What did you do in the garden today?

[BReeder!]

I noticed this morning that the vb has attacked my pumpkins. At least 1 vine looks pretty decimated and infested. I will need to go over it more closely this evening and try to exorcise the little demons. Grrr.....

It's going to be HOT today....and even HOTTER tomorrow. I have some cold watermelon ready for the girls which I will give them this afternoon when it gets really bad. I'll put some ice in their water too...

Luckily I had a TON of giant shade trees which helps. I also have fans in every coop but being dual purpose birds, they don't tend to tolerate the heat really well. I tried giving them a very shallow swimming pool one year. Didn't work. They drank out of it but wouldn't walk in it. Oh well.... I always daydream about things I'd do to improve my property if money were no obstacle.... One of them would be to put in a shallow little creek with a small pool at the end (for the ducks). I'd put in a pump to push water back up to the top of the hill where it would "wash" back down via the creek. Probably wouldn't be expensive to put in....maybe a couple hundred bucks, but not money I want to spend right now when I have other things that are higher priority. Maybe one day....

We used to have a pet rabbit. He had a cooling stone. It was a thin piece of marble that we paid a about $10 for at a pet store. It naturally stayed cool. Would be a need idea to use something like that for chickens to rest on and cool off.
Our chickens seem to currently prefer digging holes to sit in when it gets hot. The dirt a few inches down can be much cooler and more moist. Our run ends up looking like the surface of the moon, but the chickens are happy and heathy.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. Nice comfortable morning today. The last forecast I heard regarding the storms was the worst is most likely going to strike southern Massachusetts and the islands @Sueby. They're warning of "pop up" tornadoes on the south shore. I'm not too concerned, we'll see what happens. I picked my first cherry tomatoes and one cucumber this morning. Also picked a few more green beans, a jalapeno and a few BES. Somewhat encouraging is there's another cuke nearing picking size with more small ones developing. The first cuke weighed in at 1/4 pound so perhaps I can harvest enough to make one batch of pickles. The stalks are dying back on the potato plants so I should be checking on those. Perhaps tomorrow. I need to go to the grocery store this morning. That could take awhile due to the road construction. I cut into one of my peaches yesterday to see how far along they have developed and it seems right on track. I'm excited because this will be my first harvest. The figs are still coming along as well. The cabbage seeds I planted just last week have germinated and are coming up now. I thinned the new radish seedlings already. The last thing is one of my okra plants has a flower starting to bloom. The plants are still a bit small, but I know from last year they continue to grow even while producing the okras. DD is a bit frustrated with the housing bubble and found a reasonably priced apartment not far from me. She will be moving at the end of next week. It is comfortably affordable so she will still be able to save some more money toward a purchase when the housing bubble "pops." The house on the north side of my property was sold so I'm holding my breath until the construction crews show up and start tearing things up. It needs a septic tank installed. I expect that to be a real PITA with all the noise and dirt flying around. Oh well. What can you do.

 

[BullChick]

I’m planning next year’s garden. I need to pay closer attention to sunlight in the front yard. I know the tomatoes and roses grow fine there. I want to plant strawberries (I cannot believe that I still can’t get strawberries to last more than a year! I’m truly special) and pumpkins. Smaller pumpkins are okay in the garden area, but I want to see what we can get from the mammoth pumpkins if we keep the vines separate, and only allow 1-2 fruits each.

 

[TJAnonymous]

We used to have a pet rabbit. He had a cooling stone. It was a thin piece of marble that we paid a about $10 for at a pet store. It naturally stayed cool. Would be a need idea to use something like that for chickens to rest on and cool off.
Our chickens seem to currently prefer digging holes to sit in when it gets hot. The dirt a few inches down can be much cooler and more moist. Our run ends up looking like the surface of the moon, but the chickens are happy and heathy.

ha ha...same. I can't walk through the chicken yard at night without potentially losing a knee cap. They have craters literally EVERYWHERE.

I do have a pet rabbit too.....recently adopted after someone dumped him at my daughter's barn co-op. He stays in my sunroom and has the run of the entire room during the day. He loves to lay on the cool tile under a bench seat out there. I never thought of getting a marble tile for the chickens.... Would they even use it?

