What have you done today in the Garden?

Thanks GP--Is that tongue-in-cheek? hahaha. It is still a very nice thing to say. Thank you.

Thanks CAYUGA--That is disturbing news about the poisoned bees. I suppose it is collateral damage. Zika is something that must be stopped though. Hopefully the honeybees and other pollenators can be replaced over time.

 

I did a large amount of recycling last night. It's getting dark earlier now. Tonight there was only water for the fern.
I only need to fill up pots with compost now and buy new fleece.
Happy Autumn day everyone!
K

 

Snow, noooooooooooo thanks!


K

 

If not the Zika virus spray, it's the Roundup to kill weeds. Being past the age to procreate, I prefer letting the bees live. I wonder if humanity will be done in by tiny critters?

Sjoerd, I was quite serious regarding your wisdom. You do so much with your allotted space on this planet.

Today I only picked a few tomatoes.

 

...or will humanity be done-in by the absence of the tiny creatures.

Thank you very much GP. You are so nice.

 

Hmmmm. "Food" for thought.

 

I have ordered garlic for planting. So I have a start on next spring's garden: I know I will at least have garlic, asparagus, & rhubarb. Plus errant self sown lettuce & tomato seedlings. My husband has suggested I sow the rest of the plot in sunflowers (the large kind, for bird seed) & sell them at our town farmer's market. I am pondering that one.

One thing I know I will not plant is litchi tomatoes. They were a total bust. First it took 4 sowings before I succeeded in getting transplants, then the "tomatoes" took forever to ripen. Then some bug comes along and drills holes in every single fruit. I kid you not. Every single one. Yet I have not seen hide nor hair of the culprit. Quite a mystery. No more Lichis for you bugger!

 

Cayuga, we have similar leanings. Our Asparagus looks to be abundant for 2017. Also I expect self sown lettuce and tomatoes. I'll be using our own garlic cloves which will be planted in a week or two. My story about tomatoes is that my daughter ordered Giant Belgian seeds which I grew and set out. Those plants are loaded with tomatoes just like Compari tomatoes which I also grew from seeds saved from store bought Compari tomatoes.

 

GP--tell me how old is your asparagus patch? We just planted ours this spring, so I don't know if we can harvest any next year. Maybe one stalk per plant? The plants look good though. Very healthy. They are still sending up new shoots.

Your tomatoes sound great. I have never grown Giant Belgium or Compari. Our Julliets do very well, as do Sun Gold. Sun Golds are amazing in my opinion!!

Last year I grew garlic from store bought cloves & had a good take. Especially considering the drought in the NE. I did not water them much, but still got a good haul. Have you grown them before?

Has Michigan been in drought? I was out in western NY state this summer, and in July they were also experiencing drought. By August, rains had come.

 

The Asparagus: Some was planted in 2015 and some April 2016. I believe the advice is to eat it the third year. You can eat the second year, but it will be more prolific the third year. We didn't eat any last year nor this year, so it looks healthy. I expect a good crop in 2017.

I intended to grow Giant Belgium tomatoes, but apparently the seeds got mixed, which can happen, and I have small, but tasty tomatoes. My favorite for taste is Black Krim. The Rutgers are growing quite large and the Early Girl is smaller, but abundant. The lack of rain caused them to produce later than usual.
I began growing garlic ordering from Seed Savers. From there on, I used our own cloves and we get plenty.
Michigan was sorely lacking rain in early spring and summer, but once the rain began, everything grew quite well.

 

Nothing this morning, its cold and blustry the wind is very strong.
Yesterday was very warm and sunny..our great British climate, none like it. It could be snow tomorrow then again it may be hot on Saturday and melt it.
I have taken cuttings and they are in poly bags on the indoor windowsill. Cape Daisies/An Acer cutting/a Calle Perennial yellow/Succulent.
K

 

Oh the other day I accidently broke a piece, nice size off my Orange Dream Acer, now I have three.

K

 

Just gardening... picking apples.. I have been making applesauce and apple butter. Bushels of apples worth. Up to 112 pints of apple sauce and 24 pints of apple butter. still picking and selling produce. removed honey supers this week. That was a disappointment. 4 supers of honey from 4 hives. Some of the supers were completely empty. it was dry. probably not much forage in all reality. We had an inch od rain in about 3 months. it was pitiful. One more farmers market to do and I am finished for the year. been a very hot dry Summer.

 

Well done, Kate.

The big job for yesterday was to clean the blueberry patch.


The small patch is needing some bush replacement and some soil amendment. This will happen this year. We made a beginning on this--weeds removed and two bushes out. I may remove a third one when I go back in to finish off the job.

The green manure is blooming nicely there in the lower left-hand corner of the foto.