Garden Log

Fixing and making things, what tools to get and what skills to learn, ...
sky
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Re: Garden Log

Post by sky »

That is impressive!

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Sclass
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Location: Orange County, CA

Re: Garden Log

Post by Sclass »

Yesterday afternoon I removed a blue Agave plant my dad planted forty years ago. It was a tiny thing then and he said “hey Sclass, this is where Tequila comes from”. I think he stole it from some landscaping in LA. As of yesterday it was a towering 8’ monster with multiple spears to defend itself.

It is a really tough and fibrous cactus. I discovered my little cordless chainsaw went through it like a hot knife through butter. I was really proud of myself after I leveled the spiked beast in minutes without a poke. Then the most painful sensation on my skin set in. Any exposed skin felt like thousands of needles were jabbing me. It sent me running for the shower and some dish soap.

I’m lying in bed a day later covered in red raised bumps. Now I get a chance to search it and I find dozens of identical stories online about how some hapless homeowner got the agave juice on the skin while chainsawing and ended up covered in painful rash. I look like I have measles or Covid complications.

Cut blue agave in full PPE. Gawd...I called my dad the day before I cut it and he said, “hey don’t cut my cactus, it can be used like Aloe Vera on your skin.” Hah! Phooey! :x

This stuff. Beware.
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horsewoman
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Re: Garden Log

Post by horsewoman »

@sclass - oh dear, that sounds painful, I hope you feel better today! My husband had a similar experience yesterday, he ripped out an estimated 50 kg of thistles from one of our meadows. He wore gloves and and stuff but he still looked like he lost a fight with barbed wire. Plants can be pretty badass, that's for sure!

7Wannabe5
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Re: Garden Log

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Yikes! I can commiserate since I once used a weed whacker on a patch that included poison ivy.

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jennypenny
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Re: Garden Log

Post by jennypenny »

Feel better!

This is when I wonder how someone had the thought "I know this stuff really hurts when you touch it, but I bet it would make good liquor." lol

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Sclass
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Location: Orange County, CA

Re: Garden Log

Post by Sclass »

Still have the agave rash. Looks bad but no longer itches.

:lol: all I could think about after I stripped it to the big core was how I to use it for something alcoholic. It seemed like a big waste. Looks kind of like a 2’ diameter pineapple. Just like the image below.

I watched a YouTube video on Tequila manufacturing and I think I’ll leave this to the pros. It was very tempting to try fermentation, still construction etc. to make some hand sanitizer...wait, no that’s probably an awful idea. :lol:

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jennypenny
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Re: Garden Log

Post by jennypenny »

Ate the first juicy peach of the season today. Yum. Already getting tomatoes and zucchini, tons of basil, and onions are already fist-sized. We had a ton of strawberries but the wildlife ate a lot of them. Same with the cherries.

The cherries were funny -- we knew the day they were ripe because there were about 30 birds in the tree chowing down. There were also three groundhogs and a gaggle of squirrels underneath the tree eating whatever the birds dropped. They were having such a good time we didn't have the heart to chase them. After a couple of hours the tree was stripped bare. I wish I'd gotten some but I don't mind sharing.

We have a new dog (new in october -- the one who broke my elbow). He likes to chase the birds and critters off so I started leaving the back door open all day so he could come and go to keep the freeloading to a minimum. Then one day he caught a ground hog and brought it into the kitchen to show me. :shock: The door stays closed now. :lol:

mooretrees
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Re: Garden Log

Post by mooretrees »

Question for all you experienced gardeners: do people start their winter veggies by direct seed or do they start them in seed trays? I don't know why I'm so hung up on this question, but I really want my winter veggies to do well. I've got a ton of seed and only had a so-so time starting some veggies early this year.

Thinking of building some more raised beds in the backyard just for the winter veggies. Will quickly run out of room with existing beds in front yard with how much I'm hoping to plant.

ertyu
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Re: Garden Log

Post by ertyu »

my grandmother always did a seed tray and then replanted, but I never knew the reason why she didn't just plant seeds directly. I guess a seed tray allowed her to start the plants earlier in the year, at home where it's nice and warm?

jacob
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Re: Garden Log

Post by jacob »

One of the rabbits multiplied like a rabbit. It is being trailed around the garden by one baby bunny (maybe the rest died? or maybe they take turns?) that looks maybe two weeks old. We still haven't figured out where the nest is although we have three potential sites. Not gonna go rooting though them though. Also, we have 10x the number of fire flies lighting up in the evenings relative to the neighboring lawn-only backyards. Glad to see some insects again!

Harvest so far: 34.5 lbs (again only edible parts) from 12 different kinds.

reepicheep
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Re: Garden Log

Post by reepicheep »

Could eat rabbit?

