What did you do in the garden today?

[pennyJo1960]

I just found some volunteer kale a couple days ago. so I picked some for my geese.

Mine go to chickens

 

[akroberts1085]

Was pulling up a tomato today and saw a mouse right there in broad daylight. My garden is next to my coop and run so I know mice are inevitable. We keep our chicken food stored in the garage in a tub but the food they kick out of their feeder I'm sure is attracting them plus the veggies. I have had mice chew marks on some of the veggies and or voles. I have traps out but if I use the stand by peanut butter the ants are completely covering it and eat all the peanut butter. Any tried and true bait you guys use that isn't toxic because we have owls that come at night. Of course we do because we have a mouse problem! Haha. Thanks for any help

Did you see the video that @ TJ Anonymous posted, it shows a 50 gallon barrel and the rats were almost fighting to get inside it.

 

[chickengr]

Very dry here. But SE Ohio is worse - the drought is creeping this way however.

Sad about the carrots @CatInTheHenHouse . We don’t generally have problems with them. There is a book on companion planting called “Carrots love tomatoes”, so we always plant carrots around the tomatoes! I do trim the bottom branches of the tomato plants, but the carrots do ok with some shade. They also hate getting dried out. So, I’ll water 2x a day until the true carrot leaves show up. @Smokerbill and I did a carrot experiment in our respective gardens. Soak the carrot seeds for 2-3 days. Then put carrot seeds in a corn starch gel (cornstarch in water, cook, cool the add soaked seeds), add to a plastic bag, clip corner and pipe the now evenly distributed carrot seeds in gel along a shallow trench, cover with dirt, keep watered. If I plant in my raised beds, I get good results planting something else along the sides (like green beans), bc then the carrots are not drying out along the edge.

we grow tomatoes in summer and carrots in winter. so for carrot companions here: bush beans, lettuce, spinach/chard, brassicas, onions and herbs.

 

[chickengr]

I finally started to put fence around my garden. dogs (and cats?) out.

 

[CatInTheHenHouse]

There is a book on companion planting called “Carrots love tomatoes”, so we always plant carrots around the tomatoes!

The big issue there is I’m not terribly fond of fresh tomatoes. But I could look up a recipe for marinara sauce or tomato soup. Anyone got a good Campbell’s Tomato Soup knockoff recipe?

we grow tomatoes in summer and carrots in winter. so for carrot companions here: bush beans, lettuce, spinach/chard, brassicas, onions and herbs.

Most of those I already grow, but I haven’t had luck with onions either. They end up tiny and underdeveloped, the bulb onions I grew last year didn’t even make it to golf ball size. That’s part of why I think it might be a sunlight issue. The sun-happy herbs don’t do well in my usual garden spot either.

I think I’m going to run an experiment. I have a couple extra pots, I move my indoor herbs under some grow lights during the winter anyway, and I’ve got some carrot seeds left. I’ll plant some of them indoors under the grow lights, and if they do better there then it was a sunlight issue (and I probably need to find a more shade-tolerant variety going forward).

 

[Smokerbill]

I pulled three basil plants out of the garden. I threaded the larger leaves onto bamboo skewers to air dry. I'm making basil butter with the small tender leaves.

 

[akroberts1085]

Yesterday I showed the youngest grandson the cushaw pumpkin and found another one. I found a nice plump strawberry and gave it to him. He was amazed at the taste

 

[pennyJo1960]

Morning going make a sauce today!
Green and few red tomato, lots of tomatilla and jalapeno.

 

[Smokerbill]

I made the basil butter. Added a few walnuts and almonds and mixed it in the food processor.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I know it's silly, but I started to get into can sardines packed in tomato/chili sauce. I never acquired the taste for them until recently. I put a little squid brand anchovy salted fish sauce on the sardines and poured the tiny sardine can on my rice and a light bulb came on. I shared my experience with a grocery cashier, and she said the same wow thing happen to her when she put salt on it.

Try regular canned sardines and pasta with some capers, garlic and EVOO. Yummy!