What did you do in the garden today?

[WthrLady]

Thank you! I wasn't aware butternut squash (we call them pumpkins here) came in several varieties, so found out it is a

Tromboncino Squash​

Tromboncino squash, also called Italian trombone squash, is a vining squash that produces fruit up to three feet long. The fruit has a long slender neck with a bulb-like end. The outer skin is usually light green. Trellising their six feet or longer vines is the best method of growing this Italian summer squash.

https://www.garden.eco/what-kind-of-squash-is-this

I'm going to attempt a few more varieties next season.

We call them Cushaw, and they're delicious.

 

[WthrLady]

I got some of those battery traps, it zaps the mouse, instant death, I use a dab of peanut butter as bait. These have turned out to be the best traps I've ever tried over the years, in the house, in the pigeon loft & chicken coop.

Mice are one thing...rats are another. This is 1st year I've ever had rats & a neighbor has them bad. Chicken feed on the ground is a major no no. She stopped doing that but says she still sees rats. So now what...any advice for rats? They're running around between our yards & 4 chicken coops now. What do ya do when rats have decided to hang around? My level of stress & anger over these nasty critters is at an all time high right now.

Oh ya, we have those too, the battery traps.
Rats are SO smart. Good luck. Poison bait stations is all I've got for them.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

Oh ya, we have those too, the battery traps.
Rats are SO smart. Good luck. Poison bait stations is all I've got for them.

That's why I only bought the mouse size ones.I figured a rat is too smart to go into that. I see holes and tunnels at different places so these rats also get around, they're not just sticking to 1 place. I got the RatX pellets, they resemble chicken feed pellets. I did find 3 dead rats, but several pellets were left sitting there then got rained on. I know there are more than just 3 rats.

 

[gtaus]

Try Home Depot, I found some there

We have both Menards and Home Depot in my town. Those 27-gallon industrial totes are on sale at Menards for $6.98 (After Rebate) whereas Home Depot has them on regular price for $11.48

Menards on sale thru 17 March 2024:

Home Depot current regular price:

Although I think Home Depot has those totes on sale a week or two ago for $9.99. Under $10.00 is still a good deal, IMHO. But that $6.98 sale at Menards is a door buster price for me. Plus, I had some Menard's rebate checks to cash in....

Anyways, I listed many uses for these totes for gardeners. I suppose the limit is just your imagination. Planters, soil storage, worm bins, compost bins, fertilizer storage, potting mixing bins, etc...

I was curious to know if these industrial totes are food safe. This is what I found out. The totes I purchased are stamped with Plastic Recycle code #5 PP (Polypropylene).

I don't plan on using them for food storage, but they might work good for chicken feed or scratch to keep the mice out. If full, A full tote would be too heavy for me to toss around. A 5-gallon bucket holds 25 pounds of feed. I can handle that without a problem. But a 27-gallon tote would hold 135 pounds of feed.

I can still lift and carry 135 pounds if I had to. But those totes are bulky and I don't know if the handles would support all that weight. Even so, I would have someone help with a team lift that situation. At my age, I protect my back as best I can.

 

[Tahai]

Wow! Did you understand that study in the link? I'm an RN and that report was too technical for me to read. I did understand that HPAI would be bad.

Well, we never have that many Candian geese flying in to our lake, so it's never been an issue where I live.

please be aware that Canada Geese are not the only birds that transmit HPAI - all waterfowl can be carriers, as well as some birds that are not waterfowl. Also, HPAI can live for awhile outside the host - so if an infected bird passes by on it's way to somewhere else, and leaves droppings in your yard or in your pond, your birds will likely be infected.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

WOW good for you!! that’s fantastic. barefoot in ct in march?!

I would, but, chicken poop between toes is weird, lol

 

[Molpet]

I was curious to know if these industrial totes are food safe. This is what I found out. The totes I purchased are stamped with Plastic Recycle code #5 PP (Polypropylene).

My understanding is the dye might be an issue..... that said I just read a review that claimed the sandwich size bags had chemicals leaching issues... except Ziploc brand. Of course I assumed they all would be safe and have a ton of store brands.

