What did you do in the garden today?

[HillGuy]

It’s tough stuff to get rid of. I tell my wife we should consider it emergency survival food.

 

[fuzzi]

First beans of the season!!!!!

 

[jerryse]

Yes I battle poke also. Now I have chiggers. Tried a new way to cook tough steak souse vide. Very low heat for a very long time. DW liked it

tender chuck steak.

 

[Smokerbill]

Where I grew up in Kansas a poke plant was a good thing. They were few and far between, usually growing at the edge of the woods, and the young leaves were tasty in a pot of spring greens. I have a jar filled with poke berry seeds that me and my grandpa cleaned up so we could try to plant them and get more poke greens.

 

[Smokerbill]

Here's the proof. These seeds have been in the pickle jar for a little over 50 years. It's strange the things we hold as precious, but these little shiny blue-black seeds rank high, because I remember cleaning them with Grandpa when I was a little kid.

I doubt if any of them are viable now, but I think I'll put a few between wet paper towels in a ziplock bag and see what happens.

Anyway, here's to memories!

And no, we never had any luck with the seeds sprouting and growing back in the 70's. Maybe they need to go through a bird's gut in order to sprout.

 

[Swiss]

The techs fixed the garage door yesterday afternoon, and it's nice to be able to leave the house for needed groceries and monthly dog meds.

I weeded the final flower garden bed (found two cilantro seedlings in there... such a weird spot) yesterday, and worked on what I believe was an attempt, by the previous owner, at a triangle-shaped garden bed in a nook between the steps of our diamond-shaped back porch and the house. I dug up the hostas that were there, and remembered the mini daffodils at the last second. Then, when I was going to replant them after getting all the grass and weeds out, I had a thought and asked my husband, "What do you think about me extending this to the corner of the house and using it as my kitchen/herbal/medicinal garden?" After showing him what it would look like, he said he had no problems with it! So, I now know where it's going and how much space I'll have, so can start working on it! Bonus: it has a sprinkler aimed at it!

So, the hostas and mini daffodil bulbs moved to the garden bed on the other side of the back porch. The sprouted dahlia seeds went in that bed as well.

I have flower seeds to plant, still. I believe most of it is old seed I am trying to get rid of. And milkweed seeds that I stratified and are waiting for me to figure out where the heck to squeeze them in...

The mole I have declared war on has been very sneaky. It's probably tunneling deeper underground from the heat and lack of moisture. Apparently it decided to push up a trash pile last night (thankfully in a pathway), and tunneled all under my bean bed that has only been planted for a few days... I put the trap in its tunnel, and am really hoping I catch this punk SOON. He's come uncomfortably close to ruining some things. I yell at him, every time I see his calling card, "Friiiiiickin' MOOOOOLE!!!"

Anywho... I watered pretty deeply this morning, and what popped up? A couple of summer squash babies! They made me quite happy. Tonight, I weeded every main garden bed (except for the corn bed because it looks like some corn is sprouting and I don't want to disturb it). I love when the little sprouts push through the soil to say, "Hello!" I am pretty sure I always squeak/squeal, "HELLOOOOOOOO!!!!!" whenever I see any.

These posts always end up way longer than I think they will... here are a couple of pictures to close:
Wild black cherry blooming like crazy:

My thyme is blooming:

 

[akroberts1085]

Carols Clucks, your zucchini dilemma reminded me of something I heard my grandpa say that made me laugh: "If you plant one zucchini plant, it gets lonely and dies. If you plant two, you have too many."

 

[LTAY1946]

Poke greens where a precious commodity during the 1930's. My grandmother discovered a family only having poke greens and nothing else. She filled their cabinets with real food until the father got his first paycheck for free. Times were hard but people help people back then. I've never eaten them. May have to try them as I have a few hundred in my garden. Volunteers. Almost as thick as grass. Today I planted a few dozen eggs that I didn't want anyone to eat because I wasn't sure of them being safe. They do make good fertilizer so I've learned. Raw eggs under a tomato plant make them jump.

 

[akroberts1085]

How do you get rid of ants in the garden and in the house

Buy a box of grits, cut it open with a knife, use the knife to push the tab inside. Shake into the garden and on the floor in the house. Do not let it get wet. Wait till the next day and in the house sweep up the left over grits. Ants can't pass gas so when they eat they have to find water and grits swell in water. Bye bye ants.

 

[akroberts1085]

W

Poke greens where a precious commodity during the 1930's. My grandmother discovered a family only having poke greens and nothing else. She filled their cabinets with real food until the father got his first paycheck for free. Times were hard but people help people back then. I've never eaten them. May have to try them as I have a few hundred in my garden. Volunteers. Almost as thick as grass. Today I planted a few dozen eggs that I didn't want anyone to eat because I wasn't sure of them being safe. They do make good fertilizer so I've learned. Raw eggs under a tomato plant make them jump.

What are poke greens?