What did you do in the garden today?

[LifeSimpleAndSweet]

Well, it's looking like my mom won't make it. The doctor said this morning that if she miraculously survives then she will likely be in a nursing home for the rest of her life.

So I'm beginning the painful process of figuring out what to do with all her stuff. Went into her she-shed and hit the gardening jackpot. My mom was an avid Master Gardener. Her shed is huge (15 ft x 15 ft easily) and stacked with gardening stuff. It will take me days to go through it all. There's literally hundreds of pots in all shapes and sizes. Boxes of coco coir. Bags for soil, seed starter, hoses. You name it. Hundreds of seed packets. No idea how old they are or if they are viable. Summer heat in there may have damaged their viability.

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Love those canning lid plant tags!

I'm so sorry to hear your mom is not doing well.
I tried to find the original place you mentioned it, but I could not.
Can you remind me what has happened?
I pray for comfort for you all.

How precious to be able to spend that time in the place she loved and worked in. It's a bit like being with her, immersed in the sweet memories.

 

[-Chanticleer-]

You'll have to deter the moths/butterflies. What kind are you dealing with?

Cut worms and in not sure of the other ones.I’ve had green with a stripe. I’ve even had the red and black fuzzy ones.

 

[LifeSimpleAndSweet]

Cut worms and in not sure of the other ones.I’ve had green with a stripe. I’ve even had the red and black fuzzy ones.

Pics will help.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Well, it's looking like my mom won't make it. The doctor said this morning that if she miraculously survives then she will likely be in a nursing home for the rest of her life.

So I'm beginning the painful process of figuring out what to do with all her stuff. Went into her she-shed and hit the gardening jackpot. My mom was an avid Master Gardener. Her shed is huge (15 ft x 15 ft easily) and stacked with gardening stuff. It will take me days to go through it all. There's literally hundreds of pots in all shapes and sizes. Boxes of coco coir. Bags for soil, seed starter, hoses. You name it. Hundreds of seed packets. No idea how old they are or if they are viable. Summer heat in there may have damaged their viability.

View attachment 3515803
View attachment 3515809
Love those canning lid plant tags!

Maybe put all of the seed into a jar and mix them up. You can spread them over a patch of gardening space and see what grows! I did that with some old seeds once and it ended up working out pretty well.

I don't know exactly what happened but I hope that she finds comfort soon. Whether that's in a home or with God. Continued prayers for you and your family.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Cut worms and in not sure of the other ones.I’ve had green with a stripe. I’ve even had the red and black fuzzy ones.

A little physical barrier worked better than anything else for me against cutworms. I used toilet paper rolls so it wouldn't matter if I left them to break down in the soil.
Cutworms usually hang out around the plant they just cut down. You can usually find them within 6-8" of the plant and maybe and inch or so under the soil. So when they did kill a plant I would dig them out and feed them to the chickens.
I also used wood ash as a barrier and I didn't lose any more plants where I did that either but it could have been chance.

I need to remake this video but I do show how I gave the plants little toilet paper roll collars and the ash.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Along those lines, and still within the gardening topic, I recently bought a Harbor Freight Bauer Clamping Workstation to assist me with my pallet wood raised bed builds. It worked great and I loved it - until it broke!

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When it broke, it only had maybe 10 hours of work time on it. Very disappointing. I contacted Harbor Freight tech support to see if I could get a replacement part for the one that failed, but they don't have any parts for it in their warehouse. My only option is to exchange it for another one or get my money back. Considering there is only a 90 warranty period with no support afterwards, my best option appears to be to return it for a full refund.

It's such a shame because one replaceable part failed and now everything is going to be junked. They don't carry any of the parts. Also, it is deceptive that the owner's manual lists each and every part on that workstation and one would assume you could fix or replace this unit with new parts. It's just not true. You cannot get any replacement parts at all despite them being clearly shown in the manual.

It is such a waste to see one failed part - that could easily be replaced - results in the entire unit being sent to the landfill because the company will not stock repair parts for the stuff they sell. We really live in a disposable society, I guess.

I really did like the concept and functionality of this clamping workstation. So, I'm looking at paying about $80 more at Home Depot for an original Rockwell Jawhorse, that does the same thing, but comes with a 5-year warranty. After getting burned on the Harbor Freight deal, I'm looking at warranty periods on these items because I suspect they all get made in China and probably will fail the same way.

View attachment 3515815

I got my husband a JawHorse like 10ish years ago. He LOVES it and it has seen a ton of action. He uses the heck out of it. This year, not earlier, the polyurethane pads disintegrated but it has been more than worth it. You can also get replacement pads but they're overpriced in my opinion.

 

[Acre4Me]

Well, it's looking like my mom won't make it. The doctor said this morning that if she miraculously survives then she will likely be in a nursing home for the rest of her life.

So I'm beginning the painful process of figuring out what to do with all her stuff. Went into her she-shed and hit the gardening jackpot. My mom was an avid Master Gardener. Her shed is huge (15 ft x 15 ft easily) and stacked with gardening stuff. It will take me days to go through it all. There's literally hundreds of pots in all shapes and sizes. Boxes of coco coir. Bags for soil, seed starter, hoses. You name it. Hundreds of seed packets. No idea how old they are or if they are viable. Summer heat in there may have damaged their viability.

View attachment 3515803
View attachment 3515809
Love those canning lid plant tags!

I hope your mom is as comfortable as she can be. I’m glad you are able to be with her right now. Hopefully she can improve beyond what they expect.

 

[-Chanticleer-]

A little physical barrier worked better than anything else for me against cutworms. I used toilet paper rolls so it wouldn't matter if I left them to break down in the soil.
Cutworms usually hang out around the plant they just cut down. You can usually find them within 6-8" of the plant and maybe and inch or so under the soil. So when they did kill a plant I would dig them out and feed them to the chickens.
I also used wood ash as a barrier and I didn't lose any more plants where I did that either but it could have been chance.

I need to remake this video but I do show how I gave the plants little toilet paper roll collars and the ash.

Thank you so much for the advice

 

[jerryse]

Lunch break. I planted about 40 Oriental poppy seedlings and weeded. Put bug control around outside of house as ants are getting in. Need to set bait out in house. I will try to do more outside but it is sunny and getting hot. Time for shorts and Artic cool T shirt.

 

[LifeSimpleAndSweet]

What on earth would have done this??

I was getting ready for work and I took a quick walk to the blueberries and found this.

I've got to set some sort of trap before I leave.