Gammas Bearded Babies
Crossing the Road
I froze em since they got rained on after pickin em and my mom will make blackberry jam!
Otherwise she would have made us dumplins! Um um good!
What did you do in the garden today?
- Thread starter Dara77
- Start date
Otherwise she would have made us dumplins! Um um good!
Blueberry jam is delicious! I love to eat it on toast
Yes, that's the one I was looking at. There are so many models now - it seems like just a couple years ago they had just come out and there was only one type.
Last night I picked about 20 more of those fuzzy white caterpillars off of my brassicas. The brassicas are under insect netting, so I don’t know how they got in. Maybe from the compost (aged 1.5 years), or maybe already in the raised bed soil -laid early spring, or last summer/fall? Only a few brassica leaves have touched the insect netting, but I have found no eggs anywhere, so I’d be inclined to think the eggs came in from compost or were laid earlier, before the netting.
then, I found cabbage looper caterpillars eating my Rutabaga leaves. As I had suspected bc they sure look like Brussel sprout leaves. These are not covered, and I’m not overly worried as I should be able to squish most of the caterpillars eventually.
Two melon types (honeydew types) look to be succumbing to wilt. New varieties to us, so likely won’t plant again. There are 2 watermelon types that look ok, but have hardly grown at all. The other watermelons snd musk melons are looking good.
our gourd shade wall is doing well. Luckily I had tied up the vines onto the fencing. They have many tough tendrils, but we found that if a strong wind blows from certain directions, it will pull the vines off due to their weight. Since gourds were forming, I spent some time tying up the vines. That evening, winds picked up and sure enough, blew the vines over, but they stayed up where they were tied. I think we will add a grid for them to attach to on the run roof on that side, since they are spreading so far.
warm today and tomorrow -low chances of rain. So, I’ll have to water the garden at some point.
then, I found cabbage looper caterpillars eating my Rutabaga leaves. As I had suspected bc they sure look like Brussel sprout leaves. These are not covered, and I’m not overly worried as I should be able to squish most of the caterpillars eventually.
Two melon types (honeydew types) look to be succumbing to wilt. New varieties to us, so likely won’t plant again. There are 2 watermelon types that look ok, but have hardly grown at all. The other watermelons snd musk melons are looking good.
our gourd shade wall is doing well. Luckily I had tied up the vines onto the fencing. They have many tough tendrils, but we found that if a strong wind blows from certain directions, it will pull the vines off due to their weight. Since gourds were forming, I spent some time tying up the vines. That evening, winds picked up and sure enough, blew the vines over, but they stayed up where they were tied. I think we will add a grid for them to attach to on the run roof on that side, since they are spreading so far.
warm today and tomorrow -low chances of rain. So, I’ll have to water the garden at some point.
@WthrLady can you post the website that tracks rainfall amounts? I didn't get to bookmark it before it got lost in the mass of posts. TY!
Morning all, shocking, but it's raining here. I did manage to get some tomatoes tied up yesterday & staked some peppers. Tasted a couple gooseberries (ick on the texture, they'll go in jam) & blueberries. Picked some beans for dinner. @Sally PB, thank you so much for the seeds, the beans are fantastic. Great texture &big long!
Also managed to repair a couple holes in the bird netting from squirrels chewing thru it & a branch that fell during Elsa.
I do believe the cukes are a Suyo Long, I can't remember who mentioned it to me (all is a blur due to my uncles illness) but thanks for pointing me there. They are very prolific, I'd def plant them again. They seem to be beetle free at this point, which is great. They needed more room, but I've never had cuke vines grow that big so I didn't know. The fruit are crips, little seeds, very large & grow quickly. They would pickle well & I will do some later this summer. I think my new go to cukes.
Morning all, shocking, but it's raining here. I did manage to get some tomatoes tied up yesterday & staked some peppers. Tasted a couple gooseberries (ick on the texture, they'll go in jam) & blueberries. Picked some beans for dinner. @Sally PB, thank you so much for the seeds, the beans are fantastic. Great texture &
Also managed to repair a couple holes in the bird netting from squirrels chewing thru it & a branch that fell during Elsa.
I do believe the cukes are a Suyo Long, I can't remember who mentioned it to me (all is a blur due to my uncles illness) but thanks for pointing me there. They are very prolific, I'd def plant them again. They seem to be beetle free at this point, which is great. They needed more room, but I've never had cuke vines grow that big so I didn't know. The fruit are crips, little seeds, very large & grow quickly. They would pickle well & I will do some later this summer. I think my new go to cukes.
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Today we heard chirping from Helga the broody hen's nest! It was so tempting to open it up and see if we have chicks, but we decided to not disturb them in case some of her eggs need more time to hatch.
