What did you do in the garden today?

[littledog]

thank you. I would love ti see pics of your barrels. I can get used barrels really cheap so it looks like a good idea to make this system.

OK, I'll try to get some pictures this weekend.

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.

Yeah, that guy. He's why we can't have nice things!
Some of those laws are to deter industries that use a lot of water and tend to pollute the water they do use. Some were getting charged for the water they take according to the meter, and it was assumed their outflow was the same as their inflow. So they were collecting as much rainwater as possible, polluting it and sending it into the storm drains, but only paying for the small amount recorded on the meter, severely overtaxing the treatment plant and getting charged nothing for that.
The sensible thing would be to allow households to keep a certain number of barrels for outdoor use, and if you want more than that you should show you're not polluting, like have certain size buffers of trees/vegetation in between you and the storm drain or nearby body of water.

 

[alfie10]

got a lot done yesterday ,good job ,today is terrible the rain is getting heavier and the wind stronger as i,m sitting here really stormy .just texted my gd and said not going shopping ,just ordered my shopping on line ,think i,ll order the compost as well .It might be a bit more expensive but no mauling for me .

 

[Sueby]

Morning all - thank you for all the pics! I sure do love to see what everyone has going & the diversity we have here.

My lettuce in the tunnel is coming up, yay! My blueberry bush has buds & the gooseberry has actual leaves happening. The mini daffodils are coming up as are the tulips. I sprinkled cayenne in the garden, the squirrels were rummaging thru the newly planted onions, I had to replant half of them. I really need to remember to close the gate.

I have to order some garden soil today & get it delivered. My new beds are 20 inches deep, I think I'm going to put down some of the not cooked yet compost & some wood chips first, then the good soil 12 inches deep. That'll work, right? Otherwise I can't afford it.

Going for my COVID shot today, picking up chicken feed & getting my taxes done so I won't be doing much out there.

 

[jerryse]

No surgery for me . I guess I do not meet the criteria yet . So feeling better and bought some roots and bulbs to plant . Columbine , tiger Lilly and asparagus .

 

[chickengr]

no gardening today. my 8 mo pekin pullet hatched 8 chicks out of 8

 

[Acre4Me]

Morning all - thank you for all the pics! I sure do love to see what everyone has going & the diversity we have here.

My lettuce in the tunnel is coming up, yay! My blueberry bush has buds & the gooseberry has actual leaves happening. The mini daffodils are coming up as are the tulips. I sprinkled cayenne in the garden, the squirrels were rummaging thru the newly planted onions, I had to replant half of them. I really need to remember to close the gate.

I have to order some garden soil today & get it delivered. My new beds are 20 inches deep, I think I'm going to put down some of the not cooked yet compost & some wood chips first, then the good soil 12 inches deep. That'll work, right? Otherwise I can't afford it.

Going for my COVID shot today, picking up chicken feed & getting my taxes done so I won't be doing much out there.

Yay for the new growth!

dirt is expensive, especially good dirt. Your plan is good.

My first Covid shot in the books, arm was sore as expected, now just waiting for second appointment.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. Yesterday was very long. I picked up my new car and of course the paperwork was not ready so it took much longer than anticipated. While I was doing that, DD was getting her second Covid-19 shot. We met for lunch then I stopped at the grocery store on the way home. The day was over by the time I got home. I was able to squeeze in a walk around the yard since my last post. It appears all the daffodils I planted are starting to break through the dirt. I haven't seen any of the tulips I planted last fall yet. The hyacinths and two tulips that came with the house are through the dirt now. My tomato seedlings are doing well. The lilacs and azaleas are starting to bud also. I got an email from Gurneys and my seed potatoes should be here soon. I just ordered 4 more grow bags from Amazon. Today I will be replanting failed seeds and planting flower seeds. One of my rosemary plants has responded quite well to the transplanting. However, the other is still struggling a bit. It rained again last night so I'm not sure if I want to get into the big garden yet. I would like to put some "store bought" garden soil on the bed I will be putting the hoops on, so that's another trip to the store. That won't happen until the side effects of the vaccine wear off and DD is feeling up to moving her car out of the driveway. Good luck with your Covid-19 shot @Sueby. If getting the Moderna shot please note/ anticipate side effects/ reactions. Mild if any on the first shot, fever, chills, body aches and fatigue on the second shot (just a heads up for you @Acre4Me). However, it's better than the alternative. The temps are falling towards more normal for this time of year. Daytime temps in mid 40's to mid 50's but nighttime temps dipping below freezing. Still too early to plant much. Have a nice day all!

 

[TJAnonymous]

I bought a dozen berry plants this last fall. This is what I have found about them.

Once abundant in the Pacific Northwest and praised as "the finest eating strawberry in America," the Marshall strawberry is today very rare. Now an artist in Indiana has begun an effort to revive the berry, offering starter plants in hand-sewn containers.

A rose by any other name is as sweet, but what about a strawberry? If its name is Marshall, it's the sweetest of them all, but chances are you've never eaten one, at least not lately. Abundant and popular in early- & mid-century, the aromatic, juicy berry has since become very rare.

At one time, lauded as the finest eating strawberry in America. An esteemed American agricultural encyclopedia notes that the Marshall strawberry was "the standard of excellence for the entire northern strawberry industry." And, according to James Beard, it was one of only two kinds of strawberries his mother would allow into the house.


Marshall strawberries filled fields in the Pacific Northwest after World War II, but its numbers would later dwindle as it succumbed to viruses and, as its geographic popularity increased, the stresses of traveling. This shortcoming was due, ironically, to its sweetness: According to the Oregon Strawberry Commission, the Marshall was so full of sugar that its shelf life was measured in hours rather than days. Delicious but costly to cultivate, the Marshall was phased out of fields in the mid-1960s.


In 2004, it was named one of the ten most endangered foods in the country by RAFT (Renewing America's Food Traditions). By 2007 “the only hint of this remarkable strawberry existed] at the USDA’s Germplasm Repository in Corvallis, Oregon in the form of a single clone."

Ok.....you convinced me. Had to order some.....ha ha. Can't wait for them to arrive....

 

[TJAnonymous]

when you pray for your country please pray for the rest of the world as well. nowdays everything is global.

This is why I have been giving away my extra eggs to the elderly and the church food pantries. Many, many people are struggling in poverty after the last year. Giving away eggs isn't much, but it is what I can do right now.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Morning all - thank you for all the pics! I sure do love to see what everyone has going & the diversity we have here.

My lettuce in the tunnel is coming up, yay! My blueberry bush has buds & the gooseberry has actual leaves happening. The mini daffodils are coming up as are the tulips. I sprinkled cayenne in the garden, the squirrels were rummaging thru the newly planted onions, I had to replant half of them. I really need to remember to close the gate.

I have to order some garden soil today & get it delivered. My new beds are 20 inches deep, I think I'm going to put down some of the not cooked yet compost & some wood chips first, then the good soil 12 inches deep. That'll work, right? Otherwise I can't afford it.

Going for my COVID shot today, picking up chicken feed & getting my taxes done so I won't be doing much out there.

Yes, that is a good plan. As Acres said....dirt is expensive. The other thing I have done is throw some old logs in the bottom of the raised bed. They also take up space and therefore, save on soil. These break down over time which enriches the soil but they also provide air. Too much compaction is frequently a problem in raised beds, I've found. Adding other materials, such as logs, sticks, compost, etc....helps break it up some and give the roots places to grow. I also added a bunch of dead leaves in the bottoms of my raised beds. It's free and also gives some really good compostable nutrition over time.