We do stay too busy don’t we. I am enjoying the cool down. 118 I think was our highest.

I am enjoying the cooler weather also.

The stuff I planted this morning, onions, turnips, rutabaga, collars. broad leaf, and curly leaf mustard. This stuff should have been planted before now, but I am a day late and a dollar short on everything.

I have been limping around trying to get some things done. Pain pills and antibiotics will go a long way to push a worn out body a little farther down the line.

Larry you're not much later than me. I've had to replant some of my stuff a couple of times over on account of the heat ,drought and the grasshoppers.

I'm still beheading the bastards.

Blister bugs have been a problem too.

Hopefully the weather pattern will change and get cool and wet. But knowing how A-hole weather is, it probably won't be in the way we want it , as in severe storms.

Rick

Rick, I am a little concerned about the rutabagas, it was so hot when they should have been planted that I did not bother with them, but with the cooler weather, plus the seeds were given to me, I just tossed them on the ground on the far end of the onion row. I have only grown rutabagas one other time, but that was so long ago that I don't remember any thing about them. I don't have a lot of faith in mt fall garden being a success because of the same things you mentioned.

I never tried Southern Curled mustard till this year, I tried a couple of messes feom my neighbors garden, and liked it very much. I normally go with Florida Broad leaf, but I think it is a little strong. I try to plant Tendergreen mustard for my Aunt and Uncle, but it seems a little weak for my taste.

I have turnips coming up now, and planted more yesterday. I also noticed that I have some Danver 126 carrots coming up. I cover the seeds with cord board for a few day and it really seemed to help with germination. The only lettuce I have coming up is some that I covered with card board.

When I was growing up these Beauty Berries were everywhere. This is part of a plant I sprayed yesterday. I regretted spraying is after I did it and went back to get some seed today, hoping I can start more of them and plant in areas that will be out of the way of brush hogs and mowing machines. My question is, what is the best way to propagate them? I am trying to be more wildlife friendly, and there is bound to be some kind of critter that feeds on these.

Birds love the beauty berry. I hear it makes good jelly too

Those are some really pretty berries on that plant. If I were a bird, I'd certainly be all over it!

I'm really enjoying the zipper cream field peas. I'm about to cut out the English peas altogether and put more of a focus on these cowpeas. They really do well with our weather and we are getting a ton of them. I also like the fact that If I'm late on harvesting or miss a lot, no problem. The dry beans store easy and I can blanch & freeze the fresh ones. The only problem i've had was the aphid infestation early on.

We keep checking the sweet potatoes but don't see any decent sized tubers yet. Guess we'll leave em in the ground and check again in October. The plants seem to be doing good at least.

Went round 2 on the carrots, because why not? Maybe we'll get some decent germination this time. Just not sure if they'll have enough time to produce before we get slammed by really cold temps.

Carrots can overwinter into spring if they're covered ,even if the tops freeze off as long as they got some kind of root.

I'm still waiting for my Knuckle cowpeas to get into production. They've been a little slow this year.

I've got some English green peas over at Jennifer's that are starting to look pretty good along with a row of green beans. I had them both under a shade cloth tunnel when it was so hot in the 100's. Had to water them nearly every day. I can cover them both with row cover when the time comes since I already got the hoops over them.

Rick

I want to plant more carrots and spinach, I don't do well with either one of them. I have seen you tube where they placed boards over the seeded area for 5 -7 days to help with germination. I may try the boards, even though they are a little expensive to lay out on the dirt, but I have several treated fence boards that I could use, they would probably warp, but I think I could wet them again and put a weight on then to straighten them out enough to re-use them again.

Rick, those look good. My knuckle peas are producing now. I was given a mess of knuckle peas a while back, when I shelled them I saved out about 15 seeds and tossed between the tomatoes and peppers to grow seed for next year ( I am unease about the supply chain ). Anyway I did find a pound of seed at the co-op, which I bought, but I will save these for seed anyway. I like to buy seed ahead because I don't have the options that people have in larger towns.

Larry , I used mulch to cover my carrot plantings and some of my first turnips plantings when I was planting in the heat. Then keep the mulch wetted down down. I got germination but some of the seedlings got leggy if I left the mulch on them too long.

Getting rain here now in the OKC area. 1 and a quarter inches and counting.

