Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, July 15

This is probably a Stargazer lily. The deer didn't get the buds this year!
Lirio100

I love the look of that lily. It looks like it is meant to be growing where it is.

Here in the San Joaquin Valley, they're telling us to stay indoors in the afternoon if we can. Probably mostly because "the authorities" don't want to deal with people.

Can't help but think about what people did before air conditioning. Our forecast for today is 108 degrees, 111 for tomorrow. It will be hotter in the deserts.

And it looks like there are weather events in the Northeast, along with continued smoke.

Is anyone doing any gardening??? We're doing a little weed control. And watering.

Edible Gardening/Putting Things By

By-Tor got 40 pounds of apricots. Got any ideas for him? Some will be made into jam.

July means it's time to harvest the garlic - in the DelMarVa anyway.
Pretty good crop of German hard-neck garlic for my 2nd garlic crop
ever.
badgerwx

Garden History

Ornamental Hermits - Real Live Ones

The Honorable Charles Hamilton, an 18th-century British aristocrat and member of Parliament, was explicit in his advertisement. The ornamental hermit he was recruiting to live in the sprawling gardens at his Painshill estate in Cobham, England, must be silent, never speaking to the servants who brought him his daily meals. He must wear a goat's hair robe and never cut his hair, nails or beard. Shoes were out of the question. . .

Remington was one of a handful of men to cash in on--or, in his case, fail to cash in on--England's 18th-century ornamental hermit craze. The short-lived trend, which peaked between roughly 1727 and 1830, was one of the most memorable to come out of the era's shift from perfectly pruned, geometrically aligned gardens to wild, untamed ones in which "the irregularities and asymmetry of nature were charmingly inspirational," says Todd Longstaffe-Gowan, a landscape architect and the author of English Garden Eccentrics: Three Hundred Years of Extraordinary Groves, Burrowings, Mountains and Menageries.
Aristocrats outfitted their new landscape gardens with unexpected, whimsical elements like caves, mountains, aviaries and menageries. But the hermitage, a secluded retreat for a real or imagined hermit that could look like anything from a grotto to a treehouse, eclipsed them all. "By 1750, if you only put in one structure in your garden, it would have been a hermitage," says Edward S. Harwood, an art historian at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.

Video:

Indoor Gardening

I did not know that Venus fly traps had flowers; but it has caught several flies and now it's blooming! Nan in AZ

We're going to have to turn some attention to outdoor carnivorous plants again, too!

A Garden Recovery

Hello Katy! Every week I think "I should send something" and I forget, well didn't forget.
First off, about a month ago I mentioned that my sago palm had almost completely frozen, but it was coming back with amazing speed.
You noted that it was usually a slow growing plant - it is, so I decided to take
some pictures while it came back. Each of these is only about a week apart,
and you can see in the first one that only one palm leaf survived the freeze.
but when things warmed up - wow! -
Tom Servo

Yay! That is remarkable for a sago palm!

Gardens of The Horde

One sign of summer here is the disgusting heat and humidity,
which at least ended my drought. When the dewpoints are around 70, it's
unpleasant outside even in the early mornings. But a a more welcome sign
of summer are the fabulous daylilies. I have around 50 kinds of all
shapes, sizes and colors.
I especially like the 'spiders' that have the long, narrow petals - like Chesapeake Crab Legs and Spider Miracle. But I have plenty of other summer bloomers.
My coneflowers and hardy glads attract the bees and my salvias are popular with the hummingbirds. And my hardy hibiscus will start up soon.
badgerwx

A lovely display!

Chesapeake Crab Legs

Spider Miracle

Femme de Joie

What a great garden!

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

If you would like to send photos, stories, links, etc. for the Saturday Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, the address is:

ktinthegarden at g mail dot com

Remember to include the nic or name by which you wish to be known at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.

Week in Review

What has changed since last week's thread? Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, July 8

Any thoughts or questions? Be sure to check out the end of the thread . . .

I closed the comments on this post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.

Posted by: K.T. at 01:23 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 My herb garden is doing well, but unfortunately I neglected to mark a few of the herbs so I'm not exactly sure what a couple are.

However, I downloaded an App for my phone called Flora Incognito that I can use to ID plants when they grow large enough. I have Sorrel and I think Sage coming up in two pots but they are too small to tell which is which at the moment.

We've been buying those basil plants at the store and planting them in soil, they look like they're dead for a week or so then start to perk up and usually thrive, sometimes I lose one or two. They're hydroponic, and I think it takes a bit to shift gears to soil.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at July 15, 2023 01:27 PM (0hOvj)

2 We've had lots of rain lately and the maters are getting YUGE. My Sungold cherry tomatoes are already ripening.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at July 15, 2023 01:28 PM (GbxWV)

3 For By-Tor: If you have 40 pounds of apricots, in addition to jam, you should make apricot butter. It's basically sweetened, thickened apricot puree. Takes just three ingredients, apricots, sugar and a little lemon juice. Follow the recipe in the Ball Blue Book and can it to enjoy a scone with butter and apricot in the middle of winter. Yummy!

