What did you do in the garden today?

[AllenK RGV]

Morning all. Just a quick check in after the hurricane - we have no power or internet & I have no good cell service to speak of. Trees are down everywhere, we have a high voltage line down in our yard & a big tree. We will likely be days without power, if we're lucky. DH had to take the Case tractor out & clear the road since we live on a cul-de-sac, no one could get in or out.

Anyway, cleared the bird netting on the run so the girls could go back out. Surveyed the garden damage, lost a few bean vines & a few tomato branches but not bad at all!

I sprayed neem & insecticide soap this am, Im def seeing less squash & cucumber bugs. Thankfully.

I'll have to catch up later, this page won't load fully because of the ads. I'll be back when internet is back.

Hope everyone in the path of this storm is safe! Have a great day all!

Wow we had minimal impacts from a direct Cat 1 hit and sit for 24 hours. This area is a bit more resilient regarding those storms and our trees as well. A 12 inch tall sapling usually has a 36 inch tap root by the time I pull it.

 

[Acre4Me]

I bet they still arrive just fine. My last order I pretty much only got the delivery statement for tracking. If it helps the Postmaster general got a good roasting recently on the Hill. He has special delivery interests with other parcel delivery services and is adding stress to our postal system as it has resisted privatization efforts for all of these years.

In a few months we get to vote those crooks out for a new set of crooks. If you get bored youtube the hearings.

thanks. I have noticed over several years less and less quality service at USPS. So, I think there is something systemic within that system in particular. Many anecdotes I could relate, just like a lot of people. I’m hoping for a good outcome, but my realistic side says otherwise.

Let’s keep this thread non-political.

 

[Acre4Me]

Morning all. Just a quick check in after the hurricane - we have no power or internet & I have no good cell service to speak of. Trees are down everywhere, we have a high voltage line down in our yard & a big tree. We will likely be days without power, if we're lucky. DH had to take the Case tractor out & clear the road since we live on a cul-de-sac, no one could get in or out.

Anyway, cleared the bird netting on the run so the girls could go back out. Surveyed the garden damage, lost a few bean vines & a few tomato branches but not bad at all!

I sprayed neem & insecticide soap this am, Im def seeing less squash & cucumber bugs. Thankfully.

I'll have to catch up later, this page won't load fully because of the ads. I'll be back when internet is back.

Hope everyone in the path of this storm is safe! Have a great day all!

yikes! Glad your garden survived basically unscathed! Glad it is only power that is out. Hopefully your generator allows for the A/C to be on at least part of the day.

 

[AllenK RGV]

thanks. I have noticed over several years less and less quality service at USPS. So, I think there is something systemic within that system in particular. Many anecdotes I could relate, just like a lot of people. I’m hoping for a good outcome, but my realistic side says otherwise.

Let’s keep this thread non-political.

Well, if it fails I would make the claims as you mentioned on both USPS and the hatchery. Then if possible ask the local feed store to special order what you want. I just hate to see people trying to kill off our postal service and it is on both sides. So it is rather apolitical just observational. Nothing will change no matter how you vote for the short term.

 

[Acre4Me]

Well, if it fails I would make the claims as you mentioned on both USPS and the hatchery. Then if possible ask the local feed store to special order what you want. I just hate to see people trying to kill off our postal service and it is on both sides. So it is rather apolitical just observational. Nothing will change no matter how you vote for the short term.

I agree -would love to see USPS improve and remain as it is.

 

[littledog]

You can try either a garlic or pepper spray. Most things that eat the leaves won't like it. I know it works on mites. Lots of difference recipes, but basically simmer about 1tblsp of cayenne powder or crushed garlic (or both) per cup of water. Add about a tsp of dawn per cup and you can also add a drizzle of veg oil. The only problem is you will need to respray anytime it rains or if you water from above.

Thank you, I'm going to try that recipe. Something is eating the leaves off of my dahlias in containers near the house, although the dahlias down in the garden are fine...I didn't see any bugs, caterpillars, aphids, anything, so I have no idea what is eating them. Slugs would be the usual suspect, but it's been really dry here for several weeks.

