What did you do in the garden today?

[chickengr]

I purchased the plum tree about 3-4 weeks ago. When I bought it, it was blooming like crazy. It isn't a big tree....maybe 4 ft tall? I figured it was easily 2 yrs old already by the size. It didn't start to die until I planted it in the ground in the duck pen. I went out and looked at it today (I've transplanted it to a raised bed in the garden). The last of any green leaves it has are wilted and will likely be dead by tomorrow...

I really have no idea how to save it. Do you think if I pruned it, it would save the tree? I mean, it literally has almost no green leaves left on it. By tomorrow, it probably won't have any....

ETA - I did add some fertilizer to the raised bed in case there was a nutrient deficiency although that is hard to conceive because it was planted with fresh soil & lots of good compost. I also mulched heavily around the base to ensure it had good water retention....

I'm just stumped on this one.....

you can try to prune it leaving only the center (trunk?) and pray.

 

[gtaus]

Trying to be a good person, I heard my neighbor say that he was going to dig out a garden for his wife. I thought he meant that he was going to break sod and make an in ground garden. I offer to let him use my gas walk behind tiller for his garden since I knew he did not have one. Today, he came over to borrow my tiller. Everything fine.

A little latter, I see that he has the big gas tiller in his small raised bed garden going to town trying to hang on to the machine. So I loaded up my mini tiller which I use for my raised beds and brought that over to him. I told him that I misunderstood what he needed, but that I thought the mini tiller would serve him better for the small 8x8 foot raised beds he has.

So now he has both my tillers and I'll just let him figure out which one works better for his needs. FWIW, I only use the big gas tiller for breaking sod on the ground. I don't have the muscle to lift it into my raised beds, even if I wanted to. My mini tiller is my go to implement for fluffing up the soil in the raised beds. Much easier to handle in small spaces and still goes down almost 6 inches. Great for mixing chicken run compost into the existing raised be soil mix.

In case anyone cares, I have a couple mini tiller expand-it attachments that can go onto a power head. I used to use my gas trimmer power head, but have since gone with a Ryobi 40v trimmer attachment capable power head and last week I bought the Ryobi 18v trimmer attachment capable power head. They have about 80-90% of the power of my gas power head, but that is good enough for what I need. I much prefer to slap a battery in the power head and get to work rather than trying to find the right gas/oil mix for the gas power head and then spend maybe another 30 minutes trying to get it running.

 

[oldhen2345]

I purchased the plum tree about 3-4 weeks ago. When I bought it, it was blooming like crazy. It isn't a big tree....maybe 4 ft tall? I figured it was easily 2 yrs old already by the size. It didn't start to die until I planted it in the ground in the duck pen. I went out and looked at it today (I've transplanted it to a raised bed in the garden). The last of any green leaves it has are wilted and will likely be dead by tomorrow...

I really have no idea how to save it. Do you think if I pruned it, it would save the tree? I mean, it literally has almost no green leaves left on it. By tomorrow, it probably won't have any....

ETA - I did add some fertilizer to the raised bed in case there was a nutrient deficiency although that is hard to conceive because it was planted with fresh soil & lots of good compost. I also mulched heavily around the base to ensure it had good water retention....

I'm just stumped on this one.....

Could the soil in the duck area have been too acidic from duck grease?

 

[oldhen2345]

I always wondered about that, catalpa worms really do come from catalpa trees?

I am with you sister, when I win the lottery I'll have a small orchard.

Catalpa worms are really a caterpillar for the catalpa sphinx moth. Catfish in particular love them. They change from larvae to caterpillars in May around here. They eat the leaves of the catalpa trees.
I also dream of winning the lottery and buying the houses on either side of me. I would tear down the old houses, fence it off, expand the chicken coop and yard and put an orchard on one side featuring apple, pear, plum, peach trees and I would try lemon trees, but don't know if they would grow, and a large garden on the other lot- featuring berries. and vining plants like beans, watermelon, cantaloupe, pumpkin, potateos, sweet potatoes leaving my present yard for flowers and regular vegetables... not that I have given it any thought, mind you.

 

[NewBoots]

I also dream of winning the lottery and buying the houses on either side of me. I would tear down the old houses, fence it off, expand the chicken coop and yard and put an orchard on one side featuring apple, pear, plum, peach trees and I would try lemon trees, but don't know if they would grow, and a large garden on the other lot- featuring berries. and vining plants like beans, watermelon, cantaloupe, pumpkin, potateos, sweet potatoes leaving my present yard for flowers and regular vegetables... not that I have given it any thought, mind you.

This is so similar to my lottery fantasies that I think we might have been separated at birth.

 

[jerryse]

Another rainy day here . Still not sure of frost damage on plum trees . Waiting to see if any fruit forms . Some pears and cherries . Still waiting on vine crops to sprout .

