What did you do in the garden today?

[OnlySympathy]

Got a pretty disappointing amount of dry beans. Not a horrible amount of tomatoes at least

Also had to get this baby dove back into a nest. Its parent was sitting on it while it was on the ground under the nest. I believe it is around 6-7 days old

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Apparently the temperature got up to 92F today. So that makes it a 5 day heatwave. Wah! Call me crazy, but I’m hoping for a tropical storm to come our way and restore our aquifers.

 

[Jenbirdee]

Aww... Feeling nostalgic. I haven't grown gourds for about 20 years.

That's a nice specimen. Do you make dippers? Keep, gift, or sell?

My daughter makes lamps - she gave me one for my birthday, and then she gave me a few seeds to plant- I’ll show you-

 

[akroberts1085]

I am so sorry this is the case for you too! I rely on my garden for most of my food, so a bad year really hurts. I don't can much besides marinara, pickles and jam. The rest is made into meals, divided into portions and into the deep freezer. My best year ever I had all 365 meals with only $279.00 spent at the market for the meat to add to what I grow. Will I ever do that again? Not as high as meat costs now, lol. This year I only have 22 pork with plum sauce and another 40 servings of chili in that freezer. Enough marinara from last year to make a few lasagnas. Enough poblanos growing to make stuffed peppers. Thank goodness for those new chickens, looks like I'll be making a lot of quiche!

I hear ya about the meat prices. I'm about to start hunting just to put meat in the freezer. I have been trying to find roast cuts of meat for making different cuts to ensure more bang for the buck. It doesn't always work out though. I might even have to start processing some of the chickens that I am deeming to be unsafe around my grandsons that are autistic. It's almost to the point of, if you don't hunt and fish you're not going to survive. It sucks too.

 

[akroberts1085]

My daughter makes lamps - she gave me one for my birthday, and then she gave me a few seeds to plant- I’ll show you- View attachment 4197174

That lamp is so adorable. What a crafty daughter you have.

 

[OnlySympathy]

~8.5 foot tall tomato in a 1 gallon pot

 

[jerryse]

My daughter makes lamps - she gave me one for my

Night blooming gourds. Many shapes and sizes. Birdhouse, dipper, bushel. Such a neat genus. Dad used to grow the long skinny type for shade. They would climb trees or anything.

 

[Sally PB]

I haven't grown gourds for about 20 years.

That's a nice specimen. Do you make dippers? Keep, gift, or sell?

I won two spinning gourd plants in a raffle. The plants are getting HUGE! I need to dig the onions that are nearby while I can still find them.

I have never grown gourds before. Spinning gourds are small, and that's all I know about them.

 

[Smokerbill]

I hear ya about the meat prices. I'm about to start hunting just to put meat in the freezer. I have been trying to find roast cuts of meat for making different cuts to ensure more bang for the buck. It doesn't always work out though. I might even have to start processing some of the chickens that I am deeming to be unsafe around my grandsons that are autistic. It's almost to the point of, if you don't hunt and fish you're not going to survive. It sucks too.

I look for marked down meat at the store that's close to its "sell by" date. I picked up 7 pounds of nice boneless pork chops yesterday for about nine bucks.

And I'm trying my hand at raising birds for meat. I have dual purpose New Hampshires that are supposed to be good egg layers and decent for meat.

A few of the chicks grew a lot faster and are bigger, and I'll try raising their progeny as meat birds and hopefully the fast growing trait will be passed on.

I have a pair of NH cockerels, and one Rhode Island Red cockerel to add a little genetic diversity.

 

[Smokerbill]

The tomato plant on the front deck is doing well. It's about time to start tying the vines onto the deck railing.