Don’t you hate it when you click on someone’s blog, and all they do is whine about how hard their life is, how hurt their feelings are, and they want to tell you every single nauseating detail?

Yup. It disgusts me too. Makes me wanna reach through my monitor and slap a good mood back on them. “Kwitcher-belly-aching, woman!”

I’ve often wondered why any psychologically balanced person would want to post their everyday mental bric brac up for public display.

Who cares how bad your morning went? Do any of us really need to know that you were slighted by your neighbor, or cut off in traffic? How can such trivia possibly advance me as a human?

There are as many stray, pitiful blog postings as there are abandoned animals. I was always amazed when the local newstations would post pictures of way side waifs, and the multitudes would call them offering a home. “What” I asked myself “is so big about one more recovered mutt? It’s like all the rest of them.”

But, then it happened. Yes, even to me, the lady who looks at life through rose colored glasses.

I, Mama Sue, had a horrible, down in the dumps, will I ever feel better type day.

Maybe your like me…maybe you look at blogs as something sinisterly sentimental–dangerous–a source of over-indulglence for self-absorbed people.

I always have. Just like I used to think pets were for strange people who couldn’t connect with real people.

Till I got one. You see, pets are like blogs. Until you really interact with one, they all seem like so much useless drivel, a pathetic waste of time.

Then, it happens; you find a match. It swoons at you through the glass of the pet shop, whimpering pathetically in it’s 4′ x 2′ space.

How can you resist?

And there you find yourself, numbered among the ranks of soppy, emotional pet owners. You cradle it in your arms, whispering silly names to it as you load it in the mini-van like a blithering fool. Your day has come.

And so, dear reader, it is with this introduction that I offer you my soppy, piteous, “feel for me” rendition of my thanksgiving.

This is also my last post . (In regards to my personal life, that is).

Being surrounded on this site my a plethoria of interpersonal dialogue, and being human myself, I, tough Sue, am biting the bullet and finally beginning a (gasp!) touchy feely like blog.

The rose blog will remain intact, sanctified of all personal musings and mental meandering (I hope). I will continue to give rose advice in a personal tone, but for the sake of being a serious rosarian, I must move my private mind space elsewhere.

Here’s my blog: MAMA SUE’S APRONS

and another completelytransparent.wordpress.com

and my favortie one of all: FEELMYZEAL.BLOGSPOT.COM

A survivalist is someone who has their ear to the ground, their eye on the times, and their heart connected to the Spirit.
In short, a survivalist is someone who has enough discerment to hear the thunder of the end-time gallop of the four horsemen, evidenced in the fallen morals of a nation which has forgotten God.
She has a keen eye of discerment that can read past the rhetoric of the headlines, and between the lines;ferreting out what they want us to think, from what “they” already know…perilous times are coming.

All right, technically, you can; plenty of gourmet bakers doll their delicacies up with tiny little candied rose petals. But for all practical purposes, roses are not a staple food.
Why am I writing this? After all, this is rose blog, not a site about food-storage.
Well, the other day, as I was feeding my roses, I looked over at one of my cucumber plants that was whithering from the heat. I had a thought–the same thought which prompted the title of this post: What if someday my family found themselves in need of groceries; would I wish I’d been just as focused on the garden food as I am with the roses garden?

I think most of us can guess what started me thinking on that possibility.

We’ve all been hearing about the coming famine. Grain prices have been going through the barn roof. If you are at all preparedness minded, then you know how important it is to have a good supply of storable food. But how many of us do? Or can even afford to?

If you are feeling overwhelmed with the prospect of funding even a year’s worth of pantry supplies for your family, then there’s a secret I would like to share with you—it’s called:

The Family Garden
Yes, I know, it sounds like an unrealistic, quick fix. And even if you thought you should have one, how would you do it? Besides, wouldn’t it just be easier to buy a bunch of food, rather than grow your own?

These are questions that most beginning “survivalists” ponder; i.e. is the time and effort involved even going to pay off?

