What did you do in the garden today?

I can't belive it's mid July and I'm still picking peas. No complaints. Unlike last year's planting, these peas are quite tasty, edible pods and great in stir fries or just plain raw in salads.

Wow, you don't just inhale all of them out of han—oh. Of course NO ONE would do that... Peach pie sounds amazing, btw!

Garden looks beautiful, @adirondak5!

@karenerwin That is a productive day berry picking...for you and the thorns, it seems. Happy eating, berries are the best.

@Sueby, last year we had so many summer squash I couldn't give them away. Ended up shredding them, piling 2 cups into wax paper packets, and freezing the packets in zip-top bags. Worked a charm! They can be a wee bit mushy depending upon what I do with them, but they still taste good. No difference between the ones frozen raw and the ones I blanched and lightly salted, either. @Wee Farmer Sarah is right about zuc ribbon salad, too. They don't need to be cooked—plus they make for a refreshing salad. Excellent in place of pasta, too.

@igorsMistress Isn't it funny how gardeners always seem to have the worst soil? Bunny manure should *really* help you out!

@NewBoots Do you eat your pea shoots? I keep hearing that they're edible, but have never taken a nibble...

So sorry about your Wyandotte, @Sooner Magnolia! Hope the bludgeoning of the culprit helped you feel a tiny bit better. :(

Not much going on here today; it is very hot, so I'm waiting for the sun to begin drifting down behind the trees before heading into the garden. Couple of pictures from the other day, though.

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The borage is coming in mutant pink now just to annoy me, I guess. ;) (Bees don't seem to mind, though!)

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This season, all the most fashionable poppies are wearing their caps rakishly askew.

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A very zebra-y Green Zebra.

Happy gardening!
 
I've decided to rip off the side walls of the coop
I get to chime in on this one!
I know I have posted photos b4, my coop &, mini coop are all open. Just studs, chicken wire, and a roof with an overhang. I added openish nest boxes and need to make a summer door for the main coops nest box that I can switch out seasonally. In the winter I staple opened up feed bags to the studs to keep wind and rain out, plus it is cooler and I can leave it till it warms up. This year I bought a 1/4" ply to make some pretty and removable sides. I need all that airflow I can get 89% of the year. If I had side my girls could not survive.
20200715_094847.jpg

I am soooo sorry for your loss. I think heat stress and heat stroke have been the most heartbreaking losses for me. Always with the guilt that I could have, should have... but in reality I had done all I could. It only took a moment for the chicken to get overwhelmed. I try to think of all the chickens I saved and will save with my lessons learned.

Good morning gardeners!
Small garden harvest this morning looks so pretty drying in the rack.
20200715_094539.jpg



Been hoping again but still running behind lol. Was good fun catching up on all of the posts again. Some awesome gardens and NY in the summer seems beautiful. Bravo gardeners!!!!
I purchased a new (older, quieter) rooster yesterday. A smoothie who came with a Jersey Giant. Handsome boy, nice girl.
20200715_094919.jpg

I went looking for Jazzie again last eve in my sons mango forest and tall grass. I found a dead chicken that caused me to look up into the neighbors yard (had to have been thrown from somewhere...) I know every single wild chicken around here and that was not one... There I spied Jazz in a dog cage with her 14 babies, w/o food or water and babies popping in and out through cage. :mad:
So I went home, wrote a snotty note w/ my #, grabbed carrier and went and got them. I later got a call from the mom of the kids and all has been mended and is well. They thought they were doing the right thing. They just need more chicken knowledge... I can do that... 😉 So, the kids (w/ masks) will come help me with my chickens for awhile and come learn how to keep them while their uncle makes them a proper coop. I will then give the kids Jazz and 6 babies after they learn how to do a good job. I have another week for my chicks to hatch and I need to clean and switch the chicken circus around. Great time for them to come help :jumpy:loveGod bless their brave mom for having the courage to call me and explain what had happened and good God bless a solid solution that is a win, win for all.
K. Garden gang, enjoy yourselves, stay safe as always- a hui ho aloha!
20200712_183951.jpg
 
I get to chime in on this one!
I know I have posted photos b4, my coop &, mini coop are all open. Just studs, chicken wire, and a roof with an overhang. I added openish nest boxes and need to make a summer door for the main coops nest box that I can switch out seasonally. In the winter I staple opened up feed bags to the studs to keep wind and rain out, plus it is cooler and I can leave it till it warms up. This year I bought a 1/4" ply to make some pretty and removable sides. I need all that airflow I can get 89% of the year. If I had side my girls could not survive.View attachment 2245198
I am soooo sorry for your loss. I think heat stress and heat stroke have been the most heartbreaking losses for me. Always with the guilt that I could have, should have... but in reality I had done all I could. It only took a moment for the chicken to get overwhelmed. I try to think of all the chickens I saved and will save with my lessons learned.

