What did you do in the garden today?

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. I'm only going into the garden every other day or so. Yesterday DD and I went to a book sale fund raiser at a library a few towns away from here. I got a grocery bag full of books for $5. Of course they were either cookbooks or gardening books. I got several books on Victory Gardens and kitchen gardens. I also found a small cookbook with early American / New England recipes. There's actually a rabbit recipe in there if anyone is interested. I picked lima beans and chard this morning. The rutabagas /turnip leaves are looking pretty eaten up by bugs but the bulbs are actually developing. The carrots are still looking good but I'm not pulling any of those until I finish the last of the grocery store carrots. Today is laundry day and I may try to get motivated to clean the siding on the house. I don't see the sense in cleaning the gutters until the leaves have actually fallen. As it is they are slow to change color in my yard. I found an inexpensive 2 gallon container to transplant my orange tree into. Both of my citrus trees are sprouting new leaves and growing well. DD gave custody of her Venus flytrap to me. I've never grown one before so any suggestions are welcome. I don't think she had enough light for the poor thing so I got a one gallon fish bowl and popped it in there on top of some wet aquarium gravel. It's in the sunroom so it should get plenty of light and warmth. Fingers crossed, it will do well in there. Best of luck on the bathroom remodel @Acre4Me. Although my kitchen is not completed yet, it's a good feeling to have a kitchen that I designed to work for me. Cooking and especially canning is so much easier now. Updated bathrooms are important too. We all gotta go, so why not make it a relaxing place to go. Have a great day everyone.

 

[Acre4Me]

Best of luck on the bathroom remodel @Acre4Me. Although my kitchen is not completed yet, it's a good feeling to have a kitchen that I designed to work for me. Cooking and especially canning is so much easier now. Updated bathrooms are important too. We all gotta go, so why not make it a relaxing place to go.

Thanks! This bathroom is desperately in need of updating! It is pretty large (12'x9'), but not particularly attractive nor modern nor as functional as it could be. Since it's large, and the hallway turns a corner, we can put in a doorway around the corner for the main bath, and keep current doorway for the new half bath, and the main bath will still be a decent size (9'x9' approx).

 

[Sueby]

Yea cukes do the same here @Acre4Me. I had a little luck in the spring, got quite a few of that large asian variety then I went out west for my uncle & came home to a cuke beetle invasion. They wilted & died very quickly after that.

So a friend said he would take my gooseberry bush so I dug it up for him, then he saw the prickers & decided he didn't want it so I dug a hole in the run, put in my good compost & googled chickens & gooseberries & found they could be toxic if they ate them. & Let me remind you my birds were fascinated by the hawk - not smart girls. So the bush went in the fire.

So I ended up moving the big blueberry bush to where the goose was, now I have much more room. But sheesh I've dug a lot of holes for nothing!

I must say my compost is fantastic. I don't even bother sifting it, no need.

 

[Sueby]

@Wee Farmer Sarah the trees are just starting to turn here, seems late this year.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Yes they are late this year. What we originally thought were tomatillos growing in DD’s garden plot turned out to be gooseberries. She ate one and googled after. She promptly called poison control. She bagged that and put into the dumpster. She has got some bell peppers, Anaheim peppers and a boatload of scallions from the garden. She planted mesclun lettuce, butter crunch lettuce and icicle radishes. She picked a couple of radishes already. I used a lot of the scallions in last night’s Asian inspired dinner. So tasty.

 

[NewBoots]

Because we've been focused on retrofitting our mud/laundry room, since I got a bunch of freebies. A bunch of lockers, and a large cabinet with a countertop.

Nice! I've got to start looking for a deal on a used fridge for the garage/barn. I get enough eggs now that just keeping them on the counter top isn't as practical as it used to be.

In more fun news, my former neighbor who's moving out of state gave us a bunch of new chickens!

PICS!

DD gave custody of her Venus flytrap to me. I've never grown one before so any suggestions are welcome.

DP is the carnivorous plant expert so I'll see if I can get her to post about flytraps.

Yea cukes do the same here @Acre4Me.

I'm going to try one more time for cukes next spring. I just need to bite the bullet and make a space in the raised beds with a proper trellis. I tried pots this year but it was too hard to keep them moist enough.

What we originally thought were tomatillos growing in DD’s garden plot turned out to be gooseberries. She ate one and googled after. She promptly called poison control.

I love our gooseberries, by the time I made the currant jelly I'd eaten all of the gooseberries. Next season I'll try freezing them to build up enough to make jelly.

DP is having a small procedure at the hospital today so I'm waiting for the call to come pick her up. I miss the days when you could stay with someone just about till they entered the operating room. She couldn't eat at all yesterday or drink water after midnight last night so I promised her all kinds of good things once she's home again.

Thanks for all the suggestions about the green tomato skins, I'll probably not bother to skin them when I make the next batch of salsa and since I have so many, I'll freeze the rest and see how that works too. So glad I have some recipes to use them, so many green tomatoes! Oh, and I'll make DP some fried green tomatoes today too!

 

[Sueby]

Good luck to DP @NewBoots, I hope she comes out feeling better than ever & good from all the pain meds.

I just did not like the texture of the gooseberries. I did put them in a jam & it was all good but it was taking up too much precious garden space for something I didn't like much.

& yea, PICS - I feel like you've all been slacking on pics lately.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

A quick note on the gooseberries. These were unripe Cape gooseberries. They are toxic and contain arsenic if not fully ripened.

 

[MTKitty]

Today, I watched snow pile up on my empty garden beds.

 

[vall]

Chilly and windy today. Brought the last little melons inside and tore out the vines. Now I have two spots for fall veggies, might go with radishes and carrots. Maybe have a few figs left, if the raccoon doesn't get them. Lemon guavas are ripe. Quail started hatching yesterday.