What did you do in the garden today?

[Sueby]

The squash & cucumber bugs are killing me @Acre4Me & @WthrLady . I have sprayed a mix of neem & insecticide soap every few days for over a month now & I still have them. They're sucking on my dang tomatoes! I will get another bottle of the liquid sevin for next year (I HATE using it) & use it if it gets out of control like it is this year. I'm hoping if I start with the neem as a preventative before I even see em next year it won't get out of hand. But man do I hate the smell of the garden with the neem.

Aaaanyway, morning! I made a giant batch of squash soup yesterday, I figured that goes farther than the chips. My squash are still producing well so I may have another chip chance.

I have to go in to work today so off to get ready. Have a great day all.

 

[igorsMistress]

Good morning gardeners. Back under heat warnings all week. I have so much to get accomplished in the big garden but that darn heat is brutal. It's also muggy! We have a 5 gal bucket to catch the condensation from the a/c and it was full in one day. No rain though. I gave all the transplants some blue juice this morning, will water everything good tomorrow morning. I went ahead and ordered seeds yesterday. Armenian cukes, San Marzano tomatoes, artichokes, a Josephs Coat climbing rose plant, broccoli raab, Texas cherry tomatoes and sunflowers. Some from Amazon and some from Native Seed Search. I've never tried growing the broccoli raab before. My garlic should be here before too long also, but I ordered that in Spring. Time to let out the crew and get to work. Happy Monday all!

 

[littledog]

Oh, I SO hate that I have to go back to work today, after such a great two weeks of getting so much done!

I finished the new huge run for the chickens, including a gutter system with a water barrel so we can water the chickens and garden with rainwater. Also installed solid panels at ground level to prevent digging pests as well as hold in deep litter. Everything is ready except for the pop door from their current small run into the new run - I did get the boards cut and painted. And I'm waiting for a chip drop to fill the new run.

Built the new gates for the drive-through entrance to the garden, but still need to attach them.

Picked up 10 yds of horse manure and wheel-barrowed it into piles in the garden, but still need to rake it and spread it. Kept up with weeding and watering - basil, cabbages, volunteer tomatoes and loofah are doing well so far.

Yesterday a tree from the city's trail came down and fell onto our property! It narrowly missed a family of bicyclists on the trail, frightened me and the dog, and took out our fence as well as several of the new trees we've worked so hard to keep alive. At least it barely missed our beloved new willow tree! I took pictures and emailed them to the city - thankfully they responded and said they will be coming out tomorrow to assess the damage.
Maybe I won't need a chip-drop after all?

Oh well, I wish I could take another week off work, but at least everything left to do is in the form of small projects, that I can get done in pieces before work.

Our pear trees are starting to produce, so many more pears than we've ever had, since last winter we pruned some other trees so the pears could get more light. We've noticed squirrels running through the yard with their cheeks full, so it's probably getting time to harvest the hazelnut tree.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. Well we finally got some rain yesterday along with some pretty hefty winds. Two very large trees in my woods came down as well as one in the neighbors yard across the street. No real damage. A few branches came down on the chicken run roof but pretty much bounced off. The only damage to my vegetable plants was to my poblano. I'm not sure if it's completely broken or just needed to be propped up. This morning I picked a few green beans and some tomatoes along with two more jalapenos. That is quite a lovely haul you got there @karenerwin. Good job! It sounds like you need to go back to work and get some rest @littledog. You got a lot accomplished in two weeks. There was a news clip on a bear that was filmed roaming about someones yard a couple of towns over from mine. Funny part, you could hear the kids inside the house asking if they could go out and pet the bear. Very cute. I may actually have enough tomatoes to can by the end of the week. I can only hope. One of my okra plants is looking good, it's not looking to quit anytime soon. Have a great day everyone.

 

[Acre4Me]

My bush beans didn't make many beans but they were all weird bendy shapes and most of them were empty, and all of them were hard to find.

WOW - usually beans are pretty reliable! Wonder what happened?

