Saturday Gardening and Puttering Thread, October 9

Hi, everybody! It rained a little on the fires in the mountains near us yesterday! Some of the Giant Sequoias were lost, but not the really, really big ones, some of which were wrapped in foil.

How is your weather treating you and your garden?

Mystery Bugs-to-be

Hey KT,
I had a late, late comment yesterday on the garden thread, my sister was visiting and we were out all day, but I thanked you for the shout outs. Anyway, I found this on one of my pepper plants and I have no idea what it is and I was wondering if anyone else does. It is hollow and very light and airy. Wanting to know if it is a good bug or bad bug before it all hostaes...
WeeKreekFarmGirl

Anybody know what it is? Looks like it has a seam sewn on one side. But . . .

Critters that better get ready for winter

Meanwhile, Jewells sent this photo:

Found this little guy hanging around my parsley. I thought he was pretty!

With some luck, that little caterpillar could become one of these:

But first, it will have to become one of these:

Diapause is basically the insect's version of hibernation. Butterflies can enter diapause in all four stages of the butterfly lifecycle, however, each butterfly species uses one particular stage (two in a few species) to enter diapause and survive the winter.
Amazingly, in preparation for diapause, the egg, caterpillar (larva), chrysalis (pupa), or adult butterfly actually starts producing a form of internal antifreeze to prevent damage from freezing weather during the winter. Some of the butterfly species that overwinter as a chrysalis (pupa) include but are not limited to the Swallowtails as well Checkered White, Mustard White, Orange Sulphur, Clouded Sulphur, Elfins, and some Skippers.

Overwintering tips included at the link.

There are more interesting details on butterflies in winter here:

At 5 degrees below zero, butterflies were the last thing on my mind as I brushed the fluffy snow from the porch. But as I swept away the last flakes along the railing, I noticed a small, brown sack about the size of a Tootsie Roll attached to the wood. It was firmly held in place by fine threads. Back inside, with a warm cup of cider and my field guide, I identified it as the chrysalis of a black swallowtail butterfly. Many black swallowtail caterpillars had fed on my dill plants in the nearby garden for most of the late summer. Could this pupa be one of them?
All butterflies develop from egg to larva (caterpillar) to pupa (chrysalis) and finally to the winged adult that we see fluttering around. Each species has evolved a strategy that allows it to successfully survive the winter in one of these four life stages. For example, swallowtails pass the winter in the pupal stage, like the black swallowtail I found on the porch. Skippers - quick little butterflies whose identification can challenge even avid butterfly enthusiasts - spend the winter as caterpillars. The beautiful little coppers and blues remain as eggs through the winter. Monarchs glide to more hospitable temperatures in the south. And some, like the mourning cloak, hunker down and spend the winter as adults.
Most temperate-zone butterflies survive the deep snows and frigid temperatures of New England in a stage called winter diapause, in which metabolic and respiratory rates are low and slow. The cold itself is not a direct hazard to the butterflies - rather, it's the formation of ice crystals in body tissue that can quickly be lethal. To keep from freezing, butterflies reduce the amount of water in their blood by as much as 30 percent and then thicken it with glycerol, sorbitol, or other antifreeze agents. Mourning cloaks can withstand temperatures down to minus 80 degrees F, but only if they have time to produce these antifreeze agents. If you put a mourning cloak in the freezer on a warm summer day, it will quickly die because it lacks any antifreeze.

Science!

Edible Gardening

From Dr. Mabuse in Ottowa:

Here are some recent pictures from my garden. I'm growing 6 or 7 different hot peppers this year, and here is an unusual one called "Monkey Face" because of its wrinkled appearance, which is supposed to look like a monkey. To my mind, it looks a lot like the Grinch, especially while it's still green! The other pics are of the damson plum tree, which produced 15 lbs of plums this year (it's recovering from a severe pruning due to disease 2 years ago). Also a Monarch Butterfly on a Joe Pye Weed flower. Feel free to use any of these you think the Horde might find interesting. Cheers!

Peppers in Ottowa!

