What did you do in the garden today?

[Happy hen lover]

Does anyone here grow chard? I am not having much luck with it sprouting. I think I have 2 out of the row of 10-15 seeds that I planted a couple weeks ago.

I do and my seeds were a few years old. Spinach did NOT come up tho! &_$#

 

[TJAnonymous]

Well, I started tackling the garden today. It's amazing what 10 days of rain will do. Just saying...

I've gotten about 30-40% of the weeding done. Probably over-pruned my tomatoes a little too severely but they were so overgrown that the weight of the growth caused their stems to bend and collapse even with supports on both sides. I HEAVILY pruned them to relieve the weight, pulled them upright, and clipped them to the supports in several places to hold them up.

Pruned down the lemon balm AGAIN. Threw the cuttings in the chicken coops. Love the smell... Don't know how the chickens feel about it though.

Decided to transplant the goji berries into a tire bed. Hoping that allows them a happier existence. Now I just gotta figure out where to put the other 2 starts...

Haven't touched the hoop house yet. Lots of weeding needed in there. Probably need to harvest some broccoli, cauliflower, and lettuce.

Pineapple starts need transplanted into 5 gallon buckets. Plumeria also needs to be up-planted.

Oh yeah, double gold raspberries are ripe and need picking too!

A day in the life....

 

[Happy hen lover]

I threw some basil, marigolds, and dill in pepper tubs.
I checked my starts I put in oven cuz it's a warm place( pilot on) it worked! I ended with 4 little pots sprouted up today. Happy about that . Put those sprouts outside.
My other baby cuke starts are doing fine in ground. Transplanted pepper plants look great with rainy weather we've had. I also planted ALL old morning glory seeds I've had forever if they grow so be it. Whew glad to squish that all in before rain hit!

 

[chickengr]

I need to protect my garden from my puppies. I am thinking to put net for climbing veggies and plant tomatoes next to it. as my dogs are crazy.

 

[Sally PB]

What are the dog crates for?

I use them for hardening off my starts. Pictures to explain:

They're protected from any critters, and

The sheets protect them from the sun when they're first out, and from cold temps at night.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

We were getting a light drizzle when I took the dogs out earlier. I really hope we get a few more showers today. I still need to plantsome flowers. I have a couple packs of perennial wildflowers I need to scatter. Then there’s the new clematis along with the marigolds and nasturtium. I’ve had very good luck with direct seeding okra @Smokerbill. I usually direct seed my squash but the summer squash is going in the garden with the green beans and last year I had trouble with slugs munching on the starts up there. Is that a black Australorp @Swiss? I have 6 of them and I’m not sure if they’re cockerels or pullets yet. They’re about 10 weeks old and depending how the light is hitting them I can’t tell what they are. I’ve never had trouble telling chicks apart before.

 

[Sueby]

Morning all. A bit rainy, which is good - DH is officially now in charge of the garden, the dog & the chickens. I hope everything/one is alive when I get back.

 

[jerryse]

I did manage to mow yesterday despite the threat of rain. Nice day today however DW has a DR appointment and then grocery shopping. Not likely to get much done outside today.

 

[MotherofOrpies]

Forrest fire threat level raised to max (5) there have already been a few, thank God most could be put out quickly , yesterday, coming back from my 2. root canal treatment, I saw another fire, police and firefighters were there ( lots of them) the guy beside me in the took a video guess what I am doing in the garden?! Yes, thats right, watering, watering, watering got special rose fertilizer today, so I’m going to do that too before watering, friends are coming today to visit me, I hope I can get them excited about watering plants they don’t have a garden, but used to have one, I am offering them my red currant’s, they love them ( me, not a fan)

 

[Minanora]

So what does everyone use as mulch on the garden paths?

I use small crushed rock. We got it for laying pavers but never used it .... The bags started breaking down in the sun so I decided to use them between my beds. I have weeds these days but I could easily fix that, just haven't because some of it is chamomile, dill, and cilantro.

I found a little volunteer tomato in the garden yesterday and decided to leave it and see if it catches up with the foot-tall tomato plants I put in the ground a few days ago.

If it performs as well as the plants I spent time, money and effort starting indoors, I will try planting some of my store-bought tomato seeds in the ground this fall and see how they do next year when direct seeded.

I have a bunch of volunteer tomatoes, I've pulled a few, but I've let a bunch keep growing. I'm sure I'll regret it later but for now it's adding to my tomato diversity.

I did a 50% water change to my 75 gallon fish tank. The total dissolved solids were over 800ppm so I figured it was time. I used my python and put the water into 5 gallon buckets out in the yard. Mixed in some fertilizer and my nematode drench concentrate with each bucket full. Got everything fed and watered! And a good drench of the nematode control solution. Three birds with one stone!

I direct sowed some of my DS' pumpkin seeds, another two watermelon seeds where one start just isn't performing well and sprayed some weeds with vinegar to see how well it'll work on certain weeds. Also chasing a mole that is making a huge mess around (literally around) my raised beds. Hopefully I catch it soon.

Photo of the drastic difference in watermelon plants.

Planted at the same time, same medium, same fertilizing and watering schedule. You can see the other two in the background by the corn as well.