Today I picked 20 cucumbers. I had already sliced 3 before taking this photo. Yesterday I picked 16 cucumbers. Before that I picked about 230 cucumbers. We made 9 gallons of Bread & Butter pickles.
What did you do in your garden today?
- Thread starter JBtheExplorer
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That's a good haul Gary. 
We spent the early morning out in the garden. We harvested a good amount of cucumbers and we went right inside to pickle. We are testing out different pickling recipes. After we got back from kayaking we spent the evening in the garden watering and harvesting some things we missed earlier in the day. Our onions are starting to fall over. Really wishing they had got a little bit bigger but this is our first year ever doing onions so I will take what we currently have. We have a lot a lot of tomatoes on the vines but... they are taking forever to turn. We have had a lot of hot days in the 90's the last few week. This week is supposed to be in the low 80's with nights in the low 60's so hopefully they will start turning. Our peppers are kicking into high gear finally. Excited about the up coming harvest and salsa and spices to come. Also ecstatic about our winter squash, they are growing like crazy. Hope everyone out there had a great Sunday. A few pictures from today below.
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That's a healthy crop of veg you've got growing there. Try pruning out some of the leaf stems on your tomato plants to let more light in. This will also help the plants 'concentrate' on the fruit instead of growth.
I used to grow tomatoes in a greenhouse so had to control growth. The picture below is close to the end of the growing season so I stripped all the leaves to allow the sun through to ripen the fruit.
Try pruning out some of the leaf stems on your tomato plants to let more light in. This will also help the plants 'concentrate' on the fruit instead of growth.I used to grow tomatoes in a greenhouse so had to control growth. The picture below is close to the end of the growing season so I stripped all the leaves to allow the sun through to ripen the fruit.
Thank you very much! I really like that dark color you have! We would have gone with the darker color, but the Trex heats up so very much, so we opted for the lighter color. Honestly, it doesn't make much difference. The lighter gray color is hotter than Hades too when the sun beats on it. We need something on our feet all the time unless it's evening and the sun is behind the house.
We are happy with the deck as well. The builders were fantastic and very, very conscientious about the job. If any little thing was not to their liking, they told me and fixed it; things I wouldn't have noticed anyway. I think our next decking project will be to build a deck off of our master bedroom. That will require knocking a big hole in the wall too, because we'll put in some French doors there as well. Not sure when we'll pull the trigger on that one though.
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We've had rain for a number of days, so I didn't get to mow the lawn. I finally got a chance to mow it today. It sure did get long because I'm about four days overdue. We have rain in the forecast for the next five or six days. It's been raining in the evening, which is nice, because it allows us to work outside a bit.
My wife started digging out an area she wants to use for a little sitting area on the south side of our yard. She also moved some big rocks down from the upper raised beds area to her new sitting area while I was digging furiously to get the Bermuda grass pulled out of the rocks and raised beds. That stuff is awful when it gets into areas it's not wanted. You can perhaps see some of the rocks in the back of the Jeep in the picture. You can also see how she has started to dig out the area to the right of the Jeep.
We picked another dozen cucumbers this morning too. They are growing so very fast! We've given away dozens of them already and almost can't keep up. LOL
My wife started digging out an area she wants to use for a little sitting area on the south side of our yard. She also moved some big rocks down from the upper raised beds area to her new sitting area while I was digging furiously to get the Bermuda grass pulled out of the rocks and raised beds. That stuff is awful when it gets into areas it's not wanted. You can perhaps see some of the rocks in the back of the Jeep in the picture. You can also see how she has started to dig out the area to the right of the Jeep.
We picked another dozen cucumbers this morning too. They are growing so very fast! We've given away dozens of them already and almost can't keep up. LOL
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It was one of my golf days this morning. It was really hot but we managed OK. It's easier if you've an electric trolley that has an attachment for an umbrella as I and most of my friends have. So you can use it as a sunshade. You can take off your golf cap whilst you are walking alongunder it with the trolley so you feel as bit cooler, but then the heat reall hits you when you step out from under it to play youer ball.
Too hot to do anything in the garden when I got home, but I went out at 7.00pm and gave everything a good watering, especially the wisterias as they need a lot of water when it's this warm.
Too hot to do anything in the garden when I got home, but I went out at 7.00pm and gave everything a good watering, especially the wisterias as they need a lot of water when it's this warm.
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Don't pick instantly when they do start, they produce a hormone that starts the others turning. I can't remember what it is, it is one of the simplest hormones going, maybe methane?
