Weekly Gardening Thread June 29-July 5, 2019

June 29, 2019 | Diana in Wisconsin/Greeneyes

[Ellendra]

I finally got one of my trellises up. It still has a few pieces that need attached, but it’s looking better than I expected.

Now I just need to finish the other 9, and I can finish my planting.

Rain today, so I’m cutting pieces of trellis netting indoors.

[Jacquerie]

Thank you very much. I developed a site plan, I have seed suppliers and a book on its way regarding the methods and times of the year to germinate/start seeds.

On the bright side I’ve planted 24 clumping bamboo for a privacy screen along a property line that used to have short-needle pines, and next week a nursery is delivering nine gorgeous crape myrtles in seven gallon pots.

Also on the bright side, the fire ants that I chased around the yard for 25 years were killed by the storm.

Puppies! LOL. There is a lot to say for farm life.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Netting is pretty much the only solution I’ve come across through the years. Any sort of sprays or such won’t work because birds smell and taste differently than mammals. For example, you can put hot pepper in your bird seed and then (supposedly!) the Squirrels won’t eat it, but the birds can’t taste it.

That, or some sort of cages, if you want to invest the $$$:

https://www.gardeners.com/buy/crop-cage-4x4/8596538.html#start=2

Tubebender is good at ‘MacGyvering’ stuff!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Hurray about the fire ants demise! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Going through an old gardening magazine today, I found this cute idea; Plant a, 'Liber-Tea Garden.'

When the Boston Patriots came home after dumping all that imported tea into the harbor, their wives met them with a local cuppa. As substitutes for China tea, they brewed New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americana): rosehips leaves of wild raspberry, begamot (Monarda) and garden herbs.

To create your own Liber-Tea Garden, plant these herbs:

Angelica, Anise hyssop, Basil (scented varieties), Catnip, Chamomile, Costmary, Horehound, Lemon Balm, Lemon Thyme, Lemongrass, Rosemary & Scented Geraniums.

I haven't tried this, but I know some here are into herbs much more than I am. I have made Elder Flower Tea, Nettle Tea and Dandelion Wine, though!

[tubebender]

My more or less permanent solution to a bird problem in the background. The frame is bent electrical conduit and the netting is 1" chicken wire...

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Hate have to ugly up the seating area I just built with chain link’ish fencing.

My have to go the netting route.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

PLEASE STOP RAINING!

[Red Badger]

WaringBlender in for the spin!................

[Diana in Wisconsin]

LOL!

[Black Agnes]

Beware ticks, chiggers and fleas. Fire ants eat them and their larvae.

We had a lot of rain this spring and our front yard has been ant-free.

Last week after hubby got home from work and sat down he felt something crawling UP his leg. It was a giant deer tick!

[Red Badger]

I couldn’t help myself...................

[tubebender]

Ugly is when a herd of California Blacktail deer devour your garden in one night...

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Oh I bet!

[Augie]

Sadly I’m the guy who can’t get a cherry tree to grow, but my peach trees are loaded. Some of them to the point that if I don’t do some thinning soon they’re going to start breaking limbs.

[Black Agnes]

Try bleach for foliar tomato (and rose and squash and cucumber) diseases.

8oz of regular clorox or about 5.5oz of ‘clorox concentrate’ (not scented, not ‘super’, etc) + 1 gal of water.

AFTER SUPPER, AFTER THE SUN GOES DOWN.

Mix in pump sprayer and saturate the plants totally, focusing especially on the poofy new growth tendrils. Don’t forget the underside of the leaves. The plant should be literally dripping when you’re done.

Wear old clothes and try to stand upwind.

Feed them liberally the next day.

As long as there are still green viney parts the plant should survive. Every leaf that had blight on it though (including the newly infected ones that aren’t yet symptomatic) will die and fall off. The new growth will be gorgeous and the plants will reward with 5gal buckets of tomatoes.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Oh, SORRY! Didn’t mean to rub salt in your wound, LOL!

I can’t WAIT to have peaches again! I got kind of spoiled with my trees at the other farm; pies, Peach Jam, and just eating them right off the tree. ;)

I had a co-worker who would grow the most amazing Blackberries, so she would give them to me in exchange for a Peach & Blackberry Pie.

YUMMY! :)

[Black Agnes]

Have you ever encountered anything like this?:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/3760820/posts

[Black Agnes]

I envy your peaches.

I’m currently canning up all our blueberries. The ones that survived the last freeze that is. Still got about 15gal of the little dudes. Making jelly, jam, and something called ‘blueberry butter’ from the jelly leavings. Got that last recipe from the freshpreserving website. Don’t surf there hungry :P

[Ellendra]

Catnip sometimes smells like skunks, so I’d tend to avoid it as a tea. Chamomile is a mild sedative, so don’t use it when you need to be awake. It’s a good “before bed” tea. The others are good anytime.