stubbed toes and mud pies

[flowerbug]

after last night's storms i think we've got the leaks finally taken care of. i won't be sure for a few years, but at least no obvious leaks that i could see. hope so...

 

[flowerbug]

i think i'll rename my style of gardening gradual till or eventual till gardening. graduated might also be a funny usage too, but that would imply that i've finished something and that wouldn't probably be accurate...

 

[flowerbug]

a few pics from the cedar tree trim i had to do to keep this tree from taking over the pathway back to the fenced gardens.

i'm sure it will get some green on it again eventually as these buds of new growth show that the trunk is always checking to see if there is enough light reaching in there to support some new greenery. the way the deer constantly trim these trees i can see where that is a required adaptation to have. it was my hope that the deer would trim this particular tree back for me enough through the years, but for some reason they rarely touched it. so after being patient for so long i finally had to give it a hair cut.

 

[flowerbug]

we've had so much damp and rains recently that we're finding the treefrogs around again. this one was under the propane tank cover. cute li'l froggy...

 

[Ridgerunner]

One of those cute little tree frogs got into an A/C control panel and shorted it out a few days ago. No real damage to the A/C unit, just to my bank account for the service visit. Unfortunately the frog died. I like having them around but there can be downsides.

 

[flowerbug]

One of those cute little tree frogs got into an A/C control panel and shorted it out a few days ago. No real damage to the A/C unit, just to my bank account for the service visit. Unfortunately the frog died. I like having them around but there can be downsides.

they can squeeze in through some fairly small cracks, there is about a 1cm gap that this froggy crawled through to get in there. we've had to put a wire mesh on ours because the mice were getting in there.

our AC unit was on the fritz for a while a few years ago from the mice getting into that and chewing on some wires. it was a rather nasty mess of a nest piled right on the circuit board and other gadgets. the technician was surprised it worked as long as it did because from the depth of the nest material in there it had been in there for many years. considering how many mice i'd trapped along that wall and behind the AC unit i wasn't that surprised. it was always getting a lot of mouse traffic. i haven't seen any mice tracks through there in the winter much any more so that is a good thing, but now i also know to pull that panel off and look in there if the mouse traffic picks up again so i can clean it out. the AC unit panel cover just isn't mouse proof though so a poor design IMO.

one service call and repair for about $225 isn't bad for a 24yr old AC unit. we do need it so...

 

[flowerbug]

the squash harvest pictures:


what would fit on the table

and everything else that wouldn't. you can see how big those odd squash were, i still don't know if they're even edbile but we will find out eventually.

 

[flowerbug]

@digitS' do you think that ixiggest squash s a cross between a Hubbard and something else? i know we didn't plant any Baby Blue Hubbards in that area this year or last year and last year was the first season we grew BBH's here but perhaps they crossed with one of our other squashes as i do know we replanted some of the seeds i harvested last year. so it is likely, but so quick for a cross. but it does have the right coloring...

 

[digitS']

Goodness Gracious, they look nice to me. There should be a lot of good eating there, FlowerBug!

The only other times that there have been squash crosses in my garden have been accidental volunteers. Having the La Madera prove itself and then, no longer being able to buy the seeds resulted in planting saved seed and keeping expectations low. It's been a little fun but doesn't fit well with my personality .

So, I know next to nothing about crossed C. maxima. I've grown a Hubbard once or twice but they haven't performed well. It's too bad because I know that I'd like to have Hubbards.

A gardening friend grew this squash in 2021: LINK.

Steve

 

[flowerbug]

Goodness Gracious, they look nice to me. There should be a lot of good eating there, FlowerBug!

we'll be cooking up some of those within the next month for sure.

A gardening friend grew this squash in 2021: LINK.

Steve

those sound really interesting and may work out for you in your climate too! if you get some let us know how they work out!