Love Damson Plum Jam

Gardens of The Horde

Plants with stories:

My nic is "from that time". Have enjoyed AoSHQ for years, mostly lurking, especially on the Garden thread where I have little useful to say. I'm purely in a stealing mode there.
The rose seems to bloom in early June, shut down for a couple of months, then give a second effort in mid-September. I know nothing about tending roses. I've hacked it down at random seasons over the years, thought I killed it a couple of time, but it carries on. I should keep track of when and why, but I don't.
This is my backyard in Providence RI. I don't grow much, but have about a half dozen different bushes which I enjoy messing with. 1 lilac,, 1 japanese(?) rose, 1 butterfly, 1 small red thing, etc.
Thanks for your work on the thread, it's a gift.
Hope I have attached two photos, my butterfly bush, and some sort of rose.
The rose came with the house 20+ years ago, I've never been able to find out what kind it is. Tough little bugger to survive this long with me. Any identification and care tips would be appreciated.

Glad you enjoy the thread.

Any ideas on the I.D. of the rose?

The butterfly bush has a good story. My late wife bought two out of parade magazine twenty years ago. Planted one in each corner of the backyard in early fall, next January had eight to ten straight days single digits and below then freezing rain. Come spring, nothing but sticks in the ground, but wife wouldn't let me pull. The following year, one showed a few leaves and grew to a foot and a half. The other stayed dead and was pulled.
The third year, and ever since, has grown like wildfire. I cut it back to 4 - 5 feet, and it tops out at about twelve. The bees and butterflies love it, and it reminds me of the wife every time I see it.

What a great story. It has overcome its early hardships. Magnificent. Your wife did a good thing.

From Diogenes:

This is my second Fall Clematis. It's taken several years to get to this point. I love it.

I love it, too.

Gardening and Puttering Tips and Light Reading

redc1c4 sends an Oktoberfest special on how to clean up a yard. Perhaps while drunk.

And here's a piece on 48 hours of medieval agriculture.

Last night we milked cows for breakfast. Three of the girls who had been chopping wood while we were getting the milk, refused to drink it, even though we were kind enough to boil it. The Germans didn't and they have had to relocate to the bathroom. It suits Fredi just fine because it means he now has two spare rooms.
We spent the morning doing farm work. It's all included in the "become a real medieval farmer" tourist pack. It's an experience that makes the posh girls go crazy and spend the days looking for Urban Outfitters labels on bats hanging from the room's ceiling. But it all seemed pretty lame to me. And quite puzzling from what the locals tell me. The farmers here don't understand how someone would leave an office in the big city, and travel hundreds of miles to dress up like a bush and spend the day in the sun plowing and without water. Even the farmers themselves have water and cold beer in the fridge, their tractors have more technology packed into them than many NASA rockets have, and have subsequently rid themselves of almost all work that might make one sweat.

Hug a farmer. Or a tractor dealer.

If you would like to send information and/or photos for the Saturday Gardening Thread, the address is:

ktinthegarden
at that g mail dot com place

Include the nic by which you wish to be known when you comment at AoSHQ,
unless you want to remain a lurker.

Posted by: K.T. at 01:34 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Good afternoon Greenthumbs

Posted by: Skip at October 09, 2021 12:35 PM (2JoB8)

2 Couple more Anaheim peppers yesterday, snug in my mini green house. No frost anytime soon but it will be here within a month. Still 1 tomato plant, had lots of tomatoes this year but most with black spots.

Posted by: Skip at October 09, 2021 12:37 PM (2JoB8)

3 Hi, Skip! Sorry I'm late.

Posted by: KT at October 09, 2021 12:38 PM (0ghg2)

4 Do German tractors come with guns?

Posted by: Puddin Head at October 09, 2021 12:39 PM (D8mow)

5 Beautiful butterfly bush and clematis. Never knew the names of either of them before.

Posted by: skywch at October 09, 2021 12:45 PM (QVgqY)

6 RE: Your "Cute little guy" caterpillar.
Wanna see something cool? Tap him on the nose or pinch him a little...he will pop red devils horns out of his head, sort of like a snake tongue.
I usually get them on my Fennel, they start as small black 'pillars, then go through several changes to become the bright striped ones, they grow FAST...I often end up with dozens on a single plant, then apparently when they hit a certain size, within a day or so they are gone, have yet to see which bird/bug comes and eats them off but, gone they are. I have seen none this year though.

