What did you do in the garden today?

[TJAnonymous]

We also have a lot of wild blackberries that grow on our land. We made lots of blackberry jam last year!

We had a lot until my DH accidentally burned down the two main patches last winter. The good news is that they are growing back but not likely to produce any berries until next summer since berries only fruit on 2 yr canes.

That leaves me with one small, viable patch but it is hard to get to and likely will be overwhelmed with birds..... :/

I hope you send a thought for me as you collect your berries this year and know I'm envious! ha ha....

 

[Sueby]

@NewBoots I'm glad things seem to be recovering, that's scary to have an unexpected frost!

I am not a fan of blackberries or raspberries - it's the seeds. I love the flavors of them & love seedless jam but I just can do the seeds.

 

[TropicalBabies]

your garden is gorgeous!!

Oh thank you! Dealing with our dry hot summers makes it challenging with the sandy loam. Better if I can get the big stuff established to protect the little stuff and that is pretty much where I am now- just letting it go for a bit.
Are you originally from Malaysia? Are you in the city? How does your garden grow? And what do you grow?

 

[Artichoke Lover]

I can relate.... I lost both Anaheim pepper plants and all of the Dill I had planted. The crookneck squash is pretty battered, but when I looked at it today it looks like it is trying hard to battle back. I might hold off on buying more to see if it pulls through.... Fingers crossed, I hope our freezes are done for the spring.

Personally I would buy more seeds or starts. In my experience squash that has gotten that cold may live but doesn’t produce well if at all. Squash is about the easiest thing in the world to start from seed btw. Even easier than beans in my opinion.

 

[Ascholten]

Squash can be pretty hearty and from my experience, the more you worry over it, the crappier it does. The more you ignore it the better it gets. I had some that started growing in my compost heap one year, I made squash for dinner and threw the guts of 3 of them into the compost, One butternut, one spaghetti, and the other, I can't even remember. I left it for a few weeks, then one day walked to throw more stuff in and it was covered with young squash. I said,well, looks like this is a squash heap this year, ill recover the compost next year.
It grew stupid crazy, and I made sure to water it every day bla bla, it was ehh.. most of them died off, wilty, etc, I got busy at work and evetually said the heck with this crap, im tired of babying it and it just dying off, it all can rot for all I care im gonna just turn the whole thing over and into the compost heap in a week, im DONE !!!
Well.. It got a squash on it that grew and grew and turned out absolutely delicious. Water it a LOT, it loves lots of water and sun, do NOT let it stand in water, make sure it drains well. It is very sensitive to drying out, but if you can catch it fast enough, wilty is recoverable. Otherwise, just ignore it. I had a lot of them just die on the vine, they'd go for about a week then just poop, off they went. I learned to ignore it, cut the rotten head off and the rest of it the chickie pooh's loved. I think I ended the season with like 9 or10 squashes out of the 3 of them, some I gave to my neighbor and he said they were absolutely delicious.

Of most the plants I have ever started from seed, squash has to be about the easiest to get started.
Aaron

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

Today we got back to town so did a walkaround to see how everything is doing...had a couple plants not make it, but the beans and squash seem to be doing fine!

Also...drum roll please...the peonies I planted the fall before last, the ones that never sprouted and I was SURE were dead...are ALIIIIIVE! EASTER MIRACLE!



So I will need to move the cyclamen I planted in their spot.

Also, one of the bush/trees we inherited has suspicious white spots on many of the leaves...I think it's some kind of ligustrum (not the dreaded privet, but a relative). Not sure if I hope it dies or not. It isn't ugly with it's dark, almost camellia-like leaves, bees love the flowers, and it does a great job blocking out the view of the neighbor's trash cans, but I have to hack it back once or twice per year. Anyway, little one and I hacked off most of the diseased-looking leaves (he used scissors, lol, safety first and all). We'll see what happens, and it wasn't the worst way to spend an hour for sure!

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

Oh! I almost forgot! I got a "powder blue" blueberry bush as a gift...it's my first. Need to research if partial sun will be okay (full sun is at a premium here), and if it needs a buddy to produce. If so, thinking pink lemonade if I can get it?

 

[WthrLady]

Another 87 degree day.
The alpacas have been hosed and are happier.

We had a 46 mph gust last night, I went out to check the greenhouse, one of the vent windows had popped open. They are notorious for not staying shut.
I was going to fix it today, but it is currently 110 in there. I'll wait until tomorrow.

Transplanting all the cherry tomatoes tomorrow and building ONE of the greenhouse shelves. 2x4x8 were 1.50$ cheaper at HD than Menards, so yay.

I also snagged my garden mulch (50 bags) from TSC on the way home. They're paid for and I'll go into town with the trailer first thing in the morning and put them in the barn. (2$ a bag instead of $4, yes please.)

Tomorrow is also their chick shipment, so MAYBE I'll peek at those as well.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

I got a little over half the main garden weeded. It looks like at least half the potatoes sprouted. Just when I though they were dead lol. They did suffer damage from that last freeze but I think they’ll make it just fine. The blackberry plant has a ton of buds on it right now!

If the weather holds we will have highs in the 70s to 80s and lows in the 50s here for the next 2 weeks. That should bring the soil temp up to 65 by next weekend and I’ll start planting. I’ve also got eggs set to hatch the 21st. A building project in the chicken run. Work. And a lot of stuff that I’m too tired to remember lol. It’s gonna be a crazy April around here.

 

[MommyTwiggy]

Oh thank you! Dealing with our dry hot summers makes it challenging with the sandy loam. Better if I can get the big stuff established to protect the little stuff and that is pretty much where I am now- just letting it go for a bit.
Are you originally from Malaysia? Are you in the city? How does your garden grow? And what do you grow?

Oh thank you! Dealing with our dry hot summers makes it challenging with the sandy loam. Better if I can get the big stuff established to protect the little stuff and that is pretty much where I am now- just letting it go for a bit.
Are you originally from Malaysia? Are you in the city? How does your garden grow? And what do you grow?

100% pure Malaysian, born and raised, through and through slightly on the city border, so not too busy where I am at.

It can get super hot here, and add in the humid air, you're bound to feel super sticky all day long in the garden hahaha.
Most of the shade around my house is thanks to the huge banana trees we've grown over the years. Will find time to share pictures with you later