What did you do in the garden today?

[Swiss]

Thank you! We’re headed into our 4th year. We’ve made tons of changes over the last few years. This coming year is our first year doing no till. We found a few random things in our compost (a glove and a power cord lol)

If it’s your first year garden, don’t fret! It takes time to build the soil health. Every year should get better. Don’t give up!

I will never give up gardening! I have been addicted to it since I had my first tiny (2'x8') garden of marigolds when I was young. I love how it's easy and challenging at the same time!

Two years in to experimenting with a small permanent deep mulch garden. So far I've liked it, warm season crops start slower but some of that could be alleviated by pulling mulch back ahead of time and let the ground warm some. Right now I need to gather more mulch to add some depth and cover a bigger area.

In the process of moving so I don't know how much longer I'll be using this garden spot, through next spring and possibly next summer, it will be twenty miles away but I will still have things here in the area.

That's good to know about the soil taking a bit longer to warm up.

I am totally for no till. But there are times when it really helps. First year gardens are a great example. I have either sandy sod or heavy sod. Not turning it with a shovel, so it gets tilled. I did till the heavy soil a couple years ago, again, to break it up and work in the leaves I'd been piling there for the previous two seasons.

I've read, "Only till if you're adding something to the soil." I think that's pretty reasonable advice too. Yeah, over tilling can wreck the texture of your soil, and you will kill earthworms when you till. So till when you really need to, and plan ways to not need to.

Exactly!

That's really good advice!

Today has been hectic. I was gone almost all day. I did manage to bring the pumpkin inside the house in an effort to save it from the cold. By the time I got home, it was dark. I have already pruned the peppers down but they are still in the ground. I covered them with feed bags until I can dig them up. Since the ground is still warm, they should be fine. What I did NOT get time to do -

1. Transplant or cover the few remaining strawberry plants that didn't die this year. I will cover them with leaves tomorrow and hope they will make it through the next few days.

2. Move the 5 gallon bucket tomato plants inside. Still debating if I even want to bother or just let them go...

3. Didn't get to pick off any loofah. I've never had any problems with them before during a freeze but I was still going to pick the ones that are still really fleshy and would be the most likely to be damaged by a freeze.

Do strawberry plants need to be covered in the fall?

Man! It took me bout as long to find this post as it did to decide enough is enough! That stinkin coon was out all last night into everything BUT my run/coop - Thank God!!!
So I am picking up the live trap this MORNING!
Now I hate to stop and get anything else so I wondered if yall thought he'd eat almond butter? I got a ton of it and it won't hold its consistency for nothing so thought I'd give him that rather than waste my peanut butter!
But then again if I catch this stupid thing it might have been worth it...especially since the city has nothing to offer for this type thing and I wasn't about to pay 350-500 for someone to set a trap and remove contents for 5 days!!! That is the business people need to be in man!

I am a bit late to the party, but yes to the almond butter. Raccoons aren't terribly picky from what I've heard.

Fluctuating temperatures here, a little early to be this chilly, actually saw frost a few mornings ago. I had a morning doc appt, took the bike as DH had the truck for work & I was freezing the rest of the day! I usually don't need to dig out the long underwear til Dec...well I'm wearing my layers Now! Yet, today may get up to 65 degrees, weird.

Well the gardening was done & I cleaned up, pruned & had the fire pit burning last weekend, probably do more this weekend, too, after we pick up feed today. A few things are still blooming, a hardy Butterfly Bush. I said goodbye to my fluttery friends & snapped a few pics.

My "dog" the wild fox visits me & lays down gazing at the fire with me. He can visit, but he knows he isn't gonna get any of my chickens or s'mores. Actually, I'm very fortunate, foxes & I have a synergy here, they can do all the rodent patrol they want, but leave my flock alone. For years & several fox generations, they've been good dogs. Not so much as a hole dug near the chickens or pigeons.

