Quick 2025 Garden Post
Well, it's mid-August, and after a really late start the garden is finally full and producing.
It's been nothing but hot and dry since about mid-July, with the exception of one week of cool weather right at the start of the month.
I've been watering daily for weeks, and there's still no rain in the forecast.
The corn got invaded by a mole before it even came up, and later got ravaged by unknown insects, but it managed to hang in there and is doing great now. Look at all those ears – two on most stalks and even three on some. I'm probably less than a week from picking. On a normal year it would have been done by now.
I'm having a hard time getting the fall beans to grow well, even though they like heat. The early leaves were getting sunburned and some died, but the rest are starting to take off with new growth now. Hopefully they make it before the frost. There are beets and carrots behind the tomatoes and peppers, with cucumbers off-screen to the left of the zucchini, and cantaloupes and corn off-screen to the right.
Tomatoes, still filling out.
Here's what I've been getting lately, along with several zucchinis that have all been eaten and aren't in the pic. The can of corn is for size reference with the cantaloupes – two different varieties, Athena and Ambrosia. Check out the size of those melons! 
And, of course, a few flowers.
That's it for now. Just a quick one.
Post shots of your own stuff if you want to – veggies, flowers, summer home projects, whatever. Take a break and be sociable for a while.
nice work!
... and who doesn't like big melons. sorry, I couldn't resist ...
Bad boy!
You're a perfect example of a skilled and diligent farmer, deserving of the bounty you obtain.
I don't know if I'd call myself a skilled farmer, but thanks a bunch, Buzz.
Is your wife still tending her garden plot?
Yep, and so we're consistently eating lots of fresh vegetables. She loves tending to her mini-farm, so when she's busy with it I'm on the computer and watching movies.
Great to hear.
She's bringing home squash and gourds I can hardly lift, and she has a couple thousand peanuts drying in the sun on our balcony.
Peanuts? That's pretty neat. You must have loose or sandy soil there. I remember my grandma trying them once and not getting anything from them in the heavy soil around here, so I've never even tried.
We've already got enough squash and gourds to feed us for the whole winter.
You've got a good sized patch of corn there. Do you can or freeze the harvest? Looks like you know your stuff with melons, too.
Thanks. Yeah, the corn that doesn't get eaten fresh or given away gets frozen. The variety I grow – 'Gotta Have It' from Gurney's – is great for the freezer. It retains more crispness than other varieties, and doesn't cook up mushy at all.
Haven't heard of that variety. Back when I killed vegetable plants as a hobby I usually used Burpee seeds and some plants. Do you start your tomatoes from seed or plants? Hope you have room for some okra in a corner.
I get my tomatoes, peppers, and lots of flowers as plants from a local greenhouse every spring.
I grow a few okra plants every now and then, but not this year. I think the last time was two years ago. I like it, but I can never eat very much of it. After frying a few batches and making a couple of gumbos I'm usually done with it for a while. Maybe next year.
We had a farm supply that carried a large variety. Our local greenhouses went belly up due to storm damage.
Okra freezes pretty well if it's blanched first. Okra makes great pickles, too, if you like pickles. Near the end of the season we would cold pack stewed tomatoes and okra. Where I lived at the time, okra was pretty much a plant and forget veggie. Didn't need weeding or cultivating. And the plants were prolific producers.
I do like okra pickles. Never made them myself, though. I don't even make cucumber pickles, not canned ones anyway. I keep thinking about giving it a try, but never end up doing it. I make a lot of those quick-pickled cucumbers and onions in vinegar and water, though. The stuff you just mix up in a big bowl and throw in the fridge.
And yeah, okra is super prolific once it gets going. For what I eat, I probably never need more than two plants.
That's one thing I really miss about not having a garden. Refrigerator pickles were usually on the table for lunch and dinner. Really liked spring pickled radishes. Thinly sliced cucumbers that are refrigerator pickled are a totally different veggie.
But, hey, it's about the season for zucchini bread, zucchini cake, zucchini cookies, zucchini pancakes, and anything else that can hide a zucchini. Bake 'em, stew 'em, BBQ 'em -- zucchinis never quit. I still like zucchinis up to a point.
Morning..Okra?
I have never heard of it so googled it.. sounds interesting seems it is grown here as well and also called lady fingers...
They're great in the summer heat, but then everything about cold cucumbers is. I like refrigerator pickled beets, too. I've never had the radishes, though. I actually have a hard time growing radishes that aren't hot and nasty, so I never bother trying anymore. Same with onions, my soil won't grow them very well, so I gave up.
