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Recent Entries to this Blog
Baffled Deer?
Posted: 23 Jun 2014 Posted: 14 Apr 2014 Posted: 28 Mar 2014 Posted: 22 Jul 2013 Posted: 25 Apr 2013 All Entries |
mangoman52's Blog
Baffled Deer?
Category: Mangoman's Blog | Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2014 5:59 pm I may have stumbled onto something by chance that appears to repel deer. I used a commercial deer repellent last year that was basically liquified eggs. It worked ok but would clog up my sprayers and the smell was awful. I decided to try making my own solution. Anytime I use a fresh egg, I crush the shell and throw it into a bucket of water that I have in the garage. I take a trigger mist bottle, put three squirts of aloe vera liquid hand soap into the bottle and then fill it with the egg water. Shake it a litle and every three days or so, I spray my hostas with this stuff. Might be my imagination but I think the hostas look shiny and healthier and so far, no four legged munchers have chewed them to the ground. Any body have any thoughts on this? The deer don't bother my veggies or other ornamentals. Knock on wood. The veggies are doing well. Many small pepperfish peppers, small eggplants, cukes, nice chard and kale. Got 2-3 qts. of strawberries and 2 meals of asparagus. Peace This blog entry has been viewed 184 times
Grand Weekend
Category: Mangoman's Blog | Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2014 2:07 pm We finally had a warm, sunny weekend. I applied lime to my raised beds and refreshed the soil with compost. I made a wooden enclosure for one of the larger black nursery pots so it looks a little more "finished" where it sits in the flower bed beside the house. Strawberry plants look good and the blueberry bushes have sprouted leaves as well as the mint tea. I worked a little in the garage yesterday trying to organize more stuff for a yard sale in May. Tons of stuff to get rid of. Where does it all come from? I planted one tomato plant, two eggplant, and two pepper plants too. Maybe a tad early but we'll give it a shot. Peace This blog entry has been viewed 180 times
Holy Moly!
Category: Mangoman's Blog | Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2014 4:09 pm I just looked and I haven't commented on my blog since last July. This winter in southern Delaware has been unbearable. We had two nights of subzero temperatures, way too much damn snow, and it doesn't look like spring is going to arrive soon. My liriopes, camelias, and euphorbias look like burnt toast. I have cut them all back to the ground. I think they will survive. Crocus, daffodills, narcissus are popping up as well as the hellebores. I haven't started any seeds yet and possibly won't. Last year I planted hot pepper seeds directly in the raised pots and they caught up to the ones I had started indoors. I don't think I will grow tomatoes this year.There isn't enough sun to warrant the space and time it takes me to keep staking them. Mine will grow 10' tall and spread out maybe 2-3'. I need a 10' ladder to keep them inside the frames I use. I think I will plant more eggplant, carrots, and beets. I have planted about 30 strawberry plants that my youngest son gave me. We'll see how they perform. More to come, soon, I hope. Peace This blog entry has been viewed 162 times
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Wow!
