What did you do in the garden today?

[TJAnonymous]

Caught 4 mice in the live trap. Drove them down to the state park where I always release them. One was nabbed immediately by a black snake not 5 ft from me... Guess they figured out where the lunch line is at, eh?

Got one blueberry transplanted to a new pot and then realized I don't have enough soil to do the 2nd one. I can get some soil from the compost area but it's currently too hot for me to feel like trudging down there. I'll get some this evening when it cools down a bit.

Let the chickens and goats out today to free range for the first time since Monday. They are sooooooo happy.

 

[BullChick]

Guess they figured out where the lunch line is at, eh?

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good afternoon all. Not over stressing the possibility of impending food shortages. As a routine I keep my freezer relatively full and grow, freeze, can or dehydrate as much as I can. I don’t let my flour supply get below 15 pounds and keep sugar around 10 pounds. I had a happy day yesterday when I went to the family owned hardware store close to me. I was looking for oregano seeds and they had them in stock. Aong with a nice supply of other seeds for so late in the season. The real thrill was finding wide mouth canning jars. I’ve been looking for them for a year now. Last year I made dill pickles and I had to use regular jars. They turned out really nice but I had to trim them to fit in the jar. I wasn’t thrilled with the pickles I made last year because I had to buy cucumbers at the Farmers Market. However, after sampling some pickles the other day I decided to make pickles this year even if I have to buy the cukes. I really prefer organic produce so I’ll try to find some of those. My other joy yesterday wad finally seeing the female goldfinch in my bird bath. The male is a frequent visitor but this was the first time I saw the female bird. Today’s haul in the garden was chard, kale, cherry tomatoes and some green beans. I also got the peas planted. Fingers crossed they come up quickly.

 

[Iluveggers]

I put 3-4 chickens in my garden. they need about 30 minutes to take care of bugs.

my chickens eradicate every single bug that dares to come to my garden, lol. I have never used any chemicals.

Can’t wait to let the ladies in! My kale starts are only an inch high and planted in a few places. Once they get bigger, the flock will have free access plus hawk protection from me sitting out there with them. I need the kale for the fall, so I have to wait just a bit longer to let them go…

 

[Iluveggers]

Pulled a leaf with a bunch of squash bugs. The girls had them gone in about 30 seconds.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Also have had to call the cops once for someone literally trying to steal bee hives. Sadly they were taken to the hospital because they were very very clueless.

Maybe I have a twisted sense of humor, but I think that's hilarious.

My "good" hive swarmed at the beginning of March. I was really not expecting it, and am still quite irked.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Good afternoon all. Not over stressing the possibility of impending food shortages. As a routine I keep my freezer relatively full and grow, freeze, can or dehydrate as much as I can. I don’t let my flour supply get below 15 pounds and keep sugar around 10 pounds. I had a happy day yesterday when I went to the family owned hardware store close to me. I was looking for oregano seeds and they had them in stock. Aong with a nice supply of other seeds for so late in the season. The real thrill was finding wide mouth canning jars. I’ve been looking for them for a year now. Last year I made dill pickles and I had to use regular jars. They turned out really nice but I had to trim them to fit in the jar. I wasn’t thrilled with the pickles I made last year because I had to buy cucumbers at the Farmers Market. However, after sampling some pickles the other day I decided to make pickles this year even if I have to buy the cukes. I really prefer organic produce so I’ll try to find some of those. My other joy yesterday wad finally seeing the female goldfinch in my bird bath. The male is a frequent visitor but this was the first time I saw the female bird. Today’s haul in the garden was chard, kale, cherry tomatoes and some green beans. I also got the peas planted. Fingers crossed they come up quickly.

I have 3 freezers full of food, a huge pantry stocked, 5 or 6 5-gallon buckets, and at least 4-5 boxes full of canned, bottled, and packaged food. That's not including things I personally can or waterglassed eggs.

Then today something dawned on me..... If my house was bombed, my entire food supply would be gone. I have everything stored here at my house. I really need to diversify. I wonder if my mom would let me put stuff in her spare bedroom closet....

 

[Elyrian1]

You sound like me wondering if my dad would let me stash stuff in his spare bedroom closet... Probably not, unless it was food he wanted to eat.

Nothing much going on today. Dad said he saw a skunk go under my car last night, but when DH went "looking" he couldn't find it. I did smell it on my car today when I cranked it up, which was odd I thought. We'll be watching around dusk for a while now. Can't have the filthy things hanging around here. They are absolutely disgusting with the number of parasites and diseases they carry.

 

[igorsMistress]

Welcome to the garden thread, so nice to hear for gardeners from overseas! Please post some pictures when you can.

So beautiful!




Thanks so much all of you! Now I have lots of options and plenty of zucs to use them on. Somehow in my excitable springtime madness I thought planting 10 zucs was a good idea, forgetting that I had sworn years ago to never plant more than 2 zucs a year. The pickling cucumbers will soon be running a close second and I'm here for it, I opened a fresh jar of bread & butter pickles that didn't seal and they were so delicious! One of my egg customers loves them so much I'd given him my last few jars, so I've been out of them for months. I bought a big bag jalapenos to add to my assorted peppers so I'll be canning cowboy candy this week too. Time to get more canning jars.


I didn't think I' ever go this short but since a mishap at my old hair dresser's, I've kept it short to super short ever since. It's made not being able to go into a salon during covid much simpler, DP and I have just cut each other's hair.

I think your hair looks cute short. I have had mine short for years. It’s naturally curly and when we lived in So Cal it was manageable with hair products. After we moved to AZ it’s so dry that it doesn’t curl and was just a mess. Plus I’m over 50 and have plenty of grey now.

 

[igorsMistress]

I'm definitely concerned. The random foot traffic on my country road is higher than ever. Also have had to call the cops once for someone literally trying to steal bee hives. Sadly they were taken to the hospital because they were very very clueless. We did loose one hive out of our 4, had 6 at the beginning of the year...now down to three (2 were lost due to either mites,mice or just not being strong enough to make it to spring)
People are a toss up. Horrible or good. I'm thankful my husband listened and we planted the fruit trees in the back...also pretty thankful for our gun cabinet for hunting and protection.

I’ve been hearing a lot about people stealing bees. Maybe that little bit of karma will stop that kid from doing it again. You never really know about people do you? You think you know someone, but when the SHTF they show their true colors. Anyway, there are a lot of native plants I could put out front that are edible so I’m planning a guild for our mesquite trees. These would typically require some effort to process, so it wouldn’t be a run by and grab lunch to eat on the run kind of situation. Otherwise all my garden space is in the backyard with a six foot wall around it. That doesn’t mean someone can’t come over the wall of course, but I’m hopeful they won’t. For the most part a view of the backyard from the street is hidden but I have shrubs growing outside the wall to block it even more. Those are still growing so it’s not ideal.