Season 3 Episode 2

Spring has officially sprung, and the busy season is here! In this episode, Ann and Shelly dive into their jam-packed gardening schedules—from navigating the erratic weather and mastering irrigation lines to trying out new perennials like asparagus and sweetgrass. But it's not all dirt and seeds; the duo also chats about the therapeutic power of escaping into nature, close encounters with local wildlife, and the unexpected struggles of brain fog, getting older, and navigating menopause. Grab a cold drink and join us on the lawn! 

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

GOML - S3E2 - 20260523
Speaker: . [00:00:00] 
Speaker: Bare hands in the soil. Skirt hem catching dew
Speaker: Stone. Steam curls in the [00:01:00] breeze
Shelly: Hey, good afternoon, everyone.
Shelly: It's season three, episode two of Get Off My Lawn. My name is Shelley Pardus. 
Ann: I'm Anne Reber. 
Shelly: And, , we are getting into our busy season, so you're looking good today, Anne. What have you been up to? 
Ann: Uh, today w- we have been planting. So we have 23 of our 25 raised beds planted. Yay. Yay. We're still waiting to plant corn and beans because we need it to be more consistently warm before those go in the ground.
Ann: It did freeze last week, so we're not that far out from cold, but- 
Shelly: Yeah ... but 
Ann: yay. 
Shelly: The 10 day, the 10-day forecast looks pretty good, though. I've been- I know ... looking at it. That's my goal- It's- ... this weekend, is to get everything, except for a few things that I'm holding back on, [00:02:00] into the ground- Mm-hmm ... this weekend for sure.
Ann: Yeah. 
Shelly: Yeah. 
Ann: It's so exciting to have stuff in the ground, but at the same time, this time of year is a little iffy yet. You know, we could still get- Mm-hmm ... some cold weather- Yeah ... which we have before. But we are planning to have everything set up in case it gets cold. We can put plastic over stuff, so- Yeah
Ann: yay. But it's just a relief to get all of our plants that we've s- all, all of our starts finally outside, in the ground- Mm-hmm ... and exposed to sun and wind so they can harden and grow. 
Shelly: Mm-hmm. 
Ann: Yeah, and that's just stuff to check off a checklist. Um- 
Shelly: Yeah, it's such a busy time. It's fun, but there's so much to think about and so much going on.
Shelly: Well, not just with outside in the garden, but also just- Mm-hmm ... life in general. Um, I don't know about you, but at this time of year I always feel like there's so many things going on, I'm just [00:03:00] feeling pretty overwhelmed and tired with life, work, state of the world. Oh, yeah. But it's, I always enjoy being able to have a good excuse to go outside, so it's a good escape, right, from the real 
Ann: world?
Ann: Oh, yes, yes. Um, oh my God. So we have a lot of stuff in our garage, and it's... I have little paths walking through there, but I tripped over a fan- last week, and I crashed hard. And so I have, like, bruising down my chest, one of my knees bruised. And it's like I can't afford to be laid up this time of year. I just can't.
Ann: So, but, you know, it's, like, stuff like that. If I had been focusing on where I was walking, I probably wouldn't have crashed. I know. So that's my mind is so full of stuff that needs my attention and it's... I gotta focus, otherwise I get hurt. So. But- 
Shelly: [00:04:00] And we're not as young as we used to be, you know?
Ann: Oh, tell me about it. I know. And I, I see that, like, in the mirror, and I see that when my body starts talking at me and saying, "Hey, you're actually closer to 60 than you are 50." And- I know. 
Shelly: I, I have to ask you this, because I went to the doctor the other day, and, um- Mm-hmm ... they, they have the big fancy scale, you know, now.
Shelly: You get on the scale and it measures all, does all the numbers, right? Yeah. So they always have to plug in your age. And, um, is it just me or do you sometimes have trouble remembering how old you are? 
Ann: I always feel... Okay, so I- ... was born in a zero year. So my age is the same, last number is the last number of the year, but that doesn't happen until October.
Ann: But right now I'm thinking I'm 56 because it's 2026. 
Shelly: Right. 
Ann: And it's like, no, I'm not quite there yet. But yeah, in my mind it's just, [00:05:00] I have a hard time remembering, no, I'm kind of 55 still. 