Might get severe storms later in the day.

Rick

I went up to see my dad Sat, so I didn't get much of anything done over the weekend. I did get peas, lettuce, cilantro, and dill planted, plus a bunch of zinnia deadheaded and tossed the seed around. The driveway bed is about 80% weeded, and most of the flowers are starting to go to seed. Hopefully next year it'll have more sprout up.

0.2" so far here, and 3.25" this month. Average is 3.4", so we're doing pretty good. And that blasted heat is gone. Even if we have a few 90* days, I'll take 90 over 100.

Larry, I tried looking up how to sow beautyberry seed, and there doesn't seem to be any consensus. One site said plant in spring or fall, another said late winter, another early fall. A couple mentioned germination rates were pretty low, and that softwood cuttings were more likely to take. So in short, experiment with them and see what happens.

Thanks, Jen, I think I will experiment. I mashed one of the berries and it had very small seeds in it, so I think I will try seed sprouting both inside as out side.

I finally got Madge to try the bunching onions is cooking, she cut one up in some fried potatoes yesterday, and they were great, great full taste. We are using the jalapenos also. Madge grew up eating very low seasoned food, now she is experimenting with more seasoning, even letting me play in the kitchen a little. I am working on lunch while she is shopping.

When Madge gets back I am going to make another carrot bed. I will try to till deep and add potting soil. My native soil has to have a lot of help to become good soil.

I pick some of the peas/beans seed that I posted on last weeks thread, the seeds dont look good, they look sorta like they have fuss on them, but I am still going to get some seed to plant next year, they cant be too hard to grow because I have so many on my fence.

I tried to start a new thread for this question but Houzz barely lets me post - I need some straw to use as decoration then use for mulch in the garden. Our usual source for straw has retired - I want clean straw, not sprayed and not just squares of hay filled with stickers or weeds. Found a source but he said it had been sprayed with fungicide - my husband didnt ask which one - but no herbicide

Has anyone had experience with bales sprayed with fungicide? I dont want to bring home a problem

I often get free hay, and one time I think I got some that was sprayed with Grazon, or some other herbicide. I had small gardening beds in my lawn. The small bed I used that hay on as mulch I quit using, I think the next year the bed was better. but now it is parking space. I did not want to use the food from that area.

The hay I get now is really trashy and full of weed seed, that presents another set of problems. I have no idea what the fungicide would do to the soil, or how long it would last, but one thing I would try to keep in mind, is that there is a lot of microbe activity that has to take place in good gardening soil, and how much, and how long would any fungicide effect the microbe activity. I think that I might try the straw in a small place and just watch for any change. I would expect that after a few months the fungicide would be inactive.

I want to thank you that live in Oklahoma for talking about your rains, it gives me hope because we along the Arkansas, Oklahoma border often get your left over weather, we are getting some much needed rain now, not a lot, but it will help, and more may be on the way.

Hwy20, my husband buys straw from Worleys. He thinks it's better than Atwoods straw. I've never heard of problems from fungicide. I think they become inactive in the sun, eventually. I googled fungicide on wheat and got this: https://www.cropscience.bayer.us/d/prosaro-pro-400-sc-fungicide?utm_campaign=my24+prosaro+brandad+cereal-prosaro-national-nonbrand-google&utm_medium=search-paid&utm_source=google&utm_content=ad1+prosaro+alwayson+fungicideswheat+wheat+react-onsiteaction+text+tex+gk15c17ta27+fungicideswheat+nonbrand&gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwsKqoBhBPEiwALrrqiAhbZqY8sGN5QFqPLa1WCADzNqVGt9PNv8KXuuKSOgbSP9FEnKZ_bxoCXI4QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I thought it looked pretty scary, actually.

My brother is here. It's pretty bad. He's fallen twice and takes a ridiculous number of pills. He's also forgotten some things (short term memory) that I feel is not a good sign. But if you're taking nearly 30 pills, about 6 of which say "may cause dizziness", maybe it's one of those. Bringing him from Norman has caused logistical problems. We need to get him doctors here. I've had a lot of anxiety.

Ron bought some transplants to put out for fall, if he gets the weed bed cleaned up.

I didn't even see this thread til today, and I looked.

Amy, I am sorry for your anxieties. I understand the challenge of caring for someone else, and as we age it becomes more of a challenge. I will keep you and family in prayer.