Posted by: Mrs Whatsit at July 15, 2023 01:28 PM (JifFn)

4 Hi fellow Greenthumbs
Picked a few peppers and cucumbers, no tomatoes yet.
Have a little show and tell.
https://tinyurl.com/nrcdvb74
This is my garden gnome Rumpole who finally got painted after 30 years, his brother Ichabod didn't yet

Posted by: Skip at July 15, 2023 01:30 PM (xhxe8)

5 I have had little success with vegetables, usually it takes me too long to get my garden going so they don't develop enough in the year.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at July 15, 2023 01:35 PM (0hOvj)

6 I've been waiting for this thread for the good advice I know I can get. My building suddenly has a problem with asiatic cockroaches, the kind that come from the outside. This being Arkansas, land of bugs, we have lots of red wasps flying about and nesting. The wasps only seem to bother humans if you screw with them and word has it they thrive on the crawling like the above mentioned. Should we just leave the wasps alone or give their nests a blast?

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at July 15, 2023 01:36 PM (0EOe9)

7 About 20 years ago I bought closeout bulbs and threw them all over the yard. Weird stuff appears every once in a while.
In WI orange day lillies. Tons of them.
This year the tiger lillies that appeared from nowhere maybe 3 years ago are almost 7 feet high and it's only July.

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 01:38 PM (43xH1)

8 My usual tomato harvesting schedule begins on Independence Day. And yet here we are 10 days past and no piece of fruit is even so much as beginning to turn color.

I blame climate change.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at July 15, 2023 01:40 PM (DhOHl)

9 bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at July 15, 2023 01:36 PM

Where are the wasp nests?

Posted by: KT at July 15, 2023 01:40 PM (rrtZS)

10 yesterday was payday, so this weekend's adventure is balancing the checkbook and paying bills.

Posted by: peasant scum anachronda at July 15, 2023 01:41 PM (edU/H)

11 My small yard is a tough arena: when I moved in, it had had cars parked in the back for years. Took about 5 years to grow anything back there, and someone cheaped on wood chips and bought ground up pallets infested with earwigs. They're in deep and the yard won't grow vegetables or even sunflowers.
The front has a snake pit of longstanding inside a long dead tree root system.

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 01:42 PM (43xH1)

12 Apricots can make an epic "frontier" sweet wine. A neighbor long ago had an accidental sport hybrid tree, a kind of plummy apricot, and the ones that got missed and fell off would ferment in place, getting all the local vermin drunk as a...actually never saw a skunk there. If you are making 1-2 gallons, you can macerate with a knife and a blender. You'll need a press, but a juice making rig will get you started. I don't filter until later because you don't know how lumpy it will get, and sometimes you can just pour off of the sludge.

If you can go in halfies with some old timer who's been making wrong-wines out of available fruit, that's to your advantage. Most will add plenty sugar, because moonshiner tradition, but I've done real well with straight plums and sherry yeast, ending up with a semi-sweet nutlike dessert thing you might be able to slug down without the headache. In my grandfather's time, of course, this was not even an issue. You made as much as the fruit would render because there was no other drinking to be had, headaches be damned.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at July 15, 2023 01:43 PM (4PZHB)

13 9 We get them in overheads, like the parking ramadas. I don't know if the red wasps do it but we have "mud daubbers". Like I said, they generally don't screw with you but a neighbor had a pretty painful sting last season. I don't like messing with insects, like some spiders, that are helpful in the long run.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at July 15, 2023 01:44 PM (0EOe9)

14 From the Boise, ID area (substituting for Pat* who is still laid up from knee surgery and can't get out to the garden yet):

105 degrees forecast for tomorrow, and triple digits on and off for the next week. Lows in the 60s - bleah!

Peas are done - pulled up and stripped. Green beans (Blue Lake) coming in and being frozen. Sweet corn, squash vines and tomatoes growing like crazy - they like heat as long as there's water. A few of the latter showing color, might be able to harvest a few Sungold cherry tomatoes this week. Red raspberries struggling with the heat, a repeat of last year, alas.

And now a few words from my usual bailiwick, the lawn: War continues against the crab grass, wood sorrel (oxalis) and sundry dandelions and such. A patch of sedge I thought I'd killed two years ago showed up again, it's at a low spot in the lawn that is at an overlap area between two sets of irrigation zones that each run twice a week. Started the second summer lay down of bug poison to control the sod webworms that afflict us. Die, die, die, all of you!

Posted by: Pat*'s Hubbie at July 15, 2023 01:45 PM (VsoW4)

15 12 There's a pretty good movie about guys in the Forestry Service, Sam Elliot starring. Looking through their camp provisions, Elliot says "I bet the people in Washington wonder why we requisition so many jars of peaches". Add sugar, yeast, enjoy.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at July 15, 2023 01:49 PM (0EOe9)

16 Wasps leave alone, they won't bother you.
Hornets (the normal ones) are fine when foraging and I like them a lot. Just don't allow a large nest near you.
Yellow jackets, burn. Kill. Eradicate.
Bumblebees I find personally annoying but they're kind of endearing so I try to let them live, I have at least one nest in my 120 year old foundation. The cats kill them when they get inside.
Wasps are fine. I've never had a serious fight.