Shelly: Yeah. But- And, well, you'll always be a little bit younger than me. I was born in, you know, a nine year, so. Mm-hmm. So, um, same thing, I always think of, okay, I am the age plus one.
Shelly: Or, you know, whatever the- 
Ann: Yeah ... 
Shelly: the month is, but I'm not, it's not time yet. It's not my birthday 
Ann: yet, so. Not yet. Not yet. 
Shelly: Yeah. 
Ann: Nope. 
Shelly: No. Yeah. So I sit in there and I just totally blanked out, like, how old am I? I, like, had to pause a second, and she said, "Well, would you like me to look at your chart for you?" I said, "No."
Shelly: "I know how old I am. I just can't get it, I just can't pull it out of my brain at the moment," you know. 
Ann: Yeah. 
Shelly: Anyway. 
Ann: I went to, a specialist for menopause couple weeks ago. 
Shelly: Mm-hmm. 
Ann: And, it was a, very eye-opening conversation because, hormone replacement and bone density loss and all the stuff that- ' when you're in school in health class, - they're all always talking about, you know, your [00:06:00] periods and stuff like that, but nobody ever talks about menopause.
Shelly: Mm-hmm. 
Ann: So where do you get the information from? The internet? Well, that, a lot of that's just suspect. Yeah. And a lot of medical focus is not on us older women. So there's a lot of gray area, or not gray area, but a lot of area that I do not know. Mm-hmm. And so it's been really, like, fumbling around in the dark trying to figure out why is my brain so foggy all the time.
Shelly: Mm-hmm. 
Ann: Um, you know, I have to have- drink a lot of energy drinks just to feel like my brain has got some energy or something like that, so. 
Shelly: Mm-hmm. 
Ann: It's just been really, like I said, an eye-opening discussion, and I want to... I have a follow-up with her, and I think that'll be, again, another eye-opening discussion.
Ann: Yeah. [00:07:00] But she could tell immediately that I've been struggling, and I know I have, so. 
Shelly: Yeah, me too, and I just feel like, uh, I don't know what kind of answer I'm looking for. Mm-hmm. I just don't feel like I have all the right answers, you know? Or there's- 
Ann: Right ... 
Shelly: you know, it just feels like there's this, uh, it's this easy answer.
Shelly: It's an easy answer to say, "Oh, well, you know, it's, it's you're going through menopause and this is all- Mm-hmm ... just part of it," but I mean- But, yeah. But- Okay, but then what? 
Ann: Yeah. 
Shelly: Yeah, yeah. 
Ann: Uh-huh. 
Shelly: You know? I, I mean, y- I, I just don't, I, I, I don't know. I'm struggling too with all of that- 
Ann: Mm-hmm ... 
Shelly: right now. 
Ann: Yeah.
Ann: That's why I like being outside because- Mm-hmm ...... it helps me focus because- Mm-hmm kind of get away from the clutter of even my own office. You know, I have books, I have my computer, I have, like, a cat running around. J- I just feel so distracted all the time. But outside, if I can s- [00:08:00] if I stop and pull a weed, that's not a big deal- Right
Ann: on my way to go put on, put up some irrigation for my raised beds. 
Shelly: Yeah. 
Ann: So, I just feel more relaxed. So, 
Shelly: but- Yeah, I agree. It's just, it's a little, like, I was saying earlier that, it's a little bit of an escape from just the normal stresses of life- Mm-hmm ... , and all of that.
Shelly: But it's also, uh, there's just something very calming about being outside with plants- Yeah ... , in the dirt, seeing the wildlife. This morning I woke up to open up my window and was looking outside, and, I know they're eventually gonna be the bane of my existence, but there was, like, two or three little baby bunnies hopping around, you know.
Shelly: Oh, yeah. 
Ann: Uh, 
Shelly: I mean, there's- Mm-hmm ... it's just, and , Canadian geese out on the lake, you know, and, and all of that, and it's just, I don't know. It's, to me it just kind of instantly ca- kind of calms down that feeling of stress, and, uh- Mm-hmm ... 
Ann: um, [00:09:00] 
Shelly: yeah. 
Ann: Yeah. I was walking through the orchard this morning, and I found two birds nests on the ground.
Ann: So one I'm pretty sure was a meadowlark, and one is a blackbird's nest. 
Shelly: Mm-hmm. 