2 tornadoes "bounced over" the coops, loft, barn & house, too. Thank you Mother Nature, truly appreciate it & love all God's creatures. We are blessed.
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That is SO COOL about your foxes! They do look very well fed. You seem to be in an area of abundance!
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I cleaned up the garden yesterday. Everything is done, except for the oregano, parsley, thyme, and sage. I finally got around to planting the Egyptian walking onions because we are supposed to have lows of 40+ for about a week, and figured that would give them some time to settle in. The only things I still need to do are: find the lawn staples that got trampled down, cover the garden with straw (and compost, maybe...), and start planning next year's garden so I know what seeds I need to buy.

 

[jerryse]

Installed some led shop lights in the basement and garage . Much brighter light . Mowed some leaves and put on the compost pile . Most of the maple leaves are down .

 

[karenerwin]

Was outside cutting up/pulling up the dead tomato plants. Saw this guy hanging around.!

He came over climbed across my shoe and started up my pants leg. I took a few steps over to the oregano plant and he scurried down and went to check it out.
I still have more to do to clear out the garden but our friend stopped by to work on his bus which is parked next to my garden so I went inside so I would spread my Covid germs.

 

[Sally PB]

I dug 12 buckets of compost out of the chicken run today. Most of it went on the asparagus bed, but some went on the garlic and multiplier onions.

DH mowed up the leaves that are down in the side yard. I'll rake them up tomorrow and put them in the run for the chickens to start composting play in.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Have 20 small jars today tomato sauce 3 quart jars had to be added from the case of small ones.

 

[NewBoots]

Was outside cutting up/pulling up the dead tomato plants. Saw this guy hanging around.!

I love preying mantises, such a huge insect and the way they turn their heads and look at you. I always worry about ours when the ladies are out pecking about. I worry about them and the tiny garter snakes we find all over the yard. My mean girls already found one of the tiny snakes earlier this year and it really was a snake's nightmare. We clearly have at least one big female garter snake someplace since we've found tiny babies all spring and summer and even now in the fall.

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

Chopped down the frost bit okra, peppers, basil and last tomato plants and covered garden with pine shavings for winter...only thing going still is radish, and few lettuces.
I desperately need to get the garlic planted!
And set trap to catch another critter...2 down and who knows how many to go!

 

[Ascholten]

the last week, I have been with our club, the Nassau County Beekeepers Association, at the county fair, representing....

One building over they have one of the livestock displays, bunch of chickens in cages, geese, rabbits, you know, typical county fair stuff. There is a goose there, I go visit her every day, and give her a big hug thru her cage bars. Today I brought her some scratch grain treats, she loved them !! The HOA would kill me but I am Sooo tempted.. but No NO NO, do NOT need Lucie Goosie running around here ! she is so sweet though and her owner can't believe she is so friendly towards me.

All the chicken cages, they have straw below them, it's got like 10 days of poop on it. I wonder what they are going to do with ALL that straw once they take the displays down and clean up the place. That would be so totally awesome to augment compost with, but NO I am NOT filling the truck with chicken s41t to drive home !! It has plenty in the drivers seat Maybe I could get them to put it in a dump truck and make a delivery, put that in my back yard and Ill distribute it out from there, plus I won't charge you dumping fees !!

Do I like REALLY need mental help for even thinking of stuff like that or what.... I mean, as rich as that stuff is, and FREE compost? I got it, I'll take it off their hands, ONLY if they deliver the goose with it !!! In all seriousness though, I really Do wonder what they will do with all the poopy hay and straw?

Aaron

 

[NewBoots]

I've picked most of the green and better tomatoes so hopefully I can pull the rest of the plants soon. I've got a pot of green tomato jam cooking on the stove with plans for a couple kinds of pickled green tomatoes for tomorrow.

And regarding rat issues. Do not read on if you are squeamish: We caught an adult small black rat (a common pest along the southern coast) and tested the RatX bait on it. It works, once the rat eats it it has from 2 to 5 days depending on the size of the rat. Our test rat died after 3 days. The stuff keeps the rats (or mice) from feeling thirst so they stop drinking and eventually go to sleep and don't wake up. And since they are really dehydrated, they kinda mummify themselves and so don't stink as much as a dead rat tends too. You can even add peanut butter to the bait to make it seem tastier. I'll make sure the hens and Penny can't reach it but the company swears only rodents are in any danger.

And go for it Aaron!

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

Got #3...