What did you do in the garden today?

[jerryse]

Another rainy day here. I need sunshine. Maybe Monday. I did not want to get up and I feel rough. Maybe coffee will help.

 

[igorsMistress]

Another rainy day here. I need sunshine. Maybe Monday. I did not want to get up and I feel rough. Maybe coffee will help.

Maybe have a day of relaxation, we all need them from time to time.

 

[Sally PB]

He gets stung ALL.THE.TIME and has never had a problem. Today, he was the only one home and a bee got in at the gap at the neck zipper and got into the hood.
It stung him on the ear.

Wow, that's scary! Both his reaction, and that it happened after not having them before.

Neither DH nor I have been stung (yet). Neither of us know if we have an allergy, either. At my last physical, I asked the Doc about this. Should we get an epi pen to have on hand, just in case? He said that children's liquid tylenol would be a good thing to have and didn't prescribe an epi pen.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Wow, that's scary! Both his reaction, and that it happened after not having them before.

Neither DH nor I have been stung (yet). Neither of us know if we have an allergy, either. At my last physical, I asked the Doc about this. Should we get an epi pen to have on hand, just in case? He said that children's liquid tylenol would be a good thing to have and didn't prescribe an epi pen.

Children's liquid benadryl is what my mentor says you should have on hand, and to chug the whole bottle on the way to the ER.

 

[Sally PB]

Children's liquid benadryl is what my mentor says you should have on hand, and to chug the whole bottle on the way to the ER.

Yes, that's what the doctor said to do. Cloying, sweet, artificially cherry flavored.

Since we haven't been stung yet, we don't know what kind of reaction we might have.

 

[Paz]

I fixed electricity to the chickens coop. So they can have an extra hour or two of light, they like to go to sleep at 17:30, I need them up a bit more, because I want to steal their eggs. If they don’t have enough light, I will have no eggs to steal.

My neighbours’s (spelling?) daughter started walking a couple day ago, she went to feed the cock yesterday. So brave, he much bigger than her. She then walked to my grandfathers’s chair and started pinching his trousers… Too bad her father was called to the army and missed her walking.
My brother was also called, he comes back every night after I go to sleep, then leaves before I wake up…

 

[Smokerbill]

Neighbor had a terrifying experience today.
We were just getting ready to sit down to dinner when we heard rural fire racing up the road. It turned down the neighbors road, but not into his drive, which meant it went down his barn drive.
I texted him and got no reply.
three hours later his wife called me, he got home from work and went to check the bees, fully suited.
He gets stung ALL.THE.TIME and has never had a problem. Today, he was the only one home and a bee got in at the gap at the neck zipper and got into the hood.
It stung him on the ear.
He started feeling weird in his lungs, not his throat, got lightheaded, and had the presence to call his brother, two miles down the road.
By the time his brother got there, (called rural on the way), neighbor was blacking out and foaming at the mouth.
Rural doesn't carry epis, I don't have one, the fireman next door doesn't have one.
Doc says he needs to get rid of the bees, and MUST carry an epi and ID from now on. He's that bad allergic to them now. UGH.
He JUST started this side business three years ago, and was finally getting ahead in it.

But new side hobby is better than dead (three kids under 10 in that house)
Effing terrifying.

It's odd that after being stung so many times with on reaction, a single sting would cause an allergic reaction. Maybe the location of the sting has something to do with it???

My daughter in law gave me a black currant plant that she grew from a cutting a couple months ago. It's still in the pot, and still alive, and I just decided where to plant it. It's going into the ground today. I'll try to post a pic later.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Tilling would be a good idea if the soil is compacted. Till that compost in, and add more on top if you have some.

Plant with the pointy tip up. The tip should be about 2-3" below the surface. Then put some mulch on top of the soil. More compost would be good, mixed with fallen leaves to give it some volume. If for some reason you won't get much rain before the ground freezes, water well so that the roots start growing. Spacing should be 6" in any direction. I've planted as close as 4" but most of the information I've read is 6.

Then, you can forget it until it sprouts in the spring. When I see the leaves start poking out, I "fluff" the compacted mulch so that the leaves can grow up through it. (I don't remove it.) When the threat of frost is over, I move the mulch so that it's between the rows.

Thanks so much! I appreciate the detailed directions. We'll see how it goes

 

[TJAnonymous]

Some of you might remember that I am experimenting with self-watering, hugelkultur vertical strawberry beds. Essentially I have a water reservoir at the bottom, a vertical center column of shredded wood, logs, etc, around an outer ring of soil. The goal is 2 outcomes - 1. Healthy plants that are strengthened against drought/dry spells. 2. Protect against blight which has pretty much killed off all my other strawberries.

My strawberries did well over the summer. While we have been in a drought the past 30 - 45 days, we had a really wet summer. At first, I had these barrels sitting on bare ground. This made it really difficult to trim grass around them with the weed trimmer so I ended up with a jungle entangled around my plants. Of course, that encouraged blight because of lack of air flow. The blight-y leaves you see here are due to that. About 2ish weeks ago, I built a platform and moved them onto it. It has made a huge difference! They get better sun exposure and air flow. Plants are now going through a growth spurt. Lots of runners. And getting more robust berries from the Ozark Beauty (everbearing).

These have also done extraordinarily well through the drought. I have added water 2 or 3 times through the wood column at the top so none of the plants get wet.

 

[Paz]

Some of you might remember that I am experimenting with self-watering, hugelkultur vertical strawberry beds. Essentially I have a water reservoir at the bottom, a vertical center column of shredded wood, logs, etc, around an outer ring of soil. The goal is 2 outcomes - 1. Healthy plants that are strengthened against drought/dry spells. 2. Protect against blight which has pretty much killed off all my other strawberries.

My strawberries did well over the summer. While we have been in a drought the past 30 - 45 days, we had a really wet summer. At first, I had these barrels sitting on bare ground. This made it really difficult to trim grass around them with the weed trimmer so I ended up with a jungle entangled around my plants. Of course, that encouraged blight because of lack of air flow. The blight-y leaves you see here are due to that. About 2ish weeks ago, I built a platform and moved them onto it. It has made a huge difference! They get better sun exposure and air flow. Plants are now going through a growth spurt. Lots of runners. And getting more robust berries from the Ozark Beauty (everbearing).

These have also done extraordinarily well through the drought. I have added water 2 or 3 times through the wood column at the top so none of the plants get wet.

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That is super cool. I’m gonna have to try it, first, I need someone who holds a blue container like that.