What did you do in the garden today?

[Farmer13]

What do you use to grind your wheat? I have a fine food mill that I run it through, sift it, then run it through my electric coffee grinder for an even finer flour but its a lot of extra steps and I only do enough for a loaf of bread at a time. There has to be a better system that isn't the $500 models.

We bought one of these back in 2000 it's still working great.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2351354740...GcGUS47lkTnaH3R7YgT6Uj16U=|tkp:Bk9SR_KS9fzKYg

 

[WthrLady]

I have a nutrimill plus which I'm about to sell as soon as my komo comes in October.
I grind at almost the finest setting, I don't sift it, then run it through again at the finest setting.

 

[Birdsong 82]

So I found a couple of bottleneck gourds I didn’t notice before through the massive vines. I feel this one looks like a butt. My daughter fully agreed. So we decided where the hole for this bird house will go

(I’m in my 40’s but refuse to grow up )

 

[WthrLady]

I also have a hand grind stone mill, but it's for either super small needs or emergencies.

 

[fuzzi]

Don't understand. Why would you inject a Bacteriological wormicide meant to be eaten by the pest, into a living plant? I have only used an IV injection in a living plant with Gibberellic acid as a Horticulture School experiment & you would not want to eat the plant or fruit.

Because it's for a borer, the insect is INSIDE the stalk.

 

[WthrLady]

I have a nutrimill plus which I'm about to sell as soon as my komo comes in October.
I grind at almost the finest setting, I don't sift it, then run it through again at the finest setting. https://seedtopantryschool.com/nutrimill-plus-review/

 

[fuzzi]

Huh. This is interesting. I googled reasons why I didn't get many female flowers on my butternut squash, and found this:

This happens when the average daytime temperatures are above 90 degrees Fahrenheit and nighttime temperatures are above 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

The reason why high temperatures might be causing your squash to produce only male flowers is that under stressful conditions, the plant tends to conserve energy for the time when it can actually start pollinating.
When grown outdoors where temperature control isn’t possible, we suggest you start planting squash early in the spring. This way, you will get enough female flowers to bloom before temperatures rise in the hot summer months.

– Nitrogen Levels​

Fertilizer is very important for your squash plants. It adds beneficial nutrients to the soil and leads to healthy, vigorous growth. However, excessive fertilizer use could be causing your female squash flowers production to be suppressed.

Worried about your female squash flowers not opening despite low temperatures? Watering could be the key here. Female squash flowers tend to grow more in number when the soil conditions are kept moist. On the other hand, keeping your soil mostly dry has been seen to encourage the growth of more male flowers.

Make sure you are giving your plant at least 2 inches of water twice a week during the summer.

It's been extremely hot, so that's probably why. My original planting of zucchini never sprouted, so I bought a seedling at the farmers' market. It was already behind the yellow Summer squash.

Tomatoes and peppers also drop their blossoms in extreme heat. I'm hoping the plants recover now that a hurricane dropped 5" of rain and it got cooler here.

 

[Sammster]

So I cut open the base of the stem on one of my acorn squash plants. Very tricky to reach because of where I have them growing. I found tiny borers. Then I inspected the leaves. The pumpkin leaves have squash bugs. I destroyed what I found, along with a cluster of eggs.

 

[Birdsong 82]

So I cut open the base of the stem on one of my acorn squash plants. Very tricky to reach because of where I have them growing. I found tiny borers. Then I inspected the leaves. The pumpkin leaves have squash bugs. I destroyed what I found, along with a cluster of eggs.

I hate squash borers
Those suckers bury them selves in the ground to survive the winter to come back to destroy again. Went rounds with them for past couple years I’ve read the only thing you can really do is relocate any squash plants for a couple years. Like relocate I mean mine is in a completely different area of the yard now outside the main garden.

 

[Smokerbill]

I hate squash borers
Those suckers bury them selves in the ground to survive the winter to come back to destroy again. Went rounds with them for past couple years I’ve read the only thing you can really do is relocate any squash plants for a couple years. Like relocate I mean mine is in a completely different area of the yard now outside the main garden.

You could try confining you chickens to the area you grew squash in the fall and let them scratch through the dirt. Maybe they'd get most of the borer larvae.

My beds are set up so I can confine the chickens in the garden, and I plan to do that once I'm done gardening this year. Pest control and fertilizer, making the chickens earn their keep. LOL