What did you do in the garden today?

[igorsMistress]

Ah, you give me hope. That all just sounds lovely. We're supposed to have highs in the 50s and 60s and no rain till Tuesday so I should be able to get some work done outside. Buying a few 6packs of veg has also been a good impetus to get more of the beds cleaned up and ready for planting.

Funny how that happens Once I get a few things in there I find I’m much more motivated to get more done. Hoping for nice weather for you!

 

[TJAnonymous]

I'm too tired to do anything in the garden today. I could sleep for days...

However I did pick up a new Honeycrisp apple tree in town today. My Pink Lady is flowering. The new Granny Smith has just started to get leaves, no flowers though. The Honeycrisp is flowering too so I figured I can put it out next to the Pink Lady....

 

[TJAnonymous]

Almost forgot....found this pretty little flower along my driveway. I've never seen it around before.

 

[WthrLady]

Almost forgot....found this pretty little flower along my driveway. I've never seen it around before.

View attachment 3785801

Star of Bethlehem

 

[Smokerbill]

Can you grow sugar beets where you live @itsasmallfarm.

I almost posted the same thing earlier today, LOL. I dug into it and learned that they slice or chop the sugar beets up, boil in water to extract the sugar, add lime to remove impurities, then evaporate into sugar. Not sure what sugar beet syrup would taste like, though. Probably not much like molasses, which tastes great IMHO.

 

[Smokerbill]

My diakon radish seeds are planted now. I filled a 7 gallon bucket with potting soil to grow them in. I used a bungee cord to secure a piece of floating row cover over the top to keep out the root maggot flies.

 

[fuzzi]

Star of Bethlehem

Yep. And very invasive in the South, takes over like onion grass.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Goat watch: Day 147 (max). No signs of impending birth today. But, what do I know? I'm new to all this.

Pregnant goats: Lunch on left, rugrats on right. (her right).

This is Roxie - likely a little further along than the other. Her "rugrat" side is next to the fence - she doesn't look too big.
View attachment 3785409

This is Molly: We thought she might be 2-3 weeks behind Roxie, but I'm thinking she might not be too far behind...maybe she'll birth first. She seems a little less big than Roxie.
View attachment 3785408

Apparently, goats wait for the worst weather possible to give birth. So, here is the worst weather in the next week:
View attachment 3785407
Monday looks like a good candidate for a birth day. Kinda chilly, and rather wet considering good rain the day before and lots of rain that day.

Here's my own pregnant girl, Annie... I had 3 dates marked on the calendar based upon my buck breaking out of his pen - March 4, March 26, and April 22nd. I thought for sure she would kid last weekend. Her belly dropped. I swear her bag filled. And it looked like the tendons around her tail were looser... But here we are 5 days later and no babies!

 

[fuzzi]

I dug a trench in the new flower bed, added partly rotted leaves and grass clippings, covered and smoothed. I'm thinking of moving my iris there, which have NEVER bloomed where I'd planted them years ago.

It's mainly clay.

I also pulled all the weeds, mostly Chickweed, from the area where the Rose of Sharon grew.

I turned over the soil so the leaf mulch got buried. Despite the trees having grown there most of the ground was loose enough to cultivate. I want to plant annuals, and maybe a Clematis. And I splurged on some retaining wall blocks, the same type and color I placed around my Japanese maple. I ordered them online, we'll be picking those up tomorrow.

The chickens loved the Chickweed, which had a few ripe wild strawberries mixed in.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

I am getting back into guppies after many years. Bored with the inactivity of foot recovery. I am 72 and got my first guppies in grade school. Starting a daphnia culture for live food. Much easier to raise than brine shrimp. Free start from river water. Any lake or river or swamp has them.

Good luck, sounds fun!