What did you do in the garden today?

[igorsMistress]

I worked in the shade garden a little bit until it got hot enough to sweat. Blech.

Transplanted this little succulent since it outgrew its pot

Moved the oregano into the shade garden

Planted an aloe pup

Redid the watering station for the crew

It’s getting breezy and I have a headache so I came in to shower and cool off. The corn is growing like crazy and the sunchokes too, but no cauliflower. Some of the broccoli is beginning to bloom; I got side tracked by other projects and didn’t harvest in time. That’s ok, the pollinators can have some too. I’m hungry, going to find something to eat.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I moved my pineapple plants, mandevilla, and some other indoor stuff outside today. Fertilized everything really well. Had to stake several pineapple plants because they are falling over due to how big & heavy they are... I swear if they don't flower & fruit this year, then I'm done with them...

 

[akroberts1085]

Tried getting some stuff done in the garden but it's too warm and windy . Oh well I got to dig some dirt up for the chickens to be able to get the worms and whatnot.

 

[akroberts1085]

I found this under the bag of eucalyptus debris in the garden area. I tried to feed him to the chickens but they declined .

 

[gtaus]

at 8am I got all the dead wood I had piled up from pruning the evergreen huckleberries last fall burned and some scraps, took until 12 to finish up. there was more dead wood to cut.

In the past, I would burn up all my junk wood around the yard. But for the past couple of years, I have been using that drop wood as filler in my hügelkultur pallet wood raised beds. Here is a picture of one of those in-progress hügelkultur raised beds filled with junk wood and logs...

Now I don't think of that as "junk" wood anymore because I found value in it in my raised beds.

I added an organic layer on top of that wood, then I topped the bed off with a 6–8-inch layer of topsoil and chicken run compost mixed 1:1. I get good results from those beds.

Here is a picture of that bed a few months later...

 

[cj2024]

I feel good about these double layered wicking buckets; I mixed in 1/2 cup of lime and made a ring around the top with 1/2 cup of Garden Tone like an earth box. I found that the bungee cord that I use for my tarps fit perfectly around my buckets and can hold the plastic cover in place. The plastic cover will help retain moisture and prevent my fertilizer from washing out when it rains. I made a mound, so the rainwater runs off the sides. I will plant my Marconi Sweet Peppers in these buckets.

 

[WthrLady]

I did the first 8 acre mow of the year. I cut it pretty short to dead head the whole place. It exposes the green deep in the long prairie grass and we're expecting two days in the mid 80s and rain and then cooler next week, so I'll feed and seed before then too.
I also stacked the last of the mulch in the garden for next week spreading.
OMG the dust and pollen blowing out there. I'm zapped.
It's going to be a brutal season.
Guys lighting fields on fire today all around me didn't help either.
My sinus' are on FIRE.
I picked up a tiny forsythia bush to plant down in the lower verge. I miss seeing them bloom in the spring. I don't think the cattle can get to them down there.

 

[WthrLady]

View attachment 4082792
I found this under the bag of eucalyptus debris in the garden area. I tried to feed him to the chickens but they declined .

That's a nope noodle right there. I don't blame them.

 

[Nym]

Still plenty of summer heat and sun happening here. Even the salvia and butternut pumpkin were wilting, so the hose is busy this morning. 22C / 72.3F at 8.30a.m.

 

[Nym]

From the weather news, Victoria Australia.

Bitter broccoli, smaller potato crops amid prolonged dry weather in west Victoria​

18 hours ago​

Although the broccoli is growing, a lack of water is making the plant too bitter to sell. (ABC Everyday: Matilda Marozzi)

A farmer in south-west Victoria has ploughed hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of broccoli made bitter by dry weather back into the paddock.

Ben Pohlner runs an organic fruit and vegetable farm, Volcano Produce, at Illowa just west of Warrnambool.

He said although the broccoli was growing, the lack of soil moisture was ruining the flavour of his brassicas.

"The broccoli has gotten water stress and gone bitter — we've had crop after crop fail on us this year, especially over summer," he said.

"We still get the nice broccoli or cauliflower head on them but it's practically inedible, it's too bitter to eat.

"We just plough it back into the ground, we can't afford to ruin our reputation over a few crops."

Bitter broccoli​

Mr Pohlner said he had not been able to sell any edible broccoli since September.

"You're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars [lost] — $40,000 to $50,000 per crop." he said.

"We need 100 millilitres of rain at the very least and that's just to get some water down deep enough to get the brassicas established.

"Even though we've taken a big hit financially from the brassica crops, we've got plenty of other crops here — we grow around 70 different varieties of fruit and vegetables.

"Strawberries are actually our main crop, which have done pretty well, as have carrots, beetroot, garlic, capsicums, chillies and eggplant."

Mr Pohlner said there were new broccoli crops of between 10,000 to 20,000 plants coming through every fortnight.

"It's a reasonable amount there, we're not a big farm by any means we're just a small chemical-free farm," he said.

"Normally with the brassicas we have plenty of moisture deep down in the soil, but this year we had a really dry winter.

"We've had to irrigate all the way through, which is hard for us because we don't have sufficient [access to water for] a large volumes of plants."

Large-scale suppliers contacted by the ABC with more extensive resources and irrigation infrastructure had not experienced the same issues, but other smaller operations in western Victoria had also experienced bitter broccoli.

Poor potato crops​

Meanwhile, a potato grower near Ballarat said millions of dollars' worth of farmgate value had also been due to the extended dry spell.

Some growers have not put a crop in at all this season, while others have rationed water as irrigation dams run low.

Kain Richardson from Newlyn said he had not experienced a dry stretch like this since the millennium drought.

"It's been an exceptionally dry eight months, it's been a massive change in seasons," he said.

"There has been a huge dependence in the district on underground water and bores.

"Yields will be down a little bit, I don't know if there will be much impact to the quality, it's hard to say until the harvest kicks off this week.

"I'd estimate that two or three million of farmgate value that's been lost out of the district."

Industry sources said overall potato supplies were strong and processors were not expecting any price rises for hot chips or fresh potatoes.

ABC