What did you do in the garden today?

[WthrLady]

I measured the garden after finishing cleaning it out. I have 13’ x 15’ of cleared area for next year’s garden. I still need more cover. The tools are all put away, and I let the chickens free range while I worked on a new run. They discovered the garden about ten minutes before I ushered them into the coop.
I think I have mentioned this in this thread before, but I just can’t keep apples healthy. Pesticides either aren’t working or are washing off too easily. Is there anything that stays on through dew? Also, how do I get the apples treated 12+ feet up?

I use a large pump sprayer and turn the nozel to its longest reach. I've had no problem reaching high with it. Neem stays on for a while, as it is oil based, but it must go on to dry plants and be allowed to dry.
Other treatments get reapplied after every rain, or wash off. Yes, it IS a PIA. But without it, at least here, you aren't getting anything to eat. Unless you plant a million trees and hope to get an apple a tree.
Then if Mother Nature plans a frost wrong, you loose it all anyway.

 

[WthrLady]

And the dog eared boards shrink as they cure. A LOT. So unless they are old,dry, and recycled...... I butt mine up as tightly as possible and will loose 1/2" in width on each board.

 

[oldhen2345]

spent the day between refurbishing an old coop and working on the winter garden (greenhouse). Although I did not get much construction done I did get more organized and cleaned up scraps and such.

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It actually looks like a greenhouse when you put plants in there.
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this corner is where I plan to put bubble cloner, it fits perfectly under the fan with enough room to remove the humidity dome.

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Dropped some coco puffs from the rabbit pens in the pots to stimulate vegetative growth on the peppers I will be taking cuttings from.
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I stuck some plants under the bench because I just need to keep them alive, there is enough light down there to keep them alive until spring. I have 14 Cayenne pepper plants and I do not need to take cuttings from all of them.
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I cut back tomato plants as well as peppers. These are Oxhearts. I will be taking cuttings of these all winter long.
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I just wanted to see if my coconut fiber pots fit in the trays, I can barely fit 8 but that's good enough for me. Thinking of planting small sunflowers to attract pollinators.
https://hudsonvalleyseed.com/products/velvet-queen-sunflower?variant=31280917970989


And now for the all the pictures of my mistakes in building. I do not have precision tools for a serious build however I give it my best shot.

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didn't line up flush.
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couldn't get it to line up straight. Most of those pieces that required an angled cut were off a little in one way or another.
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I did a sloppy job on that corner and may remove that board and cut that corner out a bit cleaner... that area I cut out for is my Fan Vent Door.
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Sometimes I just did a sloppy job and boards did not line up like they should.
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I got sloppy on that corner board.
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that gap in the boards was not so much sloppiness on my part but because I used dog eared fence board it just couldn't line up, its really tight at the top and bottom but due to warping and cheap craftsmanship (the norm for this product) at the mill that made these boards I have gaps I need to fill.

It is the little things like this that make "home made" special. I am not a great carpenter, but when I do little projects (I don't do big ones like a green house), there are always imperfections like this.

 

[NewBoots]

First one is "Dilled eggs" with white vinegar, typical spices, onions.
next one is "Beet" using beet juice and apple cider vinegar and a touch of sugar
Last one is "Balsamic" using,... balsamic and garlic and onions, touch of sugar.

Are those from the site that had like 6 different kinds of pickled egg recipes? I looked at those and especially that balsamic one so let me know what you think of it. I love the flavor of balsamic vinegar so I am really curious.

Meat chickens are 5 weeks old today. All males. Pretty good size!

Have you raised them before? DP and I are thinking of doing like 6 at a time during the summer.

All set up to can outside with a friend today.

I am so envious, keeping the steam and mess out of the kitchen. Will you be pressure canning out there too? My set up for pressure canning is terrible. I can't use my crummy stove because the manufacturer says it might crack their stupid glass top. So I have to use a commercial hot plate that is digital and I can't find a temperature setting to hold the pressure steady and have to watch it like a hawk the whole time. Sorry, mini rant there. Gonna ask Santa for a new propane gas stove, and since DP hates our current stove as much as I do, Santa might make with the new one.

Don't you just love it when you find things you hid from yourself, or forgot you had?

The best is finding a 20 in pocket. Now when that happens I assume that 20 is for some purpose. To buy someone's lunch (when we could still go to restaurants) or drop in a donation box or impulsively give to a pan-handler.

Misting lightly here so no need to water, so glad I got the grass cut when I did. Hopefully with all the recent mist and rain we'll be able to use the burn barrel again soon, the scrap paper is really building up and I'd like to burn the dried tomato vines, I want to be sure any disease or virus or eggs don't carry over to next season. I way over bought seed shallots and garlic, I'll be sticking them in random spots all over the place. That's okay, it'll be like an Easter egg hunt!

 

[Acre4Me]

Are those from the site that had like 6 different kinds of pickled egg recipes?

