What did you do in the garden today?

[chickengr]

I let my 5 leghorns and 5 silkies to "clean" my garden. leghorns love ants! I just have to be near tomatoes and prevent my leghorns to scratch around them. silkies prefer weeding.

 

[SheaLoner]

I let my 5 leghorns and 5 silkies to "clean" my garden. leghorns love ants! I just have to be near tomatoes and prevent my leghorns to scratch around them. silkies prefer weeding.

Wasnt paying attention yesterday, saw a few of my girls in the garden and thought, Good, eat those bugs.
My poor STRAWBERRIES! They managed to dig up about half of my new plants and trampled the rest.

 

[WIchickMama]

@TJAnonymous I check my garden daily, if not twice, LOL--like anything will change. So yep, I am right there with you.

Finally in the 60s again, onions are growing, first bowl of lettuce last night and little DD ate it up, planted another round of spinach and lettuce, and will be checking on the raspberry transplants. Potatoes are doing the best out of everything this year.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Use a dish soap and water mix spray them it will kill aphids.

I use a mix of peppermint castile soap, neem oil, and water in a pump sprayer. Hopefully my spraying will resolve the little buggers.

 

[TJAnonymous]

The buns is having an outdoor snack in the catio this morning.... He loves being outside when the weather is cool.

 

[Acre4Me]

All tomatoes and peppers planted!! They were distributed around 3 beds. Now to water them.

Then will direct seed some celery, carrots, and melons.

Also, need to re-do my scribbled planting guide. We moved a few things after I wrote down the notes. Since this one is the large bed, it’s easy to move things around willy-nilly but then we wouldn’t have a clue..

We chose a raised bed for the sweet potato shipment 1 (24 slips) and marked off some if the sunniest warmest portions of the large bed sweet potato slip shipment 2 (24 slips). One shipment should come soon, the other should come late June (clearance end of season ones). My neighbor planted his sweet potato slips fairly late last year, and got a good harvest.

Who has experience with sweet potatoes?

From what I have read -from the place I purchased slips from, they get planted fairly close. The vines trail (how much can vary by variety), and you don’t really want the vines to root anywhere else than where it was planted otherwise the roots you dig at end of season (at the place the slip was planted) are smaller. However, another site said to allow them to root along the vine. But, with a shorter season here, I imagine I really don’t want the vine to take root anywhere else but where I planted it.
So, tell me your experiences with sweet potatoes.

 

[CNJ]

In a previous experiment, I placed a round colander with the round side up in a bucket and covered it with a 15 inch micro fiber cloth then I filled the sides with lava rock, so only the cloth was touching the soil. I also drilled a 3 inch level drain hole. The picture on the bottom show how well my okra are growing in that bucket.

I am trying a new idea without the colander and I am using just coarse lava rock on the bottom. The half inch pvc elbow inside the bucket is covered with a 2 inch net cup to allow excess water to drain and half of the 15 inch micro fiber cloth is covered on the bottom. The lava rock hold the other half of the cloth above the water level for the wick.

I think the main difference between the two ideas is the one with only lava rock will hold less water, but there are some advantages like I can see the water level and I can refill it from the half inch pvc. elbow. It will also give me a good idea on how often they need to be watered.

Note: A cotton cloth will break down and disappear, but a micro fiber cloth will still be intact and in good condition at the end of the growing season. The 15 inch microfiber cloth I ordered from amazon are thick enough to wick water.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KR1JS37?smid=A2LD1G37AFXYHU&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp&th=1

Definition of microfiber​

: a fine usually soft polyester fiberalso : a fabric made from such fibers

 

[jerryse]

Got tomatoes planted . Cucumber seeds are sprouting . Beens not up yet .

 

[WthrLady]

All tomatoes and peppers planted!! They were distributed around 3 beds. Now to water them.

Then will direct seed some celery, carrots, and melons.

Also, need to re-do my scribbled planting guide. We moved a few things after I wrote down the notes. Since this one is the large bed, it’s easy to move things around willy-nilly but then we wouldn’t have a clue..

We chose a raised bed for the sweet potato shipment 1 (24 slips) and marked off some if the sunniest warmest portions of the large bed sweet potato slip shipment 2 (24 slips). One shipment should come soon, the other should come late June (clearance end of season ones). My neighbor planted his sweet potato slips fairly late last year, and got a good harvest.

Who has experience with sweet potatoes?

From what I have read -from the place I purchased slips from, they get planted fairly close. The vines trail (how much can vary by variety), and you don’t really want the vines to root anywhere else than where it was planted otherwise the roots you dig at end of season (at the place the slip was planted) are smaller. However, another site said to allow them to root along the vine. But, with a shorter season here, I imagine I really don’t want the vine to take root anywhere else but where I planted it.
So, tell me your experiences with sweet potatoes.

I drape my vines over the fence or they get in the way. You can also trim them back, At the node if they sit long enough, yes they will root, but I've never had those starts produce anything, as our season is so short.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I let the Littles outside with the adults today. I had them in an outdoor kennel but they all managed to get out and have free reign of the chicken yard with the adults. I'm trying to keep an eye on them and make sure they aren't being bullied but I had to move the water where they could get to it since they won't go back in the pen... They can also get through the chicken yard fence so I REALLY have to keep an eye out. I'm probably going to need a net to catch them tonight...