What did you do in the garden today?

[WthrLady]

Looks like our winter stores honey. The stuff they put up in September/early Oct and over winter on.
Still glorious and is gangbuster in bread for extra flavor.

Cloudy, thundery and sprinkles this morning. Not complaining. Our recent rains (FINALLY) aren't making up for drought, but at least the abandoned hayfield is starting to show signs of life. While not getting much higher, it's thickening up, and the alfalfa is finally growing.
SO maybe we can find enough fodder in there to cut it in August?!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. I planted the cucumber seedlings in the former pea patch. All five seedlings have a secondary leaf so hopefully they will be OK. The garden is doing well. Of course, everything is a couple of weeks behind because of that late hard freeze in May. I have several chocolate cherry tomatoes emerging and the Brandywine tomato plants are big enough that I stopped pinching off blooms. The Sweet 100's planted in the high garden is over 3 feet tall and has a branch full of tiny tomatoes on it. There will be some green beans to pick in a few days. I added another of row of string for them to grab onto. The limas are filling out their web of string. Nearly all the corn is up to my knees now. Of course I'm a little short so that's about 18 inches tall. The beans and squash in with them are doing very well. We got a brief shower late yesterday evening. Just enough to wet down the dry compost I added to the corn patch. I plan on getting the jalapeno and poblano peppers potted up today. I scrounged up enough large pots to plant them all. So that shouldn't take too long. I ordered some PVC panels that can be used for greenhouses from Amazon yesterday. I was planning on getting the clear corrugated panels from Home Depot to replace the shower curtains I use on the chicken run in the winter. These green house panels are clear, double paned and in 2 x 4 foot sections which is perfect for the chicken run. They cost less than what I had planned to get from HD and I get free delivery. I have a lot of work to do on the chicken coop and run when the temperatures cool down a bit but it's a little over 5 years old now and it's time to do repairs and a facelift.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Need to make a correction. The panels I bought are not pvc, they are Polycarbonate. But they do protect from UV rays and are good in extreme heat and cold.

 

[WthrLady]

Need to make a correction. The panels I bought are not pvc, they are Polycarbonate. But they do protect from UV rays and are good in extreme heat and cold.

Watch, because usually only one side is the UV treated side. Also the label stuck to the plastic USUALLY says that. Sometimes the protective plastic is just a different color to indicate which is the OUT facing side of the panel, so check carefully.

Even our greenhouse panels started to go after a year, got foggy, and after 18months were no force against smaller hail. They became brittle.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I attempted ground cherries last year but didn’t really get much from them…..what do you do with yours?

Not a clue. This is the first time I've grown them. I want to make a little pie since I don't have very many right now.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Woke up to a nice, steady, gentle rain. We needed it... Supposed to have pop up showers all weekend.

This is very atypical weather for July but I'm loving it! Thank you God!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Watch, because usually only one side is the UV treated side. Also the label stuck to the plastic USUALLY says that. Sometimes the protective plastic is just a different color to indicate which is the OUT facing side of the panel, so check carefully.

Even our greenhouse panels started to go after a year, got foggy, and after 18months were no force against smaller hail. They became brittle.

Good to know. Hail is not common here. Occasionally we get sleet in the winter. The pvc UV protected panels yellow and get scratched in the first year as well. Then there’s the expected dust film on the inside from the chickens. This past winter was more windy than normal for this area and it was challenging keeping the shower curtains from coming out of their straps.

 

[jerryse]

I had 3 male blossoms open on the sweet success cucumbers today. Only 1 female flower open. I hand pollinated. Hoping to get some seed from the seedless all female plants. Had our first green beans of the season. Replanted the second batch of green beans as germination was poor. With the rains everything is a jungle.

 

[CNJ]

Okra is up. I see a female zuke flower formed. Soon to bloom in the next week. Second round of cuke seed is up. We have been having cuke, onion and tomato salad. Love it. Someone was having yellowjacket trouble. Did you get them?

That reminds me, its summer Okra time........I will plant some today, I only need 3 plants, if I plant more than that, I get tired of them.

 

[CNJ]

I am doing a little experiement with a mango cutting. I cut 1/2 inch of the bark off on the bottom of the cutting and stuck it in an aloe tip. I folded the skinny part of the aloe tip and placed it in a shot glass and covered it with a quart masson jar. I wrapped the sides of the masson jar with black plastic, but left the top clear for some light. I'll change to a clear jar latter on.

There is no water in the cutting shot glass; however, I will be misting the jar with water and making adjustments. The entire cutting was rubbed with aloe slime, I am hoping it has anti bacteria and anti fungus properties.