More on the gardening topic

[Irmi]

Lyn, since you have the large patio to use, do just that! You have such beautiful weather in your area, so take advantage of it!

[Shirlv]

Lyn, don’t know if you need this planting strawberries link but fun to watch even if you don’t.

https://youtu.be/PQJL9h9R0Cc

Just googled and strawberries need at least 8” deep container

[Shirlv]

Woke up this morning thinking I need a pot of strawberry plants on the balcony too.

[SoCalGalcas]

That uTube video was very informative. Thanks. I may need to plant one pot of strawberries. We must be very cautious about not letting water drop off our balconies onto those below. Our plants have large bowls underneath to catch water. I continue to enjoy thinking about strawberries. I appreciate any information. My San Diego daughter is in NH this weekend for the Memorial Service for my ex. When she returns I will have my list ready and have her drive me to the nursery to purchase what I need. Lyn

[Shirlv]

Lyn, I just got back from the nursery. They only had packs of 6/$4.49 of ever blooming strawberry plants. so I bought them. I’m thinking of buying a very large umbrella for tenant below me.

[snowball]

. I’m thinking of buying a very large umbrella for tenant below me.

saw a huge umbrella that was advertised think on Amazon... not even sure where I saw it but it was huge
sheila

[Shirlv]

In case you didn’t know: plant containers need drainage holes in the bottom. I tried a drill but it cracked the plastic. I heated an old Phillips head screwdriver on the gas burner and that worked. Also heated the screwdriver on a candle flame. Just searched, a glue gun would make a drainage hole too.

Filling pots with soil on a large garbage bag on the balcony has made a mess. Just thought this morning I need something solid like a large piece of cardboard. Could sweep up mess with a brush and dustpan.

I store gardening supplies in a 20 gal.black trash can. Not beautiful but I also need things that aren’t heavy. If you rent it’s difficult to find temporary solutions.

Plant Dollie’s/caddies allow you to move containers around

If you have chlorinated water, fill jugs of water and allow to sit for 24 hrs before using on plants

[OregonLuvr]

Shirl when I have plastic pots and need to drill holes for drainage I put a piece of duct tape over the area I am going to drill the hole at, doesnt crack the plastic.

[Shirlv]

Thanks Karen, good to know, all hints welcome.

[Cudedog]

I am really enjoying this gardening thread - lots of interesting input and suggestions!

I have put in a medium-sized veggie garden in my back yard for the past two years - weed fabric, drip system, the works.


The strawberry bed I put in last year over-wintered just fine without any help on my part, and I'm getting about a pound of strawberries a day at the moment, with more coming on. I like going out in the back yard when I want something to munch on.

OMG. The strawberry plants I put in last year didn't produce many strawberries, despite the fact that I had really prepared the ground with mulch and fertilizer. I was about ready to pull them all out, then I had a small injury and everything got put on hold, so the strawberry plants stayed. This year - oh my! (maybe strawberry plants need a year to get going?).

Anyway, just now I am getting about four pounds of strawberries every other day. I don't know what to do with them, and I am running out of freezer space. I have to pick them, or else the birds and unpleasant garden critters have a field day on the over-ripe berries. Gets nasty!! (I am growing 100% organic - no pesticides or herbicides - the only way to keep pests in check is not to leave them anything to lunch on.)

I picked five pounds last night, thankfully a friend is coming by to get them this morning (cardboard box barely fit in refrigerator).

. . . That is, so long as I have water. Without irrigation, any veggie plant is a goner when temps hit the 90's, not to mention 110.

I am hearing talk of water rationing here, don't know where that will go, but I'm thinking it might actually happen this time.

Bad news on that front. Residents in my town have just been informed that we must reduce our water useage by 20% over last year, or face a fine. This doesn't sound like much reduction, but I was already using the bare minimum of water last year (I already let the lawn die, took out landscaping, etc.). My veggie garden is already on a drip system.

To attempt to reduce my useage by another 20% is going to be very, very difficult. A cinch for people like my neighbor, who maintained a lush green lawn all year last year, watering it every day. If they skip one day of watering, it won't hurt their lawn (might even help it), and they will easily make their 20% reduction.

Me, not so much. The veggie plants that I bought are already doing well, I hope I don't have to let them die. Maybe I'll try to talk to someone at the Water District to see if maybe I explain my situation - I'm growing food, not grass or ornamental landscaping - they will be a bit lenient with me on the water situation. I doubt it will help (have tried this once before) but if it comes down to the brass tacks I might try again.