Ann: And I mean, I'm glad they feel safe in the orchard, because the orchard is-, it's my place to be not stressed. Mm-hmm. It's my place to feel like I can breathe. And it's nice to see, like, animals behaving- Feel the same way?
Ann: feeling that way, too. Yeah. 
Shelly: Yeah. 
Ann: We had some big jackrabbits running around, not in the orchard, but outside, and it's just nice to see the wildlife feeling safe here, too. 
Shelly: Mm-hmm. 
Ann: Uh, one of our neighbors alerted us that there is, uh, a mother coyote and some pups on the property right to our south. 
Shelly: Mm-hmm.
Ann: And it's like, oh, that's... I [00:10:00] mean, now we have to be very sure to keep our eyes- Yeah ... on our cats. 
Shelly: Yeah. 
Ann: But it's, it's so nice that all of that still exists. 
Shelly: Yeah. 
Ann: Because it just feels sad that we're losing so much of that. 
Shelly: Mm-hmm. 
Ann: Um, yeah, especially, like, around here 'cause people are building houses and stuff like that, and it's like, oh.
Shelly: Yeah. 
Ann: I like my solitude. 
Shelly: agreed, agreed. Yeah. So, uh you were talking a little bit about, your raised beds and what you've planted. Um- Mm-hmm ... uh, uh, w- what, do you have anything new this year that you have put in? 
Ann: Asparagus. 
Shelly: Oh. 
Ann: We planted two raised beds of asparagus. Now, that's a perennial, so these are permanent asparagus beds.
Ann: Mm-hmm. So there's that. Interesting. And then we planted, um, lovage. Lovage? Lovage. Lovage. 
Shelly: I don't know how to pronounce it, but I know what you're talking 
Ann: about. 
Shelly: Yeah. 
Ann: And then something called skiret, and I do not know what that [00:11:00] is, but I guess that's a perennial, too. And then there's a Good King Henry, which I had never heard of- But we're trying it this year.
Ann: And, um, gee, is there anything else? Everything else is the usual, like carrots, onions, potatoes, um, peppers, you know, that kind of stuff. Mm-hmm. How about you? 
Shelly: Um, yeah. So I have asparagus, but not in a bed that I've been planting, that I planted on my hillside, and it's popping up. I think it's about- Oh ... three years old.
Shelly: Mm-hmm. So I think they say that it takes a few years, but once it's established it'll be there for like for, forever. So it'll be interesting to see how yours does in the raised beds, kind of in a predict- protected environment. And I threw mine to the, um, into the wild on the hillside that's not protected at all.
Shelly: They're popping up. Um, there's been a few. I think probably it'll be another year before I'll get a, good harvest. But they're- Mm-hmm ... surviving, [00:12:00] so it's exciting. They taste good. So 
Ann: you don't have problems with animals eating it? 
Shelly: Well, potentially, yeah. Maybe that's why- Okay ... I'm not seeing as much.
Shelly: But they're still there, right? Uh- 
Ann: Uh-huh. 
Shelly: No, I don't think they really like the kinda woody... Or not the woody- Okay ... but the, you know, there's like little kind of barbs on the side of it. Mm-hmm. A little bit. I don't know. I haven't noticed it. Hmm. But, you know, and they, they have some much more desirable grasses and clover and all of that.
Shelly: Yeah. Strawberry blossoms, uh, flowers, you know, any of the other things that, um, I think they'd rather eat. So we'll see. 
Ann: Of course. 
Shelly: I don't know. 
Ann: I've been trying to find my strawberries because they're, they're overrun with whitetop grass, um, vetch- 'Cause we planted vetch in there to help get nitrogen into the soil, but vetch is a vine.
Ann: It's like a pea. 
Shelly: Mm-hmm. 
Ann: And it grows, and our, my poor strawberries are, like, underneath all this stuff, so I'm- Yeah ... trying to get [00:13:00] to them. 
Shelly: Well, so- But they're 
Ann: blooming ... 
Shelly: so the same hillside that I planted the asparagus, I planted a bunch of strawberry plants in. And they're- Mm-hmm ... they are there, but, um, I don't see them.
Shelly: They're overrun by clover, so... But I will say the clover has done really great in that area, so it's- Good ... uh, not nearly as much grass. So we'll talk, we can talk about grass a little bit later on, but there's so much, so much grass coming up, both native- Oh, I know ... and, and non-native, and, and it's just, like, taken over on the one side.