Frita
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Re: Garden Log

Post by Frita »

The heavy June snows flattened my garlic, slowed the chive and raspberry growth, but the rhubarb plants are giant. It reminds me of “Jamberry.” https://www.amazon.com/Jamberry-Bruce-D ... 0694006513 Each day I harvest and make some other rhubarb goodie.

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Lemur
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Location: USA

Re: Garden Log

Post by Lemur »

First pumpkin I've ever grown.

Truly a survival crop...just 1 seed. Most pumpkins might have anywhere from 250-300 seeds. One could take 2 pumpkins and have enough seeds to theoretically plant enough to survive for a while....

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George the original one
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Re: Garden Log

Post by George the original one »

Raspberries are at peak harvest, which is good because now the blueberries are ripening. Continuing to graze on peas and harvest a tomato or two. Summer finally hit last week... guess I need to water tomorrow.

jacob
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Re: Garden Log

Post by jacob »

Cumulative 2020 harvest so far: 95.2 lbs / 19 different vegetables.

As usual, I'm only counting edible parts, but we're learning that lots of parts are edible, e.g. turnip greens, which we used to just throw away.

mooretrees
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Re: Garden Log

Post by mooretrees »

Beans are exploding! Going to pick now and decide between canning them or freezing, I'm leaning towards canning. Onions and beets are getting bigger, but need more time. I hope to get wood for two raised beds cut this weekend. Looking at my space for fall/winter crops I've decided to start some seed in the beds and some in trays until the beans are finished and I can put more plants there. I haven't planned it out completely, but likely I'll do kale and broccoli in the seed trays and a rapini broccoli in the beds. Our first frost date is traditionally around Sept 20, so my planting time for the hardy stuff is approaching.

@Jacob, 19 vegetables! That's great. I'm much less than that, but maybe by spring I'll catch up? Hardy crops going in soon: tatsoi, couple types of kale, two broccoli, mesclun, endive, parsnips, more beets, arugula and more carrots. I much prefer winter crops so I hope I do it right.

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jennypenny
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Re: Garden Log

Post by jennypenny »

DH was out mowing the lawn this weekend and bumped the lawn mower into the side of one of the raised beds. Out of a small hole came a shit ton of wasps and attacked him. I've never heard him screech like that. He ran into the garage and we stripped him down and killed the ones that came in with him. He jumped into the shower hoping the cold water would help but it was clear after a few minutes that his body couldn't handle all of the stings (15-20). He's not allergic to wasps or anything but in the 10 minutes it took to drive to the ER his entire body was covered in a nasty rash and he was so swollen he couldn't hear anything (doc said his inner ears had swollen shut). Anyway, after a few hours he was much better and able to come home (IV steroids are a beautiful thing).

I called an exterminator to deal with it. He said that it's a type of yellow jacket that must have blown in with TS Isaias because he's seen a ton of them over the last two weeks. The ER nurse confirmed the problem and said DH was the second person they'd treated that morning alone. They make their nest underground so you can't see that you have a problem or how big it is. The nest was HUGE -- it was underneath most of the bed. Given the size, the exterminator estimated it had @3000 wasps.:shock:

The bed with the nest and the one next to it were dismantled and sprayed. He suggested harvesting what we could and pulling the rest of our plants since he said they'll keep looking for someplace nearby to nest. He also warned us of some 'pretty' fly that's been attacking all of the fruit trees in the area since the storm and to cull ours if the flies show up.

Gardening is fun.

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Alphaville
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Re: Garden Log

Post by Alphaville »

:shock: :shock: :shock:

i was looking at lemur’s pumpkins thinking wow those look great and then i read WASP ATTACK

wow, so sorry about this, but glad also that it wasn’t worse. YIKES.

jacob
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Re: Garden Log

Post by jacob »

Cumulative 2020 harvest so far: 193.9 lbs / 21 different vegetables. That was almost 100# for August alone.

As usual, I'm only weighing edible parts after the roots/leaves have been cut off. Third raised/trench has been started. Also, I'm on the [craigslist] hunt for a levelhead rake. Those were [the most] common when I grew up, but now it's all gardening rakes.

We're not sure whether the bunny is still around. However, we have one of these living in the tomato plants now https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argiope_aurantia

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Alphaville
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Re: Garden Log

Post by Alphaville »

jacob wrote:
Wed Sep 02, 2020 8:28 am

We're not sure whether the bunny is still around. However, we have one of these living in the tomato plants now https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argiope_aurantia
good. keep plant predators at bay.

did you decide on a cover crop yet? curious about the result of that discussion.

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