March 4, 2012 - Garden Progress

Oh, my. As tired as I was last night, tonight I am exhausted! It was gloriously warm and sunny by 11:00 a.m., so I headed out to work in the garden. I got the entire back fence flower bed cleaned out, raked and amended with composted manure. I dug some of the garlic I had planted last October, since it was smack dab in the middle of the area we will sod, and replanted it in the small bed, next to the lettuce box, that I had prepared yesterday. I'll still have to find room for the remaining plants.

Just as I finished the flower bed cleanup, and had started raking the area where the sod was removed yesterday, both of my sons showed up. Scott was ready to help pound in the fence posts, and John planned on getting the old tiller going.


I've never had to transplant garlic plants before. From what I've read, some people have good luck and others not so much. I guess I'll find out, as they had to be moved. I trimmed the roots just a bit, and trimmed the tops, just as I do when I plant onion plants, and set them 6" apart in all directions. I think I got about 15-16 plants in this small bed.


There are still about a dozen left to find room for.


After Scott and I got the fence posts started, to mark the edge of the garden, John got the old tiller running. We bought it new, about 36 years ago. That shows you how well things were made back then. Of course, we've always kept it garaged and out of the weather.


John hit a lot of roots. He had to chop them out with an ax, and I picked them up and put them in a pile. That's an 8' 2x6 to the left of the pile, to give you an idea just how big they were.


The roots were huge. This one is leaning on a 4'x4' post.


Oops. I knew there were no gas or electrical lines back there, but I forgot about the TV cable//internet/telephone lines. You would think they would have buried them deeper! Luckily, they weren't cut. It will, however, necessitate having to make two triangle shaped garden beds, with a path in between, to protect the cables from any future digging. It also means this is where the gate will go, so the fence posts are in the wrong places! Oh well, I'm not going to make Scott move them. If it looks odd to have a 3' gate and posts in this 8' section, so be it. We're going for function over beauty in this case.


We were getting a lot more done than I thought we would! John kept tilling, I kept pulling out the roots and stacking them up.


He definitely earned his keep, what with all the tilling and chopping.


We're not talking tiny feeder roots here, people!


Many were this size.


And some were even larger!


Finished! The pile of sod in the middle is over the top of the old tree trunk. There was no way it was coming out, so I'll build a raised bed over it and plant it with winter squash.

Tomorrow the plan is to straighten, plumb and finish pounding in the T-posts, so they are all 3' high. Once that's done, I'll either put up the plastic net fencing again, or buy some new welded wire fencing. I wanted chain link, Mr. Granny didn't, and I lost the battle.

A battle I didn't lose was keeping the old east garden plot, rather than putting it in sod! I will sod the few feet at the south end, around the lilac tree and its suckers, but I will retain much of last years planting area. That means the 2012 garden will be considerably larger!


I had a rather scary incident happen today. Around three o'clock, I hadn't yet had any lunch, so I decided to take a short break to eat something. I had a leftover cube steak in the fridge, so I made a couple of slices of toast and fixed myself a steak sandwich. I took it out to the patio, where son Scott was sitting, and started gulping it down as fast as I could, so I could get back to work. I'm afraid I gulped without chewing well, and a piece of steak got stuck in my windpipe. I couldn't breath, I was panicking, and I couldn't make a noise to alert Scott to what was happening to me. I was on the verge of passing out, when I somehow got out of the chair and lunged at Scott, pointing to my throat. Of course, he really panicked! All he could do was stand there and yell "Dad, Mom's dying! Dad! Dad! Mom's dying!" Well, Dad (Mr. Granny) was in the house watching a ballgame. He has priorities, you know. By the time he did get to the patio, Scott was trying to hug me, and I was pounding on my own chest, which finally dislodged the piece of steak....and none too soon! Scott finished off my steak sandwich, while I drowned my sore throat with a few glasses of water. Scott kept muttering how he never learned to do the Heimlich maneuver, and I told him it wouldn't have done any good in my case anyway. After all, I had on an oversized sweatshirt and no bra. He would have been hugging me around my knees, thinking it was my chest!

Mr. Granny sent out for a pizza for our dinner, then I'm off for another hot soak in the tub and a few Tylenol.




42 comments:

  1. Good gracious, that was a scary story about you choking. I am glad you are OK.

    Your new garden area looks great, I can't wait to till mine up next weekend. You don't mess around when you start a project, you hit it hard and I like that.

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    1. I'm a tough old bird, Kris, but that scared me!

      I hate unfinished projects. There's still a lot to do, but I'll keep at it as much as I can.

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  2. Oh geez Granny!! I'm glad you got Scott's attention and he helped dislodge that piece of steak!!

    I can't believe all of the work that got done in the garden today! Those guys must take after you!!

    Boy, what a day!!

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    1. ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Huh? OH! Sorry, I fell asleep ;-)

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  3. Oh Granny how scary that must have been. I'm glad you are OK. Those tree roots are huge and the new garden is going to look great.

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  4. Liisa, I really thought I was going to have to build raised beds over the big roots. I can't believe John actually got so many of them out!

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  5. Oh My! I am so glad that you are OK!

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    1. Thank you, Vanessa. I must admit, it was a close call. Everything is fine now, and I promise not to wolf down my food in the future.

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  6. Im excited about the addition to your garden Granny! Scary story but the last bit of it made me laugh about your knees. :)

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    1. Stay @ Home, I think you're the only one who caught on to that last part, LOL! Unfortunately it's true ;-)

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  7. I'm glad that your ok, it must have been very scary!

    The new addition is looking great. It's amazing how much you got done in the last two days. Lucky you to be able to keep the east plot.