I don't want to buy any plants, here they are over a dollar each, and with this rain we are getting, I should be having some seeds coming up.

We are getting ready to go to Fayetteville, try to find a way for me to breathe better. I have no endurance at all.

Well, I took on another project in the front foundation area while i'm off work. Took all the landscaping rocks & weed cloth out. Yanked 3 hollies and a eunymous out.

I need a couple of serious shovels, because I break one everytime I yank big shrubs. Granted, I probably abuse them when I use them as a pry bar. Overturned one of the big stones and found a fat scorpion. Chopped him up really good with a hoe. Geez I hate the thought of those things running around.

I had a volunteer sunshine ligustrum that I put in a pot in the spring, so there's a free shrub. Need about 4 nice boxwoods now and a load of mulch to finish it off. Only one more area has the landscape rocks, so we're getting closer to getting that stuff outta here.

I had a house that the previous owner had put white gravel and landscape clothe down around the entire house, I had tough time getting most of the shrubs and all the white rock and clothe out. At that time I had a 4 wheel drive with a winch, which mad short work of the shrubs, but the mat and gravel were a pain.

We got more rain, this time it came fast enough to have run-off, I expect that it helped the pond, but I have not been down to check how much.

I have more fall plants coming up, but most are disappearing, I dont know if the heat or insects are getting them. I am having spinach coming up in the shade, but not much out in full sun. Nearly all my lettuce and collards are gone now.

Hi Everyone.

Amy, I'm so sorry your brother is struggling and for all the things you're having to deal with.

Beautyberry berries are so beautiful. I have two and still haven't decided where to plant them. Larry, do yours do well in full sun? Glad you got some good rain.

Jen, you're making progress. That's gotta be a good feeling.

I just want to say thank you all for "listening" to me....or at least not telling me shut up if you're not reading all my ramblings, but are secretly annoyed by them. I realized this week that this is the place where I talk. Normally, I am the listener. It's a role that I do well. But, it is hard to not have friends to talk to. It's not that they're trying to be rude, it's just that they have more stuff and issues and whatnot. So, I listen to their issues and talk about their stuff with them.

And boy do so many of them have some really hard things right now. After I've listened and talked with them about their stuff....I almost feel like I need to talk to someone about all of that and how it affects me. I wonder if that's how therapists feel. Maybe therapists have their own therapists. Maybe that's what I should do. Pay someone to listen to me. haha. Tom does well with it, but I wish I had another friend to talk to, so he's not overwhelmed with it all.

People certainly seek me out to listen to them. I like that. I am so happy to help them.

But...sometimes when I'm talking about my stuff or anything really, I realize that 1. people zone out 2. people talk over me (maybe they're hard of hearing?) 3. they turn the conversation to them 4. they aren't really listening to me. I'm talking and then suddenly they jump into a conversation that is going on behind us and it's apparent they've not been listening at all. Mostly, I've come to realize that with these people, we don't have the friendship I thought we had. And that's okay too. I can still be there for them. I just won't count them as good friends.

I'm not so vain as to think that I'm an interesting person. Another thing I've realized is that I'm a very boring person. I'm okay with that. I'm entertained by my own thoughts.

It's been a very long week. Like I said, I have several people who are going through extremely difficult situations. The ones who are co-workers, I'm trying to complete their work duties and....just be there for them. My heart is broken for them.

All of these emotions have made me feel weird.

We have our own stuff too, that I won't go into.

About the shower saga. We still don't have a shower at our house. Tom is tired of taking a bath. Won't go into all the decisions that led to the decision to just pay someone to come tile our shower and bathroom floor. But that will be happening next week. It wasn't in our budget, but oh well.

Then I thought that maybe it's a good thing that we're having it done properly.... especially if we decide to sell our house in the next few years.

All of the chaos in my house makes me think ahead to next year when we'll be working on the bedrooms. It will be right at seed starting time. Where will I put my light shelf? I'm glad I had already made peace with having a different type of garden next year. It will still be good, but different. It's okay, tho. Seven years ago, I didn't have a kitchen for 3 months and still had a garden. It can be done.

I hope we get some rain this weekend. It looks to be hot and dry next week which is not my favorite.

