Back Home & In The Dirt

A lapse in time blogging here. I spent a week in North Carolina at my daughter Gina’s home. I still did not get away from the gardening on this trip. I helped her build a raised garden bed for those vegetables that she misses from her child-hood garden. The soil there is so sandy. I’m surprised that anything would grow. But her roses are doing wonderfully! My first encounter with fire ants was met with my downeast yankee/Italian stubbornness. I began researching the web to find the most “green” and effective way to deal with them. Waalah!!!!!!! She had a spreader so the 50/50 combination of white sugar and instant grits worked perfectly! Watching them eat it and implode was satisfying I might add.

Arriving back north, it felt good to get back to work in my own space. Who would have thought that finding triple phosphate would be so difficult? As I walked into several hardware, lawn care and large box stores in search, finally breaking down and asking an associate, I truly got the “deer in the headlight” look. I would have been convinced that maybe one person just didn’t know what it was. But this it look appeared before my eyes six times yesterday.

I finally let my fingers do the walking and began phoning a few places. Martin’s Agway in Lancaster had it and knew exactly what it was. They even put a 5 lb bag (at a reasonable price of $5.99) aside for me upon arrival. My new asparagus will have strong, happy feet! I also inter-planted some rows of lettuce and swiss chard. These are not from seeds, but from good size seedlings that had been hardened off.

I’ve also affirmed my commitment to supporting more local businesses in my garden venture. Friday morning was spent looking for flats of the annuals that I did not plant from seed; true red impatiens and blue ageratum. I was floored at the lack of quality at the larger stores.

Sneaking through the lilac bushes, which separate my home from Erma’s, I caught her in her sunroom. It did not take much convincing to have her ride along to Houghton’s Greenhouse in Lyndonville with me. We did this last year and now it appears it will be an annual event.

The flats I found were just perfect. They are planted in the more formal beds in the front of the house and are enjoying the steady rain we are now receiving. We both always seem to leave there with an unusual hanging basket each year. This year she got a rose-colored trumpet plant and I got a basket of sweet alyssum – half in a solid red and the other half is a variegation of deep bluish/purple and white. It is proudly hanging on the back porch that receives great morning sun. It is the perfect spot for me to enjoy my tea in the morning.