What did you do in the garden today?

[Liz Birdlover]

I don't disagree at all with anything you said... But I've always been a country girl. Always had animals. Never been a couch potato... But there's a different type of chemistry that's activated from high intensity workouts... Could be the release of natural endorphins that flood your body during that type of exercise... Or maybe spending an hour laying into a punching bag or sparring with another person is the game changer. I don't know... I just know that after a few months of leaving those sessions, I felt the best I ever did in my entire life. Not just physically but mentally and emotionally too. It was more than just being outside or doing simple activities like biking, hiking, or even gardening.

You're right, I've heard many times that getting a real workout, with the sweat & elevated heart rate, as well as working out any kind of frustration, which often we don't even know we may have, sometimes from keeping emotions hidden in order to present a calm exterior (like any time a person is hurt or even bullied). Many beneficial things we can do, peel back the onion layers, and yes especially releasing our natural endorphins. It's all good.

 

[chicken opey]

Harvested roses to make rose water!
First time! When I tried it w spiderwort blooms I would get vinegar. Hope I got all natural yeast off!

The final! Looks like tea.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

I have not. We don't really have ants that bite here! I can't remember the last time I was stung by a bee, but very good to know because DH annoys the stupid white faced hornets all the time & they're mean.

White faced hornets...I recall the 1st time I ever saw them up close.


I turned on the light over the sink to see, as I got a glass of water in the wee hours one night, I was about 14 yrs old. I was drinking the water & heard a little tap, tap, on the window right there. I thought it must be one of those fat June Bug Beetles flying into the window, attracted by the light. I looked & saw these small black & white things...I looked closer, wow, they were hornets, and they even had mean expressions on their little faces, like angry eyebrows! I drank my water & got another glass, while more ticked off hornets were hitting the window. There were so many of them now. They were so angry. Why? Because I turned on the light & woke them up? I shut it off & stood there as the tapping subsided. I turned it on again & yes, many hornets began hitting the window again! I saw their ticked off faces! They were giving me major stink eye! It kinda freaked me out & I quickly shut the light off. Next morning I told my dad about the hornets. We both went outside & checked out the garden right there, under the kitchen window. Behind the tall Gladiola & Larkspur flowers, there it was, a huge grey paper looking ball, fat at the top, their hive! Those little angry looking buggers were flying in & out of a hole in the bottom. They saw us & a few buzzed towards us, so we made a hasty retreat into the house. Dad called an exterminating buddy & came over within the hour & suited up while we watched through the window indoors. He stuck a wand up into the hole & pumped something in there, it was in smoke form but I know it was not just smoke. A zillion pissed off hornets were buzzing all around him, but the bee suit protected him. So many hornets came falling out of the hole, dead & dying. He said it was one of the largest hives he'd even seen. I don't like killing but they should've built elsewhere, right? It's a big world, numerous places to make a hive, so oh well, that was that. We later donated the empty hive to the nearby nature center where they had a display, the hornets had attached it to branches of a small tree so we just pruned the branches & the whole thing came off, perfectly undamaged. I'm just grateful we were never attacked by the hornets, because they obviously had a bad temper & they team up to attack in droves! Ooh, that would've hurt!

This is what the hive looked like


https://www.natureblog.org/bald-faced-hornet/

https://www.cambridgeday.com/2022/0...to-sting-and-survive-in-defending-their-nest/

 

[Acre4Me]

Now thru Sat, mid-upper 90s. Not typical at all for this zone 6A, Ohio location. By 10am I was doused in sweat, while in/out of shade trying to get a few things done. It’s going to be a looong week. I’ll be indoors as much as possible from 10am-7pm to avoid the heat.


A bit frustrated that I had to resort to using more pesticide than ever. Normally a few spritz of Sevin to newly emerging bean sprouts is all I’ve needed to do. But, planting 3x over bc sprouts of melons, beans, squash, cucumber all getting destroyed by bugs (across several raised beds) and possibly slugs led me to have to spray Sevin more widely. Sigh, the plants are growing now.

I knew I’d be spraying the fruit trees bc of the Japanese beetles that are really detrimental to the trees and new growth. One particular plum tree is definitely stunted from the JB pressure, but is looking perky this year…small but good. That was ok bc nothing is flowering so bees aren’t impacted there.

I haven’t caught up on this thread -hope to read some more today.

