What did you do in the garden today?

[Ascholten]

Need sand for the Cacklers? Well you are in Michigan. Plenty of beach front property to get that at!! Go spend the weekend at Mt. Baldy and take home a few 5 gallon buckets

Seriously though, instead of trying to dig some up and wonder whats in it, you can get it real cheap at any hardware store, well maybe not cheap, pool store, construction supply company. Nursery or landscaping places should have some, plenty of places. Hell, just come visit me in Jacksonville Florida, and dig 1/ 16th of an inch under my sod, it's what the $%$ developer left me as 'lawn dirt' I'll even cook you a steak and give you some good coffee for the trip back.

More seriously though, if you just need a few pounds, pool supply store should have some fairly pure stuff they use in pool filters, or Lowes, Home Depot, etc in bags. Otherwise numerous wholesale places... not counting beaches and free sources of course.

Aaron

 

[Elyrian1]

Okay so much for not working. Dh ended up outside because my dad needed help getting a trailer out of the mud. While outside he realized the fresh air made him feel about ten times better, so he ended up ripping out the largest section of nightshade. Just a couple of stragglers left to grab now. Yay!

 

[Artichoke Lover]

It’s been a insane week here with little gardening done. Sunday through Wednesday was a church retreat I attended then Thursday was a long day at work. Friday-today was spent at my cousins because of her graduation. I picked up some fruit and a Aloe plant at the farmers market. Any tips to keep it alive lol? I’ve killed so many house plants. The neighbors are already setting off fireworks for the 4th of July. Weeded 1 row of pole beans and took pictures today. The weeds are appalling after being gone a week. Hopefully going blueberry picking tomorrow at a friends.

View over front garden

Tonight’s sunset and a happy chick

 

[oldhen2345]

Hey all. I need to go catch up but it's been a few days so I'm soooo behind! It's hot & humid out there & this is just the beginning, this week is supposed to be icky. Joy. Garden is doing well, took some pics.

Picked some purple green beans, they are delish!
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Have eaten a few squash, still looking good & hand picking the bugs
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Blue Lake beans are climbing now
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Honestly my cucumbers have never looked so good, lots of flowers & bees
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My butterfly weed, but no butterflies yet
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First blueberry to ripen
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Strawberries are looking good & I'm working on the runners, some have rooted
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Brandywines coming in
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My 2 next projects, the fire hydrant the neighbor gave us (ugh) & an old engine - I need to get them cleaned & painted I guess. DH is going to make they hydrant into a spigot eventually. I just can't decide what color to paint either one, so they sit...
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Ok, off to catch up, have a great day!

Fire engine red should look great

 

[TJAnonymous]

After all our rain the flies in the henhouse and stables are TERRIBLE, so I sprayed for those while I was out there.

Neighbor down the road is infested with grasshoppers on a biblical scales. It actually makes you jittery to walk around. There are millions of them, eating everything on her property.

Same here on the flies.... They are crazy bad. DH bought 3 cans of Raid to use in the house and tack room of the barn. I wish I had something organic to use for the flies in the coop. I didn't do my routine cleaning of the coop this weekend just because of the flies. Driving me crazy.... It was bad enough just collecting eggs.

I read an article today about the biblical plague of grasshoppers. Due to the heat and dry weather... I couldn't help but laugh at the comments section. Somebody wrote that it's a veritable feast for your free range chickens. So maybe you can lend a few to your neighbor...

I found one tiny section of one of the blackberry patches that didn't get burned down last winter. It had a small handful of blackberries. So sweet, plump, and juicy! I can't wait for next summer when the regrowth begins to fruit.

I still have 2 of the thornless blackberries to plant, too... Just gotta figure out WHERE to put them. I don't really have a good spot that isn't already growing something or a jungle that needs to be cleared first.

And.... I ordered a dozen Rainbow hatching eggs. In case any of you were following the Chicken Poop Bingo contest. DH is going to absolutely KILL ME for getting more chickens... I'm going to incubate them in the house instead of giving them to a broody but I'm hoping that I can give them to one as day old chicks... Will luck be on my side that I can be successful that way twice?

