Posted on 06/04/2022 6:23:06 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
I’ve never used Epsom salts, but others swear by it.
“Supposed to possibly help with end rot too?”
For blossom end rot, you want to give your tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and zucchini bone meal and/or crushed egg shells. They need Calcium. Blossom End Rot is a nutritional issue, not a disease, for those who don’t know.
I mix up a batch of both and put about 1/2 cup in each planting hole when I plant any of the above, then do a top dressing once the plants start to bloom.
Works like a charm. If you missed the planting hole part, just do the top dressing when they bloom and scratch it into the soil and water it in well.
How do you dehydrate and store your spinach? I got tired of spinach omelets. Thanks
One hot week and my komatsuna and mustard bolted
Our asparagus isn’t really abundant this year either. We should bet praying mantis too. Love those things. They make for good photographs too. Especially if they catch a bug.
Water soluble calcium from egg shells
https://leafylittlehome.com/eggshell-fertilizer/#recipe
Thnaks, will give that a try this year. Yeah our plants are in already, so will have to do like you suggest. Yeah, the opinions on espom was pretty evenly split on YouTube, with maybe a bit more saying it does work for better yields. Might try it selectively this year, see if there is any difference.
Professional dehydrator @125* about 10-16 hours. Plastic container out of the sunlight. I never get tired of spinach omelets. have them every other day. Maybe you’re using too much spinach? I find other uses for spinach.
I dehydrated parsley in my car. The sun did a great job and really fast.
Remember, too hot/fast and you lose vitamins and enzymes.
Just now saw three flower buds on my biggest tomato plant
I'm doing the same with pruning/topping pepper plants since there people on both side of the debate.
We throw all our egg shells in compost, but this looks good too. I dunno if the magnesium in Epsom will work, but worth a try, some folks swear by it too. If it doesn’t, then lesson learned. Nothing ventured nothing gained as the folks used to say. By “topping the plants” inmyour next post do ,you mean cutting them back? Or sprinkling the Epsom on the tops?
I read sprinkling wheat bran desiccates slugs.
I got some at fairly good price at a health food store.
Natural, Non-Toxic Slug Control for Your Garden
https://learn.eartheasy.com/guides/natural-slug-control/
Organic Slug & Snail Control
https://www.learningwithexperts.com/gardening/blog/organic-slugs-snails-control
Oh nm my last question, my brain didn’t register where you said “pruning” doh! I just love brain fog!
I mostly do flower gardening here with a small herb garden and a couple of tomato plants in containers. I think the shallots that I replanted a few weeks ago have made the transition to the new soil and enjoy the better drainage. That container was just too wet to get anything out of them. They are starting to get more girth and I will check every couple of weeks. I’m hoping to have around 2-1/2 dozen by Fall. That should be an ample supply if I only use them sparingly over the winter.
We painted our deck last week, and lucked out on the weather. We have moved the table and chairs back, and are eating meals outside again. It’s shaded in the morning and evening it’s dappled sunlight. The cats are happy to have their catio back. It’s a dog enclosure that we adapted for cats, meaning we put plastic lattice on the top to give it a roof. They adore this thing, and get to enjoy the outdoors without the worry of hawks or coyotes getting to them.
It’s pretty heavenly to get to watch the birds all doing their Spring things.
Right now we have 3 sets of nestlings: Eastern Bluebirds, Gray Catbirds, and House Wrens that just started hatching on Thursday. I saw the Catbird yesterday when I was out in the yard yesterday, and kept an eye on her periodically. Then I finally noticed the nest about 3-1/2 off the ground in a shrub on the slope. I got close enough to see 3 mouths with my binoculars. Didn’t want to get too close.
So far I’m seeing pairs of Baltimore Orioles and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks still coming to the feeders. If anyone is wanting to improve their bird ID game, I highly recommend the Cornell Merlin Bird ID app. The latest update has Sound ID, and it can tell you all those birds you hear in your yard but can’t see, and don’t come to the feeders. It’s been a great update!
Back to the gardening theme. I’m almost finished with my flower planting. Will soon start on my fairy gardens in containers. When the weather is like it is now, it’s my favorite. Lows in the 60s, highs in the mid 80s. Long, sunny days with occasional showers mixed in. It’s what I live for, I think.
I’m still working on getting things planted. So far I have the potatoes, sunchokes, corn, and sunflowers in the ground, and the space meant for the rest of it has had its first tilling.
It remains to be seen how well things grow for me using the “scatter and till” planting method, but so far I’m liking it. I got a quart of corn seed and half a pint of sunflower seeds, plus their respective living-mulch crops, planted in about 10 minutes! Normally, with my stamina, that would’ve taken at least 3 days. This method means nothing is in rows, and the spacing is uneven, but if things grow even half as well as they do with normal planting methods, I’ll call it a win. It just wasn’t working to plant things the normal way.
Happy and productive gardening to all.
Are you using hardwood or pine mulch?
I dug up a couple of plants right now to check. One each of Yukon Golds and RedNorlands. Glove to size:
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