Our 'Northstar' pie Cherries are about a week out from picking, too. Gotta get them before the birds do; not always an easy task!
From last season, this time of year; FIRST of the Cherries, LAST of the Strawberries:
Posted on 06/01/2025 5:48:14 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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I have, well, had, some Schultz “Bloom Food” that is 12-24-12. Mice ate most of it.
https://www.amazon.com/Schultz-018065-Spf48270-Slow-Release-Fertilizer/dp/B01KKIJNVI
(I got mine on clearance at, IIRC, Wal Mart, or possibly Menards.)
Outside of the mice, this seems to work best, as expected, well in advance, and doesn’t promote “quick” blooms. For quick blooms I use the 10-52-10 stuff, or for, for example, Opo, which seems to be hard to coax into FEMALE blooms, I use straight “Super Phosphate” once the plant is over 10 ft. long, and maybe some ground up egg shells when planting, more a month later, and a bit more approx. when I apply the Super Phosphate.
Whatever works! That’s the fun of gardening - learning what works for you with what you like to grow. :)
Rain this morning, so that puts the kibosh on mowing for today, (Dry and HOT - 93 - tomorrow...Ugh!) but I have weeds to pull, a flower planter to re-plant, some fertilizing to do and spent lettuces to pull and give to the chickens; in this heat they’re bolting - it’s revolting! LOL!
Everything else is pretty happy. :)
Well, your lettuce certainly did better than mine. (See my post 440, last sentence.) :-(
Our 'Northstar' pie Cherries are about a week out from picking, too. Gotta get them before the birds do; not always an easy task!
From last season, this time of year; FIRST of the Cherries, LAST of the Strawberries:
Yes, hot as a popcorn fart is what I’m expecting, but if it stays dry for a few days I’m ok with that. lol
Florida weave is great for determinate tomatoes. It will work for indeterminate varieties as well if you don’t mind doing a lot of pruning/training. If you don’t like pruning it’s still better than leaving the plants flopped out on the ground.
Good luck with the water pump swap. Those jobs are never fun.
Summer Solstice 2025: When Is The First Day of Summer?
Summer Days are here! Summer begins with the solstice on Friday, June 20, 2025, marking the astronomical first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. What exactly IS the summer solstice? Is it really the longest day of the year? Welcome the solstice with some interesting facts and folklore.
The June Solstice
In the Northern Hemisphere, the June solstice (aka summer solstice) occurs when the Sun travels along its northernmost path in the sky. This marks the astronomical start of summer in the northern half of the globe. (In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s the opposite: the June solstice marks the astronomical start of winter when the Sun is at its lowest point in the sky.)
When is the Summer Solstice?
The June solstice occurs on Friday, June 20, 2025, at 10:42 P.M. EDT.
This solstice marks the official beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, occurring when Earth arrives at the point in its orbit where the North Pole is at its maximum tilt (about 23.5 degrees) toward the Sun, resulting in the longest day and shortest night of the calendar year. (By longest “day,” we mean the longest period of sunlight hours.) On the day of the June solstice, the Northern Hemisphere receives sunlight at the most direct angle of the year.
In the Southern Hemisphere, the June solstice marks the beginning of winter.
https://www.almanac.com/content/first-day-summer-summer-solstice
I don’t think a cinder block would slow Howard down much. Not until he got it hung up in a fence or a root wad anyway. I’m still fairly stout in spite of my geriatric condition but he’s all I want at the end of a leash. I’m pretty sure if he ever wrapped my feet and took me down he could drag me to the next county - not that he’d try - he’d be more likely to lick my beard off while I was trying to get back up. lol
He impressed me yesterday during our evening romp. When we got to the woods he jumped in the creek and headed upstream til he was out of sight. Didn’t come back when we called for him so we cruised over to Pops’ yard to see if he came out over there. We called some more but no Howard so we went back to the spot where we were when he took off and called again. He wasn’t there either so we headed back to the house. The big goof was laying on the front porch waiting for us to get back.
