What did you do in the garden today?

[igorsMistress]

Good morning all. We are having beautiful weather here. The mornings have been cool enough to stay outside for a while after the sun is up. We are supposed to head back into the high 90’s but the mornings will still be pleasant. I really let the yard go over the summer, it was just too rough this year, so I’m still working on it. Igor is half broken so he can only do so much, but I love him for it. If I do it without him he gets upset, so I wait. Meanwhile most things made it through the summer and I did get the two trees planted that I wanted to. I’m going to look for a chuparosa to put between them, I think the bright red would look great between the greens and purples. My son is getting married next week so I’ve been helping the kids prep for that. Burgundy must be popular this year, it took me a while to find the right colored ribbon; nothing like last minute needs to put some pressure on right?

 

[igorsMistress]

I want to prune my clementine fruit tree, but I am afraid I will get carried away like I did with my satsuma tree.

View attachment 3647516View attachment 3647517

Sometimes getting carried away does wonders. I cut a lemon tree back to nothing but the main branches one year. We got two huge harvests of lemons twice a year after that. We were sharing with coworkers by the bags.

 

[igorsMistress]

A pic from a few days ago. Another cloudy damp day. Maybe some sun tomorrowView attachment 3648734

I miss the change of seasons! Love this, thanks

 

[igorsMistress]

Didn't do a whole lot today except partially top off the pumpkin bed. Tomorrow if weather permitting should be better and I'll have it filled/mulched. Getting closer and closer to planting out. Instead of onions and garlic (which is terrible for my GERD) I might try garlic chives for the simplicity of it. Even capsicums is terrible for my GERD but hopefully in all the capsicum mixes I bought I might find a type that doesn't trigger it.

Think there's a whole host of pill bugs hiding under my whoflungdung that seem to be snacking on the beans coming up. Makes me sad but the whole idea was to actually test the mulch to see how hot it is as reviews on the site were saying it could burn seedlings. Whatever it does, the insects seem to like it. I'm sure I'll have nightmares about my precious seedlings being gobbled up by bugs.

If there's one root crop I want to try it's probably the long scarlet radish that gets done in 4-6 weeks. I wish I had the room for garlic/onions/more root crops like sweet potatoes (my friend from USA always said it was supposed to be a sweet dish yet I always had it as savoury) Part of me wants to try the old chook coop grounds for normal in the ground planting. Has anyone ever tried planting over old chook areas and had good results?

How long has it been since they were there?

 

[igorsMistress]

Found these in the yard. Shaggy mane mushrooms are edible. The Asian ladybug beetles are terrible today.View attachment 3649952View attachment 3649954

Time for some soup? Or how do you use them?

 

[igorsMistress]

Anyone have a suggestion for low cost plant labels that won't fade out before the end of the summer?

I was using a Sharpie to write labels on popsicle sticks, but they wash out or fade away in no time. Are the UV "garden markers" on Amazon any better? Like these...

View attachment 3650191

Another option I was considering was using my P-Touch label maker to print out labels and stick them on something. I tried one P-Touch label on a popsicle stick, but it did not adhere very well. I think it would fall off in the first rain.

I had an old vinyl blind that I cut up into many plant label sized pieces. The sharpie marker on the vinyl fades too fast. I put those plastic vinyl labels away, but I'm going to dig them out and see how well the P-Touch label adheres to the plastic.

But I am open to any low cost idea. Thanks.

Use those tabs on the end of bread bags. Write with something UV resistant, it might last. I use them to know what starts I have in each row.

 

[igorsMistress]

I will check into that. Thanks.

Walmart often has them, look in the paint section too.

 

[gtaus]

There are different sharpies, not all are created equal.
You need the oil based ones for the garden. They aren't the commonly found ones that are cheap-cheap. These usually run about $4 each.

OK. I'll look for those. Thanks.

 

[gtaus]

Use those tabs on the end of bread bags. Write with something UV resistant, it might last. I use them to know what starts I have in each row.

I think bread tags would be way too small for my old eyes. Thanks anyway.

 

[igorsMistress]

I think bread tags would be way too small for my old eyes. Thanks anyway.

Yeah, I just use the first letter or two, otherwise I can’t use them either