I didn't have much time to look at the garden today, but there's more carrots sprouting. Maybe these ones will make it. Everything else looks mostly good. Those fall tomatoes are just lovely. I am hoping to get up and water in the morning and look over everything. Maybe weed the rest of the native garden.

Tom is going to repair holes in the bathroom walls in the morning. We bought the paint tonight and I'll start that soon. Maybe tomorrow night after a baby shower. We've talked about actually going on a date tomorrow night. So might do that instead. It's been awhile since we've done something relaxing and fun.

The okra is still going. I sliced enough for 3 bags late last night, so it's all in the freezer now. We're eating it a couple of times a week.

My son was accepted into the program he's been working towards for the past 3 months. This is great news. He just got the email a couple of day ago. He'll be finishing the "boot camp" part when we're there next month, but we'll have 3 evening with him and one full day.

That's all from me. Hope everyone's fall gardens are doing well....or at least okay.

Larry , probably both the heat and the grasshoppers.

now that you got some rain and a cool down , maybe conditions will improve.

I'd just try replanting things like mustard ,collards.. if you got plenty of seed . How's your turnips.? You can still replant turnips and rutabaga at least for greens... If your planting spinach keep it covered with mulch and wetted down till you get germination. Then uncover but shade it if it's still hot. Sun angle is getting lower day by day , shoudn't have to worry about heat too much longer.

Sometimes you just gotta keep overlapping with replanting till it takes hold.

That's why I buy a lot of seed

Got to worry about storms now over the weekend. Big hail , high wind ..

Always something to sound off the fog horn.

Lately I've been planting out onion sets for the fall. Check with your local feed store for onion sets or order online.

Garlic planting is just around the corner too.

I'd try one more time to replant some greens at least.

Rick

Rick, I keep a pretty good seed supply, and I will try to plant more greens today if I can find a spot dry enough. I tried curly mustard this spring, and it may be my new favorite. Florida Broad leaf use to be my favorite, but I plan on having at least 3 different kinds of mustard, along with turnips and beets. Beets and spinach seem to be my problem greens, and I have problems with carrots also, I think that I just need to cover the ground when I plant them, or maybe soaking the seeds.

We have a chance of bad weather this evening, and rain tomorrow, so it is important that I find a plantable spot today, or just plan on waiting a while.

I have not planted any onion sets, and may not. I am trying to let the bunching onions and walking onions take their place. Onion plants have gotten so expensive, and the walking and bunching onions almost grow wild, it seen a shame not to make the best use of them. I am trying to get Madge to use more Elephant, it seems to grow better for me, and I think I like the taste better also.

Its Saturday and time to bore you with some pictures.

I had mentioned that insects were eating all my okra. This has been a very bad insect year for me. I will normally spray before I let them get as bad as they did this year, but I just let everything go, hoping that mother nature would balance things out, but that has not happened yet. This is a picture of how my okra looks. I got very few undamaged pods off the plants this year. It looks as tho something will chew a hole in a pod and then the ants move in.

I have had a flash flood last year and this year also, losing topsoil from this garden, the okra plant have looked bad all year, and last year also. I first thought that I had Rootknot nematode problems, but the few plants that I have pulled just looked unhealthy, but no signs of nematodes. With all the insect damage and the hot dry weather I could expect the plants to look unhealthy.

Jennifer, I think that you ask about my beauty berries growing in the shade. The one I took the sample from was growing in a brush pile. I have hay cut in as many areas as I can, then try to brush hog in areas that are too rough to cut hay from, so I would say that all my beauty berries grow in a somewhat shady area, they may grow in full sun, but the full sun areas I try to keep somewhat clean for hay and pasture.

With keeping the pasture clean, and trying to be wildlife friendly, I have tried to see what plants the wildlife use. I was surprised to see how much the areas with giant ragweed were use. There is some kind of small bird that really likes to hang out in the tall weeds, also there are all kinds of trails and beds in it, I normally keep it brush hogged down, but the past two years I have been leaving it, I will cut it before the saplings in it get too large.

My fall tomatoes look good, but they are too thick. I hope to have a good crop of green tomatoes. I have been getting a few ripe tomatoes, but we don't want to freeze of can an more, other than green tomatoes.

I was afraid that my sweet potatoes were not going to produce, so I cut four ends from some of the vines and planted them in the north garden, you can see that at least I should have enough potatoes for seed stock for next year from these 4 plants. There are more vines to the left, but I was trying to get my fall tomatoes and the roselle in the picture also. I have lost some of my roselle plants, I don't know it it was because of the hot weather, or the fact that I often spill diesel when filling the tractor which I keep parked near the roselle.

Larry , I got about the same problem over east that you got with the insects , For me it's the grasshoppers . I had to replant my mustard greens for the 3rd time. Also replanted lettuce , Chard ,and some of the spinach.

Got a couple of turnip patches just coming up.

Got fall onion sets planted on in.

Wish it'd cool on down and snuff out the hoppers.

Can't complain too much , had a bad hail storm pass just to the south of me. Base ball size hail in Henryetta.

Rick

I had 3 hours and 15 minutes in the garden today. Of course, most of it was spent watering because the "promised" rain didn't come to us this weekend. I also planted the last of the lettuce seedlings and popped in a few more spinach seeds, and pruned the fall tomatoes. They are so beautiful. They are my favorite thing in the garden right now. They are how I dream of summer tomatoes looking.

It looks like we are going to be hot and dry for the next 9 days. I sure hope the forecast is wrong.

I would really like to spend the next few evenings in the garden, but that isn't going to happen. My house needs to be cleaned. It has never been as dirty as it is now. It's not cluttered--it's dirty. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law are coming into town next weekend. They always come at the worst time. This time, in the middle of a bathroom renovation. She's allergic to cats so I have to triple clean everything. Anyway....

The garden is untidy too, but it's just gonna have to be that way for awhile.

My neighbor just showed up. Why?! I just want to sit here and relax finally. I'm just gonna let Tom talk to him. They're back in my bedroom/bathroom right now and I really don't like people in my house when it's so dirty, but oh well. Tom is showing him the remodel.

There is a toilet in my dining room. Sigh.

I am fully planning on taking my day off on Tuesday.

Bless Tom's heart, he just took our neighbor out to the shop. He knows I want alone time. LOL

You know....I've talked about how the garden will look different next year, but I'm not sad about it at all. I'm excited about it. I really want to take care of things I've neglected lately. I didn't get any pesto made this year. I didn't get any roselle pulled and dried. I am excited about finally getting my herb spiral made and the native garden finished. I like different gardens for different years. Keeps things interesting instead of the same ol' same ol'.

I really did not get anything done the past 2 days because the garden has been too wet. I am unhappy about the amount of spinach and collards I have up, I seem to always have problems with getting the fall plants up, it must be because not being able to keep the soil damp, and the hot soil does not help either. I was surprised that I have had as many rutabagas coming up as I have, I just wish that I had them coming up earlier. I am a little unhappy that the curly mustard is not doing better. I have a lot of hoeing that needs to be done, but the soil is too muddy, and the plants are too small.

Madge and I have had more "together time", which we like.

Jennifer, I think that you are like most women about your house, Madge does not like the house not being "just right", either. I have a much different opinion than Madge, but my opinion doesn't count.

Larry, it seems that I (and a lot of women) feel that our home is a reflection of us. Different women have different ways of how they want to be reflected in their home, of course.

And it's not just for others....it's for me too. A certain atmosphere is important to my mind and peace. I'm more relaxed, more creative, and so on.

Also, I really want others to feel comfortable in my home. And if they're allergic to cats, I stress about it.

I'm so looking forward to getting this bathroom done so I can start on the bedrooms in January. I actually like painting and whatnot, but haven't done much of that since moving to our current house. I didn't have large gardens in our other homes. It was nothing for me to decide in a day that I wanted to paint a room....and would do it.

It's doubtful I'll have time to water tonight. We're taking dinner to friends who are going through a really hard time right now. And then have our HOA meeting. Those are always fun. lol We have a neighborhood junker who promised he would clean up his property in 30 days. Well, it's a year later and no progress. Also, last year, an older man accused another older man of building his fence beyond his actual property line. They got into a bit of an argument. We'll just grab our popcorn and go for the entertainment. Oh, and a letter went out listing all the people who are behind on their lagoon dues. That should be interesting if they blow up at our HOA president for doing that.

Seriously, tho, conflict makes me nervous.

