What did you do in the garden today?

View attachment 3039389
This is NOT what I wanted to wake up to this morning. About 28° out may hit mid 30's today. Tomorrow will be in the teens. This is why I didn't put my cole crop and veggie seeds in my cobb job coldframe just yet. And yes I know my tomatoes are too leggy, need to rig the light differently.
I couldve posted the exact same pic today. Hopefully this will be the last snow…❤️
 
I've purchased a vanilla orchid cutting off of Etsy.
I have one I got in 2004, it lived in the apartment with me for some years then in 2008 when I moved into my house, it got a permanent home in the window in the bathroom. From here it gets morning sun and it also has a wrap around so it can hang out with the shower too to get the moisture from the shower when I use it.

I've gotten vanilla pods for several years off it now and it's doing well. This picture, it looks kind of nasty because well,to be honest, Ive not trimmed it or cut the dead stuff / pruned or done anything to it for a few years now. I really need to clean it up.

For anyone wondering. YES they will live in a bathroom, YES they will live in subdued sun or even a sunlight - lamp and most important YES they WILL give you vanilla pods! I put a grow bulb in the shower so in the day I can turn that on and the part of the plant that is wrapped around the shower stall gets it's light too.
vanilla curtain 2019.jpg


vanilla flower.jpg
 
My baby sheepnose apple tree now has baby leaves! I'm so proud of it! The other two trees are being a little slower but they're in slightly shadier parts of the yard so I'm not too surprised. The little peach tree is very leafy already. Wouldn't surprise me if it tried to make a peach or two this year :p.

I set my aloe plants outside and they are not appreciating the chilly nights. They may end up staying house plants for the majority of the year.

Haven't been able to get outside and do much work in prepping garden stuff or mowing the lawn like a responsible adult, other than clearing out the two raised beds (as I though, the catnip, rosemary, and peppermint survived. Jury's still out on the lemon verbena, and I haven't noticed any feral tomatoes trying to pop up). The days I have off I either have appointments I need to get to, or it's raining, or a sudden cold snap, or, like today, my shoulder's gone locked up after a long car trip yesterday. Thank goodness I've got a chiropractor appointment this week...
 
I have never had any luck with orchids, & I have a pretty green thumb. I think it's just too cold here in the winter. But that's neat on the vanilla pods!

We got a lot of sleet last night, thankfully it was above freezing! I cringe at the snow pics.

OH I love that!
He's in Ukraine & has shut his shop down for now, for obvious reasons. But I really do like my egg holders because they stack so easy. Egg skelters didn't hold enough & I'd tip them over all the time. :he
 
I have one I got in 2004, it lived in the apartment with me for some years then in 2008 when I moved into my house, it got a permanent home in the window in the bathroom. From here it gets morning sun and it also has a wrap around so it can hang out with the shower too to get the moisture from the shower when I use it.

I've gotten vanilla pods for several years off it now and it's doing well. This picture, it looks kind of nasty because well,to be honest, Ive not trimmed it or cut the dead stuff / pruned or done anything to it for a few years now. I really need to clean it up.

For anyone wondering. YES they will live in a bathroom, YES they will live in subdued sun or even a sunlight - lamp and most important YES they WILL give you vanilla pods! I put a grow bulb in the shower so in the day I can turn that on and the part of the plant that is wrapped around the shower stall gets it's light too.
View attachment 3039412

View attachment 3039413
It looks great! This is what I'd like to accomplish... I have a south-facing window in my bathroom. It gets morning sun but a big maple tree blocks the hot afternoon sun. I'm hoping the indirect light and humidity from the shower will create the type of environment you have in your picture... Of course my goal is beautiful flowers and vanilla pods! 😊 Congrats on a beautiful plant! Maybe I can get another cutting from yours if you prune it? :fl
 
I've purchased a vanilla orchid cutting off of Etsy. It is still alive as a green stick (no leaves) but I think that's more MY failure than the seller. These plants need a lot of humidity & indirect light. I'm planning on keeping it on a ledge in my walk-in shower but I have to get the shower remodeled first... Hope to do that this spring!

DD got 2 flat tires on her way to work this morning so my day is starting out topsy turvey and plans are changing. I still need to go hunt down my pallets and get started on the frames for the hoop house rebuild. Hope to accomplish that today.

I also scored 4 icing buckets from the local grocery bakery so I'll start waterglassing eggs this week! 😊

Culled 5 roosters from my main coop. This cut the rooster population in half. The girls are happy and the run is so much more peaceful this morning but I suffer guilt trips for days afterwards. I hate culling season. I'm going to have to put a bunch of Silkies on Craigslist so I don't have to cull them. That's the worst!
They shut down all bird sales/shows/trade/auctions in the state. UGH.
 
I've only ever gotten flats because of where I worked. A steel recycling yard got me three flats in 2 years, and a rock quarry got me one flat in 2 years. At least at the rock quarry, because I was quite pregnant at the time, the guys about pitched a fit at the thought of me putting the spare on myself and one of them came down at the end of the day and took care of it for me. Also because I was quite pregnant, the tire shop put a rush on my car and got me out faster.

Gardening is consisting of watering and praying the heat doesn't kill anything. We're forecast to hit 91 today and it is bone dry out there. Hasn't rained in a month or more and there's nothing above 15% in the ten-day forecast.

My month old chicks are doing well. I'm about to rig a new watering and feeding system/routine for them. I also plan to pick up a few more (3-5) sexed chicks in the coming days and get them set up in my tub brooder. First I'm going to add a ton more ventilation to the tub brooder though. It's going to look like swiss cheese when I'm done with it! But with temps this high I may have to brood the next batch under the RV! Crazy hot already.

I'm eyeing four for sure cockerels, with possibly a fifth. Two of my seven lavender orps are definitely female. The three olive eggers are also definitely female. I've got one lavender orp that got tail feathers before everybody else (usually a female trait) but also has a nice red comb and wattles already. So... yeah.

I've challenged DH to build a chicken plucker, DIY handyman style. If it works out I'll be sure to have him take pictures of the process and write up a walkthrough. That's a couple months down the line.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom