Place for photos

I recently linked some to my photos of the Colorspot visit to my personal Dropshots site but there were too many other photos on the site. However I have since generated a ccmga site for photos by anyone in the group. It's great place to store any you would like or take any for use elsewhere. The signon user name is the same as the blogspot, except for the blog letters and similarly the password is the same except for the "blog" letters. Comments can also be added to each picture if you wish. Here's the link to the site

http://www.dropshots.com/ccmga#

Like anything else ... there is a bit of a learning curve... but you can do it.

Charles (added late ... sorry)

Bamboo stakes

If anyone wants stakes for tomatoes, bean poles, trellises, etc, we have plenty - all sizes. Just come and get them. Wayne and Kathie, 743-5494

Fun and games @ Gardendale

The entertaining saga of the Gardendale "garden". While visiting my mother in law in early April, I discovered a garden plot in a corner of the Gardendale facility. It appeared the site had been "lightly" tilled and someone had planted some onions and peppers along one edge of the garden ... no rows, no hills just in the flat tilled soil. At the opposite end was an envelope of watermelon seeds.
I made a few contacts and met Gene and Pee Wee at the home. I suggested helping them by making up a few rows and tilling up the garden a bit more. I had planned to do that the next week, but when my wife stopped by the next day, they were all excited. Therefore, on April 21, I brought the tiller over and tilled the area and some additional space. I had also just learned Joe’s best technique for making up rows at the HOPE garden and applied the same principles.
The next day I met Gene at the garden and he asked me to get him some seeds at the feed store and some jalapeno pepper plants. His $5 yielded him more than $10 worth of plants a

nd seed. The seed (kale, mustard greens, brocolli, green beans, etc.) were each more than enough for either of the 20' completed rows.
When I returned the following week, I found that both rows had been planted and it appeared that all the seed had been used. So much for a semi-professional garden. About a week later I checked the garden in preparation for making more rows and finding a home for more of the plants left over from the HOPE garden. What I found was a few new rows planted a

long the edge of the garden and a nearby picnic table with numerous tomato plants and other seeds. It appeared we had new donations. A few days later we had two rows of tomatoes planted about 8" apart.

By now I had concluded that I was too busy to manage this project and Gene and Pee Wee had much more time than me. I have driven by and watched them just watching the garden grow. I’m confident if I were in similar circumstances, I would probably be doing the same. At least we provided great therapy for some of them.

Last week I went over and staked some of the tomato plants that appeared to be doing well. No more that every third one. Later that day I had complaints from Gene that he had vision problems that kept him from seeing the stakes and had tripped over one. Today (5/7/8) ... I discovered that most of the stakes had been removed and at least one of the healthy plants had been yanked up with the stake ... Oh! Well! maybe we'll get a few things out of this garden in a few months.

Charles

Dollar Value of Volunteers

Agri-LIFE Extension Administration has made the decision to use $19.51 per hour for the "Dollar Value of Volunteer Time."

Garden Signs

I don't believe everything I read. Sometimes people read and write just for fun. At this year's garden tour I discovered that such fun can be found in Jacksonville gardens.

Joe

H.O.P.E. Vegetable Garden

Squash at the H.O.P.E. garden is off to a great start. It will soon be time for very regular harvesting. As I recall there are 3 types and 4 or 5 rows.

The Bee Lady

Hello, fellow gardeners! I thought this may interest you. About a week ago, my husband came running in the house yelling at me to go outside and look. Well, as soon as you stepped out the door, you could hear a steady buzzing sound and the air was absolutely full of honeybees. They were madly circling around a pecan in our alleyway. After about 15 minutes, they settled into this makeshift hive on a branch.

We called Joe, who had some recommendations on beekeepers in our area. We finally found one who was interested, and after setting up a very precarious ladder (!), he and his helpers removed the bees and took them home to their own hives. It is estimated that there were close to 30,000 bees in this particular swarm. Dimensions of the swarm were somewhere around18-20 inches in diameter, and it was approximately 20-24 feet off of the ground.

FYI: Bees swarm when the queen leaves the hive in search of a new 'home'. The worker bees follow her, protect her, and even carry honey with them to feed her. They often will rest on a branch, as seen here, before reaching their final destination. Unfortunately, sometimes they will nest in a house, so that is why I thought it important to find someone to remove (and take good care of!) this swarm. I didn't really want my house to turn into a giant bee hive. For those of you with cable/high-speed connection, be sure to see this video about a woman whose house is filled to the brim with millions, yes, millions of honeybees.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/05/01/anderson.bees.in.wall.wrdw?iref=videosearch

Also, it is worth mentioning that pollinators, namely honeybees, are responsible for 1/3 of our food supply! So, "bee" kind to the bees!!!





- Amanda Childress aka "The Bee Lady"