Posted on 08/13/2022 6:58:22 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Hoverflies are a great friend to any garden! :)
Beautiful, thank you. What an amazing woman and incredible artist.
Good deal on your tomatoes! Hope you get something from it in the time left! They look small so you should be able to get something.
Ecclesiastes 11:6 "Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well."
Along the same line I just planted some 12" tall Burpees long keeper seedlings hoping to get a last crop that could last until January. Its dubious that I will get anything this late, but I will remove any suckers and excess vegetation and keep them watered and see what happens in the time left.
The four Thorburn's Terre Cotta I planted 3 1/2 weeks ago are 3 feet high and have small tomatoes. Will they produce ripe tomatoes before first frost?
https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/ark-of-taste-slow-food/thorburns-terracotta-tomato/
"Thorburn’s terracotta tomato is named for its distinctive color: It has honey-brown skin and green shoulders. Due to the thickness of its skin, tomatoes of this variety store well and are easy to transport. The flesh is orange-pink and the seed mass is greenish. It is a semi-determinate variety, the plants growing to a height of about 2 meters. It reaches maturity in 75 days and produces quite a heavy crop, though productivity quickly drops off as cooler weather sets in. The tomatoes are usually about 8 centimeters in diameter and 180 grams. Unlike many heirloom tomatoes, which can be deeply ribbed and irregular in shape, Thorburn’s terracotta has a uniform acorn-like shape and a relatively smooth surface. Thorburn seed company developed this variety by crossing various hybrids; the grandmother variety was called “peach” due to its fuzzy skin. Though not fuzzy, the terracotta tomato’s skin is lusterless and appears slightly downy."
Never had one, the seed pack was a throw in by Baker Creek. Looking forward to tasting!
Ansel; There are a lot of little bees that mostly go unnoticed. Mason bees or leafcutter bees are possibilities! (Bought some, but they did not stick around. Not enough mud!)
https://leafyplace.com/types-of-bees/
I put up a Mason bee house and it started filling up right away. Very cool. I have seen them on the squash blossoms too.
Every time it rains here in Virginia, I pray that the weather patterns do not forget about California!
🤣 The old 3 S rule: shoot, shovel, shut up.
Thanks for the ping. While last years garden is getting a sabbatical rest (except for a few volunteer plants) I have picked about 100 cherry toms from the 25 plants behind a neighboring 3 decker, with the LL permission. No camera/no pics though. Almost all watered with rainwater I stored from last year so as to not cost the LL money (typical monthly bill is about $400). Sweet, and a blessing to share and eat, thanks be to God.
You’re doing exceptionally well for someone that isn’t ‘gardening’ this season! :)
Pretty! Where is that?
Mason bees are better pollinators than honey bees!
https://backyardbeekeeping.iamcountryside.com/plants-pollination/what-do-mason-bees-pollinate/
"Mason bees work faster, darting from flower to flower at a much quicker rate than honey bees. Although honey bees can fly very fast in a straight line, when they are working flowers, they tend to dork around and take their time. Try taking pictures of both, and you can feel (and see) the difference.
Lastly, the pollen on a mason bee’s body is held loosely. They have hairs for collecting pollen on their abdomen (called a scopa), and also on their face. They use their legs to push pollen into the scopa where individual pollen grains can easily rub off onto the next flower, allowing pollination. Honey bees, on the other hand, have a pollen press on each hind leg. The honey bees moisten the pollen with nectar and then press it into the pollen baskets on each leg. This pollen — wetted and pressed — is like dough. It is unusable for pollination because it won’t rub off onto the next flower." For the sake of the honey we still like honey bees!
I don’t know. There was no caption. But it looks like Utah to me.
I was thinking Arches National Park, Utah. So gorgeous!
I’d love to go see it in person, that’s for sure! Kinda weird... I thought I’d seen pictures of all the most amazing arches in Utah. But I’ve never seen that one before, at least not from that angle. Yet it’s the most beautiful one I’ve ever seen. What else are they hiding from us? :-)
Yes I learned about them years ago, a documentary on youtube. Hubby used to keep 4 honeybee hives years ago. Mason bees are better pollinators. We have no mud that I know of. When I hung the house I wanted to find a few shovelfuls of clay mud but never got around to it, after a week I looked and the tubes were filling up, even watched a bee going in. I just got done sewing a bag out of organza. Found out when storing the house for the winter it needs to be bagged to keep out mites.
Growing your own vegetables....
But Not Illegal! (yet!)
Growing your own vegetables....
But Not Illegal! (yet!)
It always cracks me up when I see newscasters say “The weekend is going to be spoiled by rain!”
Rain is never, ever bad news in California.
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