Well, yes and no. No, the time and effort involved won’t be worth it if you go about it without a plan. But with a little research, and some advance planning, you can absolutely make a go of it.

Okay. But why would I want to? I mean, really, what are the chances that the food supply is going to dry up tomorrow?

To bottom-line this entire debate, I submit two words for you:

“The times”…as in, the times we live in.

Maybe a better choice of words would be “The Headlines”.

Consider this:

1. Customers are turned away from Costco after trying to buy more than the one bag limit of rice
2. Wheat triples in price
3. Bank customers, trying to withdraw funds, line TWO CITY BLOCKS in Los Angeles, after hearing that their bank has folded.

If you have one eye and an ear, then you know the world is spiraling out of control. With rising gas prices and escalating grain prices, you can’t guarantee that the food will arrive, even if it stays affordable. You need a family garden. So what’s the first step? How should one proceed in this venture?

Ask God

Yes, the One who made it all is the only One who can give you the perfect game plan.

I and my family have decided to plant all of the corn we can. Globs, buckets, handfuls. Everywhere.

I do mean everywhere. By the roses, among the roses, around the trees, throughout the yard, in spare tires. Seriously. And I mean very seriously. A famine is coming, and you need to be ready.

But Where Do I start?

Ask the Father.And start with what you have. Your needs and abilites, your situation, your future, and more might make your plan different from mine. Only He knows exactly what will befall you and your family. He impressed on my heart to grow corn. If you fear you “just can’t grow anything”, a bag of dry beans costs under a dollar, and you can grow them just about anywhere. That should build your confidence. Garden seeds, at the dollar store, cost practically nothing, and can be started with minimal effort. If all you have time for is scattering some seeds on your lawn, then at least start there. That may be all you need to blast the lie of “gardening’s for farmers”. Phooey.

JUST DO IT.

Find seeds inside your food at hand. We grew a substantial pepper garden from the ripe seeds of a store bought bell pepper. Just pick one up at the market (big, ripe and red) and cut off the stem and topmost portion. There in the bell cap, you’ll find enough seeds to grow several hundred bell peppers).

It tastes better.

It’s a very satisfying feeling to have handfuls of homegrown peppers for cooking, salads, and hand eating. It’s a culninary and horticultural satisfaction matched only by plucking your own bowl of fresh garden greens right before supper—knowing you grew them.. And in case you haven’t yet tried one, let me tell you how good homegrown tomatoes are—the first time I tried one, I was shocked. It tasted so, well…fresh.

Once you grow your own produce, you’ll never go back to store-bought.

WHY YOU MUST HAVE A FAMILY GARDEN

Two years ago, my little child was crying for something to drink. It had been a long, hot car ride, and everyone was tired. And scuffling around to put up our purchases. Little Scrump (my youngest) was suddenly wailing, and pulling on my shirt. She screamed, in anguished tones, “I tirsty, mama!” In a flash, I saw pathetically what it will be like for those who are not prepared. Nothing will be worse than seeing your family suffer in a famine.

I’m a lady—I don’t go dumpster diving

This might not seem appropriate for a rose blog, but I don’t care…It’s a subject heavy on my heart, so here goes…last night, my husband rented some movie about the afterlife.  I knew immediately that it was going to be filled with mysticism, and theories about eternity that don’t jive with my beliefs.

I believe in one God, maker of heaven and earth, who made us all.  I believe in Jesus Christ who died for my sins, and rose again.  I asked Him into my heart when I was 12 years old and today, He is the focus of my life.  I don’t believe in re-incarnation, nirvana, or limbo.  “It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that, the judgement.”

I’ve really been struggling with submitting to my husband and not taking the bull by the horns. It’s hard, especially when he is making decisions that I don’t feel are good for the family.  Sometimes, for the sake of what is right, I do need to counter him.

Last night, I felt like I was supposed to just leave him alone while he watched his movie.

I know I could have thrown a fit, and been a hellion, terrorized him, stormed around, etc, but I just felt like God was showing me that that approach would not work.  So, I left my husband alone, and took the kids downstairs.

