What Did You Do In The Garden?

[ninnymary]

@ninnymary I’m too stubborn (& cheap) for that. I have 9 plants alive-hope lives.

The honey nut butternut is blooming and vining big time.

That's great! Mine is stuck in a corner and is also vining. Hope it doesn't get too big/long. I have several squashes about 2 inches big. Wonder if I can cut the vine so it won't keep growing? I don't need tons of squash.

Mary

 

[seedcorn]

@flowerbug You are corr3ct. I should say moles are destroying the okra bed by tunneling underneath them. Usually they move on. But 6th time...... what are the odds....

@ninnymary Send extras home with students to eat. Can never have too many from one vine. It is vining more than standard butternut.

 

[ninnymary]

@flowerbug You are corr3ct. I should say moles are destroying the okra bed by tunneling underneath them. Usually they move on. But 6th time...... what are the odds....

@ninnymary Send extras home with students to eat. Can never have too many from one vine. It is vining more than standard butternut.

Good idea, I'll see how long that vine gets. When you say it's vining more than standard, do you mean it has more vines or that vines are longer than usual?

Mary

 

[digitS']

More weeding ... And, another layer of string on the pea trellis.

I thought that I might finally find some peas while I was doing that but it will still be a few more days before there are enuf peas for me to come across to make it worthwhile to stop and put them in a bucket.

Weeding is getting down to finding what was missed from a couple of go-arounds. There are still plenty! Now is the time because the garden plants are growing and it is becoming more difficult to see under and around them.

Many garden plants are growing well. It surprises me that they can do okay with all the wind we are having - there were gusts to 35mph again, yesterday. I notice some bug damage in the dahlias. I suppose that earwigs are preferable to the entire plant broken off by the wind. They don't have any support yet but are standing up well.

Should give them relief from the earwigs. Across the garden, potatoes and eggplant also need a break from the potato beetles. Tiny right now but if there are many more unhatched eggs, some of those plants are doomed without intervention. Sundays are my spraying days but it has been too windy! Can only find, remove and convert to fertilizer so many of the pests and they have the most amazing appetites!!

Steve

 

[seedcorn]

Good idea, I'll see how long that vine gets. When you say it's vining more than standard, do you mean it has more vines or that vines are longer than usual?

Mary

Longer than my traditional butternut. Haven’t looked to see about the numbers. Interested to see how many it sets and size. Then the ultimate-does it live up to its name-honeynut.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

Well, I hadn't heard of the onion thing either, might have been able to use that as a kid.

@Collector , I want to caution you about mulch. One of my worst respiratory infections was after I moved spruce wood chips. The pile had been sitting in my driveway through several winter months and I hauled off 3 pickup loads, then spent a couple weeks recovering ...

Steve

Wow! I have got where I am more careful around mulch and rabbit bedding and covering my mouth and nose.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

The garden is doing pretty good. The tomatoes are growing, bush beans look good and pole beans. Cucumbers and squash growing and kale and collards. I picked a radish today, some kale, raspberries, and Swiss chard. The peppers are not doing that great and I think it is the cool weather. Put string up for the pole beans. Tomorrow I am cleaning the rabbit hutch and I have some rabbit manure tea, and going to fertilize and do some weeding. I have been doing pretty good this year with weeding. I had to take time to make a baby rag quilt for DD's baby shower. Getting closer to the due date of Aug. 5th. I took myself off the blood thinner and went on baby aspirin and feel so much better. I have been waiting for my lab work to get back and it has been 12 days, so I don't even care now. I am staying on the aspirin and I have lost 17 pounds and trying to be more active.

 

[Zeedman]

Finished putting up the remaining trellises today, for the bitter melon & yardlong beans. The eggplant that we put in pots this year ("Gretel") has virtually exploded with growth, and has begun blooming. I've never seen so many blossoms on an eggplant at the same time. The variety bears a strong resemblance to "Casper" in fruit color, fruit shape, and thorns , the flowers are much larger, and in clusters. Casper, as much as I liked it, was always temperamental at best, and the yield was often disappointing. It seems that Gretel will be a more reliable replacement, provided that it passes the taste test.

Had a superhot pepper (Carolina Reaper) in one pot, the first time I've ever tried growing one of those peppers. The plant was very vigorous, and already had buds when I put it in. But I looked at it yesterday, and it was dying! The drainage on that pot had apparently become plugged, and after our recent rains, it was waterlogged. I tried to pour off the water, but the entire top layer of soil sloshed out when I tipped the pot - plant & all. I fixed the drainage, but the plant shows no sign of recovering... a blessing in disguise?

Also started to weed the new garden extension, where the zucchini will be. I broke ground on that area last year, and ground cherries (which I had grown on that end the year before) promptly and COMPLETELY colonized it. There were about 20-30 plants there, our kids & grandkids loved them, and we picked a ton. Of course, a lot still fell to the ground; so this year there is a carpet of ground cherry seedlings there! They are so thick that they are smothering weeds, actually a pretty effective cover crop. Easy to kill with a hoe, so I'll leave them there until the squash seedlings are ready.

Be warned, once you grow ground cherries, you will have them forever! Which can be good or bad, depending upon how you look at it.

 

[ninnymary]

The garden is doing pretty good. The tomatoes are growing, bush beans look good and pole beans. Cucumbers and squash growing and kale and collards. I picked a radish today, some kale, raspberries, and Swiss chard. The peppers are not doing that great and I think it is the cool weather. Put string up for the pole beans. Tomorrow I am cleaning the rabbit hutch and I have some rabbit manure tea, and going to fertilize and do some weeding. I have been doing pretty good this year with weeding. I had to take time to make a baby rag quilt for DD's baby shower. Getting closer to the due date of Aug. 5th. I took myself off the blood thinner and went on baby aspirin and feel so much better. I have been waiting for my lab work to get back and it has been 12 days, so I don't even care now. I am staying on the aspirin and I have lost 17 pounds and trying to be more active.

That is good news Mary! We know our bodies best and sometimes we just have to do what makes us feel better. I'm sure it helps that you lost all that weight. It is impressive. I just love to hear good things are happening to you. You deserve them and so much more.

Mary

 

[flowerbug]

The garden is doing pretty good. The tomatoes are growing, bush beans look good and pole beans. Cucumbers and squash growing and kale and collards. I picked a radish today, some kale, raspberries, and Swiss chard. The peppers are not doing that great and I think it is the cool weather. Put string up for the pole beans. Tomorrow I am cleaning the rabbit hutch and I have some rabbit manure tea, and going to fertilize and do some weeding. I have been doing pretty good this year with weeding. I had to take time to make a baby rag quilt for DD's baby shower. Getting closer to the due date of Aug. 5th. I took myself off the blood thinner and went on baby aspirin and feel so much better. I have been waiting for my lab work to get back and it has been 12 days, so I don't even care now. I am staying on the aspirin and I have lost 17 pounds and trying to be more active.

glad to hear you are feeling better.