Canesisters 2023 journal - turning my Disasters into Delights

[farmerjan]

Those hand held gasoline augurs will hang up on a root and twist you like a pretzel. If you like the idea of your arms tied in a bow tie, go for it.

 

[murphysranch]

I have two augers meant for drilling plant holes, and using a drill. On this rocky slope, we've had zero success with either size. Pick ax is what we had to use.
p.s. Not me. I no longer can swing a pick ax and not hit my leg instead.

 

[canesisters]

I decided to forgo the little drill/auger and ordered an electric cultivator/tiller from the safety site instead. FREE TO ME! (it's my reward for not killing my crazy coworker )
It'll be here in a couple of weeks. I've decided that I need to move ALLLLllllll those iris I planted Sat. The area I put them in is wet and lots of clay. The Japanese iris LOVE it, but I've been reading that bearded iris will rot. SOoo... across the yard they'll go.
I got a Nandina and the last hydrangea planted yesterday. I'm checking the hostas and lillys daily looking for any wilting or yellowing leaves. So far they're holding up fine all packed up together in the wooden yard cart..
Hope they will hang in there a little longer.

 

[canesisters]

???? I JUST placed my order for the tiller... day before yesterday? Everyone else orders stuff and gets it WEEKS later....
LOOKIE what just arrived!!!!

I'm SUPER excited!!!! If this works - IF - it'll tear through the mat of surface roots so I can get a decent depth going before I hit Actual roots that I can cut with the shovel... or loppers... or ax!

QUESTION - across the yard from the shaded garden is a small strip of kinda poor, rocky soil between the drive way and a fence. There are some bulbs in there, somewhere. The snowdrops, crocuses & daffodils do well & are dormant now. There are a bunch of sad, stunted gladiolas struggling to push up a few leaves now... I'd like to toss a load or 2 of 6mo old manure/bedding on it and till it - this will be the new home of the lillys from my friend's garden. I can't remember the last time I ran a tiller.. and never over anything that wasn't just empty grass being turned into garden. If (when) I till over this strip - do you think I'll be able to recover the bulbs and replant??? Or will they likely become mulch????

My crazy coworker just asked to switch Saturdays - AGAIN. I had planned to work this Sat getting all the rest of the plants in the ground - but now that this is here... I MIGHT be able to get most of it done in the next couple of evenings.
...and just because it makes my aggravated and slightly abused soul smile.. when my tiller arrived, it arrived with a package that she ordered from the awards site a month ago

of course...this just goes to prove that I have some sort of magical control - I am somehow able to cause the entire network to slow down, can cause the program that scales the trucks in to do a scheduled restart at will, and now apparently can make the awards program hold her packages .....

 

[Mini Horses]

First till will probably toss some bulbs out whole, some damaged. Go thru after first run and with those little hand rake things, pull out what you can and replant . Prob save at least half

You were wicked to have her OLD order arrive with your NEW.

 

[SageHill]

Looks like fun! Yeah - I agree - you'll get some bulbs that'll be ok. If you don't run the tiller too deep you may be able to save a lot going through with a rake or pitch fork turning things over.
SunJoe - that's the same company that my shredder is from. I've had good luck with it.

 

[farmerjan]

Are the leaves from the daffodils all gone? Ours here are still green... so it wouldn't be any problem to find them. BUT, I wouldn't even try to salvage anything but the glads.... dig them, add the stuff and till shallowly and then put the glads back in and they might make it... If You don't till too deep, you might not even hit the other bulbs. If you do, then replant.... They will find their way up even if you put 6 inches of stuff on top... think of all the years of stuff that gets added to places and then you see some daffodils come up out in the middle of the woods along a road or something....
Love you having so much POWER ..... tell us the secret so we can all exert that sort of CONTROL over those we want to aggravate......

 

[canesisters]

This is a DANGEROUS toy!!!
I tilled the front of the 'bulb garden' - in about 4mins!!!! - and left the leaves of the daff's and the sad little glads alone. Now that I've got a nice, wide loose area, I can use the shovel to lift those bulbs in the back.
Then I went around and tilled a little strip along the back side of another section of fence... about 3mins
THEN I drug the generator and all over to the Piney Woods garden to try it out. Last Sat I spent about 15mins struggling to get enough shallow holes to place 6 or so bearded iris.. Last night, in about 15mins I prepared a bed roughly 3' x 6'!!!!! Then I spent an hour digging out the huge wrap of roots, mostly wild grape vine, from the blades.
I'm going to ENJOY this little thing!!!!!
(AND it gives me a really good excuse to drag out the generator, which is Supposed to be run at least once a month anyway!!)
No dirty pictures of the ground.. but it DID happen. I'll post some before & after of the planted beds

 

[canesisters]

Just tossing this out so I don't lose track of it over time.
An elderly neighbor has been bugging my Dad about an old, dead pickup that has been sitting in my yard for at least 2 years. He wants it. I've told him that it was nothing but trouble when I was driving it. That I NEVER knew if I was going to make it from point A to point B. That it died going down the road to work one morning - I got it started back up and limped it back to the house, parked it, borrowed my Dad's spare and have never touched it again.
This is a sweet old fella with failing health. He came over yesterday evening and wanted to take the battery out to see if he could get a charge on it & then start the truck. He is determined that he can fix it. .... he can barely walk!
I'm not entirely clear if he is talking about fixing it FOR me or buying it FROM me... I've told him several times that I'm not putting one more penny into it and that I don't have any intention of attempting to drive it again (been left on the side of the road 1 too many times). He's mentioned some guy that will help him get it running.
I'm concerned that it just might be someone who is wanting to use up the poor old man's last bit of money for some confused pipe dream...
He's coming back this afternoon and I'll put the battery back in so he can start it.... The whole thing makes me uncomfortable... But I tend to be distrusting of anything that isn't in my normal little world. I don't want to 'help' this person I don't know take advantage of my old neighbor. I don't want to miss the opportunity to get this junker out of my yard for a couple hundred bucks either. And I certainly don't want to get drug into a bunch of drama, drama.
This old neighbor lives across the street from his daughter & son in law, who is a mechanic. His other daughter lives in a house on the back of his property. His grown grandson is also on his property. Part of me wants to just let him do what he wants - buy the truck, tow it to his house, fix it up.. whatever. Part of me is worried that he seems to ramble and be confused .......

 

[Mini Horses]

Do you know the daughter with mechanic DH? if so, ask if they're aware and helping....because you WANT to sell it but know it is NOT a dependable ride. Ask if they're aware and helping. Then, if they are helping, hug them and sell!!! If not, call a salvage co and sell it.

Either way, gone...no guilt.