What did you do in the garden today?

[Iluveggers]

We are borrowing the tiller on Sat!
It’s party time!

 

[Wolfie2]

oh oh oh....I forgot something! A couple of years ago, I purchased a Shittake mushroom log from Gurney's. I noticed on Tuesday that it appears to have grown a mushroom!!! Of course, I have no idea how to remove the mushroom from the log without killing its chances of coming back next year???? Anyone ever grown those before?

Having never grown mushrooms I'm just guessing here. Mushrooms are actually a fungus and fungus, I believe but may be wrong, propagate by releasing spores when they mature. If that's the case there needs to be some that mature and die on the log for it to be successful again. Also, the spores may be viable for more than one season. May want to google that just to make sure.

 

[Wolfie2]

Another thread. On tomatoes this time. I have green tomatoes on a couple of plants. First toms of the season. One has larger fruit but I have watched as 3 of the fruit, so far, have developed a rot at the stem end. one has fallen off and when I found that, I removed the other two. Soft, mushy, brown @ stem.
I'm watering in the morning to mid day so they dry pretty quickly. I water from the bottom (not drip) but do not wet the foliage very much. And I have a good layer of mulch, dry leaves, thick enough so I only have to water once every 3-4 days despite having gotten only 1.5" of rain in the past 2 months. I do not see much that would point to a fungus.
Anyone have any experience/advice/advice?

 

[Iluveggers]

Another thread. On tomatoes this time. I have green tomatoes on a couple of plants. First toms of the season. One has larger fruit but I have watched as 3 of the fruit, so far, have developed a rot at the stem end. one has fallen off and when I found that, I removed the other two. Soft, mushy, brown @ stem.
I'm watering in the morning to mid day so they dry pretty quickly. I water from the bottom (not drip) but do not wet the foliage very much. And I have a good layer of mulch, dry leaves, thick enough so I only have to water once every 3-4 days despite having gotten only 1.5" of rain in the past 2 months. I do not see much that would point to a fungus.
Anyone have any experience/advice/advice?

Could either be from sunscald or could be rotting due to calcium deficiency (caused by too much or not enough watering).

How hot has it been?

 

[Acre4Me]

@Wolfie2 rot at the blossom end is usually due to calcium deficiency, but I’m not sure about the stem end. Try the TX ag page - might have gardening info relative to your area.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Could either be from sunscald or could be rotting due to calcium deficiency (caused by too much or not enough watering).

How hot has it been?

I agree... Sounds like blossom end rot. I'd suggest adding some bone meal or even a glass of milk.

 

[Acre4Me]

I agree... Sounds like blossom end rot. I'd suggest adding some bone meal or even a glass of milk.

I’ve used gypsum, bone meal, eggshells in compost, and extra oyster shells in the dirt. The egg shells and oyster shells take time to dissolve, so that isn’t readily available. But, the gypsum and bone meal are more quickly available. You can also buy blossom sprays for tomatoes that contain calcium-I’ve used these sprays before snd they did help.

 

[gtaus]

Got one of my two new corrugated steel panel raised garden beds put together and hauled it out to the backyard. I've got a lot of projects going on, so always something to do. Should be able to put the second raised bed together in a few days and get that into the backyard as well.

Went out to a local nursery a few days ago and got a current price on black topsoil for the new raised beds. It will cost $60 for a bobcat scoop full of topsoil this year. I remember just a few years ago the price went up to $40 for a scoop, so it was a bit disappointing to find out how much the prices on topsoil have gone up. My plan is to fill the new corrugated steel panel raised beds with hügelkultur wood in the bottom 8-10 inches, then top it off with a 1:1 mix of new topsoil and chicken run compost in the top 6-8 inches. That worked out really well for my last year.

I had to buy a new battery for my old riding Poulon Pro lawn mower. That mower is close to 20 years old, but still is kicking. It's burning oil, and I usually have to give the starter a smack with my rubber mallet because the starter sticks at times. The seat is all ripped up and my butt gets wet after a rain, but I can live with that. I'll probably run that mower till it won't run anymore. It's not worth putting any money into if it breaks down and I cannot fix it myself. However, I have been saying that for the past 8 years or so and every spring it still manages to start up and run.

I bought a new Husqvarna 48 inch deck riding mower a couple years, has less than 90 hours on it, but it runs like crap - constantly surges. I am to the point where I might break down and take it into the shop for the professional mechanics to take a look at it. It is without a doubt the worse running lawn mower I have ever owned. What makes it even worse, is that the new Husqvarna riding mower was to replace my older Husqvarna riding mower which was the best mower I ever had.

 

[WthrLady]

Power is back on. Went out for the whole section for no apparent reason. Probably a tree down by the creek, slipped with all the rain into the lines.

Fog is thick tonight and will be that way into the afternoon. Storms all weekend.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Got one of my two new corrugated steel panel raised garden beds put together and hauled it out to the backyard. I've got a lot of projects going on, so always something to do. Should be able to put the second raised bed together in a few days and get that into the backyard as well.

Went out to a local nursery a few days ago and got a current price on black topsoil for the new raised beds. It will cost $60 for a bobcat scoop full of topsoil this year. I remember just a few years ago the price went up to $40 for a scoop, so it was a bit disappointing to find out how much the prices on topsoil have gone up. My plan is to fill the new corrugated steel panel raised beds with hügelkultur wood in the bottom 8-10 inches, then top it off with a 1:1 mix of new topsoil and chicken run compost in the top 6-8 inches. That worked out really well for my last year.

I had to buy a new battery for my old riding Poulon Pro lawn mower. That mower is close to 20 years old, but still is kicking. It's burning oil, and I usually have to give the starter a smack with my rubber mallet because the starter sticks at times. The seat is all ripped up and my butt gets wet after a rain, but I can live with that. I'll probably run that mower till it won't run anymore. It's not worth putting any money into if it breaks down and I cannot fix it myself. However, I have been saying that for the past 8 years or so and every spring it still manages to start up and run.

I bought a new Husqvarna 48 inch deck riding mower a couple years, has less than 90 hours on it, but it runs like crap - constantly surges. I am to the point where I might break down and take it into the shop for the professional mechanics to take a look at it. It is without a doubt the worse running lawn mower I have ever owned. What makes it even worse, is that the new Husqvarna riding mower was to replace my older Husqvarna riding mower which was the best mower I ever had.

I feel like most things today are the result of crappy half-baked engineering. It's like manufacturers purposely design things to break down and fail so they have to be replaced after a few years. No one makes anything that lasts like our grandparents had...