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 01:49 PM (43xH1)

17 Getting a small T-storm right now.
Been watering every day from rain barrel, especially inside mini greenhouse as like now it doesn't get rained on inside, just have side open as it would get 120 degrees in there

Posted by: Skip at July 15, 2023 01:50 PM (xhxe8)

18 Wasp stings are painful, but they're all over the eaves and porches of my house and in 20+ years I've never been stung, not even when painting.

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 01:51 PM (43xH1)

19 Raspberries are ON!

Just started picking two days ago, have 4 gallons frozen so far, each year we average ten gallons that we freeze whole, they last all year. This year if the heat and mites don't get them we could surpass our average by a lot. Prolific this year.

Just pulled down the entire sweet cherry harvest. Have a three way grafted cherry, dwarf, and it yielded 20 lbs last year, this year got about 15 lbs.
Birds were alert before we were.

We started about 150 heirloom tomatoes in a grow tent, gave away half, planted the other half. Many set fruit while in the tents around May. So we just started getting ripe ones. Which is rare for this neck of the woods. We're lucky if they ripen before September, as low evening temps sometimes interfere with fruit set. Looks like maybe a bumper crop.

And, I'm nearly crippled from gardening. The constant up/down bend over drills have totally inflamed my hip. Bad timing as the gardening is becoming even more intense.

Ouch.

Posted by: Derak at July 15, 2023 01:51 PM (meDhW)

20 I learned to like hornets when as a kid splitting wood with a maul, hornets would congregate. I killed a cricket, pretty big, and this one hornet spent like 30 minutes chewing it in half, then wobbled off with the front half like an overloaded helicopter.
Damned if about 20 minutes later he didn't come back for the other half, and wobbled off with that too!
They're hard workers, and away from their home nest are quite equable. Working outside I used to let them crawl on my fingers and mandible off the hangnails.

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 01:59 PM (43xH1)

21 Last year had a big paper wasp nest in tree right out back and high up, never bothered us

Posted by: Skip at July 15, 2023 02:00 PM (xhxe8)

22 As introduction to this tidbit, you need to know that I can be horribly neglectful of plants. I call it my Darwinian torture chamber - anyone who makes it out alive has my deepest respect and affection. They have earned a place.

So, I have two orchids from a few years back. I'm supposed to give them some ice cubes every week. But then I had to move them from my kitchen island, and they ended up on a counter by the window to the porch. I think they were completely out of sight/mind for a month or two. One of them just started flowering, which amazed me.

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at July 15, 2023 02:02 PM (Mzdiz)

23 No gardening, puttering, or adventure to report. Terribly sorry to disappoint.

Posted by: Lifelong Disappointment at July 15, 2023 02:05 PM (uoAlb)

24 I like your gnome, Skip!

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at July 15, 2023 02:05 PM (Mzdiz)

25 Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at July 15, 2023 01:36 PM (0EOe9)

Don't know about the wasps (I'd personally get rid of them because they're obnoxious), but creepy crawlies like cockroaches hate bay leaves. Place some of those or branches from bushes in the bay family in the back of your cupboards to discourage them.

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at July 15, 2023 02:09 PM (Mzdiz)

26 6 I've been waiting for this thread for the good advice I know I can get. My building suddenly has a problem with asiatic cockroaches, the kind that come from the outside. This being Arkansas, land of bugs, we have lots of red wasps flying about and nesting. The wasps only seem to bother humans if you screw with them and word has it they thrive on the crawling like the above mentioned. Should we just leave the wasps alone or give their nests a blast?
Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at July 15, 2023 01:36 PM (0EOe9)

Incinerate the building, then dust off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

Posted by: Serious pest control advice at July 15, 2023 02:09 PM (uoAlb)

27 Oh. Telling stories.
Bill in Arkansas, leave the wasps.
I always leave mine.
I mean, if you are one of those people who hoses down your siding every weekend and that sort of thing expect problems, but otherwise they're fine.

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 02:10 PM (43xH1)

28 A week in the land of green (Montana) and the drive up through NV (no redeeming social value) and Idaho (do they really use all those big rectangle and round bales)?

Watched steers frolic in the back fields and enjoyed all my sister's flowers.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at July 15, 2023 02:11 PM (6/wuM)

29 Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 01:42 PM (43xH1)

This sounds like a place for raised beds.

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at July 15, 2023 02:11 PM (Mzdiz)

30 So, I have about a zucchini or two every 3 days and about 2-3 cucumbers every other day. From one plant each. The Roma, cherry and Beefsteak tomatoes need to ripen, but those look to be a bumper crop too. Green peppers are on the way and we got a couple jalapeños for mango salsa yesterday. Last on the hit parade is the row of black beans and the potatoes that should be ready to dig up in September.

Our sage mysteriously died this week and the rosemary is dying too. Possibly something getting to the roots of them. The other herbs (basil, cilantro and chives) are doing ok in the same bed however.

