Whatcha Up To???

[Mr_Yan]

Reminds me of something my grandpa used to tell me as I was growing up: "Be careful who you marry... 90% of your happiness & misery in life will be determined by that single decision."

I got me a great wife. Yesterday, when I got home from work, she told me there was a surprise on my pillow. On my pillow I found the 8" long heavy cleaver I've been wanting. I plan on this being a blend between a hatchet and machete around the yard and garden.

 

[whistech]

I am going to replant green beans and okra today. After the cold wind we had at the beginning of the week my green beans and okra, which were planted the 2nd of April, are so wind burnt that I doubt they will recover. It is really to late to plant green beans, but I'm going to roll the dice and see what happens.

 

[Mr_Yan]

I'm hardening off my snap peas, spinach, broccoli, and leeks. This year I think I will throw caution to the wind and put things in the ground this weekend. My gutter snap peas are up and I think will be transplanted on Easter. Broccoli, leeks, spinach, and beets will also go in this weekend. If I think it through I can place these all in an area I can put a cold frame over.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Planted Mrs. Ranch's flowerbed stuff in this morning per her instructions... now she's making of list of plants to 'fill it in'. I'll take her back to the nursery early next week.

Primed the flower pots to seal them prior to painting.

Replaced the damaged green peppers in the garden & fertilized everything via the injection system with 15-30-15.

Still waiting on the truckload of shredded pine bark mulch... wish they'd hurry up already.

 

[majorcatfish]

here it is 6 am and my first day of vacation it's going to rain on and off most of the day. the night time temperature will be starting to improve so the children can go back outside to the greenhouse. hoping to get them planted early next week, noticed that some of the tomatoes and peppers are starting to flower as they go into the greenhouse will have to go though each one of them and snip off each bud..

sometime today will measure the main garden to see if i will be doing the florida weave or just cage the tomatoes.

edit.. 7;45 am took the dogs for a quick walk saw something interesting in the critter pile<it's a area on the property that all sorts of animals visit> there is a area of brush that since yesterday afternoon has been pushed down like a game trail, so set up the game camera.
will be interesting to see who is living out there.....

 

[w_r_ranch]

Mrs. Ranch was tired of being cooped-up because of our bee problem, so I took her to the nursery to get her perennials.. Only got 16 of the 31 she wanted. Gave the remaining list to the owner, who will set them aside when the next delivery comes in & give us a call.

Then painted her flower pots & watered everything... garden, pots, hanging baskets & trees.

 

[Mr_Yan]

I'm sore and a tad bit sunburnt.

I generally started getting some large containers ready for the growing season. We emptied some containers into my main garden bed then turned that over with a pitch fork. Lined two container's side walls with plastic, one 6' long 15" wide and one 3' long and 15" wide, to fix the excessive drying problems from last year.

I need to remember to wear my garden hat more often. I haven't seen the sun since October and my pale skin got burnt by this weak April sun.

 

[majorcatfish]

no pictures this morning of whatever has made that trail.....
finished putting up the fence around the potato bed, after putting it realized that it was the fencing for the main garden< oh well thats why they make snips >. pulled out the tomato cages and the rest of the fencing as well all the rebar looks like will be replacing 10 cages the old ones need the bottoms trimmed back, they will work just fine for the pepper plants.

pulled the soaker hoses from the blackberries and proceeded with the weed eater and removed all the weeds, raked all that up put back the soakers. trimmed back the rest of the winter damaged runners lost 2 more primocanes..
found a couple more asparagus coming up. the day was catching up with me so finish up watering everyone...
time for a couple beers...

 

[Mr_Yan]

80 deg F! 80 deg F! 80 deg F! 80 deg F! 80 deg F!

Can I complain because it is too warm?

Within the last week we had 1.4" of snow accumulation too.

Where did spring go?

 

[Mr_Yan]

Build / work day at the community garden at church today. Over all we tilled the large in ground gardens (approx 50' x 150' and 80' x 200' I think), topped off the raised beds as needed, and rebuilt 4 cinder block raised beds from 4x12 to two beds 12x12.

I helped fill the new beds, top off the existing 96 beds, and I drove the tractor with the tiller to till the in ground beds. We rented a tractor PTO driven tiller for the day. There was much trouble getting the PTO to mate because we were missing a part and 45 minute drive one way from the rental shop. We got it hooked up and running around noon and I was driving for the next 2 hours.

