What did you do in the garden today?

[pennyJo1960]

We incorporate new compost in the tires each year.

 

[Smokerbill]

Doing my morning garden rounds I saw that the peas are blooming and the rattlesnake bean seeds are breaking ground! Just got back from a shopping trip to Walmart and bought a 2 gallon watering can. (also a 40# bag of chicken scratch. Figured I'd see how my chicks like it. It's made of cracked corn, whole milo and whole wheat, nothing else.)

I have a couple pounds of Miracle Grow fertilizer laying around and I figure I might as well use some of it so it doesn't go to waste. It's not organic, but I grew up on chemically fertilized veggies and I ain't dead yet. LOL I suppose the non-organic veggies in stores are chemically fertilized too.

I think all the chicken poop I have is too fresh to use in the garden.

Edited to add:

I looked again and saw that some of the summer squash and cucumbers are sprouting too.

 

[BReeder!]

@Wee Farmer Sarah how is your peach tree this year? Has it flowered? Just curious as I have no idea when they flower...(I assume mine is skipping flowers for it's first year)

I have a peach. It didn't flower until the 3rd year.

 

[Sueby]

I have a peach. It didn't flower until the 3rd year.

Yea, I figured it will be a couple more years. So do they leaf out & then flower? Or do they flower first? Probably a dumb question, but it's my first & only fruit tree!

 

[LifeSimpleAndSweet]

I'm pretty good with wood, but I don't have much experience with using metal and welding. A couple of years ago I purchased an inexpensive Flux Core Welder on sale from Harbor Freight, and have used it a few times, but I'm far short of even considering myself a novice.



My grandpa grew up during the Great Depression and he never threw out anything of any potential value. I don't remember going into town to buy new nails unless our bucket of old rusty nails was empty. It was just "normal" for me to straighten a nail and reuse it. We built lots of stuff with hammers, nails, and hand saws - and - no electricity at our lake cabin.

I can hardly imagine what grandpa and I could have built if we had all the power tools I have available today in my garage alone. Well, I guess it was just more quality time together working on those projects with our hand tools. Good lessons, better memories.

I will still buy hand powered tools at yard sales if I find them - drills, too. I love them.

We straitened our nails, too.

 

[BReeder!]

Yea, I figured it will be a couple more years. So do they leaf out & then flower? Or do they flower first? Probably a dumb question, but it's my first & only fruit tree!

Flower first. Flowers grow on "green" wood that just grew the prior season. You'll see leaf buds and flower buds in the Winter going into Spring. The flower buds are the tell-tale sign that is going to be a fruiting season.

 

[BReeder!]

Got out for a bit and prepped the cucumber bed. I need a few more screws to finish the bean bed. Then I will straighten out the tunnel trellis and transplant. In nearly finished with the pile of gravel. I'll definitely need more, but think I am going to get working on the shed/coop demo and new construction before ordering another load of gravel. Some pathways can remain dirt/mulch for a while longer, but the chicks and poults in the brooder are not going to wait more than another two or three weeks likely.

That also means the big tom is going to camp Frigidaire this weekend. I'll try to remember to take pics while processing for those interested.

 

[WthrLady]

visibility due to heavy smoke is less than a mile and a half. Not sure I'm even going out there to close the greenhouse tonight.
Pampered hen can just free-range and sleep where ever she wants in the workshop tonight.

 

[Smokerbill]

Well I messed up! I noticed that my Brussels sprouts plants, that are growing really well, are bolting, with seed heads forming at the tops. After doing some research I learned that Brussels sprouts are a biennial plant. If they are put in the ground too early and exposed to enough cold weather, they go through the vernalization process.

I planted mine in February. Over eager, I guess. Had to protect them from temps in the teens, and a couple of snowstorms. Anyway, my plants think now that they are in their second year, and should bloom.

I chopped off the bolting buds to see if that will make them form sprouts, but I don't think they will. I'll set out new plants later this year for a fall harvest. I guess that's the way it's supposed to be done anyway.

Live and learn. I also planted my broccoli and kale at the same time, but those seem to be doing fine.

 

[gtaus]

Strawberry bed questions...

Two years ago, for the first time, I planted a 4X4 foot hügelkultur raised bed full of strawberry plants one plant per square foot. I got a few handfuls of strawberries that first year, but last year I did not use any bird netting over the bed and maybe only got 2 or 3 ripe strawberries. I'm thinking the birds ate all the green berries before they had any chance of growing to size and getting ripe.

Each year I lose a few strawberry plants, but other runners seem to grab hold. This spring, it looks like maybe only 50% of the plants are coming back, and they are pretty much clumped together in the middle. Over the past 2 years, the level of the hügelkultur raised bed has dropped about 4 inches. I need to top off the bed this year, but I know I can't just dump 4 inches of fresh compost on top of the strawberry plants.

Can I just dig out all the strawberry plants, separate them out, top off the raised bed with 4 inches of fresh compost, and then replant the strawberries one plant per square? From what I have learned, the strawberry plants should be replaced every 4 years, so I'm thinking I might have 2 years left on this batch. However, will digging them up and transplanting them kill them? I am really new at this. Thanks in advance for any responses.