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**Aalia** · **Aalia** CyBorg User ID: 88539 05-14-2012 03:08 PM **Posts: 3,078**

CourtDude Wrote:

Aalia Wrote:
My Granny died last year in November, we moved into this house 2 weeks later, so I told myself when spring came I was going to make a flower garden in front of the house for her. I update the album regularly so family can see the progress(at first I was nervous about telling them my plans to do this, but they were accepting of the idea, my family can be weird sometimes about things). Anyways, these are a few of the pictures. This is my first time at gardening, or planting. It's not a vegetable garden, so I hope it's okay to post these here. I barely know what I'm doing but I'm trying to learn as I go.

Before:

Dad and Hubby ripping out the old stuff, previous woman who lived here annihilated this dogwood tree and killed it.

http://imgupld.lunaticoutpost.com/graphi...ADFA87.jpg

After:

What I call "the selfish stone" this one is for me. I call it the selfish stone because I'd bring her back if I could, but never at the expense of her own happiness. I like to tell myself that she is happier where she is now, in a better place with my grandpa and her doggie.
http://imgupld.lunaticoutpost.com/graphi...ADF5E9.jpg

Initially this is what the garden looked like, with a Yoshina flowering cherry. Sadly we are so close to the lake and sitting on clay that there wasn't proper drainage so the roots rotted.

http://imgupld.lunaticoutpost.com/graphi...ADF97F.jpg

Her garden stone says "Hazels Garden" with her husband at the top(my grandaddy) then her kids in the order they were born and then her dog Suzie Q. too(she loved her dog). I put what I thought was important to her on there, this is for her not me. (taken with my phone camera, it looks really dark here)

http://imgupld.lunaticoutpost.com/graphi...ADF5FA.jpg

I took these today, the ones I take on my phone come out bad. These I took with my camera so they came out better. since the tree died, we replaced it with a bird bath and shallow rooted annuals. This way I can play around with the flower selection and decide what I want in this area, the rest are all perennials

http://imgupld.lunaticoutpost.com/graphi...ADF657.jpg

http://imgupld.lunaticoutpost.com/graphi...ADF667.jpg

We put the blocks or "pathway" down to mark where the new gutter drainage pipe was, so there is a reason that those square stones are place where they are and in the pattern they are. It is a DO NOT DIG HERE reminder

Everytime the butterflies land on her stone, I get so happy. This is my first time ever planting anything, it's trial and error and I'm learning as I go. But it's been my way of honoring her and my way of internalizing my grief in a positive way since my family doesnt pull together to grieve, we all become distant from each other.

And I saw Aalia's garden and home in person this weekend with my wife!!

The place looks great and Aalia is an awesome hostess!!!

She especially loves it when you take her pic from behind when she isn't looking

shut up you

**CourtDude** · (This post was last modified: 05-14-2012 03:09 PM by CourtDude.)

Aalia Wrote:

CourtDude Wrote:
Aalia Wrote:
My Granny died last year in November, we moved into this house 2 weeks later, so I told myself when spring came I was going to make a flower garden in front of the house for her. I update the album regularly so family can see the progress(at first I was nervous about telling them my plans to do this, but they were accepting of the idea, my family can be weird sometimes about things). Anyways, these are a few of the pictures. This is my first time at gardening, or planting. It's not a vegetable garden, so I hope it's okay to post these here. I barely know what I'm doing but I'm trying to learn as I go.

Before:

Dad and Hubby ripping out the old stuff, previous woman who lived here annihilated this dogwood tree and killed it.

http://imgupld.lunaticoutpost.com/graphi...ADFA87.jpg

After:

What I call "the selfish stone" this one is for me. I call it the selfish stone because I'd bring her back if I could, but never at the expense of her own happiness. I like to tell myself that she is happier where she is now, in a better place with my grandpa and her doggie.
http://imgupld.lunaticoutpost.com/graphi...ADF5E9.jpg

Initially this is what the garden looked like, with a Yoshina flowering cherry. Sadly we are so close to the lake and sitting on clay that there wasn't proper drainage so the roots rotted.

http://imgupld.lunaticoutpost.com/graphi...ADF97F.jpg

Her garden stone says "Hazels Garden" with her husband at the top(my grandaddy) then her kids in the order they were born and then her dog Suzie Q. too(she loved her dog). I put what I thought was important to her on there, this is for her not me. (taken with my phone camera, it looks really dark here)

http://imgupld.lunaticoutpost.com/graphi...ADF5FA.jpg

I took these today, the ones I take on my phone come out bad. These I took with my camera so they came out better. since the tree died, we replaced it with a bird bath and shallow rooted annuals. This way I can play around with the flower selection and decide what I want in this area, the rest are all perennials

http://imgupld.lunaticoutpost.com/graphi...ADF657.jpg

http://imgupld.lunaticoutpost.com/graphi...ADF667.jpg

We put the blocks or "pathway" down to mark where the new gutter drainage pipe was, so there is a reason that those square stones are place where they are and in the pattern they are. It is a DO NOT DIG HERE reminder

Everytime the butterflies land on her stone, I get so happy. This is my first time ever planting anything, it's trial and error and I'm learning as I go. But it's been my way of honoring her and my way of internalizing my grief in a positive way since my family doesnt pull together to grieve, we all become distant from each other.

And I saw Aalia's garden and home in person this weekend with my wife!!

The place looks great and Aalia is an awesome hostess!!!

She especially loves it when you take her pic from behind when she isn't looking

shut up you

I love the sock monkeys! Hiding3

**Ohio Dude**

eclipsed Wrote:

do any of U veggie gardeners ever do companion planting?

