What did you do in the garden today?

[chickengr]

I know you didn't ask me but here's my rain barrel, lol. It collects the rain from the big coop & enclosed run. It also has a screened top & a spigot on the bottom & sits on a tree stump. I use the water to wet the compost pile near by or to water plants down by the shop. I don't water the chickens with it though.

I got the barrel for $25 on FB marketplace. DH modified the screw top to be screen & added the spigot.

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thank you, looks great.

 

[Sueby]

@Acre4Me post baby pics please! & thanks for the info, I rotate all my crops so will probably add the strawberry beds into that when they require it. It'd make a good squash bed too as it will have lots of room to on the sides.

 

[chickengr]

I have a hibiscus tree that I brought indoors over the winter. I hung a grow lamp about 3 feet above it to supplement light during the winter. The plant shot up towards the light and now my 3 ft plant is nearly 5 ft tall.....lol. I thought about pruning it down because it looks awkward - tall and skinny. I'd rather it bush out again. But rather than waste the pruned sections, I thought about maybe dipping them in root hormone and trying to plant them. Has anyone done this?

you can grow hibiscus from the pruned sections even without root hormone. that's what we do here.

 

[TJAnonymous]

It’s woke up to heavy rain this morning no gardening today. Not much left to do before the summer planting at this point. I need to divide some daffodils and move the gladiolus i also need to mulch the flower beds all of which I’ll finish next week. And then I need to build the trellises that the only big project in the next 3 weeks or so. After that it will get really crazy.

I'm jealous! I got a really late start so there is a TON of work left to do.... I still have about 20 tires that need painted. We painted about 10 tires last weekend. Mostly white and grey (got discount paint at Lowes that was mistinted), but there's a red, brown, and khaki one. As an afterthought I realized that those colors might actually ATTRACT pests....lol. Oh well, this is why I use deterrents like kaolin clay, Neem oil, and insecticidal soap, right?

After the tires are painted, dried, and set....then comes the task of getting dirt mixed up and loaded into them. That's the part that tuckers me out the worst. All this soil mixing and dragging the cart around is NOT helping my tennis elbow. :/

On top of all that, I still have a BUNCH of stuff to plant - runner beans, watermelon, chives, marigolds, calendula, nasturtiums, peppers, cucumbers, yacons, kohlrabi, lettuce, and more.

Then there's the flower garden I'm building in the backyard....

I need to hire a helper.

 

[Elyrian1]

Yup, it's illegal to collect rain water here. Or was. I think they updated the law to allow for two barrels in certain areas. It's complicated.

Dragged DH into helping me yesterday with the garden tower. Got most of the heavy stuff done. Now just need to work on tubing etc.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Nope. I’ve read that too. Certain drier states bc you are removing water from the natural cycle where rain enters aquifers, and creeks and rivers to provide water to ranchers etc. I think pretty old laws, but certainly not an expert here.

They are older laws for the most part left over from the mining days when people would redirect streams. Most places don’t completely ban it put do put a limit on how much you can collect. My personal opinion is that they are still in place because of people like the guy how collected enough water to fill 20 Olympic swimming pools.

 

[Decoyman]

Maybe when Collards are past their prime - they still might serve as a comforting nest - ran across this young fellow this morning doing his thing.

 

[oldhen2345]

Well, gonna finish getting stuff in the raised beds today and maybe get the drift roses planted. Really need to mow this afternoon. My lawnmower has been in the shop and will get back home this afternoon. Still need to go rip up Asian Jasmine while the dirt is wet- it rained last night.

 

[Birdsonghill]

They'll come to my place and charge me an extra $100 for the honor.

With the cost of fuel , buildings, insurance and employees , most legal business must charge a minimum, of close to one hundred $$, to show up anywhere, but especially places that require a hour or more of their total travel and inspection time, plus transportation cost . Repair cost begin after that cost is met. Many companies will give you the "show up fee", "credit", if you use their service for the repair. If you live way out from town or the provider, you better be wealthy or talented and healthy! Most appliances ,these days, cost more to repair than to replace, due primarily to these business cost, that are so high! Building materials and fuel are sky rocketing right now. Many items have risen 5 to 50 % in the first few months of this year! A $600 refrigerator with only one part needing replaced, will typically cost about $300 to repair,now. (BTW, they last only about 8 to 10 years now, compared to 15 to 25 years in the 1970's) If you need a new circuit board and another part replaced, you will pay nearly as much as a new comparable item! If you can't fix it yourself, good luck! With the printing of paper money being out of control, the dollar is becoming like monopoly game money. The dollars you scrimped to save are worth far less ,than when you saved them, even with interest earned/lost in typical retirement savings vehicles. You may thank your well off/rich politicians for this downward spiral. A dollar you saved in 1981 will be about 20 cents of goods/services compared between the times. The impact on the wealthy is small and will not affect their lifestyle much. The impact on a lower income blue collar worker that is retired with a small SS check and a modest savings(by today's accounting), is devastating! Millions more good hard workers are entering poverty in their senior years, despite saving all they could manage. In 1981, A 70 year old worker retiring with SS and $50,000 savings was considered to be relatively financially secure, for the remainder of their expected life, with a paid off mortgage. We now know, that most of them struggled with poverty, if they lived past 80! Because of the true rate of inflation of the cost of living! It has become far worse now! I pray for our country! I apologise for the rant, I am sad and angered by this situation.

 

[Birdsonghill]

The rain today has hampered my garden plans. I removed row covers from the over wintered crops , that I had not done so yet, yesterday. Cleaned out the old rutabagas,turnips, chinese cabbages and weeds to the compost bins. Weeded the onions, leeks, garlic and carrots coming on for this spring/early summer crops. Fertilized them all with some fish emulsion and seaweed extract. I also got in some work on my "new" chicken coop conversion project. (from an existing pony run in shed) I finished making a ventilation window and building a chicken ladder that goes up to the ten foot roost poles. I checked and watered my seedling tomatoes, chiles, lettuces, herbs and etc.. All was looking good! The ground was too wet to deep till and with the heavy new rains today, who knows when? I planted a few seeds in my raised concrete block beds of carrots, green onions, and lettuces, where space allowed. On wet days , they are were I garden, usually. Today, I have drank coffee, played with the dogs and thought about what I need to be doing!