Posted by: tj Strong at October 09, 2021 12:47 PM (uAI4S)

7 I planted Pu-Gochi (a type of Korean) peppers, and Cayennes this year. I am not sure what I did wrong with the Cayennes but they are starting to turn now.
My tomatoes were terrible because I did not water enough in the dry year

On the other hand I used over 175 canning lids this year. I bought up a lot of generic lids early last spring in case there were no ball canning lids in the stores.
I needed them because the lids are just making it back into the stores.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 09, 2021 12:47 PM (KbLYZ)

8 here is an unusual one called "Monkey Face" because of its wrinkled appearance, which is supposed to look like a monkey.

And calling it "monkey butt" would be unappetizing.

Posted by: mikeski at October 09, 2021 12:47 PM (P1f+c)

9 I guess I have a type of yellow Damson plum in my yard. It is a volunteer, and is free-stone, and the skin is not bitter. It generally puts out more fruit than I can cope with, but this year was an off year, again I think it is because of the dry winter and dry summer.

I can and dry them, and they are tasty either way.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 09, 2021 12:49 PM (KbLYZ)

10 Haven't checked on my little friend in the garden. Meanwhile Sparkles the spider is still guarding her egg sac she deposited on the side of the house. I should try and get a picture of her. She's really quite pretty.

Posted by: Jewells45 at October 09, 2021 12:50 PM (nxdel)

11 The pumpkin planter thingy up top is very cool.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at October 09, 2021 12:52 PM (BFigT)

12 I found a giant leopard moth caterpillar in my bedroom, a.k.a. Wooly Bear.

Scared the bejesus outta me, mainly because it looked like Freddie Mercury's mustache crawling across the floor.

Posted by: Dr. Varno at October 09, 2021 12:52 PM (vuisn)

13 Tap him on the nose or pinch him a little...he will pop red devils horns out of his head, sort of like a snake tongue.

uh... no thanks.

Posted by: Jewells45 at October 09, 2021 12:52 PM (nxdel)

14 Kindltot at October 09, 2021 12:49 PM

The Damson plums I am familiar with are small, sour, kind of astringent plums with a very distinctive flavor, great for preserves and jam. The trees almost take care of themselves in some climates.

Sounds like you have an eat'n plum there.

Posted by: KT at October 09, 2021 12:54 PM (0ghg2)

15 Kindltot, I remember you mentioning your peaches and grape juice; your canning is impressive. I am such a novice and had to be satisfied with my little harvest--three pints of tomato sauce, five pints of salsa which included my sweet peppers, and six and a half pints of green tomato relish. Also have several freezer bags of sweet peppers. More peppers coming which I will freeze, but will probably just eat up the last of the tomatoes.

Posted by: skywch at October 09, 2021 12:55 PM (QVgqY)

16 Dr. Varno at October 09, 2021 12:52 PM

What an interesting comparison!

Posted by: KT at October 09, 2021 12:55 PM (0ghg2)

17 Planning on bringing the potted jalapeno into the solarium. Hope it will keep producing.

Posted by: Ronster at October 09, 2021 01:02 PM (bky8/)

18 I got nothing useful today, hopefully will go check out a few locations in the coast range for chantrelle mushrooms this week. We had our first fall rains and its been a few weeks so mushroom season should be in full swing. I'll email in some pics if/when we find a bunch.

Posted by: KarlHungus at October 09, 2021 01:02 PM (MhCcX)

19 When I was a kid there used to be huge moths that would appear. Glad those all left or got killed. Nobody needs that shit.