My zucchini has been rather slow this year. The plants look great, but the fruit production is lacking for some reason. Maybe it'll pick soon. What I've picked so far has all been eaten in salads and casseroles.
Lady fingers? I've not heard that one before but I can see how the name fits.
If you haven't tried okra before then you won't know that boiling makes it slimy. Cook with an acidic veggie like tomatoes to avoid the slime. That's why okra works well in a gumbo. Fried okra is pretty popular here, too. If you haven't tried fried okra, I suggest you give it go at least once.
Here's a list of recipes if you can't find it ready made. (I recommend the site Cooks.com.)
Oh man, that looks good.
Yup, radishes are related to horseradish. They're best in the early spring before hot weather. We usually sowed radishes from seed the last week of February (in the Ozarks) when there was still a threat of frost. Keeping them well watered and shaded can reduce the heat, too. Hot, dry conditions make the radishes more pungent. Slice them paper thin and refrigerator pickle them overnight and they won't be quite as spicy. Radishes like neutral pH soil, too, so fresh compost or lime isn't a good idea. Same with onions, garlic, and chives. They seem to prefer soil that's been weathered and a little depleted.
Thank you Nerm..I will have a squiz in the fruit and veg shops and see if I can find it..
I have a feeling though it is grown more up in the tropics and may not be available down here..
I know, it's enough to make a growed man cry.
That's where I am. I don't think I've ever tried them that early. Maybe I'll try that next year if the soil is workable and not muddy or frozen.
We sowed radishes, leaf lettuce, spinach, and some sweet peas early and harvested them all by mid April to plant other stuff.
Some set their tomato plants by the last week of February and used those wall-of-water protectors. I wasn't that ambitious so don't know how well they work. We usually just used gunny sacks to cover the plants.
I always seem to have a hard time doing much early in the year. It's often just way too wet. When I can I like to get peas in the ground in March, but they like to go into limbo waiting for better weather and usually aren't ready until June.
I've seen those wall of water things before, but never had a reason to try them. I always use transplants for tomatoes.
I like okra. In the garden I graze on small okra and cherry tomatoes while working in the garden.
It is good fried and in soup and gumbo. Too big it is tough
You could try mounding the row. A 3 inch mound can work wonders for wet ground. Of course, it's a lot more work so it might not be worth it. You have to really like those early veggies.
Your patch looks really good so what you are doing seems to work well. If it was me, I wouldn't mess around very much with what works.
I tend to over water every thing. I'll water then the leaves go pale, then yellow, and that's the end of it. I think I could drown water lilies. I lose a lot of house plants that way, too. About the only thing green about me is the ring I leave around the bathtub.
Frozen?? Doesn't it have to have snow on it if it's frozen?
So you wouldn't be planting things in the snow or am I missing something here?
Not necessarily. It can be cold enough for the soil to be frozen, but we might not have had any precipitation at all. So just cold, hard, bare soil.
So the ground actually freezes..does it have ice in it?
I assume it thaws out with Spring and Summer..geez the ground never freezes here other than in the mountains and only if it snows..
The ground will freeze whenever it's cold enough. Where I am it usually happens on nights that get down to the mid 20s (about -3.8 C) and below, but it usually thaws right back out in the daytime, unless there's an extended cold spell happening. If you're in a cold spell it'll stay frozen for as long as the cold spell lasts, both night and day. There will only be ice or snow on it if there's been some precipitation.
The farther north you go the colder the winters are and the longer the ground stays frozen.
... not everybody lives on a gigantic sandbar. where I live you need to jump on the shovel with both feet just to break the surface of the clay. you can't even use a rototiller on it. for a garden here, you need to remove the top 2 feet of clay and replace it with regular dirt.
So an obvious advantage living on a giant sand bar..no frozen ground...can garden all year round without having to wait for it to thaw..😊
Sometimes there's ice visible on it. Sometimes its just the moisture inside the soil that freezes, so the soil is just really hard, but without visible ice.
Yes, it thaws out.
Soil retains water like a sponge. And that water does freeze. During the winter months the soil is very much like permafrost but it is warmer here so the ground thaws and isn't permanently frozen like permafrost. It wasn't that long ago here that dead people had to be kept in refrigeration until the ground thawed enough to bury them.
Where I live in southern Minnesota, the frostline is 54 inches (137 cm). Our water mains and sewers need to be buried deeper than that or they could freeze. I have experienced that twice in the last 20 years. Average temp during January here is 24 F (-4.5 C). It's not unusual for the temperature to not rise above freezing for the entire month.
The Canadian border is 300 miles north of here so our winter weather is milder than other parts of Minnesota and Canada.
