What did you do in the garden today?

[CrealCritter]

Absolutely Nothing! I pulled up all my T-posts after tearing down my electric fences.

 

[Mini Horses]

And, took a stroll by the fig tree. Plucked a few ripe ones and ate 'em

My friend who has two HUGE -- like you need a ladder -- old fig trees says that "I" will get a bumper crop this year. LOL They don't use them. So pick & refrig for me to get every few days. My dehydrator is waiting! I love those things.

I never knew marigolds could grow that tall.

Me either.....those are huge if CP tall.

Your garden is way ahead of mine.

It's those darned TX people -- you know, 2 days of winter and they garden all year. Sure makes me feel like a slacker! I mean I'm thrilled to see squash bloom and they've already canned for the winter & ripping out to plant more.

Then @CrealCritter isn't planting a summer garden -- at least we won't be seeing truckloads of lovely things, way beyond what we grow. I'll miss it though.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I've got a critter in my garden. has dug a tunnel about 2" diameter under a pumpkin hill, I set a trap. No participation there, last night. I need to check the trigger and see if it's even sensitive enough to be tripped. But, more fresh soil tossed out of the hole this morning. So.. the creature is digging in for the long haul. Perhaps a big ol' rat snap trap stuffed down the hole might work? Or place something over the hole so that if it exits the hole, it has to walk OVER the trap?

 

[flowerbug]

How big is your strawberry patch?

i'll need to check it and pick again soon.

 

[BarredBuff]

That's quite a patch of strawberries!

 

[Mini Horses]

It's a lovely patch of berries. I'd sure pick & eat some right now.

Alas, I'm still discing & raking grass roots. Seems every time I do, it then rains. Today I plan to stake those tomatoes when I get home from work. It's really hot out there now 84 at get up. Muggy. So it goes.

Planting some corn is my goal for the weekend -- Fall decorations in mind. Have some seed for Bloody Butcher & Painted Mountain. If I can get a decent # of ears I will selll it for displays. Willl run a few hills of pumpkins along side to let the vines help shelter for weeds. Pumpkins can sell or feed the animals.

I need to transplant my butternut squash real soon. Another cover the ground vine. Seeds were from some I raised and had huge yields from only 3 plants. They dried well and were good eating for about 9 months out. Have 8 plants up this year -- guess I'll be gifting and canning!

Gardens are a LOT of WORK!!!!

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Yes they are. And, I find the prep, planting and maintenance to be the easy part. It's the processing that becomes a daunting task.

 

[flowerbug]

It's a lovely patch of berries. I'd sure pick & eat some right now.

Alas, I'm still discing & raking grass roots. Seems every time I do, it then rains. Today I plan to stake those tomatoes when I get home from work. It's really hot out there now 84 at get up. Muggy. So it goes.

Planting some corn is my goal for the weekend -- Fall decorations in mind. Have some seed for Bloody Butcher & Painted Mountain. If I can get a decent # of ears I will selll it for displays. Willl run a few hills of pumpkins along side to let the vines help shelter for weeds. Pumpkins can sell or feed the animals.

I need to transplant my butternut squash real soon. Another cover the ground vine. Seeds were from some I raised and had huge yields from only 3 plants. They dried well and were good eating for about 9 months out. Have 8 plants up this year -- guess I'll be gifting and canning!

Gardens are a LOT of WORK!!!!

yes, they are a lot of work, but some things you can do will make them less work as you get them established.

they will likely not ever be completely weed free, but you can reduce the numbers of weeds to deal with and find easier ways of doing things.

for me, the past few days have been so nice out. weather wise, perfect for weeding.

the hard work of earlier this season of getting the useless pathways removed and out of the ways means that i just spent five hours (yesterday and this morning) weeding an area that before would have taken me as long just to do the two tiny pathways. instead it was about a thousand square feet that got done, plus i was able to do some emergency grass heads of seed removals before they could all get dropped in a neighboring garden and remove some black medic weeds that were just about to drop a billion seeds. probably saved myself a few hours right there...

the strawberry patch was a large amount of work to get redone, but it pays off for a few years before needing a redo again.

 

[flowerbug]

Yes they are. And, I find the prep, planting and maintenance to be the easy part. It's the processing that becomes a daunting task.

the picking is the hardest part for me as it seems to be happening when it is hot out. processing i need a break here or there but once i have them cleaned and mashed they can be frozen.

i'd like to be able to call some friends to come pick what is out there now but it just will not work out (too many things going on right now). even if it weren't COV-19 issues. c'est la vie...

 

[Mini Horses]

It's the processing that becomes a daunting task.

Yes......of course, it all comes in at one time! Coincides with our planting more than we need & other busy times in our lives, the heat of summer and all that. Sure seems to have been worth it in winter when we can eat from those preserves without the grocery store bills and chemicals on/in things they sell.

If only I could grow chocolate.