What did you do in the garden today?

[Sally PB]

I weeded my squash bed. The deer are trying to help me, but are confused. They ate squash leaves instead of the purslane and grass.

I take my Japanese Beetle container with me to the garden now. I check the asparagus, the comfrey, the other comfrey. Then I weed. Then I look for more beetles.

I have loop around the property that I walk to find the JBs. I'm getting more and more every day. That's a good/bad thing.

 

[Acre4Me]

Found several more tomato hornworm that had the parasite wasp eggs on them.

Here is a new bug, the white fuzzy one in the pic. On the potato plants. I tried to squish a couple, but they jump off, out of harms way. Anyone know what it is? I’m guessing an aphid, but not sure.

 

[WthrLady]

Found several more tomato hornworm that had the parasite wasp eggs on them.

Here is a new bug, the white fuzzy one in the pic. On the potato plants. I tried to squish a couple, but they jump off, out of harms way. Anyone know what it is? I’m guessing an aphid, but not sure. View attachment 2765254

Mealy bug

 

[TJAnonymous]

I pruned up the tomatoes and got the Captan spray just before a very light mist started....

Got all the chickens in but the ducks did not want to come off the pond and go back to their pen. I started chucking rocks at them. Hit one in the back. Felt bad about hitting her... They came off the pond after that but still wouldn't go back so I chucked more rocks and hit a different girl in the head. That made them all run back to their pen. Finally... I followed them and the duck I hit in the head kept tripping over herself. I watched her closely in the pen for 10-15 minutes ago. She looked at me so betrayed.... I wouldn't have done that to them except I had to leave and I was worried that fox might get them. Poor girl.... I feel so bad.

 

[chickengr]

I sow them in early Feb in the greenhouse and transplanted in March, as they are quite hardy, normal frost won't damage them. I plant them majorly for the pea shoots, but after June I will let them flower and get some nice peas. I will plant some again soon for the autumn.

For the currants, I have originally red ones in the garden, all brought by birds, but they are too sour for me so all for the hens. The pink one I ordered last year from the gardening center, surprisingly a good mixture of sweet and sour, the summer here is not too hot and they are planted in the half shaded places, so far the growth is quite ok.

I also plant an entire row of raspberry, imaging that they might become a small fruit forest in summer and autumn few years later.

I love raspberries but I had them 1 year only as well as red currants. they are somewhat sour but tasty. maybe with too much sun they ripe better? I will try to plant them again when I move but I will make sure they will be in a shadow with little morning sun only. my chickens loved them.

 

[chickengr]

I used them to make some fried rices and sent to our firefighters who are working all the time and some family who still didn't have power as their Electrical panels are damaged during the flood. I am glad that both eggs and vegetables from the garden can contribute a bit.
View attachment 2763144

recipe please! I am not fan of cabbage so your recipe looks it musks taste of cabbage and I might like it. I find cabbage too sour.

 

[chickengr]

It's raining pretty hard at the moment.... We need it BADLY so I'm not complaining! I did get some much needed weeding done inside the hoop house before it started.... Picked some tomatoes, strawberries, and squash...

Oh yeah, let's talk squash for a moment. I've got an all out war against squash bugs going on in the hoop house. I mentioned that I walked into the hoop house a few days ago and my largest squash plant was in a wilted heap on the ground. I gave it up as lost but didn't have time to tear it out and remove it. This morning when I went out, I noticed that it had put out flowers... It also is trying to regrow new leaves.... So I trimmed off everything that was wilted or dead, hoping to redirect the energy into new growth. I killed a gazillion squash bugs in the process of cleaning up the squash plants.

Then there's the watermelon. I have 2 different varieties planted - one yellow, one red. I have 2 watermelons that I thought looked ready to pick. They sounded hollow when you tap on them. I waited a good week after I thought they were ready, just in case. Picked them both and put them in the fridge. I just cut into the bigger one (a red variety, I think) and I am disappointed to see that it clearly wasn't ready.... Unless somehow my watermelons cross-pollinated. It is mostly whitish yellow inside with a hint of blush. It doesn't taste bad by any means but not as sweet as it should be.... I might try it eat some of it anyway but I think the chickens will have a hey day with it.... Especially as hot as it has been.

I haven't cut open the smaller watermelon yet. Worried now it isn't ready either.... Oh well. Nothing I can do about it now.

ETA - after doing some reading, I'm pretty sure my watermelon cross-pollinated the red and yellow varieties. They were planted next to each other so makes sense....

I have been told that when cross-pollinated it does not affect the fruits of the same year. we just cannot save seeds from cross-pollinated veggies.

 

[gtaus]

More experimenting with my 12v water transfer pump and trying to water the main garden using the lake water. I took apart the impeller housing and replaced the old rubber impeller. The old impeller had one fin missing, so maybe like 5 of the 6 fins were still intact. That reduced my water flow and pressure so that the impact sprinkler in the garden would not work. With the new impeller, the sprinkler works much better.

But, after letting it work the garden for 30 minutes, I found that most of the garden had not received much water at all. Unfortunately, my 12v deep cycle battery was run down to empty. So unless I can find a better sprinkler, it looks like my best bet is to continue to use the hose and water the plants manually. At least then the water gets right on the plant and not on all the pathways and other things in the garden that do not need watering.

Harvested some white radishes, zucchini, swiss chard, and onions which Dear Wife cooked up along with some other stuff into a delicious soup for supper.

When I was growing up, we never saved the top greens of the radishes. We only ate the bottom root portion. Now that I am growing my own food, I have discovered that the greens of these plants, like the radish greens or kohlrabi greens are great to eat. Dear Wife put the radish greens into the soup this evening along with the swiss chard and it was great.

 

[Phaedra Geiermann]

I love raspberries but I had them 1 year only as well as red currants. they are somewhat sour but tasty. maybe with too much sun they ripe better? I will try to plant them again when I move but I will make sure they will be in a shadow with little morning sun only. my chickens loved them.

I think you have to choose sweeter varieties in the beginning. Some are sweeter than others. My autumn variety are planted in almost full sun, the growth is amazingly strong. This year the mother plants sent super a lot of new shoots, i have to thin them very hard. At the meanwhile, the summer variety I chose this spring didn't grow so well, maybe the soil is not as fertile or the young plants need more time.

 

[Phaedra Geiermann]

recipe please! I am not fan of cabbage so your recipe looks it musks taste of cabbage and I might like it. I find cabbage too sour.

Usually I use the outer leaves for fried rice, you can chop them roughly and use the food processor to further cut them small.

I don't have a fixed recipe for adding cabbage, but they need a bit more time staying in the wok, so when I use them, i will stir-fry them first then add --> meat --> eggs --> first seasoning --> cooked rice (I personally prefer use warm rice instead of the cold one) --> final seasoning.