What did you do in the garden today?

[igorsMistress]

Good morning gardeners. We got much accomplished yesterday, I think one more weekend should do it and we’ll be all set. I’m working on the shade garden a little bit today and deciding whether I want two separate raised beds in there or if I should make one continuous bed. I like the idea of keeping the corners clear for other things so will probably do the two separately. Not much else happening here at the moment.

 

[FrannyNZooey]

I sorta do that as well. I have a big mesh square that I'll dump stuff in for them to scratch around in. Although a lot of the manure from the quail go in there as well. I too gave up on my worms as one hot spell dried things out and I lost track of it and soon the ants moved in. I'm trying to be more dilligent this time around.

Today was kind of a recovery day from my previous day of loading out all the mulch in the heat and I got a bit of sun burn with it; serves me right for wearing a singlet. I need to order one of those big wide brimmed hats as the ones that bunnings sell are too small for my noggin. It's funny to see how the Tioga is going compared to the other variety because when I bought them, the Tioga wasn't even flowering. I can only imagine the mites excitement at seeing this big juicy fruit ripen. Jokes on them, chooks/quail won't discriminate and will happily eat their little asses along with the sweet sugary goodness.

I went out to bunnings and bibra lake soils to pick up a few supplies for the wicking bed. Oh and a brushless cordless saw for my ozito batteries that I used to cut through a 200L plastic drum that is now in halves. I saw that they have 8AH batteries and part of me wonders how much better it can get since I've only got 4AH batteries. I really want to try out their brushless angle grinder as I have an old cordless dewalt version that is on nicads? it's 1.5ah and it chews through the charge. I get more excited than those bloody mites waiting for their sugar hit at the thought of an angle grinder on a 8AH battery!

My experiment with these wicking beds will be drainage gravel vs river sand as the wicking media. Still kinda torn on what to use in the soil but part of me wants to mix in some of the jungle mulch since it has some cocopeat in it. I've got some egg infused compost that's still kinda smelly I'm hesitant to put in. I'll probably cut it with the mulch and some coco/perlite.

My new seeds are coming along. It's really cool to see Egyptian Spinach coming out of the blocks so fast and the Kankong is starting to break the surface. I know a certain golden laced wyndotte will remember the Kankong as she is pretty much the only chook from the start that is left. She is gorgeous though! I gotta get more pics of the chickens.

It's funny how the chocolate mint is spreading it's aphid army to the sorreno chillies. I gotta do something about them soon. Just going to rip them out of the rail and drown the entire thing in soapy water. I'm trying to think of what to use as airflow for the greenhouse. I'm thinking something mounted in a corner that just swings side to side.

Have you used your chocolate mint in any recipes? I’ve come across fun mint varieties at farmers markets. Just curious. It sounds like it could make a lovely mug of warm goodness!

 

[gtaus]

Oh and a brushless cordless saw for my ozito batteries that I used to cut through a 200L plastic drum that is now in halves. I saw that they have 8AH batteries and part of me wonders how much better it can get since I've only got 4AH batteries.

The bulk of my Ryobi cordless tool batteries are 4Ah. But I also have some that are smaller and one that is larger. In the Ryobi line of brushless tools, a larger battery can provide more power as well as a longer run time.

I really want to try out their brushless angle grinder as I have an old cordless dewalt version that is on nicads? it's 1.5ah and it chews through the charge.

I think it's well over 10 years since I had a Ni-Cad battery. I had a handful of 1 Ah Ni-Cads and they did not last very long on the power hungry tools, like your grinder, a grass trimmer, chainsaw, etc... Fortunately for me, Ryobi kept the same battery stem format when they moved from Ni-Cad's to Li-Ion batteries. So, my old Ni-Cad Ryobi era tools work even better, and have a longer run time, with the new Li-Ion batteries.

I get more excited than those bloody mites waiting for their sugar hit at the thought of an angle grinder on a 8AH battery!

If you use the grinder a lot, then I imagine you will really like the larger 8 Ah battery. When I use my grinder, it's usually only for a small job, so I grab even my smallest 1.5 Ah battery. I do have one 9 Ah battery that I use in my chainsaw and electric mower. There, the longer run time is really an advantage because those tools are power hungry.

I have been in the Ryobi One+ line of 18v tools for about 20 years. Over that period of time, I have accumulated a collection of batteries. Ryobi has those special Ryobi Days deals every year where you buy a tool, get free batteries, or buy some batteries, get a free tool. Also, most of their tool kits come with batteries. Last count, I had 43 batteries to maintain and rotate to keep fresh. I built a couple small shelves out of some scrap pallet wood to hold the batteries so I can easily track which battery should be used next....

When I took that picture, I had another 6 batteries on my 6-port SuperCharger and a few other batteries on individual chargers.

I know some people ask if I really need that many batteries, and the obvious answer for is, no, I don't need that many batteries. But I never bought an individual battery for retail price. They all were packaged in tool kits and/or freebies given away if you buy a tool. My Ni-Cad batteries died years ago, but the Li-Ion batteries you see on those shelves last a long time as long if you properly maintain them by rotating their use and periodically recharge them. My 15+ year old Li-Ion batteries still have about 90% or more of their original capacity.

At any rate, I have more tool batteries to work much longer than I can these days. I never have to stop work because I ran out of tool batteries! Unfortunately, my internal batteries are getting old and they need to be recharged more frequently these days. I work a little, rest a lot, and eventually the project gets finished in its own time.

 

[jerryse]

Made 2 pumpkin pies. I really like fresh pumpkin pie. I do not puree the pumpkin. I just mix with the beaters. I like the tiny pieces of pumpkin in the pie.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Made 2 pumpkin pies. I really like fresh pumpkin pie. I do not puree the pumpkin. I just mix with the beaters. I like the tiny pieces of pumpkin in the pie.

Sounds delicious!!!

 

[WthrLady]

Cleared the horseradish rows today and dug some fresh for DS to process.

 

[Smokerbill]

Cleared the horseradish rows today and dug some fresh for DS to process.

Horseradish rows? Wow! I have just one plant that I'll dig up later this fall.

 

[Sally PB]

I dug up a lot of potatoes. I have 12-15 more hills to go, but I had to stop. I had enough spuds to fill my drying table.

 

[Smokerbill]

Made 2 pumpkin pies. I really like fresh pumpkin pie. I do not puree the pumpkin. I just mix with the beaters. I like the tiny pieces of pumpkin in the pie.

That sounds tasty!

 

[WthrLady]

Horseradish rows? Wow! I have just one plant that I'll dig up later this fall.

LOL. Yep, two 10 foot rows of plants.
I swear I supply half the valley with fresh horseradish.
There is a HUGE Czech population here, and I swear no one grows it but me. They use it in Krenova Omacka, a sourcream sauce for meat.