What did you do in the garden today?

[638858]

My grandparents would take all the fish my cousins, uncles, and I caught and freeze them. When there was a nice pile, they'd clean them, put the heads and guts down under tomatoes, peppers, etc. We ate fried catfish, bass, and whatever else, and so did the plants. Good times. Good food.

We do the same for a family fish fry.. but had no electricity or running water so that made it hard to preserve more than some vegetables by home canning with root vegetables buried in wet sand in the cellar, some smoked meat hangin in the smokehouse, salt cured pork and venison mostly.. I’m ready to go back to those times... most aren’t.. but soon we all will..

 

[Sally PB]

I caught the mouse, gave it to the hens.

I've thought about that. You mean a dead mouse you caught in a snap trap?

Manistee national forest

In Michigan? It'll be morel time in a couple weeks.

 

[Wolfie2]

Unfortunately yes. Our asparagus bed finally is done, after probably 20+ years. We bought our place in 2009 with a thriving asparagus bed, and for several years before we bought the place, I used to see the asparagus as I was driving by.
Last year, all the spears were tiny, so this year we made a pen there for our roosters to till up and fertilize. This fall we'll move the roosters and replant the bed with new asparagus crowns. It'll be hard to wait another two or so years for fresh asparagus, but I still have quite a few cans of picked to use in recipes.

I have part of a fiberglass tank, a slice out of it that is 5' dia. and 18" tall. Was planning to fill it with wood chips and compost from the local city recycling program, chicken coop refuse (lotsa poop), leaves, and dirt from Wallyworld and maybe it will be ready for asparagus next spring. Getting it outta the garden will free up more space there.

 

[Sueby]

My dog is hunting grubs.

 

[jerryse]

50 cloudy and breezy . Mowed and trying to warmup . Frost tonight .

 

[pennyJo1960]

Hey there Gardeners this has gotten to be busy as heck thread. Love it. I planted a old tray of pods I bought back a year or so ago.
Have allot of seeds planted put a stay on heat pad under it on low. Cross my fingers they start.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Oh boy....I'm going to be in all kinds of trouble if my DH finds out what I just did....

I am the proud new owner of 6 new baby chicks from the feed store. I got (2) Partridge Wyandottes, 2 Welsummers, and 2 Rhode Island Whites. All pullets.

Yeah, I'm in sooooooo much trouble. Of course, I have them in with the baby chicks I swiped from my broody hens so maybe he won't notice.

 

[NewBoots]

Yeah...that's a lot.

Holy moly that is a lot of crops, go you!

Last Friday we picked up the trees and shrubs ordered from our conservation district, and actually got them all planted that day.

And that is a great job, I try to plant everything I buy the same day but I don't always make that happen.

then we sat outside with coffee and admired how nice our place looks when it's mowed and trimmed up,

I love that too and if I've let the chickens out for a little R&R it looks like a pretty picture. Makes me very happy.

just walked back to house and woofed down breakfast headed to the creek with fresh bluegill for cut bait and enough for lunch to boot...
have a good day y’all.. the catfish are callin...
Flint

Oh man, we used too catch tons of big bluegills here but some dork put yellow perch in the lake and the crappie and bluegill numbers plummeted. The bass are still here and the sizes get up to and over 7lbs. The perch are tasty enough but harder to fillet. Still a lot of catfish too.

And yesterday I watered extremely heavily and had some natural fish poo fertilizer in a hose end mixer. Stinkin' stuff that. When I watered this morning it made it smell again. Blegh. We'll see how the plants look over the next several days.

Yeah, the fish fertilizer and green compost tea are both pretty stinky but the do great for us.

Great Granny used to send us kids fishin in early spring.. keep everything yall catch.. then when she got enough, she would put a chopped up fish in every hole she dug for all fruit bearing plants.

We put fish in all the wholes we planted shrubs & trees in and then put a layer of fish in the raised beds. I add a few more to the raised beds every year.

Thanks to everyone who said that Penny would be alright even though she got some old cooked chicken bones. She's never shown any sign of trouble and since I'm generally the poop picker-upper, I'd be the first to know. I won't be giving the ladies any bones that haven't been cooked to the point of crumbling ever again though. I got the second tray of beet starts planted and the summer squash might make it. Good gardening everyone!

 

[NewBoots]

I am the proud new owner of 6 new baby chicks from the feed store. I got (2) Partridge Wyandottes, 2 Welsummers, and 2 Rhode Island Whites. All pullets.

Yeah, I'm in sooooooo much trouble. Of course, I have them in with the baby chicks I swiped from my broody hens so maybe he won't notice.

Wooohooo! Go you! I have 3 leghorn (home hatched so we're hoping for pullets), 2 midnight majesty marans, and an easter egger chick in my bath tub right now. AND 12 easter egger eggs in the incubator. So not supposed to have so many chickens and I feel as free as a naked toddler running from the parents!

 

[igorsMistress]

I've never seen deer eat rhubarb here, surprisingly. They eat the hostas down to the ground, but never touch the rhubarb. Rhubarb is the one thing nothing here will touch so I grow it outside the garden fence. I googled it & this is what I came up with: Slugs, snails, leaf beetles, beetles, and deer are the culprits you should look out for. These pests are the most commonly known for eating rhubarb leaves.




I'm sure it's different for you as you're much hotter, but I'm able to grow lettuce most of the summer by growing it under shade cloth. It grows well enough here for the most part except in August. I grow enough to just cut it down instead of picking the outside leaves, it keeps it from bolting.

Debating on starting some asian cukes inside. I said I wasn't going to do any starts, but I think I will. Maybe some squash too. It's just so darn cold here at night still. But my beans look good under the hot house out there.

Went to the Depot yesterday, got a new spigot & some hose to run to the farthest end of the garden. & a new 5 gal bucket for a bigger chicken waterer. Looks like back surgery is inevitable & I won't be able to put it off till after the harvest so I'm trying to make everything as easy for DH as I can.

Haven't slept in days because of the pain so I'm just sitting on the heating pad today. But I need to get my starts outside for a couple hours & get a cattle panel cut up for supports for the peppers.

Sueby, my husband had back surgery 10+ years ago. His alternative was that or paralysis, I’m happy he chose the former. He said his recovery was easier than when he had to have his ankle repaired. While he has good days and bad, overall his quality of life is better now than it was before. I wish you the best!