What did you do in the garden today?

[Elyrian1]

Not much going to happen today. Stupid hot again, pushing those triple digits! Aaaand the toddler seems to have a summer cold. Other than the runny nose and cough he hasn't slowed down at all. I'll water in a bit, closer to midday so it takes some of the stress off the plants. Might get dh to dig a couple of holes for me tonight so I can plant up those roses, lol.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. Yesterday was a bit of a strange day. DD woke me up 45 minutes before usual to let me know the electricity was out for about an hour already. She was concerned about the littles on the brooder plate. I got up and dressed and hooked up a new propane tank to the grill to start water for coffee. As soon as the burner came on the power came back on. Oh well, ready for next time. On my way to my medical appointment in Boston got behind a farmer driving his tractor to another field 3 miles down the two lane road, no passing zones at all. I still made it to my appointment on time. All the talk about the falling. I don't take my cell phone into the bathroom. That's where I draw the line. I do take my Apple watch in there and tuck it between towels so it doesn't get over "moisturized." The previous owner had the shower makeover that includes a sturdy grab bar and the tub has a slip-proof surface so no bothering with the nasty anti slip mats that are a breeding ground for bacteria. My Apple watch is setup to alert DD and call 911 if I fall and don't respond. I wear that from dawn to bedtime. It does work as I have found on several occasions where I'm just doing normal work and accidently bump the watch hard. I get a notification that asks me if I'm OK. If I don't respond it will assume I need help. This is less expensive then the medic alert buttons. We got nearly a 1/2 inch of rain the other day. The garden is looking pretty good. I finally found the little bugs munching on my potato leaves. They are very tiny gnats. I was going to spray them with neem oil but noticed this morning that a least one daddy long legs type spider was enjoying the gnats. I'll keep an eye on them but will hold off on the neem oil for now. I have 11 possibly 12 lima bean plants coming up. The bush string beans I planted are starting to develop buds, so yay, may have fresh beans soon. The cucumber and squash plants are finally growing a bit. The plants in the 3 sisters patch are doing well. I had to move my pot of dill to a shadier spot. Apparently it was getting too much sun. I pulled some of the young carrots to see if they would get bigger with more space between. Knock on wood, all seems to going well for the gardens. The peaches are looking good and there are a few tiny figs developing. I'm starting work on the chicken coop/run extension today. I'm hoping to build the main frame for the run before lunch. I need to take a little time this afternoon after the grass dries to do some weed whacking and trimming. I took some pictures for fun. Enjoy.

Number 4 is sleeping on the brooder plate behind these girls. They are not fully feathered yet.

Betty Boop just chilling.

 

[chickengr]

Im finding out that watering first thing in the morning, is not enough, it's so darned hot that if we don't get an afternoon t storm, some of the plants are wilting by afternoon so i am contemplating watering a bit in the morning and then later in the afternoon, or maybe try to hit them at 10 am and see if it holds till next midmorning. Yep welcome to Florida, if it's not storming it's steaming.

Aaron

the same here. it is better to water in the evening but mosquitoes love it too, lol.

 

[WthrLady]

They look like they're done with the broody plate.
-----
Heard a local story about 911 getting hundreds of calls from the apple watches that were people sleeping wrong and long pressing the button as they slept.

We don't have cell service up here. They swear 911 could get through though. How's that for magic?!

------
more storms last night all through the morning
40mph winds
1.56 inches of rain. I'll take it.
I spent 4 hours mowing yesterday, to include cleaning up the hayfield, which is already greening up with the almost two inches of rain in two days. We managed 85 bales off the two acres.

Garden is plugging along. Tomato plants look great, but the fruit itself seems slow, but it's not even the end of June yet. We've had years in the past where it's been too humid and/or too windy to pollinate properly.

Grapes look gang buster. We don't have japanese beetles YET. Although they're on our doorstep and move closer as people buy landscaping with eggs in the soil pots.

Dill is slow as well.

Mulberry is almost done.

More severe storms tonight and tomorrow.
Get down and dirty today.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I try to keep pockets. It gets too wet in my bra when working in the yard ( when I wear one) Keep it within reach of the shower. Can’t be too careful.

I moved to the south to take care of my 86 yr old handicapped grandmother who was singlehandedly taking care of the family farm. She was a very stubborn, independent lady.... They rarely make tough, old birds like her anymore. She passed away a long time ago and I do miss her so much. I tried to hire someone to stay with her during the day, but she would fire them all within a few days. Didn't need help...or so she thought. Then one day she fell outside and was unable to get up. She laid out there for almost 3 days before we found her. She ended up being ok except for being severely dehydrated. After that, I talked her into a Life Alert necklace. She wasn't very handy with a cell phone and probably wouldn't have had it within reach anyways.

 

[TJAnonymous]

the same here. it is better to water in the evening but mosquitoes love it too, lol.

