Whatcha Up To???

[Mr_Yan]

Painted the walls up stairs (2/3 of a gallon), sifted worm compost and cleaned up the worm compost bin - pulled ~6 gallons of 3/16" mesh sifted compost.

Pruned up a half dead Rose-of-Sharron due to winter kill.

Need to start planting out tomatoes and peppers today.

 

[wolffman]

Thanks fellas. Here is a better pic after mama calmed her down. It's gonna be a long day.

 

[w_r_ranch]

I imagine your wife's day was longer than yours, LOL!!! Tell her I said she did good!!!

Makes me want to invest in KMB (Pampers)... good dividends & based in Texas as well.

 

[Rahab222]

Wolffman, CONGRATULATIONS! She's a beauty!

 

[Rahab222]

Today was the first day back in my garden since my doctor banned me due to the human bite infection on my left arm. I was actually afraid to open the gate and see if anything was left or if everything had drowned. The first thing I saw was my first, 4' x 4' raised bed with a bunch of dead, shrunken up potato plants in it. I walked over and pulled up a stalk and there were two, Yukon Gold potatoes clinging to the roots. Turns out that box of potatoes was ready. I only harvested 5-6 lbs. from that first box, but I remember last year the Pontiac Reds produced more and larger potatoes. I only planted the Yukons this spring due to my lateness in planting from all the rain. The other two, 4' x 4' boxes were planted a week or two after this box, so they aren't quite ready. Just like Wolffman, I'm surprised I got any taters at all the way everything has been beaten about by the wind and the rain. I boiled some for dinner and they were wonderful! So much better than the ones you buy at the store. I guess that's because of the freshness - from plot to pot?

I FINALLY got my (3) blackberry bushes planted and (1) raspberry. I think the raspberry bush is dead from sitting in rain water inside the box, but one of the blackberry bushes actually has berries on it. I retilled and added compost to the same box I pulled the potatoes out of and used this to plant the berry bushes. I'm sure I'll know in a week or two if there is any life left in the raspberry bush. My (2) blackberry vines growing on the back fence are loaded with berries. I pulled one off that was ripe and I hope to get enough to make a cobbler with these. Course, I tend to just eat these straight off the vine. The weather was threatening all day, but I only felt a few light drops during the time I was out there.

I pulled all the lettuce out of its 4' x 4' and plan to plant my purple hull peas there this weekend. I picked about a half pint of Tumbling Tom, cherry tomatoes from the horse trough and a few peppers. My tomato plants are loaded with tomatoes, but I pulled a large one off today with blossom end rot and threw it over the back fence. I need to treat these with my Nitro-Cal, as they are definitely hurting for calcium. Just to give them some sort of nutrition in case the bottom fell out of the sky, I sprayed them with sea kelp and Miracle Go, since I could do that quickly. The Nitro Cal needs to be applied with the sprayer. I need to get out there and tie up the branches, as the tomatoes are weighing them down. I saw my first adult stink bug today and tried to get him, but he disappeared from my view inside the leaves.

The weeds have gone wild with all the rain and I haven't been able to get anywhere near the garden with the infection on my arm. I bandaged it up pretty well to get done what I did today. I weeded my onion bed and pulled a few onions showing more than half way above the ground. I want these to get bigger, not pull them now. Do I just add more soil on top of them to keep them growing? Something has been eating the onions. I found several stalks next to the bed with the onion completely eaten. Do squirrels eat onions?

The bottom of one of my strawberry boxes on legs collapsed. I guess it couldn't handle the weight of the soil, plants and non-stop rain. I checked the second box and there are more pill bugs inside it than before I ever started treating it with Sevin. I guess I need to call this a fail and just get rid of all that soil since I have now treated it three times with Sevin. I think the pill bugs are thriving on it.

I have never seen such an infestation of snails, slugs, pill bugs and whatever else crawls along the ground and damages/kills plants as I have this year. It's crazy. I killed about 50 BIG slugs and a huge colony of pill bugs at the base of my pecan tree today where I had left a half full sack of manure. I guess all the rain and dampness really appeals to them and everything else that crawls along the ground.

Houston had a couple of days in the 90s this week, so now the bugs will come and the defense begins. This year's weather appears to be a repeat of last years; but with more rain. We have rain moving in tonight with flash flood warnings. I hope the weather people are wrong about their forecast of 8" - 11" in some areas; as I've got to tend to my very neglected garden.

Oh, I also have a Tycoon tomato plant with grapefruit sized tomatoes on it, but the plant is brown - not yellow, but brown. I guess it's dead from all the rain and I need to pull the green tomatoes and replace it with a new plant?

I hate bugs - anything that crawls along the ground - slugs, snails, doodle bugs, snakes, have to be the most destructive and disgusting creatures God created. Oh, yeah, and the gators.

Happy gardening everyone!

 

[Rahab222]

BTW, I have a lot of marble sized or larger seed potatoes that I dug up today, along with the full sized. Will it do me any good to plant these this time of year on the Texas Gulf Coast or it will just be a waste of garden space?

