What did you do in the garden today?

[pennyJo1960]

Hello all!

@igorsMistress, sorry your mint is done for the year! That is one of my favourite herbs. Plus—well, here, anyhow—it's nearly impossible to kill!



FWIW, you can make pesto out of nearly any combo of green herb, nut, and hard cheese. I've made cilantro pesto in the past and it's fabulous (pumpkin seeds work well there, but so do pecans—pine nuts ARE obscenely expensive, and having recently developed an allergy to walnuts...pecans forever!). I understand pine nuts, basil, and parm are traditional—well, in pesto's case, the recipe is more of a guideline... Oh, pistachios work well, too, in place of pignola. Go crazy! And smear that delicious pesto on everything!

(Warning, crazy person who will in fact cook something after a delicious dinner just because Jacques Pepin made it and it looked so fantastic here)

Sorry summer is so hard on you, @Sueby & @WthrLady. That's why I try to be indoors by ten...AM. Evening is not too bad, either, most nights. *checks temperature* *it's 87F* *hmmm*

Busy day here. Sowed a lot of things for late summer/early fall harvest—peas, chard, kale (jumping the gun on some things, but...), these wild-looking green radishes, more basil and dill, beets...I don't remember what else, because a few things I hadn't intended to plant snuck into my hand.

Mulched some containers since it is indeed hot.

Here's the new nasturtium variety—it is called Cherry Rose Jewel, and the seeds were purchased from Botanical Interests.

View attachment 2251231
It does fade a bit in the sun, but with that cherry tomato gone, she's getting hit full blast morning and late afternoon. Still pretty.

Remember my sunflower? The short one I was so excited about? Somehow, last night it was knocked over! I found the bloom just lying on the grass (still attracting bees, though). Figured we might as well enjoy it indoors before it gets composted, so I put it into a little bowl of water. Lucy, our tortie, could not resist investigating.

View attachment 2251236

That's all. The chicks ship Monday...how am I supposed to pay attention in church tomorrow?!

Happy gardening, everyone!

Love the kitty really pretty torti

 

[pennyJo1960]

Okay may have figured out the issue but the time I took 500 suckers from it started to perk up a bit, each 10 removed perked more and more like Duh
Hey has anyone used alaska fish fertalizer on their tomato or tomatillo one needs no help at all

 

[Birdielee]

They squeak?! That sounds precious, I’ve only ever seen the adults on my deck. They are fearless and don’t even bother moving anymore when I walk by.

Wow, i had anoles for pets as a kid and I never heard squeaks either!

 

[WthrLady]

Oh i was thinking of the leopard geckos!

 

[Birdielee]

Just be VERY VERY VERY careful that you actually have Queen Annes Lace and not hemlock!

Wow! Thanks for the heads up, I had no idea!! I am sure that some (if not all) of it is true Queen Anne's Lace, but I am trying to find out if they can both grow together in the same patch (ditch). If they can, then I will throw out this "tea" ( I hadn't made it into jelly yet, just boiled water and steeped the flowers). The jelly part was going to be done tomorrow.
But now I am definitely second guessing that plan. I would much rather not try it than to end up accidentally making a poisonous jelly!!
The humorous part is that I checked into the ditch lily aspect a lot to make sure it was safe, but had no idea there is a poisonous look alike for Queen Anne's Lace.

There are a couple of hemlocks. The poison hemlock is what you want to look up. It's a ditch sort of plant. Sinister looking thing with purple areas. I think the hairiness of the stems is the main distinguishing feature between them. There's a purple center dot on queen Anne's lace flowerheads, but it's not there all the time. But i just looked it up and there are also 4 poisonous species of 'water hemlock'. If you learn Queen Anne's Lace ID you should be fine.

Funnily, day lilies can be a problem, too. They're useful for food, but some stands cause stomach upset and some don't. Mine don't. Hope yours don't. (If daylilies and ditch lilies are the same). If a particular patch of day lilies doesn't cause you problems, then it'll be fine other years, too.

 

[Birdielee]

Check this out. I've never had a potato do this. It made little mini potato plants along its wimpy little stem

 

[Birdielee]

There are like 4 or 5 in a row. Very cool

 

[Birdielee]

Okay may have figured out the issue but the time I took 500 suckers from it started to perk up a bit, each 10 removed perked more and more like Duh
Hey has anyone used alaska fish fertalizer on their tomato or tomatillo one needs no help at all

I used fish fertilizer once and a neighborhood cat decided it smelled awesome. He scratched and rolled and dug like he had never found anything so delightful. It was plant -fatal. Maybe underground might work.

 

[Birdielee]

the time I took 500 suckers from it started to perk up a bit, each 10 removed perked more and more like Duh

Huh. I never thought of them as suckers, just as more stems. I did take a couple off today amd yesterday, so maybe that's good and i should do a little more.

I've been digging potatoes. I hilled with mulch a lot, but haven't seen a difference in quantity over other years. I got a good few really nice sized ones, though. Maybe it did help. They were smooth skinned yellow potatoes. Either yukon gold or some other alaskan theme name. Gold rush?

Ive been picking "provider" bush beans for at least a week I'm really happy with them. Usually we only do Kentucky wonder pole beans, but we don't get beans until august! So this year we have both. I'm wondering if the bush beans will keep producing?

Edited because i found a photo of one of the potato digging sessions

 

[pennyJo1960]

Used Alaska fish fertilizer on everything tonight better looking for getting the suckers off