@Sueby https://www.cocorahs.org/Maps/ I prefer the interactive map. You can zoom in, and in the winter change it over to snowfall.
And you can always become a volunteer yourself
@gtaus So what you want it a soaker/gravity irrigation. If you can get water uphill to your buckets and mount/place your buckets higher than your plants then you can use the half inch line. While our irrigation is fed off a well pump at pressure, even when we turn off the system and close the ballcock to the pump, the whole hose system continues to drain downhill until all the irrigation heads are empty of fluid. You have to keep in mind that the lowest head on the system gets the most water.
In the summer, on a windy day, even with humidity, you can loose 1/3-1/2 an inch or more PER day of soil moisture through evapotransipration. So while you may have had an inch of needed rain, you've LOST upto 3.5 inches that week in evaporation and more with plant needs, which is why we need to water growing plants MORE than just one inch per week.
The upside is that with irrigation you put that head right at the base of the plant and water more deeply allowing for maximum benefit to the plant and less open watering evaporation. I would invest in ONE of those systems this year and haul a bucket up from the lake to fill it and see how well it drains and how many gravity heads you can manage off one head, and how much you get from each. Then you can spend money and time planning over fall/winter.
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Been up since two am. AM crosseyed, but weather is going to keep my busy today. Flies were insane this morning so I sprayed the henhouse and barn with fly spray. I want to get some more essential oil and get some DE in the henhouse. We had hanging fly bags up, but it wasn't cutting it. No where CLOSE. Predator flies, have never worked here. It's just so wet, and warm, perfect for flies.
And you can always become a volunteer yourself
@gtaus So what you want it a soaker/gravity irrigation. If you can get water uphill to your buckets and mount/place your buckets higher than your plants then you can use the half inch line. While our irrigation is fed off a well pump at pressure, even when we turn off the system and close the ballcock to the pump, the whole hose system continues to drain downhill until all the irrigation heads are empty of fluid. You have to keep in mind that the lowest head on the system gets the most water.
In the summer, on a windy day, even with humidity, you can loose 1/3-1/2 an inch or more PER day of soil moisture through evapotransipration. So while you may have had an inch of needed rain, you've LOST upto 3.5 inches that week in evaporation and more with plant needs, which is why we need to water growing plants MORE than just one inch per week.
The upside is that with irrigation you put that head right at the base of the plant and water more deeply allowing for maximum benefit to the plant and less open watering evaporation. I would invest in ONE of those systems this year and haul a bucket up from the lake to fill it and see how well it drains and how many gravity heads you can manage off one head, and how much you get from each. Then you can spend money and time planning over fall/winter.
=======
Been up since two am. AM crosseyed, but weather is going to keep my busy today. Flies were insane this morning so I sprayed the henhouse and barn with fly spray. I want to get some more essential oil and get some DE in the henhouse. We had hanging fly bags up, but it wasn't cutting it. No where CLOSE. Predator flies, have never worked here. It's just so wet, and warm, perfect for flies.
@gtaus forgot to say that the big difference between the PSI needed drip irrigation and the gravity fed one is the heads, My favorite for BOTH systems is an open screw type head that slips into the 1/4" tubing. You turn the screw head to allow for more or less flow, per plant depending on need or water availability. My lower heads are almost closed as they allow for water flow out even after the system is off and it drains for the day, out the lowest ports, and while it is on it allows the water to back up in the tubing system for the upper heads to flow and water, and those are open a little more.
Another key is to have a drain out cap at the very end for winter, OR one head lowest on the system to serve the same purpose.
Another key is getting that bucket bottom ABOVE your watering surface. Even sitting it on top of another 5 gallon, lidded bucket will work. OH, and you'll probably want to put a half cinder block or paving stone on top of each watering bucket to keep them from blowing over when they drain out..
Another key is to have a drain out cap at the very end for winter, OR one head lowest on the system to serve the same purpose.
Another key is getting that bucket bottom ABOVE your watering surface. Even sitting it on top of another 5 gallon, lidded bucket will work. OH, and you'll probably want to put a half cinder block or paving stone on top of each watering bucket to keep them from blowing over when they drain out..
So, really wanted some potatoes - the plants (yellow type) are dying back, but still pretty green. However, we dug up one plant and here’s what we got.
Awesome, thanks! I will look into volunteering, there isn't anything too close to me. But we've had 11 inches since 7/1 - or around there.@Sueby https://www.cocorahs.org/Maps/ I prefer the interactive map. You can zoom in, and in the winter change it over to snowfall.
And you can always become a volunteer yourself
Got the gooseberries picked, washed & in the freezer till I can make jam. A couple not quite ripe ones, but I read they're good to use for jam as they have more pectin. A couple blueberries too. I have 5 trays of yellow squash chips going in the dehydrator, can't wait to eat them.
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