What Did You Do In The Garden?

[flowerbug]

this morning when i got up Mom was sitting in her chair knitting as usual and she hadn't noticed the deer standing in the backyard. it was munching on some of the birdsfoot trefoil. given that there is fence all around i did not want to spook it badly but i did want it to go away and so i opened the patio door and talked so it could hear me. it looked around and then went back to where the fence was at and it could not find a way out. it went both directions and did some things which i was worried would end up with fence damage or hurt animal but after a bit more drama it went back through the front yard and then out the driveway into the road (no it did not look both directions first) and it just stood there in the road for a moment before going into the field across the road.

*whew*

made 12 pints of freezer jam this morning (was too tired last night) and 3 pints of frozen sugared berries. will be doing more of those today. i had four large containers after getting them cleaned up and smashed yesterday. what i put in the freezer already only used just over one container, we can eat another container, but that means i still have over a gallon to put into pint jars to freeze. i'm not going to use that much sugar or lemon juice in them because i really don't have that much space. i just hope they don't cold ferment like i had some do a few years ago...

 

[Prairie Rose]

@flowerbug these beds were made late, so i went with the paper on purpose. wanted just enough of a barrier to tamp down the grass, but not enough to keep the plants i want from reaching the soil. This fall they will get the heavier weed barrier

 

[flowerbug]

got it all done yesterday with the strawberries in the freezer. 12 pints of freezer jam and another 17 pints of frozen mashed strawberries.

i wanted to test out various amounts of sugar and lemon juice to see what turns out the best. so i went with 1:1 (1 cup sugar to 1 cup mashed berries and then stepped it down by half for the remaining batches). i think the sugar and lemon juice also helps keep the aroma and flavor of the berries intact. i wrote down which batch was what and so when we open them up to use them i can know how it turns out.

a few years ago i put a lot of mashed strawberries in the freezer that were picked late and were fermenting a little. i hoped the freezer would kill off the ferment. it didn't. so a few months later when i opened up the first jar it blew the lid off as soon as i took the ring off. lol cold ferment. tasted and smelled like strawberry wine. ended up feeding all of them to the worms. so much work wasted.

this time the berries were not fermenting. how did we managed to get all of those jars in the freezer!? ha!

 

[Dirtmechanic]

I made Becky some squirrel fighting poles for her bird feeders out back. I found out with some amusement that she had been shooting her bb gun at and hitting the feeders to scare the squirrels off them. When I suggested she might be doing it wrong she informed me that no, she was a good shot!

 

[ducks4you]

Friday and Saturday, I weeded and poisoned beds around the house, east and south facing, bordered by the sidewalk. After the rains this week I will spot check whatever didn't die. I did this last year and it stayed clear for months.

 

[flowerbug]

watered and did rain dance. looks like storms might get here, but until i see the rain hit the ground i don't count on any forecasts.

 

[seedcorn]

I am now 40% weeded on the corn. I HATE crab grass...

 

[henless]

Tied my tomatoes up this morning. Main stems are tied as high as I can go, just have the suckers to tie up as they grow. I have a few starting to turn. Can't wait to taste them.

Cut about 2 feet off of my marigolds. They had gotten taller than my tomatoes which are taller than my cattle panels. I never knew marigolds could grow that tall. I'll make sure next year and check expected size.

 

[Prairie Rose]

I pulled a few more weeds this morning, this evening I am going to plant the couple of dahlia bulbs I found on clearance last week at the store for $1.49 each. I probably won't get to see them bloom before frost, but they can at least grow and get bigger for next year!

 

[Dirtmechanic]

I fertilized and aerated the yard. I thought I would have done it earlier but it was so cool for so long the summer grass was late, and then it got dry so our clay hardened up. But then rain! So I went out after and tore it up. Then it rained again. The force is with me.