My peach tree that I was so proud of had a few dozen peaches on it, but the squirrels were picking them off one-by-one. So I put a frame around it to support the branches and draped it in netting. That same night, I guess the squirrels all got together and did a stomp dance on my peach tree. They broke most of the branches and knocked all but two of the remaining peaches to the ground. It's a goner for this year's season. The netting didn't do a thing. They were more destructive trying to get through the frame and netting than if I'd just left it alone. Any other suggestions for next year's crop?

 

[ErnieCopp]

Wolf, Congratulations on the beautiful baby.

I have not been in my Garden for a few days. I spent 3 days and 2 nights in the hospital with a stomach virus, first time i have ever been that sick with my stomach. Missed a couple of good rains, too. San Diego has had more rain, almost an inch this month, than it had during the 4 month rainy season. Rained a little bit more last night and still dark anc cloudy now.

Daughter came down and picked some Blackberries and Peaches, just raved about the blackberries, and told me i had some more tomatoes nearly ripe. Will go out tomorrow and take of that.

Ernie

 

[w_r_ranch]

Received another 0.65" of rain last night.

Updated my 2015 Spring Garden thread with current pictures.

Vacuum packed the hamburger patties.

Smoked 2 brisket points for supper & Mrs. Ranch made potato salad to accompany the meat... now we're just sitting around watching the Indy 500.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Well @wolffman we know you have one kid working already but remember they work better in teams. Like draft horses.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Started rebuilding my wheel barrow.

Seeded more spinach and some alyssum in soil blocks. 45 bloomsdale long standing spinach and 50 Alyssum starts.

Light rain since 8:30.

 

[Mike]

@wolffman huge congrats to you my friend. Beautiful baby girl!

 

[Mike]

Moved the garden bed from under the dang tree and attended a Memorial Day service at the national cemetery down the road.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Picked 15 big japs for stuffing. These are the first 'Biker Billy' that we have harvested so I hope they have the heat that Burpee's claimed the do... I'll let you know.

 

[whistech]

Mr. Ranch, according to my son, they are hotter than a normal jalapeno. I don't know because I just can't tolerate the heat of a jalapeno, but I love the flavor. I am growing 4 or 5 Fooled You jalapeno plants this year and some of them will be ready in about two weeks. I don't have high hopes that the peppers will taste like a jalapeno without the heat, but I'm giving it a try.

 

[wolffman]

Decorated the kitchen floor, hope I don't get in trouble.

 

[Ibtsoom]

Went up to Lake Livingston for the holiday weekend and had a blast with the kids running trotlines. Got home yesterday at about 2 and cleaned fish, mowed the grass, picked cukes (enough for about 2 or 3 quarts of pickles plus a few to eat), 5 ripe tomatoes, big pile of straightneck squash, peppers (jalapeno, Serrano and hot banana) and just enough berries to make Sam's pie. Also pulled the rest of the onions and laid them out to dry.

Cooked up fresh fried catfish, creamed yellow squash, fresh sliced tomatoes, cukes and onions in vinegar, and a big slice of dewberry pie with vanilla ice cream for desert. Not a bad afternoon at all.

Also made it to HEB and picked up my 3rd and 4th brisket for the weekend (on sale finally!) I foresee jalapeno stuffed smoked brisket in my near future. I'll try to post up some pics and a recipe.. My wife wont let me smoke a normal one anymore - she likes the jalapeno ones much better.

 

[w_r_ranch]

We had one heck of a storm here starting after 2000 hrs. We got pounded hard for over 3 hours & the lightning was non-stop amazing, especially the spider lightning (running just under the cloud deck), it filled the sky Some air-to-ground strikes were so close that there was absolutely no time delay on the thunder... you could actually hear it hit in the woods. The dogs & Mrs. Ranch rode it out in the safe room... I stayed on the porch watching for tornadoes. We got another 2.70" out of it.

Lot of flooding in Texas right now, especially in the cities. Interstates are underwater...

 

[wolffman]

That was one of the worst storms I have ever seen. It came with rain that would make any hurricane jealous. We got a little over 10" in 5 hours. Neighbors houses are flooded, businesses all over the place flooded. The lightning was incredible, it was non stop and powerful. Lost a big cedar tree in the front yard and the wind broke my gate operator at the driveway entrance. So many crops ruined around here.

 

[wolffman]

Lots of houses around here like this. These poor folks never would have thought water could get this high. Unbelievable amounts of water around here right now.

 

[w_r_ranch]

For those of you that are interested in watching the development of this storm, here is a 24 hr animated radar image from yesterday.

 

[Ibtsoom]

You got one shorter than 24 hours? I don't have that kinda time

Just kidding - that's actually pretty darn cool.

 

[Mike]

Hope all our fellow Texans are staying safe. Can't believe how much rain you guys have been getting.

 

[ErnieCopp]

I second that. It seems like Sam and Wolff are on high ground, but Rahab has talked about being on low ground near the water, so i hope we hear from her, soon.

Ernie

 

[Mr_Yan]

Stupid question:

Wasn't Texas in a drought expected to last 'til the end of time only a year or two ago?

 

[ErnieCopp]

Yan,

Nothing lasts forever. Hot or Cold, Wet or Dry, It all Changes, As Time Goes By..

Ernie