What did you do in the garden today?

BReeder! said:

Pull them off and let the plant grow a few branches. More branching equals more flowers later (in just a few weeks time).

Click to expand...

Thanks! I did pick them all off today. I figured it would encourage them to make more. It's kind of funny though. The plants are only a couple of inches tall. But I did notice fresh green growth on most of the plants today.

gtaus said:

Never heard of a bracelets on an outdoor faucet. What is a bracelet? I have a manual timer on my outdoor faucet so I can just dial in time for the sprinkler and it shuts off automatically at the end of the countdown. I also have an Orbit automatic timer that I can set to turn on/off the water at specific times of the day. But I could not find it earlier this year so I bought an inexpensive, but very good, manual Orbit water timer. I just found the automatic timer a few days ago, but I'm happy with the manual timer for now.

But, yes, I would hate to leave the water on overnight. Depending on how you get/pay for your water, that could be a very expensive mistake. Hope you did not flood out the plants.

Click to expand...

My sister is on a well, so it wasn't very bad. And there were no plants in that area, so it was all good!!

WthrLady said:

And that's why I don't sell much anymore. I'm following the rules, including licensing fees, classes and their fees(cottage license cost me $65 alone and the class was really meant for restaurant food handlers- so I'm good there now too I suppose), battery operated chillers, new cartons, fresh bags, detailed food labels, and fly by nights are just shoving things on a table in a ziploc and making money. Well SURE they are. I have 63 cents per dozen eggs JUST in new carton and labeled required labels (and that's wholesale cartons) and then there is supplies to clean them and keep them cold, including a remote alarm thermometer to track cooling history and status.

Then there is the baked good side. Same deal. People want fresh and fancy wrapped. Well that doesn't come cheap. By the time I'm done doing up a batch of 4 inched iced sugar cookies, wrapped beautifully, and legally and properly labeled, they're $2 EACH. I can get city dwellers to pay that, but not many. And at $24 a dozen I'm breaking even, or loosing with time and materials.

My neighbor scoffed at a Giant farm loaf of my breaded egg, 100% whole wheat bread being 10$. UM it's a two pound loaf. It's HUGE. I grind my own grain FRESH for every loaf. There are no preservatives in it. There is NO processed white flour at all in it. No chemicals. I bake it when it's ordered. It's as light as a cloud, tastes amazing, and I have to be here and interrupted every hour for 4 hours when one loaf is ordered. :::Grumbling as she's lecturing me on the cost of things while holding a giant $6 cup of iced coffee from the mermaid people:::

::Rant over::
Sorry it's been one of those weeks, where I'm working myself to the bone and feel I have nothing to show for it but a tired, old, broken body and and a crushed soul.

Click to expand...

Sorry it's been a rough week! I pray you get some time to relax this weekend!

karenerwin said:

Thanks! I did pick them all off today. I figured it would encourage them to make more. It's kind of funny though. The plants are only a couple of inches tall. But I did notice fresh green growth on most of the plants today.

Click to expand...

I kept removing flowers until my plants about 15-18 inches tall with multiple branches

TJAnonymous said:

I understand... I have a good job and make a good salary. I'm not doing this for the money but mostly to break even on feed costs for my chickens alone. I also do it so my daughter can learn about being an entrepreneur... But not at the cost of being upside down. My time is far more valuable than that.... I do need to get rid of these eggs or end up throwing them out. I'm not trying to quit my day job.... Just break even on a micro level.

Click to expand...

when I have too many eggs I boil them and feed my animals, chickens included. some corn, wheat, barly and boiled eggs + veggies/fruits. it cuts cost down even that way. grains are cheaper than commercial feed. for dogs I cook rice and veggies and add boiled eggs.

gtaus said:

Dear Wife is from the Philippines and we have a never out policy on rice. The first rice cooker I bought for her was too big for the 2 of us. After a number of years, she finally settled on a small 4 cup rice cooker which makes enough rice to feed the 2 of us for the meal, plus leftovers for the next day. She prefers the smaller rice cooker because she would rather make fresh rice every other day than to eat leftover rice for a week or so from a larger rice cooker. And yes, I did mention that she could cook just 4 cups of rice in the larger rice cooker, but that idea did not fly with her. So I just learned to go with the flow and not argue with a Filipina about how she should cook her rice. Happy wife, happy life...

