What did you do in the garden today?

[Elyrian1]

Ugh, I think we'll need shade cloths next summer for sure. I don't want to mess with it, but the alternative is not having a whole heck of a lot growing in late May through July. Which... I'd honestly like to have something in the garden producing year-round. I'm looking into extreme heat plant varieties (along with frost hardy stuff to overwinter), stuff I wouldn't normally think of. Everybody keeps saying walking onions! My goodness! Even the Australian guy I watch now and then on YT is saying to grow Egyptian Walking Onions! Lol

Potatoes are still pretty darn happy, very green. Starts are still hanging on. The tomato that dropped every single leaf on being planted has little leaves on it now. I don't know if it'll do anything, but we'll see. Nothing happening in the pots yet (too soon anyway), and I watered everything heavily this morning. By my count dumped about, oh, 30-35 gallons on the garden total. I wanted to dilute the brackish water I had to use a couple of days ago while the filter was down.

DH did get the water filter back up last night. It's going to be very hard for it to short out again, and he's added a breaker that should keep it from affecting anything in the house if it does. My kitchen happens to be on the same circuit, so when the pump went out the fridge got shuffled to emergency battery backup, which is limited, and I couldn't use any other appliances except the oven.

Saving all the store-bought start pots worked out pretty well this year. I had almost 30 that I consider free gardening supplies. DH had brought home three large and surprisingly sturdy aluminum trays from a lunch at his work where they didn't get used for anything other than holding ice before going in the trash (they were still clean!). So I put 2 inch pots in the trays. I like free stuff. Even if it only lasts one season, that's a season of plant starting supplies I didn't have to spend money on.

 

[igorsMistress]

Good morning all. I watered the fruit trees yesterday but I was very conservative. I would guess I was killing them with kindness so ignore them it is, but they’re looking much better. The lemongrass is starting to get thick, sharp leaves now, the sugarcane is going like gangbusters and the bananas and such are still going strong. The night blooming jessamine is quite happy and has nice dark leaves, still have the one tomato plant, the little lilac is still ok but I’m moving it to a pot in the shade garden over the weekend. Will get caught up later, have a great day all!

 

[igorsMistress]

We use these IBC totes in AZ (Mesa and Chino Valley) - we wrapped in black plastic (the plastic wrapping lasted a year or so) to keep sunlight from getting in. Next we built wooden fence panels to attach to them in Chino Valley because under big trees and didn't want them to get punctured by falling limbs & also shades them from sunlight - works ok. Now my DH is painting them black with a little strip left translucent to see water level. These are all the same totes, some transported from Mesa to Chino Valley so they have stood up well to the AZ sun for years now for us.

Good to know, thanks!

 

[Sueby]

I’m hoping this is it for you for cabinets! What a pain in the you know what.

Aaaaand no such luck. I have 1 last cabinet that needs to be replaced yet again, 1 was good. This company has to be going out of business soon, this is 8 cabinets out of 11 they have replaced - 5 replaced for a 2nd making, 3 replaced for a 3rd try & 1 will now be on it's 4th make!

Thankfully it's an upper so I can get the counter people out. I hope that goes smoother.

 

[Sally PB]

Everybody keeps saying walking onions! My goodness! Even the Australian guy I watch now and then on YT is saying to grow Egyptian Walking Onions!

They do great for me here in MI! PM me your address if you want some topset starts in August/September. I will have PLENTY to share.

We had the last of the last regular onion from last season in the spaghetti sauce for dinner. I'm not going to buy any, that's for sure. I have EWOs to dig up and thin out the bed. Yeah, they aren't very big, but they have a good strong flavor.

I got the rest of the new fence up and attached today. Gee, it's a PITA job by myself! What took me over 2 hours would have been 20 minutes if DH had been here to help. Oh well, it's done. I might by one more new roll of fence next year to replace the ickiest looking part that I cobbled together out of old pieces.

I'm off to prune the tomatoes.

 

[Sueby]

They do great for me here in MI! PM me your address if you want some topset starts in August/September. I will have PLENTY to share.

I'll have some I could share too I think! What do you do, you cut the top after the flowers turn into things that look like garlic cloves? Or do they keep going from there? Total EWO noob here.

 

[Sueby]

I think I missed the tutorial on how to tie up your squash so it will grow vertically....

It's a genius idea! I can't remember who suggested it but basically you stake the bush type up cutting the bottom leaves up as it grows. After you harvest a squash you cut the leaves off under it if I remember correctly. Lemme see if I can find a video I watched...

 

[Sueby]

Try this one:

Meh, this isn't the one I originally watched, but it's the basic idea. He doesn't discuss pruning the bottom leaves tho.

This article does a better job of addressing the pruning, at least the pic does: https://www.bountifulgardener.com/how-to-stake-zucchini/

 

[Elyrian1]

They do great for me here in MI! PM me your address if you want some topset starts in August/September. I will have PLENTY to share.

We had the last of the last regular onion from last season in the spaghetti sauce for dinner. I'm not going to buy any, that's for sure. I have EWOs to dig up and thin out the bed. Yeah, they aren't very big, but they have a good strong flavor.

I got the rest of the new fence up and attached today. Gee, it's a PITA job by myself! What took me over 2 hours would have been 20 minutes if DH had been here to help. Oh well, it's done. I might by one more new roll of fence next year to replace the ickiest looking part that I cobbled together out of old pieces.

I'm off to prune the tomatoes.

Message sent! Lol, I'd love some, thank you!

 

[BullChick]

My one rose tree is flowering again after being cut due to disease (arrived sick, and I got free spray to take care of it). The Roma tomatoes I planted late are doing well. I’m having my lilac bush trimmed up, so that’s a relief. We found blackberries that I can’t remember if I ever knew they were there, and my climbing roses somehow made it halfway across the property.