Back in I think about 2018 or '19, we had a cold snap where temps most days didn't get above the teens. The water meter at my office froze, as did several water mains around town. When the public works employees replaced the water meter, they said ours was the 63rd that weekend they'd had to replace due to freezing conditions. I'm not sure, but I don't think there was any snow on the ground. It was just cold. We checked the basement, thinking maybe we could put space heaters there to help thaw the pipes, but it was probably about 60 degrees there - not nearly cold enough for the pipes to have frozen in the basement.
Yep, that's the heck of it. It only needs to freeze to cause a lot of damage; it doesn't need to be frozen very long. At least it is easier to insulate things today now that we have foam insulation. The problem is still trying to figure out what needs insulated.
The people near the Gulf Coast seem to be most vulnerable. Those types of very cold snaps used to be freaky weather that was unfamiliar and difficult to plan for. But those freezing cold snaps seem to be becoming more common along the Gulf Coast, too.
We at least didn't have any damage. Just had to shut down for half a day due to lack of water.
We're in the South, but also in the mountains, so we do see freezing temps often enough that our water lines are buried fairly deep. But they're also old. And that cold spell was unusual, with abnormally low daytime temps. We usually get at least into the 30s during the day, even in January, but not during those few weeks.
we have freeze warnings all winter long and people are advised to let their inside faucets drip. if anyone drives off the road into a deep ravine in the mountains, they wait for spring to recover the popsicle they turned into ...
Morning...well all I can say is I am a happy little Vegemite sitting on my giant sand bar..
No frozen pipes, no frozen ground and no frozen people here..
We are very happy in the Great Southern Land...🐨
no crocs, no sharks, and no bloody jellyfish here ...
My office shares a water meter with an apartment upstairs. The tenant at the time said she left her faucet dripping overnight, but it still froze by morning.
No fun...
And reporters ask how such a small country can produce such good swimmers in the Olympics..🤣🤣
Morning...yet dripping taps are frowned upon here as it wastes water...
I also assume pipes burst from being frozen??
Where do you have your hot water service, ours are all outside next to the house..
Yes, pipes will burst from freezing, which would waste even more water, and come with potential water damage. So we choose the lesser evil.
Water heaters are inside.
Yeah but okra makes it all worthwhile.
I hate okra even fried
We get cold snaps here in Central Arkansas that can last for days. It sucks. We keep at least one faucet dripping during those times.
After last years fiasco, I switched to other greenhouses, my cauliflower and broccoli are not half Brussel sprouts, the butternut squash are actually butternut, the peppers are mild banana not Hungarian hots, the cabbages exploded last year because they were the wrong variety, and the tomatoes I can can this year.
Again too many string beans, they surpassed me again and a bumper crop of corn, watermelons, and cantaloupe. I'm still planting through tarps and the recent dry spell didn't hurt my garden.
The field cucumbers are bitter right now because its been too dry. When we worked on the farmers planter, earlier in the summer, the machine dumped pickle seeds in our yard so I collected a few and planted them amongst the rest of the garden and through the dry spell ours turned out sweet not bitter.
I need to cut my beans back to just one row, but I am always afraid of a poor germination since the seed I am using was bought bulk 6 years ago as well as the corn seed.
Here in Michigan, we rely on the winter freeze and thaws, it helps breakup and mellow out the soils from the compaction and deep tillage of the last growing season traffic and helps breakdown the crop trash into useable residue.
My brother sometimes waits to plow until there is a few inches of frozen ground with snow, plowing snow into the ground helps to introduce nitrogen and aids in a deeper freeze of the ground.
Glad to hear you had a good year.
Any idea what variety those field cucumbers are? I've always wondered about that.
Not real sure of the variety, they purchase them in 5 gallon buckets and they set the cucumbers at the same time three to four fruits down the vine, so at machine harvest there are as many as possible at optimal size, and the seeds are small at harvest and only mature after the fruit starts to yellow.
The name on one of the buckets is Seminis. I didn't harvest the ones in my garden for canning, fully expecting to harvest the fields for the ones I needed for canning. When I collected some of the dropped ones in the field they were too bitter from the lack of rain, so I waited and then ran out of time and didn't get the chance to can any.
I have never had frozen corn on the cob that tastes remotely like fresh...
Not as good as fresh but It is good when the cold wind blows
There's no beating fresh, but some varieties freeze better than others.
If you say so.
It always tasted way watery to me, like it had been left in the pot to long.
The variety I grow isn't bad at all. It's as good as any frozen corn you can buy in the store.
I don't actually prepare the frozen corn like you would for a cook out or picnic, I found that a frozen ear is easier to shell and use the kernels in soups and other cooked concoctions.
