What did you do in the garden today?

[fuzzi]

Today, late afternoon:

Plum tomatoes transplanted.

Check out the new flower garden!

Clockwise from top left: Purple coneflower, evening primroses, clematis (surrounded by bugleweed), portulaca (at 3 o'clock), bidens (front right), purslane (front left), and petite marigolds in the center.

The purple coneflower was surviving in a shady area, I moved it on impulse. The two evening primroses were also added on impulse...I used to have garden beds full of them, but when we had the siding replaced a few years ago the workers trampled the plants into oblivion. I found a couple survivors the following Spring, transplanted them into my wheelbarrow planter, and have been waiting for them to spread enough to start repopulating the flower beds.

I would hate to lose them, they are descendants of the ones my mother grew in her gardens.

 

[TJAnonymous]

We finally got the new shingles on the rest of the gardening shed. Now I just have to repaint it and I'll be done! DH has decided to move all of our camping gear from his man cave/shop to the loft in my she-shed/garden shed. That's a chore for another weekend though.

Planted my cukes outside today. Covered them and my potato bed with netting to keep pests out.

Put the new self-watering, raised bed for the tomatoes in place, but it was too hot and we were too pooped from shingling to actually fill it. I did get the plastic in though so it can catch the 3-4" of rain we will get over the next few days. So my tomatoes will just have to wait a little longer for their permanent home.

Planted some of the new dahlia bulbs I received... Still waiting on the rest to show up, along with the gladiolus. This is gonna be the year for flowers in the garden... I've also tried to seed a bunch of wildflower seeds, in addition to a dozen+ new flower beds, but so far none of the wildflower seed has actually sprouted. I'll just keep trying with different seeds...

Oh, and strawberries are starting to produce a few berries at a time. Getting about 3 per day so far.

 

[gtaus]

I am looking for either a paper form or free software to help me track seed starting dates, germination period, transplanting dates, and harvest dates. I don't want to reinvent the wheel, so if anyone has a link and/or suggestions, please let me know. Thanks.

Background: I used to just buy plants at the big box stores and put them in the garden. Last year, I started some seeds in the house 8 weeks before transplanting them outside. That worked better than I expected. This year, I am increasing both the number and variety of seeds that I am starting in the house.

But now I am looking at trying to track all these different dates. For example, I started some seeds but will have to restart new seeds if they don't germinate. I would like to have some kind of organized system that I can enter my initial data and have those tasks scheduled so I don't drop the ball on anything. Something that tells me to restart any tomato seeds that don't germinate at day 14, for example.

Just trying to up my game. Thanks for any help.

 

[cj2024]

I made a vegetable soup with my home-grown chicken stock, and I threw in whatever I could find out in my garden.

What impressed me the most was the can of cooked quail eggs I added. The creamy quail eggs are so good, they can replace the chicken meat. I highly recommend trying it.

 

[Acre4Me]

I made a vegetable soup with my home-grown chicken stock, and I threw in whatever I could find out in my garden.

What impressed me the most was the can of cooked quail eggs I added. The creamy quail eggs are so good, they can replace the chicken meat. I highly recommend trying it.

Good idea. Did you leave them whole and add them last? We’ve bought canned quail eggs before, so many in such a little can!!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Happy Eclipse Day all! To celebrate the day I’m having my septic tank pumped and my heating oil tank filled. Lol! Just a coincidence but I guess a girl can’t be too prepared for any insanity that may occur. My nice neighbor is having some major landscaping done and he is gifting me his blueberry bushes. He’s replacing them with arbor vitaes. Very cool. They should like growing on the slope in the back of my property.

 

[Sally PB]

My nice neighbor is having some major landscaping done and he is gifting me his blueberry bushes.

Wow, how lucky! I hope they do well for you.

I pruned the obvious dead wood off my blueberry bushes yesterday. LOTS of flower buds, so for lots of berries!

I have a roll of bird netting at the ready...

 

[igorsMistress]

Has anyone ever started purple coneflower from seed? I have yet to see anything, and I planted them nearly a month ago.

Ditto with New England Aster, but that packet said 21-45 days. The packet said they were "Pre-stratified," so I didn't put them in the fridge for 6 weeks. I hope they were right about that.

Mine never come up either.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Have you considered using an excel spreadsheet for tracking your plants, etc @gtaus? You can search and sort easily.

 

[igorsMistress]

I am looking for either a paper form or free software to help me track seed starting dates, germination period, transplanting dates, and harvest dates. I don't want to reinvent the wheel, so if anyone has a link and/or suggestions, please let me know. Thanks.

Background: I used to just buy plants at the big box stores and put them in the garden. Last year, I started some seeds in the house 8 weeks before transplanting them outside. That worked better than I expected. This year, I am increasing both the number and variety of seeds that I am starting in the house.

But now I am looking at trying to track all these different dates. For example, I started some seeds but will have to restart new seeds if they don't germinate. I would like to have some kind of organized system that I can enter my initial data and have those tasks scheduled so I don't drop the ball on anything. Something that tells me to restart any tomato seeds that don't germinate at day 14, for example.

Just trying to up my game. Thanks for any help.

Do you have Excel your computer? Make your own.