What did you do in the garden today?

[Sueby]

Morning all.

It's raining right now - yay! We haven't had any rain in weeks & I'm sick of watering. But I need to go out there & pick the tomatoes before they split.

So I got my wood chip project started. I fenced off a big area in the run, pulled the bird netting back & dumped 5 tractor loads of chips over the fence. Boy are the girls mad they can't get to it! I need to let it dry out for a while, it's probably fine but I worry about the mold. The pile is about a year old but sits in wetlands so wicks up the water. Doesn't look as wet or moldy as I thought tho (but I know you can't always see mold). I spread it out a bit, the pile is like 3 feet deep, it's a LOT of chips! The run is like 1200+ sf & needs a good layer of chips all over.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. Another hot and steamy morning today. It was up to 93F yesterday, super muggy. Today may actually stay in the 80's but still super muggy. So the template for my new countertop was made yesterday. Now I wait a few days to get the final adjusted bill from HD. I'm holding off on painting the cabinets until I see what the installed countertops look like with the original cabinets. I couldn't go anywhere yesterday. Bad air and horrible heat and humidity so I put in an Instacart order for a few things I had run out of and decided to get a small watermelon for the chickens. The hens loved it, the littles were a bit intimidated by it but finally ate some, but my rooster was not all that interested. I did pick a few things from the garden yesterday, small tomatoes and green beans. Today I picked two zucchini, some green beans, two poblano peppers, just a small handful of cherry tomatoes, a cucumber, two jalapenos and some basil. Two of the cukes I had picked a while ago were at their last stage of being edible so I sliced them up and put them in a bowl of vinegar, water and sugar and put them in the refrigerator. I was already planning on making an orzo pasta salad later and although I usually add capers to it I thought the cukes would be just as good in it. Sorry I didn't respond to your question regarding poblano peppers @Acre4Me. I too make a lower fat version of chile relenos from time to time. I've also made a chili releno casserole which is basically eggs, milk, chiles and cheese. That's tasty. But I also use them in Indian cooking instead of bell peppers. When I make chili con carne I use the dried ancho chiles and little to no tomatoes. Still no sign of butternut squash babies, so sad! The pole beans that are hiding the corn are starting to bloom and I found very small ear of corn developing, So the three sisters planting doesn't seem to be working, but at least I should get a good crop of beans.

 

[WthrLady]

Tomatoes and beans picked.
Warm and dewy out.
The sunflowers can't be cut and stored until they dry some more.
Weeds, eh, I'm not in the mood.
Lawn is next.

My ears are crackling and feel like they're trying to shift wet cottonballs when I swallow. Sinus season and flu jab has me a mess. Picking tomatoes made me off balance, too much up and down. I'll have to not twirls too much on the mower.

BTW how on earth do green bean plants manage to HIDE all those green beans?!?!?!

 

[Elyrian1]

Good morning gardeners. Another hot and steamy morning today. It was up to 93F yesterday, super muggy. Today may actually stay in the 80's but still super muggy. So the template for my new countertop was made yesterday. Now I wait a few days to get the final adjusted bill from HD. I'm holding off on painting the cabinets until I see what the installed countertops look like with the original cabinets. I couldn't go anywhere yesterday. Bad air and horrible heat and humidity so I put in an Instacart order for a few things I had run out of and decided to get a small watermelon for the chickens. The hens loved it, the littles were a bit intimidated by it but finally ate some, but my rooster was not all that interested. I did pick a few things from the garden yesterday, small tomatoes and green beans. Today I picked two zucchini, some green beans, two poblano peppers, just a small handful of cherry tomatoes, a cucumber, two jalapenos and some basil. Two of the cukes I had picked a while ago were at their last stage of being edible so I sliced them up and put them in a bowl of vinegar, water and sugar and put them in the refrigerator. I was already planning on making an orzo pasta salad later and although I usually add capers to it I thought the cukes would be just as good in it. Sorry I didn't respond to your question regarding poblano peppers @Acre4Me. I too make a lower fat version of chile relenos from time to time. I've also made a chili releno casserole which is basically eggs, milk, chiles and cheese. That's tasty. But I also use them in Indian cooking instead of bell peppers. When I make chili con carne I use the dried ancho chiles and little to no tomatoes. Still no sign of butternut squash babies, so sad! The pole beans that are hiding the corn are starting to bloom and I found very small ear of corn developing, So the three sisters planting doesn't seem to be working, but at least I should get a good crop of beans.

