What did you do in the garden today?

[WthrLady]

But, ya know - it is done all the time. And maybe there are some customers that think "oh good, its all natural granite!"

"Organic" Maple syrup. Likely ALL Maple Syrup is organic as they don't spray the trees, etc, its just that someone took the time to file the paperwork for Organic.


"Dehydrated Cane Juice" as an all natural, healthy sounding ingredient. Can you say "Sugar"?

There are places that put additives in maple syrup so that one I watch.
Organic on maple syrup isn't only where it comes from and not spraying the trees, but spraying around the trees, how the syrup is processed, if foaming agents are applied etc.

For maple syrup I DO buy organic. One of the few things I splurge on.

 

[gtaus]

I am still working the strawberry runners, I just have a couple more to get established then I'll be snipping the rest off.

This is my first year with a strawberry patch. I got 16 Seascape everbearing strawberry plants and planted them in my new 4X4 raised bed I just built this spring. I am already picking strawberries this year.

I have noticed almost all my strawberry plants are producing strawberries, but a couple of the plants are just shooting out runners. The plants that are sending out runners have no berries on them. I find this interesting because the YouTube videos I have been watching show runners coming off of plants that also have berries. Mine don't. Maybe we have different varieties and the June bearing plants have both berries and runners at the same time?

In any case, I'm letting the runners develop some roots and then I'll snip them and transplant them to an extra hügelkultur bed I have set up for them. I think that will work. By the end of the summer, I might have 2 full raised beds of strawberries for next year.

 

[Wolfie2]

I've been trying not to post anything publicly because I don't want to lose my job... But I can tell you 100% for certain that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was a bioweapon. There is intelligence data that the pandemic was planned and part of a psyop. I, personally, do not trust the vaccine and will not get it....although I don't fault others who do. I have worked with the intelligence community and with government for a very long time. I have never seen anything quite like this before.... This is like sleeper cells on steroids. No one trusts anyone anymore. I have seen so many agents retiring right and left because of the shady things happening behind the scenes. Same with law enforcement.

Anyway, I can't imagine being stuck on an island and being in lockdown. Especially for something that is nothing but a fantastic lie. My thoughts, prayers, and concerns go out to you.....

My thoughts exactly. No job to lose as I'm retired but....Still worried for my country. Too many alphabet agencies been going rogue for the past 20 yrs. For a country founded on democratic principles, there has been a whole lotta socialistic Ideas being promoted for a while now thrust on "we the people". If a person wants to live in a socialist country, they should move to one. see if it is actually what they want and and leave America as a democratic reublic as its founders aspired to. Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox.


Been raining here since before I woke up @ 5AM. Slowly but surely. Had 1/4" added to the rain gauge since yesterday. Nice and slow the way I like it. Prediction is for the same for the next 3 days and temps mid 80's to low 90's. I'll take it!
Keep it 'tween the ditches

 

[Ascholten]

Organic. Most of it is marketing BS, some scheps making millions of dollars for other schleps to spend a lot more money just to have that awesome-O on the label.

In science, organic means, Carbon containing compounds. In marketing, it means you pay money for a label, that probably is NOT really inspected, afterall, its the MONEY that really matters.

Sea Salt, people like it because they claim it tastes better. Why does it taste better, because the impurities / trace minerals etc in it, add to the flavor... and taste better. So NOW we have marketing for PURE SEA SALT. Ohh it's PURE... pure what? salt it salt. Oh I get it, Im paying a gob ton more for pure impurities. Ive even seen organic sea salt.
It's all marketing. If I make it sound snazzy enough, YOU will buy it.

Aaron

 

[Sueby]

This is my first year with a strawberry patch. I got 16 Seascape everbearing strawberry plants and planted them in my new 4X4 raised bed I just built this spring. I am already picking strawberries this year.

I have noticed almost all my strawberry plants are producing strawberries, but a couple of the plants are just shooting out runners. The plants that are sending out runners have no berries on them. I find this interesting because the YouTube videos I have been watching show runners coming off of plants that also have berries. Mine don't. Maybe we have different varieties and the June bearing plants have both berries and runners at the same time?

In any case, I'm letting the runners develop some roots and then I'll snip them and transplant them to an extra hügelkultur bed I have set up for them. I think that will work. By the end of the summer, I might have 2 full raised beds of strawberries for next year.

I'm probably no help at all, this is my first year with strawberries too. They are June bearing & I pulled all the flowers off to let them get established. Maybe yours just need to establish themselves before they have the means to do both fruit & runners?

 

[gtaus]

Nope. The pasteurization process has done away with a lot of the most beneficial crawlies and will just sour your compost.

You can freeze your new milk into smaller portions for personal use later when you buy it, lowers the waste.

Yeah, that's what I thought, the pasteurized milk would just sour the compost. I try to make custard out of our milk before it goes bad, but sometimes I forget. Years ago, I was stationed in Naples, Italy. We had to immediately freeze our milk into smaller containers because the shelf life was so short on the milk. Although that reduced waste, I never really liked the taste/texture of frozen milk that has been thawed out. I suppose it would be OK for cooking or baking.

I know chickens can drink milk, in small amounts, and have done that in the past. Also, have mixed in some feed to make a mash and they seem to like that, too.

Your comment on using excess RAW milk caught my eye. I'm always looking for ways to reduce my waste. Thanks.

 

[Ascholten]

Ive always just put strawberries in the ground, let them spread and vine and tried to beat the critters to the fruits. Biggest problem I seen with them was the stupid stink bugs seem to love them too.

Aaron

 

[gtaus]

I'm probably no help at all, this is my first year with strawberries too. They are June bearing & I pulled all the flowers off to let them get established. Maybe yours just need to establish themselves before they have the means to do both fruit & runners?

When I bought the Seascape everbearing plants from the nursery, I told the nice lady there that I had no experience with strawberries. She told me that I just needed to plant these Seascape strawberries in a bed and that I would get berries even this year. She was right. She also stated that the Seascape variety does not send out as many runners as the June bearing varieties. I think out of the 16 strawberry plants I have in that bed, only 3 plants are sending out runners and those plants have zero strawberries on them.

So, yeah, I'm learning a lot this year. You might be right in that a more established plant might have both berries and runners. My strawberry plants are only about 4 weeks old. It will be nice to see how many of these Seascape strawberry plants winter over and what they look like next year. I was told that I can expect about an 80% survival rate. With that in mind, I am thinking I want to take advantage of these runners and transplant them to another bed while I can this summer.

 

[gtaus]

Ive always just put strawberries in the ground, let them spread and vine and tried to beat the critters to the fruits. Biggest problem I seen with them was the stupid stink bugs seem to love them too.

Aaron

I have to be smarter than our squirrels and chipmunks. So I put some hoops over the raised bed and draped bird netting over the strawberries. So far, it has keep the critters out.

 

[WthrLady]

You can sour your milk at the end and use it to make cookies, cakes, and cornbread and a bunch of other wonderful things,