 

[chickengr]

hot and dry here. not possible to do anything till late afternoon.

a few cucumbers sprouted.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

You reminded me, last year I ran out of spaghetti squash seeds so I used some from the previous year's squash. Well.. I ended up with oddly shaped white spaghetti. Clearly it crossed with my white scallop squash and the result was not good

Butternut at least is moschata so it shouldn't cross with the other common squash!

What will they cross with?
We had bee houses for years at the place in Portland, this is our first year at the new house. This is the bug house.View attachment 2640483

We had bee houses for years at the place in Portland, this is our first year at the new house. This is the bug house.View attachment 2640483


This is the mason bee house. The house is beautifully made but I uglied it up to attach the side panels to protect it from the wind and blowing rain.
View attachment 2640486

I want both but I just have no more space. Our soil is so terrible here we have to box in any fruit trees we want to actually grow and bear fruit. We do have a bunch of crabapples, a regular apple, and a prune plum but I want MOR!!! Especially pears.

Awesome, I am really itching for a battery powered one to trim the area around DPs shrub and flower garden. Power mower is too big and the weed eater has an annoying trailing cord.

My tomatoes are doing great but those danged peppers sprout so slowly and then grow even slower! I am really hoping for great things from my wintered over peppers.
View attachment 2640498

I think it is, we never saw any in Portland unless they were the ones you can buy as egg cases. Once we moved here to the south coast we started seeing them and researched it, this is the very edge of their range.

I always wondered about that, catalpa worms really do come from catalpa trees?

I am with you sister, when I win the lottery I'll have a small orchard.

Did a bunch more up-potting including the okra, I have 6 pots now with 2 plants each in them, once it gets a little warmer here I'll give them a shot in the raised beds and keep a couple in big pots and hope for enough to pickle. The summer squash are growing fast now in the greenhouse and I'm wondering if I can get away with planting them in big (say 7 or 10 gallon size) pots and let the plants trail across the ground. They take up so much space I don't really want to use the raised beds for that unless I have to. Any opinions?

Got to show off some of the raised beds, the recent weather has really got them going:
View attachment 2640538
Strawberry bed and I really hope they earn their space.

View attachment 2640544Lettuces, mustard greens, bok choy, and carrots.

View attachment 2640546Sunchokes that we're raising mostly for fodder.

View attachment 2640553
More mustard greens, beets, lettuce, radishes, snapdragons, and yarrow.

View attachment 2640555
Snap peas, more lettuce, fennel, and arugula.

View attachment 2640558
Garlic, onions, and shallots. This bed will get switched to tomatoes once they're big enough and it's warm enough.

View attachment 2640563
Gooseberries, currants, oregano, and shallots. The gooseberries are sending up runners, all inside the bed so far.

View attachment 2640568
Blueberries, lingonberries, borage, alyssum, and mixed flowers.

View attachment 2640572Crabapple, I really hope for enough fruit to pickle some.

View attachment 2640575
A regular apple (I forget what type) and I just though the flowers were beautiful.

View attachment 2640576
And finally, some dutch iris, I just love these.

Okay, that's my picture bomb for now. Stay dirty everyone.

Catalapa worms feed are moth larvae that feed on the tree. We have a few trees that get a ton every year. They are some of the best fishing bait and a great protein source for chickens.

Can I plant pumpkins and cantaloupe together?

Haven’t had any trouble from it.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Yesterday I got the squash, okra and pinto beans planted. I didn’t get any work done on the trellis(dang it) and I got the tomatoes hauled to garden but not in the ground. I ripped out the brussel sprouts and picked snap peas and straw berries. Today I’m going to try to get 1 row of tomatoes planted, weed, wash the rain buckets and finish that darned trellis. It’s supposed to rain overnight and I have work and my 2nd COVID shot this afternoon. I’m very sleepy for some reason and caffeine isn’t doing much. 1 8 ounce cup of very strong coffee has barely made me functional. Normally I’d risk being jittery.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning all. Still a little cool in the morning but overall mild temperatures. I managed to get the fence posts pounded in for the expanded chicken yard. I'm taking advantage of another rainy day and heading out to pick up the decorative fence gate since garden work is not realistic today. I should be able to get all the wire hung and the gate attached tomorrow. The cucumbers and squash plants are still looking good. My carrot seedlings are definitely coming up. There's a couple of additional asparagus spears coming up also. To my relief my fig tree is developing more leaf buds. I think I forgot to mention this yesterday but my large bowl planter of impatiens that overwintered in the sunroom has flower buds on it. It's still too cool to put outside, but they are doing well inside. My mini mower weed trimmer is corded @NewBoots, however they do make a rechargeable battery operated version. Try googling this:

BLACK+DECKER 12 in. 20V MAX Lithium-Ion Cordless 3-in-1 String Trimmer/Edger/Mower with (2) 2.0Ah Batteries and Charger Included​

Black& Decker make pretty good products that are durable and user friendly.