Posted by: Jimco Industries at October 09, 2021 01:04 PM (buTO7)

20 My hot peppers always seem to just get going only being done in by frost. Maybe inside would help prolong the season.

Posted by: Skip at October 09, 2021 01:04 PM (2JoB8)

21 tj Strong at October 09, 2021 12:47 PM

They could be getting eaten, or they could be crawling off to pupate. They usually make their chrysalis away from the plant they grew up on.

Fennel is about their favorite.

Posted by: KT at October 09, 2021 01:05 PM (0ghg2)

22 The Damson plums I am familiar with are small, sour, kind of astringent plums with a very distinctive flavor, great for preserves and jam. The trees almost take care of themselves in some climates.
Sounds like you have an eat'n plum there.
Posted by: KT at October 09, 2021 12:54 PM (0ghg2)

it is a freestone yellow plum that is shaped like an italian prune, so I have no clue. It gets a faint purple blush when it is ripe, and when it windfalls it lasts about 6 hours on the ground before it rots, but if I knock them down they last much longer. I have been calling it a type of Mirabelle because it makes a fabulous torte, but it isn't actually a Mirabelle.

In the last 60's there was a big fad of planting the purple leaved asian plums on the sidewalks in town, and a few of those are left. Those fruits make a wonderful plum jelly, but are far too tart to eat a lot of, though I did when I was a kid!

Posted by: Kindltot at October 09, 2021 01:05 PM (KbLYZ)

23 Kindltot at October 09, 2021 01:05 PM

How do you know it's not a Mirabelle or a Mirabelle hybrid? Damsons are almost round. I don't think they are sweet enough to dry without rotting (minus a dehydrator).

Posted by: KT at October 09, 2021 01:10 PM (0ghg2)

24 Posted by: skywch at October 09, 2021 12:55 PM (QVgqY)

Actually my canning days start out with a "Jeez, 6 hours on my feet, peeling and cutting, why do I do this . . ?"

But a pantry full of fruit always makes me feel relaxed in October.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 09, 2021 01:14 PM (KbLYZ)

25 From the Babylon Bee - President Pudding-brain requires intervention

https://tinyurl.com/4jntb2dk

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw at October 09, 2021 01:18 PM (lR7Oz)

26 How do you know it's not a Mirabelle or a Mirabelle hybrid? [ . . . ]Posted by: KT at October 09, 2021 01:10 PM (0ghg2)

It doesn't match exactly any description I have of any plum, I think it was a very fortunate volunteer. It was growing next to the foundation of a torn-down shed.

The yard had a bad italian prune and some sort of other plum that was terrible in that it was not sweet and went directly from sour to rotten without notice. It was only loved by the bees and the yellow jackets. I suspect both were rootstocks for grafted trees where they graft died and the rootstock survived.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 09, 2021 01:22 PM (KbLYZ)

27 Beautiful fall day here. Clear blue sky, trees in color. Almost too warm, but anything over 75 is too warm for me.

Nice to see the sky after a long summer of smoke.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Keith's Son at October 09, 2021 01:22 PM (x8Wzq)

28 Though Mirabelles are supposed to be very old and the basis for a lot of plum types, it might be a chance recreation. Very tasty though, and I keep trying to use it for scions for grafting.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 09, 2021 01:24 PM (KbLYZ)

29 Today is the first day where it feels like autumn. Cool, cloudy, seeing some red in the bush in front of the porch.

Posted by: JuJuBee at October 09, 2021 01:24 PM (mNhhD)

30 Can't grow any food here, really, but our lawn is very happy with growing poisonous mushrooms.

I really miss my California "garden." We could grow almost anything and we had a cherry tree. Up in the Northern reaches, there were wild salmonberries and strawberries that I still dream about once in a while.

Going to try growing a kadota fig and see if that gets anywhere. Sure, it's not a tiger panache (my favorite), but we've had success in the past with figs.

Posted by: soulpile at October 09, 2021 01:27 PM (hiX0r)

31 I thought the Sequoias and other redwoods were able to withstand routine fires. I guess "routine" is out of the question when NPS/BLM/Ag and state entities have been using suppression "management" of public forests for the last 100+ years. There's so much duff and dead standing wood, every fire is severe.
Once again: a gubmint made problem. That only gubmint can solve with expensive and counterproductive remedies.

