Ducks ALIVE in 2025!

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I had to show you what my neighbors did for me. I thought that they were done, but when I was about to drive off and drop them the double batch of brownies, they were finished the east fencing. Take a look!!:
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Very nice! You have a duck on your dashboard and so does DS. lol

 

[Marie2020]

@Shades-of-Oregon , Hey, Lady!!
I was reading through another thread where you mentioned a really good cheesecake recipe.
Spill!!

I second that @Shades-of-Oregon

 

[ducks4you]

Yesterday, I spent inside, doing as many PT exercises as I could handle.
This morning I woke up in pain and Treated myself to an oxycodon, so...pretty happy now that it's kicked in.
I also processed Alaska Snow Peas and Garlic.
For Newbies, if you haven't saved seeds yet, Check out @heirloomgal 's thread.
SHE is our resident expert!

A Seed Saver's Garden

In my experience sunflowers have been one of the trickier seeds to save because the plant tissue on the back of the seed head holds a lot of water, and can be difficult to dry down. If you decide to try saving sunflower seeds take measures to quickly move the moisture out of the spongy white...

www.theeasygarden.com

Re: peas, I grabbed as many dried out vines as I could manage on a field trip recently after surgery, so I had to be "babysat" and quick about it.
I stored them in a labelled paper lunch sack.
Yesterday was the time to unshuck the pea pods!
I discovered that:
1) largest #peas in one pod--8
2) smallest #peas in one pod--3
3) one pod of 4 peas had 3 duds
4) I took a picture of my collection of duds, and 1 largest and 1 smallest pea
Dud seeds are being composted.

All viable peas are in a container. I am disappointed bc they aren't as smooth as I thought that they would be, instead, slightly wrinkled. No matter, this is my first try, and I might get more, since there is another vine that I hadn't captured, and I need to ressurrect, de weed, and amend this same bed for garlic planting in a few weeks, AFTER my left leg bones have set (which is 8 weeks after surgery. My "left leg is still broken" has been the POT rallying cry to "be careful" and to "not fall."

 

[ducks4you]

I also started to process my garlic, and I started with the Great Lakes Porcelain Garlic bulbs.
They and the German Red Garlic were harvest in early July.
I had to pitch 3 bulbs bc the garlic had rotted. I don't believe this was storage since they were in a dry location drying in the barn. I am pretty sure it was my handling prior to harvest, so I'll have to do some studying.
I picked bulbs to cut and dehydrate that didn't look good enough to plant. I was surprised that the outsides didn't reflect the insides on all of the cloves, but once you separate the cloves they should immediately be planted, so no going back.
I had at least on clove that was a goner, but about 3 of them just had tiny portions that needed trimming off.
Most of the cloves looked lovely outside of their paper wrappers and I filled 1/6 trays for dehydrating.
Since the object is to "dry out", and I wanted to fill more trays this week, I have this single tray in the dehydrator, doors open for air circulation. When I have filled up enough trays I will start the process.
I still have cloves that I dehydrated last year. I need to encourage Eldest DD (the Chef) to use these in cooking.
I went through all of the first paper sacks of bulbs, and most of the 2nd paper sack. I harvested 41 Great Lakes Porcelain Garlic bulbs and about 23 German Garlic Bulbs.
I will let you know if they have different flavors.
My plan is:
1) Process all bulbs
2) dehydrate bulbs and separate those for planting
3) AFTER planting, process excess cloves, perhaps dicing with a press and storage in olive oil

 

[flowerbug]

...
I had to pitch 3 bulbs bc the garlic had rotted. I don't believe this was storage since they were in a dry location drying in the barn. I am pretty sure it was my handling prior to harvest, so I'll have to do some studying.

for me the results have mostly varied because of soil conditions and diseases which come from too much moisture at the wrong time and not getting it lifted when it is ready.

the size of bulb has a lot of factors, but overall sunshine, competition, nutrients, water, spacing all play a role.

I picked bulbs to cut and dehydrate that didn't look good enough to plant. I was surprised that the outsides didn't reflect the insides on all of the cloves, but once you separate the cloves they should immediately be planted, so no going back.

i've not had any problems storing garlic as separated cloves for quite a long time (6-12 months) just make sure it can breathe (i.e. don't store it in a plastic or glass container) and is at room temperature.

I had at least on clove that was a goner, but about 3 of them just had tiny portions that needed trimming off.
...

at first, when you peel some cloves they may look perfect, but come back in a few months and some will show spots. i just trim off what doesn't look right and use the rest.