What did you do in the garden today?

[Witchychickens]

Yesterday I planted more seeds, I’m not sure how many of my starts are going to take off. I didn’t harden the first set off (I was frazzled with completion of our coop. Thankfully I seeded for a lot of them prior, then put in starts and then reseeded for them again.

Today I brought out my warmer weather stuff and started hardening those off. On Saturday, I weeded. Yesterday I put out seeds for bunching onions, celery (my starts are dismal at best), more red peppers, two types of bush beans, corn, black sunflowers, black hollyhocks, I weeded and collected some leaves and gave them to the chickens to forage in, I cut back my sweet autumn clematis to where it stopped producing foliage and directed some shoots elsewhere, I seeded for zinnia, marigolds, wildflower mix, nasturtium and also planted my nasturtium starts. I also added more dirt to my potatoes in grow bags.

Today, I cleared 10 wheelbarrow full of rubber mulch I made the mistake of ever using from the area behind the coop, trimmed the shrubs, laid bricks along the base of the fence, and put up a small chicken wire fence for a pasture area for the girls and prepped a pumpkin patch bed for the kids to plant their pumpkins. I still have to figure out what I’m going to do with the potatoes I have left to plant. I need more large grow bags. I also have to figure out how I’m going to lay out the warmer weather stuff (squash, cucumbers, watermelon, and tomatoes).

It’s going to rain tomorrow. I’m sad but also happy I won’t have to water.

 

[Swiss]

I'm so skeptical of unbelievable good prices online.

Hooray!! I'm so glad I could help you get what you needed. If anything leaks in shipping just take photos and email them. They make it right. I've only ever had one thing leak.

The price on the brand's website was good, but not unbelievable. It was their whole website that had me skeptical.
And a huge THANK YOU for the help! I couldn't remember who gave me the tip...

Chilly, grey day. I got another 15' of clay dirt dug out of the perimeter. I should have taken a "before" picture.

I'll be getting the dog crates out tomorrow to begin hardening off the starts in the green house. We have mid-high 70s for the next 8 days, and lows in 50s.

If we're threatened with frost, I have a contingent plan for the plants if they're in the ground. If they're still in pots in the dog crates, I can move them back to the green house.

What are the dog crates for?

I tried mowing the lawn yesterday, but rain decided to appear... I got a little done, though. Today, I was going to toss seeds in the garden, but got distracted by a lot of other things.
One of those distractions was the chicks. I brought them out to the temporary outdoor pen (chicken wire wrapped around 3 of the 4 legs of a canopy frame) for about an hour, and because I didn't put a tarp on top of the canopy frame, I stayed next to or inside the pen the whole time. Almost as soon as I got them in and the pen closed up, I heard a weird noise, turned around and one of our resident sharp-shinned hawks (we have named him Krivaan) flew directly over us.

When I brought them back in the garage, I decided to fluff up their bedding. Then, I decided to raise one of their roosts up higher. And THEN, I decided to take out their brooder plate and clean it because it was disgusting, and then, I decided to keep it out of the brooder (but still on) because I don't think they need it anymore. They haven't seemed to need it, yet, and they seem to appreciate the much needed space!!

Their colors are coming in:

(Edited to remove duplicate picture)

 

[Smokerbill]

I figured out where to plant my dill and okra. I dug out a new bed on one side of my woodchip pile and planted the dill there. It's only around 3'x3', which should produce more than enough dill for me. I saved the dill seeds from last year's plants I grew. I hope they're viable. I didn't do a germination test on them.



For the okra I dug out a strip of lawn in a spot that will get direct sun all day long. I put the sod in the bottom of the trench, grass side down then piled more dirt on top of that. The row is a little crooked, but that's ok with me. The okra seeds are soaking in water and I'll plant them tomorrow.

I am beat!

 

[Happy hen lover]

they are not invasive in my climate. we have to water them here. I would like to have wisteria like this (internet pic):

View attachment 3831296

Mine died year of drought, never did bloom much. Replaced with castor bean plants.

 

[Happy hen lover]

Does anyone here grow chard? I am not having much luck with it sprouting. I think I have 2 out of the row of 10-15 seeds that I planted a couple weeks ago.

I do and my seeds were a few years old. Spinach did NOT come up tho! &_$#

 

[TJAnonymous]

Well, I started tackling the garden today. It's amazing what 10 days of rain will do. Just saying...

I've gotten about 30-40% of the weeding done. Probably over-pruned my tomatoes a little too severely but they were so overgrown that the weight of the growth caused their stems to bend and collapse even with supports on both sides. I HEAVILY pruned them to relieve the weight, pulled them upright, and clipped them to the supports in several places to hold them up.

Pruned down the lemon balm AGAIN. Threw the cuttings in the chicken coops. Love the smell... Don't know how the chickens feel about it though.

Decided to transplant the goji berries into a tire bed. Hoping that allows them a happier existence. Now I just gotta figure out where to put the other 2 starts...

Haven't touched the hoop house yet. Lots of weeding needed in there. Probably need to harvest some broccoli, cauliflower, and lettuce.

Pineapple starts need transplanted into 5 gallon buckets. Plumeria also needs to be up-planted.

Oh yeah, double gold raspberries are ripe and need picking too!

A day in the life....

 

[Happy hen lover]

I threw some basil, marigolds, and dill in pepper tubs.
I checked my starts I put in oven cuz it's a warm place( pilot on) it worked! I ended with 4 little pots sprouted up today. Happy about that . Put those sprouts outside.
My other baby cuke starts are doing fine in ground. Transplanted pepper plants look great with rainy weather we've had. I also planted ALL old morning glory seeds I've had forever if they grow so be it. Whew glad to squish that all in before rain hit!

 

[chickengr]

I need to protect my garden from my puppies. I am thinking to put net for climbing veggies and plant tomatoes next to it. as my dogs are crazy.

 

[Sally PB]

What are the dog crates for?

I use them for hardening off my starts. Pictures to explain:

They're protected from any critters, and

The sheets protect them from the sun when they're first out, and from cold temps at night.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

We were getting a light drizzle when I took the dogs out earlier. I really hope we get a few more showers today. I still need to plantsome flowers. I have a couple packs of perennial wildflowers I need to scatter. Then there’s the new clematis along with the marigolds and nasturtium. I’ve had very good luck with direct seeding okra @Smokerbill. I usually direct seed my squash but the summer squash is going in the garden with the green beans and last year I had trouble with slugs munching on the starts up there. Is that a black Australorp @Swiss? I have 6 of them and I’m not sure if they’re cockerels or pullets yet. They’re about 10 weeks old and depending how the light is hitting them I can’t tell what they are. I’ve never had trouble telling chicks apart before.