how much she enjoyed meeting everyone and what a good time she had. I am not sure how to do that, but Madge, Emmy, Jerry. and I all had a good time.