What did you do in the garden today?

[Sueby]

Smokey out there. Not much happening.

I have port feeders & a little olive egger that is a welsummer/legbar cross, cutest little thing with her crest. Anyway, she keeps singing the egg song with her head in the port feeder. It's hilarious, DH & I can't stop laughing at her. She does it every day.

Little Alex:

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Hot here. Only 81F but the sun is a bit intense and humidity around 60%. Very light breeze. Most of the smoke is in the upper atmosphere but it still smells. Picked some wild black raspberries this morning. Also picked peas, a little kale and some baby lettuce for tonight’s dinner. I put the tomato fertilizer spikes in the ground in the nightshade garden. Sitting with the chickens now. I’m hoping to plant the pole beans after I’m finished with the chickens. I’ve spent a lot of time inside today. I’m not handling the heat all that well.

 

[jerryse]

I have a bacterial skin infection at the site of the tick bite. Weather forecast is useless today. Hard to work outside due to popup rain. I moved the bee swarm to a hive today. They had been in there awhile as I suspected. Nice size swarm with brood and honey.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I have a bacterial skin infection at the site of the tick bite. Weather forecast is useless today. Hard to work outside due to popup rain. I moved the bee swarm to a hive today. They had been in there awhile as I suspected. Nice size swarm with brood and honey.

Most people think Lyme disease when they get a tick bite. The deer tick carries that, but regular “dog” or brown ticks can carry a scary wide range of diseases. I hope you recover quickly.

 

[Smokerbill]

I remember the red huckleberries almost always grew on stumps. We loved to eat them as kids and I still would! I hope you get them to grow!

That's what I've been reading. They thrive on stumps because they like an acidic environment, the rotting wood (they prefer fir tree stumps) provides the exact nutrients they need, and the dead stump and its roots trap moisture and hold it through long dry spells.

Red huckleberry plants are not drought tolerant, but by growing on the stump they can survive dry weather. The huckleberry roots even follow the dead tree's root system into the ground.

I found a great article on growing red huckleberries this morning.

http://skilledwright.com/redhuckleberries.htm

Instead of starting the cuttings in pots I think I'll cut off several 6 inch lengths of dead, partially rotted fir tree branches a few inches in diameter.

I would bore holes a few inches deep into one end of the dead branches and use them as natural "pots" to root the cuttings in. When (or if) they take root and start growing I could then plant the tree-branch "pots" into existing dead stumps.

 

[Sally PB]

I grow some flowers to encourage them leave them water.

Thank you! People don't realize that bees need a place to drink. A container with some stones or a rough edge that they can grip with their feet is excellent, better than a smooth surface.

I've scooped a couple of bees out of buckets that had water in them. They go for a drink, end up in the water with no way to get out.

 

[WthrLady]

Had .56" inches of rain last night and a 3 hour electric storm you would not believe.
Nothing in the garden today. Ortho appt for my crappy thumb to get a referral for a custom brace that I can wear while working stock and sleeping, protect and rest brace. LOL

He manipulated, cracked and popped my wrist and hand and SURPRISE, it's still a rattled mess. When I do someday have surgery on it, it will be full of titanium and pins and tendons stolen from my arm. My thumb is a mess, my wrist is a trainwreck, and I have locking trigger finger in my middle finger. Now it hurts so badly tonight I just want to hide under a rock. BLEH.

More welcome rain tonight, and tomorrow.
Campground below us in the valley is full to bursting.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I use jar lids for the bees learned from Grandma.

 

[Smokerbill]

I use jar lids for the bees learned from Grandma.

That's a good idea. Where do bees prefer there water? At ground level, or elevated?

I tried setting up a muddy water dish for the swallowtail butterflies, but they didn't go for it. (sad)

 

[Eagle343]

The Japanese beetles are back, I thought I was free of them this year. Also the tomatoes have some kind of infestation, I think it may be aphids, my plum tree also has them.