We use frozen corn on the cob in seafood boils. It absorbers the spices and flavor from the boil, the whole thing is messy and delicious. We are talking about a fall seafood boil.
Morning Dig... everything looks great what you have growing there..
We are finally catching up on some of our rainfall but we are still well down to what we normally get..we have got a green drought in my part of Victoria and dread the coming Summer.. especially for bushfires....
I am hoping my tomatoes have self sown again I seem to have better luck with them than store bought seedlings... been checking the ground and I maybe in luck..saw a few the other day starting to come up...so fingers crossed...🍅
Oh yeah, summer is right around the corner for you, isn't it? I hope the fires stay away and your tomatoes grow.
Oh yes...I am counting down the days now..
Will be good to get out in the garden more and especially do some weeding etc..
I only grow the tomatoes now, my SIL has a great veggie patch and fruit trees so I get plenty of fresh goodies...
Get this! After complaining earlier about the heat and dryness in my post, and how there was no rain in the forecast, one of those random, summer afternoon pop-up storms just formed over me and it's actually pouring rain outside right now, LOL!
What a relief! The rain cloud is mostly to the east of me and doesn't cover the whole sky, and the late afternoon sun in the west is shining through under it, so it's raining in full sun, haha. That's okay, I'll take it. That's actually a great set up for a rainbow in the east. If I get one I'll take a pic.
Well, I got a rainbow, but it wasn't a very good one. You can barely see it, but it's there.
I got about 3/4 of an inch before the pop-up storm cleared away and let me take a pic, and now it's raining again! This is great. Now maybe my yard won't turn brown and crunchy like it did last year. At least not for a while. It was starting to head that way.
We had a really quick shower that wasn't even enough to settle the dust earlier. But it did make a faint rainbow. I was driving and couldn't take a pic. I didn't even have to turn my wipers on.
Has it been hot? July is supposed to be the hottest month here, but this year it's certainly been August. I don't think it's hit 100 yet, but it's been close.
Sort of, but we haven't had as many sustained heat waves as most summers, and we've even had a few cool spells with highs in the high 60s/low 70s, which we hardly ever see this time of year.
I had a cool spell right at the start of the month. It was fantastic and felt like fall. Didn't last, though.
We had several of those days. Opened the windows, and had to add an extra blanket to the bed at night. Excellent sleeping weather. But now we're in the dog days.
your poor cats ...
The soil in my yard and raised beds isn't deep enough for corn, but my neighbor brought me some really good sweet corn and tomatoes. My cukes have some tiny fruit on them, so I might get a few more of those. Once it cools down a bit, I might try to plant a fall round of lettuce and spinach, since that was pretty much a bust this spring.
I have three cucumber plants going right now, and it's too much, lol. I expected the first one to be done by now, but it's not, so the others have caught up to it and all three are producing at the same time.
I'm going to try some fall lettuce and spinach, too. I picked up some seed last week. I lost track of time and it got too late for fall peas, so now I have the space under those trellises. I think that's where I'm going to put it. I need to get it in soon, though. Maybe tomorrow. Tonight, the unexpected rain has given me a reason to take a break from the garden.
What brand of seeds do you use for those?
Other than the corn that I always order from Gurney's, I don't have a set brand for stuff I plant from seed. I just checked and the cukes are Ferry-Morse, and the lettuce and spinach are Burpee's, all from Walmart. The cuke seed always works well for me, but sometimes other stuff makes me wonder.
Thanks.
My garden has not been as good as usual this year. Very wet spring made it a muddy swamp. Some plants washed out and some drowned. It was so muddy when I tried to walk through an area, I had tilled my foot sunk in and my shoe got stuck and came off. Now ground is hard and dry.
Didn't get all things I want planted. Cukes were really good for 2 weeks and then died. Lots of volunteer tomatoes and weeds. Eating good medium size tomatoes
This week I will battle whiteflies, little annoying gnat like bugs
I got a lot of strawberries. I was actually worried about them, because it was so wet. I propped the berries up on dried leaves that were left in the bed from last year, and that kept them from rotting.
LOL. That happened to me too this year. For me it was a sandal. It was so wet this spring.
May I say I really like your weed free garden?
maybe it isn't legal in his state and he has to grow it in the basement ...
LOL!
I'm really jealous of his weed-free garden, and won't post pics of mine because mine looks awful in comparison.
Morning... nothing wrong with that..you are just encouraging the natural vegetation and wildlife that goes with it...
I tell myself I'm keeping the pollinators healthy.
a nephew and his wife recently moved to a different state. they took 3 dogs, 4 cats, 13 chickens, and their active bee hive with them. the chickens all have names ...
