What did you do in the garden today?

[Percheron chick]

I see many on here have ordered from Gurneys. Has anyone ordered asparagus crowns and how good were they? The reviews on Dave's haven't been very good but I also know people are more apt to complain than compliment. What about filbert trees?

 

[BullChick]

I'm almost Giddy!

We were walking around today, discussing where to put things. The cucumbers and watermelon I put in the garden, but I put pumpkins outside of it. It keeps vines from mingling with everything, but also lets the pumpkins take up all the room they want. We have a supply of mammoth that I hope to get good sizes from,

 

[Sally PB]

What about filbert trees?

I grew filbert trees about 22 years ago. You need two different ones for pollination, IIRC. They grew well. They had nuts. Squirrels got every last nut. Then about 8 years ago, we had a terrible infestation of Japanese Beetles. The #$@% things defoliated the trees. The trees tried to grow the next year, but the beetles stripped them again. Killed the trees that time.

All told, I think I got a dozen filberts.

One cool thing... the nuts have a husk on them that looks like an old fashioned bonnet. You can see the nuts better if you get under them and look up. The husk is the same color as the leaves, so they hide pretty well.

 

[Percheron chick]

Yield is not important as I hate filberts. I have a crepe food truck and go through Nutella by the gallon. Hate the stuff! I do however love the dormant trees and my yard is super boring come winter. Looking for a fast growing statement tree.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Yesterday I planted rapini, blue kale, gem lettuce, giant Italian spinach, top hat tomatoes, firecracker tomatoes, jalapenos, and bell peppers

 

[NewBoots]

@BReeder!, I'm sorry, I don't know. The contractor we had for the house installation had a greenhouse on his property that he never used so he delivered it with the attached deck to our lot and once the season was over I had another guy lift it and put heavy landscape fabric and gravel under it to keep the danged runner grass out. It's not perfect and tends to grow algae on the inside but I don't need it to be pretty just effective and it sure is. It has a hydraulic vent on the roof that opens when it gets too hot inside but without any power. I love the thing.

Thank you @littledog, I wrote down your pumpkin soup recipe and I'll try it soon.

@Sueby, my rhubarb had all of last year to grow without being cut so this year I am going to cut some and make some strawberry and rhubarb jam.

So I was a good kid and finally cleaned the human side of the chicken coup, tossed empty bags and swept the whole thing getting the dust and cobwebs down. It totally freaked out the ladies, Queenie screamed at the top of her voice over and over and it must have been "OMG THERE'S A HAWK IN THE COOP!" cuz everyone ran out and hid under the coop. They'd been inside the coop hoping for treats up until then. Oh well, at least they know what to do in case there really was a hawk.

I was going to plant tomatoes and peppers today but I'm out of starting mix and only have pure coir left and I'm not sure how well that would work. I might wait till I make a town trip. Do you think coir mixed with regular potting soil would work?

 

[Artichoke Lover]

@BReeder!, I'm sorry, I don't know. The contractor we had for the house installation had a greenhouse on his property that he never used so he delivered it with the attached deck to our lot and once the season was over I had another guy lift it and put heavy landscape fabric and gravel under it to keep the danged runner grass out. It's not perfect and tends to grow algae on the inside but I don't need it to be pretty just effective and it sure is. It has a hydraulic vent on the roof that opens when it gets too hot inside but without any power. I love the thing.

Thank you @littledog, I wrote down your pumpkin soup recipe and I'll try it soon.

@Sueby, my rhubarb had all of last year to grow without being cut so this year I am going to cut some and make some strawberry and rhubarb jam.

So I was a good kid and finally cleaned the human side of the chicken coup, tossed empty bags and swept the whole thing getting the dust and cobwebs down. It totally freaked out the ladies, Queenie screamed at the top of her voice over and over and it must have been "OMG THERE'S A HAWK IN THE COOP!" cuz everyone ran out and hid under the coop. They'd been inside the coop hoping for treats up until then. Oh well, at least they know what to do in case there really was a hawk.

I was going to plant tomatoes and peppers today but I'm out of starting mix and only have pure coir left and I'm not sure how well that would work. I might wait till I make a town trip. Do you think coir mixed with regular potting soil would work?

I think it would be fine as long as you don’t tend to have a problem with damping off. Tomatoes and peppers seem pretty forgiving. I actually started mine in pure composted manure once and left them in a north facing window and they still did fine. This was before I had a clue what I was doing. I also left them in a cheap 72 cell trays for like a month. Not necessarily recommending any those just giving an example of how forgiving they can be.

 

[Fishychix]

Can you tie it down with something heavier? Maybe 5 gallon buckets full of rock?
I know that’s what some people at our local farmers market do with their tents.

I found some bags of dirt for now. I seem to not have too many rocks, unless I want to plant something

 

[Fishychix]

Even 5 gallon buckets full of water work, as long as you remember to refill when you water.
Our market guys use pvc tubes full of concrete with eye screws inserted in them, and then those hang from the tethers.

dont know why I didnt think of that. My rain barrel needs emptied anyway. I have a cheap trash can, but found a source for 55 gal plastic drums

 

[Sueby]

I think they'd be ok @NewBoots . When I see what grows in my compost pile when I don't turn it for a week I wonder why I spend so much time being particular about my soils, lol.

One of my littles laid her first egg today! I do believe the mystery of the Cuckoo Rock has been solved, she is def a Barred Rock by the color of that egg.

I forgot to put the chicken in the oven in time so I decided to make the pumpkin chili instead so that's cooking away on the stove. I put TWO habanero peppers my friend grew in it & now it's too hot for me to eat. I'm hoping some sour cream will save it for me, & it won't be hot enough for DH.