Does anyone else kind of see weed-eating then mowing like dusting then vacuuming?

LOL! I'm a mow first/weed-eat afterwards person, also a vacuum first/dust later (or almost never if I'm being honest) person. Bottom line though, they're all necessary chores that take away time from the projects/chores I'd rather be doing, but things I don't mind doing once I get myself motivated. And feel a sense of achievement when they're done, when I look around at how nice everything looks.

The only things I'm growing in my garden, besides perennials and cover crops, are basil, cabbage, and loofah, and I started all those pretty late due to my crazy pandemic work schedule. But so far, so good. The cabbages are growing pretty well under row covers to hopefully deter worms, and the basil and loofah are still small but looking healthy. It's been so dry here, we've been watering the garden several nights per week.

I was worried about my baby trees in all this dry weather. In early March we planted a bunch of Western Red Cedar, Red Currant, Blue Elderberry and Mock Orange seedlings that we got from our County conservation district's Native plant sale. They were all doing well, until this past couple weeks of no rain, many of them were looking parched.

So, we had the "brilliant" idea of watering them by putting a barrel in the back of Mr. Dog's truck, filling the barrel with water, and driving down the hill to water all our trees. I rode in the truck bed to supposedly keep the barrel steady while Mr. Dog drove - what a big fail ! Every bump splashed water out and made the barrel less steady, it was heavier than I could keep under control, and finally going down the steep part of the hill it tipped over and soaked me, soaked the truck bed, and even soaked Mr. Dog, who had the rear window of his truck open.

Oh well, at least getting soaked cooled us off!

We ended up attaching every hose we own together, to reach down to the lower field, then driving the truck with the barrel to where the hose reached, filling the barrel and then driving VERY SLOWLY around to water all of our trees. It worked out pretty well, and this morning many of those trees have new growths and new branches.

 

[AllenK RGV]

Thank you, I'm going to try that recipe. Something is eating the leaves off of my dahlias in containers near the house, although the dahlias down in the garden are fine...I didn't see any bugs, caterpillars, aphids, anything, so I have no idea what is eating them. Slugs would be the usual suspect, but it's been really dry here for several weeks.

LOL! I'm a mow first/weed-eat afterwards person, also a vacuum first/dust later (or almost never if I'm being honest) person. Bottom line though, they're all necessary chores that take away time from the projects/chores I'd rather be doing, but things I don't mind doing once I get myself motivated. And feel a sense of achievement when they're done, when I look around at how nice everything looks.

The only things I'm growing in my garden, besides perennials and cover crops, are basil, cabbage, and loofah, and I started all those pretty late due to my crazy pandemic work schedule. But so far, so good. The cabbages are growing pretty well under row covers to hopefully deter worms, and the basil and loofah are still small but looking healthy. It's been so dry here, we've been watering the garden several nights per week.

I was worried about my baby trees in all this dry weather. In early March we planted a bunch of Western Red Cedar, Red Currant, Blue Elderberry and Mock Orange seedlings that we got from our County conservation district's Native plant sale. They were all doing well, until this past couple weeks of no rain, many of them were looking parched.

So, we had the "brilliant" idea of watering them by putting a barrel in the back of Mr. Dog's truck, filling the barrel with water, and driving down the hill to water all our trees. I rode in the truck bed to supposedly keep the barrel steady while Mr. Dog drove - what a big fail ! Every bump splashed water out and made the barrel less steady, it was heavier than I could keep under control, and finally going down the steep part of the hill it tipped over and soaked me, soaked the truck bed, and even soaked Mr. Dog, who had the rear window of his truck open.

Oh well, at least getting soaked cooled us off!

We ended up attaching every hose we own together, to reach down to the lower field, then driving the truck with the barrel to where the hose reached, filling the barrel and then driving VERY SLOWLY around to water all of our trees. It worked out pretty well, and this morning many of those trees have new growths and new branches.

