BYC gardening thread!!

[hippiestink]

To keep slugs under control you can bury a beer can with about 2 inches of beer in it and they will go there and drown. I also read but have not needed to try that you can use oyster shell around the edges of the garden to stop them from coming in. Something about crawling across the shell they do not like.

The beer can trick worked to keep them off the strawberries here. The first year they ate about half of every berry the second year I did the cans and had a good harvest.

I did battle with the cabbage butterflies this year so think I will do row covers to keep the flea beetles and cabbage butterflies out next year.

Another option is corn meal. Slugs love to eat it even though it kills them.

My melons are taking off, blossoming like mad. I'm pulling in a respectable count of two ounces of French beans a day, and I've figured out my tomatoes need cut off the vine and bagged when they're the right size but not necessarily ripe if I want them to ripen at all. It's either too hot or too cold where we are and never the sweet spot for ripening. Inside ripening has become our norm. Corn is also tasseling, hasn't formed ears yet. Onions are pushing their way out of the ground and starting to form actual bulbs.

Got me an Ancona mix/Easter Egger pullet! Finally out of quarantine. She lays mostly blue eggs, sweet as can be to humans but fighting her way to her spot in the pecking order. I'm excited for a more colorful egg basket, maybe eventually I can get myself a Maran or something since we have a really good connection at the local market. Most of our flock of eight comes from the same seller and we've never had issues with the birds.

All in all our little homestead is doing better than expected for the first year. Next year will be much more ambitious, I'm really excited!

 

[1cock2hens]

The seeds we've saved for fall and next spring got soaked in the crisper. Something leaked and although we pulled the seeds out and dried them and put them back in the fridge I'm unsure if they'll still be viable for planting. Should we keep them ($100 worth) or toss them and buy new ones?

Any help would be appreciated.

RichnSteph

You definitely shouldnt throw them out do a germination test like the other poster said.. for the past 15 years I have put my seeds in a ziplock bag thats half closed in a moist paper towel on top of the refrigerator and have always had better results than when I put the seeds in a windowsill.. I never blow any extra air in

 

[lizardandchicks]

Took some pictures of some flowers this morning. I had a female watermelon flower bloom this morning.

 

[hennible]

I'm going to try corn meal,(thanks hippiestink) beer traps worked but not as well as I hoped just too many slugs and not enough beer I guess. Also egg shell and oyster shell everywhere I think it's just to wet lately...

 

[hippiestink]

Picked some of the larger specimens of Indigo Rose and Russian Black Sea Man tomatoes, as well as a few Romas. It's almost time to see if the taste test comes through in the Great Tomato Experiment!

 

[kerusnak]

I planted potatoes for the first time. I used some fencing to grow them in, added dirt put in the potatoes with 5-6" shoots. They immediately sprouted up 2-3' and I added dirt, sprouted high so added dirt again. The 2nd or 3rd time I added dirt the plants got a little smooshed and some came up but now they look dead brown and wilty. Did I kill them? Could they be done already? They are organic yellow finn, say 90 day harvest but I planted at the end of May. Thanks in advance for the advice!

 

[MeepBeep]

I planted potatoes for the first time. I used some fencing to grow them in, added dirt put in the potatoes with 5-6" shoots. They immediately sprouted up 2-3' and I added dirt, sprouted high so added dirt again. The 2nd or 3rd time I added dirt the plants got a little smooshed and some came up but now they look dead brown and wilty. Did I kill them? Could they be done already? They are organic yellow finn, say 90 day harvest but I planted at the end of May. Thanks in advance for the advice!

If the tops are dead you might have killed them or they are ready to harvest, either way it's time to harvest and see what you get...

 

[lazy gardener]

Where did you get them? If they came from the grocery store, they may have been sprayed with a chemical to keep them from sprouting. Sometimes they will sprout anyways, but I expect the plant will be weakened and not reach it's potential. But, if you got them as potato sets intended for the garden, they may have just completed their growth cycle, and it's time to harvest. Enjoy. Nothing any better than fresh home grown potatoes.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I did not know about the corn meal. Good info and thank you for posting it.

Wondering if the mice and wild birds would find the corn meal first.

 

[kerusnak]

They were from tractor supply. I just dug them up and found nothing! In one I saw some empty skins and some tiny white larvae looking bugs.