My hygienist named her chickens. There's only one left now. Its name is Pretzel.
the nephews wife was a bit lukewarm after I asked her if she had names for all the bees too ...
I thought about getting a GoPro camera once to wear on my head while hoeing to show how easy it can be with a Hula Hoe, but since that one video would be the only use I'd have for a GoPro I never did.
Besides, there's always the possibility that what's easy for me might not be easy for someone else, so a Hula Hoe how-to might not have been of much help to anyone anyway.
You posted a pic of that hoe, I think. I'm not sure it would work well in my raised beds unless I climbed up on the sides to use it. Which I sometimes do, but probably shouldn't, due to the risk of falling and cracking my skull while alone in my back yard.
That's true. I forgot about your raised beds.
You could try a hand cultivator. It's sort of a cross between a hoe and a rake. Way back when, I had a three tined cultivator that was easier to get in around the plants.
That's what I use. I just need to use it more often.
LOL! Been there, done that. I can relate.
Well, to be more accurate, I used a shorter one, for use with one hand. But I dread swatting the mosquitos so much that I talk myself out of using it as often as I should. Those nasty little bugs just laugh at Deep Woods Off.
Morning...surely they named one of the chooks KFC...
they all have female human names and they're free range, just like all the eggs they lay around the property, usually not in their coop, so something for every type of predator with an appetite for chicken ...
The long handled cultivator is a lot easier to use than a hoe and might turn the trick for raised beds. Although it's not as satisfying as beating the weeds to death. Danged weeds!
I never found a good repellent for mosquitos other than long sleeves which kinda cooked me before the feast. Just be grateful they're mosquitos and not chiggers. Although I imagine you've got those, too.
My nephew named his county fair pig Chris P. Bacon.
It's a height issue for me. I'm short, so long handled gardening tools are just awkward for me to use on beds that are knee high and pretty close together.
Chiggers are a thing here, but I've never had them.
Only predator we have here for chooks is foxes or dingoes..but that depends what area you live in...
Foxes are ruthless and can almost guarantee they will come..
One of my friends lost 30 chooks and geese in one night... Foxes kill for the fun of it..it dug down 3 feet to get into the coop..
The next night the fox returned but her husband was waiting and shot it....
We have foxes, coyotes, and lately, fisher cats, which are sort of like otters or weasels.
Morning Nerm..yes mozzies are an absolute pain, we use Aeroguard it's really good stuff... don't think you would get that there though...
Keeps mozzies, flies and other assorted bities and stingies away...
Sounds like the only practical things left to try are threats or seduction. Guess that depends on what kind of weeds they are.
You should definitely play the lotto with luck like that.
I actually only know a few people who have told me they've had them. I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy. Except maybe the weeds.
Chiggers truly suck, but a well kept yard that's always mowed low keeps them at bay. It's when you go walking off through high grass that they really get you.
I got a case of them once. When we were trying to plant a garden and I was down on my needs pulling weeds. I would wish then on my worst enemy because I'm that mean. I was told to take a bath with some bleach in the water. I did and it worked. I smelled really clean after that bath
I can't remember the last time I got bit by a mosquito. I only taste good to spiders ...
I only like to shoot members of the rodent family. rats, squirrels (circus rats), and prairie dogs (burrowing rats).
Morning...you shoot squirrels?
They are lovely and fluffy... especially the Red ones....
That's it we are dropping Vegemite on your house...
If you look closely there was actually a bit of purslane trying to come up in the aisles in the third pic. But I took care of it and it's not there anymore, lol.
I see a tiny patch. But glad to know it's not there anymore
what the hell is it?
it's a weed
Just picked corn tonight. It needed a couple of days more than I though last week. Now it's shucking time.
Enjoy!
Morning... should get puss on the job..she would love flexing her claws and ripping off the husk..
All she wanted to do was chew on husks I'd already ripped off, lol.
Corn time! The garden's main event – or at least the one involving the most work all at once.
I got caught up on Wednesday while shucking in the garage.
Gracie chewed on husks for a while...
... but eventually got bored and decided it was nap time. She had been sleeping on her back with her feet straight up in the air, but when I walked over she heard me coming and woke up, so I missed out on a funny pic.
As usual, some of the ears were perfect. Most had a bit of worm damage at the top, though. Also as usual.
In the kitchen before cleaning.
Cleaned and sorted.
Bagged and done!
This year I ended up with 217 pieces.
yummy yummy
My corn yielded quite well this year and it timed out just right for our annual fishing tournament and cookout on the day before labor day. What wasn't used/cooked is now in the deep freeze.
Very good looking corn.
