July 2021 Week 1
dbarron
2 years ago
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hazelinok
2 years agoNancy RW (zone 7)
2 years agoRelated Discussions
July 2019, Week 1
Comments (30)I'm still catching up. Nancy, I usually don't see aphids at all, though I saw them on western ironweed growing outside the garden fence this year. Ants were farming them and lady bugs were trying to eat them, so the ants and ladybugs were slugging it out. This year the oleander aphids did pop up on my butterflyweed plants in the garden, but about 2 minutes after I noticed them there, I saw ladybugs working the plants. A day or two later, all the oleander aphids were gone. It just amazes me how good the ladybugs are at finding a 'problem' and dealing with it or, from their point of view, maybe they are just happy to have a nice meal. When I was younger, more foolish and inclined to ignore the heat, I would just garden hard, endlessly, throughout July and August. Now? Being older and wiser, I listen to the heat and listen to my body and know when enough is enough....and I try to get out of the heat before 'enough' becomes 'too much'. I'm already looking at the tomato plants in the big containers and asking myself if I want to water them all summer long. Y'all shouldn't be surprised if I stop watering them in 2, 3 or 4 weeks. I don't even have the patience any more to stand out there in the heat with a hose in my hand....so heaven help those plants when I start thinking it is too hot at 7 a.m. (Or, I could just put up the drip irrigation lines for them.) The last few years, I've turned my focus to indoors DIY projects and this year might be kinda sorta the same, more or less, at least in August.and comes into bloom and produces much faster than okra planted in cool weather despite the estimated DTMs. I planted Jambalaya (which has a quick DTM of 50 days anyway) in, hmmm, late May I think, and it was producing by the end of June. I think it was so fast because it didn't really experience cool soil temperatures. Hopefully your okra will produce extra-quickly like that. You know, I learned this with hot peppers ages ago. I used to put them in the ground the same time I plant tomatoes, but that exposed them to soil temperatures and sometimes nighttime lows that are cooler than they like and it slows them down. Nowadays I plant them 2-4 weeks later than the tomato plants, and am harvesting hot peppers in June regardless---and heavier yields than I got from those earlier plantings. It amazes me what a difference it makes when the plants are not exposed to any cold. Benadryl for pets is important at times though it depends on the bite's locatio. We have had neighbors' dogs get bitten on the paw and the paw swelled so quickly that it halted the flow of blood and they lost the dog, so we always give a dog Benadryl if it is bitten and we usually don't even go to the vet. You can see the dogs' swelling go down literally in front of your eyes. I don't know why it doesn't work for people, but I know it is absolutely not recommended for people. Here's my theory though: If you've ever known anyone who was bitten by a venomous snake, you might have noticed the doctors circle the wound area and mark on it with a Sharpie. They come back, usually every 30 minutes, and mark the extent of the swelling or redness and this allows them to track the way the person's reaction is advancing (or, eventually) receding, in the area of the bite. This is important info for them as it can guide some treatment choices. So, if you have taken something like Benadryl and if it affects you by decreasing the swelling, it can interfere with their ability to track your reaction. I think medical personnel are the ones to decide if you are having an allergic reaction (which is separate from your body's reaction to the venom) and if you need an antihistamine, which one, etc. Jennifer, Yes, grocery story squash normally will be hybrid. They have special hybrids bred for commercial growers and I'd be surprised if you could buy any grocery store squash that is not a hybrid. Yes, your mystery squash could very well be one of mini pumpkins grown as decorative items. Amy, Yes, I wish we had that cool Spring weather back again. Sadly, we do not. Nancy, After worrying that Chris will accidentally blow up himself and kill himself setting off fire works, I'm over it. I spent over 2 hours this afternoon opening up all the packaging, taking things out, etc. and lining them up on a shelving unit so they are ready to go. I had a big black trash bag completely full of all the external wrappers and the bags from the Fireworks stand. The fireworks don't have to kill him. I am going to kill him myself. He bought enough fireworks to open his own fireworks stand, and I am not kidding about that. He bought a bunch of these big boxes with a fuse. You light the fuse, and the box goes off---some of them have 20 to 250 shells or balls in them that will go off in rapid succession. Our neighbors, and all the animals, are going to hate us tonight. I bet he has 20 or 30 of those, big box things, and they are just the tip of the iceberg. In his defense, the smaller stuff he bought earlier in the week is much smaller and run-of-the-mill. It is today's purchases, on half-off-everything day at the fireworks warehouse that enabled him to buy too much of everything and most of it really big stuff. I'm glad Tom, and you, survived his night out. I hate being outside listening to all the fireworks and will be glad when this weekend is over. K, I'm out of time, but almost caught up. Time for me to get dinner on the table. There will be six of us for dinner: 4 adults and 2 wrinkled prunes who don't even care that much about the fireworks because, for them, it is all about the pool. Have a nice evening everyone. I believe I am going to have a loud one. Dawn...See MoreJanuary 2021 Week 1
