Branching Out
Garden Addicted
Your poppy display is amazing! And I did not know that poppies harbour black spot Flowerbug; kind of makes me rethink growing them. Did the black spot result in more disease than usual on your roses?
DUCKS for THEE in 2023
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flowerbug
Garden Master
we gave up on roses here many years ago. i mean we gave up on specially planted kinds or ones that might be showier and instead what we have are a few pieces of roses we rescued from my brother's place that somehow survived and are doing sort of ok here, but they're not doing great. it's just not a good place for them (heavy mostly clay soil, lowland fogs, frosts, etc.). at one time we planted about 30 bushes hoping they would do ok, but within a few years they were all mostly dead and gone. an expensive endeavor too.
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ducks4you
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Only yard work was done by neighbor's kids. SO SWEET!! One/three brothers said I didn't have to pay them!'
Perish the thought!
All of the sticks in the yard are now piled up next to my fire pit.
Only thing to report is that my winter sowing of sugar snap peas worked.
Interesting, the styrifoam pots didn't blow away, protected by a window well.
Gotta pot up today or transplant.
Some are escaping.
Didn't know plants did that.
Perish the thought!
All of the sticks in the yard are now piled up next to my fire pit.
Only thing to report is that my winter sowing of sugar snap peas worked.
Interesting, the styrifoam pots didn't blow away, protected by a window well.
Gotta pot up today or transplant.
Some are escaping.
Didn't know plants did that.
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ducks4you
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Chick Lit: Inside The Real World of Backyard Chickens
Tove Danovich’s Under the Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them is decidedly not a sugary love letter to Danovich’s flock, loaded with sappy, capricious odes to her pet chickens. Instead, it’s a realistic and immersive look into our relationships with...
modernfarmer.com
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ducks4you
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How Distilling Almost Killed—Then Revived—One Of America’s Heritage Crops
Along the eastern seaboard, there’s a growing network of folks interested in reanimating the dead—or, at least, the nearly dead. “There's definitely a robust network on the eastern seaboard of people in brewing, distilling, academics and malting that are building on a lot of these storylines and...
modernfarmer.com
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ducks4you
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I found out reently that, although we want to be big on native plants and animals, we actually depend upon introduced worms to help us in the garden.
mjwetzel.inhs.illinois.edu
www.trees.com
Earthworms of Illinois – Mark J. Wetzel
mjwetzel.inhs.illinois.edu
Different Types of Earthworms with Pictures & Facts - Trees.com
There are many types of worms, but those that we commonly encounter in our gardens are earthworms. These worms can be either beneficial or invasive, depending on whether they are native inhabitants of your area. To learn more about the importance of worms, and discover the different types of...
www.trees.com
digitS'
Garden Master
Always trying for simplicity, I once thought that distilling the product of fermentation would enhance the quality of the original.
I had made a very simple wine from store-bought Concord grape juice. It was barely drinkable. Still, it was so very simple! I did it again and moved the result into my homemade still. It was nothing but a small pressure cooker with one of those bobble things to guide the cook on heat settings.
Setting a single burner stovetop beside the kitchen sink, replacing the bobble with copper tubing, I ran the tubing through a sink-full of cold water. It worked. Buuttt, it went from just drinkable to terrible! Rubbing alcohol, maybe ...
Apparently there is more to moonshine than can be distilled from random notions. Once Dad and I had accomplished some good beer from brewing recipes, I knew better than to try to apply those experiences to another try at hard liquor.
Steve
I had made a very simple wine from store-bought Concord grape juice. It was barely drinkable. Still, it was so very simple! I did it again and moved the result into my homemade still. It was nothing but a small pressure cooker with one of those bobble things to guide the cook on heat settings.
Setting a single burner stovetop beside the kitchen sink, replacing the bobble with copper tubing, I ran the tubing through a sink-full of cold water. It worked. Buuttt, it went from just drinkable to terrible! Rubbing alcohol, maybe ...
Apparently there is more to moonshine than can be distilled from random notions. Once Dad and I had accomplished some good beer from brewing recipes, I knew better than to try to apply those experiences to another try at hard liquor.
Steve
flowerbug
Garden Master
the stuff that comes from a still may need some care as some of it may be poisonous, there's a range of time/temperature where you discard some of it and then the rest is ok.
"Throw away foul-smelling distillate. The first 50 millilitres (1.7 fl oz) is undrinkable. It has a lot of acetone and wood alcohol, which is poisonous and smells rancid. This liquid is called the foreshot or the head. Pour it out."
How to Distill Wine (with Pictures) - wikiHow
Distilling wine at home is a natural step for anyone involved in creating their own alcoholic beverages. To distill wine, you'll need to set up a copper still inside a water bath. Heating the bath separates the alcohol, which you can...
www.wikihow.com
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ducks4you
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As my benedryl wore off and here I am at 2:15AM waiting for the next pill to kick in ... 
