But, today is a new day, isn't it?
Today, I woke up when the alarm went off at 7:00 a.m., but dozed a bit longer! Thank goodness for snooze buttons! Eventually, however, I went to the office and had a productive day. But, before I went to the office, I brought in the trash cans and watered the seedlings. Last night, I looked out the sliding glass door and saw that one of the cats had managed to get under the mesh I had placed to cover the newly planted squash seedlings. So, this morning, I rearranged the mesh to cover that gap and hopefully, that will be enough to keep the cats away! The seedlings looked more dead than alive, after being transplanted, but I am hoping they will revive and continue to grow. If not, I will plant the succulents my supervisor gave me and call it done!
During my lunch break, I went to the pharmacy and picked up a container of low dose aspirin. I just bought the 30 pills container, just in case the doctor tells me to stop taking them, again! It cost $2.95 with taxes, but since I had received a $2 coupon good towards the purchase of medications, I had to pay only $.95.
After work, on my way home, I drove to the garden center to look for tomato cages. I was thinking I would stick a tomato cage over the zucchini seedlings when I planted them, to keep the cats away. The last time I bought tomato cages (many years ago, admittedly), they cost something like $.79 cents, I believe (must have been many, MANY years ago! LOL!). Well, today, the 54" galvanized steel tomato cage was priced at $4.99 and a 42" red painted one cost $5.99! Generally, I don't buy even 10 lbs. of zucchini in a year. Zucchini sells for $.99/lb. at the regular grocery store and for $.79/lb. at the ethnic store. But, it goes on sale for $.39/lb. quite regularly, and that's when I usually buy it. This week, it is selling for 3 lbs/$1.00 at one of the ethnic stores. I could buy at least 15 lbs. of zucchini for the price of one tomato cage and not have to worry about watering the plants, or anything! I decided not to buy the tomato cage at that price. I will check the dollar stores and one of the discount stores in my area to see if they have any tomato cages for less. If not, I will continue to buy my zucchini when it goes on sale!
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| Grocery Ad for Zucchini |
Tuesday's (and Beyond) To Do List:
- Water seedlings - DONE
- Go to the office - DONE
- Pharmacy to buy low dose aspirin - DONE
- Bring in trash cans - DONE
- Buy tomato cages - PRICED them and decided not to buy at that price!
- Weed the rest of the planting bed
- Transplant zucchini seedlings
- Family room - tidy, dust, vacuum
- Bedrooms - vacuum
- Finish cleaning the bathrooms - DONE
- Paperwork (at least 15 minutes)
- Put away laundry
Wednesday's (and Beyond) To Do List:
- Go to the office
- Weed the rest of the planting bed
- Transplant zucchini seedlings
- Family room - tidy, dust, vacuum
- Bedrooms - vacuum
- Paperwork
- Put away laundry
- Daily tasks (dishes, litter box, etc.)
Today, I am grateful for:
- Kind, encouraging comments from all of you
- One of the nicest supervisors
- Safe commute to work and back (there was another horrible accident on the freeway I take to go to the office in the morning and the freeway was closed in that direction even during the evening commute!)
- Phone calls and emails from friends
- Feeling better than I did yesterday
How was your Tuesday? Have you bought any tomato cages lately? If so, how much did you pay for them? Do you think $4.99 is a reasonable price for a tomato cage? Would you pay that much? Am I being unreasonable to expect to pay less than that? Maybe I need a reality check?
I haven't bought them in a long time, but that seems expensive to me. They must have been very sturdy. Glad you're feeling better.
ReplyDeleteThey really weren't all that sturdy, Live and Learn. Many of them had wires that were dented and misshapen. I'll check one of the other stores, this weekend.
DeleteI have so many tomato cages, I wish I lived closer so I could give you some. I have found vegetable gardening to be a money pit, not at all a money saving endeavor. The only exceptions, in my opinion, are lettuce and herbs. Those cost a lot at the store compared to what it costs to grow them. So for more, when I do grow veggies, it's more a hobby than anything else. I love seeing the plants grow! I think your analysis of what you shouldn't buy the cage made a lot of sense. Plus I'm not convinced that it would keep a cat away.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember how much I paid for my cages but I remember thinking that it was too much for what it was. I have the galvanized type. I think the smaller ones were $2.49 and the larger ones were $2.99. But that was a couple of years ago.
According to some recent articles I've read, the rain that followed the drought in California has ruined the lettuce crops and lettuce prices are skyrocketing! They are saying to expect to pay $5 per head! Lettuce is a cool weather crop, here, along with broccoli, carrots, etc.
DeleteI suppose the tomato cage will pay for itself over time, as those things last for several years. I am beginning to see why those potted tomato plants with the wire cage cost $14.99 - $5 for the pot, $5 for the cage, and $5 for the plant and soil. They are beginning to sound like a bargain! LOL.
It's so good to read you're feeling a lot brighter today Bless. You are such a positive person but sometimes things can become overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteI hope you manage to keep the pesky cats away. They are lovely creatures but a nuisance when it comes to our gardens. X
Thank you, Jules. I do try to be positive, but I have my less positive moments, too, and I want to keep this blog as real as possible. It's a good thing I like cats! My garden seems to be their place to hang out!
DeletePleased to see your day and mood has improved. It was good for you to vent as to how you were feeling. Sometimes just getting how you feel off your chest helps. You have a good following on this blog to listen and encourage you.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was working there was always a glut of Zucchini in the break room free to anyone who wanted it. It is sometimes in the common lounge at church free for the taking. Our vegetable garden is the grand total of 2 tomato plants - the biggest pest is those sneaky squirrels. They need water but the forecast is 60% change of rain so wait a little on that.