Shelly: But the area where the asparagus and the strawberries were... 'Cause I seeded that whole hillside with clover. Um, but that area seems to be doing, like, there's not very much. I mean, there's a little bit, but I was able to get that out of, um, you know, uh, s- a few weeds out there, but for the most part that's filled in really well.
Shelly: It looks really nice over there. Um, but [00:14:00] anyway. So, but I did plant some strawberries in a raised bed in my fenced garden area this year. So hopefully we'll be able to get maybe some actual strawberries before the birds- Nice ... and the, e- everything can get to them. We'll see. Um, but let's see. What have I planted?
Shelly: Um, I have put peas, onions, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, radishes- Beets, celery, and I put my, I planted pumpkin, my pumpkins yesterday- 
Ann: Mm. Mm-hmm ... 
Shelly: in the ground. Um, garlic's popping up. Flax, the flax, I've got s- a bunch of Lewis flax, which is, uh, j- it's actually just really pretty wildflower a little bit. But, um, it's, uh, so that's blooming.
Shelly: Um, I planted some herbs. I actually built, we built another raised bed, um, that's gonna be my granddaughter's, um, garden. Oh, that's exciting. And sh- she picked... She wa- It's funny, you know. You'd think, like, a three-year-old would pick a bunch of seeds, but [00:15:00] she was very specific and I said, "Here, you can pick whatever seed you want."
Shelly: She picked peas, basil, and marigolds. And so, and- 
Ann: Well, that's a interesting- 
Shelly: Combination. I mean- Yeah, right? 
Ann: Yeah. 
Shelly: It's very healthy things for the soil, so that's good. 
Ann: Uh-huh. 
Shelly: Um, but anyway, she, uh, we'll see how well it does because, you know, she is three and pretty much dumped the whole thing of peas, like, in a maybe two- In a pot?
Shelly: foot, two square foot- Yeah ... area. I tried to sprinkle 'em out a little bit. We'll see how they go. Peas are pretty good though, so, um- 
Ann: Yeah ... 
Shelly: we'll see. Uh, anyway, so, so that's going good. And then, um, I did plant some buckwheat. That didn't seem to do very g- like, it didn't germinate or, um- Hmm ... I'm not sure what happened with that.
Shelly: Uh, but yeah, so I got quite a bit in, but, uh, still need to put my tomatoes and peppers. I'm, I'm gun shy with that a little bit after last year, putting 'em in and then them getting pounded by bad weather. 
Ann: But I think- Oh, yeah, you [00:16:00] got that hailstorm, didn't you? 
Shelly: Yeah. And then I- Nice ... my other squash, so I put the, um, pumpkins in.
Shelly: And then I've got sweet potato slips. Um, but I 
Ann: think I'm 
Shelly: gonna wait a week- So did you start 
Ann: your pumpkins or did you just put seeds? 
Shelly: I started 'em. 
Ann: Okay. 
Shelly: Yeah. So I started the pumpkins and the squash, so, and then I just put in the squ- or the pumpkins, and then I'll put the squash in- Mm-hmm ... probably later today or tomorrow is the plan.
Ann: Oh, cool. 
Shelly: Um- 
Ann: So one thing that, um, we did or we, that we are trying this year, not out in the raised beds but in planters, is sweetgrass. 
Shelly: Okay. 
Ann: And, um, and then there's something that we've, we've tried to grow from seed, I think, forever. It's called Joe Pye weed. And- Oh, yeah ... Aaron got sick of nothing ever germinating, so he actually bought the plants themselves.
Ann: So we're gonna get those planted too because we actually have [00:17:00] Joe Pye weed plants now. Yeah, nice. Instead of just being disappointed by seeds never germinating. So that's exciting. 
Shelly: , I did get some plants from the state nursery, uh, a bunch of, sumac, bushes- Mm-hmm
Shelly: that I planted on my hillside, and those are actually seem to be doing fine. And the deer- Good ... seem to be leaving them along, leaving them alone. I haven't noticed them- 
Ann: Now, are those the ones that are all velvety on the tips? 
Shelly: Um
Shelly: I don't think so. I don't think they're really- Oh ... I mean, they have leaves. They're the fragrant sumac. I don't know, they're n- like a native, um- Mm. Mm-hmm ... native bush, and then they will, they will kinda thick it out, they'll, they spread, um, underground so they'll create thickets of bushes.
