What did you do in the garden today?

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning all. Raining pretty much all day. I didn’t even glance at the garden when I went out to feed the chickens. It was decent yesterday. A bit cool but I got the front yard mowed and the chickens got to spend some quality time hunting bugs and worms. The impatiens I brought indoors are starting to bloom so I’m guessing they’re happy. The white geranium is still blooming, but the red one seems to be resting. I haven’t seen any wintry like weather moving in next week on my weather app @Sueby, but it’s not all that accurate until about two days out. I should have time next week to check out the snowblower. That should keep the weather gods in check for now. Lol! Have a great day all.

 

[Elyrian1]

Hmm, they're saying we'll hit 35 overnight next week. Next week is a long time away yet. Still, it is nice to be back in a climate where the first frost actually waits until November instead of the first snow falling the first week of October. My southern blood is not particularly tolerant of the cold. Poor DH isn't particularly tolerant of the heat though, so I think we're entering his favorite time of year now.

After eight years in Colorado, I'm looking forward to NOT driving in snow this year! Gonna be a nice reprieve.

Maybe tomorrow I'll break out the frost cover and see how I want to go about it.

 

[Sueby]

@Wee Farmer Sarah I heard on the news this am, Wed afternoon the hills could get a little snow shower or a mix. I doubt I'll see anything.

 

[jerryse]

Here are my nut gathering and hulling tools . Chestnut trees came and headboard assembled . Break time .

 

[Sally PB]

Still no sign of a frost, but there is a 'frozen mix' in the forecast for late next week.

The pepper plant are my "frost indicator." So far, they're still alive. We're forecast to get low 30s next week.

Today, I got the planters in the green house ready to plant some kale and other hardy greens.

 

[Wolfie2]

For the most part,Watched the grands, Trying times as they are at the stage where their favorite word is NO and their favorite way of getting what they want is to throw a walleyed fit.
Been havin some work done in the house and it's getting frustrating getting good workers. New backsplash in the kitchen and it's been 3 days on a 25 sq.ft job. Today they said the job was done but I disagree. Now I gotta take it up with the general contractor. Broken tiles, Mortar was supposed to set before grouting but grout was put on ASAP. No sealant on grout, stuff like that. On top of that I haven't gotten a crew yet that i could hold a decent conversation with. I don't speak Spanish and they no speekey no Englis.
Other than that, got some more spinach and a few short rows of carrots planted. Have a lots more to get into the ground in the near future.
Stay tuned!!

 

[WthrLady]

Planted 40 of my 150 daff bulbs before the battery on the auger died.
More chores upon chores.
Took DS into the city for his JJ booster as he goes to a conference in two week and deals daily with national and international ppl. He now feels like crap.
Did alpaca toenails today. I LOATHE it. Seriously. 4 were OK. TWO were UGH. They each have three feet I couldn't get to. Both are jumpers and fighters and I just can't manage them. The two of us battled them for an hour. Their nails are long, but not horrific. The other 4 had ridiculously LONG nails. They just had them done 4 months ago. I guess my place isn't as rocky as the Andes Mountains.
Still clear as a bell here. Hoping for good aurora show.

 

[karenerwin]

@Wolfie2 I completely know what you mean about finding a good work crew. The ones we have gotten are either lazy or stoned. The current crew we have redoing work on siding, soffit and facia (that were completely messed up by a different crew) have been the only good crew since January

 

[Elyrian1]

Well... looks like we're too far south for the lightshow. Ah well. Have to put it on my bucket list, along with Hawaii.

 

[littledog]

FYI everyone....if you have clear skies Saturday and Sunday nights, watch for the aurora. We had quite the CME blast our way. The aurora have a good chance of being very far south this go, like the 2003 solar Halloween storm.

Just went out to check, and no aurora, even though we have a clear night - the first in weeks - which means it's also our first frost.

We had the past two days with no rain, so I finally did strip the tomatoes and harvest everything else except two pumpkins and a few carrots. I have two paper bags, one with whatever tomatoes have a bit of color and the other with totally green tomatoes. Whatever doesn't ripen, I'll make relish and salsa.

Made my last fresh salad of the year, with what was left of lettuce and spinach, the smaller carrots, and two tiny cukes that were hanging on.

Finally took some pictures of the babies - they're 10 weeks old today: They're the two in the back, plus the white one. Mother hen is in the middle.

I'm pretty sure this one is a rooster and the other two are pullets.

It's three weeks since we got the mother and babies and over two since we got the two brown hens, so yesterday we opened the door between their two sections, after spreading feed around in various places. Integration could not have gone better! The babies tend to stick by their mother and are occasionally chased by one of the other hens, but nobody's being too aggressive. And the two new brown hens have been hanging around with the older flock, going in and out of their area, accepted as if they were always part of the group. We thought our rooster would try to "take charge" but he seems to be hanging back and waiting to see how the new pecking order sorts out. Mother and babies still slept in the small house (that white baby is standing on) and the two browns roosted on the covered perch, they haven't tried to roost in the older flock's coop yet.
Apparently they are all OK, because the grownup hens have been laying! Next weekend we plan to take down the temporary divider and see how they do - they will still have different choices on where to eat, sleep and lay.

Look what I saw when I was harvesting carrots! A praying mantis, I think? I've never seen one in the wild before! I tried to move some foliage to get a better picture, but she scooted away, what a cool insect.

A couple other harvest pictures:

I can't believe the size of some of these carrots. A month ago I'd given up on the carrot bed, thinking only a few grew. And the first one I pulled up was tiny...then hunted around and found lots of normal ones, as well as a few monsters like this one.

I did get one (!) bed winterized: everything pulled, compost added, planted winter wheat, mulched with leaves, and row-cover fabric on top until it rains more and the leaves won't blow away. Still have to process all the pumpkins, and apples I've been neglecting...by the time I'm done it will be time to get ready for Spring planting.