* shrugs * The rosemary and sage were carryovers from last year anyway.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at July 15, 2023 02:12 PM (Q4IgG)

31 Tomatoes are at least 3 weeks behind and not as crazy plentiful as in the past due to the very cool winter and spring in So Cal. I’m ok with that. A respite from canning! Great zucchini, cuke and bean crops though. We are finally hot for So Cal in the mid 80 but up to 120 in the deserts!

Posted by: keena at July 15, 2023 02:14 PM (RiTnx)

32 Bill is discussing outside roaches and yeah, I'd armor the house with red wasps those look cool. People flip out about stinging insects and it's mostly from unfamiliarity. Everything is a bee.
They have different behaviors. A hornet is not a wasp, a yellow jacket isn't a bee.

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 02:14 PM (43xH1)

33 I love those lilies! I have crinum lilies and some big white spider lilies (came out of the florida swamps) that are blooming right now - I sent a pic of them in last year, they always bloom right about July 4th.. If I could find a blue flower that blooms well at this time I could have an amazing red, white, and blue flowerbed. (but blue is a rather difficult color to cultivate in flowers)

Posted by: Tom Servo at July 15, 2023 02:16 PM (S6gqv)

34
Here in the San Joaquin Valley, they're telling us to stay indoors in the afternoon if we can. Probably mostly because "the authorities" don't want to deal with people.

Can't help but think about what people did before air conditioning. Our forecast for today is 108 degrees, 111 for tomorrow. It will be hotter in the deserts.

I'm avoiding the outside here in Fresno by spending the day in the shop. Did some work in the un-AC'd shop this morning, and now I'm working on some software stuff in my office with the AC running full blast.

You couldn't get me out into the yard for anything, even a nude Kate Beckinsale enticing me into the back yard with a gallon of iced tea, a garden rake and a case of Reddi-Whip.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at July 15, 2023 02:16 PM (n+4am)

35 Sage mysteriously dies sometime. Unpredictable.

Posted by: KT at July 15, 2023 02:17 PM (rrtZS)

36 And, I'm nearly crippled from gardening. The constant up/down bend over drills have totally inflamed my hip. Bad timing as the gardening is becoming even more intense.

Ouch.

Posted by: Derak at July 15, 2023 01:51 PM (meDhW)

I'd be lost without my little garden stool. I use it for intensive weeding, or harvesting, or anything that takes a bit of time in the same place.

https://tinyurl.com/3rha4662

I think I paid $15 for this maybe 12 years ago. Found it at Lowes; really saves my back. I've only fallen off it a few times

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at July 15, 2023 02:17 PM (Mzdiz)

37 28 ...and Idaho (do they really use all those big rectangle and round bales)?

AZ deplorable moron at July 15, 2023 02:11 PM (6/wuM)

Oh, yeah. The big bales and 'hay sushi' get hoisted onto tractor-trailer rigs and carted off to cattle feed lots - BIG feed lots, lots of them belonging to Simplot. The part that sticks to the ribs ends up at your local quicky burger joint. The part that goes through ends up spread back onto the fields, or composted and used as raw material for growing sod, another largish business around here.

Posted by: Pat*'s Hubbie at July 15, 2023 02:18 PM (VsoW4)

38 Raised Beds: the back yard got a soil sample and was declared 'dead'. I dumped 4 bales of WI rural hay on it and within 3 years had grass.
The snakes I like as the foundation is porous limestone and they eat all the mice.
The earwigs are a MUCH tougher business. I won't go into it but once they get in deep that ground is pretty much fucked.
Also there are 7 walnut trees.

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 02:19 PM (43xH1)

39 RE Blue flowers.

I'm also trying to make a red/white/blue bed by my front porch and flag. My problem has been finding a good red perennial. I have plenty of blue from the Stokes Aster. They've been seeding themselves all over the bed. They do well in sun in Zone 7a.

Posted by: badgerwx at July 15, 2023 02:19 PM (H9xjb)

40 Publius planted too much corn. He doesn't understand the words in this order.

I'm still 15 hours behind in weeding. I'm going to start mulching with corn husks.

Tomatoes are just getting started. Woohoo! Got my first Terra Cotta, which had split. I cut that part away and it was delicious! Get them at rareseeds dotcom.

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at July 15, 2023 02:21 PM (Mzdiz)

41 Working outside I used to let them crawl on my fingers and mandible off the hangnails.

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 01:59 PM (43xH1)

This sounds suspiciously like torture. You could get some of those fish that nibble dead skin off your feet to complete the mani-pedi.

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at July 15, 2023 02:24 PM (Mzdiz)

42 You're a Moron version of Snow White.

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at July 15, 2023 02:25 PM (Mzdiz)

43 After many years in New York City in a walk-up apartment, I am now living in the country in East Tennessee with five garden beds. 3 months ago I planted these garden beds with various vegetables and now they are threatening to eat the whole house because they are so big! I had no idea squashes would grow like something from The Little Shop of Horrors and I'm giving away squash left and right. But it is a lot of fun. I am also amazed at how fast weeds get in there and start growing like topsy. Of course I have a garden bench that I can carry around and sit on to do the weeding and save my poor knees.