A note on countertops from HD... When they install them, make sure they level them properly. You'd think they just would, automatically, but it depends on the contractor.

 

[Sally PB]

It's a gorgeous day, and we're going to a festival, so no gardening for me today. That's ok; this festival was canceled last year, and it's a favorite of ours. There are a few other festivals in our calendar in the next month or so. That's a good thing. Support local businesses and organizations!

 

[Swiss]

I would like to hear opinions other than mine:
The original spot I chose for my garden is kind of under/between 2 trees, but gets all day sun. I just discovered these trees are wild black cherry trees, and the leaves and twigs are toxic/poisonous. Should I move my garden further away from these trees? I couldn't find anything about this situation in quite a few Google searches...

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I would like to hear opinions other than mine:
The original spot I chose for my garden is kind of under/between 2 trees, but gets all day sun. I just discovered these trees are wild black cherry trees, and the leaves and twigs are toxic/poisonous. Should I move my garden further away from these trees? I couldn't find anything about this situation in quite a few Google searches...

I don't know about the leaves, but I will say that trees zap all the moisture out of your garden. They are greedy about water and your garden will suffer.
We took out our tree by a garden area so we could expand, I noticed right away that the garden was not as dry.

 

[Sueby]

@Wee Farmer Sarah how long for the counters? I hope you love them, I know you've been looking forward to it.

@Swiss - I probably wouldn't worry too much about it. Do they drop a lot of bark, leaves & twigs in the garden? Maybe if they did I'd be more concerned. Or maybe you could call your local extension service or something like that?

Picked the tomatoes & some dahlias & BES in the pouring rain.

@WthrLady I thought buying the purple beans this year would help. Uh, not really!

 

[gtaus]

So I got my wood chip project started. I fenced off a big area in the run, pulled the bird netting back & dumped 5 tractor loads of chips over the fence. Boy are the girls mad they can't get to it! I need to let it dry out for a while, it's probably fine but I worry about the mold. The pile is about a year old but sits in wetlands so wicks up the water. Doesn't look as wet or moldy as I thought tho (but I know you can't always see mold). I spread it out a bit, the pile is like 3 feet deep, it's a LOT of chips! The run is like 1200+ sf & needs a good layer of chips all over.

With all the posts on this thread, I might have missed what your wood chip project is going to be used for. That's a nice load of wood chips you have there. What is your goal with all those wood chips?

FWIW, I laid down a 4 inch layer of wood chips in my chicken run as a base and then started adding grass clippings in the spring and summer and then leaves in the fall. That is basically what I call my chicken run compost system. The chickens do almost all the work of mixing up and turning over the litter in the run. I just keep adding material to it and when I need some compost to harvest, I'll go in there and start shoveling out garden carts full of compost to screen with my cement mixer compost sifter.

In my experience, a thick layer of wood chips will be dry on top but moist underneath. I have never been concerned about mold in the wood chips. AFAIK, there should be beneficial mold in the wood chips helping to break down the wood. I don't think my chickens have suffered from any mold in the wood chips in my chicken run, but like I said, I also have grass clippings and leaves mixed in the compost. I also throw our kitchen scraps and leftovers into the chicken run but those things get eaten before they ever get mixed up in the compost.

I have never had 3 feet deep wood chips, so I am wondering what you are up to with this project?

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

@Swiss - I agree the trees would rob a lot of water from your garden plants. @Sueby- not sure but hopefully not more than 3 to 4 weeks. I have to wait until the price adjustment is confirmed and I sign the final installation agreement. Like I have said before, it’s a slow remodel, but we’re getting there.
I’m so tired of sweating. I just vacuumed my closed in porch and I’m drenched again. Wah!