What did you do in the garden today?

[Ascholten]

Id put the seed out. Just make sure the critters don't see that as a snack you are spreading.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Id put the seed out. Just make sure the critters don't see that as a snack you are spreading.

Chickens will be locked in for 10 days following the dispersment... Much complaining to follow.

Can't do much about wild birds though

 

[Ascholten]

Well, I moved a lot of stuff around, a lot of it into the garage to protect from frost.
I have a,lets just call it a cactust. it has spines and will poke the living crap out of you.

Im in the bedroom and hear a crash and commotion outside and about 3 seconds later a crash from the table, SOMEONE knocked a bunch of crap off my porch table. The chicken... so I run outside and she is going crazy and I see the hawk dive behind the fence.

The chicken is upbehind one of my totes, I have NO idea how she got there, she used to hide between the planters where the plants were,but there's only one now, and its the cactus one. After yelling at the hawk, this was a BIG one too, fkn things, I go around the yard to the known hiding spots and do a head count, make sure I still got all my girls. The rest were under the boat, they hopped UP on the axle for the wheel so you can't really see them. (very intelligent move btw).

So I go back to get fluffy from the tote and I take a better look at this cactus, and it's got an arm broke, hanging down off where I had it kind of trellaced/ trained / whatever you want to call it, and.. hawk feathers all over it. I think this sob might have taken a dive at the chicken (which fluffy is BIG so I am not sure she'd be gotten in one swoop, THAT would be a fight there), and got caught up in the cactus, because it sure seems to have gotten the best of him

I really am not in the mood to have to start trapping hawks, why can't they just go the hell away? I know what works on cockatoo's and chickens to discipline them, but catching a hawk to paddle it's ass and yell at it is going to be a chore here !! Might be time to set off some flash bangs on a trap or something. not to hurt the bird, but when it comes in, set off a few loud bangs to scare the living crap out of it, hopefully to NOT come back for a while.

TJ are you sure 10 days is enough for your feathered lock down?
I thought I was smart and locked mine down so that some seeds could get going, then the brats ate all the little greens

Aaron

 

[TJAnonymous]

Well, I moved a lot of stuff around, a lot of it into the garage to protect from frost.
I have a,lets just call it a cactust. it has spines and will poke the living crap out of you.

Im in the bedroom and hear a crash and commotion outside and about 3 seconds later a crash from the table, SOMEONE knocked a bunch of crap off my porch table. The chicken... so I run outside and she is going crazy and I see the hawk dive behind the fence.

The chicken is upbehind one of my totes, I have NO idea how she got there, she used to hide between the planters where the plants were,but there's only one now, and its the cactus one. After yelling at the hawk, this was a BIG one too, fkn things, I go around the yard to the known hiding spots and do a head count, make sure I still got all my girls. The rest were under the boat, they hopped UP on the axle for the wheel so you can't really see them. (very intelligent move btw).

So I go back to get fluffy from the tote and I take a better look at this cactus, and it's got an arm broke, hanging down off where I had it kind of trellaced/ trained / whatever you want to call it, and.. hawk feathers all over it. I think this sob might have taken a dive at the chicken (which fluffy is BIG so I am not sure she'd be gotten in one swoop, THAT would be a fight there), and got caught up in the cactus, because it sure seems to have gotten the best of him

I really am not in the mood to have to start trapping hawks, why can't they just go the hell away? I know what works on cockatoo's and chickens to discipline them, but catching a hawk to paddle it's ass and yell at it is going to be a chore here !! Might be time to set off some flash bangs on a trap or something. not to hurt the bird, but when it comes in, set off a few loud bangs to scare the living crap out of it, hopefully to NOT come back for a while.

TJ are you sure 10 days is enough for your feathered lock down?
I thought I was smart and locked mine down so that some seeds could get going, then the brats ate all the little greens

Aaron

I'm glad your girls are OK! I hate hawks... Never did until I had chickens.

I'm hoping 10 days is sufficient. It really depends on the balance between moisture and heat. I usually spot check the pasture to see how it's germinating. I won't let them out until it's grown at least a half inch. It's also competing with the existing grass and weeds

 

[TJAnonymous]

My loofah harvest. Still have at least a dozen on the vine that range in size from 6-8 inches to 20+ inches. I've left these for now since they are still soft and squishy. Not sure if they will cure properly or not. Vine is clearly in its death throes.

 

[karenerwin]

Of the loofahs I brought in to try to dry out, 3 have started to get bugs/ mold. The first one I peeled and cleaned out much like the lady in the video did. I didn’t soak mine first. I will say that it is slimy feeling. But came out pretty good. The one I did today had tiny maggots on it when I saw it but had turned hard and brown all over. I peeled it and rinsed it and shook it and banged it against the sink I got a lot of seeds out but not all of them yet. I soaked it in a light bleach water trying to get rid of the black areas ( didn’t really work ). Will soak it again later in a heavier bleach solution. The 3rd one I saw today is mostly brown /black but has spots of mold on it. I’ll take a picture before I start cleaning it.
The lady in the video is right about the soft ones. One of the ones I brought inside looked more like a zucchini squash when I cut into it. I threw it out to the chickens but don’t know if they ate it or not.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good afternoon all. I’m prepping the bed for my first go with garlic. I scraped a big bucket of chicken run dirt/ compost to add to the soil tomorrow morning. Planting is scheduled for the end of next week. I plan to cover the bed to keep it from freezing so the cloves have time to sprout a bit. We definitely had frost this morning so I’m looking forward to tasting the kale. It’s supposed to sweeten the flavor a bit. Big garden clean up and putting the beds up for the winter at the end of next week. Best wishes for a speedy recovery @karenerwin.

 

[NewBoots]

Today is refill DP's raised bed day, lunch was a modified shepherd's pie! Thanks @Ascholten !

 

[karenerwin]

This is the one with mold.

The green one in the picture was picked at the same time as the brown one. They were both free to start with. They’ve both been in the basement.

The moldy one after I peeled it.

This is one I cleaned earlier this morning. It was the one that had a few maggots on it. I cut it in half to try to get more seeds out.

 

[igorsMistress]

Good afternoon all. All I did was visit mama and the babies outside today