 

[karenerwin]

I was trying to catch up but only made it to page 3517. But I'm really tired and have got to go to bed.
@Sueby my niece bought an Alexa for my Mom one year for Christmas. My sister-in-law told my Mom that the Alexa could be programed to call me when she told it too. My niece set that up for her. A year or so later my Mom fell in the bathroom of the assisted living apartment. She couldn't reach the emergency pull cord, didn't have her cell phone with her. She tried yelling hoping that someone would hear her, but they didn't hear her. So she yelled from the bathroom, "Alexa, call Karen". It worked! She had to yell for her end of the phone conversation but I was able to hang up and call the assisted living facility and tell them that she had fallen in her bathroom and needed help! Unfortunately, that was when she torn her quadricep and pulled the tendon away from her knee ( all weakened from a knee surgery we tried to talk her out of having). That was the beginning of the end for her but we didn't know it at the time.
That was the only time that she ever used that feature on the Alexa.

We have had heavy rain all weekend and have more rain in the forecast (Monday, Wednesday and Thursday). I'm glad that I got all my tomato plants staked up last week.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Tomorrow is suppose to be our hottest day lost my partridge silkie today

 

[chickengr]

Did you already move or still on the island?

I am on the island. waiting for the proprty value to rise and then to sell.

they are talking about covid dictatorship from september again so I am thinking what to do. my new place has no feed store and there are more issues with lockdown. I cannot believe how people all over the world became so stupid and don't react. covid has the lowest mortality rate and I don't see the reason for lockdown.

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

Same here on the flies.... They are crazy bad. DH bought 3 cans of Raid to use in the house and tack room of the barn. I wish I had something organic to use for the flies in the coop. I didn't do my routine cleaning of the coop this weekend just because of the flies. Driving me crazy.... It was bad enough just collecting eggs.

I read an article today about the biblical plague of grasshoppers. Due to the heat and dry weather... I couldn't help but laugh at the comments section. Somebody wrote that it's a veritable feast for your free range chickens. So maybe you can lend a few to your neighbor...

I found one tiny section of one of the blackberry patches that didn't get burned down last winter. It had a small handful of blackberries. So sweet, plump, and juicy! I can't wait for next summer when the regrowth begins to fruit.

I still have 2 of the thornless blackberries to plant, too... Just gotta figure out WHERE to put them. I don't really have a good spot that isn't already growing something or a jungle that needs to be cleared first.

And.... I ordered a dozen Rainbow hatching eggs. In case any of you were following the Chicken Poop Bingo contest. DH is going to absolutely KILL ME for getting more chickens... I'm going to incubate them in the house instead of giving them to a broody but I'm hoping that I can give them to one as day old chicks... Will luck be on my side that I can be successful that way twice?

Shh. I met a "dealer" today and bought 2 dozen hatching eggs (blue egger and heritage RIR) and 4 green egger chicks that I gave to my (other BLRW) broody that has been at it the longest. I keep checking on them and will have to get up early tomorrow to see that things are ok. And I switched out the blueberries and worked on the coop, etc.

 

[chickengr]

I need to feed the plants some fertilizer. But, went to open the new bag of fertilizer and couldn’t do it, will have to wait a few days. The bag had a warning of “eye irritation”. Of course, I’ll be cautious, but am currently sporting a “bandaid” contact lens to cover my cornea that is scratched all up from some undetermined thing. A couple of days ago, woke up early, and within 10 min, something was in my eye (I walked from my bedroom to the laundry room, indoors). OW! It hurt, thought it was eyelash…so went to get regular eye drops (just hydrating ones) from the cabinet to help flush whatever out and looked, but could see nothing at all in my eye. But, it really hurt! I flushed it with distilled water, still really hurt! So, was able to get into the eye doctor that day , and during the drive there I was alternatively holding that eyelid down or holding it up off my eye bc blinking really hurt, and thankfully it was on low travelled roads there to get there. So now medicated, band aid contact lens covering the scratched cornea, and eye drops. Yeah, I’m avoiding anything labeled “eye irritant” for now.

sorry for your eye trouble.

I wonder how (un)healthy those fertilizers are if they are so strong that they irritate eyes/lungs. I prefer to use natural things only.

I have read about bio agriculture and found things that make no sense to me. animal manure is forbidden and big pharma fertilizers have been used. it is my personal choice but I don't waste my money for anything labeled bio any more. my garden is perfect with chicken/rabbit poo. some egg shells and limestone from time to time do miracles as well. in my experience plants are smart enough to take what they need. I also plant a little jungle, not monoculture so soil doesn't get exhausted.