What did you do in the garden today?

[Sueby]

Beautiful @Acre4Me!

These stupid glads are going to haunt me forever. Pulled em out last year & composted em.

 

[Acre4Me]

Harvest pics! Guess what we are eating with dinner!

Yes, yellow squash, green beans and potatoes! Cukes are for snacking!

 

[igorsMistress]

Good afternoon gardeners. I woke up with a migraine today so nothing in the garden is getting done. Starting to feel a little better so I need to go fill the chicken wading pools and turn on the fan for Angus. I bought the last soil test kit from Ace the other day, it says it will do 40 tests. I'm going to try it out on the veggie garden before fall planting. I dug out a bunch of small pots yesterday to make sure I have enough for seed starting. It's hard to believe half the year is gone already! @Sueby and @Wee Farmer Sarah when you're done with the rain will you send it my way? I'd really like a good monsoon season this year

 

[NewBoots]

@Acre4Me, your continuing battle with the raccoons gives me cold chills. We battled them at our old place in Portland for years. They are bold and dangerous and some of our neighbors there would deliberately feed the things.

Is anyone having a rough time with marigolds this year?

My marigolds have gone nuts this year after a really slow start. In my case I think it was the cool nights we kept having. Once the nights got to the high 40 to low 50s the marigolds kicked into high gear.

Two pictures for the day: fig buds and one of my little okra plants.

My poor okra, the plants are alive but the flowers keep dropping before opening. No okra for me.
@Sueby, @WthrLady I love that you guys are talking about watering systems. Doubtless becasue it seems pretty simple to set up, I'm thinking of using the soaker type as well. I plan to using the solid tubing with tree rings for the fence-line.

Huh, very good point. The one I saw was buried in the dirt, not deep, but I would think that would help. I also mulch a good 5 inches of straw because I can't weed because of my back.

The straw we got had so many oat seeds in it the potato bed looks like we're raising grain. How do you avoid sprouts?

Then I realized it wasn't aged good & there was some mold & I probably shouldn't have done that. Ugh. I hope I don't kill my chickens.

That's my question, I had hoped to let the chickens run in the unfinished compost once I fork it out of the bin, but I know there is mold of all kinds in there. Is it safe?

Here is a potato seed pod - only a few here and there.

Dang, I had no idea they did that.

@Acre4Me Awesome harvest! Those pics are vegetable porn!

We hit the nursery in Florence yesterday and they had san marzano tomatoes plants so I'm going to give them a shot. Way late start for here but I gotta try. Got that vine maple planted after a marathon digging session. Had to add so much mulch so needed a large economy size hole but here it is:

Really hoping it takes, this is really the wrong time to be planting trees but we really need the shade.

Here's one of the borage, it looks like a busy airport with all the pollinators coming and going:

We just fished the perch out of the pond since we're putting a few goldfish in there to eat some of the algae and any mosquitoes that get past the dunks. It looks pretty nice I think:

Here's the gooseberries, I am just dying to have them get ripe, they're so pretty:

And I think the cabbage is doing pretty well:

Going to have some lunch and go get those new tomatoes potted, no room left in the raised beds. Should I up pot them a couple times or just put them in a big pot to start with? @igorsMistress , I hope you feel better soon, migraines are awful.

Have a great day all!

 

[WthrLady]

Awesome, thank you @WthrLady, great idea to put 1 into a rain gauge! So you leave yours out all winter...I hadn't even considered that but it could be doable.

Yup. at the end of the growing season before you freeze you just take off the end caps and let it drain and dry out. Cold won't bother it at all. Then in the spring you just put the end caps on and turn on the hose.

 

[WthrLady]

@NewBoots for the trees I use the 1/4 inch line with micro holes poked into it with a tack. You can either make a loop using two pieces of tubing and a T connector OR what I do is just a single piece around the base and a couple of landscape staples.

 

[NewBoots]

@NewBoots for the trees I use the 1/4 inch line with micro holes poked into it with a tack. You can either make a loop using two pieces of tubing and a T connector OR what I do is just a single piece around the base and a couple of landscape staples.

Good idea, thanks!

 

[Acre4Me]

There was a young Robin on our deck today, but it flew off when it saw me - not that strong yet, couldn't get that high. A little later found him/her out side our barn. Have no idea where it's nest was though.

Dinner - Beans, squash, onions, and potatoes all from the garden. Sausage was from a local meat producer. Amazing how yummy very fresh potatoes taste!

 

[AllenK RGV]

Yup. at the end of the growing season before you freeze you just take off the end caps and let it drain and dry out. Cold won't bother it at all. Then in the spring you just put the end caps on and turn on the hose.

You have a season? I am curious what those are. We just run them until the UV from the sun breaks the tubing down in a year down here. I do remember that in high school chemistry that water converting to ice can expand. They didn't talk much about the damage UV does to textiles.

 

[alfie10]

morning all ,love all your gardens ,i used to grow a lot of veg then when i started keeping chickens i gradually stopped don,t know why .i,m enjoying growing them again ,nothing like new pots you,ve grown yourself ! windy and showery last two days just nipping in and out doing things ,the weeds are so bad i,m digging up each bed ,clearing everything out and just putting some flowers and shrubs back ,bindweed is bad coming in from next door who do nothing with their garden! runner beans growing well ,buds showing ,toms starting to flower ,herbs have taken i,ll be happy if i just get a few things this year .i still don,t know where i,m going to put chickens think i might wait until next year,they are still hard to come by here and i don,t want to rush.well showers have stopped so i,ll do a bit more have a good productive day everyone .