I'll try to water first thing in the morning. If we could just get some rain.

As I was pruning my tomatoes last night, I realized that I really enjoy a smaller number of plants because it's easier to take care of them properly. Sometimes you need larger numbers to get the amounts you want for canning purposes, but if I could get these heirloom acclimated to my climate, then just maybe I could get enough from them to can the amount needed for a year. Maybe. It's a goal. If not, maybe every other year grow production tomatoes. Trying to think through things....

Of course, we're always at the mercy of the weather and pests.

I skipped Garden Monday last week and might need to skip it again this week. I have no pictures and who know if I'll have time to take any tonight. I do have a pic of a monarch chrysalis. It's in the native garden bed hanging on a dead gaillardia.

I really love that garden and wish I had some time of finish a couple of projects in it. It IS taking care of itself naturally, which is what it's supposed to do really. But, I want to tidy up a couple of things.

How much rain did everyone get over the weekend? Amy? Larry? Jen? Everyone?

I don't know how much rain we got, but I went out this morning and spaded up a strip in the south garden where I want to plant more greens and I hit dry soil down about 7". I was surprised to hit dry soil, but I normally don't till that deep. I was using a pitchfork, which is not a good idea for me. I normally don't use any kind of hand tilling tool, but my soil seemed just right, and I had a pitchfork with me, moving the mulch back.

I try to check my garden at least once a day, sometimes a half dozen times a day. I noticed that I have collards coming up, and that the mustard is getting large enough that I can tell something is eating it. I find grasshoppers crawling on the ground, and they may be eating my small plants. I already have a lot of greens up, much more than we can ever use, but with the crop of grasshoppers I have, I may be out of everything before the cold weather gets rid of the grasshoppers.

My wife is not creative, nor is she mechanically inclined, but every kid and animal seems to just want to flock to her, she is the kindest and most caring person I know. Madge seems to think that she is everyone's mother.

Well it is time to get back to the garden. I have about 1/2 oz of spinach seed, and at least some of them need to go into the ground.

My rain gauge had 3 1/2” from the last 2 weeks. I know we had a gulley washer last night. The thunder and rain was so heavy. I think this weekend I’m gonna get out and start cutting out the weeds pulling the grass and covering the soil with cardboard.

That's a great amount, Kim! I'm so jealous!

We got a half inch about 8 days ago. I am grateful for it, but sure wish we were getting more this week.

Our HOA meeting didn't disappoint.

I didn't get to look at the garden at all today, but knew that was how it would be.

I imagine those HOA meetings are very entertaining. That amount of rain shocked me. I am so very thankful for it

They are entertaining especially in a neighborhood like ours, Kim. We are unincorporated, so don't belong to a city. However, we do have a covenant and some rules. Like, for some reason, back in 1965, they decided no pigs in our neighborhood. We have every other type of farm animal. There's a young guy (22) who bought a house out here in 2020 before the housing prices got so ridiculous. He actually went to school with Ethan. ANYWAY, he grows his own meat. Processed about 100 chickens last year. And currently has turkeys. He asked if the pig rule could be changed. The junkyard family accused an old guy of starting a fire on their property a few months. Several people got into a shouting match with the junkers. We all have some junk on our properties, but theirs is out of control. It's awful and unhealthy. It's a hoarding situation. He doesn't use all those old cars that he stacks up, but there's some fear in hoarders that they're going to need every little scrap of junk and they can't let it go. It's a mental thing. They also hoard animals. We all have a right to keep our properties as we want, but there is a point that it's unhealthy and can be harmful to neighbors too...not to mention the animals that they're hoarding. Legal things will happen this year. As entertaining as it is, it makes me anxious. I just wish the junker would organize his stuff--get rid of a lot of it and make it look presentable somewhat. He could still keep a lot, but it would be healthier and would give the animals who live on his property a place to walk around. Plus, it would give him a place to work on his projects.

But, that hoarder mentality isn't easy to deal with.

You know, the difference of highs in the 90's in July/August vs highs in the 90's in September are the lows. It's chilly out this morning and it's not like that in July and August. It reminds me of Oregon. They may get hot during the days at times, but their lows are chilly.

