What did you do in the garden today?

[SheaLoner]

What is everyones opinion on using Sluggo? Dont? Only on the yard/pathways? EVERYWHERE? I have been hand picking and beer trapping and hardly made a dent in the slug + snail population. Does it harm little toads? I have a bunch of baby toads in my garden right now. Cute little things.
Ducks unfortunately are not on the books this year. I may get lucky and sneak some in later this year, but that wont fly at the moment.

 

[Iluveggers]

Those are potato seed balls. I got a couple two years ago, for the very first time. I saved the seed, which is called "true potato seed," (TPS) to differentiate it from seed potatoes.

I planted a few pots of it the next year, and got some plants that made a total of 6 small potatoes. I didn't eat them; they are planted in my potato bed now, and have made decent sized plants. We'll see what I get when I dig them this fall.

One thing about TPS... consider it a breeding experiment. You don't know what you'll get, unless you have just one variety of potatoes. (I had three.) Also, the seeds are TINY, like mustard seeds.

Do you plan to save the seed and try growing it?

I may save the seed now that I know what it is! I have 2 varieties, and the seed ball was on the purple potatoes, so it will either make regular purple or light purple potatoes I would guess!

 

[Acre4Me]

Sweet Potatoes are all planted! The remaining 2 varieties arrived today. I received 7 slips of each. So, I now have 88 slips planted. Most under black plastic in full/ all day sun. @Sally PB I'm interested if I'll get a crop - I'll make the assumption that across 12 varieties and 88 slips, I should at least get some sweet potatoes!

 

[Iluveggers]

My pink celery is growing nicely! I’m so excited, I’ve never been able to start any celery from seed!

Here comes the cucumbers! First one with teeny tiny flowers! Seems like they are taking forever. Harvested a bowl of peas today and DS & I ate them all immediately lol.


Pole beans are climbing! And zucchini’s are getting big under the netting. No open flowers yet, though!

 

[TJAnonymous]

Good afternoon all. @TJAnonymous I’m sorry about your dog/chicken situation. Hopefully the pup will learn in time As for food banks, ours won’t take eggs either. I put an ad on nextdoor for free eggs from time to time and had people contact me. Have you considered freezing or waterglassing to preserve them for use in Winter?

We are currently watching the clouds build as storms start moving in. I hope we get some RAIN! It looks promising. I ordered some creeping thyme. It comes like carrot seed does sometimes on a paper strip, I’m going to hang onto it until Fall. So far the little lilac is still alive and the bananas are quite happy. Gotta go, the dogs keep wanting to play. Take care!

Good evening @igorsMistress! Yes, I waterglass eggs on April 1st and July 1st. But it's not the excess eggs that have me ranting. It's the fact that the food banks are empty and can't feed the increasing number of hungry people and I'm forced to throw eggs away because the regulations don't allow me to give them to the food bank. It's just stupid! I do have an add on Nextdoor already. I don't have Facebook or other social media but many people who actually NEED food are not online. They go to the food bank because that's the universal place to go get free food. I reached out to our church but they can't take or distribute them either. My DH is reaching out to some people he knows who might be able to distribute them to needy families through their church.

 

[TJAnonymous]

They wouldn't have to be stored under 40°F if they weren't washed. By forcing the vendor to wash them they are also making it nearly impossible to keep them at the proper temperature at an outdoor market.

It is illegal to wash eggs for sale in some European countries. Presumably it forces good animal husbandry practices if you can't cover up bad practices by washing off the evidence.

I don't know what the requirements are for Farmers Markets here but people have at least one "sample" carton sitting on the table so you can see that they have eggs. Clearly those are not below 40°F.

I agree about the unwashed eggs but that's the stupid rules our state agency enacted. Like I said, most inspectors overlook it at the farmers market ONLY but will smackdown on people if they have eggs out in the direct sunlight, washed or not.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I now have 2 more zucchini plants that are turning yellow and dying. No idea why... So I took inspiration from the vertical squash videos and pruned EVERYTHING on each vine that's below the fruiting point. I noticed in the process that several of the offshoots have put off large root systems which can't get into the soil because of the cardboard I have down. So I pulled back the cardboard to allow the roots to anchor into the dirt. Maybe that will help them recover?

 

[igorsMistress]

Good evening @igorsMistress! Yes, I waterglass eggs on April 1st and July 1st. But it's not the excess eggs that have me ranting. It's the fact that the food banks are empty and can't feed the increasing number of hungry people and I'm forced to throw eggs away because the regulations don't allow me to give them to the food bank. It's just stupid! I do have an add on Nextdoor already. I don't have Facebook or other social media but many people who actually NEED food are not online. They go to the food bank because that's the universal place to go get free food. I reached out to our church but they can't take or distribute them either. My DH is reaching out to some people he knows who might be able to distribute them to needy families through their church.

I understand your frustration! Some of the people that contacted me weren’t particularly needy. If they tried again I told them I was out of eggs. We live in a very mixed area though, and some of them we’re definitely in need. Mostly those with kids who went to school with my grandkids.

I think people are tightening their belts and hanging on to food for themselves with all this crap about supply chain issues and such. I don’t blame them, but I feel for those in need also. It’s tough right now.

I watched a story on the news about how the continuing unemployment claims are down and the government is calling that a win. What the maroons in charge don’t seem to understand is that a lot of folks took the money they were getting and liquidated their belongings to buy tents to live in, at least here they did. The homeless camps have grown considerably, but they’re not living in boxes or under tarps.

 

[igorsMistress]

I now have 2 more zucchini plants that are turning yellow and dying. No idea why... So I took inspiration from the vertical squash videos and pruned EVERYTHING on each vine that's below the fruiting point. I noticed in the process that several of the offshoots have put off large root systems which can't get into the soil because of the cardboard I have down. So I pulled back the cardboard to allow the roots to anchor into the dirt. Maybe that will help them recover?

Have you had your soil tested?

 

[igorsMistress]

They wouldn't have to be stored under 40°F if they weren't washed. By forcing the vendor to wash them they are also making it nearly impossible to keep them at the proper temperature at an outdoor market.

It is illegal to wash eggs for sale in some European countries. Presumably it forces good animal husbandry practices if you can't cover up bad practices by washing off the evidence.

I don't know what the requirements are for Farmers Markets here but people have at least one "sample" carton sitting on the table so you can see that they have eggs. Clearly those are not below 40°F.

That depends on state rules. In order for me to sell eggs from my flock in AZ I have to be registered with the state, my eggs must be unwashed but stored in the fridge, and I can’t claim they’re organic or free range; the carton MUST. say “nest run” and I can’t reuse cartons from the store.