Click to expand...

I cook rice for maximum 2 days. I don't like to freeze it, it tastes awful. 10 minutes for cooking fresh rice is not a big deal.

gtaus said:

I think most of the world sells fresh eggs, unrefrigerated. I know here in the USA we have laws about washing the eggs, removing the protective bloom from the shell, and then requiring the eggs to be chilled. But I have lived in other countries where people don't have a fridge. So they buy fresh eggs from the market as needed. In general, people shop for fresh food almost daily in those countries, whereas here in the USA we buy refrigerated food from a big box store and then let it sit in our fridge at home for additional days or weeks. I'm not so sure our system in the USA is better. I know my fresh vegetables harvested from my garden and then served for supper that night seem to taste better than the store bought veggies. I don't think it's all in my mind.

Click to expand...

I keep eggs in a cool storage place and wash them just before I use them. I prefer to keep tomatoes, potatoes, onions and garlic unrefrigerated too. I find they taste better that way.

Acre4Me said:

Turnips have been a surprise for us. Some are very mild. We like them more than radishes for fresh eating.

Click to expand...

Hear!Hear!, me to, I didnt reseed radish after the March ones were done

penny1960 said:

Of course we all know our fresh vegetables are so much better for us.. Starting to get flowers on tomato's

Click to expand...

Yea!! yes me too, they are from see / edit, SEED! and still not up to my knee but they have a few flowers now

On turnips I have Shogoin that overwinters and reseeds readily . Too strong for my taste and a rough root . Good for deer food plot . Purple top will not survive the winter and reseed here .

TJAnonymous said:

I have 2 mares on my property.... I compost the material from their stalls. I get really annoyed when they pee in their stalls or the aisleway because it stinks. I keep lime handy to cover it when they do it. Most of the time they are peeing outside in the pasture just wherever they are....

I have my horses on a rotational worming schedule every other month. Each time they are wormed, they get a different wormer (Quest Plus, Ivermectin, Pyrantel Pamoate, Fenbendazol, etc...) depending on the parasite cycle. Honestly I never considered how that might affect my compost. Makes sense.... But I do allow my compost to cook for well over 6 months before it is used...

Click to expand...

I did a similar horse worming schedule for many years (eg. Quest+ lasts 12 weeks, Iver 8 weeks, panacur or fembendazole 6 weeks, repeat in the fall) but a few years ago discussing worms with my vet, she recommended doing a fecal every year and then tailoring the worming schedule accordingly, since some species of parasites have been becoming immune to some wormers. So now, I worm only 3 or 4 times a year, plus a Panacur power pack if the fecal shows a parasite load, like if there is an unusually wet spring or cold winter Their fecals have actually gotten generally better than when I was doing the 6/year schedule. Of course, this depends on the climate in your area, Arkansas may be best with your current schedule.

penny1960 said:

Never been a fan of turnips but the greens I could use in a salad

Click to expand...

I used to not like them either, but my S-I-L gave me a load of turnips last fall, so not wanting to be unappreciative or waste them, I made turnip French fries. Cut them into fires shapes, spread them on cookie sheets, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and baked them at 400 until crisp. They were really good! I'm now more of a fan of turnips, maybe I'll start growing them next year.

agold23 said:

Got an interview for a gardener/garden supervisor position at a horse stable! I hear back sunday evening.

Click to expand...

Wow, that sounds like my dream job. I really hope you get it! When I retire in 5-10 years (or go part-time at my current job) that's what I want to do - garden supervisor at a horse stable, or horse-care manager at a garden, LOL.
Best of luck to you - and let us know what it's like!

My tomatoes are growing like wildfire, to the point I have to prune and tie almost every day. Eggplants and zucchini are flowering, cukes and beans are starting to crawl up the trellises, and of course the weeds are also thriving.

Our cuckoo Marans hen is sitting on eggs! We don't usually micromanage broody hens, just isolate with food, water, and let them hatch and raise whatever chicks they can.