Notices tagged with gardening, page 2

My cukes have been getting ravaged by cucumber beetles for the past few weeks. Lately, these guys are hanging around too. I hope they're here to eat the other beetles, and not the plants. Anyone know?

#gardening #insects #pests

#grasshopper #insect #gardening #photo #mywork

Taking shelter from the rain.

#mantisfly #insect #nature #gardening #mywork

@[Peter Lindelauf](http://social.gibberfish.org/people/5bbee3d093d1013911d9002590c0bfb8): Here they are after a heavy soaking last night ⛈️⛈️⛈️

#gardening #hugekultur #hügelkultur

I've mainly been growing lettuces in my two hugel mounds with no plan for a succession crop. On Saturday, on a whim, I direct sowed about 40-50 each of dried black and pinto beans I bought at the grocery store. I didn't really know what to expect, but they've sprouted shockingly fast. So far 5 days on I count 18 black bean sprouts and 1 pinto.

I have no idea if these are bush or climbing varieties, but I would guess than large scale growers that supply supermarkets wouldn't grow pole beans. Right?

#gardening #hugekultur #hügelkultur #beans

#strawberry #flower #gardening

As a total novice potato farmer I have a bit of a mystery as to why these two results are so different. The plants in the two photos were only planted days apart, and have had equal sun and water, but the results are starkly different. Granted, there are a few important variables at play.

Both planters were started by filling them half way to the top with homemade compost. I then placed two seed potatoes on the surface of each and filled the planters up to the top. The one with the lush growth was topped with more of my own compost and mulched with straw. The one with the poor growth was topped with expensive bagged manure compost and mulched with dead leaves. Finally, each planter has a different variety of potato in it, though I forget now which is which.

Anyone care to opine? Is it just down to different varieties? Could the pricey bagged soil actually suck? What do you think?

#potatoes #plants #compost #gardening #mystery

Potatoes are showing a respectable 10 days worth of growth since the first shoot broke the surface. The tomato cuttings I planted 2 weeks ago were still looking robust, but the leaves started pointing up so I took it as a sign of stress and transplanted them to proper sized pots. Mom is already setting fruit, so hopefully these little fellas will give me some later-season harvest.

#tomatoes #potatoes #gardening #vegetables #plants

Rabbits have discovered my strawberry bed, so I had to get mildly unfriendly about it. 🐇

#gardening #plants #strawberries #rabbits #diy

The internet told me you can propagate tomato plants by pruning off a stem, stripping most of the leaves, and burying it as deeply as possible in soil. They will develop roots all along the stem and turn into full-fledged plants. I tried this, and for the first week they were alive but very droopy and sad looking, but as of yesterday they're standing up tall and look like they've grown a bit. I guess it works?

#tomatoes #gardening #horticulture #botany

First time growing potatoes. So far, so good.

#gardening #plants #vegetables #potatoes

I planted six "Sweet Berry" (which are presumably sweet) and a variety that's supposed to produce large berries that I've already forgotten the name of. Snipped off all of the dead leaves, flowers and baby strawberries and popped them in. Just in time for rain 👍

#gardening #strawberries #diy #plants

On a whim this afternoon I built a small raised bed for strawberries. I used some old concrete blocks, cardboard, rotting logs, sticks, soild from some old planters, half-rotten hay and composted chicken bedding. All stuff I had lying around already, except for a light top dressing with bagged soil. Now I just need the plants and some straw mulch.

#gardening #plants #diy

I had two small oaks on the edge of my property taken down. They grew as volunteers right in the middle of a large lilac bush and were shading out the lilac as well as some of my garden beds. Now, with the trees removed there should be full sun on my plants, and hopefully a healthier future for the lilac (though it needs a heavy pruning). If all goes to plan, the wood will become fodder for a 3rd Hügelkultur bed this fall.

#trees #gardening #hügelkultur #hugelkultur

#plants #gardening #hugelkultur #hügelkultur

Two years ago I built a bed on the shady side of my house to grow wine cap mushrooms on wood chips and pellets. Unfortunately all it ever grew was unidentified wild mushrooms, but it did turn all the wood into some nice dark black soil.

Since wine caps don't want to play nice, I dug it out and decided to try my hand at oyster mushrooms on straw. I layered ~16 lbs of sawdust spawn on to two bales of straw. Then I took a shower, because it's 90F and also I'm allergic to straw 🤧

#mushrooms #food #gardening

While I was convalescing Hügel number 1 became infested with ragweed, which I finally pulled out. However, the roots on that stuff are no joke, and I lost a significant amount of soil. Luckily I had plenty of compost to back-fill it with and enough straw mulch to make it look halfway decent again. Unfortunately it's a little late in the season to be planting new things, but I'll see what I can do.

#hügelkultur #hugelkultur #gardening #weeds

A few weeks ago I came home to find what appeared to be a pretty heavy weed outbreak on the top of one of my hügelkultur beds, but I took a closer look this morning and it's actually all volunteer marigolds. I'm more than happy to have them, and it's less work for me :)

#gardening #hügelkultur #hugelkultur #marigolds #flowers #plants

Processing down this year's crop of Fresno chilis into hot sauce. They've been fermenting since August. 🌶️

#gardening #fermentation #food #hotsauce #diy

I worked up a sweat this 4°C morning moving this season's household compost from the pile beside the house to one of the new bays beside the garden.

#gardening #composting #dirt