When I came up to get something, I paused and listened to the trash he was watching.  Half naked women, some guy from the afterlife saying that there is no judgement, we all come back as something else.  I watched women disrobe before his eyes, and him take it all in.

No.  It’s not true that that had no effect on him.  Go dive in a dumpster.  Tell yourself “I’m just there for the treasure at the bottom”.  That may be, but you will still smell like garbage.

There’s an old saying “garbage in, garbage out.”  I think that a lot of people believe when they watch a show, that they can control what goes into their belief system, and sift things out at will.

But the truth is, everything that you watch, and feed on has an impact on you.

So, this morning, when my husband was holding me as I cried, he said “Honey, I really think that if you would watch this show, you could glean a lot out of it.”

And then I said “I’m a lady.  I don’t go dumpster diving”

He paused and considered.

I hope you consider too.

There are a variety of ways to break up your compacted soil, but the best plan is to avoid compaction all together with a “raised bed”.

To loosen up compacted soil, back-turn it with a fork, take out any visible clay, and add peat moss to lighten it. That’s the most elementary cure. There are more sophisticated ways, but they are not nearly as practical as starting fresh with…

Raised Beds

Soil compaction doesn’t generally happen in raised beds, because the soil is above the ground and out of foot-traffic. And because you are building it from the ground up, you completely control what goes into it, eliminating the clay altogether. As long as you steer clear from “yard dirt”, and don’t use heavy top soil, you aren’t going to have dense dirt. (Check out my link on “layering your soil” for an easy planting formula).

If you build it with the right dimensions (i.e. narrow enough for you to reach each plant), then you should never need to walk or lean on it at all. This eliminates all compaction due to traffic or pressure on your soil.

So, there you have it–your two main causes of soil compaction,
traffic and heavy soil, completely eliminated with a raised bed.

Now, it is important right now to cover one other topic, and that is the natural shifting of the soil when you water.

Have you ever had a big mound of dirt around something like a new tree, watered it, and watched the mound go down? That’s an example of this. Not only did the dirt go down, but when it settled, the pores of the dirt compacted slightly. You can’t avoid this in nature. This is not a cause of “serious” soil compaction, but it is technically a mild case of it; and it happens everywhere in your garden.

So, while I (and most honest gardeners) would not label “watering” as a true example of soil compaction, it is important to mention it here. After all, if we want the fluffiest soil possible, then we need to look at everything.

Mostly, I want my post here to be accurate when I tell you that a raised bed eliminates all soil compaction. Technically speaking, nothing can. But for all intents and purposes, raised beds do.

And by the way, if you want to loosen up the soil in the raised bed without lifting a finger, just dump in some nice night crawlers. They’ll loosen your dirt for free, and leave some fertilizer for you

Even if your roses have good drainage, they will still suffocate if you have too much clay in your soil. Too much clay can kill your roses. When the clay dries, it hardens tightly around the roots, suffocating them.

The roots of all plants need room to to breathe, and this is especially true of roses. We already discussed, in the post above, how your roses’ roots don’t like to get too wet. See, rose roots need good circulation. Not too much air around them, but a porous soil with some air pockets. This allows the roots to stay drier and move around, when there is not a lot of soil weighing heavy on them. That’s why light fluffy soil is far better than the dense, clay-like soil found in most yards. Soil like this is called compacted soil.

Solid soil

Compacted soil happens when the soil is too close together to allow any air in.  Soil compaction occurs when their is too much dense material (like clay) in your soil, but it also happens when your garden is tromped on. Every time you step on the soil, you cause it to press together, packing it down tightly. Some traffic is natural, but over time, too many visitors marching on your front yard leads to soil compaction.

Imagine a sponge and it’s cells. When you press on a sponge, those cells squish together, and all of the water squeezes out. That’s how compacted soil is—stepped on often enough, the “pores” in the soils compact, making it difficult for the roots to move and breathe; they suffocate.