AND taking 1/4 inch of straight vodka, I AM GLAD TO KNOW that if I distill it wrong I should use it to strip paint.
AND taking 1/4 inch of straight vodka, I AM GLAD TO KNOW that if I distill it wrong I should use it to strip paint.
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ducks4you
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Back to plants (although I love the hijacking rabbit holes--REALLY I DO!!! 
)
I started a 72 cell germination tray this week of the following tomatoes (all beefsteak), listed and planted in order of days to maturity AND what year I should have planted them in:
1) Indigo Apple (70 days/2021)
2) Moskvich (72 days/2021)
3) Pruden's Purple (72 days/2021)
4) Damsel F1 (73 days/2021)
5) Rutgers (75 days/2021)
6) Rose de Berne (75 days/2021)
7) Copia (75 days/2021)
All packages are from High Mowing, which I bought a couple of years ago.
I have thrown caution to the wind and not labelled any of them in the 72 cell germination tray.
When they set fruit the family will decide which seeds I need to save.
I cleaned the top of the fridge, heavily watered the started soil, planted multiples in every cell and sprayed them. I see the humidity as they bake on top of a heat mat. I will give them light after they have emerged.
At this point, I can tell a baby tomato from a baby spinach or anything else.
I FINALLY moved the other fish tank to my seed starting shelving unit, so I have 2 of them waiting for me to fill with tomato or pepper transplants.
I planted California Giant red sweet peppers in a tray, and I used 10 cells to plant a hybrid hot pepper called,
"Fooled You."
seedsnsuch.com
I had intended to plant them last year, when I bought them, but I didn't get around to it.
I will report back on whether I like them or not.
Every jalepano that I have grown in the past has been very hot. The best I could do was to dehydrate them.
Fortunately, when I grind up my stash they are still very potent.
I can ALSO tell a sweet pepper transplant from a hot pepper transplant, so, again, no labels.
I am thanking my past self for storing wooden spoons, like we used to get to eat small cups of ice cream.
I can use those for labels, until I run out. Look like this:
Don't want to put them with the seeds I am starting NOW bc everything is swimming in humidity and my Sharpie labeling will bleed!
I prefer the wood to the plastic bc they will biodegrade if I forget about them. Every year I find another tag from another purchased plant that needs to be thrown away.
Middle DD swears that WM carries these, but I haven't been able to find them there.
)I started a 72 cell germination tray this week of the following tomatoes (all beefsteak), listed and planted in order of days to maturity AND what year I should have planted them in:
1) Indigo Apple (70 days/2021)
2) Moskvich (72 days/2021)
3) Pruden's Purple (72 days/2021)
4) Damsel F1 (73 days/2021)
5) Rutgers (75 days/2021)
6) Rose de Berne (75 days/2021)
7) Copia (75 days/2021)
All packages are from High Mowing, which I bought a couple of years ago.
I have thrown caution to the wind and not labelled any of them in the 72 cell germination tray.
When they set fruit the family will decide which seeds I need to save.
I cleaned the top of the fridge, heavily watered the started soil, planted multiples in every cell and sprayed them. I see the humidity as they bake on top of a heat mat. I will give them light after they have emerged.
At this point, I can tell a baby tomato from a baby spinach or anything else.
I FINALLY moved the other fish tank to my seed starting shelving unit, so I have 2 of them waiting for me to fill with tomato or pepper transplants.
I planted California Giant red sweet peppers in a tray, and I used 10 cells to plant a hybrid hot pepper called,
"Fooled You."
Fooled You Jalapeño Hybrid Mild Pepper Seeds
Fooled You Jalapeño Hybrid Pepper Plants — classic jalapeño look with full flavor and no heat; perfect for mild salsas, sauces, and cooking with high yields on sturdy plants.
seedsnsuch.com
I will report back on whether I like them or not.
Every jalepano that I have grown in the past has been very hot. The best I could do was to dehydrate them.
Fortunately, when I grind up my stash they are still very potent.
I can ALSO tell a sweet pepper transplant from a hot pepper transplant, so, again, no labels.
I am thanking my past self for storing wooden spoons, like we used to get to eat small cups of ice cream.
I can use those for labels, until I run out. Look like this:
Don't want to put them with the seeds I am starting NOW bc everything is swimming in humidity and my Sharpie labeling will bleed!
I prefer the wood to the plastic bc they will biodegrade if I forget about them. Every year I find another tag from another purchased plant that needs to be thrown away.
Middle DD swears that WM carries these, but I haven't been able to find them there.
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