My jewelry!!

THANKS TO ALL of you who made such kind comments on my jewelry. My Etsy 'shop' is being interesting and fun. One of the interesting parts is often when someone buys something, and then receives it in the mail (I can tell when it is received by looking at tracking) they often come back for another!! One person bought five of my necklaces, several others have bought two or more (one other person bought four!).

One person who bought three has messaged me to be sure to let them know when I have a new item - they said they are (and I quote!) "looking at birthday's, holidays and Christmas"!! This is all very happy-making for me. So, even though I have not sold many necklaces to individual buyers, the multiple purchases do add up!

I am finding that I must try to find a way to make them faster - each necklace takes at least 8 hours to make, the more complex ones can take up to 20 hours. With other things going on in my life, I only seem to be able to make one or two per week.

Thanks also to those who suggested rising my prices - LOL, something I would really like to do (of course!). I am mulling this over to decide the best way to go about this - don't want to put off the buyers (and any potential buyers) I might have - but it would be nice to pay myself a bit for my time. Although this jewelry making thing started out as a hobby!

Thank you, everyone!

I wish all of you a bright and happy day.

Anne

[BirdbyBird]

Anne, I think you answered your own misgivings about pricing. Quality hand made jewelry takes time. There are some short cuts that you will probably never take because they would effect the quality of the final piece. And quality materials cost. And your unique creative ability to combine materials, colors, shapes, etc… makes the pieces worth more. Maybe you won’t sell as many but….. you would be covering all your costs including the time it takes to create. The thought that went through my mind when you said that some folks came back to purchase several additional pieces after seeing their high quality, was I hope they weren’t just purchasing more for what they could get for them when they resell them. My mind might be just in a dark place….

[Shirlv]

Anne, don’t know if my info applies to your area. I bought ever blooming strawberry plants that have two harvest but smaller fruit. June strawberry plants gives a bumper crop once for those that freeze or can. Have read second year strawberry’s are more productive. Wish there was a solution for your water situation.

[JudyJB]

WOuld it be more efficient, Anne, to make several similar or almost identical pieces at one time? Sort of a production line? You could change small details in each to make them unique.

And how about just raising the prices about 15-20% for now? You could put your extra money into some sort of special savings account to pay for travel or something you really want.

[snowball]

Anne I would try to talk to the powers that be.... perhaps have them come out to your place to see what they suggest that you do to decrease water usage... and hopefully it wouldn't be to let the food die... hope you can find a neighbor to enjoy your berries... you are getting a lot of them... so wish that I lived closer so I could help you out of your predicament
let us know how you work things out of your water/plants/ ect
sheila

[Cudedog]

Anne, I think you answered your own misgivings about pricing. Quality hand made jewelry takes time. There are some short cuts that you will probably never take because they would effect the quality of the final piece. And quality materials cost. And your unique creative ability to combine materials, colors, shapes, etc… makes the pieces worth more. Maybe you won’t sell as many but….. you would be covering all your costs including the time it takes to create. The thought that went through my mind when you said that some folks came back to purchase several additional pieces after seeing their high quality, was I hope they weren’t just purchasing more for what they could get for them when they resell them. My mind might be just in a dark place….

Thank you, Tina. I always love your insights.

You are correct - handmade jewelry takes time. I have been making hand made jewelry for about ten years now. I started with very simple wire-wrapped stones, when I got bored with that I learned a few wire-weaving techniques, when I got bored with that - - I started in with hammered copper. This after a chance and random conversation with a fellow rock-club member: she had been struggling for a while making copper bracelets, when she discovered (by way of a suggestion by another rock-club member) that "copper gets soft when it is heated". Well, a revelation! I didn't know that either, at that time I had only worked with copper wire - so I went straight home (after a quick stop at Lowe's to snag a small sheet of copper plate!) to give it a try. I have been hammering copper ever since.

Ever wonder why the blacksmith in those old cowboy movies heats up the horseshoe on his forge, plunges it into cold water, hammers it a bit - then heats it up again? This is why. It is called annealing. The heating makes metal soft - at least until you pound it. When you pound it, it gets hard again, so the heating-cooling-pounding cycle continues until the horseshoe is the correct shape - or the jewelry piece has all the wiggles and whirls I am trying for.