The balsamic recipe was from allrecipes.com - it was a recipe with overall good reviews, and most of the more negative ones were basically around not wanting a balsamic flavor for the eggs. It has 5 crushed cloves of garlic per 6 eggs! And the balsamic is diluted with water, as expected. Recipe says 4-5 day wait, so I'll let you know!

The Dill recipe and Beet recipe were from "National Center for Food Preservation" website. There were 6 recipes there, so I picked the two I felt I would like. There were a few new-to-me pickled egg recipes here: "Pineapple pickled eggs" using pineapple juice, pickling spice, and onions as key ingredients (with white vinegar). Then a :"Dark and Spicy" recipe with liquid smoke or hickory smoke salt, and a "sweet and Sour" recipe using red cinnamon candy and pickling spice and garlic!

A couple of years ago I pickled many jars of quail eggs, and we LOVED the cajun ones, so delicious! So, I'll likely try a batch of Cajun pickled Chicken eggs in the future! That recipe was from "Just a Pinch" website and uses Zataran's liquid crab boil as one ingredient. The quail eggs were actually canned - it is pretty easy to peel quail eggs after they sit in straight vinegar for 12 hours, so eggs were intact, and they are much smaller, so the canning works for them, but is not recommended for chicken eggs, besides, double cooking the eggs (boil to peel, then to can), makes the texture a bit rubbery.

Have you raised them before? DP and I are thinking of doing like 6 at a time during the summer.

Yes, this is our 4th batch. The first batch was a learning curve and we were unsure if it was something we would do again. That is, until we tasted the cooked chicken!!!! Yum! So nice, great texture, great flavor!

We've only bought from one hatchery, but they sell 2 CX versions. These walk well their entire lives, but do end up waddling. One thing to keep them moving is to place water and feed in different locations so they have to get up and walk. They poop A LOT. A LOT, A LOT! So, just know you will need to move their tractor, or toss around or replace bedding often. 6 birds isn't too bad, so don't be turned off by that. 6 birds is a very manageable number. We started with 12, and did not find it too taxing.

If processing in summer, have a shady spot - no need to have any additional smells! Also, we learned from experience, process the chickens the day BEFORE trash pick-up, not the day after . Or at least have freezer space to put the trash bag in until trash pickup. Maybe you have a place to bury it on your yard, so then not an issue.

We process around 7-8 weeks of age.

 

[Compost King]

planted Ginger, Oregano, Basil, Black oil sunflower, Velvet Queen sunflower, and Giant Paste Hybrid Tomatoes. They are in the greenhouse right now. I also built some shelves for seed starting trays.

I have 4 shelves in place, I have room for more.

They can slide right in place or I can prop them up on small boards because the trays I have now are too flimsy to hold any weight. I may invest in sturdier trays and if I do I will just slide them in.

I took some shims I did not need, split them in half and made labels for the seeds ai sowed in coconut fiber pots I have had in storage for 10 years. I may prematurely place a small piece of plastic in that corner up high to keep humidity up in that corner. My passive vent is in that corner too if I need to vent.

 

[jerryse]

Morning . I mostly rested yesterday and helped DW with household chores . We made a pot roast with pork shoulder ( lower leg ) Skin on and some fat . I like it that way . Got to 81 .

 

[igorsMistress]

Sorry you lost your cockerel.
Was it eaten or plucked at all? When the hawk nailed the guinea hen just outside the chicken run, it sat there and ate it right where it was until my DH chased it off.

Somewhat eaten but not entirely and not like a dog or cat would do so I’m sure it was a bird of prey. Not sure what but best guess it was a hawk and not an owl. Hubs agrees with me.

 

[Sueby]

Morning all.

Wow, what a day of canning! I didn't even count how much we got done, but it was 5 batches of salsa verde & probably 12 pints of pickled green tomatoes. I'm beat this morning. But working outside was perfect, the weather was beautiful & the grill worked great for what we needed.

I am so envious, keeping the steam and mess out of the kitchen. Will you be pressure canning out there too? My set up for pressure canning is terrible. I can't use my crummy stove because the manufacturer says it might crack their stupid glass top. So I have to use a commercial hot plate that is digital and I can't find a temperature setting to hold the pressure steady and have to watch it like a hawk the whole time. Sorry, mini rant there. Gonna ask Santa for a new propane gas stove, and since DP hates our current stove as much as I do, Santa might make with the new one.

I don't pressure can. Everything I grow I pickle or blanch & freeze so haven't really had a big need to pressure can. Maybe some day when I retire! I hope you get your new stove! I bought one 2 years ago & love it, I really wanted gas but we don't have it here so it wasn't feasible.

Off to bake some brownies for my nephews house warming party! Everyone is getting a jar of salsa verde.

 

[SheriD]

Planted 10 Broccoli plants 2 days ago. Looking really good so far. Temperature in the low 80's. I've never had any luck growing it before. But I have always planted seeds before. Hoping these plants will grow and produce.