What did you do in the garden today?

[Justagalwithchicks]

Went through the garden and picked a bunch of everything.. packed it, some eggs, and home canned items to deliver to our son and his wife. What a blessing to give it to them. My daughter-in-law said all of it was on their grocery list.

 

[chickengr]

hot and dry. I don't remember when we had rain, maybe last days of may. just a few drops not real rain. my water bill will kill me.

 

[gtaus]

Despite all my new hügelkultur pallet wood raised beds filled with good topsoil and chicken run compost, I am officially stating that my growing season here in northern Minnesota was less than average this year. We had lots of hazy days early in the growing season due to Canadian fires sending smoke down to us. Many days we had advisories for polluted air outside. My guess, all that haze blocked out the sunshine when the plants needed it most for growth. It put everything behind and they never really rebounded.

Also, due to the smoke, I think our days and nights this summer were cooler. I planted some tropical veggies in my garden and they hardly grew this year. Of course, living in Minnesota, tropical veggies are stressed to produce in our short growing season, but in years past I have had some success. Not this year.

Last year I lost most of my produce to deer. They wiped out most of my tomatoes and peppers in just one night. It was heartbreaking.

This year, I had chicken wire cages on almost all my raised beds for protection. Despite being a below average year for growing food, I ended up harvesting more food than last year thanks to the cages.

Well, that, and I always try to plant more than I think we will need. So, with less than great results per plant, I still ended up harvesting more than enough for our needs.

FYI, I asked CoPilot what my Air Quality Index in northern Minnesota this summer was compared to Los Angeles, which is the most polluted air I have been in before. Here is what I found out...

************************

You're right — your AQI of 155 is considered “Unhealthy” for everyone, not just sensitive groups. That’s a serious level of pollution, especially when caused by wildfire smoke.

Los Angeles AQI Comparison (September 2025):​

• Current AQI: Around 40–60, depending on the hour and neighborhood
• Category: “Good” to “Moderate”
  • PM2.5 levels: ~6–7 µg/m³
  • Main pollutant: PM2.5, but well below hazardous thresholds

What That Means:​

• Your AQI at 155: Unhealthy for all — outdoor activity should be limited.
• Los Angeles at 40–60: Generally safe, with only mild concern for sensitive individuals.

So yes, your smoke event this summer outpaced LA’s typical smog levels, which is rare and alarming.

*******************

Of course, not every day had an AQI of 155. But we had weeks of haze blocking out sunshine.

Hoping next year will be better!

 

[jerryse]

Having my first cup of coffee. I put a teaspoon of honey in my first cup. I put Stevia in my second cup as a diabetic I need to watch my sweets. Unlike most of you I do not notice any off taste in Stevia.

 

[Eagle343]

Going to work on building a hot box, that will slip over the metal raised bed.

 

[Sally PB]

We got some rain! I forgot to put out any buckets, so I don't know how much. I'm going to guess two tenths, maybe a quarter inch? I'm hoping for more rain (as always this summer, sadly), but am grateful for what we got.

 

[Sueby]

Dry here too, we could use some rain for sure. Got down to 39 degrees last night. Canned a bunch of salsa yesterday, some dilly beans before that and 20 quarts of chicken broth. Picked up our half a cow Friday so the stores are full and that feels good. Heading out in a few to pull some of the garden & start putting it to bed. The spaghetti squash was out of control this year, more than I have room to store.

edit: nevermind on the tallow...

 

[jxp]

Pulled one of the huckleberry bushes. Not because it was done fruiting, it was in full bloom for another round of berries, but I needed to start getting manure in the beds. Doing a lot of sifting of compost for fall planting, and building new compost piles for spring planting. The new garlic I ordered arrived today, but don't want to plant it til october. Also got my new container blueberry bush. I potted it up, but it arrived with black spot on it. My go to with fungal issues has always been baking soda,water, with a little bit of soap to hold it on. Afraid to use that on a high acid plant like blueberries. What do you all recommend?

What I usually use for blackspot and powdery mildew is I let the last inch or so of milk sit on the counter for a couple of days to let it turn a bit sour. Then I'll add enough water to fill the jug and spray it or splash it onto both the top and bottom of affected leaves. pH is between 4 and 6 depending on how sour the milk is.

 

[OnlySympathy]

My loofahs have just now started putting out lots of female flowers. Weirdly there have been very few male flowers. I just hope a few of them get to maturity

 

[jerryse]

My black-eyed Susans are up. Rudbeckia Hurta is a biennial. Sometimes called Gloriosa daisy. These are the red yellow color that I like. I have the wild type at the cabin and a few of the improved type.