may get some plants in soon

[songbird]

perhaps that is why they call it May? :)

songbird

[Terry Coombs]

Well you better hurry up , or you May find it's already June ... I have 'maters that are almost 3 feet tall now , the lettuce patch has kicked into high gear , and a couple of days ago I planted some anaheim pepper seedlings I got from the co-op . They are also doing well - I've never been able to grow these from seed , whether planted out or started in trays . And the bees are blowin' up , I'll be checking them today to see if they need more storage space . Also be looking for queen cells from the last splits , with an eye to starting a couple more colonies . Those will probably need to be fed , since the spring nectar flow is going to be coming to an end soon .

[Nyssa]

Bzz, bzz, bzz!

I've only gotten one bed planted so far (out of 8) with four tomato plants which have been caged and heavily wrapped in netting to keep the deer out. But Bambi is determined and managed to find enough of a gap in two of 'em after high winds to chomp down the middle of two of the plants. (Both are Italian varieties making me wonder if it's an Italian deer ;) I've re-wrapped the plants and so far, so good. I've also got several marigolds planted in the bed around and between the tomatoes hoping that will further discourage the buggers.

We also had a week of heavy rain last week which pushed back any garden or yard work, so I've been catching up on the mowing.

A visit to a Big Box store with hopes of finding a few bargain plants was a wasted effort.

I did have some herb seedlings I'd started under my plant light, so those have gone outside in pots. I'm planning on filling two large pots with my special soil mix for carrots. I can't plant carrots or other root crops in the main beds because of voles nibbling anything available.

I'm hoping to plant some green beans and come up with a netting plan to save them from being deer food, but another round of rain and storms are due in on Sunday and go into next week.

With all the rain we've been getting, I'm considering changing my hobby from vegetable gardening to boating.

Nyssa, who thinks she's growing webbing between her toes because of all the rain we've had this spring

[Terry Coombs]

  My solution is to use a fence made up of 24" chicken wire at the bottom , with 6" turned flat to the ground on the outside , with 3 strands of electrified wire above . The one time I caught a rabbit in the garden it was because I left the "gate" open . No sign of deer inside at all - nor bears ... The bee yard is annexed to the garden now and shares the fencing system . I had a hive damaged by a bear last spring , since it's been inside an electric fence we've had no further problems . I was kinda mean , when I first installed electric fence around the (former) bee yard I baited it with bacon ... and I can tell you from personal (accidental) contact with that fence , it HURTS . I think it must work for 'coonsand 'possumstoo , there's no way to get over the chicken wire without contacting a hot wire .

[T]

I am not suppose to plant till the second week in June (zone 6b).

:-(

But I'VE GOT WWWWW EEEEEEEEE DDDDDD SSSS !!!! Hay, your maters may be thee foot tall, but my weeds are a foot tall and I got millions of them!

Okay, not much of a comparison.

Look over at my patch for growing tomatoes and it is a forest of cheat grass. My poor back!

[Terry Coombs]

  Are you mulching ? I put a heavy layer of straw down between the rows/plants , helps a lot with weed control - plus as it decomposes it adds organic material to my soil . Another measure I take is to burn any grass , in hopes that it will kill the seeds .  On another topic , was it you that had problems with squash bugs ? Found a few out on/near my acorn and other squash plants , and squashed them ...pun intended . I'm wondering if just removing the eggs from the leaves is enough , or if I need to take additional steps to prevent a major infestation .

[T]

Hay,

No I haven't been mulching. I haven't the time or resources.

Fire? You do know I am a married man? When she is done killing me, she will come for you! (ordinarily, she is the sweetest thing on this earth, but don't burn anything around her!)

The little buzzards are hard to squish, so you really have the stomp hard. And they are stink bugs, so don't squash them with your hands or gloves. Pew pew pew.

They will lay their eggs under squash leaves. Look under the leaves to find them. When you get good at it, you will notice a stain on the top of your leaves. I just mash/squash them with my fingers (eggs don't smell).

The same stain can also signal a group of immature bugs. They are social and clump together, so you have about three seconds to spray them with organic pyrethrum. You can kill about 20 with one squirt.

I spot water with a watering wand. Squash bugs LOVE the trunks of squash plants during the day and despise getting wet. So I water the trunk first and wait and see what wonders up. Then I spray them with organic pyrethrum. The adults are armor plated, so you have to spray then right on the nose. Some will go under they vulnerable underbellies, and that will kill them. Their backs are impervious. They are also pretty slow to react during the heat of the day.

I love to catch the making wooppie. Their butts are together and don't comes apart. They fight each other as to which way to run. Easy to nail two at once.

They also love the underside of your squash fruit during the day as it is cooler under there. I shake them off and stomp them.

Death to squash bugs! Death to earwigs! Death to weeds!

[songbird]

Terry Coombs wrote: ...

we have plants, some of the perennials got planted this morning. have to get the hoses run to the garden and will be ready to plant the veggies. really hot and humid today. i really need a break, but i'm not going to get it.