Category: Mangoman's Blog | Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 12:49 pm That's basically the correct statement. I won't go into specific details because of time and possibly boring you readers to death but remember I had spinal surgery on April 10. One month after my that surgery I ended up having emergency carotid artery surgery on the right side of my neck. My family doctor discovered, what turned out to be, the blockage during my yearly physical. During all of my excitement, my 87 year old mother decided to fall and break her right hip. Much craziness with weird schedules, rehab. etc. eats up a lot of time. The blockage turned out to be 98% in my artery. I am a very lucky and blessed guy. My garden has suffered a little bit from my lack of agility and absence but overall, stuff is doing well. I had a nice crop kale and miniature bok choy, red beets and carrots are looking great, as well as swiss chard, basil, chives, and cilantro. Hot peppers, 6 different varieties are producing well due to manure tea. My tomatoes don't do well because of lack of sun for very long. Maybe 4 hours in the peak of summer. Cucumbers are ok and a pumpkin is doing it's best to take over one of my paths. All of my perennials have had a fantastic spring and summer due to lots of rain. The hostas were not munched on by deer until yesterday when as my wife and I pulled into our driveway, after returning from church, a young deer was munching on one of the hostas and the wild violets. I am using "Deer Off" spray to try and repel the deer. It works really well but we had some heavy rains on Friday and Saturday and the spray was probably washed off. I try to spray them once a week. The deer, up till now,only bother the hostas and violets. I may be dooming my garden by saying this but they have never bothered the veggies. More soon, peace. This blog entry has been viewed 257 times
I'm Back, Almost
Category: Mangoman's Blog | Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 5:43 pm Hi All: My back surgery went extremely well although I ended up with a titanium apparatus that keeps my lower three vertabrae from closing up. It's only been two weeks since my surgery and I have some pain and stiffness, a little soreness in spots but overall, I feel good. I can't do any lifting or bending so a lot of things are off limits. My lovely wife cut 13 asparagus spears yesterday and there are many to come from the looks of the spears popping up. I planted carrots, swiss chard, kale, and miniature bok choy before my surgery and they are all doing well. I don't know what the hell the damned groundhog thought when he predicted an early spring. It hasn't appeared here at all. It's been more like late February, early March. Highs are only in 50's and 60's. I guess summer will just show up and then it will be hot. Peace This blog entry has been viewed 237 times
Seed Update
Category: Mangoman's Blog | Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 1:09 pm I wanted to update the seed journey. Sprouted so far: 4 squash, 2 tomato, 3 peppers. I also forgot to mention that I planted 4 Okra seeds and they are all up also. Only 4 days! The bottom heat is the way to go. Peace This blog entry has been viewed 248 times
Seeds Are Planted!
Category: Mangoman's Blog | Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 4:12 pm I finally got my seeds planted this past Saturday. Three varieties of tomatoes,one variety of sweet pepper, four varieties of hot peppers, one variety of eggplant, one variety kale, and one variety of squash. They are all heirloom varieties. The heat mat underneath is working nicely. The plastic lid steamed up within three hours so I am hoping the bottom heat will help germination. I should see something by the end of this week. The weather is mostly still dreary and cool, cold at night. High today is 55, low tonight 30. I need warm weather to improve my spirits. Still three weeks until my back surgery. I am hoping for a quick recovery. Too much to do outside. More soon, peace. Last edited: Wed Mar 20, 2013 1:05 pm This blog entry has been viewed 228 times
Fog
Category: Mangoman's Blog | Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:45 pm Hi All: Very foggy this morning. The temperature today is supposed to reach 65. That would be a welcome change from the low 40's. I know spring is just around the corner but this year it seems I am especially looking forward to it arriving. I put off planting my seeds until this coming weekend. I looked at the calendar and figured that delaying one more week might be better. Outside my helebores are in full bloom and the tulips and hyacinths are up and looking good. Our youngest son split some oak firewood for us over the weekend. He probably split about a cord. That will be good for next winter. We have a large brick fireplace, nice to see the fire but doesn't add much heat. Peace This blog entry has been viewed 219 times
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Rain and More Rain
Category: Mangoman's Blog | Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 6:33 pm I am tired of dreary, damp, rainy weather. Weatherman says partly sunny until Monday with cool temperatures. Come on sun and warm weather. The only good thing about the weather is I can plant my seeds this weekend. I received my Hydrofarm Germination Station yesterday. Looks to be everything I need. Seedling heat pad, tray with soil inserts, water proof liner, and a plastic greenhouse type lid. I hope this helps with my pepper germination as last year I didn't have much success with peppers from seed. Time will tell and I will inform you folks about my endeavor. Peace This blog entry has been viewed 258 times
Surgery-Uh Oh!
Category: Mangoman's Blog | Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 8:00 pm I just found out that I will have surgery on my lower back on April 23. I have had pain in my lower back and upper legs for the last five years and it has progressively gotten worse. Time to do something about it. Recuperation will be about a month so I need to educate my darling wife on some basic gardening knowledge. Maybe I can sit near my raised beds in an adirondak chair with a six pack and offer tips to her. Right. As my Mom would say, "That would go over like a lead balloon." Hopefully, I can recover fast enough to have a decent garden again this year. High today is 39, low tonight 24. Not good. Peace This blog entry has been viewed 238 times
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