The solution to compacted soil is to get lots of of healthy air pockets in your soil. Now, you don’t want too many air pockets–then your soil will shift down low when you water (causing compaction, and defeating your purpose). And you don’t want the air pockets to be too big around the roots, because you need to keep at least some soil right around the roots so they are not exposed. The perfect soil will have micro bubbles of air interspersed in the soil. This is called “aeration”. When you have the right size of air pockets spaced the right distance from each other, than you know that you your soil is properly aerated.

So, how do we achieve this perfect, non compacted soil? In other words, what is the formula ? Read on my friends.

Here is the best combination for most roses

In this order, layer these ingredients. (Measurements are for one bush in one raised bed)

First layer: Some nice organic material (it’s called compost)– you can get this at a variety of gardening centers or hardware stores. Just plop a nice layer on the bottom of the bed, oh, about an inch high, maybe even two (there’s no precise measurement, just use your noodle).

Second layer: A heaping scoop of bone marrow. Just use a measuring cup from the cupboard, and sprinkle over the compost evenly.

Third Layer: Some peat moss (also called humus).

I’ll go into the specifics of these in a moment…for now, just get the basics down, as you read through.

You don’t need to mix this up at all—you really don’t. It’s layered just right and doesn’t need stirring of any kind—just plop it in in the correct order, pouring around your bush as you go. You will have to eyeball your bush a little bit and adjust it as you work, so that the root ball and the bud union are underground. Just work with it gently till it’s positioned properly. Mound the soil up an extra amount around the bottom branches until the plant is established.

Finally, remember that, growing roses is not rocket science (though you might think so, the way that some people talk about it, in mysterious tones). Follow the right rules for each plant, and you can grow absolutely anything God gave us

Alright, enough already! I’ve read through all of my rose advice and I’m done pretending–lest you think me a rose snob, I must tell the truth…

All gardners (who are sane), commit the following horticultural atrocities

We have cut corners.

We have neglected to water (yes, every gardner has done this, I don’t care what they tell you.)

We have failed to fertilize, winterize, and “down size” (prune) are roses on time. Or at all.

Any serious, large scale rosarian has probably soaked her roses overnight, and left them there, forgotten…slogging away in a bucket she finds days later.

We have let our tools get rust on them

We have pruned our roses with steak knives, when the pruners got lost.

We have let the weeds, the heat, or the kids damage the blooms

We have killed plants.

There. The ugly truth is out. Perhaps David Austin and P. Allan Smith will never admit to these horrors.

But I, for one, am done pretending.

Now. Please. Go grow something thorny and make some mistakes.

Do you want your roses to shine? Are your blooms non-existent, lack luster, or few and far between? Could be that your roses aren’t getting enough light.

While lack of light certainly isn’t the only reason for meager blooms, it is probably the most common. Many rose owners plant their roses in areas receiving far too little light for their plant to bloom.

Most all roses need 4 – 6 hours of sun to bloom their best. Six is ideal. Many rose owners reason that if this flower, or that flower grew great in this spot, so should my roses. Chances are, you clicked on this post because you have a rose that isn’t blooming. There’s also a good chance that it’s planted in a less than ideal place. Before I suggest moving your roses, let’s see if there is an alternative.

First of all, do you really know how much light your roses are receiving? Most people can guess-timate this my visually tracking the sunlight sweeping their garden throughout the day. If you are confident in your ability here, and are certain that your roses are light deprived, read on. If you think your roses are getting enough light, but want to be sure, you can purchase an instrument called a “Lumen-meter”. Eliminates all guesswork, and buys peace of mind.

Now, let’s say you know for sure that your roses are not being “lit” properly. And let’s say that you know for darn sure that not only are they light deprived, but they are, say, planted in the shadiest part of your garden. Well then, my friend, you are going to have to dig.

If, however, your roses are receiving almost enough light, then you have some options. First, do you have any blooms at all? If any bud has ever appeared on your roses, then you know it’s receiving at least enough light to produce some growth. Leave it alone. For now.

