What did you do in the garden today?

[karenerwin]

@igorsMistress how do I know when to harvest these?

 

[Swiss]

ALERT: Long post with lots of pictures!

Asparagus and strawberry bed:

Rainbow Mix Heirloom Tomatoes and Goats Horn pepper:

Yellow straight neck squash, bell peppers (blocked from view by squash plants), and cucumbers:

Ananas D'Amerique A Chair Verte melon (weeds have been hoed down, lots of flowers, no fruits):​

Potatoes (need to be hilled):

Peas in the back (with pods growing!! ), 3 kinds of radishes, 2 kinds of beets, and 2 kinds of carrots:

Atlantic giant pumpkins, and the largest of the 5 big ones:

More potatoes on the left, pumpkin spreading along the fence, sugar baby watermelon next to potatoes, a yellow fleshed variety of watermelon on the right, and one potato plant on the far right:

Sugar baby (2 that I have found):

Yellow fleshed watermelons:

Nero di Toscana kale (top left corner), cabbage (need to pull up because of loopers), spinach, bolting cilantro (bottom left corner), basil, oregano, 2 onions (bottom right corner), Tom Thumb lettuce, oak leaf lettuce, parsley, thyme, chives, and sage (top right corner).

3 colors of corn, green beans, and butternut squash (I'm mostly leaving this bed alone. The butternuts have gone nuts!! I've definitely learned what NOT to do.):

Beefsteak and cherry tomatoes:

Cherry tomatoes (tall ones being trellised to fence post):

This was all I was able to do today, as a storm was rumbling it's way in.

We picked 1.6 lbs of blackberries and some raspberries last night:

 

[Acre4Me]

We are getting some rain. Nice, light shower. Might end up with 0.1” or so.

Haven’t gone out to the garden yet. But, last night we set two raccoon traps. Caught a medium sized one this morning. It won’t bother our garden or chickens again.

Also dug up some of the garlic- the ones I grew from bulblets so it is expected to get a large clove rather than a head. Two varieties had single large cloves. The third look underdeveloped, so they will need more time. The plan is to harvest the garlic, let it cure, then plant it late fall in order to harvest a full head of garlic next year.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I dunno, Wolfie said mulch is your friend. I believe what you use to mulch depends on your situation. I used straw in my shade garden, a thick layer of it, and I’m pretty sure I lost most of the stuff in there to fungus. It either came from the straw, or it developed in there; I think it was a combo of the straw and the heat and the soil not being to breathe and too much moisture was trapped. I’m putting all of it in the bulk trash and starting over.

It works great out in the yard where the chickens can turn it over though.

On the flip side, I used aged wood chips in my garden and it caused all kinds of fungal issues. I used straw around the corn and it had fungal issues too. In places where I used only cardboard and nothing on top, no issues whatsoever. So I'm thinking all mulch is capable of causing fungus.

 

[igorsMistress]

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@igorsMistress how do I know when to harvest these?

Now, you may be a bit late. They should still be closed at harvest. You may only get a few big ones and a bunch of smaller ones the first year, depends. I usually start checking them every day when the first are about baseball size and harvest as soon as I see the center just begin to open.

 

[igorsMistress]

On the flip side, I used aged wood chips in my garden and it caused all kinds of fungal issues. I used straw around the corn and it had fungal issues too. In places where I used only cardboard and nothing on top, no issues whatsoever. So I'm thinking all mulch is capable of causing fungus.

I completely agree! It could be from all the wood I put down last summer. I’m currently spraying my fruit trees and the few survivors in the shade garden with neem.

 

[WthrLady]

Thought I felt good enough to go to the village. I was wrong.
Got to the car and it was totally dead. I must have left the dome light on after the airport 17 days ago.
By the time I dug out the jumper system from the shop, and got it going again, I was spacey again. Sinus' infections suck. UGH.
Now just letting her run in the driveway, alternator doing its thing, while I have lunch.
::grumble::

 

[ChicksnMore]

Now, you may be a bit late. They should still be closed at harvest. You may only get a few big ones and a bunch of smaller ones the first year, depends. I usually start checking them every day when the first are about baseball size and harvest as soon as I see the center just begin to open.

I've never grown artichokes...how long do they usually live in our area?

 

[Acre4Me]

Anyone with goat experience?

We think we will add 2 Nigerian Dwarf babies (4 months old right now). Both are girls and sisters. We will likely put them in half of the open air shed - it has a solid roof, completely predator proof (as long as the door is closed) and we can add clear panels for wind protection. We will also put in an interior cuddle box (not sure what to call it) where the winter straw will go for warmth when they want to bed down deeply in a solid sided area. The alternate spot is taking over part of the chicken run, keeping them separate, but next to the chickens.

 

[igorsMistress]

I've never grown artichokes...how long do they usually live in our area?

They come back year after year in the same place for me. I’ll be out looking for new shoots later since we’ve had so much rain. They die back in summer but come back with the monsoons.