It seems as if lately, the weeds are growing like trees in just a few days! Yesterday, while I was out dusting pyrethrin dust on a newly hatched crop of potato bug larvae, Will was searching behind the tomatoes in the Sand Garden for the Bozeman watermelon vines. In just a week, the pigweed had grown nearly two feet tall, completely hiding the watermelon vines! Finally, he spotted a watermelon leaf and started weeding. After an hour, he had the bed of melons cleaned up nicely. He also found several small melons, already set. That was sure encouraging! Our muskmelons are also setting baby melons so we’re off and running. Likewise, the Seneca Sunrise sweet corn in the Main Garden has already set a multitude of ears, making us drool.
As we’ve been having first, the blister beetles, then the potato bugs, I decided to invest in a garden tool I’d been looking at for decades, called a Dustin Mizer. That’s a hand-cranked fan-type deal that both spreads out crop dust and makes it more economical to use as it is more even, compared to just shaking a box of dust along a row, which wastes dust and doesn’t cover evenly. So, I bought one and got to use it yesterday. I was really impressed at how much money we’ll be saving on dust! And the dust completely covers the vines. You can even turn the end spout upward so you can dust under the leaves. Now that I’ve bought one, we’ll probably never have bugs again. Yeah, right!
I had to laugh; I planted a row of turnips carefully, next to the carrot rows. Only five came up! But I had a bag of really old seed and I just broadcast it out in bare spots, in the Wolf pasture and now we have six-inch turnips all over the place. So far, the cows and deer haven’t eaten them but when the frost comes, you bet they will! If I haven’t harvested them yet, that is.
Last year I planted some water lilies in one of our fishponds but forgot to pull them out when freezing weather came. I was surprised, this spring, to find water lily leaves coming up in that pond. The water lilies had overwintered in our three-foot-deep pond! I was shocked. Now they’re blooming and are so gorgeous, along with some more flowers in our backyard flower beds.
Today, Will and Charis are haying over at the neighbor’s hayfield. It rained on the hay yesterday, so it needs to be re-raked to dry and bale. According to the weather forecast, it’s supposed to be sunny all week. We’re really happy to hear that so Will can get more hay done. — Jackie
What kind of dust do you use in your Dustin Mizer? Thanks
Oh I got one of those from an aunt a few years ago. Haven’t had to use it yet. Probably this year though on my potatoes.
My Seneca sunrise is tasked and aetting Cobs too! I looked because you said yours were, and I’m just excited. My neighbors are just ecstatic about my corn growing! I can’t wait to share.
Onward on hay, we have about two hundred on the ground now, and squared over 100 tonight before the night came. Tomorrow and Friday will be heavy with hay. Good luck!
Thanks! Us too.
Hello Jackie can you recommend a soil test kit ?? We have done everything we can think of but potayoe plants look amazing just now flowers rick dug one up to see now potatoes uggg thanks for your time I don’t know how you do it your gardens look amazing oh so you have stevia seeds??
Weeds sure have been a problem this year – every time it rains the weeds grow in the garden that you just weeded. Its the worst year for weeds that I remember. We have gotten rain 2x this last week and the weeds were huge. Where we live in lower, lower MI we haven’t had a real lack of rain. Your flower pictures were very pretty. On the farm I grew up on we did hay in June as I remember. My brother still farms the farm which is over 150 years old.
All of those flowers are completely gorgeous!
I sure wish I had planted corn this yearagain- yours is making me drool too!
I planted Oka melon from your seed but I don’t have luck with melon. The plant looks great just no babies yet.
Glad things are going well for you there. We are finally getting rain here in southern middle TN. We sure did need it. I talked to some of my Amish friends and they are not selling as much as normal so to keep for their families this winter. I talked to one man harvesting field corn. He sold me 6 ears (because he knew me) and said he was not selling any more but keeping his for family and horses this winter. The sweet corn has been gone for awhile but I managed to get two bushel to freeze. I really don’t need field corn but some of my family loves the taste. I got out real early this year to hunt vegetables to can and preserve because we knew things would be bad. The drought has hit some folks hard but maybe this last few days of rain may save some crops. The squash, pumpkins and tomatoes look plentiful; but a lot of the Amish have homemade irrigation for this reason. I don’t know what city folks are going to do. Saying prayers for all.
My big weed problem is chick weed. It looks like a totally lost a couple rows of carrots since I’ve put my weeding time first on the potatoes so I could hill them (they are doing great with the tops meeting between rows) and then the peas and beets. I can only bend for so long because of the two level back fusion I had about ten years ago so a couple hours a day are my limit. At least I can use a stool on the raised beds in the hoop houses! If you don’t pick up chick weed it re roots so it’s bend and pull after loosening with the cobra head weeder! Your gardens look great.
Always good to read your updates. It sure would be nice to meet in person.
God bless you and yours. ?
Your garden looks amazing!!!
On my dad’s farm we used to plant turnips in a small 5 acre field and turn the sheep in there in the fall. They would eat it all My garden has the same pigweed problem (do pigs like this weed?). A lot of my tomatoes have turned orange and fall of the vine. Do you have an explanation? I note this year the butternut plants have exploded in growth. Good luck getting the hay done-I’m taking tomorrow off to go to the state fair (my grandson is showing a steer).
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