bigred77 yes cut your knockouts back. I trim mine back 2/3 every spring and prune to try to get an open vase shape growth. Good idea to hit them with neem oil or other anti fungicide afterwards
I did cut down anything that showed dieback, cleaned the pruners between each clip with rubbing alcohol. I guess I just sit on the rose through spring and watch it. It was my favorite of the bunch and the only one that's shown problems between this and black spot.
My plant identifier app says it is some kind of bean, but can’t narrow it down because it’s still a seedling. Also says it’s yellow due to lack of fertilizer, so probably not accounting for it being young.
I use an app called picture this. It’s like 19.99 a year though. Bought it accidentally, but I do use it all the time so I’m not mad that I did.
I just looked and you can go monthly on that app. Considering shit is dead here for 6 months that’s probably a better option. Like I said I was hoodwinked so it’s not like I had an option. Also I couldn’t even be angry because it’s so easy to use and makes recommendations and all.
We never did sell those two ewes that were pregnant late, so the first one went last night. Bees are still doing well so far And then we made this little raised bed for one of my daughters. Also planted carrots, cucumber, zucchini, cantaloupe, lettuce, and broccoli today.
Bees are doing work so far this year And with the girls homeschooling this year due to Covid, we hatched some chicks as they learned about the daily growth changes in eggs. The last ewe finally had her lambs And then, the cow is getting bigger. At some point he'll move over to the BBQ thread.
ahhh spring chores. Had to band our young male goat last week. Felt like I was selling my man out, but couldn't afford to risk more goats. Screamed bloody murder when I picked him up (normal), was calm during procedure. Went out to check on him an hour later and he looked like a saddle sore cowboy, and made this little "maaaah" noise every time he took a step. Felt like shit, but had to be done. He's back to bouncing around now, so some guilt has faded.
When we band a goat or lamb, they always fall over and just lay there bleat moaning for a while. It's tough feeling bad about it and laughing at the same time.
Wife loves sunflowers so I planted a few seeds in my melon garden as a surprise, and this one decided to bloom overnight to greet her when she went out in the back porch this morning First crop of tomatoes is just about ripe as well.
billdozer I'd love to know more about the bees. You may have chronicled it here but I haven't been keeping up with the thread. Where were you able to get the queen/bees?
There are tons of sources. I tried many different places, but the best bees I found were from Jennifer Berry (http://honeypondfarm.com/). She's the Georgia state apiculturist and the Lab Manager for the University of Georgia Honey Bee Program. Many others had poor queens, poorly put together nucs, etc. Hers have never failed me, have always been gentle, and very good layers and honey producers. If you aren't relatively near UGA, you can probably google for local providers. If you aren't going to get a full hive now, I'd recommend waiting until next year to get some in Feb-April so they'd have time to grow/get honey stores for the winter.
Speaking of which, one of my hives swarmed last week. They're happy in a new hive now. Right now I have about 7 supers worth of honey, or 21 gallons +-3. And our garden sucks this year because we haven't done a good job with it, but the zucchini is coming in and we've been getting lettuce for salads.
About to have to pick all the radishes, beets, and red potatoes. Will be good to free up some space in the garden. But having tiller issues so thats top priority. Blueberries are close as well.
You guys are a good bit ahead of us here in the northeast. Everything's planted, turnips are about ready to pull first crop. Peas and carrots were under cold frames in March, tried Ruth Stout for potatoes this year after a friend had good luck last year. Trying to grow a little venison, too. Lol. (Not sure why deer photo won't load preview, but it's there if you click.)
For some of yall with large gardens that dont seem like they are in raised beds do you have many gophers/ground squirrels? If so what do you do to reduce that nuisance.
Not much, but it feels good to me. First overwinter for my roses, trimmed them down quite a bit. Came back roaring.
In the past two weeks two of the three main branches of this peach tree have been broken. I think raccoons climbing to grab unripe peaches are the cause. Any suggestions on how to keep them off, and will this tree still remain viable or should I replace it? I planted it and another one in Sept 2019
I have one that’s about 10 ft is my back yard and if you have one you know that means it’s just a little skinny ass. Through multiple tries and years the only way I’ve gotten it this large is through caging it off. Have three metal tomato plant guides with a screen wrapped around it. Deer absolutely devour them otherwise.
Well fuck me My fucking hose end timer that was watering my garden apparently took a shit sometime during the last week while we were gone on vacation Looks like it must have been pretty early in the week, if not before we actually even left (but it had been raining quite a bit before we left) Dry and 100 degrees for 7 days or so and all my squash, cukes, melons, etc are all fucking gone. Vines almost disappeared they are so dry. Just a few veggies sitting on the ground Tomatoes and peppers looks like some may survive. My best looking (before we left) tomato plant is the worst looking now, but had 5 bad ass big tomatoes on it. Probably why it looks worse off is those good fruits sucked it dry. Currently running the shit out of some water on the garden to see what I can save
Weeding this morning and found these. Also found quite a large azalea that will be part of a great relocation effort.
Met with a landscaper today about addressing some drainage issues and changing ground cover out with grass. He said we need to figure out what kind of grass we have everywhere else in the yard to be able to match it. How would you go about doing that? Can I bring a patch to a garden shop or something?
Arguably dry. I do systemic granules every 8 weeks, has fertilizer in it as well. One plant is 2 years old, the other is just planted this year. Bought both when they were 2-3 feet high. They've bloomed non stop, and looked good up to the last week or so. I pick off bad leaves whenever I see them, which are far and few between.
I think I’ve recommended it to you before but this is a great treatment for roses. Looks like something is causing chlorosis BioAdvanced 701260B 32Oz All in 1 Rose Care, 32 oz, Concentrate
Amazon isn’t working so here https://www.lowes.com/pd/BioAdvance...gVsI5ZNMgWjDPLyNRARoCwqAQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
If using it more than directed I might dial it back and see if they improve? Regardless it doesn’t really look that serious
That's good to hear. I meant to say I use it every 8, I believe that's what is directed. Not much left in the season, so I will use that knowledge next year and maybe do it every 6-7 weeks towards the end of summer. Like I said, both roses were healthy and looking good up to a week ago.
One of our ram lambs started following the livestock guardian dogs around, including going under the fences with them. He got into where the ewes were and...
The second victim from the escaping ram... his mom. We're trying to come up with the best name for her, something like Tide or Dixie or Biloxi.
I have way more tomatoes than I could ever eat. Does anyone want to share a canned salsa or tomato sauce recipe?
We always make a bolognese when we have excess. Onion caramelize, add celery and carrot for a few minutes. Add meat, usually make 3-5 pounds of ground beef. I usually like to double tomato to beef on the eye, you can always do more. Dice them up and throw them in. Season with whatever you like. Takes a few hours to cook down all the liquid. Simple but comes out excellent. Just needs to cook for a while. I also make chili depending on how many we have. Same principle though, needs to cook longer because of all the liquid.