Do you clean and wash it and freeze on the cob?
Yup. I prefer it on the cob. I have plenty of freezer space, so it's no problem.
If I get really energetic, I may try that next year. I haven't grown corn in a long time.
I love it. If I could only grow one thing, it would probably be corn. Lasts me all year, too.
Do you plant your corn in squares rather then rows with a space between? That's what it looks like in top picture. I read about doing it that way but never tried it Last time I planted corn, it kept getting blown down. When I supported it with ropes, the wind broke most off at the rope.
Yeah, you want to plant it in blocks several rows wide, mostly for better pollination. Probably helps with wind, too, but mine has still blown down a few times over the years. It's never been an issue, though, it's always pulled itself back up after.
Thanks, if I plant some corn, I will do it that way.
Here's a post from back in 2020 that shows how I do it. That year I planted a block that was 10 rows wide. This year I had 12.
The Garden Chronicles - Week 8 1/2
It looks like I was writing below pictures back then instead of above like now. That kind of threw me when I first looked at it. My dog Polly was there, too. She's gone now. That gave me a pang.
Anyway, that shows how I lay out my corn. It might give you some ideas.
thanks, if I am energetic I might try that next year
Morning..geez what a crop..well done Dig..good you got some help even if she does have 4 paws.
Haha. Thanks.
Put up 15 quarts of salsa using peppers and tomatoes from the garden, the onions, however, I needed to purchase just can't seem to grow good onions in my soil.
Last night I put up 60 lbs. of cabbage, from the garden, in a crock for sauerkraut which should be completed in 2 to 3 weeks. I will just put it up in 1 gallon freezer bags and freeze them.
Homemade salsa is better than store bought, but it is a lot of work
Still getting tomatoes and a few peppers
I went to local fruit and vegetable stand and got corn on the cob for tonight's cook out
I was overwhelmed with peppers and tomatoes and actually still am, we already had our first frosts of the year, since I plant through tarps, the ground was warm enough to keep the frost from hurting my garden.
All the peppers I needed for the salsa came from just two plants.
Awesome.
I can't grow good onions either. I can grow green onions (scallions?), the bunching kind, but not ones with the big bulbs.
I can grow cabbage, but I have to spray it so much to keep the bugs off that I gave it up.
Here's what I picked tonight, September 27th.
Clockwise from top left – peppers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, Italian beans, beets, zucchini, cucumbers, and some Bibb lettuce thinnings.
A few shots of Gracie.
Nice load of vegetables and pretty kitty
Unlike Bella, lying with her belly up like that isn't a trap, lol. She actually likes having her belly rubbed.
Thanks for making me smile big.
Some great photos throughout this blog for the Creative Arts group.
Arvo.. lovely photo's dig..
Huh don't be fooled by Gracie..yes tickle my tummy and then I will grab you..🤣
For a cat to display their tummy to you mean they completely trust you as that is their most vulnerable part of their body..
She has most certainly landed on her paws in your home..one very lucky kitty..🐾🐾
Yeah, I know that's the norm with cats, but not with her. She doesn't care at all if her belly is touched. Weird, right?
Well here we are again, waiting to plant the garden. I need it to rain now just to plant the transplants, since I have no well, just tanks in the ground for potable water that I have to haul 22 miles round trip from a city water supply, I have no way to water in the plants until it rains (there is a way it just ties up a pickup until the tank is empty).
There is rain forecast for today, but so far the system seems to be drying out before it reaches us.
Garden time and I am way behind,
I had seed stored in a bucket in the garden shed for a few years now, went to get the seeds out only to find that mice had figured a way to get into the bucket and ate all the seed, poison coated and all.
No surprise when you have so many great interests.
Poison coated? Well, at least you're getting rid of a lot of vermin.
Same. The cold spring and rain put me behind. My strawberries only produced a few sad-looking berries, and have quit blooming. And I was late getting the lettuce and spinach out, and now the spinach is already getting leggy.
I guess we're lucky because of the climate in Chongqing - year-round farming although a little less bountiful in winter.
Trying to have fun with many things and sometimes get spread a little thin
Trying to have fun with many things and sometimes get spread a little thin
The poison doesn't kill them, just makes them sick. During winter it is better to get a little sick then it is to starve to death.
I assume you're going to store your seeds in something more impervious from now on, like metal or glass jars or cannisters.
I thought what I had was impervious, a bucket hanging from a flat ceiling away from the walls, had some equipment fall over and brought a cord close to the bucket. Now I'll just put a lid on the bucket.