90% of my raised beds are monoculture but I spend a lot of time planning rotations. What I plant in a bed depends a lot on what was there the last few years. And the amount of composting depends on what will go in there this year. Some things don't want compost: carrots will get hairy, and squash/zuchinni will produce huge leaves and less fruit.

I may try putting some nasturtiums amongst the trellised cucumbers. Otherwise I have no bug problems even though I'm 100% organic.

I'll never be certified organic even when I grow a market sized garden next year (retired!) because the Ohio organization that does the certification is charging $750 for the one hour of 'service'. F*** them.

**turbo** lop guest User ID: 96392 05-14-2012 03:29 PM

New house(new to me, not new construction) here in central Illinois on 1.5acre. Gardening about a half acre, strawberries are in the ground, few sprouts. Blueberry bushes are putting out fruit. Apples and pears have blossomed and begun to fruit. Mulberries died off in the frost, maybe nothing from them this year. Rhubarb has been putting out since March, high yield. Bees are doing their jobs and chickens are on the way. Random raspberry bushes are blossoming now. Tomatoes, Potatoes, Garlic, Peppers, Asparagus, and Grapes need to go into the ground soon. Time and Temperature is about right for them now. I'll try to upload pictures soon.

Great gardens, ya'll. I would encourage everyone to try for bees. You can entice a swarm with the proper conditions, and they'll help with the garden. There is no need to attempt to take their honey if you don't want to, and they're quite doscile. With a strong swarm will come a strong hive, and they will take care of themselves, really.

-turbo

**eclipsed**

U are quite the shallow one, arent U?
Dumbass

**eclipsed**

i throw my salad scraps right onto the soil and the tomatoes just grow everywhere because of this.its crazy wonderful!:
cheer: Cheer

**~ BloodRed NLI ~** lop guest User ID: 18489 05-14-2012 04:34 PM

~ Who would've thought I'd Love this thread of yours, Omega, more than the foreclosure one (or is that now our Dear Sister Sarah's? Cor' Bless 'er!! lol <3)... GOOD ON YOU, and GOOD ON _ALL_ OF YOU that have shared soooooo much on this thread!! Sooooooooooo much to learn, always... one of my neighbors was born and raised on a farm like myself, and has ALWAYS had her hands in the dirt (though she's done it for 20 more years than myself), and she helps me out and I help her out and she teaches me new things and once in awhile I teach her new things, and she says that she will garden 'til the day that she dies, and she expects even on that last day to be shown by the very Earth she toils in the most wondrous mysterious secrets of Life and the sweetest simplest Joys that being a 'green thumb' daily impart on those who take the time to brave the struggle that it can sometimes be. I look forward to sitting, midsummer, with a bowl in front of us and her grandchildren, snapping the ends off of our harvest of pole beans and smelling that green-ness, or getting together with a couple of the other neighbors for a Mr. Stripey tomato sammich with fresh basil and talking about who's got a vole problem and who's got 'todes munching their leafy-greens lol...

~ A garden is FARRRRRR more than just the food it produces, isn't it? =)

~ The _ONLY_ good thing, out of my interwebbitz being off.n.on over and over again for the past two weeks, after getting back from being offline for -nearly- a month, and the fact that even though I have a better connection now, NOW my crap-top is riddled with iffyness (can't sign in, among dozens of other things, which is driving my ADHD mind CrAzY because I left my inbox at 95% waaaaaaaaaaahhhh and I have SOOOO many people I need to write/speak to; this IS getting fixed this week, GAH!! lol), THE _ONLY_ GOOD THING is the fact that I've been going full-tilt boogie on my garden... I am DEFINITELY going to take pics of it (I now have my very own first digital camera, lol, how out of the loop am I? A 4.5 mp hand-me-down from my sister-in-law lol), and when I am able to, I am going to post some pics of all of my handiwork!! Fair's fair, right? I _LOVE_ seeing all of y'alls' pics!! GOOD WORK!! You people rock!! =) It's been hard work, and VERY difficult at times, for me...

~ BUT SEEING ALL OF Y'ALL'S DOINGS, AND READING ABOUT ALLLLLLL THAT YOU'RE UP TO, has been pure inspiration and Heart-fuel for me, even when I'm hacking away at roots, even when I'm in that fine-line of 'mulchy-mania' (lol) where I'm risking vicious sunburn in the sun versus being bit-to-death by the mosquitoes in the shade... sunblock/sunscreen orrrrrrrrrr deet-free skeeno-spray, what should I sweat off until it stings in my eyes today, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?? LOL!!

~ Just wanted to check in quick, and let y'all know that I may not be on the forum much at all today, or here on Omega's gardening thread, BECAUSE I'M IN THE GARDEN!! lolololol

~ Talk to y'all later, tomaters lol!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

S1008

**Leopardsands - Goth Pug** lop guest User ID: 76478 05-14-2012 07:25 PM

**Grendelmort**

First Garden Crop In ! Picked about 10 each Zucchini, Summer Squash and Cucumbers - have about the same amount to pick tomorrow !
The Cucumbers are super sweet, took one straight off the vine washed it with the hose and sliced with my pocket knife (sharing with the dog - he loves veggies). That was good eating x10 !!!!!!
Looks like pickles, and Zucchini with tomato sauce and Summer Squash relish will be the canning items this season.
Tomato's (Roma, Better Boy and Grape) are all producing fruit, peppers are looking nice and the corn is about waist high.

Gonna be a good season here folks !