What did you do in the garden today?

[Burnt Brass Homestead]

We got some peaches from the peach tree. Last year the peach tree started producing, I would say less that 5 pounds. However, this year the harvest should be great. The downside is, the peach tree branches cannot handle the weight. 1 branch split, the other are being supported by 2 tables. Tomorrow we will get out bright and early to properly support the branches with 2x4.

These are the peaches that fell to the ground as we were sliding the tables under the branches to provide temporary support.

 

[WthrLady]

I remember back in the days when we went haying, always the fear it could rain while the hay was lying on the ground to dry you had to rely an the radio for the weather forecast, no internet app which tells you when it might rain ( or sunshine for longer periods) and when the hay got wet, you had to buy expensive hay I think round bales had just started to be produced, kind of a novelty, the square bales were the ones which were normal, also, they could be carried and stacked, the round bales were just left on the field, too heavy to be moved by one person , nobody had the money to buy a baler, so we had to rent one for 3 days and pray during that time the hay would dry and no rain would come

There is a lot of ruined hay out there today.

There was a trick to it back then too, getting it dry enough in three days, but it still comes to luck, even here. You have to know your location, seasons, and the odds of wet, and read the clouds. But even then, here, you can get smacked by a wayward pop up storm at just the wrong time.
Now I'm waiting for September so I can scratch the pasture and throw some fresh seed. HOPEFULLY it will go back to our wet and warm pattern then.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

It hasn’t rained here yet. The storms will be rolling in later this afternoon. DD and I got most of the netting up early this morning. It was a 50 foot length so when we got to the end of that we quit and went inside for the country breakfast I had promised her. I went out about an hour ago and scooped up a bucket of dry chicken run compost then carried that over to the corn patch. After I scattered that about I trimmed the netting that was hung and finished covering the rest of the fence. It’s not terribly hot outside but the humidity is awful. I think my pores are exceptionally clean right now. We’re expecting another inch of rain out of this system moving in and it’s supposed to be quite stormy. Fingers crossed, no straight line winds or hail. Hence the reason I put dry compost in the corn patch. I don’t think it needs any liquid right now. I gave up on my bare root grapes and ordered live plants from Gurneys through Lowes. I get a discount from Lowes and free shipping. They’re supposed to be here today. Hopefully these will grow. I’ll only have 2 grape vines but they should produce enough grapes for jam. Excess grapes will go to juice. Adding vinegar to tomato sauce will take the bitterness out. Only add it when cooking with the sauce if necessary. My preferred method when making a marinara sauce is to cook some aromatics first, carrots, onions and celery. The sweetness in the mirepoix when cooked down will take care of any bitterness and / or acidic taste to the finished sauce. I experimented with adding sugar and it just didn’t work for me. But frankly, I’ve not had a problem with my organically grown tomatoes being bitter.

 

[Sueby]

It's just awful outside. I feel bad, the electrician is here wiring the hot tub - the poor guy is soaking wet. He's crawling around in the attic, that cannot be fun! I keep feeding him water & fruit salad.

I still need to pick beans but I don't wanna go out there!

 

[pennyJo1960]

Good morning Gardeners we are still dry here.
I gave away the EE cockerel I hatched now I get one replace him.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

My Concord grape vines arrived. I’m guessing they posted 2 parcels, but there was 2 plants in one box and one in a separate box. The plants are alive and definitely growing. I could very well have a small crop next year. This restores my faith in Gurneys for now.

 

[jerryse]

Picked my first cucumber of the season and another one in a couple of days. Another zucchini plus the red noodle beans are setting fruit.

 

[fuzzi]

Happy Saturday!

Not as hot as yesterday:

I needed to add a roost in my hoop coop, so while I puttered with making it work I had the water hose trickling on the raised beds.

I lost one of my Summer squash plants, the SVBs must have found a gap in my wrap. The others are doing fine. I picked two more squash and removed the dead stalk. It's in the garbage.

I picked about a dozen of the plum tomatoes. There are more German Johnson tomatoes on the vine but not turning color yet.

The huge watermelon hanging in a sling fell!

It did not break open, so I brought it inside. It's chilling in the refrigerator. I hope it's ripe.

More melons!

And now the melon vines are spreading all over...

We've had no rain for days, so I gave all the plants a good soaking.

 

[WthrLady]

Where the flying fiddle-sticks do cucumbers COME FROM?!?!
I just checked the garden yesterday morning and there was ONE cucumber out there that still need to fill one on one end and it was 7 inches long.
This morning, 5, FIVE cucumbers, none of which are shorter than 12 inches one is 20.
Seriously. WHERE do they come from?!
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Just brought in another 10 pounds of tomatoes from the garden. We should have a great ripening week, with normal temperatures in the high 80s and low 90s and nighttime in the 70s, low 80s.
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my plants look tired from the excessive heat this past 10 days

 

[TJAnonymous]

There's a possible natural reason for the hotter summer this year: water vapor injected into the atmosphere by an unprecedented underwater volcano explosion last year:

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/to...precedented-amount-of-water-into-stratosphere

View attachment 3592415

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00652-x

The water vapor injected into the atmosphere will slowly dissipate over the next few years. It will affect the stratosphere, and therefore the climate, until water vapor levels get back to normal.

Stock up on popsicles!

Interesting. It's always miserable hot in August though. (It's close enough to August to count as August.) It doesn't really seem any warmer or more severe than any other summer. It's just the time of the year that sucks the worst for unbearable heat & humidity. Similarly, February sucks just as bad for bitter cold temperatures.