Mowing the pond dam with my Kubota ZTR was an unpleasant adventure until I swapped out the turf tires that it was originally equipped with for a set of Carlyle chevron tread tires.
Posted on 05/01/2024 6:00:41 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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No redear in there? They tend to grow a bit bigger than the bluegill and keep the snails under control.
Oh my, they had you shucking corn the hard way. lol
By far the best way I've found to deal with sweet corn is to boil it in the shuck. Pull it out, dump it in an ice batch until it's cool enough to handle, cut the butt of the ear off with a sharp knife and peel towards the top. There will be very few silks left behind and those will usually come off with a quick rinse under running water.
Esp. those Scarlett Runners!
Maybe someone can offer experience based advice or look up a reputable YouTube vid. I looked at a couple - saw nothing special. For example... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEUAqlf2Yc0
Mowing the pond dam with my Kubota ZTR was an unpleasant adventure until I swapped out the turf tires that it was originally equipped with for a set of Carlyle chevron tread tires.
Yep I’ve got nice redear in the pond. Quite a few of them >12” in size. They only spawn once per year so they don’t tend to get out of control the way bluegill do. I stocked the redear specifically for snail control so we don’t take them out unless gut/gill hooked and not going to survive. We swim in the pond and nobody likes a bad case of swimmer’s itch.
Nice! I can see where that tread would make a difference!
Righto! Same here, as far as releasing them, although only one area lake I know of has redear with a significant population of that size!
Do you get any bluegill / redear hybrids?
I do see some bluegill/redear hybrids. Not a lot, but a few.
My shishitos came today. Two plants! I thought they would be sending two extras as they have done before. Guess I will have to make do with two. The horror....the horror....
“What is the best way to plant bean seeds?”
I’m going to make an educated guess. You may be planting your beans too early. The soil needs to be WARM for bean seeds to germinate properly; at least 60 degrees. Also, they DO have hard shells so keeping them moist once they are in the ground is key. If you’re not getting 1 inch of rain each week, you HAVE to water them. You’ve just gotta! ;)
Also, my cure for everything - MULCH! It helps retain both heat and moisture and tamps down the weeds. Beans do NOT like to compete with weeds. Well, who does? LOL!
A Soil Thermometer is your friend. They are not expensive and are usually pretty accurate.
Here’s a handy-dandy chart for soil temperatures for seeding vegetables:
https://www.homefortheharvest.com/soil-temperature-for-planting-vegetables-chart/
Like peeling a banana upside down to catch the strings; you know, like monkeys do! :)
My Farm & Fleet is selling Bonnie plants! We went there this morning for their Grand Re-Opening and they had no Shishitos. :(
We did spend a lot of money on all USEFUL farm stuff, though. It was amazingly crowded, but they were REALLY organized and had help EVERYWHERE. In EVERY aisle! It was impressive. I’m going to send them an e-mail to thank them. :)
I was surprised by the selection this year, especially on those 3” single pots. A dozen new pepper varieties and dozen new tomato varieties, plus they had the standard fair.
The Asian choy/greens are growing decent overall
Meant to add: The nice thing about bush beans is that once the soil warms up you can seed them every couple of weeks and you will have fresh beans all season. (I LOVE green beans; had some with supper tonight, actually.)
I’ve also done that with pole green beans, especially if I’ve had some ‘Chipmunk thievery.’ I’ve found that I’m able to extend the pole bean harvest that way, too.
(Never tried it with drying beans, but I kind of want them ALL to come in and the pods to dry at the same time late in the season so I can shuck them all at the same time.)
You’re probably right, I probably did plant too early. I have a stupid question though, if the soil temperature is supposed to be at least 60 then that means the night time temperature also needs to be over 60 right? I mean it’s the lowest soil temperature that is 60 so that would be at night. Or am I overthinking this?
I’m going to say that your problem on the Bok Choy is most likely Flea Beatles. This is the right time for them to be active where you are.
They’ll be in my garden soon enough! They can be pests on my green beans and they absolutely LOVE Eggplant. Jerks! :(
You need a soil thermometer. Soil temps can vary all over your garden, depending upon...so many factors!
Just try the soil thermometer. I have had mine for at least 10 years and it’s much more accurate then trying to gauge temps by a ‘guestimate’ on daytime and nighttime temps.
Ten bucks on Amazon. You’ll have it in a few days. You will never go back when it comes to planting your green beans. And I can guarantee that you’ll have great germination and more green beans than you’ll know what to do with! :)
Meanwhile, my rain gauge appears to be taking the scenic route. Seven locations so far. 
Guess there were no trucks going from Hodgkins/Springfield IL to St Louis. Will be interesting to see if it takes I-70 back across MO or jumps down to Springfield MO to get to the Mark Twain National Forest where I am. Est delivery pushed from Tues to Wed.(4 more days of rain) I guess Mr Rainguage wants to see a few more sites. I'm thinking Springfield up to Rolla UPS which is where our UPS deliveries come from.
Most of Baker Creek's pics show them harvested with flowers but with a lot thicker stalks than I have.
Choy Sum. (or Choy Very Little) One small side dish for one person per one plant seems a little stingy. LOL
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