Posted by: Beverly at July 15, 2023 02:29 PM (Epeb0)

44 Sun is back out, didn't need to water today but no harm

Posted by: Skip at July 15, 2023 02:30 PM (xhxe8)

45 You can slice the squash and freeze it on parchment. It fries up real nice when it thaws.

We're getting a second freezer delivered today. Bought a 1/4 cow, which will be ready midweek. Such a privilege to have access to grassfed beef! Also getting a bunch of tallow.

I'm going to need more space for freezing cut-off corn. Publius has been pulling 4 dozen ears every other day and converting them to creamed corn. I think we have a couple gallons in the freezer now.

Miklos' Old Mama is gonna be happy soon - she loves our cream corn.

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at July 15, 2023 02:33 PM (Mzdiz)

46 The garden stool, etc. Once one gets past 50 ish, don't mess around. Don't push, pull, lift, press, stretch for, lean into, or exert yourself for anything you don't have to.
The exertion will do itself. Get ergonomic help and tools. It's only smart. Why did you get old, if you're not learning?
Use a tool. Use leverage. Think.

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 02:34 PM (43xH1)

47 Getting a small T-storm right now.
Been watering every day from rain barrel, especially inside mini greenhouse as like now it doesn't get rained on inside, just have side open as it would get 120 degrees in there
Posted by: Skip

No rain here.

Posted by: JT at July 15, 2023 02:36 PM (T4tVD)

48 Miley, I mostly keep hoping all these animals will cancel each other out but it mostly seems to escalate. Don't get me started about the bats.

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 02:36 PM (43xH1)

49 Why did you get old, if you're not learning?
Use a tool. Use leverage. Think.
Posted by: LenNeal
=====
Nah, the aches and pains keep me company. Can't teach and old fool new tricks. It's a good day when I remember work gloves.

Posted by: From about that Time at July 15, 2023 02:37 PM (4780s)

50 46 At the age of 29, I have to know my limitations. Sometimes I'm able to get out there and weed for 5 hours. Sometimes it takes me 2 hours to get myself psyched for it.

I wish I were 36 again, with all of this land and the possibilities. I always wanted to grow so much, and now that I can, it's more than I can handle.

Still, I do get a lot done, and a lot of food put up for winter, plus gifting to friends and neighbors. Everyone's happy to see a peach basket full of fresh produce!

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at July 15, 2023 02:38 PM (Mzdiz)

51 Beverly, squash is absolutely the default, it grows itself. Squash and mulberries and walnuts would probably support a decent sized population with no work at all.

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 02:39 PM (43xH1)

52 Venus fly traps grow their flowers on the end of a very tall stem. The plant does not want friendly pollinating insects anywhere near the traps.

Posted by: MartynWW at July 15, 2023 02:39 PM (N1vqS)

53 How much that hermit job pay do you reckon? Seems like a good fit for retirement, if, of course, there's a whiskey allotment.

Posted by: Eromero at July 15, 2023 02:40 PM (z3WCn)

54 Sage mysteriously dies sometime. Unpredictable.
Posted by: KT

Parsley and rosemary don't have thyme to investigate.

Posted by: JT at July 15, 2023 02:41 PM (T4tVD)

55 Miley I work the pet department at a regional supermarket chain, I have to be able to lift 50+ pounds over a 9 hour shift per my employment agreement.
Work smart!

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 02:41 PM (43xH1)

56 LenNeal, at least the bats eat mosquitoes, right?

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at July 15, 2023 02:42 PM (Mzdiz)

57 I think I'm going to get some flypaper and hang it from the dining room light fixture. What it the lifespan of flies? Not long, I suppose, but new ones come in when we open the door.

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at July 15, 2023 02:43 PM (Mzdiz)

58 It's not exactly gardening, but it's gardening adjacent. Today, I'm about to stretch and hook a big white drop cloth across the side of the shed in my garden, so we can drag out patio furniture and do an outdoor movie night with pizza and popcorn. Top Gun Maverick is what the boy picked. Girls picks next time.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at July 15, 2023 02:43 PM (oINRc)

59 Miley, tell Publius those yellow crookneck squash have an oil in the skin that give them a richer taste. I was too late to comment on the squash conversation on the tech thread the other morning.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at July 15, 2023 02:44 PM (ouTlx)

60 I'm not a wasp expert but there are dozens of species. we mostly have paper wasps, which are usually mild mannered; I do use raid on the nests if they make them by a doorway, in a gate, etc. I don't think we have any around here, but bald faced hornets are supposedly nasty ill tempered things that will sting anywhere.

Posted by: PaleRider at July 15, 2023 02:45 PM (3cGpq)

61 Miley @ 57-
Get you some lizards and frogs fot them flies. Just the ticket!

Posted by: Eromero at July 15, 2023 02:47 PM (z3WCn)

62 , but bald faced hornets are supposedly nasty ill tempered things that will sting anywhere.
Posted by: PaleRider

So beware hornets without beards !