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    1. Yes, Ed, that's going to give me a lot more planting space. I'm thinking the space hogs, corn, potatoes and onions in the old garden area.

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  8. Oh wow that must have been scary. And next time you can do a kind of heimlich on yourself. Go to the corner of a table or chair. Put it on your upper abdomen right below your ribs and push with a quick movement.

    And knees? Really? My mom just uses her belt. ;>

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    1. Gosh, Daphne, you and Kelly could have told me this sooner! Not that I'll remember, if it happens again ;-)

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    2. i agree with daphne. practice a bit doing the heimlich on yourself. you can also use your fist at the base of your sternum, which a chair or table. i nearly choked once on a whole grape. i remember looking around for the best chair to use... strange what you think of.

      v. funny re the knees :D an added benefit : if you heimlich yourself, you will know where to push, bra or not.

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    3. Donna, I think I did hit my chest with my fist, which made me expel just enough air to dislodge the obstruction. I actually had a piece of lettuce leaf constrict my airway once! It just plastered itself across the back of my throat like a big flap! At least it didn't take much to cough that out.

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  9. At first I was just 'wowing' over the roots- but now I read you almost chocked to death. Sheesh! So glad you are okay. You can try and give yourself the heimlich over the back of a chair, but I can't imagine it would go very well. Just figured I would share in case you ever choke in front of Scott again while going braless. ;)

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    1. Kelly, maybe I should practice that to make sure I get it just right! This is the second time in my life that it's happened to me, and Mr. Granny just sat across from me in that restaurant and watched me turn purple. I had to do the same thing that time, just muster up the strength to hit myself and find just enough breath to shoot that piece of steak all the way over to the next table! So embarrassing, but better embarrassed than dead.

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  10. Bless your heart I know exactly how scary that is. I've choked on food before and thought I would pass out too. I'm glad you have recovered nicely.

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    1. Teresa, then you know how helpless and scared it can make you!

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  11. The older I get, the more I resemble that last part. Not quite to my knees, but heading further south every year!

    Now I'm off to take a nap after all the work you did. I got tired just reading about it.

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    1. Just wait a few years, Langela, when you'll be able to walk and polish the tops of your shoes...all at the same time! LOL, I'm not quite there yet. Close.

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  12. I my gosh! That's a ton of work. You all must be exhausted. Please send Scott this way for a day or two. We could use the extra hand!

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    1. Jody, it was John who put in the hard work yesterday. Scott was just my post pounder. I'd worked him too hard the day before!

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  13. You always make me feel so lazy when I see the work you're getting through. Just try to stop sucking steak through a straw!!!

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    1. That's exactly how it felt, IG. It was a helluva clog!

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  14. That is a frightening tale! I'm so glad you are ok. The amopunt of work is impressive but more so is that beautiful soil!

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    1. We do have nice soil here, David. It's quite sandy, and drains well, but requires a lot of water. A couple of years of chopped leaves and composted manure would make it really gorgeous.

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  15. I'm so glad you are okay!! That is really scary, and I think your son needs to hightail it to the nearest training session!! Leave it to you to have a sense of humor about it all :) Your garden is looking amazing, I have a tree trunk in a raised bed too, it's been about 4 years now and it's actually starting to break down now, thanks to the termites I saw flying out of that bed last year! You need REST...

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    1. Erin, Scott's girlfriend called last night and said she gave him lessons! She's a hospital employee, so had to take a training session herself. We aren't "blessed" with termites in our area, thank heavens. I'd rather deal with tree trunks! It's actually a great spot for the bottom half of the old compost barrel, which will be filled with the good stuff that wintered in it and planted with butternut squash. The squash vines will cover the untillable area.

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  16. Oh my, you never lose your sense of humor even in scary situations, you are too funny. I suppose that will teach you to always wear your bra hahaha. Glad to see that you dislodged the food and are still kicking. I think you need to send your son to CPR classes so he can learn the Heimlich maneuver.

    The garden is coming along. I was going to make mine bigger this year but my back went our right before I needed to start digging. I suppose there is always next year.

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    1. Peggi, I'm hoping my old body holds up long enough to get all the beds formed and ready for planting, as well as the cleanup from the big project! I have no idea what I'll do with everything. I guess I'll have to talk John into bringing his pickup over to haul it off to the landfill.

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  17. I am so glad you are ok! And you still found a way to make me laugh.

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  18. Christy, I was laughing about Scott's reaction last night, but it sure wasn't funny when it happened.

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  19. Ah! How scary. That happened to my dad when I was younger; he was sleeping and coughed up something and it ended up lodged in his windpipe. After trying to wake my mom up, he decided it was up to him, and went into the bathroom and hurled himself at the corner of the counter! Like someone else said, chairs and tables are your friends.

    Also, bras just get in the way when you are working out in the garden. That is what privacy fences are for, right? :)

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  20. Prairie Cat, privacy fences and oversized sweatshirts!

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  21. I'm tired already.

    I understand completely.

    A hot bath, maybe a little dash of epsom salt, and your a brand new women!

    :D

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    1. ZZ, I did that, then lay awake most of the night because I was too tired to sleep! I finally fell asleep sometime after 3 a.m., then woke up at 6:30! Today the weather was bad, so I didn't get so much done. Maybe I can relax tonight.

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  22. oh my very scary! Glad to hear that you are alright though!! On a side note wow those roots are HUGE!!

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  23. Mrs. P., yes the roots were huge. Now I don't know what to do with them! They are way too wet to burn, but I'd sure like to be rid of that big pile. It's right where I want to plant potatoes.

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  24. Appreciable work Annie, roots were really huge and now its all clear...

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