Don't rush the squash. I've found with squash (both summer and winter varieties) that later is better. If you plant them too early, you run a fairly high risk of getting squash vine borers and you'll just have to replant everything anyway. I always wait until mid June to plant mine (I'm in zone 4b) because by the time they sprout and start to run, the vine borers have already died off. Mid-June through late October is plenty of time for them to grow and bear fruit.
We've borrowed my dad's previously. He's got a bush hog, tiller, auger, back hoe, finishing mower, and disc tiller already. The bush hog and auger just stay here. We did get a round bale spear though since we are getting sheep this summer.
Sister in law brought her boyfriend over so we could meet him this weekend. He brought fresh honey from his hives. Looking forward to calling him brother in law
One of my hives swarmed this weekend. It was on my peach tree right next to my hives, so it was easy to get.
I keep thinking about getting into beekeeping, but I worry that my area doesn't have everything they need(water and flowers) and that I won't have the time or knowledge to manage the hive.
The bees will go up to 5 miles away to get food. People keep bees in Arizona, Texas, and up in Canada. Time for a beginner may be as little as 15-30 minutes every two weeks for 1 hive. Knowledge you can read on the internet or find your local beekeepers association for a mentor or talk to your extension service.
First fruit of my labor was picked today, the world's smallest runt strawberry: It was small and a little sour but still tasted amazing. Wasn't sure if I should've left it on the vine longer but it looked ripe.
I went out and trimmed my blueberry bushes a few days ago. They all had a number of branches that looked dead or dying with yellow stems, small brownish spots, and didn't have any buds on them so I cut those off. I've had mummy berries before, but I hope my plants don't have some sort of disease that'll kill them.
Also, had anyone dealt with voles? The snow melted and there's tunnels all over the yard, especially near my raised bed.
lechnerd Is that a strawberry from your new raised bed? If so, try to resist the sweet temptation of harvesting strawberries the first year. If you pinch off the flowers when you see them the first year, the plant will allocate greater resources to belowground (root) growth - creating a stronger, more prolific plant in the future. Especially in TX, where you're going to be stressing it with some dry spells down the road, it would probably benefit from growing deeper roots this year. I know it sucks because last year was my first year in a new 8' bed I put in. My plants are just emerging from the mulch as our temps in MN warm up. I must have at least twice as many plants from all the daughter plants that got started late last summer.
A buddy of mine moved into a house that had a bunch of vole damage in the backyard last year. Their cat ended up killing a couple and that was the end of their problems I guess. I'm sure there are some pesticides that you could use. Alternative methods are similar to catching mice- you can set out some mouse traps with peanut butter near their runways or tunnels. If the problem persists to next winter, be sure to use plastic tree guards around any small trees you value. Those bastards love young tree bark in the winter and will girdle a young tree in no time at all.
We've had vole issues in the past. What worked the best was trimming my lawn really short on the last mowing of the season before the snowfall. As for keeping them out of my garden, I had to go to more extreme measures. I had a fairly big problem with them eating my beets and carrots, so I decided to declare war. First, I dug a small trench about 6" deep around the entire perimeter of the garden. I then put landscaping timbers two high in that trench. After that, I put in my stakes and put my main fence (1" mesh) around that. Once that was up, I got some 1/8" mesh and ran that all the way to the bottom of the landscaping timbers. I then stapled that mesh to the timbers and used zip ties to attach it to the top. I haven't had issues with them since.
My early girl plant is living up to her name. There's another cluster not quite as far along as these, the biggest of which is larger than a golf ball.
Harvested my first cherry tomatoes today. Only have three plants, but have about 10. Should have 10 or so jalapeños to harvest this weekend. Not bad for my small courtyard.
I put them in around the beginning of march. I live on the MS River so, fortunately, my soil is great.
We have a yard but it doesn't get sun. We also have a stink bug population that drives me crazy, but I've held them off so far.
stink bugs are my hardest battle too, i seven dust the hell outta my plants and them fuckers keep coming
Planted 3 blueberry plants along my fence 2 years ago along with 3 blackberry plants. My soil is all clay and I couldn't maintain the soil. The blackberries are huge but the blueberries did nothing so I replaced them with seedless grapes this year. thinking about trying again with the blueberries in containers of pine munch and peat moss. Anyone else done something similar?
