What did you do in your garden today?

Trying2keepitReal

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I would really like to get peppers and tomatoes set out in the garden. They are hardened off and ready to go. But I can't set them out with the weather guessers guessing 33 degrees. I really don't want to have to drag 8 flats inside again. I would really like a green house but I would be OK with a high tunnel. Perhaps one of these days...

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Jesus is Lord and Christ 🙏❤️🇺🇸
that one night throws a wrench in the whole plan!

I would love a high tunnel too, someday sooner than later I hope. I already "planted the seed" in DH"s head, lol
 

tortoise

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I got the itch, the itch to plant. Still too cold for transplants but my plastic overed beds are so warm but yet it isn't even 40 here. I got the itch....lol. Going to have to up pot tomatoes this week and then move some herbs into their pots. Won't have anywhere to put them....gotta get creative.
Same! My tomatoes are leggy so I need to pot up to fix them. Only thing stopping me is space 😣
 

frustratedearthmother

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I've seen those seed ads. Never tried. Yeah, lotta Danvers here to use up! I never thought soil was too hard for them to grow -- more like too tight to give them back! 😁
With our lumpy clay I had my doubts. These were in a place that was formerly a raised bed. Over time that bed isn't really raised anymore, lol. But, I did have to water it thoroughly to get those carrots outta the ground for sure! We are in a severe drought here. Happens so rarely here, but we've got it now.
 

FarmerJamie

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I think I am going to have to grow lima beans. In all my life, I never have. Any advice or suggestions?
 

Alaskan

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I was watering the plants when I saw a huge lizard. I called my brother and he tried to catch it. He failed. It was too fast. Then I tried. I caught it. It was a Ring-tailed Gecko ( Cnemidophorus torquatus ). I was really excited. It was quite beautiful. I had never seen such a beautiful lizard before. After I took the picture I let it go. It was a nice experience.
Are those native to your area?
 

JanetMarie

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I was watering the plants when I saw a huge lizard. I called my brother and he tried to catch it. He failed. It was too fast. Then I tried. I caught it. It was a Ring-tailed Gecko ( Cnemidophorus torquatus ). I was really excited. It was quite beautiful. I had never seen such a beautiful lizard before. After I took the picture I let it go. It was a nice experience.
Where do you live?
 

frustratedearthmother

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I HAVE A PROBLEM! Don't know yet how bad my problem is... I'm heartsick over what may happen and hopeful that it won't be as bad as I'm afraid it could be.

I live in a rural area, but have close neighbors. Our properties are deep and fairly narrow so they're close. I've know the kid (40+) that lives next to us since he was 10 years old. At one time he and my daughter were engaged and he has lived in my garage apartment in the past. To say I love this kid like one of my own would be fair. He's hardworking, kind and generous - and he f'd up badly in my opinion.

He works for the county and also has a side job every other weekend. The side job is working for a friend of his who has a contract to keep the area around a huge plant mowed and weeded. He spends 12 hours a day on a tractor on those weekends mowing and/or spraying herbicide to keep the weeds down. This isn't a small yard service - this is on a large scale.

Several weeks ago he brought home about 6 of those large IBC totes - supposedly empty. While he was gone - working his side job - he had a family member come to his house and wash the totes out. He spent several hours washing them and there was lots and lots of water involved. He filled each tote up and let the water run over and it flooded the area between our two houses. These are the large totes that hold approx 300 gallons of water. I wasn't sure what was in them, but I was concerned. At one point I texted the neighbor and even asked if they'd forgotten and left the water running because there was so much water on the ground. There is a slight depression in the ground between our two houses and it was full and overflowing.

Several days later - the grass in the area is turning white. What was in the totes? Some kind of herbicide - perhaps several different types. No one seems to know exactly what. They thought maybe it's Round-Up, but it could have been Command also. When I do a search for a herbicide that turns grass white something called Tenacity comes up. :hu

Where is my garden? Right next to the fence which is only a driveway away from the depression carrying all the herbicide. Whatever the herbicide is has made it's way to my yard and garden. There isn't the level of die off that's in his yard and in the depression between us - but several weeds IN MY GARDEN have turned white - so it's definitely there. So far, I don't see any of my veggies turning white, but I have seen some slight discoloration on the tip of some leaves. Could be from our water shortage - I just don't know.

They neighbors are almost as devastated as I am. To say they feel horrible would be an understatement. They've offered to start an entirly new garden for me as far away as possible from the affected area. They have a tiller for their tractor and I've got several huge piles of dirt (that I was gifted from them when they dug a new pond). We could knock that dirt down and start a new garden. It would need to be fenced against rabbits and other wildlife that flourish on that side of my property. It would be up against the opposite fence, and those neighbors have let their property revert to a wild state. I get a lot of vermin that come over from there.

I am at a loss as to know what to do! This garden this year is well started and is/was doing pretty well. I've put hours and hours into it. It's possible that I won't have any other damage from the herbicide and that my garden can carry on as planned. BUT - I already know it's in the soil at this point. There goes my plan of keeping everything as organic as possible. Also - it's a bit late to start some things here, but not out of the question. I'm considering digging up my tomatoes and trying to move them somewhere anyway.

Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? 😢

And no, I won't sue the neighbors. They couldn't feel worse and they've definitely learned a lesson - unfortunately it may be at my expense. 😢
 

frustratedearthmother

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Thanks @tortoise for the ideas.

Not sure it's only direct contact. The middle of the depression where most of the water was - isn't nearly as bad as the other areas further out - which is totally weird. However, there's one weed for sure that it seems to be traveling through the interconnected root system. I'm very cautiously optimistic that we might not get any worse than we are right now even though it's continuing to spread up into his yard and closer to his house where there was no standing water. We've marked the area each day and it's obvious that as of yesterday it's still spreading. (They washed the totes on the 10th.) It's either wicked through the soil or the root system. The water was never that high.

It was very windy that day so who knows, most of mine may be a contact problem. I will be thrilled if it gets no worse than it is.

Don't know who to contact as he doesn't know what chemical we're dealing with. The neighbor "thinks" it's Round up which has been linked to cancer. However, we have contacted the owner of the company that supplies the herbicide. He also doesn't know what was in the totes as he uses several different types for different issues. His suggestion was to water copiously so that's what we're doing now. I think we will go ahead and do some preliminary prep work in the other area - justincase.
 
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