Tidbit Tuesday - Gardening

 

 ~ the sun is always shining, always! ~

You've heard the saying, "Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most." That's how I feel these days; my mind is missing and I'm struggling just to remain upright. With all that's going on in life just now, I'm going to take on Tidbit Tuesday. It's where various tidbits will be posted to help make your life a tad easier, give you a chuckle, let you share your "secrets" that help you on life's path. Yes, it's crazy because a lot of you know what's going on in Dave's and my life but, you know what? Perhaps having something to think about, blog wise, to pull together and post will help me regain some focus, some goals, some control in my life. And, if it doesn't, I'll stop doing Tidbit Tuesday, it's not writ in blood, ya know -smile-.

We've got a mini-laptop we used for traveling and, let me tell you, it's pretty darn difficult for me to see this tiny screen much less catch spelling errors, etc. When I try and respond to e-mail, the tiny screen let's me see one side of the note and then have to move the thingie at the bottom so I can read the other side of the post. You can just guess how difficult this is on almost sixty year old eyes -LOL-. All that to say, please forgive me for errors.

Tidbit Tuesday - Gardening

Let's face it, January is the best time, although February is good also, for thinking about the garden. There's not much actual work to be done, not when your farm is covered in two feet of snow...or so I'm told...so sittin' and thinkin' is work best done in Jan and Feb.

Do you have an old mailbox that's not in use, perhaps you've been too lazy to take it to the dump? At garden's edge, plant a pole and attach the old mailbox. When you've finished gardening for the day, put your trowels, gloves, spades and other small gardening tools inside. They are always handy and, better yet, dry from the elements.

Glancing at your laminated seed packets, stapled to a post placed at the end of each row, allows you to see, fast and easy, what's planted in that row. A lamination machine is some of the best money I ever spent and not just in the garden!

Leftover tea leaves can give your garden bed a boost of nitrogen if you spread over the soil and work it in. Coffee grounds are especially good for azalea or other acid loving plants.

Club soda gone flat is good for house plants and water from cooked pasta, potatoes or vegetables are good for plants. If you have soapy dishwater, it can be used both in your garden and on your houseplants and will kill aphids and other bugs. BTW, don't use the soapy water on African violets...not good for them.

If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys is a favorite saying of my friend, Max. Peanut shells are good for adding nitrogen and may be added to either your compost pile or directly to the ground. I've never had a compost pile because I prefer to dump "whatever" directly onto the garden. It works for me.

Slugs love beer. If you fill a bowl with beer and "plant" it in the garden, you'll attract slugs who will crawl into the bowl and drown. Make sure you leave the bowl lip just above ground level so the slugs can't crawl to and walk out on the lip ledge.

If you're having problems with 'coons, 'possums and other night critters use your blinkin' Christmas lights in the garden. There's something about blinkin' lights that disturbs critters; me too, for that matter.

Put a bar of soap in the toe of a leg of panty hose; hang this next to the garden hose and you've got a ready made wash up station. Don't bother taking the soap out of the hose as the exfoliating effect is great for the hands.

Don't throw away broken clay flower pots. The edges may be used as a sharpening stone for garden tools.

Nasty plastic bags may be cut into strips and those strips used to tie up beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. Let's face it, the plant will be finished giving forth fruit or vegetables before those bags decompose and the softness of the plastic won't hurt the plants.

Time to get back to the hospital; here's an update before signing off: Dave is doing much better, thank God! Less than an hour after I spoke with the ER resident doc, Dave was moved to the oncology ward where he receives his meds when he's supposed to take them, he's receiving food three times a day along with snacks...did you know there's no food service to the ER? Then again, I supposed folks aren't supposed to be in ER for twenty-two hours so food isn't, usually, an issue. Dave is being taken to Radiation Oncology, or Rad/Onc as it's called, each morning so he can receive radiation treatments and the list of good stuff just grows and grows or, as I prefer to think, prayers go up and blessings come down! Thank YOU for praying.

Today is a l.o.n.g. day. I've got marching orders from Dave, he's given me instructions on doing some "bidness" for him, then I have to get to the hospital and tonight there's a tax seminar for cancer patients and their families. The tax seminar is across town and I'm not looking forward to driving that great distance, especially as it's raining and might be sleeting by then. But we do need this information so I'll go and pray the whole time.

The photo of clouds parting and the sun shining through reminds me the sun is always shining. It doesn't matter if I can see the sun or not, it's there and doing what it's supposed to do - give light and heat. God is always there, doing what He said He'd so...love us, take care of us and, if we've accepted Christ as our Savior, we'll spend eternity with them in heaven. Yep, the sun is always shining and the Son loved us enough to die for us; prayers go up and blessings come down. Bless His name, forever.


Blessings ~ gardens ~ plants ~ God's love ~ Christ's salvation ~ prayers ~ 

Soli Deo Gloria,
Sandra