What have you done today in the Garden?

Looks like the carrots got away from me. I swear they were too tiny to harvest just before we went out of town! Guess I'll be making carrot soup. I just pulled a few....I figure the rest'll be safe from the hurricane in the ground.

I've got a very successful crop of butternut squash coming. I probably have 10 or 12. Butternut squash soup? Hopefully they will keep awhile. Anyone know how to determine when they are ripe?

 

They look great Cayuga Morning

 

Cayuga Morning this might help, haven't watched it

 

@Logan that video was great! Filled the bill for me. Of particular interest was that the squash needs to cure in the sun for about a week. I did not know that. I am willing to bet i have several butternut squash ready for harvest right now!

Oh! And the fact that butternuts will keep through the winter so long as you keep them in a dark cool place. That's good news.

 

Cayu—-Now...that’s what I’m talkin’ about !
Look at you, meid— great harvest. You have quite a harvest there. What are your plans for all the toms? It’s a cornucopia.

Here is a link to an old posting of mine concerning the butternut squash, when to harvest and so forth.
http://www.gardenstew.com/about20498.html

I hope that is helpful.

 

I do not harvest mine until the stem between the squash and the vine is good and brown and sort of woody-looking.

http://www.gardenstew.com/about20498.html

The link above may be helpful. It is from an old posting of mine.

 

That's great news, I know that you have to put them out in the sun and that they keep for a long time but didn't know the rest.

 

This guy lives in Australia and grows a lot of fruit and veg here's one about squashes

 

The BBC said it would be fine today. But there was a light drizzle until around 11.00am which held things up for a bit.

With the two small bags of mortar I managed to get from the village hardware store, I was able to finish bedding in the last four York stone coping slabs at the lantern end of the remaining pool concrete collar.



I had enough left to do a bit of "fettling" where the brick pavers meet the path, adding some chippings to strengthen it.

I did have a bit of silver sand, cement and cement dye to finish the pointing. (It will dry lighter).
Then chucked in another 60 litrs of potting compost and planted out the cyclamen I'd bought in Sainsbury's yesterday.



Job done!

Second job.
Sorting out 'arry's house roof.
I'd been checking how he was getting on, preparing his home for winter, with the handful of hay I leave outside his door every other day if it's not wet. He'd brought in a giant lily leaf, I guess as a bit of decoration.

There was evidence of previous ingress of damp in the top back corner although the house was quite dry inside now.



So I decided to make an over cover for it. I thought I had some plywood, but it was that thin MDF. It's quite strong but doesn't like water.

I had a couple of batons left from when I replaced the tops of the waneylap fencing and some polymer roofing felt from when I replaced that on the shed roof a few years ago.

So I made this.



I stuck felt to the underside too and siliconed around the edges of the felt and the batons and put some on the folds of the corners. So no water can get at the MDF.

I stuck another baton on the inside bottom, two inches in from one of the long sides, so there will be a slope towards the back when I fit it, which will over hang at the back, but the bottom of the front will stick out and be low enough to prevent any rain getting under it.

I was going to wait until tonight when he's eating his dinner before I put it on, so he'd be none the wiser, but I didn't fancy lumbering about in the dark so I put it on, with a slab of York stone on top, "to stop him taking it off if he doesn't like it."

He now has a canopy over his front door.

 

Nothing today, apart from moving the trail camera and tying it to the cherry tree trunk in my last photo. I've left 'arry some hay outside his door. Hoping to see how many times he's in and out of a night and whether he need the straw to increase his "room furnishings."

 

so far today, 1/2 bushel of cherry tomatoes. 50 cantaloupe, 5 watermelons, watered the plants, etc etc...cucumbers and more to get done.

 

Shopping day today, so didn't do much until this afternoon, just a bit of pruning and sweeping up. My Flymo blower/vac packed up on Sunday. I only bought it in April, so I'm waiting to hear from the manufacturers about getting it replaced. So I was doing a lot of sweeping.

The repositioned trail camera caught 'arry many times. He came out at 10.00pm last night and didn't go back in again until 5.30 am. Then he was in and out half a dozen times for half an hour. I don't know if he was moving in his hay as the camera was too close to see properly. It's a bit of a pain swapping the SD card when the camera is in that position.


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The wire fence surrounds the bed to stop cats that get in there pouncing on the birds on the patio. They and he, can get through it easily enough.

I've made a sturdy camera stand out of scrap I had in the garage. From where it is on the patio I'll get a better view of what he's up to and the card is so much more accessible.

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I've left more hay outside his door.





I've ordetred an extension lead for the 5v adapter. Presently, where it is, the camera is powered by its batteries.
I have a permanent bracket for it on the near end of the garage and another one I made, on the back of the shed. From either I can plug in the power adapter. But I've ordered an extension lead for it, so I can if I wish, place the camera pretty much anywhere. I only need to connect it when I've finished in the garden for the day, so it won't be in the way.

 

Did a bit of weeding and watered the hanging baskets. I think that my rose cuttings have rooted.

 

Yesterday's hail storm may force me to pull out some tomato and cucumber plants today... the leaves are looking quite sorry this morning, but the toms were winding down already anyway. I'm a bit sad about the cucumbers, though, since they were still producing nicely

 

That is a bit frustrating @Debkat