 

[chicken opey]

White faced hornets...I recall the 1st time I ever saw them up close. I turned on the light over the sink to see, as I got a glass of water in the wee hours one night, I was about 14 yrs old. I was drinking the water & heard a little tap, tap, on the window right there. I thought it must be one of those fat June Bug Beetles flying into the window, attracted by the light. I looked & saw these small black & white things...I looked closer, wow, they were hornets, and they even had mean expressions on their little faces, like angry eyebrows! I drank my water & got another glass, while more ticked off hornets were hitting the window. There were so many of them now. They were so angry. Why? Because I turned on the light & woke them up? I shut it off & stood there as the tapping subsided. I turned it on again & yes, many hornets began hitting the window again! I saw their ticked off faces! They were giving me major stink eye! It kinda freaked me out & I quickly shut the light off. Next morning I told my dad about the hornets. We both went outside & checked out the garden right there, under the kitchen window. Behind the tall Gladiola & Larkspur flowers, there it was, a huge grey paper looking ball, fat at the top, their hive! Those little angry looking buggers were flying in & out of a hole in the bottom. They saw us & a few buzzed towards us, so we made a hasty retreat into the house. Dad called an exterminating buddy & came over within the hour & suited up while we watched through the window indoors. He stuck a wand up into the hole & pumped something in there, it was in smoke form but I know it was not just smoke. A zillion pissed off hornets were buzzing all around him, but the bee suit protected him. So many hornets came falling out of the hole. He said it was one of the largest hives he'd even seen. I don't like killing but they should've built elsewhere, right? It's a big world, numerous places to make a hive, so oh well, that was that. We later donated the empty hive to the nearby nature center where they had a display, they attached it to branches of a small tree so we just pruned the branches & the whole thing came off, perfectly undamaged. I'm just grateful we were never attacked by the hornets, because they obviously had a bad temper & they team up to attack in droves! Ooh, that would've hurt!

This is what the hive looked like
View attachment 3865069

https://www.natureblog.org/bald-faced-hornet/

https://www.cambridgeday.com/2022/0...to-sting-and-survive-in-defending-their-nest/

That’s crazy scary! We’ve had bumble bee nest which they nest underground and you find out when you mow! they chase too!
I’m glad they got them - that could have been critical

 

[chicken opey]

Now thru Sat, mid-upper 90s. Not typical at all for this zone 6A, Ohio location. By 10am I was doused in sweat, while in/out of shade trying to get a few things done. It’s going to be a looong week. I’ll be indoors as much as possible from 10am-7pm to avoid the heat.


A bit frustrated that I had to resort to using more pesticide than ever. Normally a few spritz of Sevin to newly emerging bean sprouts is all I’ve needed to do. But, planting 3x over bc sprouts of melons, beans, squash, cucumber all getting destroyed by bugs (across several raised beds) and possibly slugs led me to have to spray Sevin more widely. Sigh, the plants are growing now.

I knew I’d be spraying the fruit trees bc of the Japanese beetles that are really detrimental to the trees and new growth. One particular plum tree is definitely stunted from the JB pressure, but is looking perky this year…small but good. That was ok bc nothing is flowering so bees aren’t impacted there.

I haven’t caught up on this thread -hope to read some more today.

I was told by worker at ACE that Sevin changed their formula- doesn’t work well anymore. She was right. That’s when I branched off to Dawn detergent, castile soap and neem oil

 

[Liz Birdlover]

That’s crazy scary! We’ve had bumble bee nest which they nest underground and you find out when you mow! they chase too!
I’m glad they got them - that could have been critical

My dad got stung years ago mowing & there were under ground bees. Nasty buggers!

 

[Clucking Caper]

On saturday we had rain. so we did work in the house and organized the shed/shop.
On sunday we planted two lemon balm plants that we didnt get around to planting when we planted all our mint lol

 

[Acre4Me]

I was told by worker at ACE that Sevin changed their formula- doesn’t work well anymore. She was right. That’s when I branched off to Dawn detergent, castile soap and neem oil

Interesting!

So far things are sprouting and growing, which is good. I’ve found a few bug carcasses -also good. But, it’s been a day, so time will tell.

 

[fowltemptress]

My garden scares me right now; it's an overgrown jungle of weeds that seemingly popped up overnight. I can't seem to get a handle on them because my poultry is so distracting. I'm somehow still managing to locate and harvest food in all that dense mess, so I'll continue calling my garden a success until I disappear into it and my bones are discovered come winter. I'm enlisting my husband later today to weed eat the paths between beds to hopefully buy me time before being engulfed by the forbidden jungle.