Well of all things, I had completely forgot that last year I took a couple ears of corn and placed them inside my outdoor wood furnace, at the bottom in the charge fan area, even though it is a furnace, that area stays cool and dry. I did a germination test on the corn and had a 100% germination, since I planted all the same strain and there is no other corn in the area, I should end up with what I had last year.
Yesterday I ate my first fresh picked corn of the season, buttered, salted and delicious.
In Michigan we won't have fresh picked for another month month and a half.
We did have some corn recently, probably shipped from Florida, but the husks were a bit dry and the kernels were small. Had to soak them in water for a few hours and roasted them, in husk, over an open fire, it was Ok.
I think that with corn once it's picked the sugar in the kernals quickly turns to starch, which is why corn bought at a grocery simply isn't as delicious as corn picked in the morning and eaten for lunch.
It was a surprise to see this - I'm surprised you didn't just post an article. Anyway, wouldn't a drilled well bring you potable water?
Actually bc, if you need help to post an article, just click the word "HELP" on the right side of the banner at the top of your page and the first article that opens is one that will guide you on how to create an article.
Not here. We have gypsum just seven feet down for about 20-25 feet then a layer of anhydrite extending down to over 300 feet, once you get through all of that the only water that is available has a high salt and mineral content, so why spend the money for a well, only to get junk water, when it was much cheaper to put in tanks and have city water without any conditioning out in the middle of nowhere.
I can catch rainwater, but that ran out weeks ago and there hasn't been that much in rain since. However it finally did rain last night and I can go ahead and plant.
My problem about posting an article is now I am obligated to moderating it, which I don't have the time for that.
Where does the city get its water from - it has to provide water to many residents.
Oh, okay.
That's a shame. Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to have a great aquifer under me. I have crap soil, though, rocky and full of clay.
I've never had any problem with access to water - from birth on, most of my life was spent next to Lake Ontario, and now we are within walking distance of a huge reservoir.
I doubt the water will run out any time soon, it comes from Lake Huron.
There are two sources here one supplies the local cities here and the other one supplies cities 60-70 miles to the south and west.
It's kinda weird, there are deep wells providing good water beyond a certain radius in all directions from the same underground sandstone layer, but in this area no one has ever found good water in this layer.
Got some work done today. I paid 2 teenage girls that live down the street to
help me plant tomatoes and peppers. I rebuilt the swing set trellis, tomatoes
will climb up them. Still way behind where I want to be.
Looking good. The past couple of years I've been noticing people bending what I think are hog panels (maybe goat) into arches and using them in their gardens as trellises you can walk under, similar to your swingset frames.
Are you still thinking about planting a little block of corn?
I want to try that. It will be next week before I try planting Corn blocks. Should they be about 3 foot by 3 foot square?
I have been using the swing sets for over 20 years, I had to work on them this year, I would like to find one more as the oldest one wasn't fixable.
I used galvanized fence panels and Kindorf struts, that I had from other things, rebuilding the greenhouse,
Nah, bigger than that. I'd suggest at least 10 foot square, and that would still be small.
For reference, my usual plot is 18x16, and I plant 200 seeds – 20 seeds per row roughly 10 inches apart, in 10 rows 2 feet apart and 16 feet long. The variety I grow allows for planting that close, another one of the reasons I like it so much in my small garden.
The greenhouse is doing good and I have gotten some cherry tomatoes
Wow, you have super facilities to help produce a productive veggie garden.
I've been seeing lots of ads lately for greenhouse kits using polycarbonate panel, and they're not as expensive as I always expected. I've been thinking about getting one. I cold really use one in the spring and fall when temps swing wildly.
I got mine from Harbor Freight. I put 2 kits back-to-back. Then they were $300 each on sale. After 2 years I had to rebuild it after a bad windstorm. I like it but if I had it to do over I would have got a better one.
I suppose I should have already started a new gardening post for the year. I even got an early start this year, so I've had plenty of time. Sorry that I haven't gotten around to it yet. I have most everything going already, and my corn is over 6 inches tall. The only problem so far was the past few weeks being so rainy that the ground stayed saturated long enough to kill many of my spring peas. I hate when that happens. They were just getting ready to produce, too. Maybe I should just stick to fall peas. I never have that problem in the fall.
I'll get on this years garden post soon.
Sheesh! Speaking of rain, I just got slammed – 3 more inches of rain in just the past half hour or so. I have a river in my front yard at the moment, the pond is overflowing, tornado sirens are going off in towns in the distance, and the rain is still pouring down. I hope my garden didn't just get washed out. It was finally just dry enough for me to hoe a couple of days ago, so the soil around everything is loose. *fingers crossed*
Send some to Virginia!