Shelly: Cool. Yeah. So I don't know. I'll have to go look. It's, it's, was really hard to get up on the, 'cause it's a steep hillside. And I'm not sure that I spent a lot of time kind of really [00:18:00] just like trimming the grass. Yeah. 
Ann: I don't know. 
Shelly: Anyway, but the most of the- mostly what I'm doing is pulling weeds and chopping down grass.
Shelly: Yeah. 
Ann: That's 
Shelly: what I've been doing this last week. 
Ann: We got the mower going up, going earlier today, so Aaron did some mowing around the house, but we have some lots of white top patches that we're gonna try to take down. Um, I've been trying to get my raised bed irrigation put back together, 'cause we ha- we had five new beds, plus we raised three of them, so we put an extra layer- Mm-hmm
Ann: on three existing ones, so I have to redo the irrigation for that. And then we decided that what we would do, instead of four drip lines, we're doing five in each one. Hopefully we'll get better coverage. So that's, uh, what I've been working on today, and I've been getting... I have so many DripWorks orders. I think I've ordered like-
Ann: 10 times this [00:19:00] year. 'Cause it's like whenever I'm, like, working, ... uh, on the drip tubing, it's like, "Oh, shoot, I should be doing this," or, "I don't have, like, an elbow or something that would-" Mm-hmm ... "really good here. So next order." And then the next order, "I don't have enough valves," or 
Shelly: Yeah. I, I kind of, I, I need to go through, um...
Shelly: I did test out all the irrigation lines. They all seem to be working pretty well. I need to, uh, replace a few little sections. Um- Mm-hmm ... I had some of that, like, soaker hose kind of- 
Ann: Yeah ... 
Shelly: and it just, it's not working. It doesn't work very well I feel like. 
Ann: I definitely 
Shelly: prefer- It's not 
Ann: as 
Shelly: good as 
Ann: the drip tubing.
Shelly: Yeah, yeah. So I'm gonna replace, like, th- I just have a few spots where I ha- had that kind of soaker hose stuff, and it just doesn't seem to... I don't know. Mm-hmm. Maybe it's full, maybe it got filled with, you know, dirt- Salt or something ... or 
Ann: something. 
Shelly: Yeah. Or salt or something. So I need to replace that and, um, do [00:20:00] some work.
Shelly: My aspens don't seem to have, survived the winter. 
Ann: Oh, no. 
Shelly: I don't think they did very well. 
Ann: Well, that's too bad. Yeah. We've, uh, some of our big tree, or some of our trees have not leafed out yet. 
Shelly: Mm-hmm. 
Ann: And it's like, come on. Mm-hmm. Are you still alive? What's going on here? Yeah. So, and then some are really slow, like our west side trees- They're just barely leafing.
Ann: I mean, they're just tiny little leaves at this point. Mm-hmm. It's like, come on. It's, it's summer almost. Yeah. 
Shelly: We need to- Maybe I should be, maybe I should be patient, but I'm pretty sure the one died. The, one of them- Mm-hmm ... seems to be still alive. , I mean, I did a scratch test on it and stuff, and it's still- Yeah
Shelly: got , some moisture in it., And one is un- like a big question mark, and the other one's definitely pretty sure it's dead, so. Right. But maybe it'll pop up, you know? Maybe it'll- 
Ann: Yeah, I think- ... yeah ... don't they come back from the roots or something? 
Shelly: Yeah, maybe it'll come back from the roots. Okay. It's 
Ann: possible.
Shelly: Yeah, [00:21:00] so, um, but that's one thing I'm doing. I, I mean, I think I talked about this last time too, is, uh, cleaning up around all of my trees and bushes that- Mm-hmm ... that, because I started so many little baby things, little baby trees. I j- just talked the other day- Yeah ... with my daughter about the aspens, because , we have tons of windows at our place, right? Mm-hmm. I'd kind of like to have a little more of a privacy shield in between our place and the house next door. Um- 
Ann: Yeah ... 
Shelly: just a little bit. I mean, there are some big ponderosa pines there, but it's definitely, like, they can look right into our living room, and I mean, I don't think that's what they're doing, but you know, it'd be nice to just have a little less- Yeah
Shelly: a little, little something out that way. And so that was what the aspens were gonna do. So I might just have to bite the bullet and buy some more mature trees. 
