I get the Johns Hopkins Health Alerts. This morning I got the email that I get every week or so. It said this:
"Light gardening and yard work can be surprisingly taxing: Performed at a moderate pace, a 154-lb person can burn 330 calories per hour digging up weeds and raking."
I am really happy about that because I'm also trying to lose weight! Unfortunately, there's about 2 feet of snow on the ground covered by about 1/2 inch of ice...I guess I won't be losing any weight THAT way for awhile! Anyway, I thought you'd like to know gardening can help you lose weight!
The last frost date here is April 25th, and I'm so impatient! I can't wait to cruise through lots of nurseries, especially a local native plant nursery I recently learned about. Unlike most years, when I buy a ton of plants that end up living in the driveway for a while since I don't really have a place for them, this year I should have plenty of space for new plants. As I mentioned in a previous post, my husband took a chain saw to a long bed of Nandina bushes in our backyard. So after the dirty work of installing some raised beds, I will have a blank canvas. . . .
reBlogged
to nursery
Posted by Nelumbo Reblogged by Old Roses to nursery on 2008-03-06, 05:59:13
The photo is from Junes trip to Harlow Carr.A ruby red coloured Astrantia Major, like the one I planted yesterday. I bought two lots of seed potatoes (King Edward, and Nadine) , two onion sets (Stuttgarter and Red Karmen), and some seeds for carrots, brussel sprouts, and Parsnips. . . .
Its my Birthday today. I have been out to meet the Lady about the two thirds of the allotment. The weeds are as tall as me.I have walked from my house to the Allotment in ten minutes. The key is for the Allotment gate which is padlocked. It was cold and I never saw anyone else up there besides Jenny. She said I could borrow some black Tarpaulin to cover some of the plot.It is maybe twenty feet long and about ten feet wide.There was no visible soil at all! . . .
After a day chilling I got a phone call from a Lady about the Allotment waiting list.I put my name on it 14 months ago! I have arranged to meet her tomorrow morning to look at the two thirds of a plot! The Allotment or Community garden is still thriving here, after going out of fashion there are waiting lists now to get some. . . .
reBlogged
to gardens
Posted by snappy Reblogged by Old Roses to Gardens on 2008-03-06, 05:56:43
Flowers are like poetry, yet so much said on behalf of them . . . prose. Which is more preferable? I could not say. Which speaks most clearly, and to which part of your awareness? The image above may hint at the exotic, heady perfume of Daphne and the perfect delicacy of her flowers, but it will also leave any viewer with many unanswered questions should she or he desire to grow her. . . .
reBlogged
to flowers
on Mar 5, 2008, 6:06PM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to flowers on 2008-03-06, 05:56:20
One of my garden heroes is the late Geoff Hamilton who taught me most of what I know about gardening. Geoff presented Gardener's World on the BBC for many years and was one of the first gardeners who promoted organic gardening.He made you feel that organic gardening was really the only option if you loved your planet and wanted what was best for it and all its inhabitants and he made it sound very logical and fun too. I'll never forget his remarkable enthusiasm and passion for all things garden related; even when he was explaining how to sow seeds or take cuttings for the umpteenth time he would still be enthusiastic. No minor feat that. . . .
" Multiple Personality Day is an opportunity to get in touch with yourselves. Someone with a split personality has two personalities. Someone with multiple personalities has more than two personalities. Its a psychological disorder that we hope none of our readers have. When you wish someone 'Happy Multiple Personalty Day', you may need to do so multiple times, once for each personality. "
If you are here for Wordless Wednesday please scroll down to the next post.
This is a Fan Palm frond I saw at the Orchid Show. Whilst everyone else was snapping pictures of the flowers I liked the way the light and shadows played on this leaf. It was taken with my Sigma 17-70mm lens (38 mm, F/5, 1/100 sec, for those interested), and the Nikon D70s. . . .
It was certainly not unreasonable for the robins to show up this week; temperatures are supposed to be in the forties this time of year, and some nice patches of green grass normally ought to be showing. However, this year we have two feet of snow still on the ground, with temperatures predicted to be well below zero Friday night (thirty degrees below normal). The robins' reaction to all of this seemed at first to be utter disbelief, turning into a complete, dejected sulk. They perch about in the trees, hunched up and shivering, glowering at everything and everybody. Now, you'd think they could just fly back south a few miles, where the snow ends, but I guess their navigation systems don't allow for two migrations in a year. The alternative explanation of course is that robins are rather dim bulbs; an opinion which I've held for years. Robins are colorful, an icon of spring, and normally the cheeriest of birds... however they are not the Einsteins of the bird world.
reBlogged
to birds
Posted by IBOY Reblogged by Old Roses to birds on 2008-03-06, 05:52:32
To find out the square footage of your pond, multiply the length times the width. If your pond is not a rectangle, make your best guess as to length and width. . . .
reBlogged
to ponds
Posted by Jan Goldfield Reblogged by Old Roses to ponds on 2008-03-06, 05:52:23
Mid-February to mid-April is the ideal time for pruning most woody plants, both because they're dormant and because you can better see what you're doing when your view isn't obstructed by leaves. It's also the period of most rapid plant healing, called compartmentalization. . . .
Spring has nearly sprung, and that means garden clubs will be coming out of dormancy.
First up is the Long Island Rose Society, which will meet on Friday, March 14, at 7:45 p.m. at the Plainview-Old Bethpage Library on Old Country Road in Plainview. And attendees will be in for a special treat: Richard Weir III, Cornell University's "Prince of Pruning," will be sharing tips and techniques on how to prune trees and shrubs in the home landscape. . . .
Thumbing through pictures in seed catalogs gets many a plant lover through the wintry months of January and February, and Marie Iannotti tips us off on some great new plants...
reBlogged
to spring
on Mar 5, 2008, 12:33AM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to spring on 2008-03-06, 05:49:31
The hubs (perfect man that he is) brought home some black five gallon pails. He thought they were recycling them at work, but found out recently that they're just chucking them! I can't believe it - how wasteful. . . .
reBlogged
to containers
Posted by Tina Reblogged by Old Roses to containers on 2008-03-06, 05:49:18
One of the coolest things about being a garden blogger is that I get free stuff. Which sometimes doesn’t seem quite right. I get free stuff just for fretting and philosophizing about plants online. When did the world get that cool? The Scottish part of me is just in free heaven.
Sometimes, I get free stuff. . .
reBlogged
to compost
on Mar 4, 2008, 9:01PM
Posted by Hanna Reblogged by Old Roses to compost on 2008-03-06, 05:48:18
via THE VILLAGE VOICE on 1969-12-31, 19:00:00
Mid-February to mid-April is the ideal time for pruning most woody plants, both because they're dormant and because you can better see what you're doing when your view isn't obstructed by leaves. It's also the period of most rapid plant healing, called compartmentalization. . . . 