We had a solid week of rain a few weeks ago, but the water table was already so low that we're dry again, and still experiencing moderate drought conditions, according to the Drought Monitor map. My grass is crispy and starting to brown.
I would if I could. I didn't need any of this tonight. Not a single drop of it. It's over 4 inches now. What a mess.
It's supposed to be clearing out soon, and I'm thinking about trudging up to the garden with a flashlight to check on it. I have a feeling of dread in my gut.
I hope your plants didn't get washed out or drowned.
Late March early April, just when the farmers were to take to the fields, we were hit with a never-ending rain, we were starting to fear another 500 year flood since the last one 6 years ago. This time instead of a foot in 24 hours it spread out a foot and a half for a few days allowing the drainage system to work at peak but not quite overflowing. The ground was so saturated that it wasn't until the first of May before farmers were able to get the sugar beets planted, 3 to 4 weeks late. But after that, pretty much zip for rain.
Something similar happened here last year, too. I wouldn't be surprised if it happens again this year. Seems to be the norm these days.
My wife's corn is now about chest high, and I can't wait to enjoy fresh picked corn.
This would have been a good post for a new 2026 article. I really need to get one up.
Anyway, I went up right after the rain, and the plants mostly look okay. Little rivers everywhere, though, washing good soil away and exposing rocks. In the upper right you can kind of see 3 trellises of peas, half-dead from earlier rains.
The corn looks okay. Whew.
The water was still flowing. It looks like it might have washed out a few plants, and a few others got knocked over, but I'll take it. I was afraid it as going to be much worse.
A frog seemed to be enjoying himself.
Some of the border timbers got rolled out of place by the outflow.
Unfortunately, a bunch of soil got washed out into the yard with them, which sucks because good soil is always in short supply for me. Still, things could have been worse.
Looks like a little over four and a half inches in less than an hour, most of it in the first half. Quite the downpour.
Holy smokes! Glad things weren't as bad as you feared.
Maybe I've been a little hard on my heavy clay soil. It stood up pretty well. I remember my grandparents garden had what I consider really good soil with very little clay, and they used to get massive gullies after rains like I had last night. We're talking a couple feet wide and what looked like a foot deep. I've never had rain cut gullies like that here. One positive aspect of heavy soil, I guess.
It will be muddy and you won't be able to fix things for a while.
But when the sun shines the plants will take off
Yes, it would have.
We had a gully-washer yesterday, and now today is blistering hot, so maybe the cuckes I planted last week will sprout.
Or maybe they'll boil.
Add some dill and vinegar and you got pickles!
But cucumber soup has to be served cold, as in Shining Through. My wife didn't know, so I didn't fire her.
spring came early here, although a late freeze took out the state's peach crop on the western slope. my sister already has ripe tomatoes coming in.
Most of our area's fruit crops froze this Spring.
Summer thunderstorms have arrived. I got trapped between a downed tree and a downed power line on the way home, and am currently reading by oil lamp. Not physically in contact "trapped". Just couldn't drive forward or backward.
If you're reading by an oil lamp, indicating a power outage, are you using an iphone with battery power to have posted that comment? Ever thought of having your roof covered with solar panels? I have a friend in Barbados who happily never suffers from hurricane power outages since she had the panels installed.
I'm using a Samsung phone. And I am now seriously considering solar panels. And a windmill. And a generator.
See you folks tomorrow, probably. Battery is getting low, and I don't feel like going to my car to charge my phone.
yikes, as a former contractor, you're coming across as a customer ripe for the taking. chill. send me a PN if you still need any free DIY advice for a quick fix in traveler's territory and I won't tease you about not driving over dead electrical lines in a vehicle with rubber-ish tires.
I had already been considering solar panels, and I'm sure I'll eventually do that.
I didn't drive over the electrical lines. I drove under them, with the firefighter's blessing after he walked to the utility pole to read off its number. I heard him telling his fellow firefighters "If I get zapped, I get zapped." He didn't get zapped.
It was a bit scary, though. I was in a sharp curve, dodging downed tree branches, and a there was a flash and sparks in the yard next to me. I could have sworn I saw a wire headed at my windshield, but didn't have time to react. I rounded the turn, and the reason for all the chaos became clear.
do your research on solar as it applies to your home, your local utilities buy back rates, and your state. have your roof inspected.
Jeez. I don't know how I missed these posts. I bet that was an ordeal. Glad you're okay.
Thanks, Dig. Once I knew it was safe to drive through the field, it wasn't too bad. I had plenty of candles and food I could cook on the gas range without opening the fridge, so being without power for a few hours was just a minor inconvenience. It even cooled down enough that I didn't miss the AC.