Electric Mower

We had tried out a reel mower for nearly a whole season. I love how quiet it is and that it is always ready to go with no start-up, but if your yard is uneven, or your grass gets too tall between mowings, the reel mower can be quite difficult to use.

So we were off to the store to find an alternative. I was very skeptical about electric mowers because I never liked managing the cord with our corded weedwhacker, and I was certain that I would either be constantly re-plugging it back in, or running the cord over all the time. But my husband was leaning hard toward an electric mower.

There were some cordless ones, but you had to plug the mower in to charge and I wasn't entirely sure that you would be able to continue using it while it charged. That would be inconvenient if you had a window of opportunity blown because your mower needed several hours to fuel up. So I was leaning hard toward a gas mower. And we had one all picked out when I changed my mind and decided I really wanted to try the electric one - cord and all. I do that. He's almost used to it.

My worries about the cord were pretty much put to rest when we started using it. It wasn't hard at all to keep track of and the very movement of turning the mower allowed for a smooth repositioning of the cord. You will see me move my leg out on the turns which moves the cord enough to keep it out of the way. And even though it may look a little awkward during some turns, it wasn't. Most of that was just the awkwardness of turning a mower in general.

The mower that we got was a Task Force 12A mower. We got it on sale at Lowes for $170, and a 100' cord for $17. It came with a 2 year warranty.

Things I loved about the mower:

• The easy start. I no longer dread having to empty the bag as I know that restarting will be a snap.
• This did not bog down in our tall grass; it went through like a hot knife through butter.
• I didn't get vibration arm.
• It is quieter than a gas mower.
• It doesn't stink like fuel and neither do you!

Things I hated? Nothing. The only thing that could make it better would be no cord and that it would mow the lawn itself. But I really don't have much of a problem with either.

I feel much better about using electricity than gasoline as our electricity is local and made via water power. Clean and homegrown!

In the Vegetable Garden

This weekend in the vegetable garden:

• I got all 30 of my tomato plants in the ground.
• I got all 16 of my pepper plants in the ground.
• I got 4 broccoli plants planted.
• I planted last years unused shallots - about 30 all together.
• I got most of my squash/melon seeds planted.
• I got some bean seeds started.
• I started 3 trays of basil.
• I got half my carrots planted.
• I was harvesting spinach, cilantro and arugula.
• I was giving out stray garlic plants that missed last fall's harvest.
• I weeded the blackberry and raspberry beds.
• I set up a chicken wire and marigold barrier around my peppers - eat that rabbits!!

This week in the vegetable garden:

• I will finish planting the carrots.
• I will pot up the eggplant.
• I will plant sunflowers.
• I will plant dill.
• I will pot up the fennel.
• I will start the rest of the beans.
• I will harvest some leeks.
• I will finish caging the tomatoes.
• I will discover there were 1/2 dozen other seed packets I had completely forgotten about...

I Just Can't Win This Year

Things are finally starting to die down around here on the home front: some of the hubbub in the state has quieted, my son is out of school, our exchange student is going home, the graduation party is over, our dog is recovering from surgery nicely...

And now it is TOO HOT TO GARDEN!! Bleh!

GBBD May 2011

My first Garden Blogger Bloom Day post of 2011, and things are looking pretty good out in the garden this spring.

Bastogne's Parrot are doing well. I did try to get more, but they didn't look like these at all, they were just red without much ruffling.

Bleu Amiable and Sweetheart tulips are a great combination.

These white tipped tulips in with the Prinses Irene's came in a mixed pack. They look like Private Eyes, so I'm going with that.

Sweetheart tulips are definitely one of my favorite tulips.

These are another of my favorite: Gavota. They are very hardy and multiply.

Abba are a rich red (which you can't see very well in this picture since the light is shining through the back). They look like roses.

Here are my box bulbs in full bloom. I am planning to get some of these planted later today.

Brunnera "Kings Randsom" - a non-tulip is blooming!

Another non-tulip, Mount Hood Daffodils.

Sunrise tulips give you the most bang for your buck; they are one of the first to bloom and one of the last to die back. Plus, they are just so beautiful and change their look as they age: creamy yellow with just a slight tipping of red, to fully blushed with a more distinct red tipping.

Tulip holding pen; I plant the tulips here until spring when I can have a better idea where they should go in the garden.

Tubergen's Gem is multiplying!

Weber's Parrot... not quite what I had in mind. What do you think?

Wide shot of the garden. Lots of tulips, and always more to come :)

And an overhead shot from my upstairs window. Spring is such a great time of year!

More Tulips!

Here are some more pictures from my garden. We had some 80F weather yesterday, so some of the tulips decided they had had enough. But there were plenty more to take their place.

This is a view as passerby on the street would see it. Looking good!

I had lost my map to what was planted in each of these boxes, so I had to wait until they bloomed to see where I should plant them. Turns out that it was a good thing too as some of these were falsely advertised.		This was one of the fears that I had planting the bulbs in boxes - voles. They only got into one of the boxes though, but did eat most of the bulbs in the box.
These Sweetheart tulips are in my top three of favorite tulips along with Prinses Irene and Gavota.		Weber's Parrot didn't turn out quite as I had imagined. Too pink and too yellow. Perhaps they mellow out. If they don't, these may end up being give-aways.
Blue Gem: very touchy little guys, and expensive! But they are worth it. Love them!		Turbergen's Gem: These have finally started to multiply. They are one of my favorite species tulips (tied with Blue Gem)
Abba tulips are a very rich red.		This is the garden entry from our back door.
These Salome daffodils took years to finally bloom, but now they are blooming every year.		I prefer the Gavotas when the edges are white, but they are still one of my favorites even when the edges are yellow. Very classy looking.
From left to right: Bright Parrot, Sunrise, Purrisima, Red Emperor (far background)		Odalisque tulips are very easy to grow and they give a nice punch of color without being gaudy.
I had 12 Dillenburg but many dissappeared. For the last several years only two bloomed, but this year, four decided to make an appearance.		This is a shot of the far back garden as you come around the bend. Front to back: Prinses Irene, Private Eyes, (forgot the dark purple ones), Sweetheart, Bleu Amiable (to the right of Sweetheart), Purrisima, Sunrise.
Another view from the street.		View from the yard.

Happy Mother's Day Weekend!

My weekend is packed! So I will just leave you with some pics from my garden.

Bloodroot hepatica		humilis "Odalisque" humilis "Alba Coerlea Oculata"
The ramps I planted last year are doing great!
The front entry bed Daffodils		Odalisque tulips and Thalia daffodils Peony
Calypso Sweetheart		Mount Hood w/Orange Emperor tulips in the background Sunrise w/Purissima in the background

The Bulb Boxes

I love tulips. So much so that it has become harder to find places for the new tulips that I buy every year - especially since they are sold in the fall when you can not see what is already planted. I got sick of accidentally digging up established bulbs, so I started planting the bulbs in plastic planters. That has worked out really well, but I wanted to see if cardboard boxes would work too. Verdict?

They do!

Gardening Begins for 2011

I did finally get out to do some gardening this last week. And I was so excited to see that things were even starting to bloom!

Crocuses are easy multipliers.		They are the earliest bloomer.
Dutch irises are great en masse.		The Pickwick crocus are big and multiply well. I like the stripes.
And then last night it snowed.		But the hyacinth...
the tete-a-tete daffodills...		and the chionodoxa will be fine.