What did you do in the garden today?

[karenerwin]

Small hive beetles are an absolute pain. I have found the fully screened bottom boards with a trap tray beneath filled with cheap vegetable oil works for pretty good control.

Are those Dawson plums or Damson plums?
We had several Blue Damson plums at our farm and my grandmother had some she wasn't too fond of and she called them Blue Damn plums.

She pronounced them Damson but said they were spelled Dawson.
When I tried to look up Dawson plums the only thing that came up was Damson Plums. The pictures look correct for them. So I am guessing that they are Damson Plums.
The chickens sure liked them, beetles, worms, seeds and all!
I did save 10 seeds to see if I could get any to grow.
My friend said she remembers from her childhood that the tree had real gnarled bark and the tree was kind of twisted, but we couldn’t identify which tree they were coming from out of the dozen or so tree in that small grove area.

 

[karenerwin]

@ChickenCanoe here is the only picture I took. Most of the ones on the counter weren’t ripe and all of the ones in the sink were beyond ripe.

 

[Secondof9]

Today in the Garden I was planting the rooted cut end of onions (while I was veg prepping and cutting meat) I stuck my hand in the soil to make holes to plant Onions, no problem I will just wash my hands after touching my nice clean organic soil then I found something that seemed kinda rotty (wordsmith alert). I pulled it out trying to figure out what it was and how it got there because I went through this soil (100% chicken compost) before adding it to my raised bed. Then I got a good whiff of it. Cat Poop... I love cats but I hate their poop! it was all over my left hand... and I was in the middle of making a meal. I had to do more than just wash my hands I had to scrub and sanitize them! I used soap first, then my hand still stunk... then I used Degreaser, scrubbed it with a green scrubby and washed that off (10 minutes gone buy and I am in the middle of a cook)... the smell was still there, then I soaked my hand in bleach (both of them but just the left hand had the odor issue) ... I scrubbed the hands after the soak and rinsed... Rinsing took a long time and the odor was gone

The big question I have... is there a substance that cats will smell and not poop in my raised bed? I am using other methods like providing (another) outdoor litter box.

Fences do not stop cats unless you invest heavily in them, and fences keep gardeners out of the garden even if they say it wouldn't. Weeds and pests loves fences as a gardener will not be in there as often to stop either.

There are 2 cats who visit my gardens and leave little bombs! I especially hate it in my vegetables. Who wants to eat that!!?? I've used cayenne powder with some success. They hate the smell and don't dig in it. Of course, I have to reapply periodically and certainly after a rain.

 

[karenerwin]

Currently re-checking my bee hives. The split hive (only 1brood box) only had 1 big beetle. I killed it. All of the capped brood from a week or less ago has hatched. They were from the Queen that they raised! I saw a lot of bees with pollen on their legs(relative to what I’ve seen in the past). I had put 1 Swiffer dry sheet on top of the frames a few days ago.
Hope to as good of results in the original hive.

 

[Compost King]

I've used cayenne powder with some success. They hate the smell and don't dig in it. Of course, I have to reapply periodically and certainly after a rain.

wow, the most prolific plant and the plant I have the most of growing is Cayenne Pepper. and I have used it on cats before! I had a kitten that kept chewing wires many years ago, cost me a bit in replacing new equipment... I broke open a Cayenne pepper and covered all my wires, next time I saw the kitten he was near the electronic equipment but sitting in the corner staring up and closing his eyes in a pulsating manner where he never really opened them but he would go from closed to tightly closed back to just relaxed closed. I could tell he was in pain... 20 minutes later he was back to playing like a kitten and never chewed a wire again.

 

[TropicalBabies]

There are 2 cats who visit my gardens and leave little bombs! I especially hate it in my vegetables. Who wants to eat that!!?? I've used cayenne powder with some success. They hate the smell and don't dig in it. Of course, I have to reapply periodically and certainly after a rain.

Orange peels, citrus??? May help some. .. :/

 

[Swiss]

My husband's miniature dachshund loves to sniff out any ripe or almost ripe tomatoes! It is so fun to watch and listen to her shnuffling around, then standing on her back legs to try to reach them (even when she is trampling other plants)! I am curious if anyone else has an animal that does similar things?

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

I'm going to plant some beets and stuff today. I checked my second spaghetti squash aka watermelon, and a rabbit or rat must have started chewing on it. Cut off that small part and affixed some metal tape to cover the wound. Figured it was worth a shot. We've saved quite a few split stems, etc with duct tape.

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

My husband's miniature dachshund loves to sniff out any ripe or almost ripe tomatoes! It is so fun to watch and listen to her shnuffling around, then standing on her back legs to try to reach them (even when she is trampling other plants)! I am curious if anyone else has an animal that does similar things?

My dog likes to sniff flowers. Not that she's dainty. Reminds me of Ferdinand the bull

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

Here's a picture of my daughter sharing her apple with the babies. I think the dark brahma on the right is a boy. Trying to decide about the light brahma I have too. Anybody on here a brahma/chick sexing expert? Haven't gotten desperate enough to start a new thread, but I am curious

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