What did you do in the garden today?

[karenerwin]

Tuesday my hubby and I drove down to see my middle son and the grandkids (and his wife, but she stayed inside doing whatever she was doing).
We gave him back his drill and helped him get the metal roof back on the chicken coop we moved. Then we turned around and drove back home. It was a 12 hour trip.
Today was spent doing stuff for my mom’s estate.
But it was a better day. My oldest called to see if I had heard back from the girl he wanted to keep his stuff. She had called yesterday while we were driving but I didn’t bother to call her back. I told him him I wasn’t up for the drama.
Anyway, it was a better day!
@igorsMistress im sorry to hear about your Nn rooster.
We do have 1 electronic collar that I have used before ( my hubby always gave me a lot of trouble about). Now he is the one that wants to use it in the puppies!
I’m heading to bed. I certainly wasn’t expecting an 87 degree day! I guess I better pay more attention to the forecast!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. So sorry about your rooster @igorsMistress. Glad your day got a little better @karenerwin. We had a storm blow through here yesterday. The wind was pretty wicked and brought down a few branches. No damage just a lot of mess to clean up. We didn't get all that much rain from it, but the drought is so bad here any little bit of precipitation is welcome. I picked 2 small green tomatoes this morning. We are forecasted to get frosty overninght temps around 35F so I thought it best to bring them in. My only plans for today is to get the last batch of Concord grape jam processed. Then I can pick up the apples from my local orchard. Not much else going on. Have a great day everyone.

 

[Compost King]

what I did yesterday:
I built the frame for an intake vent, I have not cut out the plastic covering it but I did screw in the fasteners so alls I need to do is cut out the plastic when I realize I need the intake vent.

I went to go buy a cheap door handle to open the greenhouse door with. I noticed that all the cheap ones I could only get there finger in and I wanted all 4 fingers into the handle. The cheapest one that fit my hand turned out to be the wooden handle and it actually looks better for this project than any other handle. Cost me $4. I like spending $1 for something that simple. Since the handle is the same color and same material as the wall I figure its worth the extra $3.

I posted a picture of the first bench I installed last night when I was half asleep, this morning my cat took claim of the green house. This could be a bad thing she may claw it when she wants in and its sealed off. I might bring her inside for winter to avoid this.

 

[Sueby]

@igorsMistress I'm so sorry about your rooster! He was such a handsome boy.

@Wee Farmer Sarah I wondered how you did with the wind yesterday. It wasn't bad here but my nephew, who lives on the MA border, had a tree fall on his house. That poor kid can't catch a break. We didn't get much rain either.

@Sueby I love the garden bench

Thank you! I'm pretty happy with it, it's come in quite handy so far.

Anyway, morning all. Chilly & windy here today. But since the garden has been put to bed I have nothing going on! I put away all the stakes & trellises if that counts. I keep checking to see if my cover crop is coming up, but I think it's only been a few days, feels like 2 weeks though, lol. I was a little late getting it in, hope it's ok.

We got another chipdrop that we really didn't need. I'm debating spreading a bit in the garden paths or waiting for spring. Maybe another tractor bucket full in the chicken run too.

Ok, have a wonderful day gardeners!

 

[wyoDreamer]

@Compost King Put a little cat door in the side of the greenhouse so she can keep the mice under control in there.

 

[WthrLady]

Dry as a bone here still. Howling daytime winds. Heading over 90 again.
I need to spray down the weeds in the, now empty, garden to prep for more mulch next spring. These are alfalfa and prairie, who's roots go down about 8-12 plus feet. Even a deep layer of mulch won't stop it. I just have to keep tormenting it for years until it gives up entirely.
I need to loose the winds before I can do that though.

Cleaned cupboards yesterday and got rid of all the extra sets of dishes. Marketing today.
Am supposed to go to a meeting an hour away today. I'm not feeling it.
I have a pile of stuff to get on etsy.

And two lamps to build.

 

[Compost King]

@Compost King Put a little cat door in the side of the greenhouse so she can keep the mice under control in there.

I considered that but this cat doesn't kill anything. When I had a cat door for my house she would play catch and release and she brought them inside to release and I had to wait for my male cat to come home and catch what she released. My male cat died last year. if I put a cat door in I would be inviting in pests. I bring her in for winter now. She used to spend winter outside back when I had an outdoor brooder with heat lamps, above the brooder I had an attic type of area that would be warm and my cats would sleep in them. Now I use heating plates and do not have a full time brooder going so I give her flea medicine and let her live inside full time in winter. Then as soon as spring hits she goes outside and refuses to come back in until we have a frost in the fall.

 

[NewBoots]

Well, today I weeded the flower bed along the side of the house- my hollyhocks did not make it, but the hydrangea has been glorious.

I dearly love hollyhocks but in Portland, mine have always gotten rust and or mildew. I might try them again now that we've moved.
@Compost King, your greenhouse is just looking awesome. @karenerwin, I'm glad your day was better, you sound like you have a good grip on things. @Sueby, I'd love another load of chips myself but moving it from the front where they'd drop it to the back where we store them is the problem. If we ever win the lottery, I am getting one of those little Bobcat mini skid steers. You can attach all sorts of handy things to them.

I found where I hid the harvested shallots from myself, I'm so happy! I also found where I hid the Halloween candy so I am feeling on top of it!

Got the lawn mowed yesterday and weeds whacked the day before so the yard is looking pretty good. The chickens got 2 mower bags full of fresh green grass and a ton of clover out of it, plus they got non-fat greek yogurt with rolled oats this morning so they are happy girls. Oh and a chicken bone, little raptors. Planning on cutting some of the brussel sprouts later today, they're pretty purple things so I'll post a picture whenever I do get them cut. Feeling good today, I was so sore from mowing yesterday but I'm lucky in that a night's sleep with some ibuprofen onboard still seems to do the trick. I'm so glad we retired here, having to keep active caring for critters, the yard, and garden have been really good for my health. In fact I'm healthier and more flexible now than I was a year ago and I've lost 80 pounds.

 

[Compost King]

I put in a 2nd bench slightly lower, The cat would come out of her spot and annoy me as I laid down and had to drill holes and screws up. Then when I finished she went back to her spot. She wants me to pet her... for an hour or longer. In the picture you can see the sun was just starting to hit the green house, It went from 77 degrees (76 outside) to 82 degrees in just a few minutes. She is now out of her spot and standing on the 2nd bench trying to figure out if its too hot for her in there or not. Hopefully she leaves so I can get more work done. I also noticed that 14 Cayenne pepper plants take up too much space, I really should just have between 1 and 5. I have about 6 Jalapeños, maybe 9. I have a Carolina Reaper and a ghost peppers plant I want to keep also looks like those 2 benches will hold 16 plants. I also have some tomato plants I want to keep on those benches too. I am going to have to sacrifice some plants to the spacial math god.... or to put in normal people words, dump the pots out in a raise bed extension.

As soon as the cat leaves I am turning on the exhaust fan and cleaning up the mess I made. Then plan out the different shelves I am going to use for seed starting. Leave an area for dwarf tropical trees.

 

[drstratton]

Hey all! Dehydrating Organic Asian pears today, my son works for an orchardist...so we get these for free! I also have some D'anjou pears from our tree that I will be putting up next! Dale peels, I core, slice them with my electric meat slicer...remove more core...an apple corer is not quite big enough for these...place in Pineapple juice and arrange in the dehydrators! We will have 20 trays drying when I finished...taking a quick break right now! My grandmother gave me my first dehydrator 35 years ago...I'm still using it today! We found another on E-bay a couple of years ago and bought it!