Posted by: JT at July 15, 2023 02:48 PM (T4tVD)

63 In case anyone is wondering I have about a 1/4 acre lot with an old house on it I got for cheap over 20 years ago. It had been a slum Lord rental for 40 years. It has good bones and a nice vibe. I mostly just let it go as during the housing collapse half the block was empty for over 10 years. My block was like Detroit.
So all the wildlife to me is like, Sure. I had wild turkeys, deer, coyotes, we had a puma travel through

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 02:48 PM (43xH1)

64 Sure. I had wild turkeys, deer, coyotes, we had a puma travel through
Posted by: LenNeal

Anna Puma ?

Posted by: JT at July 15, 2023 02:49 PM (T4tVD)

65 Brown bats, both Big and Little, eat their weight in mosquitos every night. If you can, have multiple abandoned houses with bats in them in your neighborhood!

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 02:51 PM (43xH1)

66 No Anna Puma. Not enough anime or airplane models.

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 02:52 PM (43xH1)

67 JT. Heh. By the pictures, the bald face hornets are black rather than yellow with black stripes like the paper wasps. Like I said, I'm no expert. There are probably apps to ID insects. Don't know that I'd trust an app very far. Probably better to ask a local, if one has moved and sees insects they didn't grow up around.

Posted by: PaleRider at July 15, 2023 02:52 PM (3cGpq)

68 I bought five pounds of "seconds" cherries to start canning. I will be buying more.

I also started digging garlic, though I don't have enough to make me happy. this is the first year I had more than a few survivors, but I only planted some, not lots last Fall

I also made my first zucchini bread this week.

Posted by: Kindltot at July 15, 2023 02:53 PM (xhaym)

69 Miley it's fly season. Hang sticky paper. In WI they're awful in August.

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 02:54 PM (43xH1)

70 59 I will! I did not know this.

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at July 15, 2023 02:54 PM (Mzdiz)

71 During July and August (only) we get the Cicada Killer wasps, which are huge and fearsome looking, but which completely ignore humans unless you go out of your way to mess with them. They dig big burrows on the ground and it's amazing to see one flying through the air carrying a big cicada underneath it.

Posted by: Tom Servo at July 15, 2023 02:55 PM (S6gqv)

72 My crepe myrtle finally started blooming. It's late, but looks great.

I'm also loving these things that unexpectedly bloomed in my garden, but I've no idea what they are. I figured someone here might know ...

https://___ur.com/gallery/70T0SXY

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at July 15, 2023 02:56 PM (oINRc)

73 My Russian Blue cat, the best cat ever, liked to catch buzzing insects and walk around with them in his mouth. It was disgusting.
"Dash! WHAT is in your mouth!?"

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 02:56 PM (43xH1)

74 I'm not a wasp expert but there are dozens of species. we mostly have paper wasps, which are usually mild mannered; I do use raid on the nests if they make them by a doorway, in a gate, etc. I don't think we have any around here, but bald faced hornets are supposedly nasty ill tempered things that will sting anywhere.
Posted by: PaleRider at July 15, 2023 02:45 PM (3cGpq

The wasps here are pretty benign. Now that think about it, haven't seen much of them the last couple years. Not sure what to make of that.

Posted by: JmT at July 15, 2023 02:56 PM (18RTj)

75 Having horses the flies are always around in the summer. I like to buy the huge 10 inch by 30 foot rolls. It is too windy here to hang them, but I tear off a bit and tape in spots where the flies congregate. It is also a redneck bird feeder as the birds just love the free fly buffet.

Posted by: PaleRider at July 15, 2023 02:57 PM (3cGpq)

76 And only once or twice have I seen the giant purple wasp, AKA Tarantula Hawk Wasp, even though they're supposedly native to the region. Very impressive, 2-3 times the size of the normal wasps you see.

Posted by: Tom Servo at July 15, 2023 02:57 PM (S6gqv)

77 Ugh. Pixy blacks out i m g.

Try this:

https://tinyurl.com/8vyfab8k

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at July 15, 2023 02:58 PM (oINRc)

78 Miley I work the pet department at a regional supermarket chain, I have to be able to lift 50+ pounds over a 9 hour shift per my employment agreement.
Work smart!

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 02:41 PM (43xH1)

All those tubs of cat litter...

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at July 15, 2023 02:58 PM (Mzdiz)

79 Agree ground Yellowjackets need to be terminated with extreme prejudice

Posted by: Skip at July 15, 2023 02:59 PM (xhxe8)

80 And only once or twice have I seen the giant purple wasp, AKA Tarantula Hawk Wasp, even though they're supposedly native to the region. Very impressive, 2-3 times the size of the normal wasps you see.
Posted by: Tom Servo

Don't tell him where I live !

Posted by: JT at July 15, 2023 02:59 PM (T4tVD)

81 Oh boy the first of my Jersey Tomatoes are ripening on the vine... but one weird thing is my Italian Pole bean pods are turning yellow hmm any imput here?