LOL. Each jewelry piece is always an "experiment" for me, each piece of copper will behave just a bit differently than the last one. So I never quite know how a piece will turn out - until it is finished. The end result is always a surprise to me. Which makes it fun. It is almost as though some entity outside myself is working through my hands.

Tina, you are also correct about quality materials. They DO cost more. Often a LOT more. I started with beads and wire from Walmart - thinking, why put out a lot of money for a hobby that I probably won't stay with? LOL. It has been years since I bought beads and wire from Walmart - but it WAS a way to begin to learn without a large investment. And an added bonus (that I only discovered later) is that quality materials are often easier to work with, especially quality wire.

I think I will take your suggestion and raise my prices a bit to see how it goes. I can always lower them again. And, you are also correct, (LOL - you mind is not in a "dark" place at all!) about my pieces being perhaps bought for resale. This has crossed my mind as well, and I really don't mind about this too much. In the past I have had my jewelry on consignment in a gallery, where it sold well, with the gallery taking a large percentage of the sale.

WOuld it be more efficient, Anne, to make several similar or almost identical pieces at one time? Sort of a production line? You could change small details in each to make them unique.

And how about just raising the prices about 15-20% for now? You could put your extra money into some sort of special savings account to pay for travel or something you really want.

Thank you, Judy. Great suggestions! I actually never make the same piece twice (although I know that many jewelry artists do), and really don't think that I could even if I tried, although a "production line" would certainly get the pieces out the door faster! It would be more efficient - but my goal really isn't making lots of jewelry for sale - it is more that making jewelry fulfills a creative need and drive that I have within my soul.

Selling jewelry is a way for me to be able to afford better quality. . . Hrm, how to say this?. . . "ingredients" for the next piece of jewelry. Just about everything concerning jewelry-making is a bit expensive, even at my level. Selling jewelry is a way to recoup at lease some of these costs, so that I can afford to purchase the ingredients to make the next piece of jewelry.

Also - filling up a dresser drawer with languishing jewelry pieces takes up a lot of space!! Selling jewelry makes more room!

Raising prices for extra money always supposes that the jewelry will still sell at an increased price, although it might! Jewelry is an incredibly competitive marketplace - on Etsy and elsewhere. I also like to think that buyers of more modest means can find something to their liking in my Etsy shop. Jewelry making for me is probably more of a hobby than a business.

Anne, don’t know if my info applies to your area. I bought ever blooming strawberry plants that have two harvest but smaller fruit. June strawberry plants gives a bumper crop once for those that freeze or can. Have read second year strawberry’s are more productive. Wish there was a solution for your water situation.

Thanks, Shirl! After my tomato failures, I did quite a bit of research before I purchased strawberry plants that would do well - or at least survive - our broiling-hot summer heat. I decided to try two varieties (I don't know if these are considered "ever-blooming" or not) Chandler and Seascape. Both varieties have done well in the climate here, probably Seascape is a better producer than Chandler. This year both varieties have produced an abundance of small-to-medium size tasty and sweet berries. My garden is 100% organic - no herbicides or pesticides - so I need to pick the berries before they are fully red and ripe, or the garden "critters" find them. They are still tasty and sweet when still partially white, with a bit of red blush.

Anne I would try to talk to the powers that be.... perhaps have them come out to your place to see what they suggest that you do to decrease water usage... and hopefully it wouldn't be to let the food die... hope you can find a neighbor to enjoy your berries... you are getting a lot of them... so wish that I lived closer so I could help you out of your predicament
let us know how you work things out of your water/plants/ ect
sheila

Thanks, Sheila. I guess I am forever the optimist - yesterday I planted a few butternut, pumpkin and cucumber seeds. In for a penny, in for a pound I guess. I guess I'll see what happens with the water situation, although it really isn't looking good. But if my neighbor is allowed to grow grass, I should be allowed to grow food, I think.

Yes, yes, a terrible predicament indeed! My freezer is filling up with strawberries, yesterday a good friend came by to "help out" and took away a cardboard box filled with strawberries. I am well and truly blessed!

Well, summer is coming. In addition to hoping that I can keep my garden going, I am also hoping that there are no terrible fires this year with the attendant summer-long-smoke and ashfall.

Keeping my fingers crossed!

Stay safe, everyone!

Thank you.

Anne