Here is one example, more at link.
Auroras and a calm sea Taken by Sebastian Sainio on April 16, 2025 @ Raippaluoto, Finland
Posted on 04/01/2025 6:11:07 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
The MONTHLY Gardening Thread is a gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you.
If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located.
This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked.
It is impossible to hijack the Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table Recipes, Preserving, Good Living - there is no telling where it will go - and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us! Send a Private Message to Diana in Wisconsin if you'd like to be added to/removed from our New & Improved Ping List.
NOTE: This is a once a MONTH Ping List, but we DO post to the thread all throughout the month. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest to Gardeners are welcomed any time.
Poultry netting roof is the plan.
Watched an old Irish guy on youtube, a cooper, shown how to make wooden buckets. which was cool.
Most varieties of our daffodils are already “done”. I need to move some to the “far east” of our property, along the road / ditch — they have taken over our front yard front flowerbed almost completely!* But daffodils along the road out there would be nice. I also saw this morning that our peonies’ flowers are already budding - that surprised me a bit. Maybe I can still hit ‘em with a little plant food tomorrow morning.
We had an unexpected light frost last night, but, the plants I’d put out uncovered seem ok, except the most exposed tomato, an “Early Girl” I’d overwintered indoors, and then taken out a few days ago. Some leaves seem damaged — I’ll know for sure in a day or two. My fault for not being more cautious, but NWS had said 40 deg., not 37 deg. Theoretically I’ll have a couple other overwintered plants producing almost as soon anyway, and a couple of the new plants look like they will be close behind. (Can the “Early Treat tomatoes really produce in 49 days? I don’t know, but I’ll try to push a couple. Some of The Cherry Falls are starting to take off, so it’s possible I may have tomatoes in early June. :-)
*At least the daffodils’ bulbs are easily separated without worrying much about hurting them. I got the rest of the lettuce starts I was discussing with Diana separated B4 heading out last weekend to see our daughter: So far, “ok” — two in particular look a bit peeked, the rest should make it - I hope! The chilly nights seem to have helped them, so I hope the next few warm nights don’t set them back.
All my tomato and pepper seps look good, and to my immense surprise, every one of the (count ‘em!) EIGHT starts of Japanese Cucumbers that were crammed in a 4” pot are looking very good. Something chomped off the tops of 2 of my Asian Squash starts though. No good! Those seem to need VERY warm soil temps for several days to germinate, so, it may be a few days to restart those... Ditto for the Opo - I tried starting 4 more, but only one has come up - barely.
Tomorrow I also HAVE to chop 3 small buckeye trees out of our ditch. Well, they’re actually just past the end of our property, but neighbor lady does no work down there, until the point where their lawn starts (another 250 ft.?), so I checked and she said ok. Those catch debris and can cause a nice damming effect such that water can go over the road beside MY property — I’m not sure how the liability would work out, but, no sense in chancing somebody hydroplaning and getting hurt.
I’d love to salvage and replant the Buckeye trees, but, the soil in the ditch is so rocky, I doubt I’ll get any out intact. We have lots of others coming up anyway...
The medium and largish Buckeye trees are all in bloom and I have a couple hummingbird feeders up, but, no hummingbirds? Very unusual.
We had a very good natured old dog “adopt us” and that was great (for protecting the chickens) but, yeah, it’s not economical unless you have a lot of chickens. What seemed to help most here was ending up with large roosters with white capes and dark bodies & wings. Apparently the hawks think the roos are bald eagles?
Yes, as impressive as Bald Eagles are, those Goldies are even more fearsome hunters. I’ve seen multiple vids of Goldies vs. goats and such, so, it’s not just a one off, as I suspect my “Cooper’s incident” was.
We are mildly scarce on songbirds now, but I’ve not seen any Cooper’s Hawks or other small hawks around here recently. My suspicion is that it’s having 3 or 4 barred owls around, and, I see them active after dawn sometimes.
You’re right about the raccoons too!
Heh, for me, add 10 years to each figure... :-(
Here is one example, more at link.
Auroras and a calm sea Taken by Sebastian Sainio on April 16, 2025 @ Raippaluoto, Finland
Pollard; IIRC Some people keep a few geese with their chicken to chase the Hawks off. (Diana might know more.)
Aurora photos; I should have indicated Post 3131!
I forgot to mention upthread that a friend told me a few days ago that he’d seen “Golden Jubilee” tomato plants @ Menards last year. That may be my “mystery” tomato plant! Burpee evidently carries the seeds and my friend says he still has a Burpee plant label, so, they must have also had them in 6-packs too. (Rarely would he or I buy 4” round pots of tomato plants.)
All attributes look correct, except the flavor described as “sweet”, “mild”, “low acid”, and “tangy”. I would agree with the “sweet and tangy”, though I’m trying to figure out how “tangy” goes with “mild” and “low acid”.
Golden Jubilee is a heirloom breed, so, I believe these plants from seeds I collected should “grow true”, correct?
