what's in your garden

[Chaos-Shaman]

the web they make are so strong, you could almost use it as ultra light fishing line. i have some pictures lost somewhere on my other computer, but i will make sure i get new ones this year, if they come, cause i'm not going to grow tomatoes, and they were in with the tomatoes, keeping the bugs off of them. i think wolf spoiders are real cool. the way they jump around from object to object. i had one as a friend, it would show up on my computer desk all the time, crawl along the mouse cord, and power cables, onto the desktop. the hair on them looks just like a tarantula. taught my children not to be afraid of them. they just won't go EEEWWWWWW, and kill without some thought. again, the spoider is a teacher. many lessons can be learned from them. i admire them Jan

[Ameena]

I don't much like spiders, but I wouldn't kill one - I tend to just get as far away from them as possible, lol. Generally, the bigger they are, the further away I try to get. I don't really get why people kill spiders (and other such critters) as soon as they see them, or whatever. That's like saying "Omg you exist and I've just seen you, therefore you must die". Which seems a bit...weird. I just move away from a spider and get someone (usually my dad, since it's usually here at home) to catch it and chuck it out the window .
And eeeewwww about hte walking into the big mass of newly-hatching spiders. I think I would probably completely freak out if I managed to do that. Brrr .

[Maven]

I had a spider bite me once.

I was putting on my muck boots to go out and milk the cow. I felt a stab in my toe, and yanked off the boot and dumped a spider out of it. It was a big gray hairy one, but didn't look poisonous. Poor spider was half smashed. I carried it out to the garden, hoping it would survive.

[Maven]

Tomatoes and corn didn't do well last year. We're going to see if we can get them to grow better this year. And melons.

We've planted peas and beets and radishes already this year, and the strawberries are looking pretty good. We're trying to get all the other cold weather crops planted, but we're so busy it's taking a lot longer than usual.

This year we're going to plant a lot more potatoes and onions. We ran out before January.

[Chaos-Shaman]

I had a spider bite me once.

I was putting on my muck boots to go out and milk the cow. I felt a stab in my toe, and yanked off the boot and dumped a spider out of it. It was a big gray hairy one, but didn't look poisonous. Poor spider was half smashed. I carried it out to the garden, hoping it would survive.

yeah, turn yer boot upsidedown, shake for 10 seconds, slap the top on an angle, and be sure., hehehee

[Chaos-Shaman]

Tomatoes and corn didn't do well last year. We're going to see if we can get them to grow better this year. And melons.

We've planted peas and beets and radishes already this year, and the strawberries are looking pretty good. We're trying to get all the other cold weather crops planted, but we're so busy it's taking a lot longer than usual.

This year we're going to plant a lot more potatoes and onions. We ran out before January.

hi Maven

it seems the conditions for certain areas with certain species has been extreme, localised

[cowsmanaut]

My mom and I are allergic to spider bites. We puff up. Thus my reason for not really being fond of them in my personal space.. but if they hang out in a space that I don't expect them to come near me, they get to live My mom woke up one early morning with a swolen face from a spider bite, she didn't even know until she looked in the mirror.. probably rolled on tot he little bugger..

anyway, garden is doing well. Everything has suddenly burst forward, the Strawberry is seeding another pot I put down (you know how they like to jump.. ) not sure when to sever the link.. I'll wait until it gets a fair bit bigger.

[Jan]

not sure when to sever the link.. I'll wait until it gets a fair bit bigger.

You should really wait for some time. It should have at least 3 or 4 fair leaves, and a strong root (so when you lightly "pull" it, you feel that it does hold in the earth). Anyway, we basically do these things in the autumn.

[cowsmanaut]

yeah, the link has rooted itself fairly well has two leaves and I think a third is on it's way out.. before I purchased them I didn't know they jumped like that.. I'm glad I realized while it was still potted otherwise it might have taken over

[Chaos-Shaman]

strawberries can take over, hehehehe. tulips are on the way out. it has been dry here this spring, but so far it's better than the last three springs. i could not even till the garden over because it was so wet until june. i finally brought my cactus outside. san pedro and peruvian torch. both have nasty spines, some near 5 cm long. happy to get them out of the basement.
I planted the giant pumpkin, have 11 of them sprouted already. hopefully we'll get lots of sun this year, the package says they grow from 100 to 500 lbs. We'll see.
as for the spider, if it is in your space, it is fair game. i don't like spoiders in my bed. i can't recall a spider biting me, or have seen one bite.

[Chaos-Shaman]

my biggest pumpkin was 64 lbs, but it was only my second try, so i'll give it another try next year.

[Jan]

Congratulations!

We had a very poor harvest this year, especially of fruit and nuts (almost no nuts this year - no fun, and future problems with Christmas candies). We only had a relatively good harvest of beans and tomatoes (from our greenhouse). The spring was too wet and the summer was very hot and dry. Also the farmers had a bad year.

[Chaos-Shaman]

that seems to be happening to everyone, there have been big swings with the occilation of polar air. this has been going on for a few years now.

[Chaos-Shaman]

8 years later, we've seen quite a lot of fluctuations, where I live has been cooler than average since 2007, other spots like the east coast of America has seen a warmer trend. Alaska especially has seen a warmer trend, the warm pacific currents have penetrated the Bering Straights, the Arctic has warmed some in regions, there has been lots of new discoveries on the Arctic Ocean floor, hundreds of Volcanoes, smokers, the discovery of large amounts of built up methane gasses under the ice being released by the sub-volcanic activity, the currents pumping in warmer water also poking itself into the Arctic by means of a passage between Greenland and Iceland, if one looks at the ocean floor here you can see the terrain it flows over, all active and warm as that Skul volcano that went off and closed down the airports in EU for a while. The Antarctic has gained ice, mostly sea ice which we have seen break off recently, this is also due to underwater volcanic activity, but we shall have to wait another 10 years to get a better picture, 20 years on a global scale is peanuts for using as measurements, people tend to forget that their lifetime is nothing compared to the earths transforming life span.

This year I plan to plant a few things, beans, tomatoes and ghost peppers, I no longer have a giant garden, made way for water slides and giant bouncer castles for the grandchildren. I hope it is Hot and Sunny this year!