 

[majorcatfish]

Mr. Yan would love to see your churches gardens sounds awesome.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Mr. Yan would love to see your churches gardens sounds awesome.

Here's one shot for you. This is the arial shot from google maps.

In this you can see the 4' x 12' raised beds at the top of the pic. The tractor is the orange blob toward the lower left near the two sheds. The two in ground beds are in the lower left.

I may be able to get some ground shots tomorrow morning but weather looks like it won't cooperate.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Watered the hanging baskets, pots, trees & flower beds. Mulched Mrs. Ranch's backyard flowerbed & sprayed the vegetable garden with insecticide after discovering that cut worms started working on my sweet corn.

 

[45 ACP]

Ranch, what did you spray with for the cut worms? Is it a "do it all" insecticide to treat for a variety of pests?

 

[w_r_ranch]

I sprayed them with Malathion, which is a broad spectrum insecticide.

 

[Mike]

How would you compare that to Sevin?

 

[w_r_ranch]

Mike, either would have done the job as both are 'contact killers'. I used Malathion because it has some residual capability & I have a busy schedule for the next few weeks.

Yesterday I planted the last of Mrs. Ranch's flowers (most of which were divided between her 2 front yard beds) & then top-dressed with additional mulch.

Today I cut the grass & watered the hanging baskets, pots, trees & flower beds... the northwind is wicked again today & is sucking the moisture out of everything.

 

[Mike]

Grass has been mowed and just in time. More showers have hit the area. Great for the garden but driving the dogs nuts as they haven't been to the park in the last few days to get some energy out due to all the rain.

 

[majorcatfish]

dragged it out long enough put the deck back on the g/t this afternoon and mowed, of course the first 30' the deck belt snaps and the bearings in the blade spindles are shot.
come on tax return daddy needs a new mower.....

 

[w_r_ranch]

Got a little more than half of the melon patch mulched & then watered the seeds & the veggie side. Then I watered all the trees & the flowerbeds while I was having my daily margaritas.

 

[majorcatfish]

Got a little more than half of the melon patch mulched & then watered the seeds & the veggie side. Then I watered all the trees & the flowerbeds while I was having my daily margaritas.

sounds like my day water the plants, pull a few weeds,water the blackberries while having a couple beers.....

 

[ErnieCopp]

Dug the rest of my winter onion crop. Planted in November. Texas Super Sweet, and ________Belle, not sure of the rest of the name but big sweet reds. Super sweets are white. Dug 25% of them earlier to make room in garden. Will attach picture.
Finished garden planting, with a row of Kohlrabi, hope i am not too late, and replanted some Okra and Sunflowers that had not done well with first planting. Used garden soil to cover seeds first time, but with replants i went back to covering with fine sand. Have a volunteer Nutmeg melon, I think, in a tree basin 75 feet from last years melon patch, has about ten blossoms on it already. Last year one plant had 18 melons on it. Happy with growth of most of plants.
Ernie TWO PICTURES BUT JUST ONE WHEELBARROW FULL. BIGGEST ABOUT FIVE INCHES, MOST ABOUT FOUR. IT JUST HAPPENED MOST OF THE SMALL ONES LANDED ON THE BOTTOM. LOL. P.S. NO IDEA WHY FOUR PICTURES HERE. I ONLY CLICKED EACH ONE ONCE. e

 

[w_r_ranch]

Finished mulching the melon patch, watered & then turn my attention to drinking & cook'in supper.

 

[45 ACP]

Onions look great Ernie Copp!!

I didnt do much. Watered, and spent some time stuffing the tomatoes back inside the cages. My grape tomatoes are going crazy! They are already over halfway up the 5' cages. Took a few pics. This was about 6:45 in the evening as the sun was already going down.

 

[ErnieCopp]

Your vines are twice as wide as mine are, and about the same height. Normally i would be applying fertilizer to fill then out, but loaded with bllossoms and quite a few tomatoes at least 2 inch D. Two years ago it was opposite. Lots of vines but not many blossoms or tomatoes. So i will apply some foliar fertilizer in the next few days, but wait and see how the skinny vines do for me this year.

Big news here today is Linda found two ripe Blackberries, so Summer is a coming in.

Picked som Kumquats this morning and will attempt to make some marmalade. Sliced them crosswise, 1/8 to 3/16, cutting or loosening the seeds, so they can be skimmed off. Too much work try to separate the seeds from the fruit individually.

Ernie