Also, I saw a ton of Monarchs this year.

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at October 09, 2021 01:27 PM (7Fj9P)

32 Still wondering about Wee Kreek Farm Girl's mystery egg sac.

Posted by: KT at October 09, 2021 01:29 PM (0ghg2)

33 I found a California website that sells unusual hot pepper seeds: https://www.tyler-farms.com/pepper-seeds-tyler-farms/

They sell other seeds and plants too, but these look very interesting and exotic. I probably live too far north to be able to get some of these to ripeness, but the colours and shapes are bizarre. I like "Genghis Khan Brain Pepper".

Posted by: Dr. Mabusette, just to clarify things at October 09, 2021 01:30 PM (dbucx)

34 Well, I'm pooped. It took me over 3 days, but I split nearly a cord of wood using my SunJoe manual log splitter. It handled all but a few difficult pieces; one came from the main trunk of a maple tree, at a junction of about 3 branches. It was mostly linden wood, which is not hard and split pretty easily. The maple was a bit more challenging.

Posted by: Dr. Mabusette, just to clarify things at October 09, 2021 01:33 PM (dbucx)

35 Uh, I guess it's "puttering" in some sense though not in regards to gardening. I'm in the process of backing up my 2013 MBP before upgrading it to Catalina from Mojave which may already be EOL. Apple has decided it's not worthy of Big Sur so I guess it'll become a Linux netbook by this time next year.

Posted by: antisocial justice beatnik at October 09, 2021 01:37 PM (DTX3h)

36 Very pretty fall decoration up top.

Posted by: Ronster at October 09, 2021 01:39 PM (bky8/)

37 My dad always had a list of chores for us kids. My favorite was splitting logs for firewood. We had a big cottonwood tree fall over during a windy t-storm. Dad sawed the trunk into disks, and brother and I spent months splitting those logs (some of them being nearly 4 feet in diameter) into firewood using a big sledge hammer and two wedges.

I liked it far more than weeding the garden, because it put muscle on my skinny teenager arms, and it was also kind of therapeutic. Which helped me out in a couple of fistfights.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Keith's Son at October 09, 2021 01:45 PM (x8Wzq)

38 Love the caterpillar pic. They are amazingly detailed and colorful.

I'm not a green thumb, but I did manage this summer to plant a small garden in the backyard to hopefully attract some pollinators.

I have one plant left that is still in its pot, I'm thinking it is too late here to include it in the garden. (I'm in NH and it is a hibiscus.) I've seen the plant listed as both an annual and a perennial and I'm not sure which variety this is.

Posted by: squeakywheel at October 09, 2021 01:46 PM (UDSF6)

39 From That Time's rose looks like Margo Koster or Dick Koster (but darker). And the plant looks taller.

Wonder if it is a shrub bred from one of them? They are Polyanthas. Should be tough. Reputed to bloom pretty steadily through summer, though.

Posted by: KT at October 09, 2021 01:48 PM (0ghg2)

40 I burned weeds this morning when it was not windy yet. Had gotten most of them burned but the wind is bringing in a fresh batch for me. Ran the chain saw for about an hour dealing with dead branches and saplings. I still have plenty of those but a couple of the eyesores have been dealt with. Beer break now, maybe I'll do some more later.

Posted by: PaleRider, wrecker mandate resister at October 09, 2021 01:49 PM (pxVvf)

41 squeakywheel at October 09, 2021 01:46 PM

If it is a tropical hibiscus, it is too late.

If it is a native or native hybrid, it might work. You might want to check the leaves, etc. to see if you can tell what kind it is.

Posted by: KT at October 09, 2021 01:50 PM (0ghg2)

42 antisocial justice beatnik at October 09, 2021 01:37 PM

Well, it may be puttering for you. It would be a little more than puttering for me.

