➡I accidentally bought Balut eggs: 2 live ducks! Now a Chat Thread!

[PirateGirl]

@RUNuts look in the background of the flower picture. You can see a few trees. I am living vicariously through my neighbor's handful of tiny aspen trees until I can get my own to survive!

 

[RUNuts]

@RUNuts look in the background of the flower picture. You can see a few trees. I am living vicariously through my neighbor's handful of tiny aspen trees until I can get my own to survive!

I looked and saw scrub or bushes. Tiny aspen trees, huh? If that is all you have, it's a forest! LOL. I'm afraid your sunflowers will be larger than your neighbor's trees by the end of your very short growing season. Aspens grow slow, true?

Our sunflowers are coming to the end. They are bowing their heads and waiting. Interesting note. The cucumbers 10 feet from the sunflowers are producing fruit. The ones under the sunflowers are stunted. I'm guessing the internet was right about the sunflowers discouraging growth. Except for grass. The grass is invading under the sunflowers.

Our neighborhood was once wooded. Oak root rot is slowly killing all the oaks. A few people are replacing the trees, others are converting to a monoculture lawn. I like my "weeds". I'm looking at mulberries. If it weren't for the purple bird poop on the cars, I'd have planted some already. I hesitate.

 

[PirateGirl]

I looked and saw scrub or bushes. Tiny aspen trees, huh? If that is all you have, it's a forest! LOL. I'm afraid your sunflowers will be larger than your neighbor's trees by the end of your very short growing season. Aspens grow slow, true?

Our sunflowers are coming to the end. They are bowing their heads and waiting. Interesting note. The cucumbers 10 feet from the sunflowers are producing fruit. The ones under the sunflowers are stunted. I'm guessing the internet was right about the sunflowers discouraging growth. Except for grass. The grass is invading under the sunflowers.

Our neighborhood was once wooded. Oak root rot is slowly killing all the oaks. A few people are replacing the trees, others are converting to a monoculture lawn. I like my "weeds". I'm looking at mulberries. If it weren't for the purple bird poop on the cars, I'd have planted some already. I hesitate.

My sunflowers probably will be as tall as her aspens! I read online that when the back of the sunflower head starts to yellow to cover the head with either a brown paper bag or cheese cloth so the wild birds don't get all the seeds and the seeds can continue to grow and develop. Then when it's time you can cut the head and save it for later, like to feed your chickens over winter.

 

[Morrigan]

And so it begins.

First long-awaited tomato. The avalanche will soon be upon me.

I know you are in the high desert. I still scream, "where are your trees!" Just doesn't look right to me.

It's like when I look at pictures of everyone's flat, lush green land. What must their watering bill look like, I start to think. Then, oh yeah, where they live its free from the sky.

 

[RUNuts]

The backs have started to yellow. I still have squash vine borers that I'm pulling off the heads. We shall see how well I did. You mention that now. I just bought 50 pounds of BOSS. LOL! They love them. They didn't like the thunderstorms we had this morning. The drought is over. The floods are back.

So, I need to count how many I have and find a place to hang them to dry. They mold if you don't put them in AC.

@Morrigan good news! We are getting tomatoes and cucumbers.

 

[Morrigan]

Did someone mention sunflowers?

Five years ago, we planted one 5 foot row of "dwarf sunflowers." Now they are everywhere and full-sized. This is only a fraction of what would have grown, had we not weeded aggressively around the raised beds and walking areas. I had no idea they would spread and grow like this. Needless to say, our chickens don't lack for sunflower seeds.

 

[RUNuts]

Except for the drought, the fields and ditches around here are filled with blackeyed susans and then overtaken with a wild type sunflower. Beautiful yellow for a couple of months. Then the indian paint brushes and evening primroses come alive. Spring is slowly waning, but still fresh in the memory.

We had a spoil pile of dirt, 20 foot tall that sprouted sunflowers in the back of my last work. Gorgeous when they started blooming. Mountain of yellow. Found out the local deer were sleeping in the sunflower forest. Too funny.

I'd cut some and take them to the ladies in the front office. they loved having fresh flowers around.

 

[PirateGirl]

Except for the drought, the fields and ditches around here are filled with blackeyed susans and then overtaken with a wild type sunflower. Beautiful yellow for a couple of months. Then the indian paint brushes and evening primroses come alive. Spring is slowly waning, but still fresh in the memory.

We had a spoil pile of dirt, 20 foot tall that sprouted sunflowers in the back of my last work. Gorgeous when they started blooming. Mountain of yellow. Found out the local deer were sleeping in the sunflower forest. Too funny.

I'd cut some and take them to the ladies in the front office. they loved having fresh flowers around.

We have wild Mountain Sunflower too. It's significantly smaller, but it does grow later in the summer.

 

[Kiki]

 

[Kiki]

Catching up. Been MIA for a few days.