henless' garden, 2018

[Nyboy]

I have a very old lilac my grandmother planted the original in the 50s. It blooms every other year, by middle summer has bad case of powered mildew. If it did not have a tie to my grandmom would have been long gone

 

[digitS']

You have reminded me to get the fungicide on the climbing rose, @Nyboy .

The mildew on that rose can get such a good start that the flowers cannot open ... I already beat it up badly again this year, painting its trellis.

I didn't know about allergy problems with lilacs, @flowerbug . My lilac at another home was almost a pretty little tree . Old, before I moved there and after my 9 year stay, it really hadn't grown. It was almost on the property line, right near the garage door. The door opened out and it had to be taller than the door so, a previous resident pruned the lilac to grow up for its first 8'.

Steve

 

[henless]

Ooooh, maybe a Maximiilian perennial sunflower?
I love love love that one.

I believe that is what they are! Looking at pics of a Maximillian, they look almost identical. I'll post pics of it when it blooms this summer/fall. I had a pic of it from last year, but can't find it.

@baymule ~ Mine have long, slender leaves on them.

I went ahead and planted some cool season seeds. Hoping they will do ok under my trellises. Planted cucumbers and some more rattlesnakes on my last trellis.

Checking the garden today, I have green beans, cantaloupe & pumpkins coming up. Also moved my candy onions today. I have about 30 or so that have come up. Planning on using the bed they were in to plant some okra, if it ever gets warm enough here. My tomatoes and peppers are in holding. They don't know if they should grow or not.

 

[henless]

@thistlebloom ~ Here is a pic of the sunflower leaves. I started out with just one plant. I got it late in the fall after it had already bloomed. Nothing but a stick and small root. I have several coming up this year. A week ago, the flags were taller than the plants.




I mentioned yesterday that I had planted some cool season crops. I planted some turnips & broccoli on Tuesday of this week. I checked today and they are already coming up!

On a non gardening subject, I had a hen go broody a couple weeks ago. I ended up ordering some chicks for her. They came in yesterday and DH & I slipped them under her last night. Thankfully she accepted them. Now she is one happy Momma!

 

[thistlebloom]

Yep, sure looks like Maximillian. Those are great sunflowers, pretty much carefree and so cheery.

Looks like a happy hen to me!

 

[henless]

Update time.

First off, going to get the nasty business out of the way. Hope no one objects, but snake pics are coming up.

My broody delima was a disaster. Momma took to the babies just fine. I kept her penned up in a separate area for two weeks, then gave them a few days to get used to coming in/out of the coop through the pop door. Well, I guess with the babies being out in the run, they attracted the attention of the area rat snakes. I don't blame anyone but myself. I never raise babies in the summer. I always get my biddies in Feb/March, that way by the time summer gets here, they are 2 months old or better. Lesson learned. Cold weather biddies only for me.

This one was coming OUT of the the empty run. So, 1/2" hardware cloth is not a snake deterrent. I've also found a mouse doing this. It was halfway through the cloth trying to wiggle it's hips through. Didn't even think to take a pic of it. Death due to shovel.



This was the bad one. It got FIVE of my biddies. I was so mad!! We looked & looked for it. Finally found it behind the nests. DH got it with the 22, then I had to get it out of the coop. You can see where my 5 biddies are. Greedy snake.



This last one got 2 of my biddies. One it ate, the other it just killed it. In fact, I thought the other hens had killed the chick. I found it early one morning before work. I looked all over for the 2nd chick but didn't see it anywhere. I found the snake later that afternoon after getting home from work. It was hiding behind the chick feeder. The shotgun made a mess of it.



I'll do my garden update in the next post in case some people don't want to see the snake pics.

I'm not a snake hater, but once a snake gets in our area, it's gone.

 

[digitS']

I wish I could have posted a picture of that marmot I belted a few days ago, dangling from a garden tool.

Instead, the neighborhood skunks will probably drag him out of his hole and eat him. Then, the skunks will go on to other mischief ...

Few snakes, hereabouts.

Winter chicks? I used to check with the feed store to find out when their last shipment of chicks would be coming in. That way, they could go on the greenhouse floor in a box without a heat lamp. I came up with this shag carpet padded shelter that they could all crawl under as kind of an artificial broody hen.

Steve

 

[henless]

@digitS' - We have one feed store that carries chicks all year long, unless the hatchery runs out. It's been here for years. I used to go there with my Dad and get feed when I was a kid. I use a heating pad, thanks to @Beekissed . On BYC, it's called a MommaHeatingPad, MHP. Works great!


Garden update time:

Things are growing out in the garden.

My tomatoes, peppers, sunflowers, onions and herbs are all planted here. I plan on making a separate herb bed for this fall. It kinda looks like a tangled mess, but it really isn't. Next year, I will plant my peppers closer to the side of the bed. I have them caged, so no need for them to be up near the cp.

My beans are starting to take off. These are Kentucky Wonder with assorted lettuces and swiss chard in front. The 2nd trellis has cantaloupe with cabbage & broccoli in the bed. Some of the cabbage/broccoli never came up. The last trellis has Boston pickling cucumber with dinosaur Kale in the bed. I moved that kale 4 times, and it still grew like crazy. I also have kohlrabi planted between the first 2 trellis' that is doing good. Never grew it before.

This bed has my rattlesnake beans on the trellis, with lettuces & spinach in the bed. The 2nd trellis has my Cherokee Tan Pumpkins. They are starting to take off. I'm hoping the produce good. In front, I have a creamy colored turnip growing. The 3rd trellis is another stand of rattlesnake beans. I had to replant them a 2nd time since only 1 came up with the first planting. If I don't save enough seeds for next year, I will get them from someone else. I had very poor results from my Gurney's seeds. In front, I have purple top turnips planted. DH likes turnips. I'll try them again. I also have eggplants in between both trellis'.

Here are my Cherokee Tans. They make a pretty, big, bi-colored leaf.

My cantaloupe in the middle & my cucumbers at the end. I planted my cucumbers from seed, but they never came up. I could not find any Boston Pickling seeds, so got the started seedlings.

This bed has been amended and I planted okra this past Monday. Two days ago I noticed that they are starting to break the surface. I'll update once they get up a bit.

I hear thunder! Maybe it will hold together and we'll actually get some rain. It's been almost 3 wks since we got any rain.

 

[Nyboy]

Both turkeys and peafowl are suppose to be great snake killers.

 

[baymule]

That is awful about the rat snakes and your biddies. We killed a 5-6' rat snake this week, it's been eating my duck eggs. Then Paris, our female Great Pyrenees jumped on it and shook it. She shakes snakes so fast that they come apart. This one was so big that she could barely shake it.

Glad you decimated the darned things. I like them for keeping the rats/mice down, but go in the coop and they're dead.

Your garden is looking so awesome! We got a sprinkle this evening....needed more! I hope you got a good rain.