What did you do in the garden today?

[Fishychix]

Sounds like it’s way to hot right now. Lettuce and bok choy bolt in hot weather. Radishes only grow leaves and eggplant will stop if it’s too hot too. Idk about the potatoes unless the barrels don’t drain well or are under an overhang. The eggplant should start producing once it cools off if that’s the problem. Strawberries may have previous cold damage to the buds if you got a late deep freeze it should be pretty easy to see if you know what you are looking for though.

Hmmm…that is frustrating!

I’m in west central Ohio. It’s been hot, but not for really long periods at a time. Not sure how much rain you’ve gotten.

strawberries:what year are you on with the patch?

eggplants: I have a thin Japanese type, and it took awhile before I saw fruit after flowering. Mine are just starting to fruit. My first fruit rotted at the spot it touched the ground, so that is disappointing.

lettuce and heat don’t mix, at all.

radishes: we’ve only grown them a couple times. Seems like they don’t do anything, then, bam! Roots expand, and often split. I do remember that some radishes are 2x the time to harvest than others. Some are 30 days, but others are 60 days. We’ve never had much success, but my neighbor grows them and they do well for him.

hopefully things improve going into July.

When it comes to gardening, I am still learning too. I planted some radishes this year, and so far the greens are growing but they don't have much of the radish filling in yet. Might be related to the heat we have this year which I expect is also affecting your lettuce. Sounds like your potatoes are not getting proper drainage if they are sopping wet. Our eggplants are coming along fine, mostly greens at this stage, but we expect the fruit to follow soon.

I planted Seascape everbearing strawberries in a new raised hügelkultur bed this year, and they are already producing strawberries. So that has been a big success story for me. My local nursery only sells the everbearing strawberries because she said people have more success with that type of plant here where I live. She told me I might get as many as 3 pickings of strawberries even the first year. From what I understand, the June bearing strawberry plants take 1 year to establish themselves and start producing the second year.

I don't have running water where my main garden is located. My plants in the main garden are not doing very well, expect for my hügelkultur beds. In theory, the wood in the bottom of the hügelkultur beds is supposed to retain water and release it later when the plants need it. I think that is what I am seeing this hot, dry, year so far. My "normal" raised beds are too dry and I cannot keep up with the watering they require.

I built a couple new hügelkultur raised beds in my back yard where I have access to running water. I have been hitting those beds with some water every other day. The plants in my new beds, with adequate watering, are doing fantastic. If you compared the new beds in the back yard to the plants growing in my main garden without good watering, you would think one gardener knows what he is doing and the other is struggling. Well, I guess that's me and this dry, hot summer has driven home the notion that I need better watering in my main garden.

Thank you all! Im sorry if i missed anyone. I am taking all these points into consideration and will do what i can. Ive pulled the pak choy and will retry in october and have moved the straw from the potatoes, but cant improve drainage, yet. Im keeping an eye on the radishes. Im growing Ichiban and Little Finger eggplants. I didnt know they took a while after blooming.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. Very wet here but it's cool at least. It started raining early yesterday evening although there was drizzle on and off throughout the day. I managed to get the frame up for the new coop expansion however my drill batteries crapped out so I wasn't able to get the roof on it. The rain here is expected to keep on coming down until sometime tomorrow. Aaaagh! I have the drill on the charger and hope to get the roof on during a lull in the rain. I haven't checked on the garden other than what I can see through my windows. When I went out to feed the chickens during a drizzle it turned into a downpour when I stepped out the door. As soon as I get the chance I will be planting more cucumbers. Last year was such a pitiful year for cukes and I really want to can up a bunch of pickles. I had to buy cucumbers last year. I'm hoping all this rain doesn't drown anything. Yes, I know we need the rain, but it would be nice if Mother Nature could spread it out over time rather than all at once. Oh well.

 

[Elyrian1]

If it would rain gently, for an hour or two right before the sun came up, that would be about perfect wouldn't it? We can dream!

 

[oldhen2345]

I have dozens...I mean DOZENS of squirrels on my property which is surrounded by giant oak trees. I've never had a single squirrel in my garden. I'm not sure why they ignore it....but I'll take the blessing.

We have squirrels everywhere. I live in the Piney Woods of East Texas. Every tree has a squirrel family. I had to get creative with the bird feeders and the chicken feed. My veggies get attacked and gnawed. Some think they are cute. They are big rats with fluffy tails.

 

[oldhen2345]

Had to take my dog to the emergency vet. Pretty sure she ate something she shouldn't have and now she has an obstruction.... They are keeping her overnight and will check her again in the morning. She already has a fan club at the vets office. Before we even left, the vet said her fiance was cuddling with our dog in the back.... Not counting all the vet techs and kids who were fawning over her in the lobby.... Spoiled pup....

Anyway, I am feeling a bit bummed out tonight and don't feel like battling the garden. Just going to deal with it tomorrow....

Prayers for your fur baby. Please let us know how things go

 

[oldhen2345]

Have an appointment at 11 today. Need to mow today and the grass is still wet - and it is supposed to rain this afternoon. Picked a bunch more tomatoes and a couple of ears of corn. my one surviving pepper plant has two peppers- yay.

 

[Acre4Me]

Some think they are cute. They are big rats with fluffy tails.

True!!

we lived in Cincinnati for several years. Pigopolis, I think was one nickname-tons of pigs were slaughtered and processed there and shipped via the Ohio river to various points way back when. So, they did a pretty interesting art competition in early 2000s… one of three pig poses could be chosen for the pig statue of choice, then the statues were decorated and displayed-some very good ones. For example, Cincinnati Ballet picked 2-3 poses and had them painted/decorated like ballerinas, and displayed at their entrance. Some were decorated and auctioned for charity, some displayed at businesses…they were all over the city, it was fun to see.

ok, so pigs snd squirrels don’t really have much in common…

well, an older, established, fairly well-to-do town to the north of Cincy decided they would do their own similar thing, but with squirrel statues (1pose only, a sitting squirrel). So, when I had to drive through that area, I would just roll my eyes- rats with fluffy tails all over this nice (but small) town center. As I mentioned, I’m not a fan.

 

[WthrLady]

Better than ears of corn.
Or here they did giant heart one year, and another LIGHTBULBS, another cupped cropped off hands - creepy.

I liked the giant fish lures in Montgomery. Those were fun.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

When I lived in Baltimore eons ago they did the same thing but with giant blue crabs. They were all pretty stunning.

 

[Swiss]

My husband and I will be moving into our new home within the next 3 weeks, and have already decided where my garden will be. I decided that the rest of this year will be used to prep the ground for the spring. Without a tiller, I'm curious about what y'all would do. Is there a way to just weigh down the cardboard and not till?