 

[TJAnonymous]

Good morning gardeners. Nice comfortable morning today. The last forecast I heard regarding the storms was the worst is most likely going to strike southern Massachusetts and the islands @Sueby. They're warning of "pop up" tornadoes on the south shore. I'm not too concerned, we'll see what happens. I picked my first cherry tomatoes and one cucumber this morning. Also picked a few more green beans, a jalapeno and a few BES. Somewhat encouraging is there's another cuke nearing picking size with more small ones developing. The first cuke weighed in at 1/4 pound so perhaps I can harvest enough to make one batch of pickles. The stalks are dying back on the potato plants so I should be checking on those. Perhaps tomorrow. I need to go to the grocery store this morning. That could take awhile due to the road construction. I cut into one of my peaches yesterday to see how far along they have developed and it seems right on track. I'm excited because this will be my first harvest. The figs are still coming along as well. The cabbage seeds I planted just last week have germinated and are coming up now. I thinned the new radish seedlings already. The last thing is one of my okra plants has a flower starting to bloom. The plants are still a bit small, but I know from last year they continue to grow even while producing the okras. DD is a bit frustrated with the housing bubble and found a reasonably priced apartment not far from me. She will be moving at the end of next week. It is comfortably affordable so she will still be able to save some more money toward a purchase when the housing bubble "pops." The house on the north side of my property was sold so I'm holding my breath until the construction crews show up and start tearing things up. It needs a septic tank installed. I expect that to be a real PITA with all the noise and dirt flying around. Oh well. What can you do.

The housing market down here is going crazy too.... We looked for 2 years and were always outbid. We purchased our house in Feb 2020, right before Covid hit. I would have NEVER gotten this house except that our realtor knew the seller so we had a heads up before it actually hit the market. However, the seller was going through a divorce so we had to wait a year before we could actually close. It was hard to wait, but I am forever grateful...

My DH has to approve septic permits for the Dept of Health so he sees a lot of new construction. He was telling me the other day that small houses around 1500 SF were appraising for $300K - $450K! That's INSANE for Arkansas.... These same houses were selling for $165K-$175K just 2 yrs ago. Of course, our county is taking advantage of the craziness. They just did a countywide reappraisal for tax purposes. My property taxes DOUBLED.

 

[WthrLady]

ha ha...same. I can't walk through the chicken yard at night without potentially losing a knee cap. They have craters literally EVERYWHERE.

I do have a pet rabbit too.....recently adopted after someone dumped him at my daughter's barn co-op. He stays in my sunroom and has the run of the entire room during the day. He loves to lay on the cool tile under a bench seat out there. I never thought of getting a marble tile for the chickens.... Would they even use it?

and in the winter, you can place the tile on top of a heated waterer base, whole stone gets warm and toasty like a Roman hypocaust

 

[WthrLady]

The housing market down here is going crazy too.... We looked for 2 years and were always outbid. We purchased our house in Feb 2020, right before Covid hit. I would have NEVER gotten this house except that our realtor knew the seller so we had a heads up before it actually hit the market. However, the seller was going through a divorce so we had to wait a year before we could actually close. It was hard to wait, but I am forever grateful...

My DH has to approve septic permits for the Dept of Health so he sees a lot of new construction. He was telling me the other day that small houses around 1500 SF were appraising for $300K - $450K! That's INSANE for Arkansas.... These same houses were selling for $165K-$175K just 2 yrs ago. Of course, our county is taking advantage of the craziness. They just did a countywide reappraisal for tax purposes. My property taxes DOUBLED.

Ours did too, but luckily we can appeal, and I did. I argued covid inflation bubble and city flight and yup. Hardly anyone asks.

 

[MrLeeHo]

Not a ton going on today, tied up some tomato plants. I have 3 plants that have outgrown their 8 ft stakes. Not sure what to do with them, i don't want to top them because they are still producing. Trying to zig-zag them across to the neighboring stakes but worried I will break a vine in the process. Okra plants are over 6 ft tall now as well. It is hot...supposed to be 93 and humid today. Found a green worm in a cuke...chickens get a treat and i lose a cuke.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Housing prices here even Seattle has tripled the prices we bought the house 2015, 2178 square feet all one level with 3/4 an acre 124 thousand fannie mea wanted it sold off their books went to get insurance 350 thousand is replacement. Now our home is valued at 425 thousand

 

[Iluveggers]

Picked some beans & a pattypan squash today. Some of the bush bean plants were yellow/dying, presumably from the overload of rain. I pulled about a 2 ft section out, hilled up the dirt, and planted a few 55 day zucchini’s there in case I didn’t get all the vine borers in my other ones. Hopefully the female moths are done laying since it’s almost August. Picked two half-red pear tomatoes. Left the big heirloom on as the top is blushed with pink. Maybe a day or two? I can’t wait! Looks like another rainy afternoon. Hopefully a slow drizzle. It’s usually heavy & quick, which is why half the garden is drowning.