Posted by: I'm Gumby Damn It! at July 15, 2023 02:59 PM (fMQtT)

82 Miley @ 57-
Get you some lizards and frogs fot them flies. Just the ticket!

Posted by: Eromero at July 15, 2023 02:47 PM (z3WCn)

We have tons of them around here, both toad-type and tree frogs.

I suspect that the introduction of goats on the adjacent property is the source of the excessive fly population this year.

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at July 15, 2023 03:00 PM (Mzdiz)

83 My Russian Blue cat, the best cat ever, liked to catch buzzing insects and walk around with them in his mouth. It was disgusting.
"Dash! WHAT is in your mouth!?"

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 02:56 PM (43xH1)

Yeah, we've got a cat who catches both grasshoppers and cicadas. They buzzing is horrible.

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at July 15, 2023 03:02 PM (Mzdiz)

84 My Russian Blue cat, the best cat ever, liked to catch buzzing insects and walk around with them in his mouth. It was disgusting.
"Dash! WHAT is in your mouth!?"
Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 02:56 PM (43xH1)

My cat will spend hours stalking a fly. Crouching, ready to pounce.

Posted by: JmT at July 15, 2023 03:02 PM (18RTj)

85 Also before anyone makes fun of my lousy garden, I know it's lousy. I've never been anywhere with water before, so I let it lie fallow this year, while I figure out what things bloom and which just die off.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at July 15, 2023 03:03 PM (oINRc)

86 My favorite part of my yard is letting the native grass just go. My municipality isn't big on yard care having gone through decades of Rust Belt trauma. So I mow the front but mostly leave the back.
I really like watching the seeds in the wind. Sometimes they get 7-8 feet, Midwest grass gets really tall.
Personally I find that manicured yard shit stupid.

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 03:03 PM (43xH1)

87 Forgot to mention, the cucumber variety I git are a bit picky that comes off easily but the vines are acting like squash and taking up a lot of room. Usually they stay on the fence of the garden but these are also sending vines all over the place.

Posted by: Skip at July 15, 2023 03:06 PM (xhxe8)

88 The cicada killer wasps are CRAZY! I did a summer with a fence contractor and we'd hit the networks. Most of the time the homeowners had no idea they were even on the property. They're unnerving if you don't know what they are.

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 03:07 PM (43xH1)

89 I use a five gallon bucket with a bucket seat when weeding my planters and pruning. Bucket is also great for storing the hand tools. My knees aren’t what they used to be.

Posted by: Bosk of Port Kar at July 15, 2023 03:07 PM (OR9VM)

90 We had a significant fly infestation a couple weeks ago. Just your run of the mill black flies. But there were thousands of them all over the back of the house and around the pool each morning for about 2 weeks. We got a pair of those outdoor fly traps that you add water to. Smells like death.

Think a sandwich baggie filled with nasty water and a thousand flies. 🤮

Posted by: Martini Farmer at July 15, 2023 03:10 PM (Q4IgG)

91 Also before anyone makes fun of my lousy garden, I know it's lousy. I've never been anywhere with water before, so I let it lie fallow this year, while I figure out what things bloom and which just die off.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at July 15, 2023 03:03 PM (oINRc)

A new climate takes time to learn. Talk to locals, nurseries to find out what thrives best.

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at July 15, 2023 03:12 PM (Mzdiz)

92 We have so much squash the neighbors lock their doors when they see us coming

Posted by: It's me donna at July 15, 2023 03:12 PM (bs+z0)

93 Oh yeah it's about plants. My yard has earwigs in Biblical proportions, so growing most edibles is out. The walnut trees can supply squirrel soup. The mulberry trees mucho birdie delicioso.
Most plants inside the house are eaten by the one old cat who gobbles any sort of leaf then yaks it up.
I'd like to try heirloom tomato.
Inside in a glass box, like Snow Whites heart.

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 03:12 PM (43xH1)

94 My favorite part of my yard is letting the native grass just go. My municipality isn't big on yard care having gone through decades of Rust Belt trauma. So I mow the front but mostly leave the back.
I really like watching the seeds in the wind. Sometimes they get 7-8 feet, Midwest grass gets really tall.
Personally I find that manicured yard shit stupid.
Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 03:03 PM (43xH1)

My favorite part of my yard is my pond. The fish and the frogs and the turtles, Oh my.

Posted by: JmT at July 15, 2023 03:13 PM (18RTj)

95 It's me Donna
Re: squash, my supermarket for years has had a policy of no employees allowed to give away squash at work

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 03:15 PM (43xH1)

96 93 LOLOL!

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at July 15, 2023 03:15 PM (Mzdiz)

97 Y dice...

My bet is a viburnum of some sort. Would need a close up of it to be sure. There are multiple varieties, some really spectacular.

Posted by: Derak at July 15, 2023 03:16 PM (meDhW)

98 Picked garden peas yesterday and had them with dinner. Boiled for 3 minutes, buttered and salted. Yummy! Best crop of peas we've grown since moving to MT.

Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at July 15, 2023 03:16 PM (2NHgQ)

99 Cicadas! They are wildly localized. Look up a map. I had no idea, much of the world has no idea what you are talking about.

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 03:18 PM (43xH1)

100 Yeah, my supermarket learned that lesson decades ago.
You can sell band stuff, Scout cookies, leave Jack Chick tracts, flyers for your garage sale, inappropriate photos of your daughter at Prom, benefits for your 57 year old step brother with cirrhosis of the liver BUT

YOU CANNOT LEAVE SQUASH IN THE BREAK ROOM.

Posted by: LenNeal at July 15, 2023 03:24 PM (43xH1)

101 I have to freeze 12 pounds of okra today, and weed about 200 row feet of same.

Then harvest more.

My red okra is beautiful! Haven't tasted any yet, because I'm using these 6 plants in the raised bed as decorative seed-givers. The crown dill is synchronizing with pickle season.

I planted my peppers fairly close together, as I'd heard they like to "rub shoulders" with each other. But these grew more than I expected (I've never had much success with peppers until this year). I need to thin them a bit, especially close to the soil.

Even the rainforest chili peppers out in the garden are putting on fruit, but the plants are small. I need to see how tall they're supposed to be. They have very small leaves, so they may be intended to be compact.

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at July 15, 2023 03:25 PM (Mzdiz)

102 Katy, the Venus Flytrap that Nan has is doing poorly. Its leaves are etoliated( soft and floppy ) due to lack of full sun and being in too small a pot, and the flower stem is sapping any strength out of the plant to the point where it may not make it. The best situation for the plant is to put it outdoors. That being said, being in Arizona however, the heat will kill it if kept outdoors, so the best situation right now is if kept indoors, it needs to be under a grow light for at least 8 to 10 hours a day, in a larger pot with peat as the soil medium, with the larger pot in a small tray filled with mineral free water of rain water at all times. Also do not feed the plant unless it is insect prey in which each leaf will be good for 5 closures and openings, then it turns black. In winter the entire plant will turn black and go into hibernation with the light levels cut down to approx. 4 to 6 hours a day and watering cut down to watering until dry then rewater.

Posted by: Tony Litwin at July 15, 2023 03:27 PM (M0GgG)

103 Thanks, Tony!

Posted by: KT at July 15, 2023 03:40 PM (rrtZS)

104
Agree ground Yellowjackets need to be terminated with extreme prejudice

Posted by: Skip at July 15, 2023 02:59 PM

I stumbled across a nest on Friday. Six stings. Put a damper on my entire day. My revenge is coming I guarantee. Whether by fire, chemical, or sudden cement fill is the question.

My tomatoes are doing well, half a dozen table ready with too many more on the way. But that's what friends and neighbors are for. Using Dollar store fertilizer sticks dropped into gallon containers of water then spot watering any underperformers for quick pick me up. Zucchini, pumpkin, and cucumber moving along but susceptible to sudden deer kill. Six containers of leaf lettuce producing nicely. Going to attempt leaf lettuce growing as a year around thing by bringing indoor in late October. The only meal my wife won't eat lettuce at is breakfast.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at July 15, 2023 03:42 PM (enJYY)

105 Breakfast lettuce, mmmmmm!

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at July 15, 2023 04:12 PM (Mzdiz)

106 Had 3 apple trees removed last year. The apples weren't even good-tasting anyway, plus wormy because we didn't spray (and spray, and spray!) Just made a mess on the lawn and drew 'coons & wasps. Had to rake them up weekly, before I could mow. PITA!

Also had the cherry tree removed this spring (Bing? Big black cherries, delicious) because it was growing into the power line. Lights flickered with every wind storm. Not any more though. Tree was 30ft tall, so could never spray it all if I tried. Yep, wormy also. Who cares, we'd eat a handful every year anyway. Just don't look closely when ya spit the pit! LOL.

What to do with the *rest of* those cherries? They'd fall and cover the lawn of course. Several inches deep of slimy, wasp-covered mess. Ugh. And all the extra bird crap.

Suppose we'll regret it, come the Burning Times, but for now? We don't miss the hassle!

Posted by: JQ at July 15, 2023 04:18 PM (Gkog9)

107 sign in

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at July 15, 2023 07:03 PM (krqg6)

108 Hi to Pat and spouse. Hope your neighbors pitched in with food the first few days. Hopefully the maid has shown up to keep your home "spit spot" shape. And hope your recovery is going smooth.

Posted by: S. LYNN at July 15, 2023 07:59 PM (xnbkk)

109 Our 4-H friends have been bringing food by, and I've filled in the gaps (so far Pat* remains unpoisoned, by me or the painkillers).

The maid, well... not so much. I have taken the enforced at home time for a few puttering projects - so far reviving a dead humidifier, a flaky car GPS, and touching up paint in a bedroom, plus the aforementioned harassment of various outdoor pests, and starting a batch of homebrew hefeweizen for when she's able to consume alcohol again.

Posted by: Pat*'s Hubbie at July 15, 2023 11:10 PM (VsoW4)

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