What did you do in the garden today?

[WthrLady]

I took the afternoon off.
I drove up country to a fabric shop I haven't been to in 5 years. It had less in it than it used to, but is still enormous. I did a little damage to add to my project pile.

It was nice out, so the truck windows were down. I've spent the whole night paying for that. Allergies up my nose at 70mph for HOURS. UGH. And it's too late at night for sinus meds for me.

Ran errands while I was out too. 5 hours.
Saw a LOT of farmers out priming the irrigation pivots in the fields today, we are starting to get dry. No real rain for two-5 days, and none really in the forecast for the next 6. Price of corn and soy is good, and the fields look OK for now, but we need to keep that up through pollination.

Hope everyone had a great day.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I spent well over an hour searching for squash bug eggs, nymphs, and adults inside my hoop house. Found a lot more which just makes me even more aggravated.... However all my squash plants inside the hoop house look fantastic. They are thick, green, and extremely productive. So lush that I don't think the plants are getting good air flow so I'm actually seeing a little powdery mildew starting. Sprayed for that too....

The big disappointment of the evening was looking at the squash plants I had OUTSIDE the hoop house. My biggest yellow squash AND the spaghetti squash next to it are laying on the ground in a wilted heap.... They were absolutely FINE this morning so I'm not sure what happened....

I have 5 spaghetti squash which are a little over softball sized and 1 spaghetti squash that is full sized although ALL of them are still white instead of yellow. Since the plant is dead.... Killed by something... If I harvest the squash at its current size, will it ripen off the vine?

Does anyone know?

 

[Iluveggers]

I spent well over an hour searching for squash bug eggs, nymphs, and adults inside my hoop house. Found a lot more which just makes me even more aggravated.... However all my squash plants inside the hoop house look fantastic. They are thick, green, and extremely productive. So lush that I don't think the plants are getting good air flow so I'm actually seeing a little powdery mildew starting. Sprayed for that too....

The big disappointment of the evening was looking at the squash plants I had OUTSIDE the hoop house. My biggest yellow squash AND the spaghetti squash next to it are laying on the ground in a wilted heap.... They were absolutely FINE this morning so I'm not sure what happened....

I have 5 spaghetti squash which are a little over softball sized and 1 spaghetti squash that is full sized although ALL of them are still white instead of yellow. Since the plant is dead.... Killed by something... If I harvest the squash at its current size, will it ripen off the vine?

Does anyone know?

I *think* if it is hard skinned it will ripen off the vine. If you can put your fingernail in it easily it’s probably too soft. Do you have sawdust looking stuff around the stem near the roots to go along w the wilting?

 

[Acre4Me]

My biggest yellow squash AND the spaghetti squash next to it are laying on the ground in a wilted heap....

Just like @Iluveggers asked, maybe you have squash vine borers, and you would see "sawdust" looking stuff around the roots. If you cut into the stem you would find a bug in the stem.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I *think* if it is hard skinned it will ripen off the vine. If you can put your fingernail in it easily it’s probably too soft. Do you have sawdust looking stuff around the stem near the roots to go along w the wilting?

Just like @Iluveggers asked, maybe you have squash vine borers, and you would see "sawdust" looking stuff around the roots. If you cut into the stem you would find a bug in the stem.

Yes, it is likely a vine borer although I haven't looked for the caterpillar. It was too dark by the time I realized what had happened. I battled vine borers last year but I've never seen them completely kill a plant in a matter of hours, let alone TWO plants. Hopefully they won't move on to the pumpkin and watermelon which are right next to where these plants were located....

 

[BReeder!]

Has anyone ever seen this before? I have a sucker growing out of a flower stem on 2 of my indeterminate tomato plants. Should I pinch it off?View attachment 2741244
View attachment 2741245
Also one of my determinate plants is as tall as my indeterminates! Should I pinch the growing tip off?
I've never pruned tomato plants before. Does anyone prune their determinate patio varieties?

On the leaves on the flowering branch, I do get leaves on flowering branches. They don't usually develop into a full runner, but rather just a few leaves. I figure they help feed the fruit that is developing there. If it continues past a few leaves and goes full on runner pinch the growing tip and any extra foliage back to just two or three leaves.

On the determinates, I have some tall ones too. I just let them keep growing for now. If you pub the growing tip, you will trigger rapid fruit development and ripening all down that main stem. I like larger tomatoes, so I wait until they are big and start to ripen on their own, then I may pinch the growing tips to get the remaining tomatoes to wrap it up quicker for the sauce pot or to close the season out before frost.

 

[chickengr]

Thank goodness fate intervened and you didn't lose anyone.... I have a half Husky-half Great Pyrenees. Unfortuntely she has a very high prey drive due to the Husky in her and she would kill my chickens in a second (she already has once). But our fenced backyard (her play area) adjoins my chicken & duck runs. I have put her outside many times to "guard" the chickens & ducks with her presence in the backyard. If something got into the chicken yard, she wouldn't actually be able to do anything but I think just the sight of her would be a deterrent.

foxes came back but my girl was on duty! she will get boiled eggs as a treat.

 

[chickengr]

Yes, Dear Wife is an excellent cook and I am an excellent eater. She is best at Asian foods as you would expect. She does not bake or cook in the oven very much because, frankly, she grew up without an oven. She is just more comfortable on the stovetop and that is OK with me.

But she showed no desire in opening up the electric pressure cooker I bought or even trying to cook with it. So that idea was a swing and a miss for me. Like I said, I hope to find someone in the extended family that would appreciate the pressure cooker as it's too expensive just to give to someone else where it might sit in the closet. I don't know much about these new electric pressure cookers, but it has all kinds of settings and timers that can be set. I think Dear Wife just looked at it and said to herself, "Nope, I am fine with my frying pans and a wok."

I grew up with the oven but rarely use it. I prefer boiled food then a few fried dishes. I like asian food but usually don't have time to chop vegetables.

 

[chickengr]

As you can imagine, the title of "Homestead Rescue" implies the homesteaders are not doing so well in their off grid homesteads. In the episodes I have watched, mostly it is people who decided to live off grid as a dream, but really had not much knowledge or preparation for that life style.

I spent my summers as a young man living with my grandparents on lake property without electricity or running water. We used kerosene lanterns, pumped our water from a well, and had an outside biffy as a toilet. We took our baths in the lake. We had a wood cook stove which grandma cooked on, but it also took the chill out of the air on cold mornings. I cut down enough trees and split enough wood in my time at our cabin. And I loved every minute of it.

I will have fotovoltaic panels and a wind turbine. so it is not going to be a real off grid, just paying less bills. properties without electricity also pay less taxes.

 

[Fishychix]

Good morning! Im a bit perplexed at my garden. My radishes look great, but have no actual radish going on; my lettuce bolted before it came to any real size, like less tan a finger long; my pak choy did nothing but go straight to seed; my strawberries and eggplants arent bearing fruit after flowering and lastly my potatoes in the barrels are sopping wet and turning yellow and brown, the ones in the bag look fine though. Im at a complete loss as to whats going on.