2020 Garden Thread.

[MOPanfisher]

Maybe, it it means that jap beetles all exode into bits of bug guts then yes I am xenophobic.  😃

[N9BOW]

43 minutes ago, MOPanfisher said:

Maybe, it it means that jap beetles all exode into bits of bug guts then yes I am xenophobic.  😃

Ever get a whiff of a 5 gal. collection bucket of JB's after stewing for days in the summer sun at the end of row of Marechal Foch or Tramenette grapes? Yes, that's a question! I think I know the answer too!
The collection of JB's was from days of emptying my JB traps over the season (they were killing my grapes and harvest..) and dumping them into the 5 gal buckets and putting the lid on each night on my commute home from Indianapolis to Rosedale In. (home at the time) .

Just for context......Bucket sat in the July - Aug midwest Sunshine

Golly Bob Howdy..... There's some fermentin goin on there I'll tell ya....! 

Hate them too bro!.... have holly hocks and they lace the leaves like they do a grapes .... (vineyard)...its heart breaking in context.

[BilletHead]

31 minutes ago, N9BOW said:

Ever get a whiff of a 5 gal. collection bucket of JB's after stewing for days in the summer sun at the end of row of Marechal Foch or Tramenette grapes? Yes, that's a question! I think I know the answer too!
The collection of JB's was from days of emptying my JB traps over the season (they were killing my grapes and harvest..) and dumping them into the 5 gal buckets and putting the lid on each night on my commute home from Indianapolis to Rosedale In. (home at the time) .

Just for context......Bucket sat in the July - Aug midwest Sunshine

Golly Bob Howdy..... There's some fermentin goin on there I'll tell ya....! 

Hate them too bro!.... have holly hocks and they lace the leaves like they do a grapes .... (vineyard)...its heart breaking in context.

            Oh yucky! I know that smell but only once. If water gets into the collection bag its double GAG! I have dumped and filled a couple gallon zip lock bags then pitched into the freezer. It kills them and then you can just dump them anywhere. I now hang a trap close to the water over the Koi garden pond with the bottom open. They go in and cannot get air born between the bag and water. Instant koi and green sunfish feed. I need another little channel cat in there. They like them too! When they were at their worst I would spray the crape myrtle or wisteria. They would drop to the ground dead. Armadillos would come and scarf them up overnight. I hope it worked on them too! Loke I said last two years they have been better. It was so bad I pulled my black berries. Those crooks got more berries than I did.

[BilletHead]

                    Finally got some tomatoes in the ground. Planted them really deep as I do every year. So I will be able to cover if another frost raises its ugly head. Just six so far three Black Krim and three celebrity. More later as I work on and off in the garden.

 Lettuce bed doing pretty well too. I started all the lettuce in cells then transferred outside under covers. At that time I dropped some baby bok choy seeds in rows between the lettuce. That stuff really took off. Problem is it is beginning to bolt. (flower and go to seed). First time doing this planting. Said it is a cool weather plant. I find it hard to believe but we did have a couple really warm weeks between frosts and a freeze last week. So we picked some that was beginning to bolt for a salad with dinner. Did not put anything else in it just a dressing. It was really good and I will do it again next year or possibly this fall. 

   Mrs. BilletHead said this is her week day off face. For doing the job she does and putting up with me I understand .

[jdmidwest]

How are the bees doing?

I got lazy last year and did an experiment.  Tried over wintering new hives that I made last year in double deep nuc 5 frame hives.  Worked great, fat and full of honey.  But something goofy with the hot and cold spells killed every one of them.  I have lost 8 hives since the first of the year, back down to 10.

[BilletHead]

37 minutes ago, jdmidwest said:

How are the bees doing?

I got lazy last year and did an experiment.  Tried over wintering new hives that I made last year in double deep nuc 5 frame hives.  Worked great, fat and full of honey.  But something goofy with the hot and cold spells killed every one of them.  I have lost 8 hives since the first of the year, back down to 10.

                JD thanks for asking. Its pretty sad here. I lost both hives. My main one that had both main bodies full of honey and then the one captured single box full. I am perplexed and miss my buzzing friends. I left one box out with old comb. There is a wild hive close. They actually cleaned out the comp completely. If they swarm I hope they find me.

[jdmidwest]

Same here, opened up a hive full of honey with a small cluster of bees dead where they were.  Don't know if it was a quick chill night and the clusters were not big enough to warm them or what.

Bees fly on warm days, but as they chill, they die before they make it back.  We had several days that turned fast and may have killed too many. 

Catch a swarm and be back in business.  Bugs are fun, but fickle livestock.

[MOPanfisher]

There was a "swarm" on a picnic table at one of the parks the other day.  Used to kow some folks who wuld come and collect them but don't anymore.  I always though bees were cool but never will have the knowledge or skill to raise them.  Besides I am not really that fond of honey, don't dislike it but other than occasionally in tea I never think about it.

[N9BOW]

Got the tiller tines off and oil seal out. Seals are out for delivery. Should get this back in operation tonight... hope it dries out enough to mount the bronco tomorrow 

 

[N9BOW]

Plants are coming along, onion sets are visible, taters still doing their thing, garlic on a roll. Hope to get the beets, carrots, rutabaga in the raised beds tomorrow. The bean squash corn Pumpkin will have to wait for the 4 tilled plots to get finished.

put together my new planter wheel hoe! My new favorite green paint implement... takes less gas ⛽️