What did you do in the garden today?

[karenerwin]

Yes, I am aware. When I responded to the original post, my phone had yet to show the link that drestratton attached. Had I seen that post, I wouldn't have answered the ID question, as it had already been answered.

Yep, I also posted my correction before I read farther and saw it had already been addressed. Sorry for posting what had already been said.

 

[karenerwin]

I keep forgetting to ask, does anyone have a good recipe for canning their own version of Rotel?

My hubby loves to use this in chili and I figure with so many tomatoes I could probably make our own version of this.

 

[drstratton]

Corn harvest is over! We brought in 48 more ears today! I set 8 aside to take to our youngest son tomorrow and I gave 6 to a friend! We bagged up 10 more meals worth, 40 cups! For a total of 26 meals! I'm pretty happy with our harvest! We have a bunch of tomatoes, but we won't be able to get to those until this weekend...I get to go have some snuggle time with our new grandson!

 

[drstratton]

I can grow popcorn here but that seems to be it, I envy your beautiful corn and I'd set some aside for my girls too!
I was just telling my husband that I want to grow some popcorn, but it would mean cultivating an entirely different area on our property...so we will see what happens next year...when he's ready to tackle the garden again! We threw some out for them, they really enjoyed it!

Well I'll give it a try next time I have to use a bunch of herbs and it is fun to see someone enjoy something silly as much as I do. I swear that keeps us young.
I'm going to try it too! I agree, laughter & silliness is the best medicine! My husband laughs at me and tells me I'm silly, quite often...hopefully I will always be so at least sometimes...lol!


Good afternoon gardeners and hiya to all the newcomers! I got the weed whacking done and all the stuff picked up so mowing will go pretty easy. That all took long enough I had to go get the grocery pickup before I got to the mowing and once I got back it was too hot, so mowing first thing tomorrow.

I have learned to pick any tomatoes that are blushing at all if they are in deep growth or near the ground and that seems to be getting me more undamaged fruit and thanks to @WthrLady's tip about covering them once they're in the house, I am getting a good amount of production.

Chaos in the hen house, I found 2 thin shelled eggs on the poop board early this morning. Given their condition, they were dropped during the night, long before morning. Koraline and Amelia both sat in the upper nest boxes a little later in the morning and Koraline did produce an egg. It's a pretty light turquoise like her sister's are. Amelia didn't but it's possible she's been the stealth layer since she was in the same nest box as the mystery eggs. Plus if she dropped one of the thin shelled ones last night it would explain why no egg in the nest later. I give them grow out feed and they have oyster shells available but as a precaution, I picked up some regular layer pellets on my trip into town. This is so much fun, it's like my own little mystery! Of 10 birds, I have either 4 or 5 that are laying already and the oldest were hatched in April. I love my chickens!

I hope those eggs start to firm up for you! I love my flock too!

 

[pennyJo1960]

Welcome @Kiwibird, and @jewelsoftime
We can get ladybugs and mantises here, can you get others? Oh and predatory nematodes too.

Nematodes for any beetle larvae which spend time underground would be worth looking into. We can get ant-sized wasps called Aphidius which are great for controlling aphids.

1 to 10 on dish soap in a sprayer will kill aphids here

 

[igorsMistress]

I keep forgetting to ask, does anyone have a good recipe for canning their own version of Rotel?
View attachment 2315309My hubby loves to use this in chili and I figure with so many tomatoes I could probably make our own version of this.

Karen I have this recipe bookmarked to try but haven't used it yet...no tomatoes for me this year.
https://www.food.com/recipe/home-canned-rotel-substitute-copycat-clone-homemade-125816

 

[Sueby]

Dang, I should have got some pickle crisp, I was wondering if that actually worked. And thanks for the recipe!

I always use the pickle crisp, I think it helps a lot. It may be tough to get right now.

I have learned to pick any tomatoes that are blushing at all if they are in deep growth or near the ground and that seems to be getting me more undamaged fruit and thanks to @WthrLady's tip about covering them once they're in the house, I am getting a good amount of production.

I do the same. You can also put a banana in with them & it helps too!
I'd love to see a pic of your girls eggs, I want to see the color! They'll straighten out their process soon & get in the swing of it all.

I keep forgetting to ask, does anyone have a good recipe for canning their own version of Rotel?
My hubby loves to use this in chili and I figure with so many tomatoes I could probably make our own version of this.

This is an awesome question! I'm going to take a look at the link that @igorsMistress posted! TY both.

Morning everyone! Another nice day out there, I think I'm going to need to water today. I planted some more lettuce in a giant container on the deck, the stuff I planted in the garden isn't doing great. I have no more seed left, I think I'll order more because it stresses me out not to have any with all the COVID shortages. I've been thinking about doing my spring seed order now too.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. Happy first day of meteorological Autumn. I'm ready for that. I have 3 tons of stove pellets in the garage, the stove cleaning scheduled as well as the chimney sweeping. I still need to run the snowblower to make sure it's ready instead of waiting until there's 2 feet of snow on the ground. I canned 5 1/2 pints of tomato sauce yesterday. I have sourdough bread started and 25 pounds of peaches in the refrigerator waiting for my attention. I picked a few tomatoes this morning, one cucumber and over 1/2 pound of green beans. I needed to replace a 4 quart pyrex mixing bowl so I ran into Walmart. Good golly that store was pretty much wiped out. I found my glass bowl pushed all the way back on the bottom shelf like someone was hiding it. The only canning supplies they had were 2 jars of pickle crisp and some sure-jel. Amazingly, they actually has 2 16 quart pressure cooker / canners. No jars or anything else. All the food sealer bags and accessories were cleaned out as well. I guess I'll be ordering my seeds early as well @Sueby. I hope your attempt at making the canned Ro-Tel goes well @karenerwin, I have enough patience to make Indian curries but all the tiny dicing would drive me a little nuts. This is why I don't make my own relish. LOL! The only garden shot I have is Lou taking a stretch and scanning the neighborhood the other day. Have a great day in the garden everyone.

 

[Sueby]

I stocked up on food sealer bags in the spring too. I order them on Amazon & get the generic, they work just as well for me so that makes it easier. It's crazy all these COVID shortages. I still can't find paper plates.

Mutant double squash for dinner!

 

[WthrLady]

I always use the pickle crisp, I think it helps a lot. It may be tough to get right now.


I do the same. You can also put a banana in with them & it helps too!
I'd love to see a pic of your girls eggs, I want to see the color! They'll straighten out their process soon & get in the swing of it all.


This is an awesome question! I'm going to take a look at the link that @igorsMistress posted! TY both.

Morning everyone! Another nice day out there, I think I'm going to need to water today. I planted some more lettuce in a giant container on the deck, the stuff I planted in the garden isn't doing great. I have no more seed left, I think I'll order more because it stresses me out not to have any with all the COVID shortages. I've been thinking about doing my spring seed order now too.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Thanks. I forgot to mention the banana trick to her. I'm allergic to them, so I forget that trick as they are never in the house. An apple works too.