What did you do in the garden today?

[Acre4Me]

Got the last 3 beds turned snd seeded with cover crop. Warm for a week, so they should sprout ok. I have two blisters for my efforts!

took the last soil sample, so it is drying out before I send all samples off for analysis. Curious if our large bed improved a lot or a little since last analysis.

our 15 month rooster died! Not sure why. I posted in thedisease forum, but no indication why he might have died. Luckily, I have fifteen males that are in a separate pen and are 3 months old, so we picked 2 that will hopefully be good choices. We know we may need to get rid of one later, but this way we will hopefully come up with a well mannered one. At least we have older hens to teach them some manners. The rest might get sold this weekend, or we may butcher a few of the largest ones...havent decided. The Brahma boys look to be a good size right now, although on the smaller size for eating. I recently purchased an air fryer with a rotisserie function. However, it can only handle a 4lb chicken, so these young birds might be just what the rotisserie needs!

time change has me still off schedule -woke up at 3am. I’m sure it will improve eventually!

Property taxes in a garden forum. But property taxes are no fun anywhere. We lived in Cincinnati (in a suburb within the interstate that circles Cincy) in a neighborhood of 0.25-0.45 acre lots, typical homes 3-4 bedrooms, ours was built around 1988. We were paying close to 5k/year. We moved north and more rural, so taxes are about half of that - larger lot, extra building, but this home is smaller.

 

[igorsMistress]

LOL I had not thought about Rutabagas in years. When we first married, I tried different foods out on the hubby. I cooked some rutabagas one night as a side dish. Oh how he bragged on them. So, the next time I saw them on sale, I got a bunch. While we were eating, he asked if I had any flavored butter or anything to kill the taste. He apparently hated them, but didn't want to hurt my feelings. We laughed about that for 25 years.

Awe, that’s sweet!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. Got a lot of the dirt pile moved yesterday. So far most of it has gone in the chicken runs. The girls have a blast taking the pile and scratching it down. Will have to take it a little slower today. Yesterday was a lot of work moving dirt, hanging curtain rods and cleaning the oven. I had never used the self cleaning function on my oven before, but I finally did it. It takes 5 hours and good golly the house got smokey. Good thing the temps were up near 70F so I could open the windows. Property taxes on a garden thread, why not it's the price we pay to have the space to grow our own food. I have a small house and a little more than 1/2 acre lot and my taxes are over $3K a year. But it is so worth it. My backyard is a forest and the air is so clean and fresh. The warm temps are still hanging in there so I feel so much better about getting caught up on the out of door chores. I hope to get a little more done in the garden areas today and tomorrow. I may use some of the dirt pile to top off the garden beds. I've been getting emails from Gurneys taunting me to put in a seed order now. I haven't had time to plan next year's garden yet. And I know I'm a little late on the rutabaga thing, but here goes. A lot of people are put off by rutabagas because their aroma is similar to cabbage when cooking. They are also a bit sweeter than white potatoes, but I really like them and turnips. They don't raise your blood sugar like potatoes and being diabetic, that's a good thing. I use them in soup and stews instead of potatoes because you can freeze them without them turning to mush. If you add a talespoon of ACV to the pot it will mellow their flavor. I also like to make a mash of half potatoes and half rutabagas or turnips and it is yummy. But that's my culinary opinion. Have a great day everyone.

 

[igorsMistress]

Good morning gardeners. I got out to the garden yesterday afternoon and watered while I checked everything over. The aloe are super happy and completely green, the little tree thing is still alive and the sage is still blooming which makes some bees happy. The Mexican heather is also blooming and all the herbs are doing great. I need to trim the rosemary and dry some before I vacuum seal. It’s one of my favorite herbs but I really prefer it fresh and usually end up using the dried stuff in nest boxes/giving it away. Today is our last overly warm day for a week according to the weather folks. Tomorrow morning I’ll plant and then keep my fingers crossed that we get some rain, but chances are slim for rain. I ended up tossing 11 out of 13 duck eggs, little bit disappointed in those figures. I did find a different source so bought a dozen more to set. Staggered hatch, oh joy. We’re going to work on a homemade incubator to hold the new eggs while the current batch are in lockdown and hopefully hatch so headed out for supplies. Have a great day all!

 

[Sueby]

Good tip on the ACV @Wee Farmer Sarah - thank you! I cleaned my oven just the other day too, I had a yellow squash lasagna I neglected to put on a baking sheet & it made a huge mess. That self clean is a beautiful thing! It tried to scrub & soak it but it wan't making a dent.

