Ducks ALIVE in 2025!

[ducks4you]

I killed a Bunch of pepper seeds, so I bought some more. Everybody else was sold out of these.

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​ ​ Leutschauer Pepper Seeds 10+ Seeds x1

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​ ​ Alma Paprika Pepper Seeds 10+ Seeds x1

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​ ​ Feher Ozon Paprika Pepper Seeds 10+ Seeds x1

I was Really looking forward to making paprika. I think I will try to sprout 2 seeds and see what happens. If I pot them I could bring them inside to overwinter.
Good thing I found the guy with the plants last week...
Here's the vendor:

Pepper Joe's | Hot Pepper Seeds | 300+ Varieties | Same Day Shipping

Pepper Joe's has the world's hottest pepper seeds: Carolina Reaper, Ghost, Habanero. Plus rare seed varieties, live plants, fresh peppers, and spicy snacks.

pepperjoe.com

 

[ducks4you]

Yesterday I mowed and put grass clippings on top of the cardboard I had put in between my roses...one and done for 2025, unless I harvest rose hips.
I also cleared the bed on the south side of the garage. I managed to saw down the blackberries (these are the ones with the thorns ) and today I used my metal stall rake to put them in the bucket and have DH move them to the north pasture burn pile, along with limbs from the pine trees on the west edge of my big garden that were creating too much shade, and the stuff I had piled up where I used to burn in the Inner Sanctum.
I found that I had left 11 tomato cages that the weeds have covered up, and I didn't want to break a mower or tiller, since I suspected that they were there. They are now in a safer location.
I am thinking about planting the handful of Romas that I bought there, and I will be direct seeding okra and ornamental corn, as well as some other things, though I am not quite sure yet what they will be.
I need to leave a small path to harvest the okra, but the tomatoes won't be touched until they are ready for harvest, so I might as well overseed the whole area. I am putting down a 4' x 6' tarp on the east edge.
I have a small greenhouse kit and the 4"x6" supports sitting in the garage waiting on me, and that's where it is intended to grow. I figure, why bother planting and digging up Anything there?
It is miserably hot, but winds are 10-20mph, so it's tolerable, especially if you have a chair for breaks in the shade.
I hope to till the big garden and the bed south of the garage today, if not tomorrow. I took my spade and dug all around that bed's perimeter and the past amendments made it pretty easy to dig there.
I'll be out again soon to chop down saplings on the S E portion of the east fence of the north pasture.
There is satisfaction in this bc you immediately see the results of your efforts.
I harvested a handful of sugar snap peas, just for snacking since I have enough seeds to plant for a fall harvest.
The Alaska Snow peas are starting to dry out. Since so few sprouted I will collect their seeds, instead, to plant this Fall or next year.

 

[ducks4you]

Big wow! Very fast delivery on my pepper seeds.
Kudos to Pepper Joe's!
Your order was delivered



Jun 23, 2025
8:11 AM
Delivered
Delivered, PO Box

 

[ducks4you]

Extreme heat advisory, started Saturday, runs through Thursday. Not too bad right Now, but this afternoon will be kinda brutal IF you want to stay outside to do jobs.
Saturday I took breaks in my red plastic Adirondack garden chair under my big peach tree that is a pretty good shade tree, if nothing Else, but it was pretty windy.
Today, not so windy.
They picked up my God Mower to fix the mowing drive train belt.
I had to buy yet ANOTHER push mower bc we never removed the broken fencing from the 2023 Derechio limb debacle, and I hit it mowing. I need to call the Tractor place to see who can fix it. You can try to start, and the blade is free, but the tension cord to the choke is loose. I see Where the end of it goes, but I have no idea how to fix it.
I would use a frustrated emoji, but, I need to get outside soon to start digging up a weedy garden bed so that I can bury Eva there next week.
It's so hot that even NOT sick I would leave her inside in the AC, and I try not to weep in front of her, so she doesn't think I am unhappy with her.
She still gets excited for car rides and going outside to feed the ponies, but is having more and more trouble eating.
We are down to raw eggs and chicken livers, all cold, and she can't get anything too big or solid swallowed.
Cancer is just a bitch...

 

[ducks4you]

More on wildflowers. Btw, I see sprouting. I have been watering every day to establish as many as possible.

How to Plant Wildflowers from Seed: A Step-by-Step Planting Guide

Learn how to plant wildflowers from seed with our easy step-by-step guide. Grow a colorful, low-maintenance garden that blooms all season long!

www.almanac.com

 

[Marie2020]

Extreme heat advisory, started Saturday, runs through Thursday. Not too bad right Now, but this afternoon will be kinda brutal IF you want to stay outside to do jobs.
Saturday I took breaks in my red plastic Adirondack garden chair under my big peach tree that is a pretty good shade tree, if nothing Else, but it was pretty windy.
Today, not so windy.
They picked up my God Mower to fix the mowing drive train belt.
I had to buy yet ANOTHER push mower bc we never removed the broken fencing from the 2023 Derechio limb debacle, and I hit it mowing. I need to call the Tractor place to see who can fix it. You can try to start, and the blade is free, but the tension cord to the choke is loose. I see Where the end of it goes, but I have no idea how to fix it.
I would use a frustrated emoji, but, I need to get outside soon to start digging up a weedy garden bed so that I can bury Eva there next week.
It's so hot that even NOT sick I would leave her inside in the AC, and I try not to weep in front of her, so she doesn't think I am unhappy with her.
She still gets excited for car rides and going outside to feed the ponies, but is having more and more trouble eating.
We are down to raw eggs and chicken livers, all cold, and she can't get anything too big or solid swallowed.
Cancer is just a bitch...

I'm so sad you are going through this with your precious Evs

She's had the best of life with you

 

[ducks4you]

To change the subject, I freed up my roses, laid down cardboard and put grass clippings in between and around them. They three are very happy--pictures of the mulch to come.
I worked on my south garage bed Saturday. I completely cleared it of weeds and grass and blackberry thorns. I used my reciprocating saw to saw them down, then pulled a lot. I got stuck a number of times, the Farmer's Defense arm sleeves helped a LOT, but I used my metal stall fork, with many tines, to pick them up and deposit in the tractor bucket.
I still need to go back and till it. I did manage to run my spade along the perimeter and the soil is pretty loose from previous amendments. It just Looked hard as a rock.
I took some time this afternoon to transplant all of the tomatoes and peppers that I bought last week. They were all potbound, drying out and fixing to die. I will be prepping areas for them, and they can just grow in the several pots that they are in right now until I need to move them.
On a brighter note, I harvested the scapes from the German Red Garlic--a few were about to open seed pods on me--and I discovered 4 Italian garlic in the front bed with scapes, as well. Forgive the over exposed photo of the storage baggy. NO, I will not take it out of the freezer on the porch to take another shot!

 

[ducks4you]

Mower just got delivered. Here is the picture taken by the FedEx guy. I told him to put it in the shade under my Magnolia Jane.:

 

[ducks4you]

I will need some help from my family harvesting my garlic, which is now a "dirty word." I harvested scapes from the porcelain garlic 2 weeks ago. IF I need to harvest the bulbs one month later, that means I could harvest at least 1 day before my surgery, and then get outside a week or so later in July to harvest the rest. I cut 43 scapes, thus 43 bulbs.
Yesterday I cut 23 scapes from the German Red Garlic, so I am guessing I harvest those end of July, so doable.
Advice, @flowerbug?

 

[ducks4you]

@heirloomgal , I only had 5 Alaska peas sprout. I let them develop pods and they are starting to dry out. How long should I wait to harvest them for seeds for Fall planting?
I figure that you're the expert!