What did you do in the garden today?

[OnlySympathy]

I’m still waiting for a single ripe cherry tomato out of this slacker of a tomato plant. It’s 7 feet tall in multiple places but not even one

 

[OnlySympathy]

These two plants have been the only ones out of around 10-15 to actually have ripe fruit

 

[OnlySympathy]

These two plants have been the only ones out of around 10-15 to actually have ripe fruit View attachment 4187367

Scratch that I have a third one I forgot about

 

[Smokerbill]

Homemade bread? Do you buy any store bought? I haven’t been buying bread for quite some time now because I’ve been baking, freezing, and using a bread recipe I came across for close to a year now I suppose. Actually figured out that the cost to make per loaf was about $1.27 versus about $3.50 store bought and this cost even included the cost of electricity( yes, I actually metered the wattage used during a normal bread baking cycle and calculated the cost).

No, I don't buy bread. All purpose flour is usually bought on sale. An 8 dollar, one pound bag of yeast is enough for over two years of bread baking. Cheap electricity here, 7cents per kWh, and the machine uses roughly 1.5kWh to make a loaf, a dime. A little salt and sugar, maybe some vegetable oil, but yesterday I used pork grease I saved from roasting a shoulder. I estimate a single 1.5 pound loaf sets me back around 75 cents.

 

[OnlySympathy]

This is one of the reasons why you have to pick dry beans before it rains. I thought I got them all but apparently not

 

[OnlySympathy]

I’m so happy right now. I was walking through my garden and as I passed the flower bed I saw a newborn baby garter snake basking on a leaf before going into the plants. I love snakes but on top of that seeing my hobby benefit wildlife feels good. Garter snakes, especially the babies, also eat slugs and other pests so that’s a nice little benefit

Edit for a fun fact: the reason I say newborn garter snake is because they are ovoviviparous which means they give birth to live young

 

[Rick589]

No, I don't buy bread. All purpose flour is usually bought on sale. An 8 dollar, one pound bag of yeast is enough for over two years of bread baking. Cheap electricity here, 7cents per kWh, and the machine uses roughly 1.5kWh to make a loaf, a dime. A little salt and sugar, maybe some vegetable oil, but yesterday I used pork grease I saved from roasting a shoulder. I estimate a single 1.5 pound loaf sets me back around 75 cents.

So…..you’ve bested me! Dagnabit. I used to buy yeast in the packets until I realized just how expensive that was compared to buying bulk yeast, what a cost difference that made.

 

[Smokerbill]

So…..you’ve bested me! Dagnabit. I used to buy yeast in the packets until I realized just how expensive that was compared to buying bulk yeast, what a cost difference that made.

Haha. Well, that wasn't my intent. I was curious myself about how much a homemade bread loaf was costing me. Now if I upgraded from cheap all purpose flour to a high protein/gluten bread flour the cost would be quite a bit more. But as long as I can cut off a couple slices and use it for a sandwich it's good enough for me. LOL

Today's harvest, a pair of zucchinis and about a pound, cleaned and trimmed, of baby carrots I had to thin out of the patch. They're from one to three inches long, bite size. The chickens got the tops.

 

[Rick589]

Trying my hand at cantaloupe jam today, first time.

 

[TroutFinn]

I picked a bunch of Roma tomatoes and herbs, then threw them in a stir fry for lunch. With fresh eggs I did no weeding