Posted by: KT at October 09, 2021 01:52 PM (0ghg2)

43 I saw a couple of caterpillars on my parsley, and decided I'd better look them up before doing anything drastic. Glad I did. We can use more swallowtail butterflies. I think the scrub jays got one of them, and never saw the cocoon.

Strangely, I saw a cocoon on a door frame on the other side of the house, don't know what it was and it was empty the day after I noticed it. I'll send some pics if I can remember for next week - I got a few good ones of a swallowtail last year.

My tomatoes stank this year. Plants got big, but hardly any fruit. Mr. Stripey and Brandywine. Think I'll have gotten a total of 5 off of the brandywine, Mr. Stripey are all golf ball sized. Peppers did great, but might give up on heirlooms. The bells were prolific, but not enough foliage to stop the fruit from getting burned. Opposite problem from tomatoes.

Not so sure about the raised bed either - think it's not stable enough temperature and moisture-wise. It's masonry, was made for flowers in back yard. Really need to dedicate space in ground - but my ground is 90% rocks.

Oh well, farmer's market is 5 minutes away.

Posted by: clutch cargo - processed in a facility that may contain lead at October 09, 2021 01:52 PM (wAnMi)

44 soulpile at October 09, 2021 01:27 PM

Where are you now?

Posted by: KT at October 09, 2021 01:54 PM (0ghg2)

45 Saw a cat face spider had built a web between my house and the trash bin. I wanted to take a pic of it, but forgot, because it was late and I am old. next day I wheeled the bin to the street.

When I was a kid cat face spiders fascinated me. Big and juicy, and very aggressive, and made beautiful webs. Brother and I would catch bugs and toss them into the web, and the spider would dart out, wrap it up and save it for a snack. they like juniper bushes to live in.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Keith's Son at October 09, 2021 01:57 PM (x8Wzq)

46 clutch cargo - processed in a facility that may contain lead at October 09, 2021 01:52 PM

Does the masonry suck water out of the beds?

Posted by: KT at October 09, 2021 01:57 PM (0ghg2)

47 Wanna see something cool? Tap him on the nose or pinch him a little...he will pop red devils horns out of his head, sort of like a snake tongue.
Posted by: tj Strong at October 09, 2021 12:47 PM (uAI4S)

Yep, it's supposed to stink like crazy. They got big fast, but assume one got eaten as he wasn't on either parsley, and his little chum was for another 3-4 days. That one got big. Now my parsley is finally growing again.

Posted by: clutch cargo - processed in a facility that may contain lead at October 09, 2021 02:00 PM (wAnMi)

48 42 Well, it may be puttering for you. It would be a little more than puttering for me.

Posted by: KT at October 09, 2021 01:52 PM (0ghg2)

I wouldn't consider this puttering if I thought my Mac were compromised due to unpatched OS vulnerabilities from running an unsupported version.

Perhaps soon I shall have the ability to have a garden and participate on-topic. In the mean time, I shall enjoy the photography. Thanks for the thread!

Posted by: antisocial justice beatnik at October 09, 2021 02:00 PM (DTX3h)

49 Hello all,
Weird bug sac is still there, no change. Have had no luck searching for the answer either. If something hatches I will try to get a picture, unless of course it is scary. Then I will run screaming away like a little girl...

Posted by: Weekreekfarmgirl at October 09, 2021 02:00 PM (pedVB)

50 A W I d e open PET NOOD

Posted by: Skip guy who says NOOD at October 09, 2021 02:01 PM (2JoB8)

51 Thanks for posting the pictures K.T., and thanks for the tips on the roses. I'll check those varieties out, and see if I can find out anything useful for pruning them. They need it, and I'd rather not kill them if possible. Fortunately, nature is far tougher than it looks.

Posted by: From that time at October 09, 2021 02:13 PM (4780s)

52 From that time at October 09, 2021 02:13 PM

I'm really impressed by the butterfly bush. BIG.

Posted by: KT at October 09, 2021 02:22 PM (0ghg2)

53 >If it is a tropical hibiscus, it is too late.

