What did you do in the garden today?

[Birdielee]

These thornless blackberries are great. They're big and delicious

 

[Birdielee]

Oooooooo!!! Could I get some seeds?

Sure. But i don't have seeds right now. We could try roots. They're tough little buggers. I'd bet they'd survive.

 

[NewBoots]

Sure. But i don't have seeds right now. We could try roots. They're tough little buggers. I'd bet they'd survive.

Awesome! I'll send you a pm with my address.

 

[NightingaleJen]

@NightingaleJen I have 2 antique climbers PM me your address I will mail
you a root toned starts off two of each but you will have 4 of them that way you get live starts

Oh my goodness, that is so kind! I've never grown with rose starts like that before—is it difficult? Hubby may have to create a special bed for me in a hurry... What kind(s) of dogs did you used to handle professionally? We enjoy dog shows. Grew up going to them (my parents are Golden people; Hubby and I are Collie people).

@NewBoots Your garden looks beautiful! Cheerfully envious of your ability to grow okra. And bees go nuts for borage! Plus it is beautiful. I really like the fences you have around the raised beds!

@katiefloy Welcome to the thread! Your garden looks lovely!

@Sueby Sorry to hear about your back. We both have bad backs over here. A standard joke between us is that there is always a free hot tub available on Craigslist. ;P Those stock tank "swimming pools"—maybe one trimmed in black or navy blue all 'round the exterior?—look better every week!

@TropicalBabies your garden is more stunning every time I see it!

@B40chick Very pretty so far. What about platycodon (bellflowers) or dianthus?

@WthrLady Wow, reneactments! Very cool! Though you're right about the costumes. Also, for several months I've been reading biographies of Civil War generals; because of this, we've also watched quite a few documentaries about the era, including Ken Burns' magnificent "The Civil War". Lots of stories about those Gettysburg cannons...and I believe every word.

Charming new pet, by the way, from the market. ;D

Good *evening* gardeners. We had a really busy weekend! No more damage to the gardens, thank God; the two young raccoons seem to have found them and decided they were a private buffet, but they're gone. One of the sweetest women at our church (and there are lots of them, all of them actually) said, upon hearing me talk about the raccoons, "Raccoons are Evil. Just *Evil.* I hate them." Something so cute...!

So yesterday was spent planting, for the third or fourth time, lots of seeds: cukes, squash, cabbages, marigolds, calendula, many herbs, peppers, sunflowers, a few more zinnia, greens purporting to be summer-hardy, et cetera. It's okay. Late, but it's okay—though if they don't germinate in about ten days, it'll have to mean a trip to the nursery. My winter-sown ground cherry looks great but is still too tiny to go out just yet. All in good time! After repeated raccoon-caused setbacks this year...just have to keep trying. Better that than giving up.

My green beans do look much better, by the way. Hubby put in the bypass for the water softener and they improved within two days!

My nigella in the front flower beds self-sowed very enthusiastically last year. This is not even the tiniest problem. Any other fans? They don't bloom for long, but the atomic alien-style seed pods look fabulous for a long time, and the flowers are so pretty, they are worth it.

We also spray-painted our ancient bird feeder (was looking rough) and, more fun, our giant metal praying mantis. Then, today while returning from a doctor's appointment, we stopped at Ace and found a clearcoat glow in the dark spray paint! So we hit the mantis with that tonight. Should have a good gauge on how well it works after a full sunny day tomorrow. Yes, it is a ridiculous step, but it was too tempting to resist, especially to a child of the 80s. (FWIW: The mantis' name is Sylvester. Seemed to fit.)

I actually have a few pictures tonight! I never remember to take them when out frolicking (ahem) in the garden.
The stone is actually from Zach's aunt & uncle's farm south of us; he passed just months after we moved in here. Aunt Donna asked if we'd like the stone, since she planned to sell the farm but wanted that to stay in the family (has the family name on it but I zapped that out per Hubby's request). Very kind of her. Last week's tornado kind of took itself out on my dianthus and bachelor's buttons, but if that is the worst of it, I've not a complaint!