Good morning gardeners!
Small garden harvest this morning looks so pretty drying in the rack.View attachment 2245210


Been hoping again but still running behind lol. Was good fun catching up on all of the posts again. Some awesome gardens and NY in the summer seems beautiful. Bravo gardeners!!!!
I purchased a new (older, quieter) rooster yesterday. A smoothie who came with a Jersey Giant. Handsome boy, nice girl.View attachment 2245217
I went looking for Jazzie again last eve in my sons mango forest and tall grass. I found a dead chicken that caused me to look up into the neighbors yard (had to have been thrown from somewhere...) I know every single wild chicken around here and that was not one... There I spied Jazz in a dog cage with her 14 babies, w/o food or water and babies popping in and out through cage. :mad:
So I went home, wrote a snotty note w/ my #, grabbed carrier and went and got them. I later got a call from the mom of the kids and all has been mended and is well. They thought they were doing the right thing. They just need more chicken knowledge... I can do that... 😉 So, the kids (w/ masks) will come help me with my chickens for awhile and come learn how to keep them while their uncle makes them a proper coop. I will then give the kids Jazz and 6 babies after they learn how to do a good job. I have another week for my chicks to hatch and I need to clean and switch the chicken circus around. Great time for them to come help :jumpy:loveGod bless their brave mom for having the courage to call me and explain what had happened and good God bless a solid solution that is a win, win for all.
K. Garden gang, enjoy yourselves, stay safe as always- a hui ho aloha!View attachment 2245279
Thanks so much! I do feel a tremendous amount of guilt over the death's. I appreciate the coop pic too. I'm curious about wind with rain, any issues with the inside getting wet? We get horizontal rain during monsoons so that's why I used solid walls on the sides.
 
@adirondak5 do you not have any bugs there? :gig Your plants all looks so healthy, mine are all chewed up.

Oh yes , there are bugs here . Thank you for the compliment on the plants . I did have a pretty good aphid infestation on the tomatoes back in early June but I gave em a good spray with soapy water and have been pretty much aphid free since . The potatoes got chewed on by CPB's , sprayed those twice with Neem Oil and once with Spinosad , the neem oil was useless but the Spinosad knocked em down and now the tops are dying back so I'm home free there . The melons and cucumbers and squash have not been attacked yet but I expect them to be . My wax beans were not touched by anything , hope the green beans are as fortunate . Overall I would say this has been a good year for low pests counts in the garden . I have not even seen a horn worm yet on the tomatoes , no chewed leaves , nothing , which is astounding . I almost wish I had one or two to give to the chickies .
 
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Speaking of melons, my daughter is excited about her baby watermelons (small variety). Any good caging or protection methods for these little beauties? Don't really want to share with wildlife
Well to not share with the local wildlife requires some extreme measures, if you can't McGuyver up a solution then... It is probably better to just buy them from a chain store. Yes my wife insists we grow organic which means we cant eat what we sow.
 
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Tied up the tomato plants higher., baby maters everywhere, feel they should be further along, but it IS only mid-July.
Same here. I put in more stakes and tied the taller growth up. I fear the tide of tomatoes that will hit once the determinants start ripening.
Found this in with them with my little blue laced red Wyandotte inside.
OMG that is so sad. I'm sorry for your loss. And I'd go with the 1/2" hardware cloth too.
@NewBoots Do you eat your pea shoots? I keep hearing that they're edible, but have never taken a nibble...
We don't but we watched a beautiful video on Youtube about this family that raises peas and harvests from them from the day the sprouts first appear. They made a stirfry from the sprout tips, I don't have enough plants to do that really but I might anyway out of curiosity. :)
God bless their brave mom for having the courage to call me and explain what had happened and good God bless a solid solution that is a win, win for all.
Yup, I was all ready to be outraged on your and Jazzie's behalf, glad I don't have to be now.
I have not even seen a horn worm yet on the tomatoes , no chewed leaves , nothing , which is astounding . I almost wish I had one or two to give to the chickies .
Same here, DP even want's to order some from Amazon (yes, you can) but I'm not willing to go that far.

Soaker hoses running for the shrubs and trees, hand watered the stuff up on the bluff. The pullets got our leftover lunch corncobs and a big watermelon rind:
Watermelon Party.jpg


We gave them a strawberry too but that terrified everyone until we broke it up and someone finally grabbed a piece and ran with it. That got everyone's attention and got them to finally taste it and decide it was yummy. Then the rest of the strawberry vanished quickly.

Now it's the warmest part of the day so building the new tractor will have to wait. Worked my behind off the other day and I have to do the mowing tomorrow so I'm taking it easy for the rest of the day.
 

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