I'm working on getting my laundry done before heading out to water. And houseplants watered. Stuff like that. I need to get all the extra chick feeders/waterers and stuff cleaned up. I gather it up every year at this time to clean and store away for next year. It's doubtful I'll get chicks next year, tho. Unless I just lose a lot of my hens over the winter. I currently have 31 total. Two are roos. The eight young ones will be moved to the main coop next Thursday night. I have Friday off so will be home to keep an eye on the situation. I'll get that little coop cleaned up and ready if it's needed for any reason. It's the normal things I do in the fall.

I do look forward to having a few hours to clean up the kitchen garden, but that might not come until late October/November.

There's little seedlings coming up all over the garden. I can't tell what it is, but it's not anything I want. This is a first for me. 1000s of them. Such a pain. Maybe sorrel?

Something had been puzzling me this past week. Another seedling that looks very familiar but couldn't identify. It came to me Sunday. It's chamomile! I put chamomile everywhere this year. I sure hope it reseeds in the spring too. I don't think chamomile can take a frost. Does anyone know? But, I would love to have lots of it this coming spring. The calendula that was half dead is blooming again. And it's reseeded too. I love those two plants.

I think I mentioned already that one of the half dead Persian cukes started producing again. So happy about that! Those little cukes are so tasty on a salad. Anyone else doing fall cukes?

Well, I'm just sitting here being lazy and avoiding chores, so I'll get up and fold some laundry and head out to water.

Have a good day, Friends.

Jennifer, I plan on having a good day, it has started out well. I have most of the lawn mowed, and I mowed the inside of the ditch and up along the east and north side of the wildlife garden last evening. I got a place spaded up to plant more greens last evening. I am planning on changing the oil in the lawn mower and then tilling the pasture garden. The pasture garden must be like your kitchen garden, it has small weed and grass coming up all over it. I think I can lift the tines up and just skim the surface of the soil and dislodge most of the small plants, the soil is too wet to till properly.

I need to take a tractor and lift my mower, I got the electric fence tangled up in the mower blades while mowing along the wildlife garden. I feel sure I still have some of the wire still tangled under the deck, but it is such a job for me to lift the mower and untangle the mower. I have a problem untangling the tines on the tiller also. This getting old is not as much fun as I had wanted it to be.

My neighbor just came in and brought me 10 garlic bulb. I plan on planting most of them in the south garden, after I make a place for them. I normally don't plant onion and garlic this early, but as slow as I am I need to work every time I feel like it.

Well, I had better get out and change the oil in the mower, I had planned on doing that last evening, but by the time the mower had cooled off enough to work on it was too late to start the project.

Everyone must be busy. I have been working part time at a school and really enjoy it and getting my strength back. Having some nerve reawakening is interesting but I guess it’s part of it. The scar has mostly healed and is an ugly 9”. I look forward to this weekend so I can rework some of my pots. It’s okay until about 11 then it gets up to 90. We are going to have a cool down next week they say.

I haven't done much. I had planned on tilling, changing the oil in the mower and getting caught up mowing and weeding the garden, well all that went to pot. My tiller broke, I can't get the drain plug out of the mower. My tiller is old and I will have to order the part, if I can find it. I had other repairs I need to do on it anyway. I think I have the tiller ready to go, except doing some welding on it. I am not sure I can see well enough, or steady enough to weld, I will try to find out tomorrow. I have heard that you should not weld if you have a pacemaker, I will check tomorrow.

I sorted out 107 garlic cloves that I want to plant soon. I will have to replant beets, collards, lettuce, and maybe other stuff. I have a lot of grasshoppers and blister beetles, as well as other insect that seem to like small plants. I have some spray that I can use, but I don't think it will help much with the grasshoppers.

Larry , nothing helps with the grasshoppers except a heavy rain and a cool down. I've been losing a lot of my earlier plantings of greens. I've replanted a lot of stuff two or three times.

It rained at my east garden last weekend ,around 4 and a half inches when it was storming. I'll know when I get over there if things have improved.

I hate hot Septembers, it sucks when you're trying to get fall plantings going and the heat ( and insects) keeps hanging on. and by the time it cools on down , it's too late. Then it's not too long before frost hits.

And the day light keeps shortening day by day.

And I still hear stories about a bad winter coming up.

One news station says to prepare.

Got your antifreeze up.....