Anyway, morning all. Not much happening today. I ordered some corrid & fenbendazole from Amazon today for the littles, I'm not positive anything is happening as they look fine & are eating & drinking fine, but some poops look abnormal - but not all. & it's so hard to tell since they sleep in a pile instead of roosting. I've tried to put them on the roost at dark but they panic & fall off. It can't hurt to have either of those meds in the cabinet, even if I decide not to use them. I need to do more research on the wormer as they are little & are growing in feathers & I hear it might be a no no.

It's in the low 70s for the next week anyway, got lots of work to do around the yard & for the chickens. Not much in the garden tho!

Have a good day everyone.

 

[Sueby]

@igorsMistress sorry to hear about the duck eggs, that's a bummer. Hopefully the next batch has better luck.

 

[igorsMistress]

@igorsMistress sorry to hear about the duck eggs, that's a bummer. Hopefully the next batch has better luck.

Thanks Sueby

 

[NewBoots]

Us klutzes never get any more graceful, do we? We just get older and take longer to bounce back from our latest faceplant.

I love that moment when you just lie there and think about your life choices and whether or not you're actually hurt.

I recently purchased an air fryer with a rotisserie function.

How do you like it so far? And I'm sorry about the loss of your rooster.

It takes 5 hours and good golly the house got smokey. Good thing the temps were up near 70F so I could open the windows.

New house here and the smoke alarm system goes off every time I make bbq ribs and finish them under the broiler. Added fun, they're all linked so when one goes off they all do and the cacophony is mind blowing.

I ended up tossing 11 out of 13 duck eggs, little bit disappointed in those figures. I did find a different source so bought a dozen more to set.

That is so disappointing, I really hope the next batch is better. I so love the bully avatar you're using now, so cute!

I cleaned my over just the other day too, I had a yellow squash lasagna I neglected to put on a baking sheet & it made a huge mess.

First time I used the new oven I put foil on the bottom. Huge mistake, it melted to the bottom of the oven and I had to get it replaced before I could use it again.

We just got our first property tax bill for the new place (1/3 acre, 1400 sf house, and large 2-story garage) and it's 1200, more than we thought it would be but still about a third of the one in our residential home in Portland. It rained a good deal last night, about an inch and a half so no watering today. It's supposed to rain a lot over the coming week too so we may finally be into the rainy season. The chicken sprouts are coming along in the greenhouse and I think I can start taking a few leaves from the kale in the raised bed soon. We did go fishing Monday and the fishing was nuts, we couldn't have asked for hotter fishing. We caught 6 pounds of perch, they came out to 3 pounds of fillets so more fish tacos!

I found a good hummus recipe and we had that for lunch yesterday, still some left so I'll mix it in with the pasta tonight. I put some artichokes in marinade yesterday with the intention of making pasta with artichokes and the leftover veg we'd used for hummus dipping and some chicken leftovers. I know it sounds odd, but it's a delicious mixture. I just need to grate some Parmesan to top it.

 

[igorsMistress]

Front yard pics. I think I’m going to put the fairy dusters in as a couple of groupings rather than a hedge, less formal and more the style we have here.

 

[igorsMistress]

I love that moment when you just lie there and think about your life choices and whether or not you're actually hurt.
How do you like it so far? And I'm sorry about the loss of your rooster.
New house here and the smoke alarm system goes off every time I make bbq ribs and finish them under the broiler. Added fun, they're all linked so when one goes off they all do and the cacophony is mind blowing.
That is so disappointing, I really hope the next batch is better. I so love the bully avatar you're using now, so cute!
First time I used the new oven I put foil on the bottom. Huge mistake, it melted to the bottom of the oven and I had to get it replaced before I could use it again.

We just got our first property tax bill for the new place (1/3 acre, 1400 sf house, and large 2-story garage) and it's 1200, more than we thought it would be but still about a third of the one in our residential home in Portland. It rained a good deal last night, about an inch and a half so no watering today. It's supposed to rain a lot over the coming week too so we may finally be into the rainy season. The chicken sprouts are coming along in the greenhouse and I think I can start taking a few leaves from the kale in the raised bed soon. We did go fishing Monday and the fishing was nuts, we couldn't have asked for hotter fishing. We caught 6 pounds of perch, they came out to 3 pounds of fillets so more fish tacos!
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I found a good hummus recipe and we had that for lunch yesterday, still some left so I'll mix it in with the pasta tonight. I put some artichokes in marinade yesterday with the intention of making pasta with artichokes and the leftover veg we'd used for hummus dipping and some chicken leftovers. I know it sounds odd, but it's a delicious mixture. I just need to grate some Parmesan to top it.

Thanks NB. My avatar is Abby, my constant companion And that’s good fishing indeed, I bet the perch make great tacos. How do you season the fish? My daughter uses tilapia and I’m not really a fan. I think it tastes like dirt and I’d rather have catfish in that case.