Check-In Post - February 27th 2025

[badly_knitted]

Hello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.

Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?

There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.


This Week's Question: What kind of crafting supplies can you never resist buying?


If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.

I now declare this Check-In OPEN!

Comments

Re: Hello!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>Might be a while before the ground is soft enough for you then. We had a moderate frost last night here.<<

It's down in the 20s tonight. I got the leaves raked off the rain garden and the daffodil bed. I was hoping to put down some compost, but it's likely frozen solid.

>>Thanks, I was pretty sure it was summer for my oak leaf (I grew it from seed many years ago) but I wanted to double-check. It's not in the best place, but much too big to move, and so far I haven't been able to get cutting to take. I'll try again this year when I cut it back. Semi-ripe cuttings. <<

Since you started it from seed, could you do that again, if it's setting seed?

>>Going to have to get rid of the hardy fuchsia my mum bought 30 or so years ago, because it's taken over the whole of the tiny front garden, but right now it's providing some protection for my fuchsia magellanica, which is the one that matters to me. That plant is over 60 years old.<<

Sometimes a bed or container will keep an unruly plant from trying to take over the world.

>>Good luck in finding something suitable to decorate your pots.<<

I had hoped to find decorative tape in vinyl or plastic, but there are some good washi tapes that I might be able to cover with Mod Podge or something. I may try looking at the craft store to see what they have.

>> There's a tremendous sense of accomplishment to be gained from successfully putting something together.<<

Sooth.

>> I got that putting my wheelbarrow together a few years ago. Now I just curse it for getting in the way all the time in the shed when it's not in use.<<

The cart does take up space, but it can stand on end to reduce the footprint.

>>The tassels sound fun, you should definitely get some for future projects!<<

I may do that if I see them again. They're just so bright.

Re: Hello!

[badly_knitted]

Hard ground is impossible to work. My problem is wet, waterlogged clay. Winter before last, my lawn and the beds were flooded for months, then last summer was very wet too, and digging is hard because it's all so sticky. I'd dig in some compost, but can't find any of decent quality. The last bag I bought was half unrotted straw.

Sadly the oak-leaf isn't setting seed. The seed is like dust, and although I did have some left, it's too old and nothing germinated.

The fuchsia is so fast growing it's like three feet in a month. I might take a few cuttings and try them in a tub, but it's a monster. Pretty, just not suitable for a small garden. I like the magellanica better anyway. The overgrown monster is while and pale pink, which is nice enough, but magellanica's deep pink and purple is more striking. Cuttings also take really easily.

Good luck at the craft store!

I have the wheelbarrow stood on end, but it's a small shed so I still have to squeeze past it. Sometimes I put it in the garage, but then I have to move it to get the car out.

Re: Hello!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Hard ground is impossible to work. My problem is wet, waterlogged clay. Winter before last, my lawn and the beds were flooded for months, then last summer was very wet too, and digging is hard because it's all so sticky. <<

Mine is heavy organic, leaning toward clay, dark and very rich. But yes, sticky when wet. I'm loving my idea of sowing wildflower seeds in pots during the cold season, because pots are workable! If the potting soil isn't frozen. I'm keeping a bag in the foyer.

>> I'd dig in some compost, but can't find any of decent quality. The last bag I bought was half unrotted straw.<<

That sucks. :(

Other things that can break up clay: sand, wood chips, coconut coir (a sustainable alternative to peat), ground corncobs (sometimes available as kitty litter), sawdust. Not as rich as compost, but helps with texture.

You could also try taproot crops like daikon radish, which when they die, leave the root to rot. My go-to slash-and-drop is comfrey, which can also be dug into soil as green manure to compost in place. This year I want to try making liquid fertilizer from it.

>>The fuchsia is so fast growing it's like three feet in a month. I might take a few cuttings and try them in a tub, but it's a monster. Pretty, just not suitable for a small garden. I like the magellanica better anyway. The overgrown monster is while and pale pink, which is nice enough, but magellanica's deep pink and purple is more striking. Cuttings also take really easily.<<

I once had Attila the Tarragon try to take over my cistern garden.

>>Good luck at the craft store!<<

I'm hoping to catch it tomorrow.

>>I have the wheelbarrow stood on end, but it's a small shed so I still have to squeeze past it. Sometimes I put it in the garage, but then I have to move it to get the car out.<<

Not fun. :/

We just got our shed a few months ago. We calculated size to fit our current equipment with a little room to spare. We failed to account for future acquisitions. But I think it'll be okay. We can always tarp the cart if necessary. I think it's too heavy to flip over like the wheelbarrow.

Re: Hello!

[badly_knitted]

I'll keep your suggestions in mind. I've heard of using comfrey that way, not sure how it would work for a small garden but worth thinking about. I can get sawdust easily enough so I might give that a go on one patch I cleared late last year, but I still have roots to get out, docks and bindweed, some brambles... The garden got very neglected while I was caring for my mum the last few years of her life. Not I'm gradually dragging it back from the wilderness. The last couple of summers have been so wet though, and removing some trees has probably contributed to the waterlogging. They had to go though, they were causing serious problems.

There's always something that gets out of control.

My last wheelbarrow died a death from being left outside. The new one is plastic instead of metal, except for the frame, so in theory it ought to be more weatherproof, but I don't want to risk it if I don't have to.

Re: Hello!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>I've heard of using comfrey that way, not sure how it would work for a small garden but worth thinking about.<<

It can get big, but mostly it stays where you put it. If you cut it regularly, then it won't have enough energy to misbehave.

>>I still have roots to get out, docks and bindweed, some brambles... <<

Pesky.

>>The last couple of summers have been so wet though, and removing some trees has probably contributed to the waterlogging. <<

Consider plants that like wet feet, or even a rain garden. It doesn't have to be big. Mine is probably about 18" square below a drainpipe.

>>There's always something that gets out of control.<<

That's life, and gardening. Hell, most of mine is out of control, that's why I call it laissez-faire permaculture.

>>My last wheelbarrow died a death from being left outside. <<

Bummer. Let's see, we've lived here about 30 years and are on our second wheelbarrow. I'm decently pleased with the lifespan.

Also, I got to the craft stores today! \o/

Re: Hello!

[badly_knitted]

I'll look into that possibility, it could nourish the raised area up near the house...

Very pesky, especially where the bindweed and bramble are growing out of walls, but I've heard that applying a paste of apple cider vinegar and salt to the leaves can kill ivy, which I also have a problem with, so I'm going to try it on the brambles and bindweed growing where I can't dig them out.

Trouble is, that area is only wet when it rains a lot. Some years it's dry as a bone, and I never know in advance whether we'll get a lot of rain or next to nothing.

I've been gardening since I was three or four, so practically 60 years, and I'm always learning more. I couldn't live somewhere without a garden. I need to get my hands dirty.

I guess the wheelbarrow lasted about 30 years, so not bad. It was the wheel and its frame that eventually gave out. Hoping the one I have now will last the rest of my life.