What did you do in the garden today?

[fuzzi]

Watered after work.

Peas not yet blooming:

Carrots slowly growing:

Plum tomatoes on left, planted tomato seeds directly on the right, leaf lettuce in the middle:

Summer squash!

I still need to finish preparing another raised bed (#4) for beans, and adding more soil to another bed (#1) so I can plant melons.

 

[Acre4Me]

I can get Bee balm, chard, and pansies to grow. I can't get beets to grow, ever. And I love them.

We grow beets pretty well. We plant in spring and for fall. We’ve tried a variety of them, and I’ve had better luck with seeds not sold in the general stores. So, try a few from your favorite seed supplier- look for ones that come a variety of ways (tape, pelleted, organic, small to large quantities) - usually a good sign they do well for many people. Also, read reviews to see if anyone from your area commented on their experience. We often grow ours along the edge of the raised bed with carrots in the middle. We thin them out and then “thin” them as they are a good (yet small) size to eat, and leave some behind to get larger.

 

[Witchychickens]

We aren’t totally ready for outdoor planting yet but this is what I did today…. Mural!!!!

I put my potatoes out in their bags, carrot seeds in their grow bags, I direct sowed peas, lettuce, spring onions, broccoli, and broccoli raab seeds a little over a week ago but we got a fluke snow storm right after and it just melted. I’m waiting to see some germination (hopefully) I separated some of my broccoli starts and reduced some of my celery starts (those don’t look overly promising and I’m bummed), also separated my red pepper starts. I started marigolds, moss roses, and nasturtium and have some that germinated. I will be getting out more and doing more this and next week since it’s about that time. I also added dirt in the cloth planters left over from when we added the first round. I have more potatoes to plant. I did store bought that sprouted but also have some seed potatoes that just arrived.

 

[gtaus]

The only question or concern I'd have is whether that vinyl is food safe or would cause any leaching concerns.

I was assuming that if pond liner was safe for fish, it would be food safe. Pond liner is not cheap. I don't know about billboard vinyl being food safe or not. But that would be my concern with any materials I put into a raised bed for growing food.

 

[Happy hen lover]

I do the math when I see them in the thrift shops; most of my jars are from thrift shops except when I get them by pallet split between my MIL, SIL, and myself.

I have gotten jars as cheap as $9 for 12. for full pints, standard mouth. The problem is that when I make jam I use half pints. Those are hard to find here; I generally pay between $14 and $17 per 12. including rings/lids. I have come up on some estate sales and gotten them cheaper but not by much sadly.

Eta: I live in california.... in a place thats off of the beaten path; so people aren't like "Oh jars, whatever"... people charge a higher price for them here. Problem is, we pay it because it's still better than new.... >.> When I visited my family back in OK a while ago... we went garage sale shopping.. I was so upset with the deals... people are much more giving back home. I miss that.

Eta again: Dudes, used long sleeve shirts at our local goodwill are $12 or more... That's what it's like here.

We're 1 dollar here at our local thrift store, in SW Nebraska

 

[Happy hen lover]

We aren’t totally ready for outdoor planting yet but this is what I did today…. Mural!!!!

I put my potatoes out in their bags, carrot seeds in their grow bags, I direct sowed peas, lettuce, spring onions, broccoli, and broccoli raab seeds a little over a week ago but we got a fluke snow storm right after and it just melted. I’m waiting to see some germination (hopefully) I separated some of my broccoli starts and reduced some of my celery starts (those don’t look overly promising and I’m bummed), also separated my red pepper starts. I started marigolds, moss roses, and nasturtium and have some that germinated. I will be getting out more and doing more this and next week since it’s about that time. I also added dirt in the cloth planters left over from when we added the first round. I have more potatoes to plant. I did store bought that sprouted but also have some seed potatoes that just arrived.

That is gorgeous!

 

[NewBoots]

Lucky you guys!! I believe it about the craziness, people have been planning for this for years.

We were in the path of totality for the eclipse last year but the cloud cover was so heavy you almost couldn't tell at all. We were so disappointed.

I just tasted my second batch of kombucha after a couple of days. Still a wee bit sweet but starting to sour. Been looking at tons of flavoring options, thinking of ginger or black and blue berries for our first 2F.

Our last 2 batches were made with chai tea, we normally use earl grey. We only do 1 ferment though.

Next weekend we’ll run the shredder and work on the pile of trimmings from earlier in the year.

I used that shredder you recommended a couple years back, still working good, as long as I stay with dry materials.

No one goes for my blueberries either. Weird, but makes me glad.

I just figured I was lucky, nothing has bothered any of our berries so far. Blueberries, currants, gooseberries, crabapples, and raspberries but all are in pretty small numbers. We have strawberries too but we have to beat the snails to them.

The black currant cuttings are all leafing out, so I assume there's some root formation going on too.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Full eclipse here. My chickens were so confused. They were out free ranging. As soon as we were at full blackout, suddenly you see a huge mass of birds (I have 65 chickens) RUNNING across the pasture towards their coop...

I wish I could have seen that, it sounds really funny.

BTW, I also captured a picture of the really weird shadows from the trees due to the eclipse. This is called the pinhole effect.

One of the last years we were in Portland we had a partial eclipse and we saw this under one of the trees. It was so strange, it felt unreal, almost spooky.

I shredded the dried trimmings, dumped the last of the finished compost into the beds, put down more slug bait, and picked up the dog doots for the guys that mow the lawn are coming by tomorrow.

Oh and I think the ladies caught their first mouse or little rat today, there was a real scrum going on with lots of yelling and shoving and then it was over. I didn't get close enough to see what it was. Little dinosaurs.

 

[Minanora]

There was frost this morning but... It was 81 today! I planted cucumbers! I covered them with black pots too protect them tonight, it's only supposed to get down to 43. Soil temp was 66 this morning so I figured, why not! I may regret it but usually my gut is right.

I sprayed for nematodes today as well as finished the plumbing! Need to connect the solenoids still.

 

[Happy hen lover]

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.

I bought one called Clyde's. Inexpensive, slides out for your exact location and dates. I got mine direct they are on Amazon too.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I want to buy and plant some Ozark Witch Hazel.