What did you do in the garden today?

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Went to the grocery… with in-store savings and a few coupons I saved $107….but my bill was over $230!!! most expensive grocery trip in recent memory. . (Except Costco trips, of course). Yikes!!! So, Did I really NEED the ice cream?? Yes, yes I did, and it was on sale. No judging .

Garden needs to produce!!!

Girls need to lay those eggs- the Feb chicks (which include 6 high production types and 12 heritage types) are 12.5 weeks old, so I’m hoping for eggs in a few weeks from the high productions ones at least!

And the adult kid needs to move out…should be this week. Landlord is updating apartment and electric doesn’t turn on until Monday. So, having one less person to feed will also be a help.

Every time I go into any store now I get sticker shock. I was thrilled when the trip today was $12 under budget. However, they didn’t have my coffee creamer so will have to find that somewhat else. I’m really glad I can let the chickens out twice a day to graze. That helps trim the feed budget. But egg sales are back to a minimum so that’s not helping. My lettuce and endive should be producing within the next two weeks so that will help. I have nearly all the herbs I need in the garden so that helps too. The weird thing at the grocery store was having to buy canned tomatoes. I just used my last two jars a few days ago. Oh well. Things could be worse.

 

[Acre4Me]

I WISH we had coupons here. Not that you can't use them, they just aren't out there like they were in Ohio.
I'm running about $170 for three adults for a week. 27 meals

No store coupons?

I don’t actively pursue coupons. I’ll use the coupons the store sends me. I’ll use coupons that I come across one way or another. And I pay attention to in-store deals. Before that couponing show occurred, there were a lot of coupons. Seems like fewer coupons nowadays. I used to spend some small amount of time looking through the paper ads for coupons, cutting and organizing, but its no longer worth my time. Never was a big couponer anyway …I watched one of those shows about couponing and was shocked when the featured person said they spent around 40 hours a week finding all the coupons, which resulted in free or nearly free groceries. (And the net was likely under minimum wage for a 40 hour job).

Not like my garden is exactly free anyway. But, the quality is great usually, variety is great, and get exercise in addition!!

 

[rjmyooper]

UP Michigan usually has really good soil for blueberries. Have you had a soil test done by your county extension office? They are usually free and tell you EXACTLY what to add for any kind of plant you might grow. I'm adding small amounts of lime a little bit at a time. I need to fix the phosphorus though before I add the ammonium sulfate & zinc otherwise the phosphorus will just bind it up, especially the zinc. If you also have high phosphorus, I found this info below really helpful which is why I'm going to try to plant some fava beans (legumes) in the fall. Also toying with adding some tomatoes too but I'm worried it might be too acidic for them. (Maybe get some off the clearance rack!)

I own a Ph Soil tester. IDK how accurate it is, but it showed slightly acidic soil. That yellow powder I used was sulfur.

 

[Sally PB]

We got over an inch of rain last night. At one point, the lightning was like a disco, it was almost constant flashing. We needed it, that's for sure.

I spent an hour and a half hoeing up weeds in the heavy soil garden. When it's dry, it's like pounding on cement, ie, impossible. When it's wet, it's like pounding on rubber. My arms feel like noodles, but at least I slowed the weeds down some. Next it putting all the thatch and leaves on there, but it's raining again, so I'll wait till tomorrow.

Last year, my goal was to average $100/week at the grocery store I shop at usually. I did very well; came in around $4800 for the year. It will be MUCH harder to come in under $5200 for the year this year.

That said, I buy a more than just groceries there. I get car wiper blades, underwear, socks, light bulbs, some garden stuff, etc, etc.

This year, I'll be planning meals around stuff from the garden. Fortunately, there is a lot of yum that can be made out of eggs, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and beans. Add one or two more ingredients, and there are many possibilities.

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

Yall something is wrong with my rhododendron!
Towards the bottom of the planter (we got it last year and it has done amazing. Even still growing but one limb has leaves like this...now 2 limbs do!
There is a nandina right behind it that has begun 1 limb looking similar as well!
Anyone know what it might be and how best to treat?

 

[WthrLady]

@Acre4Me Nope, no store coupons, no discounts for store loyalty cards (although those usually have 10 cents off a gallon of gas if you spend more than 100$)
Even the sunday paper MIGHT only come with 6 pages of coupons, you know 35 cents off 10 cans of soup. Or 5$ off a razor /blade starter set. Nothing like way back when sunday and wednesday papers were full of fliers, and when I lived in ohio there were double and sometimes triple coupons at stores. There's no real competition here, so no coupons are issued. I usually have some manufacturer ones for cereal from the inside of the box, 25 cents off a 4.50 box of cereal, so I collect them and wait for the cereal to go on sale for 2.50 or 2.98 a box and get several.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

The few coupons that come in the mail are pretty much for heavily processed food that I will not eat. Then there are the ones for personal care products that are loaded with chemicals that I avoid. I look for specials on flour, butter, coffee, etc. I shop at BJ’s occasionally for specials and have lately started buying my gas there because it saves me about 10 cents on the gallon. I just came in from feeding and watering the chickens. It’s 88F outside but only 90F inside the coop. The trees help. I finally got some hardware cloth on the new window so I could open it. It’s on the south facing side of the coop but it is shaded by two very tall trees. I am so glad I turned on the AC before I went outside. It’s nice and cool now.

 

[Blue Penguin]

 

[CNJ]

My strawberries. I was disappointed because as I was pulling weeds from the strawberry bed I noticed an ant colony had been living in my strawberry box. I’m not sure what to do about that, any ideas?

I bought this ANDRO from Lowes it can be used in vegetable gardens. They list the number of days to wait before harvest on the back. I've been killing off ant colonies around my mango and tangerine trees with this.

For my wicking buckets, I put a tiny piece of pan cake in my 1tsp boric acid, 3tsp sugar and 3 tsp water mix. They carry the bread back to feed the baby ant........You can see the different size pill bottles I use in my planters to control ants.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I wish it was cold here... We are currently sitting at 87 degrees but "feels like" 96 with humidity at 70%. You can't spend 10 minutes outside without looking like you jumped in the pool with your clothes on.

I picked about a dozen strawberries today. Spot weeded here and there. No major activities...

We live less than a mile from the grocery store so we stop in here and there to pick up whatever we need. I stockpiled and froze a LOT of food over the past year in preparation for what we are seeing now. I knew it was coming... So except for things like fresh milk, butter, laundry soap, etc...we don't typically buy much at the store. I also had gasoline stockpiled when it was less than $2/gallon. We've gone through most of that and now have to replace it. Gonna be expensive...