Ann: Hmm. 
Shelly: Instead of starting with little baby trees that are two, two feet tall, you know? [00:22:00] Try to- 
Ann: Yes ... 
Shelly: try to get some bigger ones and just throw them in the ground there and, I mean.
Ann: I've only been to the nursery once this year, which I think for me is a record. Usually I'm at the nursery, like, every weekend ooh-ing and aah-ing and stuff like that. Yeah. But I just haven't had the time, um, or it's like I feel like I have enough- Mm-hmm ... finally. 
Shelly: Yeah. 
Ann: And I don't wanna start any more projects at this point because- I have a lot of projects.
Ann: And I can only automate so much. 
Shelly: Well, and it can get kind of expensive, right? And if you already- Oh, yes ... have stuff. So I- Mm-hmm ... I've, I've been there a couple of times, mostly to kill time. Like, I was in town or something and had an hour and needed to kind of kill some time or whatever. Um, and I picked up a couple of little things.
Shelly: But, uh, you know, I, I was, I was walking around, I mean, I, I [00:23:00] know that some of these other things that I planted last year are gonna spread, right? Mm-hmm. So I've got some, I've got some milkweed, showy milkweed, and some swamp milkweed. Both of those- 
Ann: Okay ... are 
Shelly: starting to pop up, and I know that those will start to spread eventually.
Shelly: Oh, yes. So I just need to be patient, I think, with it- Mm-hmm ... instead of trying to throw... But I did buy some... What did I buy? I bought some lupine plants, just 'cause I wanted a plant But then I found a whole bunch of lupine as I was chopping down weeds, so probably didn't really need to do that either, so.
Ann: It's 
Shelly: already growing. It's growing on its own. I don't even think I seeded that. I think that was just, you know, it's just- Mm-hmm ... native, native to the area, so you know. 
Ann: Yep. 
Shelly: I don't know how much I've spent on that. So. Um, 
Ann: but 
Shelly: oh, my, uh, I planted some, oh, was it phlox? P-H-L-O-X. Um- 
Ann: Phlox? 
Shelly: Is that right? What it's- Yeah
Shelly: [00:24:00] called? Anyway, it's this really pretty purple flower that are like little bushes. Mm-hmm. And I had planted it kind of, you remember where we had the sinkhole and we were s- try- we filled it in, and I was trying to find something that would grow kind of in that rocky soil that we, or dirt that we put in there, and, um, it's really pretty.
Shelly: It's really flowered, and the deer seem to be leaving that alone, at least for the time being. 
Ann: Well, good. 
Shelly: So anyway, um, what else? How's your path going? Weren't you gonna be working on some paths, this year? 
Ann: I haven't even gotten to them at this point. There's just... Yeah, I, I look and I think, "Hmm, yep, that, that needs to be done," but-
Ann: I just, just don't have , the time at this point. So yeah, there's still quite a bit of summer to look forward- Right ... to working on that. 
Shelly: Yeah, 
Ann: sure. So most of the stuff that I'm working on now has to be done now, and that's- Yeah ... the problem. Or not the problem, the [00:25:00] challenge of spring- Right ... is you have a window to get a whole bunch of stuff done- Mm-hmm
Ann: and then you can work on the other stuff that's not time-sensitive, so. 
Shelly: Yeah. I had kind of hoped to work on the path when it was more springtime than when it starts getting- Mm-hmm ... hot was my thought. But we have actually had so much rain and. I mean, I don't wanna be working on that in the mud.
Shelly: It's like- Yeah ... that's not a fun thing to do in the mud. Although might be a little easier, I don't know. Um, so- Well- But- 
Ann: It does look, it does look like we're gonna get rain starting Tuesday, so. 
Shelly: Yeah, 
Ann: so. We've got a little window to get a whole bunch of stuff done. 
Shelly: Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how these sweet potatoes do.
Shelly: Um- Mm-hmm ... you know, sweet potatoes like warm. , They don't do as well in the colder climates. Although I did some research, and these two types that I got, uh, I think they're called Covington and Beauregard [00:26:00] are- , they grow them in northern states and they- Okay ... seem to do pretty well, and they're shorter, they have a shorter, uh, timeframe, um- 
Ann: Okay
Shelly: , Growth cycle. So, we'll see how it goes, but , it seems like they like the weather to be, like, at 60 degrees or above, you know? Or the soil to be 60 degrees or above. 
Ann: Yeah. 
Shelly: That's not, that's not gonna happen till the end of June. Then it's gonna be too late, so I'm gonna just try it. They're just going in the ground.
Shelly: Probably next weekend. 
Ann: So 
Shelly: these 
Ann: are sweet potatoes, not yams? 
Shelly: Sweet potatoes. Well, yeah, I think they're sweet potatoes. Okay. Slips. That's what they were. That's- Hm. Yeah. Cool. I got the slips instead of trying to grow it from a, uh, they're not like- Like the- ... potatoes. They come from... Yeah, they give you the- Yeah
Shelly: the plants already started. Um, and then when you get 'em, they look almost dead and they say, then you put 'em in water for a few days- Uh-huh ... just to get 'em rehydrated from the - transport. , and, , gonna [00:27:00] throw 'em in there. I don't know. They're gonna be- No, that's fun
Shelly: kind of crowd- kind of crowded 'cause I've been impatient and been throwing stuff, other stuff in, in that bed, but that's all right. 
Ann: Thunder dome. 
Shelly: Thunder dome, that's right. 
Ann: Uh- We've, uh... Did I tell you we got bees this year? 
Shelly: You did say you were gonna go back. You, well, you had 'em before. So tell me about that.
Shelly: Mm-hmm. Yeah. 
Ann: Yeah. So this year we got five nucs, which are, basically it's a box with frames of bees rather than a package, which is basically a whole bunch of bees in a box without frames. You know, honey frames and brood frames and stuff like that. So we got five frames of those. Um- Not, I would say, the best quality even though the reviews for the place were very high.
Ann: But the nucs that [00:28:00] we got, I don't think that they're very strong. So we put them in the hives, and now we're feeding them and hoping that they can build up enough brood and honey so they can make it through, the winter. We'll find out. But yeah, that was kind of a disappointing experience. , We met the truck at Maverick, , the gas station- 
Shelly: Mm-hmm
Ann: across town, and, there was like 40 people waiting. And, , yeah, the owner of Maverick's was not very happy. This big truck pull in just swarming with bees. People were a little bit like, "No, you guys shouldn't be here." Well, you know. Where else do we go? So 
Shelly: we picked them 
Ann: up. Yeah. Well, I would've thought they should've went to the fairgrounds.
Ann: They could've just gone there to that massive parking lot. Yeah. They wouldn't have been in anybody's way. 
Shelly: Yeah. 
Ann: You know? So. [00:29:00] So that, there's that. Uh, we've been feeding them,
Shelly: what do you feed them? ... . 
Ann: , Sugar water is a big one. We had a lot of leftover, like, wax with honey in it from before.
Ann: So when they get all that cleaned up, I'm just gonna melt it down and make candles and stuff like that, 'cause we have a whole lot of wax from when we used to have bees before. And then, we have what's called fondant, which is, like, this block of basically sugar. And you put water on it, and then the bees come in, and then they can, you know, drink it and, , go back and make honey more or less.
Ann: That's nice. Feed their brood. 
Shelly: Well, I have definitely been seeing the pollinators. Mm-hmm. We have tons of birds out here, so there's a lot of birds. Um, there, I'm seeing moths and butterflies and, , bees. I have been seeing some, uh, some big bumblebees and some of the smaller little bees [00:30:00] buzzing around a little bit looking for something.
Shelly: , And the, of course the bats are back, 
Ann: Oh. 
Shelly: And, uh- 
Ann: That's cool ... 
Shelly: doing their thing. So, uh, yeah, lots of pollinators out there. They're always fun to watch. 
Ann: Yeah. So we too, I mean, aside from the bees, there's a whole bunch of bumblebees and just little sweat bees and stuff like that. Yeah. That it's just fun.. When you take a break and just kind of sit and watch and everything is just going on that you don't notice when you're just busy. So it's, it's really refreshing to see all that. Mm-hmm
Ann: Well, it's been fun, but we gotta get back to work. , We're starting to wrap up the real time sensitive stuff, but still a lot more to do.
Ann: , We'll talk to you next time. Take care everybody. I'm Anne. 
Shelly: And I'm Shelley. 
Ann: And we'll see you next time at Get Off My Lawn.
[00:31:00]