Nearly everything in this bed I've grown from seed. *blush* I am a little proud of that, to be honest.

My very fledgling veggie garden (after all we've been through since December 16, I am not beating myself up over this at ALL) and post-paint, pre-glow Sylvester. The cattle panel-T post trellis idea is from Roots & Refuge. Didn't budge in the tornado! Made a smaller one for the hoped-for cukes on the far side. Inside the OJ jug is my baby ground cherry.




Have a good night/day, all!

 

[NightingaleJen]

@littledog @AllenK RGV I've been fermenting in mason jars for ages, using one of those kits. Works a charm! Hubby doesn't like kraut so it's all for me. Love the pups, @igorsMistress! That poppy is a knockout, @Birdielee. Despite being planted in February...mine are just now coming up! Strange.

Okay, am I all caught up now? I did post pics of our coop progress elsewhere, if anyone wants to peek:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-ideas-on-page-2.1343830/page-3#post-22781300

 

[NewBoots]

Your garden looks beautiful! Cheerfully envious of your ability to grow okra. And bees go nuts for borage! Plus it is beautiful. I really like the fences you have around the raised beds!

Thanks! We'll see if I actually get any okra from the plants, I had to put them back in the greenhouse in pots to get them the heat they needed.

My nigella in the front flower beds self-sowed very enthusiastically last year. This is not even the tiniest problem. Any other fans? They don't bloom for long, but the atomic alien-style seed pods look fabulous for a long time, and the flowers are so pretty, they are worth it.

We grew them for the pods years ago when we were into dried flower arrangements. Might grow them again but those seeds...

Nearly everything in this bed I've grown from seed. *blush* I am a little proud of that, to be honest.

You should be. I totally know how you feel, I could never have afforded to do so much planting if we hadn't had the greenhouse, and I'm silly proud of it all. Even assuming we could have gone out to buy plants. We bought the trees and shrubs but 95% of the raised bed veg and flowers are all seed raised.

 

[karenerwin]

Ok cool. I do! I have ones that look like this . They get a sickness every year w black on the leaves, but it doesn't seem to slow them down as a group.
Ill include some if you want, after that full disclosure

Yes, please!

 

[NewBoots]

@littledog @AllenK RGV I've been fermenting in mason jars for ages, using one of those kits. Works a charm! Hubby doesn't like kraut so it's all for me. Love the pups, @igorsMistress! That poppy is a knockout, @Birdielee. Despite being planted in February...mine are just now coming up! Strange.

Okay, am I all caught up now? I did post pics of our coop progress elsewhere, if anyone wants to peek:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-ideas-on-page-2.1343830/page-3#post-22781300

That is an amazing coop! I love the huge storage space, and the big area you have for the run. I do deep litter method in the run with poop boards and pine shavings in the coop itself. I'll have to go re-read the thread.

 

[karenerwin]

I eat violets. They're good. You have to cook the leaves until they're soft., and i don't use the stems.
I read there's a violet jelly recipe?

YES!! I made violet jelly this year. I really like the taste. It's a very light flavor. Another cool thing is that when you make it you pour boiling hot water over the petals and then let it steep for hours. The water turns anywhere from a vivid blue to almost black,then you strain out the petals leaving the blue/black water, then when you add the lemon juice ( or lime juice, which I used) the water turns purple!!

 

[karenerwin]

I got back outside around sunset and weedwhacked around the raised garden bed and the 2 half barrel gardens as well as around the fence line between our neighbor and our property. Tomorrow I hope to get the actual yard part with the lawn tractor. I also need to make some tomato cages as they were out of them at Lowe's yesterday and they were asking way too much for them anyways.
Has anyone on here ever tried to trim back some of the giant leaves on their zucchini plants? Does it work or does it kill the plant? I have never tried before but I am toying with the idea this year. However, I don't want to kill the plants because I only have 2 of them!