What did you do in the garden today?

[WilderSkye]

This is chard is at least three seasons old. It started out in the garden first yeat, got moved to landscaping next, than back to the garden last summer. Even down to 0 deg F, covered with loose leaf litter, I can harvest off of it in winter.

Storms brewing, we wont get much but at least the heat wave has broken.

And we couldnt be happier with our rooster choice, he is placid and calm. Rocco El Gallo.

 

[OnlySympathy]

This is chard is at least three seasons old. It started out in the garden first yeat, got moved to landscaping next, than back to the garden last summer. Even down to 0 deg F, covered with loose leaf litter, I can harvest off of it in winter

It never bolted? If it ever does I would save the seeds to see if you have a randomly cold hardy perennial Swiss chard variety

 

[Smokerbill]

I think the pole beans I planted next to the onions are starting to be affected by the incompatible companions. Several of the bean vines are showing wilted leaves. The pole beans I planted far away from the onions are showing no problems.

A lot of you warned me about planting them together, saying beans and onions aren't good companions, but I just had to try it out for myself. Live and learn.

 

[Nym]

Thank You for the video. Unfortunately even though I’m fully aware of the signs of a ripe melon and watch them closely AND give the melons a bit extra time I still seem to always harvest too soon.

Lock yourself out of the watermellon patch next season lol

 

[Sally PB]

I have a row of beans in a bed that onions in it two years ago. Those plants don't look as good as the ones I have planted by a row of potatoes. I'm going to load up that bed with compost this fall and plant peas there next spring, see what happens.

 

[OnlySympathy]

Got this picture and am really happy with it so thought I would share

 

[Ponypoor]

Our chickens won’t even look at tomatoes…….unless we hand feed them to them. In fact, they pretty much turn their beaks up at all garden scraps except for cantaloupe, watermelon, and blueberries, they don’t even show any interest in Strawberries. So far, we sort of let them run the garden without them doing any pilfering.

Mine eat anything they can get their beaks on! Including eyeballs

 

[TJAnonymous]

There are two places mites attack. One is on the honeybee itself (called "phoretic") and the other is in a cell on developing brood.

There are two main kinds of chemical treatments: Formic acid, and oxalic acid.

Formic acid kills mites in the brood cells even after the cells are capped, as well as the phoretic mites. It can be used when there are honey supers on (the vapors will fill the hive, so it's important to know if your treatment is safe to use when there is honey in it). It's easy to put on, doesn't require any special safety gear (any more than you'd wear when you're dealing with the bees), and is reasonably priced.

But. You knew there was a "but," right? There is an upper temperature limit of 85° F for at least the first week, and ideally the entire 14-21 days. Well, that ain't a'happenin' thing right about now in most of the country. If it's above that temp, you risk killing bees with the vapors and if you kill the queen, you have a new problem.

The other treatment, oxalic acid, does not kill mites inside of capped brood cells, so it only gets the phoretic mites. No temperature restrictions. But (this one has a "but" as well), you shouldn't use it with honey supers on. Or, it's ok with honey supers on. Depends on who you ask. Clear on that? Depending on how the OA is applied, it is either fairly simple and inexpensive, or expensive and you need a respirator.

That was a FAR more detailed explanation than some of the articles... Thank you.

However, the whole reason I started down this path is because the mites are becoming resistant to the current treatments. That's why I was wondering about a natural occurring bacteria because it's harder to build a resistance.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Funny that it mentions Yeppoon... That's where my childhood bestie lived when I was growing up. Her family had a small cattle farm there. We were her host family when she was an exchange student. We wrote to each other for many years and used to chat on the phone whenever we could raise the money to pay for the extravagant cost.

 

[Nym]

Our chickens won’t even look at tomatoes…….unless we hand feed them to them. In fact, they pretty much turn their beaks up at all garden scraps except for cantaloupe, watermelon, and blueberries, they don’t even show any interest in Strawberries. So far, we sort of let them run the garden without them doing any pilfering.

Ha! my chickens are the same. I always have a patch of wild cherry tomatoes that has been self-seeding since the 1990s, but unless I pick them the chooks won't eat them. They are the most tasty tomatoes! too bad I can't eat too many - the solanaceae family isn't good for my inflamatory issues.