What did you do in the garden today?

[littledog]

I've found the figure eight to be faster. It takes up more room, though.

My Grandpa warned me against the figure-8! He said where they meet in the center of the 8, they press against each other and are more likely to form kinks. I don't know if this is really true or just Grandpa's advice.

Have you thought of a winding hose real. Mine has 100ft of hose on it and could probably hold 200ft if needed.

I use one of those for the 100 ft hose that reaches to the garden (mine's a smallish yard-sale find that could not hold any more length) and a simple hanger I rigged up for the shorter hose I use around the house.

On cisterns they had a diverter on the downspout. The first rainwater went on the ground then diverted to the cistern. Yes someone had to go out in the rain. Some had a block wall in the cistern to filter the water. Water was taken from the filtered half. We had a well and a cistern. Cistern water was used for laundry and baths.

Way back in the 70's as a child, I was fortunate enough to live in Australia. Everybody had a rainwater cistern, even homes in the city. My parents, being Americans from polluted Detroit, didn't trust the rainwater system and had no idea how to use it. They were panic-stricken about the water after a dead bird landed on our roof, so they payed through the nose for water from the community well for everything (supposed to be only for drinking) rather than use water from the cistern for toilet-flushing, laundry, showers, plants, etc.
Our next-door neighbors were over for a barbecue, and after discussion about the water, the neighbor laughed his butt off, removed the dead bird, activated the diverter and drained the water from the part that was polluted, then educated my parents on how to work the diverter and the filter.
I believe people in Australia still use rainwater tanks today, but the diversion and filtration systems are a lot more sophisticated.

I recently bought a Harbor Freight Bauer Clamping Workstation to assist me with my pallet wood raised bed builds.

Wow, after reading just this part, I was all set to go Harbor Freight and buy one! But after your experience, I'll just stick to my hand "pallet-buster" tool.

 

[LifeSimpleAndSweet]

Fancy...

I keep laughing because the best way to describe it is overkill.

But it will take something like this to get my mind focused on the task at hand.

If there is a word that describes me, PLANNER would fit.

Don't tell anyone, but I was also trying to come up with a built in, spring-loaded, snap guillotine under the cone...

 

[littledog]

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 was watching videos today (at work, ssh) and apparently there's a term for it - Chaos Gardening!

I expected my Harbor Freight Bauer Clamping Workstation (a knock off Rockwell Jawhorse) to also last many years. I loved it, used the heck out of it - for 10 hours - then it broke.

I like Harbor Freight for tools I like to have on hand but know I'm not going to use very often. But for things I know I'll use a lot, I'd rather get top or mid-level recognized brands with good reviews. Harbor Freight carries a lot of Chinese knockoffs, which can be OK for some things (I got my greenhouse from there and it's been OK) but not for serious, go-to tools.

I said I understood, but it seems like such a waste of everything to junk an entire unit because one part failed, and that there was no way to salvage any parts from the broken unit at a later date. In fact, it would seem to me, that I would be saving HF money by them not having to ship a 50-pound unit back to wherever and then have it dumped into a landfill somewhere else.

This kind of system makes me so angry.

 

[littledog]

That looks like something you'd see in a sci-fi movie. Those claws look more like they belong to a predator, not a woodchuck.

Do you have wombats in Ohio?

 

[littledog]

To the northeast, the sun rising through the tree with Mt. Rainier barely visible in the background.

Lovely pics! I moved to WA 30 years ago, and now I don't think I could feel comfortable living anywhere without Mt. Rainier somewhere in the background. The landscape would seem naked!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. Taking another easy day today. Garden is doing well. More green beans have popped out from the dirt. I finally got the bug netting over the bed with the bok choy and butternut squash. I added a couple of taller stakes in the pea patch so I can add another row of string. On my shopping trip yesterday I went to BJ's to pick up ribs for Monday dinner and they had some very beautiful hydrangeas in 1 gallon pots for only $20. I could not resist. It looks like it could be more than one plant but I'll find out tomorrow morning when I plant it. The chainsawing on the slope has been postponed until next Friday so I'll have time for planting more stuff before it gets too hot. Nearly all my fingerling potatoes have recovered from the hard freeze. My leeks are doing really well. Someone mentioned a while back about success with onion seeds. I think it may have been @Sally PB. I planted shallots, red and yellow onion seeds and the shallots and red onions are growing very well. I was late planting the yellow ones so they have not come up yet. The shallots are very happy growing next to the leeks and the red onions are happy with the fingerling potatoes. I was a bit disappointed that there were so few seeds in the packets (from Pinetree) but so far they are performing well. That's all the gardening for me for now. I picked up a lobster yesterday to make lobster rolls for lunch today. I'm packing them up then heading over to have lunch with DD and visit with her fur babies. Then it's back to errands on the way home. Have a great day all.

 

[littledog]

I know we all face this inevitability but it still sucks and hurts.

I'm so sorry. What a beautiful memorial, may your Mom be at peace.

 

[jerryse]

I am a doer. I do not believe in impossible. If I say I can't you can bet I tried. DW believes in impossible and can't without trying. It would be nice if she believed in my ability. 25 years ago she said I could not build our house but I did. 6 years ago she said I could not build a cabin as it cost too much. So I bought a portable sawmill and saved money on the lumber. Built it. I am no longer able to do these projects but every day I do what I can and try to keep my abilities.

 

[littledog]

Bauer impact tool $129 at Harbor Freight. I get it home and unbox it to charge it. Only the tool as charger and battery sold separately. Grrr. So today while out fishing in a different town with a Harbor Freight I thought I better buy a charger and battery. Nice lady tried to help me. About 30 feet from tool here is the charger. What about the battery? Oh we are out of those.

Not 100% sure, but I have the impression that Bauer is a Chinese knockoff of Milwaukee. Same color, similar looking design, but cheaper and not half as good.
Our local hardware store (not a chain) has actual human beings who know and use the tools, and a few years ago, one convinced me to buy a set of Milwaukee - impact driver, regular drill, and sawzall - including the charger, two batteries, and a set of drill bits - for $299 (it was during a sale) I use these all the time, the batteries still last a long time even after regular use for a few years. I paid a bit more, but never regretted this buy.

 

[littledog]

OOH! I might be about to get another useful freebie from work. I noticed a bunch of pallets destined for recycling, full of 2'x3' stackable plastic totes. There are more than 100 of them, that can no longer be stacked because the lids have cracks, but they are the perfect size and shape to become chick brooders. I emailed the people in charge and got no response, so I took that as a "yes" and set aside 5 of them to take home. The cracked lids will be fine, since I'll be cutting holes in them to make room for a heat lamp.