What did you do in the garden today?

[chicken opey]

It’s so humid that my skin is wet when I walk out. think high 90s yesterday.
I decided to take the plastic bottles off the squash bc they look like leaves getting burned.
I scored some free lavender
I also found a grow light on deep discount. These are staying in - maybe forever.

We also were gifted a bee hive ! I’m still in learning phase- won’t get bees till next year

 

[TillyPeeps]

Agree, I don't trust Temu and will never order from them. I think they're affiliated with the Chinese government (not sure, do your own research) but they're always putting advertisements on my phone, every one of their products are Chinese-made, and most of their positive reviews sound fake.
I have absolutely nothing but respect for Chinese people or people who are from there. But the government of China is a different story - they control their manufacturers, and I believe the best interests of their American customers come in last place, after their primary goal of learning about, influencing and stealing information from American consumers and the companies they buy from.
Remember a couple years ago when the dog food sold to us from Chinese manufacturers contained adulterated ingredients that killed a lot of people's pets? How about the random seeds sent from China to people in America that they never ordered, that turned out to be invasive species?
Yeah, I don't trust them.

Temu is an evil company for sure, same as many other Chinese government controlled companies, such as Shein, Tiktok, Wechat, etc. They steal your information for Chinese government to monitor everything you do. I have heard many stories about Chinese people arrested in minutes after they criticized the government because Temu/Tiktok/Wechat reported their discussions at home to Chinese government. When I worked for GE years ago, GE gave everyone travelling to China a company phone to use so they wouldn't get these scan software in their personal phones. I personally would never do any business with these companies.

 

[TillyPeeps]

I had a reply nearly completed earlier this morning… but something odd happened and it took me back 2 screens to another thread i had read, and lost my reply. I suspect a glitch with the ads. They jump around in the screen sometimes.

It rained yesterday, and looks like it will rain today. Nice temps, warm but not 90s.

A few Curcubits have gotten hit by something, so lost a melon plant and a cucumber plant today. The first summer squash were harvested.

Raccoons have visited, put out two traps last night, but nothing was caught. We will continue to set traps.

I'm so tired of raccoons pulling my plants out every night, so we set up a hot wire 8" above ground around my gardens. Raccoon never bothered my plants again!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Facebook, Google, etc. all track you too. I know because Safari blocks tracking software and tells me who’s trying to track me. Mostly it’s just random sites but there’s also a lot of FB and Google etc. It’s not just China. JS.

 

[Sueby]

Have you used that brand of lids before? And how well do they work on various brands of jars? I'm looking to find an affordable replacement for the Ball lids and replace the awful lids from a few cases of Pur jars that were gifted to me. First Street lids don't have enough of a "pop" for my taste; they're hard to tell when they actually seal. Not all lids (or jars) are made equal!

I have not used them yet. But @WthrLady may have some info. I'm sick of Ball lids that barely seal & wanted something made in the US because the cheap Chinese lids suck.

 

[Sammster]

Pulled one, just to see if it was ready. First time growing garlic. Do they need more time?
Also - I cut off the stem because I will be mincing and freeze drying the garlic - no need to cure.

 

[Happy hen lover]

I went to town to get all flock and my Orchelns is changing over to Boomgars and they had veggie plants at 75% off!! Oh yeah chicken/ plant math took over. I bought dill, oregano, thyme, lemon grass, Cherokee purple, mortgage lifter, and sweet potato vine. For .69 cents!!! Bonus bonus. . It's hot and I've been mostly just trying to keep all garden watered and alive! My cukes are loving heat I've been threading them through the trellises I have for them, even saw some blooms on a few. My radishes all bolted and kohlrabi got eaten down to sticks by something. ! Those were sent to processing plant aka chickens . Thinned out some beets also sent to processing plant. Jicama did not come up but so far squash plants are looking good . Planted delicata, Patty pan, and carnival yellow zucchini, and crookneck.

Have you used that brand of lids before? And how well do they work on various brands of jars? I'm looking to find an affordable replacement for the Ball lids and replace the awful lids from a few cases of Pur jars that were gifted to me. First Street lids don't have enough of a "pop" for my taste; they're hard to tell when they actually seal. Not all lids (or jars) are made equal!

For jars has nice lids small company . Just FYI

 

[WthrLady]

I have not used them yet. But @WthrLady may have some info. I'm sick of Ball lids that barely seal & wanted something made in the US because the cheap Chinese lids suck.

Missed the original question - What was it???? I'm the queen of jar lid testing. LOL Sadly.

 

[WthrLady]

Have you used that brand of lids before? And how well do they work on various brands of jars? I'm looking to find an affordable replacement for the Ball lids and replace the awful lids from a few cases of Pur jars that were gifted to me. First Street lids don't have enough of a "pop" for my taste; they're hard to tell when they actually seal. Not all lids (or jars) are made equal!

Oh yes, the Superb brand lids. They truly are in both quality and price. My beef is with how I have to get them- some co-op drop food club thing. I have to pick them up at a specific time, at a specific parking lot and be damned my schedule or the weather. And I cannot stop the stupid emails from this company. GRRRRR.
Failure rate with Ball/Kerr/Golden Harvest (all the same company) was up to near 60% during pandemic, down to about 35% two years ago, and then I switched to superb and the generic last year. I didn't touch Pur due to their origin location and questionable lid lining. TSC no longer carries ball, only PUR. And I'm not a fan of the plastic reusable lids with the rubber bands, their long term storage failure is shocking and at the time of processing, there is no seal button to check for a true pressure seal. The superb lid is a GIANT seal indicator and you can hear that seal pop down two counties over. They're also a MUCH thicker lid, which is where Ball/Kerr/golden harvest started to go wrong.
My local Mennonite grocery carries lids in bulk BPA free, unbranded in HUGE stacks 20,50, 100,200 lids at a go for a similar price, and with the same blue tack in the lid that work just as well. I stocked up on both the generic and Superb last year and am good for a while, especially with the Freeze Dryer in the house now.

 

[WthrLady]

I went to town to get all flock and my Orchelns is changing over to Boomgars and they had veggie plants at 75% off!! Oh yeah chicken/ plant math took over. I bought dill, oregano, thyme, lemon grass, Cherokee purple, mortgage lifter, and sweet potato vine. For .69 cents!!! Bonus bonus. . It's hot and I've been mostly just trying to keep all garden watered and alive! My cukes are loving heat I've been threading them through the trellises I have for them, even saw some blooms on a few. My radishes all bolted and kohlrabi got eaten down to sticks by something. ! Those were sent to processing plant aka chickens . Thinned out some beets also sent to processing plant. Jicama did not come up but so far squash plants are looking good . Planted delicata, Patty pan, and carnival yellow zucchini, and crookneck.

For jars has nice lids small company . Just FYI

One they finished the switch. check Bomgarrs in the household section for the giant bars of Aussie soap. OMG so wonderful. Seasalt, orange, and coconut are my top 3.