Rick

I wish we had half of the rain that the rest of you have gotten. I don't really mind watering, but it takes away from doing other garden things. A lot of the beds are full of stuff that it really wouldn't bother me if they died, but I don't want for the soil to dry out.

We are DRY. And it's hot for September.

Hot and dry is hard on small fall seedlings.

Most everything looks decent except the lettuce is really struggling.

The tomatoes are charming me so much. They're just so pretty. They are full of blossoms, but no small fruits yet. The True Black Brandywines have some wilty leaves, but it's probably from the hot sun. I saved seed from a deformed fruit (TBB) and this particular plant is oddly formed. I wonder it that is related. I'll start another one next year and see if it's the same. It's a pretty plant, just formed weird.

The summer tomatoes in the SG are starting to make fruit again. They enjoyed that rain we got a couple of weeks ago. We didn't get a lot then, but we got enough to nourish everything. If we could just get a bit more to get through the season.

I'm sure the rain will come back when I'm trying to do a large outdoor community event next month. AND when we're in Portland and I've hired a neighbor to take care of my animals.

It will be good when we get enough rain to allow doors to close better again.

Ethan's old bedroom has been my root cellar, but it's only around 75 in there, not the desirable 55. I've not gone into the room other than to grab some potatoes a couple of times a week. I did look at the 3 butternut squash tonight that I tried to save from the bug infested plants. They are molded. I need to get those out. I could tell they wouldn't store well. But, I tried.

There's so many potatoes still. IF I can anything next year, it will be potatoes. We had a great harvest and if we are blessed with that again, we'll need to can potatoes. Some of these will go bad before we can eat them. Whole 30 allows for all veggies, including potatoes, so we've been eating them 2 or 3 times a week. It's just the two of us and we can only eat so much.

The monarch chrysalis....well, I looked at it this morning and it looked black. But, from what I understand, it's really clear and the blackness is the butterfly. That is true because I could see the orange on it too. I took a picture but was in a hurry to get to work and the picture is blurry. One of the first things I did after work was to look at the chrysalis and it was empty. But, I did see a monarch fllutter by. It didn't stay around tho. I like to think that was the one that emerged today. So exciting! I'm glad I got to see it even if just for a short time. Maybe it had been hanging out back there all day, but I missed most of it.

The tile guy came today and will come back tomorrow to grout. It feels good to get that done.

Today was one of those kind of days that you feel like you're forgetting something. That you're supposed to do something for someone, but you've forgotten. Maybe because the past couple of weeks have been very full and I've had extra things to help out people. I hope I didn't forget something.

I love when a FB memory comes up and Dawn had commented on the post.

Today: watered in the morning for a couple of hours. Went to shop, mostly for groceries, but also to look for a new shower curtain.

Came home and painted the bathroom. The shower and floor are done now. And, the painting. This bathroom will only take 5 weeks longer than I estimated....and is over budget.

I'm sorta lost, tho. What should I do until dark? I'm not used to having free time. Maybe I'll head out to weed a bit.

Tom's sister will be here tomorrow.

What is everyone else up to this weekend?

I took my granddaughter and great nephew to the park and McDonald’s. They are so very cute together at almost 4 year old.
I had planned on garden work but this opportunity popped up.

I replanted Vates collards, and curly mustard this evening. I don't normally plant Vates collards, but I cant see why it would be a lot different than the Georgia collards.

I still need to replant carrots, spinach, and beets. I am tempted to try soaking some seeds to see is that may make a difference.

Tomorrow is the day for my daughter to come over, so I may not do much tomorrow either.

This cooler weather is making it easier for me to get out and work more.

The heavy rains I got last week over east didn't slow the grasshoppers down one bit, got another turnip patch chewed up . Replanted another turnip patch (again).

I'm not planting anything else till it really cools down. By then if it comes up it'll be for overwintering (spinach...).

Rick

Rick, would a frost blanket work for grasshopper protection? I am thinking that I might have a roll of aluminum screen wire in the shop, If I can find it I may try to cover some greens with it. I don't seem to have the grasshoppers around the north garden as much as I do the other gardens, it is more like a jungle and the birds seem to hang around it more, which might help keep the grasshoppers away.

The kids have gone home now, so I should plant some spinach in one of the areas I tilled up this morning.

Aluminum screen wire might work . a frost blanket might make it a little too hot under there.

Rick