The Joy of Gardening

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D) and only if this will work; I am not familiar with this kind of kitchen-chemistry:

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Intriguing…I’ve never heard of this but it sounds like my over-boiled syrup might be close to this in some ways already. I’ll maybe experiment!

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I got my carrots set today.

Carrots are a pain to get to germinate because they dry out easily. I’ve had the most success by watering well after setting, then covering the rows with fleece and leaving them covered until the seedlings are well started. Water the fleece and it will soak through.

Also I uncovered my garlic last week and checked on my overwintered spinach. These pics are from last week.

Spinach looks like crap because right after I set them in October we got a got spell that killed off half of them. These are the survivors.

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my spinach and tatsoi turn bitter if they last over a season. but then, there is no frost, so i still have lots to learn about subtropical gardening.
how does your volunteer spinach taste?

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Why Did Elon Musk Go After Bunkers Full of Seeds?

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Interesting piece, but then they wrote this:

Moving fast and breaking things may work in some sectors. But the disruptions underway threaten irreversible losses of crop genetic diversity. Such losses directly undermine the United States’ ability to ensure continued food security and dietary diversity amid challenges to our agricultural systems.

(Emphasis mine)

I just want scream at them, “No!!! Breaking things is not good for any sectors, including the N.P.G.S.” :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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Digging weeds while the ground is relaxed from the rains last weekend, and I dug up these guys:

Internet says they are some sort of cutworm (caterpillar of some moth from the Agrotis genus). I guess I should kill them?

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eeww!
i know what I’d do.
“cut worm gonna cut. i say we cut 'em.”

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Lick it and see if it tastes funny :eyes:

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Put em out on a bird feeder?

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elegant solution, mr. warr.
can we at least cut them up first? you know, to allow the smaller birblets a go.

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You know, I hadn’t thought about that… seems like it could work.

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Do your street chickens keep the slug, snail, grub, grasshopper, and other insect populations in check? Is there at least that upside?

#FeatheredReptiles #TasteLikeChicken

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i can’t let them in the garden beds, they scratch up everything!
they probably do eat many pests. but they dig. they dig way down.
there is not much soil here. when we buy bagged soil, and make a bed deep enough to plant veggies in, the feral, unrestricted chickens, will dig holes in the dirt to “bathe” in. there is no regard for vegetation. i have to cordon off the beds with chicken wire and iguana netting.

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TIL there’s netting to exclude iguanas.
Wow.

At work we have a 5000-volt bear fence. For the bears. And deer. So they stay out of the fruit trees. Not sure how it works on chickens…

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Quite well

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Does anyone here grow collards? Everything else I put in last weekend seem to be doing fine (I can even see some little flowers on one of my tomato plants already!), but my collards seem a little droopy? They seem fine on moistness and I added some extra mulch, since they like the soil a bit cooler… anything else I should maybe do?

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According to long term forecasts, we may have alreeady had our last frost. Now, hard experience tells me that no one can call weather in the Valley, but it feels like Spring. I have my cool weather crops in (potatoes, beets, radishes, carrots, lettuce, arugula, onions) and have moved a bunch of potted stuff out to enjoy the warmth, but can duck back inside if it gets cold again. I just have no idea what to make of this.

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Good news, adding extra mulch seems to have helped. Both collard plants look great now!

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