This is good advice. Thanks. Will my strawberry plants likely survive the winter uncovered? I live in Boerne, TX.
Stuck with clay soil as well, but I've been digging out a bigger area and dropping my soil acidity down to about 5 to 5.5 and it has helped a lot with the blueberries.
ive got a couple in one of those upside down hanging pots that made it this last winter had some growing up that were in the ground under a tree in Lubbock that survived for many many years
Was killing blueberry bushes like crazy. Then someone told me to grow them in pots. You can maintain the soil muh easier. I also live in Georgia clay area and the soil is pretty much garbage until you can get it to start breaking down. I imagine that is a similar situation.
A couple weeks old now but put together a 4'x8' planter box, threw in 3 tomatoes (early girls, celebrity, and big boy), a couple crooked neck squash, and some strawberries. Also got some baby chicks but took that to the chicken thread.
In the last two weeks, I've caught 4 more swarms, unfortunately all from my hives Spoiler I ended up with 4 queens from the grafts I posted about earlier Spoiler This is the queen I was raising future queens from And the new queens: And then I've grafted a new set: Spoiler And the bees have started packing away the honey Spoiler And how my yard looks now Spoiler
You just do this for a hobby or are you full timing this? I pass a farm on my way to work that has less hives than you.
Made a strawberry patch last week (left section) and then planted tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and zucchini today. I realize the edgers look like ass, I just threw them down and am going to go back out and level them when I get more time. First time we've done a garden so hopefully we don't fuck it up too bad. Installed a little drip irrigation system so all we have to do is go turn on a faucet and let it go for a while. Also did a little container of herbs too. Fun day outside, hopefully we get some produce out of it. If this goes well will likely expand it next year.
Do you know what variety you have? In TX, I'm pretty sure you should throw some mulch over your plants when the temps dip to around 15 F or below. Uncover them again when you think temps will remain above that point the rest of the winter. If you have a warmer winter in zone 8b, I don't think you need to cover them. Honestly, in your zone, I'm guessing you get few days below 15 F, so you could probably just throw an old sheet or something over them when it gets around that temp and uncover them when the cold passes.
If you cover shipping too, sure. $5 would be about a cup of honey though. I'm mostly out from last year. Won't be getting new homey until late May or June.
Hobby/side business. My wife and I have turned our place into an LLC with the bees, chickens/ducks, and are getting sheep this summer. She wants to turn it into her full time job. For bees, I think think I'd have to have hundreds of hives for a full time gig. I just sell the honey and wax products and am starting to sell a few queens and boxes of bees. Sold my first queen this weekend actually.
Planning on breaking down a few pallets from work for raised bed frames, planting tomatoes and bell peppers. Going roughly off this guide: http://removeandreplace.com/2015/05/14/diy-garden-planter-made-from-a-pallet/ but making the bed "boxes" double long with supports in the middle. Any advice on either the beds or tomatoes and peppers? First gardening beyond my typical house plants and potted flowers.
Got halfway through building the garden bed for tomatoes and peppers, then the downpour finally hit. For now, the measly herb garden hanger
no idea what the wood of the pallet is made out of but would recommend getting cedar boards instead. Don't rot out as bad and theres no pressure treating chemicals on them.
I need some advice on what to do with this area. We bought the house about 2 years ago and this area was just patchy grass and weeds. I ripped it all out and put down new did but it died too. It just gets no sun. In the morning it's in the shade of the fence, mid day it's shaded by the tree, and afternoon it's shaded by the house and screened in area. About 2 months ago I got tired of it and had my yard guy rip up all of the grass and weeds. Now I have no idea what to do with it. I don't want to just fill it in with bark. I can't put a fire pit under it bc the tree hangs too low. Any suggestions?
Don't put shrubs there if that tree has Spanish moss. My front yard has a big azalea bed and the moss that drops from my live oak wreaks havoc on those bushes. Big pain in the ass wading in there to pick moss out.
I'd build a sitting area or hexagon deck and surround it with shade tolerant plants and native grasses