Tomato plants look a bit better. Was it due to my adding tomato fertilizer spikes at the base (couple inches below surface) of all the plants? Was it due to the bone meal and OS I added at the base of the plants on top of the soil (sorta mixed in), was it the blossom set spray that I’ve used on the buds?
But, they seem a bit better. Still NO buds on the one Amish Rose tomato - they form, the stem turns yellow, and the bud falls off. Still no fruits, but I check every day and some of the buds and their stems look good so far.
Butternut squash: looking good. Bees every morning, but not a lot of bees. When I catch an open bud on the fruits, I grab a piece of grass and transfer pollen from the male flowers to the female flowers, hoping to increase success.
Peppers: the ones in the garden beds look typical, and we used small tomato cages for support. The ones on the deck in pots are HUGE!!!! the plants are super tall and producing flowers and all have some peppers on them. Spouse thinks this shows how poor the soil is in our raised beds (never amended or even turned it seems by the previous owners). So, I’ll guess another 1-2 years of turning and amending to get really nice soil. Should try to source some horse manure to overwinter in the beds.
Rain the last 3 days, so this is good as we go into the intense heat wave of the next several days.
Chicken math: tomorrow I’ll be picking up some chicks because it is the last hatch of the year for their BJG and Red Dorkings. We wanted some, but thought they would hatch thru the summer and planned to pick up the chicks when we picked up a dozen meat chickens in mid-August. But, they won’t have any more after this hatch until next late winter/early spring!! We have a broody momma hen, so hopefully she accepts them. We have too many chickens, but plan to go to auction in early August and get rid of many males and some older hens we no longer need.
But, they seem a bit better. Still NO buds on the one Amish Rose tomato - they form, the stem turns yellow, and the bud falls off. Still no fruits, but I check every day and some of the buds and their stems look good so far. Butternut squash: looking good. Bees every morning, but not a lot of bees. When I catch an open bud on the fruits, I grab a piece of grass and transfer pollen from the male flowers to the female flowers, hoping to increase success.
Peppers: the ones in the garden beds look typical, and we used small tomato cages for support. The ones on the deck in pots are HUGE!!!! the plants are super tall and producing flowers and all have some peppers on them. Spouse thinks this shows how poor the soil is in our raised beds (never amended or even turned it seems by the previous owners). So, I’ll guess another 1-2 years of turning and amending to get really nice soil. Should try to source some horse manure to overwinter in the beds.
Rain the last 3 days, so this is good as we go into the intense heat wave of the next several days.
Chicken math: tomorrow I’ll be picking up some chicks because it is the last hatch of the year for their BJG and Red Dorkings. We wanted some, but thought they would hatch thru the summer and planned to pick up the chicks when we picked up a dozen meat chickens in mid-August. But, they won’t have any more after this hatch until next late winter/early spring!! We have a broody momma hen, so hopefully she accepts them. We have too many chickens, but plan to go to auction in early August and get rid of many males and some older hens we no longer need.