Have you considered trying those slow watering tree bags? We live in a pretty darn drought prone area and they are a common sight around new city plantings in the rich cities like Austin, TX. They look like this but do not know if these are priced right. At 12.50 each I would engineer a trash bag option holed with an icepick.
https://www.greenhousemegastore.com/yard-garden/tools/tree-care/dew-right-tree-water-bag?returnurl=/yard-garden/tools/tree-care/

 

[littledog]

The USPS used to be always really dependable, since decades ago when I was a child sending my family updates from YMCA summer camp. The USPS still has the proper logistical organization to potentially be just as reliable, if the funding could be there.
That's all I'm going to say about politics.

 

[AllenK RGV]

Lol and this was before my time but you could mail order houses from the Sears catalog I once heard!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

no chicks yet. USPS likely fail...AGAIN. Oh, and NO tracking updates since Monday evening when the USPS received them . I’m expecting to get dead chicks, and have to file a USPS claim for a refund on “Express” shipping I paid for. However, we will see what happens, maybe they will be alive and healthy, and arrive today.

I bet they still arrive just fine. My last order of chicks I pretty much only got the delivery statement for tracking. If it helps the Postmaster general got a good roasting recently on the Hill. He has special delivery interests with other parcel delivery services and is adding stress to our postal system as it has resisted privatization efforts for all of these years.

In a few months we get to vote those crooks out for a new set of crooks. If you get bored youtube the hearings.

thanks. I have noticed over several years less and less quality service at USPS. So, I think there is something systemic within that system in particular. Many anecdotes I could relate, just like a lot of people. I’m hoping for a good outcome, but my realistic side says otherwise.

Let’s keep this thread non-political.

Well, if it fails I would make the claims as you mentioned on both USPS and the hatchery. Then if possible ask the local feed store to special order what you want. I just hate to see people trying to kill off our postal service and it is on both sides. So it is rather apolitical just observational. Nothing will change no matter how you vote for the short term.

I agree -would love to see USPS improve and remain as it is.

I have a serious rant about the USPS but I was a big fan until a few months ago.
People have often been critical of the post office, especially on this forum when it comes to shipping eggs and chicks. However, lots of problems with shipped eggs are more related to packaging rather than handling enroute. I once thought some chicks I was expecting were lost in the mail but they arrived alive and well - a day late.
There is normally no tracking information available because in order to keep costs in line they use secondary vendors so shortly after one drops the package off, they are passed on to other shipping companies for the flight/s and no scan happens till they arrive at the destination distribution facility and back in the hands of USPS personnel.
Now, my rant is this. Last week, I had no mail service for 3 days in a row. No postman on my road from Wednesday till Monday. This is the third time this has happened in the last couple months. I put outgoing mail in the box with the flag up and it was still there by Sunday. How could that be unless someone was purposely slowing mail service for reasons unknown.
Whatever happened to the motto, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. "
The erosion of service isn't the fault of the USPS, it lies with congress. The postal service is the only government agency that is required to self fund pensions.
In 2006, Congress passed a law to require the USPS to prefund 75 years worth of retiree health benefits in the span of ten years—a cost of approximately $110 billion. Although the money is intended to be set aside for future Post Office retirees, the funds are instead being diverted to help pay down the national debt.
So instead of making the service more streamlined and relatively inexpensive, congress requires the USPS to become a profitable enterprise and turn the funds over to support less well run and prudent agencies.
For the first time in our history, our current Postmaster General has zero prior postal service experience.
In my teens my close friend's uncle was Postmaster General. He worked his way up through the ranks to attain that position gaining relevant knowledge of the process - he didn't achieve it by being a political donor without a single day of public service experience.
If the USPS goes away, how else would we get live animals across the country, drive them there?
A recent Fortune Magazine article states from internal USPS memos that 20% of mail is being delivered by postal workers on overtime. By eliminating overtime, 20% of mail isn't delivered or drastically delayed.
Last week and on another event last month, I had bills to pay sitting in my mailbox for days and last week I was expecting a large check on Thursday. It wasn't delivered till Monday. I couldn't get the check deposited when it needed to be.