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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 29, 2021 19:25:45 GMT -6
Great report, Bon!
George would know more about the potato curing question than I would.
After harvesting mine, I let them dry on top of the ground for a day, in the shade of a large tree, then, cover them with a tarp to keep sunlight off of them or they'll turn green and ruin. When Autumn rolls around, I rake a deep cover of oak leaves over them (about a foot deep) and move the tarp to the top of the leaf pile and weight it with tree limbs or lumber, so it won't blow away. In most years, the potatoes survive the winter that way and are crisp as all get out because they're constantly taking up ground moisture. Earthworms love it under there! I think they actually help the spuds to keep better. Although, I suspect that the hard freeze we had in February 2021 would have taken them out, even under the foot-thick blanket of leaves.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 30, 2021 18:13:00 GMT -6
I watched a video made in England, where an old guy still mows his entire lawn with a scythe. His blade must have been extra razor-sharp because he was swiping it across short lawn grass and coming up with shavings every time. He mentioned that it worked better right after a rain, or in early morning while the dew was still heavy. I'm guessing that rapid water intake makes the grass stems more apt to break on contact, rather than just bending over when the blade comes into contact with them? Plus, the surface tension of water droplets probably makes the grass stick to the flat top surface of the scythe's blade rather than readily slipping off, providing that little extra pull that one would need in order to get a good clean cut.
Glad to hear you're enjoying some good old-fashioned yard work. That sounds like it would be very satisfying and therapeutic. Plus, it's just nice to sit back and admire the fruits of your labor for a few days after a good mowing down of unruly weeds.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 30, 2021 22:02:07 GMT -6
Bon,
Your dog reminds me of my oldest son who is grown now and has two kids of his own. About 30-years ago we were up in Seminole, Oklahoma attending some kind of conference for work and spending the weekend in a lodge provided by the employer. During breaks between meetings, the family was outdoors enjoying the nice weather when the kids found a very small terrapin about the size of a biscuit.
They were all handling it like it was a biscuit too; when we told them to stop putting their fingers so near its mouth.
That was about the time my son held it up in front of everyone and proudly proclaimed to the whole world, "Turtles don't bite!"
Just as he was pointing to it with his index finger, while watching for admiration from his audience on account of his unrivaled bravery, that little biscuit-sized terrapin reached up and snapped onto the end of his finger and quickly pulled its head back into its shell, screaming kid, finger and all!
Ever since that day, when someone is about to do something stupid, it has become a family tradition to say, "Turtles don't bite!"
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Post by macmex on Jul 1, 2021 6:12:05 GMT -6
"Turtles don't bite" has me chuckling. I absolutely love having them in the garden, even though they do occasionally get into mischief. Toads are also a favorite of mine. During our first year of marriage Jerreth and I read The Wind in the Willows together. One of the main characters is "the amazing Mr. Toad," who has a very eccentric personality which kind of mirrors that of real toads. For 40 years now I haven't hardly been able to see a toad without murmuring "the amazing Mr. Toad!"
Bon, take advantage of videos and any encounter you can arrange with anyone who really knows how to maintain a blade. I've been in process with sharpening tools for well over a decade and am finally starting to get some satisfactory results. I think, too, there is a lot of misinformation out there, on the Internet. Too many people write authoritative sounding stuff about things in which they themselves are only dabbling. I once read that it was absolutely necessary to "peen" a scythe every so many hours, during use. I spend a lot of time trying to figure that out, and finally concluded that peening is only for really damaged blades, such as after one hits a T post while in full swing.
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Post by macmex on Jul 1, 2021 11:56:36 GMT -6
LOL! Maybe I should set up an Etsy store for selling logs!
Bon, if you would, sometime take a picture of the peening kit and post it. I'd like to see that.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jul 8, 2021 20:57:52 GMT -6
Beautiful plants, Bon!