Thanks, Sandy. Yes, it helps to vent from time to time and everyone has been so kind about it, too. :)
DeleteHardly anyone brings any surplus vegetables to our office! Occasionally, I bring lemons from my tree. There was another colleague who used to bring avocados from her tree, and she had some of the best avocados, too, but she has since retired. I guess no one has a glut of vegetables or fruit or they can't be bothered to bring them to the office?
Glad you are feeling better today.
ReplyDeleteI have never put a cage around zucchini mainly because you can't kill those blooming plants around here of course I have no cats, so that might factor into it. Shelby, the dog, is not much of a vegetation hound.
Thank you, Anne. I just want to keep the cats off the newly planted seedlings to give the seedlings a chance to grow without getting dug up and, of course, to keep the unwanted fertilizing to a minimum! I found one store that sells the tomato cages for $1.98; I shall swing by on my way home from work, tomorrow, and see if they have any in stock.
DeleteGood to hear you are feeling brighter today, a day at a time and each day a little further to your goal.
ReplyDeleteYou are such a positive person but I know its hard sometimes to keep smiling.
Wonder if maybe you have been trying to do a little too much lately? I am retired now, but I know the commute into Dallas from my home, was very draining even before I had done a stroke of work.
Be kind to yourself, you are doing so well.
Pam in TX.
Thank you, Pam. Yes, of course I've been trying to do too much! LOL. I'm very good at telling others to slow down and take it easy, but I don't follow my own advice! I just didn't realize how long it would take for me to recover. I thought I'd finish my radiation treatments at the end of August, take a week or two of vacation and then, go back to work in mid September, or beginning of October. Then, when I went to see my doctor for a follow up appointment and she told me not to go to the office until January, I felt guilty! And when I fell in December and again in January and needed to delay going back to the office, yet again, I felt even more guilty! As a result, I never did take that week or two of vacation! And even though I am still going to the office only 3 days or so a week, and working from home or taking vacation time off on the other days, I feel guilty that I am taking so long to get back to a full-time schedule! I've a friend who has been chiding me for rushing back to work without taking enough time to recover - I hate to admit it, but I think she's right!
DeleteProud your feeling better now. We all have those days..
ReplyDeleteWe bought some tomato cages a couple years back , they were $2.99. However ,we quit using them, as they were not sturdy enough to hold the tomatoes up , once they got tomatoes on the plants.. Now ,hubby drives a wood stake beside the tomato plants . This works better.. And we have a fence around the garden too.
Thanks, Judy. I looked online and found a place where they might be selling the cages for $1.98 - I plan to go there after work, tomorrow, to see if they actually have any for sale. I don't need them to be all that sturdy - I just want something to keep the cats away from the plants until they are more established. A fence around the garden is a good idea. That's what I should have done - fenced in an area and then put in the beds.
DeleteForgot to say, would one of those garden protective nets that they sell in Home Depot be of use. You can drape those over whatever you are trying to protect and they are quite inexpensive.
ReplyDeletePam in TX.
Pam, I will look into them. I did find a place that might have the tomato cages for $1.98 each. If they have any, that will work. I just want to keep the cats from using the vegetable beds as litter boxes and digging up the seedlings in the process!
DeleteOh those bad cats! What is it about them that they have to get onto anything that a human considers important, whether it is a newspaper open to a crossword or worse still, the computer keyboard. They are lovable but a pest. I was talking to my friend on the phone this evening and heard her say "Get off me", and it didn't take long to figure out that she was speaking to her cat!
ReplyDeleteI don't think $4.95 tomato cages should have bent wires. I now use some curly metal stakes to support my tomato plants. Like Nathalie, I regard veggie gardening as more of a hobby activity than anything else as my meager efforts don't save money but do entertain me when I actually produce something edible.
Do you remember there was some discussion in one of your earlier postings about putting sharp twigs from prunings around plants to protect them from cats? Could you do anything like that to protect the zucchini seedlings?
Bushlady
Bushlady, I am going to check one store, tomorrow, after work; according to their website, they claim to have the tomato cages for $1.98. If they don't, I'll be cutting down some branches or maybe make some "cones" from the chicken wire. Or, I'll get some hanging pots and grow my zucchinis in them!
DeleteSadly, hubby and I have paid out the nose for tomato cages over the past couple years. We def don't get our "money's worth" as far as output, but it's something we do together and enjoy. I usually help harvest my sister's HUGE garden and in exchange she is ALWAYS giving me tons and tons of fresh produce. Her and her hubs went and bought a roll of wire and made cages. They said they spent $40-$50 on a large, sturdy roll and made at least 8 changes out of it that will last their lifetime.
ReplyDeleteWell, yes, I suppose once one buys or makes one, it will last for a good long while. I know I used to have some tomato cages but I think we recycled them a few years ago because they were in a rather sorry shape. I should simply look upon them as an initial "starting out" expense and an investment! Years of living cheaply have made me a miser! LOL.
DeleteI have no idea if that's a good price for a tomato cage or not but to be honest if you can zucchini cheaper that would be the option I'd go for in a bid to make life a bit easier. You still have your other bits and bobs to tend in the garden if you get enjoyment from growing thing. I gave up with seeds a while back and try to go for things that come up every year now with the exception of a few bedding plants.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear you've been feeling more upbeat today. Everybody has off days and a little vent about it does you good :) xx
Thanks, Suzanne. I need to think of vegetable gardening as a hobby, just like flower gardening, and give myself permission to spend an additional $5 a week on gardening, maybe. Apparently, some people pay that much a day on coffee!
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