They're sucking on my dang tomatoes!

Stupid squash beetles.


My neighbor still has japanese beetles eating some plants! But, I haven't seen any in my garden for awhile.

But man do I hate the smell of the garden with the neem

Good to know - but, what does it smell like?

squash soup

Recipe?

loofah are doing well so far.

Jealous - my loofah are not doing much of anything - I've gotten some flowers, and get the females to bloom, and thought I had two that were growing, but they fell off the plant after a week or so post-bloom.

Yesterday a tree from the city's trail came down and fell onto our property

Yikes! Glad you are OK, as well as bicycling family.

 

[WthrLady]

Good to know - but, what does it smell like?
Like rotten garlic and rotten eggs

 

[Sueby]

@Acre4Me I agree with @WthrLady - like rotten garlic & eggs but rotten garlic & egg oil! I get petroleum out of it. Maybe some dirty hippie after a summer tour with no showers (& I love patchouli, hippies & summer tours, lol).

This was the recipe I started with but I added what I have growing (garlic, thyme, dill & sage) & added a parmesan rind. I didn't have any leeks so all onions (but I think shallots would be great). & lots of red pepper flakes. Oh & chicken, DH likes meat in his soup. Basically I did what I always do & hack someones recipe to death. But I picked this recipe because I like the hot & lemon idea.

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/yellow-squash-soup/
Yellow Squash Soup
Ingredients

• 2 large sweet onions, chopped
• 1 medium leek (white portion only), chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 medium yellow summer squash, seeded and cubed (about 6 cups)
• 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 4 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 1 tablespoon shredded Parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

Directions

• In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and leek; cook and stir until crisp-tender, 5 minutes. Add squash; cook and stir 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook and stir 1 minute longer. Stir in broth, thyme and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until squash is tender, 15-20 minutes.
• Discard thyme sprigs. Cool slightly. In a blender, process soup in batches until smooth. Return all to the pan. Stir in lemon juice and hot pepper sauce; heat through. Sprinkle each serving with cheese and lemon zest.

Nutrition Facts
1 cup: 90 calories, 4g fat (1g saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 377mg sodium, 12g carbohydrate (6g sugars, 3g fiber), 4g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch, 1/2 fat.

 

[Acre4Me]

rotten garlic and rotten eggs

☠

like rotten garlic & eggs but rotten garlic & egg oil! I get petroleum out of it. Maybe some dirty hippie after a summer tour with no showers (& I love patchouli, hippies & summer tours, lol).

Even worse! I can't say I like Patchouli, but I'm definitely biased after working with a co-worker that LOVED it and seemed to think more was better....luckily, not in my group and only had to be around this person occasionally. Dirty hippie - thanks for the clear visual.

hot & lemon i

Sounds yummy! Thanks for the recipe. I've always liked puree soups, but love all kinds of soups and stews. The combination of flavors sounds like it will work well! The lemon part reminded me of a recipe I've made years ago, and loved, but haven't made it for a long time. It is Italian style lemon egg soup....need to find the recipe.

 

[Sueby]

Oooh, I'd love that recipe if you find it!

 

[Acre4Me]

This morning goal was to turn over a bed and amend it - it was pretty clay-ey and chunky in a bad way. So added some amendments and mixed and broke up clods and chunks for quite awhile. It was only a 5'x4' section of one raised bed. Then, I was chased inside by an impending rain storm that ended up missing us, but was producing thunder and lighting close by. Figured best to go in instead of continuing to use metal garden implements.

Got a faint rainbow above the house while the storm was approaching!

Planted tall/climbing peas and spinach in the amended bed.


Saw this cicada hanging out.

Checked for eggs, but all nests filled up!! I'll check later. Bottom ones have broodies in them, and the Buff Orpington is only 6 months old, but is acting like a strong broody after only 2 or 3 days of broodiness. The GLW on the right isn't as strongly broody acting, although she's been broody for 3 weeks.