Around my neck of the woods, I've been told you shouldn't water in the evening unless you have a way to water at root level. Heat & humidity are too high which encourages mold, mildew, blight problems. I have a really great container gardening book. They suggest using a pvc pipe to get to the bottom of containers but putting a mesh/screen covering over the pipe and overflow holes to keep mosquitoes out. This could easily solve the problem. Also self-watering containers are a lifesaver for plants that are wilting by midday.

 

[TJAnonymous]

@NewBoots - question about the buns... We recently became the new owner of a bun that someone dumped. I haven't owned rabbits in close to 20 yrs. A lot has changed....or maybe I'll just say that I've become enlightened by all the new knowledge about rabbit care. ha ha... Anyway, I've learned that rabbits can be litter box trained. I have a large cage set up in our sunroom that holds a Breeze litter box. I use a mix of shredded paper towels (Kaytee brand, non-dyed) and pine pellets. This is also where his hay rack is placed since rabbits like to go while eating. He uses it rather well all for urinating and most of his poos. Great for composting purposes....

I also have read that non-clumping cat litter is a big no-no. The concern is that they might ingest it and cause an impaction. This is where I have a question. We have a kitty litter box in our sunroom for our cats. The buns uses it too. I don't THINK he pees in there but he definitely poops in there. He doesn't lay down or hang out in it. Just uses it for his business and then goes on his merry way. I've never seen him attempt to eat it and there is nothing for him to eat in the vicinity of it so that seems like a low risk to me? There is a litter mat surrounding it to clean paws and not track litter everywhere so I think the risk of him licking it off his paws is also low.

What are your thoughts on this? Am I setting myself up for disaster or is likely a non-issue?

ETA - I do NOT compost the kitty litter. I only compost the litter from the rabbit litter box which is shredded paper towel and pine pellets. The buns uses both litter boxes all day long. We let him out to "free range" the sunroom during the day and he is only kept in the cage at night.

 

[gtaus]

Instead I went to a friend's house to do some yard work for her.

She lives in the city and the way to get rid of yard debris is by filling up the yard waste garbage container and leaving it by the road on "her" day to get picked up. Well, I filled that thing in less than an hour, though it will compact a bit as it wilts. Still, there are so many shrubs and weeds that I wish I could get out of there so she can find the rest of her back yard.

Too bad there is not a way to get all that yard waste to a compost pile. Years ago, I had an old van that I used for hauling stuff around. I took out the back seat and there was enough room to lay down a 4X8 sheet of plywood. It was not a cargo van, per se, but that is what I used it for all the time. Anyway, my old van was great for picking up stuff and bringing it back home, and then being able to leave it in the van without worrying about it raining or snowing on the "cargo."

I'm just thinking that since I got my chickens, I have really stepped up on all my yard waste recycling and composting. I am able to chip up most of my wood in either my little electric Sun Joe chipper, or my larger gas chipper. Anything I cannot put through my gas chipper is considered fire wood or used in my next hügelkultur raised bed. Almost all my green yard waste gets thrown into the chicken run compost system and I let the chickens tear it apart and start to break it down, It would have been nice to help your friend and then take home all that yard waste for either your chickens or your compost pile. That would have been a win-win for you both. But I guess your friend is lucky that someone like you is willing to help them.

I sort of fell into a good neighbor deal myself. Last year my neighbor had a bunch of raked leaves in plastic garbage bags sitting around his garage. I stopped over and asked him if he would like to get rid of those leaves because I could use them for my chickens. He was thrilled that I was willing to take them away because it would save him the time and energy to drive them out to the landfill. It was a true win-win. I kept those leaves in the plastic bags and used the leaves over the winter to freshen up the deep litter in the chicken coop.

This spring my neighbor came to me asking if I still wanted bags of leaves. He had raked up another 4 bags of leaves leftover from last fall. So I thanked him and loaded them up on my little trailer behind the lawn mower and took them over to my leaf storage area for next winter. Hope this becomes a tradition. So many ways to use leaves with the chickens or more directly in the garden as mulch. Lots thrown into compost bins if nothing else.

 

[Ascholten]

after a while you get used to it, sort of. I remember being stationed in chiraq for training, and Id come back to florida in like november and such. I was like oh awesome, im wearing a t shirt, maybe even hit the beach, my parents were bundled up in coats acting like it was 60 below out

The humidity though is a real pita, there is not a lot you can do with that. if it's dry then you can run a fan / swamp cooler etc

 

[gtaus]

They suggest using a pvc pipe to get to the bottom of containers but putting a mesh/screen covering over the pipe and overflow holes to keep mosquitoes out. This could easily solve the problem. Also self-watering containers are a lifesaver for plants that are wilting by midday.

I have become a big fan of building and using sub irrigated planters. My favorite is my 2X4 foot elevated sub irrigated planter which I keep out on my deck and it grows lots of beans. There is an excellent channel on YouTube called "Gardening With Leon" and he shows you how to make inexpensive sub irrigated tubs more in line with what your are talking about with the self-watering containers. Here is a sample of what you can find on his channel....