After working all day yesterday in the "blistering heat"--61 F. we sat on the patio and the wife said, "This time of year I used to say 'I just don't have enough time to get everything done.' Now I say 'I just have the energy to get everything done.' " Planted the first 5 tomatoes in the unheated (except when we light the wood stove) larger greenhouse. Usually we try to get some stuff in there by the second or third week of May, other than the cold weather stuff like lettuce, arugula, claytonia, and spinach, which are either in the greenhouse all winter or are planted in March if we can get through the snow. Our heated greenhouses have stuff in them but nothing in its "permanent" place for the summer. Trying a container garden this year to make things easier as we age, and we have potatoes and some other stuff planted out there. It will get easier as we sell the vast majority of our plants to others and we can get down to planting our own gardens and greenhouses.
I am kind of excited that my absolute favorite foraging book is being reprinted. Has been out of print for a while. Some used versions are cheaper than this new one but not THAT much cheaper. Maybe in a used book store? https://www.amazon.com/Stalking-Wil...24&sprefix=stalking+the+wild+a,aps,205&sr=8-1
Amazon shows the cheapest one at $10, and one of the new hardcovers at almost $200, so a wide range of prices for this book.
Stalking the wild asparagus is $14.97 @ Thriftbooks for a new version. You may want to check it out. You may find a copy for less money that is used. I've Purchased from them a few times I have been satisfied with the used books I received. https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/stalk...ibbons/294549/#edition=24738180&idiq=37269385
My north 40. Two grape tomato plants and onion sets. Will probably end up with too many tomatoes like last year and give them away.
I dry mine so I can crumble the yummy backyard taste onto salads or add them for more flavor to tomato based dishes but it IS easier to give them away
That was probably the audiobook option, @Mary Stetler . I have seen that offer of a book free along with the membership, but it would be something you had to keep paying for the membership, and I do not know if you could still listen to the book if you cancelled the membership. I don’t do audiobooks, so I know next to nothing about them. Also, I don’t see how you would be able to see illustrations with an audiobook.
I am so disgusted with the "squash bugs"; they are HORRIBLE this year. They are ruining all my big tomatoes and they are just swarming all over the plants. I have decided that I'm going to terminate all the tomato plants in a few days. Too bad because the plants are gorgeous and loaded with (ruined) tomatoes. I picked a couple of large Cherokee Purples today that need to ripen a bit more. This was my first time growing them so I'm especially disappointed that they are infested with bugs. The bush beans are still going strong; today I picked the 4th harvest from the three bushes. I got a fairly large bowlful of beans and will cook them tomorrow. My husband's cousin gave us a grocery sack full of new potatoes from her garden. It will take us a while to eat all those but they are gorgeous spuds. I'm wondering how my potatoes are doing and I'm thinking about dumping one of the grow bags to have a look... except I don't want more potatoes right now. The ones I planted are white potatoes so they are different from the ones we got from his cousin. With the power outage I tossed out several jars of refrigerator pickles, so tomorrow I will make some more. The cucumbers are about played out so I'll be terminating those vines soon, too.
You might check out youtube. Different people have thoughts on various cures for garden bugs. I was surprised at remedies for stink bugs which apparently ruin tomatoes too.
Your right youtube has a lot of gardening tips and ideas. I recently watched videos on using garbage can and tubs to make compost.
Squash bugs look almost identical to stink bugs; they are disgusting but they don't put out the "scent" unless they are "squashed." So some people might be confusing the two bugs. None of the folk remedies seem to work very well; pesticides will work but I don't use them on my vegetables. Oh, and some people call them "leaf-footed bugs." Eww.
Here's a recommendation from bonnie plant company. As with many garden pests, the easiest way to combat squash bugs is to stop them before they start. Here's how. Keep the garden clean. Squash bugs overwinter amid garden debris. Pull weeds and remove dead plants promptly. As soon as you're finished harvesting squash, pull vines to eliminate any remaining eggs and younger stages of squash bugs. Plant flowers and herbs that repel squash bugs, such as nasturtium, petunia, and catnip.