What did you do in the garden today?

[pennyJo1960]

Good to know you’re feeling better Penny!

Thank you so much it feels good to be me again

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Just watering.
Soaker hoses came today, Woo Hoo! Will try to get 'em cut to size today, but it's 5:20 pm so maybe wait 'til tomorrow!. Been losing a few hens (a couple) every summer and I am now down to 5. Guessing it is due to the heat as it's around 100F every afternoon. Ordered a batch (10) of Barred Rock chicks and they came in today. Got 'em settled in the garage. It's been in the upper 80's @ night. Should I put a lamp on 'em @ night? Daytime temps in the upper 90's to low 100's so the garage (shade & breeze) should be OK? First time I've gotten chicks @ this time of year.. I know they need to stay around 95F for a while but will these temps pose a problem?

We have the same high temps here. I actually spend more time making sure they have a protected shaded area during this time of year. They only stay inside with a heat plate for a week or two and then I move them outside without supplemental heat so with your set up it sounds like I would offer optional nighttime heat for a week or two. Just make sure that if you use a heat lamp to only have it on one side of the brooder so they can get away from it if necessary.

 

[Sally PB]

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

For cutting the topsets for "seed" onions, I wait until the look like onion sets that you buy in the spring. Not as big, of course, but the papery skin around them is dry. Sometimes the stalk will fall over, hence the "walking." The little onions might have some tiny roots starting to poke out too.

If you want to eat the topsets, wait until the bunch kind of splits up. See the bunch closest to the camera (and therefore a bit out of focus)? Those are ready to eat. Some of the sets will grow bigger onions than others.

These little things are almost too small to use raw. The outer layer is kind of tough, and if you peel that off, there isn't much left. I like to add them to a stir fry. Take off the tough layer and toss them in the pan. A big one is the size of my thumbnail, but most are smaller than that.

Some of the topsets are growing another topset.

 

[SheaLoner]

Im not saying I want the heat, cause 80 is HOT for me. But most of last week we had highs of 65 and lows in the mid forties. Safe to say none of my tomato flowers have set fruit yet.
Still waiting on my squash and replacement beans to sprout. Going to hill the potatoes tomorrow and plant out the bare patch with corn and beans and pumpkins for the pigs.
Still no idea why my beans are yellowing, maybe the cold or too much rain.

Wild blackberries are all setting fruit, will be a Bumper crop this year. IF we manage to catch them ripe before the birds and the bears get them.


And a cute shot of the brush clearing garbage disposals, just because.

 

[ChicksnMore]

We got rain today.

@pennyJo1960 so glad your feeling better!

Just got my first early squash!!! Vertical growing is a game changer!

I can't wait to try this. I think trimming the leaves would help em use less water too.

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

We used some leftover osb to make boxes to sit over them and painted them white. Does the black work to keep out algae?

 

[Acre4Me]

I planted as many sweet potato slips as I could. Pretty much I will be overrun with sweet potato vines in about a month. I planted around 60 slips. I followed the directions- they are under black plastic and watered well. I planted them where I planned and in a few other places. I have two more varieties coming, so that will be a few more slips, which I saved room for in the areas I planted.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Im not saying I want the heat, cause 80 is HOT for me. But most of last week we had highs of 65 and lows in the mid forties. Safe to say none of my tomato flowers have set fruit yet.
Still waiting on my squash and replacement beans to sprout. Going to hill the potatoes tomorrow and plant out the bare patch with corn and beans and pumpkins for the pigs.
Still no idea why my beans are yellowing, maybe the cold or too much rain.

Wild blackberries are all setting fruit, will be a Bumper crop this year. IF we manage to catch them ripe before the birds and the bears get them.
View attachment 3160899
View attachment 3160900
And a cute shot of the brush clearing garbage disposals, just because.
View attachment 3160901

Wow it's chilly there compared to here! I love that we have a long growing season but we have 2-3 months smack dab in the middle where it becomes very difficult to grow much because it's SO hot. We're using shade cloth over our tomatoes for the first time ever and it's the first year I've been so successful with larger tomato varieties. I usually only get cherry maters. Every climate definitely comes with its own set of difficulties!

 

[Eagle343]

Watered the plants as the ground is actually dry in the wet areas. I am going to need to buy more fencing as it appears the deer have a taste for my fruit trees and my wife roses. So far the rabbits are the only ones that try and eat my sweet potatoes.

 

[pennyJo1960]

For cutting the topsets for "seed" onions, I wait until the look like onion sets that you buy in the spring. Not as big, of course, but the papery skin around them is dry. Sometimes the stalk will fall over, hence the "walking." The little onions might have some tiny roots starting to poke out too.

If you want to eat the topsets, wait until the bunch kind of splits up. See the bunch closest to the camera (and therefore a bit out of focus)? Those are ready to eat. Some of the sets will grow bigger onions than others.

These little things are almost too small to use raw. The outer layer is kind of tough, and if you peel that off, there isn't much left. I like to add them to a stir fry. Take off the tough layer and toss them in the pan. A big one is the size of my thumbnail, but most are smaller than that.

Some of the topsets are growing another topset.


View attachment 3160892

Thank for the Lesson!

 

[Swiss]

I do not know too much about fruit trees. But, my spouse knows a bit more- grew up in E WA, where many apples are produced. His dad loves apples so much, he grows over 100 apple trees (probably over 80 varieties) for his own personal enjoyment (fresh, dried, and regular pressed cider). So he spent teen years working as an apple thinner at local orchards and helping his dad. Apple trees need to be sprayed several times -with what and when, I am not sure, but the apples required the most attention of all his fruit trees. Apples are thinned anytime after flowering to partway into the growth season in part to produce larger apples and to reduce weight on branches. Generally, they are thinned to the center flower/fruit per flower cluster. Your tree may be self pruning fruit to some extent bc it can’t support that much fruit. In the fall/winter you can thin the branches and shorten the tree a bit - removing some of the taller branches. However, there is a logic to pruning, and how much (%) of limbs to leave on the tree, so you will need to do a little research . And, the other part is LIGHT- most commercial operations maximize light, and there are a few methods to do this in an orchard. In the backyard, you try to open up the canopy to allow the most light to reach as much of the tree as possible. Pruning is part of that. Separation of limbs (pushing two limbs farther apart, for example) is another aspect.

SO much information!! I'm going to have to do so much more research and take enough notes to fill a novel. These trees are huge, so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do... at least this year.

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 might take you up on that offer, too! I'm not terribly sure where I'd put them, though...