Sally's GF3 thread

[Sally PB]

Never heard of that one, what does it do?

The sugar syrup (1:1, sugar/water) helps keep them docile. It coats their wings so they're less prone to flying off, and they eat it. They'll groom it off each other, I believe.

These were pretty docile bees anyway. I only gave them a couple of misting sprays. They knew what they needed to do.

We've seen them in the wild apple tree.

 

[Sally PB]

The chicks are scampering about, then going back to the heater plate to warm up. They were quiet last night, which I take as a good sign.

I have paper towel with a few handfuls of pine shavings on the brooder floor. They're walking/running well. I think I'll put in a thick-ish bed of shavings tomorrow. And a little practice roost for them to hop on. And a mirror.

I used the cardboard box the dog crate came in to line the crate, since they're small enough to get out through the bars. It seemed kind of gloomy in there, so I cut some empty feed bags open and used those, white side out, to cover the cardboard. And, I drew little colored spots with marker down at their level.

Am I a ga-ga, in love chick mom, or what?

 

[Sally PB]

The long white thing with the pointy end at the bottom is a brome grass stolon. These are the things that travel under thick mulch, through the soil, rooting (both senses of the word) along the way. Then new plants pop up, and send out more.

In early April, we had about 5" of rain in a couple hours. This picture was taken from the porch at the house, so there are trees in between me and the garden. You can see what's happening to my raised beds. They're the long skinny islands in the muddy sea. In the 29 years we've lived here, we've had a few gully washers. But nothing like this!
This is the north end of the garden.

Rocks have bolstered that bed since I put it in. It's the most southern raised bed; the rest of the garden to the south is flat for things like asparagus, potatoes, and squash. So this bed took the brunt of it.

This is my sandy soil garden. It has sand bars now.

 

[TwoCrows]

View attachment 3507575The long white thing with the pointy end at the bottom is a brome grass stolon. These are the things that travel under thick mulch, through the soil, rooting (both senses of the word) along the way. Then new plants pop up, and send out more.
View attachment 3507582

In early April, we had about 5" of rain in a couple hours. This picture was taken from the porch at the house, so there are trees in between me and the garden. You can see what's happening to my raised beds. They're the long skinny islands in the muddy sea. In the 29 years we've lived here, we've had a few gully washers. But nothing like this!
This is the north end of the garden.
View attachment 3507586

View attachment 3507588
Rocks have bolstered that bed since I put it in. It's the most southern raised bed; the rest of the garden to the south is flat for things like asparagus, potatoes, and squash. So this bed took the brunt of it.

This is my sandy soil garden. It has sand bars now.

I hope you dry out soon before everything washes away!

 

[Sally PB]

I hope you dry out soon before everything washes away!

That happened back on April 5th. Right now, I'd take an inch of that rain, gladly! It's dry here.

Since that soil is so sandy, it drains and dries quickly.

 

[Sally PB]

Frost warning here tonight. This morning, they were saying a low of 42 (no worries), but they've revised that down to 39. All my garden starts are still in the dog crates, so I put the sheets back over them, and the plastic tarp over the whole thing.

The counties along Lake Michigan weren't included, but I'm two more counties in. They didn't sound very worried, and said the advisory is just because temps were forecast to be in the 30s.

I'm so glad I decided to paint instead of plant today.

 

[Sally PB]

Everything came through the cold temps last night just fine. Whew.

I planted my peppers and some more onion sets in the uphill garden. Man, that is a workout! That soil is dense.

Last year, we spread wood chips over most of it, until we ran out. There is a thin layer of soil under the chips that is NICE looking.

I planted 3 of my spaghetti squash plants in the downhill garden. I can dig in that soil with my hands. What a difference.

The spaghetti squash will overrun the raised bed I put them in, most likely. I have 9 pots of squash, and in the uphill garden, I have room for about 6. I really didn't think all of my seeds would sprout.

I'll be planting the tomatoes soon. Most will go uphill. Why, oh why, did I start so many 'maters? Well, because we eat a lot of them, duh.

 

[Sally PB]

I did an egg swap with my neighbor. She has a broody, I have fertile eggs. Today is day 1. It will be really cool to see what Chantecler over Black Australorp/Blue Australorp/Jubilee Orpington chicks will look like!

 

[Shadrach]

Really surprising just how fast the prepared planting spaces get used up. It feels like acres when you dig it. Looks like lot when you get the compost and fertilizer in and shrinks to not much at all when you plant.

 

[Sally PB]

Today, I bottled a batch of 'booch (kombucha). I love that stuff. I can't afford to buy the amount I drink. Mine tastes better too. Yes, I'm biased, but several people have told me they think so too.