No idea on beans and squash. There's no real need to start those seeds indoors because the seedlings are hearty enough to handle it. I always direct sow them once the soil temp hits a consistent 60 degrees.
Probably still weeks out from 60 degree soils here, I just put them in so I could get something going so I can hit the ground running when spring actually starts
Not really gardening but figured this was the best thread to ask. The buds on this shrub in my front yard have turned brown and aren’t blooming (you can see the one in the background has bloomed). Is there likely a problem with it? Just moved into the house late summer so I have no idea what it’s done in the past and it’s my first house so my knowledge on these type of things is not great.
Planted some beets again this year. I’m hoping they actually grow this year since last year only 2 or 3 sprouted then died.
Built a 4' x 8' box this weekend in preparation for my shopping trip to this place next weekend: http://www.chileplants.com/pepper-plants.aspx They're about an hour drive from my house which is great because I'm a little leery on mail-ordering any live plants.
Fucking Home Depot... I put two plants in last month, an Early Girl and Mr. Stripey Heirloom. Got a few growing and this is what they look like. That's gotta be a Roma based on shape, right?
So I visited that greenhouse place in middle-of-nowhere Hunterdon County, NJ and it was well worth it. Scored 21 plants - all exceptionally healthy - for a whopping $68. Their selection was unreal. In terms of hot peppers, I picked up a Ghost Pepper, Devils Tongue Chocolate, Peruvian Serlano, and a Scotch Bonnet. And of course, the king of them all:
If the squirrels' behavior is any indication of taste this is the best mulberry tree in the world. Might have to make jam or something.
In the last few weeks, I've had 2 swarms move in to empty hives that I left out in my yard. The best kind of free bees, no work involved for maybe $200 worth of bees.
Also, we had someone who is getting out of the goat business give us their Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dog. Normally trained adults would be be around $1500. We also think our 3 ewes are about 2 weeks from having lambs. And in the next few weeks to a month we will be getting 13 more ewes.
I went out to take care of the chickens tonight. Passed by the bee hives and they were fine. As I came back in, I found this. Easily $200 worth of bees.
That's insane. Complete layman's question here: when you were shooting video, were you wearing your full bee-keepers get up, or do they just completely ignore you because theyre preoccupied with swarming to a new hive?
They completely ignored me. No suit. I was in the middle of all of it, was probably a grouping 20 ft in diameter flying around. Never been stung dealing with a swarm before.
Had our first set of new lambs this morning. Our girls were able to watch the second one be born. Expecting two more ewes to have lambs in the next few days.
Do y'all use anything for ants/bugs eating leaves? My broccoli, collards, and brussel sprout leaves are getting torn up
Lol I was ready to ask the exact same thing and I literally had the exact same reply. What part of jersey are you in?
Yeah my my eggplants are being feasted on. I was going to head to my local garden center to see what they recommend
Got a hold of a tractor to till up my garden. So far I’ve got a few different peppers and tomatoes. Planting okra and squash after memorial weekend when our traveling is done. I don’t have bugs yet, but will Ben putting a chicken wire fence up for the rabbits.
Our second ewe had triplet lambs this morning. The first two ended up not being aligned correctly and my wife had to pull them. The third came out normal. Now we're just waiting on the last ewe to go. She's a wide load right now.
Our last ewe had triplets last night. And we caught another swarm of bees. My wife had never collected a swarm before, so I let her get these.
Finally got some plants in the ground. Picked up a habanero, cayenne, pablano, tumbling Tom tomato, sungold, and brandy wine. I may pick up a few other plants, but I’m trying to keep things smaller this year due to work. Anyone have any recommendations for other vegetables that produce all season, but don’t take up a ton of space?
The worker bees decide the hive is getting to crowded. They then make the queen leave and 1/3 to 1/2 of the hive leaves with the queen to start a new colony. When you see them bunched like that, the queen got tired and landed for a rest. The rest of the bees bunch around her while scout bees are out finalizing where their new home is going to be. The bees left in the original hive raise a new queen. This is how bees reproduce. You can bait them with lemongrass oil and old comb in hives set up to catch them. The lemongrass oil mimics the pheromone they use to tell the other bees where the queen is. I've had 4 swarms move into empty hives this year doing that.
Ive got a few jalapeños coming in and my tomatoes are about 1’-2’ high now. Yesterday I planted Clemson spineless okra and some squash.
Starting to get going. Picked 5 okra, 2 Cocozella di Napoli Squash, and 2 Odessa Squash so far. This pic is from Tuesday morning after I got back in town from a trip, and I've gotten a few more of everything since then. Also got my first Jaune et Vert (yellow and green for you unschooled types) Scallop Squash that's already huge but just starting to change colors so I'm going to give it a few more days. Okra is really starting to crank up -- in addition to the cajun I'll start harvesting some burgundy okra in the next few days. In the other garden I've got some cherry tomatoes ready to ripen and plenty of buds on my creole tomatoes. Anyone have any experience with cantaloupe? I planted one in my tomato garden on a whim and thought I gave it plenty of space but it looks like it wants to strangle all other plants. I'm thinking of potting one of the tomato plants nearby to try to give is some more room, and I can cut back my oregano and rosemary since they're already producing a million times more than I need, but worried I should have given this thing it's own bed
I learned after making the same mistake to give any squash or viney fruit its own box. I had canteloupe and not only did it take over everything near it, it tried to jump to other boxes, on top of that, it only produced like 1 fruit that wasn’t great. So a total bust and haven’t planted it since, as I have limited planter space and dont want to waste it for a giant plant that barely produces. Had similar experiences with growth of Spaghetti squash, Watermelon, and pumpkin except for those produced tons of produce and I couldnt nearly use it all. One year I had dozens of watermelon start to pop up all around my yard where I never planted them. Started to figure out my dog was eating them and plants were turning up in his favorite shitting places.
Picked up a few more ewes and traded a ram to complete the growth of our flock for the year. Now it will be a wait until next spring to see how many lambs we get.