What did you do in the garden today?

[Smokerbill]

I started tying the indeterminate tomato plants to the vertical ropes. Also drove three t-posts in the determinated tomato row and started doing the Florida weave to support them.

I also hung a length of fencing along the north side of my garden that will hopefully deter chickens. I think it's hog wire, 3x6 openings at the bottom and 6x6 at the top. I found it back in the woods a couple months ago, all twisted up and bent. Straightened it as best I could but it's still pretty crooked!

 

[saysfaa]

Technically it is a scare robin rather than a scare crow but I got it up today. Hopefully we will get more strawberries now.

It all looks pretty unimpressive in a still photo. Not so much as they swing and flash.

 

[Sueby]

Just wondering if anyone else got an F1 boot warning when starting up an old computer. I wonder if problem was sent, so we have to update to windows 11? Just a little paranoid..............

F1 on boot up can be soooo many things. I'd say if it's an old computer that the date & time are wrong, cmos battery may have failed or is failing. Otherwise it can be new hardware added or some piece of hardware that has failed. More info when booting into the bios could help troubleshoot. What's it say?

But I'm a Mac tech, so I don't know too much about PCs.

ETA: an OS software update would not present itself by asking you to boot into the bios - that would only be hardware. Nothing will ask you to update software until the OS is loaded & the machine is up & running.

 

[fuzzi]

I did not know that. I'll have to tell Dear Wife about it. She gets very upset when she sees the fat squirrels are out eating all the bird food from her feeders.

https://www.wbu.com/products/suet/hot-pepper-no-melt-suet/

 

[CNJ]

F1 on boot up can be soooo many things. I'd say if it's an old computer that the date & time are wrong, cmos battery may have failed or is failing. Otherwise it can be new hardware added or some piece of hardware that has failed. More info when booting into the bios could help troubleshoot. What's it say?

But I'm a Mac tech, so I don't know too much about PCs.

Its a failing drive warning, I can still boot by pressing the F1 tab. I did a search on Youtube and there are ways to make the computer start up regularly, but they say my drive maybe failing, but on my device manager everything is okay with no red flags. I also turned off my window update tab, to prevent them from messing with me, since they won't be updating windows 8 anymore.

 

[fuzzi]

OK, guys, I have a potential crisis in my garden. I need some immediate advice.

View attachment 3545563

As you can see, it might get close to freezing on Tuesday and Wednesday. I’m worried that the cold temperatures these days may kill my garden. I have beans, peas, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, and sunflowers planted.

If it does get this cold, do I need to take some steps to protect my garden? If so, what steps should I take?

Can someone please help me out?

Cover the most sensitive/tender plants.

Watering just before dark can help, too.

 

[Sally PB]

1.08 of rain last night. We lost power for just over an hour, but I don't even care.

I'd trade a night of power off for an inch of rain!

That picture was from almost 3 weeks ago. Those same tomato plants are now over 4 feet tall!

I’m worried that the cold temperatures these days may kill my garden. I have beans, peas, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, and sunflowers planted.

Peas and carrot will be fine, they can handle the chill. I use bed sheets to cover things (I have a bunch of sheets saved as "frost sheets"). Drape them over the tomato cages; put tomato cages around your other plants if they're small enough and you have the cages, and then drape sheets over them. Heat will rise from the ground, which is warmer than the air.

If the plants are still little, just about anything that will fit over them will do. An upside down pot will work. If you have a bunch of milk jugs, you can cut off the bottom and set the jug over the plant, again, if they'll fit.

The advice about micro climate in your garden is worth finding out, just for your general knowledge. If your garden is usually a couple degrees warmer or cooler than what is by your house, that's worth knowing. Is it in a slight valley, on a hill, or slope? All of those will affect how air, cold or warm, will move around your plants.

Oh, another thing that can make a difference is how dry or moist the air is, and if there is a breeze. A breeze keeps the chill from settling down at ground level. That's why commercial orchards have giant fans to circulate the air.

Good luck.

 

[jerryse]

A lynx was spotted down the road today. Two nights ago I heard an animal sound I could not identify in the night. I now think it was a lynx.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Found this fella hiding in one of my chicken coops. Didn't kill her... Instead I released her in a blackberry patch by the garden. Hoping she kills the damn vole that's causing chaos in my garden...

 

[gtaus]

A lynx was spotted down the road today. Two nights ago I heard an animal sound I could not identify in the night. I now think it was a lynx.

YouTube search might help with the sounds.

A few years ago, we had a large cat(s) come across our property around midnight. There were two growls, a low deep growl and a much higher pitched screech. I'm thinking both a male and a female traveling together. My brother and I found a soundtrack on YouTube of mountain lions that was an exact match. Lived here 35 years and that was the first and only time we ever heard that!

Sure put the scare in us, and the family dog was cowering down in the basement and would not budge. Smart dog.

In any case, I think it's probably the predatory animal that you DON'T hear that poses the greatest threat.