Comments (72)I just went into my seed starting room, looked around and walked back out closing the door behind me. How can anyone let a place like that get into such a mess?? I have sweet potatoes from summer before last. The still look okay, but why eat them when I have last years crop sitting there also? I may have to grab a couple and cook them just to see what a very old sweet potato taste like. I also have winter squash and pumpkins in there also. I have a good supply of jars over at the old house, I wish I were able to can food. But I may never get able to can again, but that is okay, that is the hardest part of gardening anyway. The sun is out, but still pretty cool, 37*. I plan on picking some mustard when it gets a little warmer out. It felt so good to get out a little yesterday. I drove around in the wildlife garden, went down and tried to put a cow back into the pasture. I am not able to chase the cows on foot, but the rtv can run about as fast as a cow can. All though I dont chase them, but I do try to work them down to an area where I can open a gate and run them in. The cows belong to the guy that has the place rented, but I enjoy getting out and checking on them. I think that there are too many cows in the pasture, but that is how a lot of people operate. If I were raising cattle I would starve to death because I would over feed them, I would have other people's cows trying to break into my pasture. It is still 37*, but I think I will go pick some greens, it wont take long to pick enough for two people to eat. We had a wonderful lunch yesterday, salmon patties, potato salad and raw vegetables, I hope we have leftovers from that today....See MoreMarch 2021 Week 5/ April week 1
Comments (71)Lynn, you know... I grew up C of C too. As did Rick (HU). I still attend one...and am actually employed by one. It's not accepted by other C of C really because we're not so...C of C'ish. The one I am at is very, very near where you live. (I remember you telling me your general area.) I had a similar experience growing up. Sort of. My parents and people near me were NOT so hardcore with the "we don't know the true date of Christ's birth and it is wrong to celebrate it on a date that is not in the scripture." Of course you're familiar with the whole "speak where the Bible speaks, be silent where the Bible is silent" thing they had going back then. Some still do. My family celebrated these holidays as mostly a fun, family time. However, our C of C celebrates it all now. (I could ramble on about this, but won't. SO much to say.) Rick (HU) is like you. He left that behind a long time ago. I think the difference is my family (and people near me) weren't so strict. Y'all's people were. And that will make thinking people run far away. And...to prove the point that I'm not strict C of C, I'm enjoying a glass of wine RIGHT now. And coming up with an Easter lesson for my littles tomorrow morning. Sorry. That had nothing to do with gardening. I was just checking in....but had to chime in. I'm late to post on the Saturday night, so it's doubtful Lynn will even see this before the next week's thread will be created....See MoreJuly 2021 Week 2
Comments (64)I'm sorry Kim and Moni. I'm sure at some point I would get lonely too. Kim (and Jen), I would have loved for y'all to come over last night to can tomatoes, but things were a little crazy around here with the chick situations as well as other things. Even before Rick came over, I got the tomatoes peeled and diced and ready to can. I needed it to be done in a very neat and tidy way and wanted to do it alone. I did not want to mop the floors or wipe cabinets at midnight. Too tired for that. Next 'round, y'all should come over. Our beans have been a flop, so no canning those. Hopefully the fall beans will produce enough for a few canning sessions. We got 15 pints of diced tomatoes and they are so pretty. Very red. They were mostly Jet Setter and Jet Star. Peeling larger tomatoes is much nicer too! Those little ones like Roma and Juliet, we'll use for sauce and they'll go through the tomato press. The chicks and moms are doing well. Stormy and chick got to leave the dog crate that was in the storage area of the coop, and go to her broody box that has a nice little outside area. It's in a dog kennel that is divided in two. Blossom was on the other side. But we moved her into the chick brooder with her little wounded chick. The chick seems okay. Maybe a little stressed. I brought it in tonight and put more ointment on it's wound and sorta force fed it some plain yogurt. I removed the upper part of the divider in the old coop, which is the brooder for Dolly and Peg. They can see each other clearly and haven't been too upset. I'm SO hoping I can take the divider out altogether and they'll be able to raise their chicks together. Our chicken yard looks like a homeless camp. I don't mean for that to sound snotty or mean....but it does look like one. I've delivered food and other items enough to know that it does. I have dreams for a tidy broody hen apartment complex. We got a nice rain. SO happy. A few minutes before, a wonderful cool breeze came it. It was HOT before that. I had rigged up fans for all of the chicken areas, but then took them down before the rain started. You know, our gardens do not look great. BUT, other than the beans (and the beans were a big chunk of the SG) , everything has done very well! The kitchen garden is so weedy, though. Has anyone started cauliflower from seed? It's been nearly 2 weeks and the seed is a no show....See Moredbarron
2 years agoNancy RW (zone 7)
2 years agodbarron
2 years agohazelinok
2 years agoNancy Waggoner
2 years agoNancy RW (zone 7)
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2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoKim Reiss
2 years agoNancy RW (zone 7)
2 years agoNancy RW (zone 7)
2 years agohazelinok
2 years agoNancy Waggoner
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2 years agohazelinok
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2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoKim Reiss
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2 years agoNancy Waggoner
2 years agoAmyinOwasso/zone 6b
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2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoNancy RW (zone 7)
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2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoNancy RW (zone 7)
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2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoNancy Waggoner
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2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoNancy Waggoner
2 years agoAmyinOwasso/zone 6b
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2 years agoKim Reiss
2 years agoKim Reiss
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2 years agoNancy RW (zone 7)
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agodbarron
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoOklaMoni
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2 years agoNancy RW (zone 7)
2 years agoOklaMoni
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2 years agoNancy Waggoner
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2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoOklaMoni
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2 years agojlhart76
2 years agoNancy Waggoner
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