Mom was out there this morning trying to get ahead of the heat, but it is so humid already. i'm not sure what we'll actually get done today. not too many to plant, but it all takes time. onions, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes. beans i'll start in on next week.

finished up tile yesterday on ceiling so now let it dry for a few days and then grout. will be glad to have it done.

the only thing three feet by this time is the ditch grass. alfalfa is up about a foot and a half. clematis are up about that too, but they grow fast up the trellises.

need to get some buckwheat in a few weeks ago as it would be flowering within a month's time. you can plow it under later. good cover crop. i use it for smothering weeds or keeping the weed population down.

songbird

[songbird]

T wrote: ...

we react very badly to smoke too so i agree with her. besides it is a waste of a precious resource... you need all the organic matter you can get out there.

cardboard is free, rocks are free, smothering works well.

purselane starting up yet?

songbird

[Terry Coombs]

  Well , you gotta remember we're a little south of you ... and I have some buckwheat seed , planned to try and establish a patch that will self-seed . Not only is it good forage for the bees , but it attracts deer ... which is one reason I'm planting it somewhere other than in or near the garden . I was going to tile the bathroom and kitchen floors here , but my wife thinks she'd prefer hardwood . I'll be using the Good Stuff , prefinished solid oak .

[songbird]

Terry Coombs wrote: ...re buckwheat...

critters eat most of it and the seeds, you may get volunteer wandering plants here or there from them but don't expect a large stand. at least i have not ever gotten them to do that here...

yes, the deer, rabbits, etc. all seem to like it.

if you go that route, make a "no outdoors shoes in the house" rule, and have a splash guard on the floor around the sink/fridge area. will save a ton of wear and tear and cover for dropping or leaking things. our wood floors are over 20yrs old and still on original finish and doing ok. it gets dusted once in a while. oh, and of course, all heavy stuff/chairs/etc. must have footies to keep them from ruining the floor too. i love wood floors, carpets are so gross to me in comparison. dogs and cats are not all that compatible with wood floors IMO.

songbird

[T]

One little tiny sprout!

[Terry Coombs]

  A large dog that likes to play rough is my biggest concern ... I'm afraid he'll scratch up the finish with his claws . Some games will have to be reserved for places where we have area rugs .

[songbird]

ours are just starting to show up, millions more i'm sure.

i was hoping to get some beans planted today but with last night's heavy rain and more rain this morning i'm going to take the next two days off. forecast is for 91F both days.

gardens planted yesterday morning is good enough start for me. normally we plant about this time and then i fill in any gaps with beans into early or even mid-June anyways.

songbird

[songbird]

Terry Coombs wrote: ...pets and wood floors...

have to keep nails trimmed. then again if you don't doggie won't be able to sneak up on you. :)

songbird

[T]

There has been a thunderstorm every day for the past week here too. Everything is pretty muddy.

I planted a bunch of radish seeds and onion seeds:

Imai Early Yellow Onion:

Bora King, Hybrid Korean Radish (purple):

Big Time, Hybrid Korean Radish (white) (had larger blue seeds ):

Four radish sprouted and zero onions. Me thinks I need a different supplier.

:'(

On the other hand, the potato onions I over wintered and going great guns. And the garlic never died off over winter.

[songbird]

when did you plant them?

radishes here are coming back from seeds dropped by previous plants so i've not had to reseed them. same for turnips. i'm going to have to teach Mom to not weed them out because she wants to weed the garden they are in. i also have strawberry plants in there she'll need to leave alone and not trample. it may be a challenge more than she has patience for. we'll see...

here for the garlic it depends upon snow cover and when i get them planted. if later in the fall the garlic won't be up until spring, but if it is the previous existing garlic or planted earlier it can stay green all winter, but that also depends upon the snow cover. too bare and too cold means the leaves will eventually give up, but they'll regrow once it gets warmer again. i have tons of garlic i'm still trying to weed out of a larger garden. still haven't been able to get back to that project. too many other things with higher priority going on...

songbird

[T]

I planted the onion seeds in the fall. They are suppose to "over winter" and love cold and ice.

I planted the radish seeds about five weeks ago. They are also suppose to love it cold.

I have no problem with regular radishes, just these Korean ones. Regular radishes sprout like weeds!

My garlic love it freezing cold and snow and ice. I plant them in the fall.

[songbird]

after they sprout perhaps, but i've not heard before of planting onion seeds in the late fall. did you plant them in the early fall before the rains and frosts came along?

Korea may not be noted for cold, so perhaps it was a bit too early for those. not sure. here we had a long and very cold winter with repeated freeze/thaw cycles, they may not have liked that...

you could put some in again and see if they sprout same with onion seeds.

yes, mine are growing well. i've never been able to kill it (not that i want to :)).

songbird

[T]

This variety of onion is suppose to be planted in the fall. If memory serves me right, I planted then in late November on a warm day.

My potato onions failed last year because of that. This year the love it.

I am zone 6b. There are a lot of 6b's in South Korea

But I do not know exactly where these radishes are grown in Korea.

Good idea!

Fresh garden garlic. Proof God love us!