What did you do in the garden today?

[fuzzi]

I weeded the raised bed that had carrots and peas...I'd let it go fallow since I harvested the last of the carrots. Look at the soil level:
View attachment 3625600

I threw in some partly rotted grass clippings and shredded leaves:
View attachment 3625619

Then topped off with fresh clippings:
View attachment 3625620

I need to turn it under, but I ran out of steam.

Maybe tomorrow?

Did a modified double-dig with the first raised bed. The side closest to the house (east) got a few shovelfuls of fully-rotted compost on top.

I grew carrots and peas in this bed earlier this year, so I plan to grow turnips for late autumn harvest.

The other half (west side) looked richer, so I just double-dug in the grass clippings, about 8" down, didn't add more compost to the top. This bed had turnips, so I am planning to sow carrots here.

While I was digging this side I started finding grubs. After I had fed three to my chickens I started collecting them in a cup. Wow.

I took them into the coop.

Picture sharks and "chum"!

You might have noticed that there's a couple plants growing in the corner. I'm not digging them up, yet. I saw this:

A Monarch butterfly caterpillar!!!!

I can plant around the milkweeds.

After supper I will probably sow carrots and turnips in these beds, as planned.

 

[gtaus]

I'm sure you can get insurance for EVERYTHING! You could list yourself as the hazard

I think you have been talking to Dear Wife about me! I've been known to break a thing or two while trying to fix one.

Lord knows I've killed more than my fair share of plants by underwatering, overwatering, or just forgetting to check up them. That's probably why I am such a great fan of those sub-irrigated planters that you fill with water and don't have to worry about them for about a month!

 

[CNJ]

I found another YouTube video that shows a guy making one of those DIY Earth Boxes out of a plastic tote.

You could fill a 5-gallon bucket up with water and run a nylon rope into the tote. I haven't filled or watered my experimental nylon rope and dwarf tomato buckets for a month and the soil is kept moist. I have the rope in a circle at 1/4 off the bottom and 3/4 way up to the top.

 

[CNJ]

I love my Genovese Basil plant, its the gift that keeps giving. I use it with my pizza, spaghetti sauce and instant saimin.

 

[akroberts1085]

Not too much in the garden today but it's okay because my husband and I spent most of the day doing yardwork with 3 of the grandkids. When I took 2 of them home my husband started the layout for the run for the girls. I did get my 3rd egg from them today too.

 

[saysfaa]

Wow, the wild grapes are delicious!!!! Lots of taste, not much sugar, still eatable. Last year's wasn't really eatable. Either this vine is enough of a different variety or the location made enough difference (bottom of the slope instead of the top of the slope so it got more water) or the season was enough different. Or something. We both like this years. We tasted and put the rest in the freezer.

All the blueberries we don't expect to eat in the next two days are put away (freezer except one dehydrator load). I wish I could have picked a few times instead of just this once.

One dehydrator full of apples are done. The good parts of the skins are started as apple scrap vinegar. The rest can wait. The tomatoes urgently need starting on - at least sorting.

Update, many hours later. The tomatoes are sorted. All the urgent ones have the good parts (if any) into stock pots.

It is too hot to can but I will anyway so I don't lose them. Any good enough to freeze and ripe enough are in the freezer. They won't stay there but can wait long enough for the weather to cool off.

I hoped to finish in time to pick more blueberries, if the u pick is still open - they said they might be but it is the last few days of the season - as much because their employees go back to school as because the berries are done producing. Nope. Maybe I will buy another ten or twenty pounds from the blueberry farm.

Picture is from this morning.

 

[saysfaa]

I also spent an hour watering everything in the garden this morning. And an hour plus doodling in the garden with dh - we weeded, watered, picked (zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, sage, parsley, and eggplant.) Also decided to take out some cucumbers that were done, a broccoli that had something wrong with it. And saw and celebrated the frog that lives in and under the brussels sprouts (picture of the frog is from a few days ago). And celebrated the sprout on the brussels sprout plants getting big enough to identify. It is our first year of trying brussels spouts.

 

[chickengr]

We need rain here. Grass is starting to turn brown.

I haven't seen green grass in months, lol. we expect 3-4 days in a row with rain and storms. that is going to be the very first challenge for my photovoltaic system (off grid).

 

[fuzzi]

Addendum: yesterday I picked tomatoes for the first time in over a week. There were six but some bug had bored into two of them...so they became chicken treats!

This is the second year I've planted plum tomatoes, and they are winners in my estimation. They're coming back after horrendous heat that wiped out other plants.

And I did get the turnips and carrots planted despite mosquitoes coming after me.

My redneck method of keeping cats out until I can get bird netting up, cardboard!

The fencing and hardware cloth is there to discourage rabbits.

 

[Sally PB]

Genovese Basil

My favorite, and close second is Opal. None of the other kinds I've planted have done well.

Speaking of garden insurance... Lloyd's of Londone will probably insure your garden, @gtaus!