 

[Tahai]

I got sucked into an Ancestry project, so haven't been on the chicken forums since early February. Too many pages to read to catch myself up. Hope everyone at least has the weather to get out and do some yardwork. For those of you actually putting things in the ground and seeing things flowereing and greening up, PICS PLEASE!

It's been a glorious few days in upstate PA, with daytime temps in the high 60's. I took yesterday off of work and continued my battle with the multiflora and the grapevines. I've got one side of the yard tamed for this year. The multi-flora is just starting to bud out - I figure I have another week (maybe 2) before it leafs out and makes removal more difficult.

Unfortunately, according to "Ryan Hall Y'all" on youtube, the weather is going the opposite direction of how I want it too for the next couple of weeks. There's even a possiblity for an April Fool's snow storm (ugh). Hopefully we just get rain, but we've had ice storms in June, so nothing surprises me.

I'm fighting the urge to plant seeds - it's still too early for the things I plan for this year. I'm also fighting the urge to work my gardens - also way to early and I don't want to destroy my soil structure. Memorial Day is the safe (for the most part) time to plant in my area. That's a long ways away.

Which is why I am begging our southern friends for PICS PLEASE

 

[Minanora]

Today I watered my seedlings, put the seeds that are germinating out in the raised bed "hoop house", looked at all of my garlic scallions, looked at all the onion tops, peered over at the sugar snap peas, looked at the heads beginning to form on the broccoli plants (this was pretty exciting since last year got really hot early and they bolted quickly), picked some kale for the chickens, picked some swiss chard for the chickens, ate some of the swiss chard before I got to the chickens, watered my poultry forage patch, watered my sprouting dutch white clover ground cover (yeah it may not be native but it will keep the weeds down. I've been hand scraping weeds with a hula hoe to bare dirt for the last 10 years while I eradicated the gopher population with gopher hawk traps, time for a change!), and I also walked down the fruit trees and observed the peach leaf curl that I didn't spray for in time last season. Got a bee tangled in my hair as I walked past the apricot tree, but I was able to get her out without getting stung or hurting her. Huzzah!

On Tuesday I had my overgrown mulberry trees pruned and decided to keep the chippings since there were such large branches to make mulch with. It generated far more mulch than I anticipated.... I had about 6 cubic yards of mulch. I live in town, so I had to make it go away as quickly as possible to avoid the city bothering me. I spent many hours yesterday moving all of the mulch to my landscape garden, grape vines, and around my fruit trees. Little did I know, my son's cold, I had caught already. So today I'm posted up on the couch with a fever and cough. Good and sore from shoveling mulch yesterday, so that makes me feel a little redeemed for 'sitting around' all day today. Though I'd rather be outside working!

I need to take way more pictures of my garden/yard. Too much of the camera roll is dedicated to chickens and tropical fish.

 

[Minanora]

My understanding is the dye might be an issue..... that said I just read a review that claimed the sandwich size bags had chemicals leaching issues... except Ziploc brand. Of course I assumed they all would be safe and have a ton of store brands.

We banned most plastic use for food stuff and production in our home this year. Due to chemicals, not just BPA, but the other chemicals, nano and micro plastics. I still use some plastic but I try to limit it as much as possible without being labeled as insane by my husband. My husband has to go through security with his lunch tupperwares out in their own bin because they're stainless steel and the x-ray machine at work can't see through them. Lol.

I have black trash bags in one of my garden beds right now due to a bad case of root knot nematodes being treated and it drives me bonkers. I'm considering removing the soil that touched the plastic before I plant things in there again. I can't buy commercially produced strawberries now. I recently was out on a job working in a strawberry field and was reminded of all the plastic that they grow in. Not to mention all of the plastic waste I saw being tilled into the soil being used for other crop rotations. Brutal reality. Plastic is almost absolutely everywhere you look. Not even safe shopping at farmers markets! Just maybe a tiny bit less plastic, tiny bit less.

Is it actually negatively impacting my health? Not really sure. Do I already can and process a lot of my own food anyway? Yes, indeed. I'm just going to keep on doing things as sustainably as I can. I mean, my neem oil comes in a plastic jug.... Where do you decide to draw the line you know?