I worked half the day yesterday in spite of our shop being closed for the Juneteenth holiday. The bosses won’t want to pay 2x rate for that so I’m taking comp time this afternoon. Unless something goes seriously haywire I’ll have the baby crabgrass destroyed and sweet corn planted before the sun sets.
Grow rice without flooded field
Article has good discussion of this for one type of rice. I use rice but try to get rice from California rather than Arkansas due to arsenic content.
The across the street neighbor has a cherry tree. Its about 40 feet high and only the the birds can enjoy the fruit! (City people!)
Heh, yeah, we have lots of moles too, and we had a mole a few days ago dig a tunnel right up to out back porch (concrete @ barely over ground level): The mole’s little project ended right there, but, one of our cats evidently attempted to dig it up, which threw dirt all over the porch, and then of course we got a roughly 1” rain t’storm that night, so the dirt washed all over the porch. ANOTHER clean up job, and wifey wonders why I’m slow to get to her “honey” (”you bum!”) do’s...
(She doesn’t actually call me a bum, she just infers it by saying I work industriously... on all the wrong stuff!)
Interesting! I wonder if the equivalent of sweet sticky “Jasmine” rice can be produced that way? (That’s all my wife likes - me, I’ll eat almost any type of rice.)
She eats such prodigious quantities though, I might need more area than we have yard! How she doesn’t blimp out I don’t fathom (but I’m glad she hasn’t, at least not yet.)
Heatwave here starts at Noon today through 7pm on Monday! How's it by you?
First chores of the day are weeding the garden in the 'relative' cool of 77 degrees, getting dogs in and out before Noon and the mowing done by then, too. It is VERY windy, so that's going to help cool me down, but also blow a lot of grass and dirt into my FACE while I mow. You can't win! Indoor chores are mostly food prep and cleaning the house for 'family events' Sunday and Monday. Summer is in Full Swing, already! Second cutting of Alfalfa happened yesterday - with this wind and heat, they may be able to bale it quicker - at least before Tuesday when rain is predicted again.
Beau and five of the dogs are headed to a Water Race, today. It will be hot, but the dogs will be in the water and/or shade.
Have A Good Weekend, Everyone!
Good on Howard! :)
Of our two ‘professional escapees’ they’d do the same thing! Blackfoot comes immediately when I call - unless she’s ‘on something’ but she’s a Good Girl* and will come sooner than her brother, Comanche. Comanche shows up on the porch for a ‘treat’ when he’s tired of hunting in the pasture/woods...and not a second before!
*She was one of the three we had to hand feed every 2 hours while Mama Taylor was at the Vet delivering the rest of the litter. She’s very loyal to her Human Mama. ;)
It was supposed to rain, yesterday. It’s supposed to rain, today. Midweek, they told us to expect 1-11/2 inches of rain, on the weekend. I’m skeptical. I think the ocean is messing with the forecasters.
I got out early to the store. No garden work today. We are starting 4 days of over 90 degrees here in west Michigan. I’ll water every night. Bought two red pepper plants because the Costa Rican red pepper seed I had did not come up. The tomato plants are loving it. Have a great weekend everyone.
Boston/RI area - extreme heat warning 11 AM Sunday TO 8 PM EDT Tuesday. We’re already making plans how to survive since we know our A/C isn’t the greatest.
Once it hits, we’ll be shutting down most of the library computers and switching to the little computer in the dining room. Husband is planning to do needed computer maintenance and call this Opportunity.
I’ve got the outdoor animal food stocked and need to find something heavy enough to put water in that won’t be continuously knocked over by the outdoor animals. The bigger ones tend to like to climb into the water dish and that does it for all the others.
We still need to restock our own fresh food - fruit, veggies, etc. - before it gets too hot to go outside.
Absolutely awestruck by your farming plans. You guys need to be appreciated as much as we always remember our military. Keep hydrated!
I heard somewhere they're good for diabetics (like my wife) who I cook for several times a week. I found some at a health food store near me and we love these potatoes. I made some sweet potato chips last night, just fried in olive oil. No salt, nothing added, really sweet.
I want to try growing some but my source doesn't have any eyes and the few online seed places I've found are all out for the season.
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