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Has Achieved Nirvana |
That's what I call plants that pop up in oddball places all on their own. They differ from weeds in that I don't pull them out. Hosta found a spot at the base of the silver maple:  From last year's patio planter:  And another, which is nowhere near where the planter was:  Coral bells: 
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
Got the garden prepped and a bunch of stuff planted. Eleven tomato plants, a whole mess of four different varieties of cucumbers, two each of three different kinds of pepper plants. Trying the peppers in pots this year. Kentucky Wonder green beans are in. Those are great; I need to find a few other corners in other parts of the yard where they might catch enough sun to survive. My yard is generally very shady... Repotted three red currant bushes that came up from seeds. Raspberries are flowering like crazy, even the ones I overwintered in pots. Still have to plant the beets and radishes. I'm behind this year because of our very wet May. It's just starting to rain. Time to come in for a cool adult beverage. 
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| (self-titled) semi-posting lurker Minor Deity  |
Lovely!! I love calling them volunteers!!
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Minor Deity |
I've been playing in the garden a lot this week. There has been a bumper crop of snow peas. I never grew them before, but a single seed packet has kept them coming for weeks now, maybe a month. The onions will be ready to pull soon. There have been a couple of crops of radishes. The field peas, pink-eyed purple hulls are just about to bloom. So are the green beans. I planted something that's supposed to be the reddest lettuce ever developed--"Merlot." It's big enough to eat and it's pretty dang red. The arugula came and went too fast, by the time it grew big enough to eat, it bolted. I don't think the lettuce will last long, but it's doing okay for now. Last year's chard overwintered, but it went to seed and I've ripped it out in favor of eggplants and tomatoes. I planted a handful of okra seeds, but only two came up, so I've tried again. We have terrible squash borer problems. I've got one healthy squash plant out there, ready to bloom. I predict its imminent death. Has anybody ever grown scarlet runner beans? They like cool weather, so may not last long here, but they're about to bloom and they'll be pretty. My scarlet runner beans are actually peach instead of scarlet. I tried to start tomatoes and eggplants from seed so that I wouldn't have to go to the garden store, but they're just not growing. I did succeed in getting three Brandy Boy plants and a Summer Girl started by putting seeds right in the ground, which isn't supposed to work. Bonnie Plants advertised that they were delivering vegetable plants, so I put several of theirs in the ground yesterday: two Ichiban eggplants and two each of these tomato varieties--Big Boy, Better Boy. I'm trying a variety of potatoes that are supposed to have low glycemic index. The plants are healthy. We'll see. The blackberry bushes are blooming, and I've got a couple of nice-looking collard plants started. It's about time for the bugs and blight to descend, so fingers crossed that I get anything to eat out of all those plants.
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| Minor Deity |
I like your volunteers, wtg. My volunteers look a lot more like weeds than yours do. 
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| Serial origamist Has Achieved Nirvana  |
In my front yard (south side), there is a pile of dirt/compost/wood chips. To call it a "raised bed" would be a bit of a stretch. It's a pile of dirt with a bunch of pieces of firewood around it to hold it in place. Like a redneck raised bed. I had tomatoes in there for a few years. The tomatoes petered out. For the last couple years, I had some rosemary plants I had propagated, but I stuck those in the ground. I guess after Halloween last year, we had left the pumpkins sitting on the corner of the dirt pile. A couple months ago, I got out the hoe and rake and yanked most of the weeds out and just turned the rest under. Apparently, when I did that, I also randomly distributed a bunch of pumpkin seeds. Mrs pj counted over a dozen plants.  I'm not sure if these guys will tolerate being transplanted, but I might try to move a couple and spread them out a bit.   My neighbor across the street always grew pumpkins for the neighborhood kids but last year something, probably bunnies, ate all the flowers. So, we're going to put some chicken wire around these until the pumpkins form. Another volunteer patch is at the end of the driveway. I have most of the area along the street covered in a couple of flavors of sedum. But a couple years ago, a strawberry showed up there. I've just let it do it's own thing and now there are like 20 plants. They put out very small, very tasty white strawberries. I've already plopped a bunch of them into containers (insurance if one of us drives off the edge of the driveway). This fall, I'm going to move most of them into containers. There are probably enough for a 20 foot row.    The best thing about these other than that they were free is that the berries aren't really heavy so they don't droop down to the ground where the slugs get them. The slugs have been feasting on my radishes.
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
They look like alpine strawberries, but I've never heard of white ones. They do exist. Lucky you; I used to have some of the red alpine strawberries, but they died out. I should order a packet of seeds and grow some. They're really nice because, unlike regular strawberries, they don't send out runners, so they're more manageable. One alpine strawberry is like eating a pint of regular strawberries.... 
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| Serial origamist Has Achieved Nirvana |
These guys do send out runners. They also seem very tolerant of being moved. I don't know if that's true of all strawberries. It is tough to get berries here because of the slugs, so I plan to make the most of these. Since they showed up, I might as well invite them to stay for lunch. I'd be happy to box up a handful of the plants and send them to you. I'll need some suggestions for how to ensure success.
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
As I was catching up reading about alpine strawberries, I see that some varieties send out runners. The ones I had some 20 years ago did not. Those are real keepers, pj. edit: I see we cross-posted. I would love a few plants. Maybe we can ask LL for some advice. I think she ships plants.
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
Why not use slug bait? It’s very effective. Or get a duck.
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| Serial origamist Has Achieved Nirvana |
I use Sluggo which is supposed to be safe for people and critters. Unfortunately, the pellets pretty much dissolve and disappear when it rains. It rained a lot the last two days. When I was growing up, we always used Corry's Slug and Snail Death. I think it was arsenic or something. Every several years, I get these little tiny slugs that are gray and about the size of a pencil eraser and are voracious. I'm not sure if they are just baby slugs or something else. One year, they ate all of my potato plants when they were about two inches high. They seem to be back this year. I have seen several around the containers.
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
I use a gray paste that only takes a few drops to kill them all off. I’ll check the name tomorrow.
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
I planted cucumber seeds on Saturday. They're all pushing up through the dirt as of today. Remarkable, especially given that these seeds are between two and four years old....I was using them up and was expecting a relatively low germination rate. The stars must have aligned.
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Minor Deity |
Love reading and seeing your gardens! Cuz I plant so much on estates mine is always the last to get planted. Oh well, I mad surely not lacing volunteers! Have comments...maybe later...
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