What did you do in the garden today?

[Acre4Me]

tried planting some fruit trees about 20 years ago. What the deer did not eat, the other fruit trees died in a harsh winter. I kind of gave up after that - as far as fruit trees.

Ugh. Yes, they can be killed by hungry deer. Although we see deer tracks occasionally in the farm field, so far they have not bothered our garden (right next to farm field). So, we are hoping they leave the trees alone. Plus, the woods they live in are a decent distance away, so I don’t think they venture towards our yard very frequently.

The cold can really damage some trees too. One really cold winter can kill off well established fruit trees and MN can be cold!! The trees we bought are almost all at least zone 5 hardy, and we are zone 6. The persimmons are zone 6, but we planted on the south side of the house, hoping they experience a bit of a warmer microclimate.

 

[Sueby]

After several months of deliberation and consideration, no garden for me. What little I was able to harvest the last two years I figured what I got was about 13 to 15 dollars a pound. I can buy it at the grocery store a lot cheaper with a lot less work, plus we have a couple of farmers markets close, and I can go there also.

I’m sorry for all your troubles. You’re welcome to sit on the bench over here with me & watch all the gardening going on though! I am not able to garden this year as I’m recovering from a couple spine surgeries. I have 1 bed of garlic that I planted right before surgery, 2 existing strawberry beds & I was able to plant my raised lettuce bed thats on legs. That has to suffice this year.

Welcome @Kikilu!

Lettuce is coming up well. That’s all I got.

I saw the groundhog run under the shed this am, I was wondering if he was still around. He’s quiet & doesn’t bother anything so he is welcome to stay under the shed. Been here for quite a few years. I saw on social media one of the bears is out & close by. I hope he doesn’t swing by here for a chicken dinner.

 

[igorsMistress]

 

[jerryse]

I need to vent or rant a bit. I have been trying to get rid of a wart on the bottom of my foot a plantar wart. I had some removed back in mid 1960s, They burn them off. 2 weeks all healed. One treatment. Now they put acid on them wait a week and I apply wart stick for 2 weeks. After 2 treatments doctor says gone. It is back so never gone. I told the doctor this and he says this is the best treatment. No I experienced the best treatment. I reluctantly let him treat it again. Been 3 months dealing with this bull. I told him I was tempted to burn it with a soldering iron. I bought a soldering iron with a fine tip. I plan to put toothache med on it to deaden it some and then burn it. I have been to 3 doctors over this and first 1 said a callus second one said wart and gave me a bottle of acid.

 

[gtaus]

The cold can really damage some trees too. One really cold winter can kill off well established fruit trees and MN can be cold!! The trees we bought are almost all at least zone 5 hardy, and we are zone 6. The persimmons are zone 6, but we planted on the south side of the house, hoping they experience a bit of a warmer microclimate.

I live in Zone 3b. I bought fruit trees for our zone, but they did not survive. Even if I could protect the fruit trees from the deer, I still have the cold to deal with.

FWIW, I know a local guy that grows grapes. He had to install 8 foot tall fencing with the angled wire on top. Looks like a prison yard instead of a vineyard. But, that was the only way to keep out the deer. He tried regular fencing, but the deer had no problem jumping over it.

So, he had to install the angled wire fencing around his vineyard that looks something like this...

These photos were taken from Google for illustrative purposes. But they are close to what he had to install to keep the deer out.

At any rate, I did not want to spend that much money on security fencing to protect the few fruit trees I had in the back yard.

In my case, the deer won. Or more precisely, it was a true lose-lose situation because I lost the fruit trees and the deer no longer have any fruit trees in my backyard to steal from. Everybody lost.

 

[gtaus]

I need to vent or rant a bit. I have been trying to get rid of a wart on the bottom of my foot a plantar wart. I had some removed back in mid 1960s, They burn them off. 2 weeks all healed. One treatment.

Having grown up in the 1960s myself, I remember friends and a younger brother that had to have planter warts removed. I think they said it spread in the locker room shower. IIRC, my friends who had a wart removed said that the docs froze it off.

I was pretty young at the time, but it seems like the wart was removed and did not come back. I never had a plantar wart, but I heard they were painful until removed. I don't know what the current treatment is, but if you have been dealing with issue for months, I can only imagine your patience has run out.

Hope you get some relief soon. Best wishes.

 

[jnicholes]

My health has a lot to do with the decision this year, 5 strokes in the past and now dealing with stage 4 cancer I just mainly don't feel like it.

Man, I am so sorry to hear that.

 

[Sammster]

I have to do the same with Abby. She won’t even come near me if she thinks it’s time for a bath

I have a reactive dog who's afraid of baths. And he neeeeeds a bath!

My late, heart-dog was such a good boy. All I had to do was say, "Fletch, you have to have a bath." And, he'd walk into the bathroom and step into the tub. ♡

 

[gtaus]

Just a little follow up to my seed starting situation. A few posts ago, I mentioned that I put the lid of my Hefty Hi-Rise bins on top of a Ferry Morse heating pad, but that the Hefty lid was too thick and the heating pad was unable to heat up the cups. I found another 10X20 tray in the garage, without holes in it, so I transferred my pots into the 10X20 tray and set that on the heating mat last night. This morning, the soil in the cups are reading 80F, which is right on target. The net cups that are still on the Hefty lid and not on the heating pad are sitting at room temperature of 63F.

I have the 10X20 full of peppers and tomatoes. I think those need to have the higher temperatures for germination.

Question: Where can I find a chart or guidance on seed starting soil temperatures? Since I have only one heating mat, and I don't want to buy another one, I want to use the mat only for those seeds that need the extra heat until germination.

 

[littledog]

Good to see you posting again @littledog. You were missed.

Thank you so much, Sarah! I've been reading off and on, but only posting in the horse threads, since that's where my focus has been this past fall and winter.

Chappo (the dog) showed up on Saturday afternoon. Before I could even do anything, my DH called the owner to come get him. They showed up (with a leash this time...) about an hour later and took him home again.

I was maybe too quick to judge, some dogs are just "runners." My late Border Collie's father used to routinely jump a six-foot fence to wander the neighborhood.
Doesn't necessarily mean the owners are idiots, though it sounds like your neighbors have some fence-fixing to do.

noodle necks

LOL! That made me laugh.

There are also many other pallet projects like coop builds, goat and pig shelters, pallet furniture, etc... If you have a pallet related project, we would love to hear about it and share a picture or two to inspire the rest of us.

Oh! I'll definitely check that out, and maybe post a couple things. I love pallet projects.

The southern states have whole dishes made up of crayfish. I have never had any, but I heard Crawfish Gumbo is good...

Those crayfish look exactly like small lobsters to me. I have a favorite recipe I make of crayfish pie, with a cornbread crust. But we don't have crayfish (as far as I know, maybe I should look for those mud mounds) in WA state, so I make it out of shrimp and fish.

Last summer and the summer before, some of my berry shrubs and baby fruit trees succumbed to heat waves, so I got a couple 55-gallon garbage cans and put them around the field to let them fill with rain, and save my back carting water around the trees once the heat hits. I want to get lids for them and make a hole covered with screen, so animals can't fall in the cans and drown - but I was pricing lids for these, and the cost is crazy! Like $35 for just an ordinary plastic lid?! I guess I'll just make some out of some spare plywood.