What did you do in the garden today?

[pennyJo1960]

No. They are “tiles” that get glued down, and then grout applied. The grout is specific for this product. Because it is in a main bathroom, we wanted a product that would be glued down, not floating like vinyl plank. We like vinyl plank quite a lot, but we didn’t think it was the right fit for the bathroom.

Using a table saw to cut the pieces. It shaves pretty well with a box cutter. It apparently can be scored and snapped, but the preference was for using the saw.

Here it is being laid down.
View attachment 2961205

I like the floor looks great

 

[chickengr]

I think all tomatoes and potatoes should be listed as determinate or indeterminate. All onions should be listed as long-day, short-day or day-neutral. Garlic needs to be listed as hard neck or soft neck. Strawberries should be listed as June bearing, ever bearing or day-neutral. There are other plants/bulbs/seeds that need such classifications too I'm sure, but these are the ones that come to mind. I have to google varieties far too often. And don't get my started on only advertising the general name like "red potatoes" without the specific variety listed. That drives me nuts!

I have bought spinach seeds. it says spinach only, lol. I will know what it looks like when it grows. the same thing with the most vegetable starts here.

 

[chickengr]

Ordered chicks today!! Some hybrid layers that lay brown eggs (a high production type), Easter eggers, black Australorp, and white Plymouth rocks. All female.

@WthrLady - we are going to paint the half bath we are building , a navy blue color! It will look nice!

On that note: bathroom project still continues. But at the point of glueing down the vinyl tile. This is a process. They are 1’x2’ tiles. So they are big and heavy. They need to be cut, but they also have needed a fair amount of attention to the layout/start stop in relation to corners, heat vent, etc-so placement has been a thoughtful process.

Winter storm that is coming, I think it will miss us or only provide a light snow-we will see in a couple days!

I had navy blue tiles in one of the bathrooms in my old house. although it looked great it was hard to maintain. in less than an hour after cleaning you could notice dust. not to mention tiles around bath tub that got wet regularly (we have hard water).

 

[chickengr]

View attachment 2961090

In late 2020, I bought 6 Blue Andalusian chicks. A year and a half later, I only have 2 left. Three were killed by predators, 1 died for an unknown illness. Of the two who are left, one was sick a few weeks ago. She has mostly recovered but her comb is still pale. DH really likes the white eggs they lay.

Fast forward to last spring (April 2021), I got a bunch of hatching eggs which included marans. Only 2 marans hatched out - both hens thankfully. One of the two hens was also ill a few weeks ago. She has since recovered and seems to be doing well. However, one or both hens have only JUST started laying eggs in the past 2 weeks. Their eggs are beautiful but the typical small pullet eggs.

Both of these situations have played into my decision to incubate some eggs. I'm worried that something will happen to one or both of them and I will lose a white/dark brown layer. I put 3 white eggs and 4 marans eggs in the incubator. So far, 2 of the 3 white eggs are fertile and developing. However, none of the marans eggs appear to be fertile. I'm assuming this is because they are brand new layers. They are certainly exposed to roosters. I have 3 adult roos and 3 juvenile roos who are about to enter adulthood. Surely they are being bred..... Anyway, my question is how long after a pullet starts laying can you reasonably expect them to be fertile?

ETA...btw, I realize that all this may be for nothing. All my roosters are either Easter Eggers, Ameraucanas, Cream Legbar, or Silverudd Blue. i.e. all have a blue egg gene...which means that the offspring are not likely to develop the same egg colors as their mamas. However, I figured it was worth a try.....

you should not hatch at least 30 of the first marans eggs. marans (and some other french breeds) for some reason don't hatch at winter. in france they even don't try it, in greece we do try to hatch them with poor to no results.

 

[littledog]

Yeah, gotta compare to the organic/farmers market prices. My Japanese sweet potatoes are $4/lb and I grew 40+ pounds. I buy no eggs, no chicken, and almost no veggies from the store. Last year the only thing I bought regularly were onions. I bought mushrooms last month and realized it had been a couple years since I last bought them, since I've always got something else from the garden that needs to be eaten.

Agree, you can't just compare $$ saved from not buying those veggies. Besides better quality, tastier foods and free exercise, growing them is an investment in yourself, in your knowledge and education - something nobody can take away from you, unlike money. Plus, growing them means you probably have them in more quantity than if you had to buy them, which means you are eating more of fresh, healthy foods and less take-out, processed foods, etc. So it's not just, "garlic in the store costs x, but the same amount of garlic from my garden costs y," it's more like, "all the fresh, healthy, tasty meals I ate from my garden over the past year, the exercise I got, the knowledge I gained, the enjoyment and satisfaction I'm getting, and most likely some future health care savings, is priceless."

I do want to get the supplies needed for canning, but that will probably have to wait a few months

Keep watching your local Craigslist or offer up! People often give stuff away for free - just the other day there was someone giving away several cases of different-sized Kerrs and Balls, another person giving away an old-school pressure canner.

The landscape timers also tend to go on sale in the Spring, so keep an eye out.

My raised beds are made from those "cherrystone" landscape timbers. A few years ago my local lumber store had a pile of them sitting outside on sale, the poor-quality left overs. I got 30 of them for $30.00. Many had knots, were a bit warped, or had twists. Not a problem for raised beds, though, and the price was right for sure. The best ones I was able to use as middle posts in the chicken yard. I hope they have them again, I keep an eye out!

 

[TJAnonymous]

you should not hatch at least 30 of the first marans eggs. marans (and some other french breeds) for some reason don't hatch at winter. in france they even don't try it, in greece we do try to hatch them with poor to no results.

Good to know! I will try the marans again in late spring

 

[WthrLady]

I used to call my garden "my part time job with tax free pay."

Blueberries like acid soil, around 4.5-5.5 pH. I don't know how deep their roots go.

OMG thank you ! I had blueberry on the brain. I had just read the can of paint for the bathroom, blueberry frost.
I should have typed CHERRY TREE.
https://www.bloomingbackyard.com/alkaline-soil-plants/

 

[pennyJo1960]

Morning Gardeners it is a dry day. Should have my walking onion today .. I bought metal ants to live in the walking onion.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Bit of a rant... I have been in the process of putting in a new fireplace. Contractor asked what I wanted for the mantel. I told him a live edge piece of walnut. Well... He brought the mantel on Wednesday (2 weeks late). It was pine, not walnut. Said he couldn't find any mills that had walnut. Then he installed it without sanding, staining, or sealing... So rather than losing more time, I had hoped DH and I could do all that with it up.... Now I'm just mad at myself. DH made a huge mess but did manage to generally sand it down but there are still a bunch of saw grooves in it. Then, none of the holes are epoxied.... Finally, to add insult to injury, I tried to apply a little stain to see what it might look like. I purchased the stain to match existing woodwork. Only it isn't even close.... It is so far off, it looks nearly black....

I give up. I think I'm going to have him take it down and do it right..... Contractor is going to be pissed but this looks terrible....

 

[Swiss]

I like it. It shouldn't be too hard with the right tools. Some saw horses and a sawsall or just more use of the chainsaw would have sped things up for him I think.

I'm starting to wish I used tongue and mortis method on my garden fence now. I like the look.

He says in the video that he was testing different ways to see which was best. I'll probably do it a few different ways, too.

And YES having it off the ground seems like it would be less painful! He was only doing that small section, though, so I guess he didn't care as much? My back wouldn't have been happy with all that kneeling and bending. (Plus I'm going to be doing a lot more than he did)

I was happy he said how long it took him to build it because it will give me more realistic expectations for building a big fence around my whole garden.

Hopefully, I remember to take pictures and maybe a video of the whole process.