Thanks, for posting those photos. I enlarged them to better see the basket trellis; what a great idea for keeping the vines up off the lawn.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jul 10, 2021 6:32:27 GMT -6
Mark: Hutch Vines 09JUN21 The Cooper's Runner beans have lateral vines growing. Harvest a Quart of Beans Needed a Drink of Water Holes in a few pods 2 Unidentified Larvae killed. I’ve got increasing numbers of holes in my beans, but I just froze a quart of snaps after snapping out the holes. For me that’s pretty exciting. I’m not doing anything about the pests at this point because it’s low-level damage. I tend to let pests be unless the whole plant/crop is in danger. Do your larvae look like Lycaenid pods borers? ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/VEGES/PESTS/podbor.html
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Post by macmex on Jul 11, 2021 5:15:14 GMT -6
It was a blessing, indeed! Will have to wait for light to see any damage.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jul 11, 2021 16:24:48 GMT -6
Thank you!! That's exactly it. Now I know. You’re welcome. I had done a bit of image searching on the computer the night before to figure out what was on my beans, so I had just written it down in my garden journal and knew where to find it. The damage is increasing on my plants but still not a real problem. We had a good mess of beans last night for the evening meal. We had a good frog strangler overnight earlier this week. It was enough water that I had to wait until late afternoon to make sure the roads were passable to get to the library to return books. If it hadn’t stopped raining I would have had to call to ask for a courtesy extension because there was water covering a whole bunch of roads earlier in the day. I think all that rain was really good for my beans, though. They’re producing more than ever now. Even with the raised beds, though, I’m having my first significant experience of tomato cracking. Thankfully it’s really only on a couple of smaller varieties, and they have plenty more fruit to come.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jul 13, 2021 12:50:49 GMT -6
Bon, I like the way you're throwing grass clippings up under that pumpkin basket arrangement. That ought to compost down into some good stuff. Lots of organic matter in the soil sure makes the weeds easier to pull. That's a beautiful yard! You can just feel the peace in that photo.
Speaking of rain in the earlier posts: On the way to the garden day before yesterday, I had to get out of the truck to pull an old tire away that had washed up on top of the slab that crosses our normally dry creek bed. The dry creek runs between the house and the garden. If the water got deep enough to wash an old tire out of that dry creek bed, up onto the road, it must have really been rolling hard.
The weather forecast calls for more rain on the way for Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and next Monday. looks like more weed growing weather for days to come. I've been pulling weeds like a crazy person for days on end but still haven't caught up.
George's goats and rabbits have been benefitting from some of the extra weeds that the rainy weather has caused. That just makes me happy to know that they have more than one good use.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jul 13, 2021 16:48:32 GMT -6
It looks very nice, Bon. I admit that I just love trellises. Maybe it’s because it lets me make better use of my space, but curling tendrils are beautiful to me. What sun exposure will those pole beans get there?
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jul 14, 2021 13:34:02 GMT -6
I do understand, Bon. When we first moved here, we built a small garden in a full sun location (because that’s what even Texas garden guides said to do). Nope, too much sun entirely. We took down the fencing panels and moved them the next year to a more shaded location and began the raised beds. It was definitely an improvement.
We have an area right beside our garage at the bottom of our driveway where we took out some dead and diseased shrubbery and planted some tiny pomegranates. There used to be a strip of grass in front of the shrubbery and despite our pulling it and covering it with cardboard and mulch, it thrives and spreads. I need to get out and pull again, but in the meantime I threw some wood panels that we had kept from a shipping container down over it just as a stop gap until I can devote more time to it. It’s way too hot most of the day to work in that area, and I tend to spend the cooler morning hours in the garden.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jul 14, 2021 18:28:18 GMT -6
Speaking of shade, OSU did a study a few years ago that found tomatoes do better in plots where there is shade to the west of the garden, to block that hot, setting sunlight, but full sun to the East and to the South was very important. The early morning light is needed most, as it is a cooler experience for the plants than the hot, evening sun. I think 8 to 10 hours of direct sunlight per day is what 'qualifies' as full sunlight. Though, it seems okra does better with no shade at all.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jul 20, 2021 5:39:53 GMT -6
I’m sorry to hear about the rotting in your potato bed, Bon, though given all the rain you had this year, I’m glad it was only half of the potatoes and not more. I seem to recall that you planted lots and lots and lots of seed potatoes this year. How many more beds do you have left to harvest?
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Post by macmex on Jul 20, 2021 8:46:59 GMT -6
Bon, I seem to recall that wire worms will be tremendously reduced when grass isn't allowed to grow in a bed the year before one plants. In other words, if you control the grass, you shouldn't have too much problem with wire worms. Was this bed newly busted out of sod in the last year?
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