The seeds are not expensive on Amazon, but, this late I’d be worried about them cooking on a UPS truck. I got excellent germination from the seeds I collected, so, I’ve no need to order any, anyway. :-)
Aurora pictures including a blue aurora
Oh, yeah!
Anyway - cool pics! But, it's definitely for the better that "modest" solar activity doesn't produce such auroras in my neck of the words: big storms would REALLY wreak havoc!
Our area always runs cool so when it says a low of 35, I still cover everything or bring the seedlings inside.
That's my understanding.
One thing that you do have to watch for though is accidental cross pollination if you grew other varieties nearby.
According to NWS, we got down to 37 deg. F, and we had frost in top of our (dark blue) Chevy Tahoe parked away from the house. The thermometer in the Tahoe is pretty accurate when the vehicle has been setting a while in no sun, and not running, and it read 38 deg.
I’ve seen frost form on black plastic over plants, with air temps of around 37-38 deg., in very calm conditions too. Radiational cooling...
Usually, anything under 40 deg. F and “calm” prompts me to cover even adult plants. But, the forecast was for 40 deg. and I was lazy... :-(
If the flowers cross pollinated, would that change the fruits’ qualities on the cross pollinated “original” plant?
That is, to use a different example: Let’s say I deliberately cross pollinated some Cherry Tomato flowers with pollen from Mortgage Lifter flowers. Would the tomatoes produced on the Cherry Tomato plant be altered from normal Cherry Tomato fruits?
I don’t think it changes what the parent plant produces. The plant produces what it does genetically.
What it does affect is the seeds that crop would produce. They would no longer heirloom but hybridized and not breed true. So the next crop out would not breed true if you saved those seeds.
Cross pollination can also happen in the wild from insects and wind. That’s the problem with planting more than one variety of a plant in the same garden.
Saw my first pair of hawks circle overhead yesterday. Came in from the South, did one circle and headed west to the property across the road, 800 acres. My neighbor with chickens is a little further North than that so maybe the hawks usually find a snack on the 800 and never make it to him.
S.E. of me there's a rock cliff a couple hundred foot tall so I bet the hawks live on the side of it.
Heard some rain on the metal roof last night but the ground looks dry so I thought I'd be able to burn some small areas but by the time it got light, it also got windy. Might still be able to get a few spots.
Being out there watching over fires yesterday, I had a chance to look around at To Do stuff. To Much stuff. A surprising amount of stuff I can't do when it's windy, let alone raining.
Roof of coup is a heavy fiberglass truck topper.
Can't move it until I can back the Chevy up to it and roll it onto the truck with pvc pipes.
Can't do that until I take down the little front yard garden fence.
Can't do that until I move a pallet of roofing tin and get a couple of comfrey plants out of there. They're buried in leaves piled up in a corner by the wind and really should be exposed to the sun so they can green up and get stronger for transplant.
Can't do that until I sturdy up the fence in that corner, else goats will get to them as soon as I uncover.
Then the topper can go on the F150 parts truck but I can't do that until I put a rim/tire back on and fill the other three tires and turn it around so the back is facing out. Then I can use the parts truck bed with topper to store all the stuff the goats knocked off every bench, shelf and hook in my shop/their barn. Everything's sitting on the dirt/manure floor, much of it buried in manure.
Little tractor's got a radiator leak but I can use it a little here and there for short periods of time. Used to be a radiator shop that would solder the old brass/copper ones but they're gone. Will probably have to do it myself and hope the copper tubes aren't too brittle. No such thing as buying one. Mitsubishi MT-180 only made for a few years in the early 80s. All I can do is get a custom aluminum one made.
India bought the blueprints and rights to these little tractors so technically, new radiators are being made but not available in the US. I wish they'd export whole tractors because I would buy a brand new one, slightly bigger model with 4x4.
Slight alterations but generally the same. I doubt India's quality is as good as Japan's was but who knows. Will the engine last 45 years like this one has?
I like the taller tires and ground clearance compared to a Kubota sub-compact that look like a riding mower with little AG tires.
I have the “can’t do that until ...” issue!
I can’t put my potting bench together or build my 2 raised beds (bare minimum is 2) until I get the shop cleaned up enough to know where my tools are & to have space to work.
There is a huge pile of boxes that were in the shop that need burning .... can’t do that until I get a calm wind day after 4 pm. due to current regs during wildfire season.
And on & on it goes. :-)
There’s a You Tube gal I follow in Sweden, Jonna Jinton. She’s a painter and a jewelry artist and lives, literally, in the middle of NOWHERE in northern Sweden. He nature videos are amazing, and she uses a drone for some really cool shots. She shows off the Northern Lights every chance she gets and they are STUNNING from her vantage point.
https://jonnajintonsweden.com/social-media/
And, she’s gorgeous to boot - and seems pretty down to Earth. She also sings. I’m not sure if there’s anything she CAN’T do, LOL!
Beautiful!!
On my bucket list to see the aurora - possibly in Alaska.
Sometimes it is visible in the US, my husband said they had them every once in a while in upstate Pennsylvania.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.