Also,if you have only recently planted your rose bush, give it time to prove itself. Perhaps you know for sure that it’s location gets only three hours of serious sunlight per day. Did you know, though that some roses can squeak by with less light than others? Rose Zephrin, The Fairy, and some wild roses can thrive in less light than others.  And while most all varieties do better with more light, it’s certainly best not to move your roses if they are producing even marginal blooms. Just give them a chance.

Alright now. Let’s deal with more challenging situations. Let’s say that you have just planted a rose bush in a fairly shady location, and you know FOR SURE that this variety of rose must have more light, if it is too bloom. If it was planted yesterday, if the location is truly too shady, and, if the variety of rose you planted requires maximum light, then go ahead…relocate it too a sunny spot.
On the other hand, if you have an established plant receiving at least enough light to produce leaf growth, then ask yourself– “Is there anyway to increase the sun’s rays that reach my plant? Could I trim back some foilage from an overhanging tree or even lop off a tree branch that blocks some sunlight? Could I live without the ’screen’ of bushes that shields my roses from one extra hour of sun each day? Could I move the swing set, lawn furnishings, etc. to let more light in?” There are probably a variety of changes you could make, each one buying you a bit more sunlight. Try it out, measure the lumens falling on your roses, and see if it’s enough. I’ve had many climbers that seemed to be duds, soar with blooms once they reached a certain altitude. So remember, if you have a climber, let it climb to a sunny height. And remember, some bushes can be trained to be climbers.

One final word–Aerodynamically, the bumblebee is a miracle. Engineers who studied the bumble have concluded that it is scientifically impossible for the bumble to fly–its wings are far too small to support it’s body. But the bumble bee doesn’t know this, so it flies anyway.

There are no absolutes with nature; some plants defy the odds.

Pruning Climbers

If your trellis is covered with blooms, leave them alone; the view is gorgeous, and it may be the last flush of color you’ll see this season. Otherwise, go cane by cane, trimming them back to the part of the cane that is as thick as a pencil. If your climber is well-established, it may have very thick canes, hence, only the very newest growth will need to be trimmed. If your climber is a new plant, it is possible that none of your canes are as thick as a pencil yet, except perhaps down at the base. Leave these new climbers alone until they are at least a foot high and a foot wide.

Also, if you have a climber that is not producing very many blooms, but has excellent-sized canes, it may need a little extra pruning to produce next year. For big climbers with few blooms, cut the entire plant back two-thirds, leaving it one-third of its original size, even if the canes are thick. Of course, if you have a very long climber with very thin canes, and this is not specific to it’s species, then something is wrong. Lack of sun and food may be the problem, but it most likely just needs a good pruning.

Scraggly Climbers

Before you label your climber as scraggly, be sure it’s not supposed to have thin canes. Just google in the name of your climber, and do a little research. Most healthy, established climbers have canes as thick as a pencil somewhere on the plant.

If you have a very leggy climber with almost no blooms, go to the base of the plant, and see how many canes it has. If it has more than three, chances are that the plant’s energy is being diverted into too many places. Trim back the least productive ones, or the thinnest ones, even if they are rambling all over your roof. Just clip them at the base, leaving the three thickest and leafiest ones. Of course, if your scraggly climber is blooming, leave the three canes with the most blooms.

Leggy, yet productive

If your scraggly looking climber is covered with blooms, two things could be at work here…it is possible that you have a variety of rose that is meant to have thin canes—it is just unique to its species. If your climber is producing good blooms, that are attractive and reasonably sized, and if these blooms don’t have too much space between them, then I would just leave them alone. If you suspect that the blooms should be bigger, and you feel like it, then go ahead and prune off a cane or two; it won’t hurt. Whether your blooms are at their normal size or not, you should get bigger blooms by doing this. If you are satisfied with the size of your blooms, but there is too much green space between them (much more vine than roses), then go ahead and trim your climber to a bush shape, or at least trim it back to one third of it’s size. If you have an awful lot of green space between your flowers, than I would definitely “start fresh” and trim the whole thing back to the size of a bush. Let it grow back slowly, trimming it whenever it began to look even a little bit leggy. Once it begins to bush out, you can trim back all but three of the canes (the thickest one), and feed often.