If it is a native or native hybrid, it might work. You might want to check the leaves, etc. to see if you can tell what kind it is.
Posted by: KT

Yeah, she will over-winter in the house with me. Maybe I'll figure out if she's a native in the meantime. She had pretty blooms this summer and one is budding now.

Posted by: squeakywheel at October 09, 2021 02:35 PM (UDSF6)

54 It's hard to tell the rose definitively, but maybe a Fairy red? If the blooms were larger, a Meidiland.

Posted by: CN at October 09, 2021 02:47 PM (ONvIw)

55 We used to have 2 very small Green Gage plum trees. They were mostly shaded but still managed to produce quite a lot of fruit for their 6-8ft height.

Unfortunately, they were so badly infested with aphids we had to remove them. The rest of the yard and garden (and closest neighbors!) thanked us for taking them out.

Posted by: JQ, a hick in the sticks at October 09, 2021 03:09 PM (dB4Iz)

56 The rose looks like a Carefree Beauty to my eye. I have one that managed through disastrous tornado on our bank, it blooms in flushes similar to the pic above.
FWIW, I do actively deadhead the rose and am rewarded with blooms most of the year, but it is definitely more vigorous in early summer and early fall.
Will try to send you pics of our visit to Wintethur a couple of weeks ago. Not much in bloom, but excellent time to see the shrubs and their "structure" in the garden. THANK YOU K.T. for the thread!

Posted by: groovy girl at October 09, 2021 04:10 PM (c/zMB)

57 This weekend I'm cleaning out the planters, putting away the patio furniture, taking down the gazebo canvas...

'Bye, summer.

Posted by: JQ, a hick in the sticks at October 09, 2021 04:13 PM (dB4Iz)

58 From Boise area: Irrigation water shut off 10/4, only 11 days before usual. Husband closed off irrigation valve. Some rain this past week; highs about 60-70, lows close to freezing. Actual freeze expected Sun./Mon. or so.

Raking has started. Cut down all the green beans, cut off all the cantaloupe vines, weeded both beds. Still picking Romas and gold cherry tomatoes (still canning Roma sauce). Raspberries now all for juicing.

Picked neighbor's zucchini, and pumpkins - total 55 of latter (largest, 45 pounds!). A few for me, some to other neighbor, some to our 4-H kids, last ones to Boise FD's Burn Out Fund's pumpkin sale (proceeds help those who were burned out by house fires).

Today, dug up all the stinky, bug-riddled cabbages (next year: grow fewer, pick promptly when they're ready!), weeded that bed. Cut down cornstalks, put on spring burn pile. (Plan will be to pile burnable oak leaves on the bed, burn them to hopefully kill weed seeds.) Also cut off part of sagebrush, to give more room to red raspberries. Taste-tested apples - not quite ready.

Quirk of the week: Husband mowed Sun. 3rd - found a girl's shoe out back. Belonged to neighbors. Maybe a magpie's fault?

Posted by: Pat* at October 09, 2021 05:18 PM (2pX/F)

59 44 soulpile at October 09, 2021 01:27 PM

Where are you now?
Posted by: KT at October 09, 2021 01:54 PM (0ghg2)

The desert. It's not all bad - we can grow citrus... in fact, we lost a lemon tree to overabundance last year. Tomatoes do well depending on the year. Overall, though, just can't grow the things I remember from being a kid.

Posted by: soulpile at October 09, 2021 05:41 PM (hiX0r)

60 Good evening! That rose reminds me of Mom's Seven Sisters rose.

I am checking late. I got five bags of clippings, a half-bag of dead headings, and four of branches to the local drop off. I trimmed the neighbor's trees back from my driveway. Didn't quite finish the backyard mowing because the neighbors started burning wet leaves. Blech.

The only bugs I've seen preparing for winter are stink bugs gathering near the back door... ugh!

However, the chipmunks are going crazy back-and-forth with stuffed cheeks. Unsurprisingly, there were no acorns in the lawnmower bag.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at October 09, 2021 06:08 PM (/+bwe)

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