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I've decided to extend the bit of path under the small acer palmatum, so this afternoon I went to B&Q for a bag of concrete mix. I'd also decided to change the porch light outside the French windows, as it has a dodgy lamp socket. So while I was in B&Q I picked up a pretty basic one.
The original was over thirty years old and the screws so rusty, I had to rip it off the wall with a claw hammer.
Foolishly, I was hoping it was going to be a straight swop. But no, the screw holes in the back plate of the new lamp weren't the same distance apart as the old one. So I decided, as I'd have to get my drill out I might as well move it a bit further away from the exhaust tube of the combi boiler which was fitted long after I put the lamp there.
There was an option with the old lamp for the cable to enter it from either the back or the side. No such luck with the new one. I had to take a hammer and chisel to the brickwork to cut a groove so the cable that is attached to the back wall could enter the lamp from the back.
The lamp itself is attached to the back plate by two bolts and tiny nuts. But the bolts are really a bit too short so I changed them for something more substantial. Everything's made "down to a price " these days and that's not cheap. This was thirty quid, it's all plastic no glass. Of course no bulb was supplied so for an LED one it was another tenner. Anyway, job done.
The light isn't used much. I sometines turn it on before we go to bed to look through the French windows just see how much of his dinner 'arry has eaten.
Did nothing much more than a bit of watering.
Our lilies are starting to come out but there's fewer of them this year.
I usually prune off the second bloom on the wisterias when removing unwanted stringers, but some escape.
I've removed all but one the solar lights in the bed next to the garage as the canopy of the wisterias on this pergola is so thick they weren't getting any sun. I've put them in front of the shed, but I'll probably put them away.
The original was over thirty years old and the screws so rusty, I had to rip it off the wall with a claw hammer.
Foolishly, I was hoping it was going to be a straight swop. But no, the screw holes in the back plate of the new lamp weren't the same distance apart as the old one. So I decided, as I'd have to get my drill out I might as well move it a bit further away from the exhaust tube of the combi boiler which was fitted long after I put the lamp there.
There was an option with the old lamp for the cable to enter it from either the back or the side. No such luck with the new one. I had to take a hammer and chisel to the brickwork to cut a groove so the cable that is attached to the back wall could enter the lamp from the back.
The lamp itself is attached to the back plate by two bolts and tiny nuts. But the bolts are really a bit too short so I changed them for something more substantial. Everything's made "down to a price " these days and that's not cheap. This was thirty quid, it's all plastic no glass. Of course no bulb was supplied so for an LED one it was another tenner. Anyway, job done.
The light isn't used much. I sometines turn it on before we go to bed to look through the French windows just see how much of his dinner 'arry has eaten.
Did nothing much more than a bit of watering.
Our lilies are starting to come out but there's fewer of them this year.
I usually prune off the second bloom on the wisterias when removing unwanted stringers, but some escape.
I've removed all but one the solar lights in the bed next to the garage as the canopy of the wisterias on this pergola is so thick they weren't getting any sun. I've put them in front of the shed, but I'll probably put them away.
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I wasn't happy with this bit of extra path I'd added under this acer palmatum a couple of weeks ago, where the grass refused to grow.
it looked a bit odd.
So on Monday I went to B&Q and bought a couple of bags of concrete mix.
Yesterday afternoon when I came home from golf, I ripped it all up and relaid it, adding a bit more York stone, I used the surplus grass for a bit of patching next to it.
Today I pointed it up with some silver sand, cement, plasticiser and some yellow cement dye.
It's still damp here but will dry out the "right colour."
I've a bit more re-pointing to do on paths and patios, in a few places, but this can wait until the week-end.
As I have every evening lately, I watered what needed it. I also include the roof of 'arry the hedgehog's house, to cool it down. I've noticed he's removed some of his hay bedding...well he's pushed it out of the door, so he must be feeling the heat, despite the fact his house is well screened from the sun by a canopy of azaleas and I'd drilled ventilation holes at the top of a side wall under the roof.
it looked a bit odd.
So on Monday I went to B&Q and bought a couple of bags of concrete mix.
Yesterday afternoon when I came home from golf, I ripped it all up and relaid it, adding a bit more York stone, I used the surplus grass for a bit of patching next to it.
Today I pointed it up with some silver sand, cement, plasticiser and some yellow cement dye.
It's still damp here but will dry out the "right colour."
I've a bit more re-pointing to do on paths and patios, in a few places, but this can wait until the week-end.
As I have every evening lately, I watered what needed it. I also include the roof of 'arry the hedgehog's house, to cool it down. I've noticed he's removed some of his hay bedding...well he's pushed it out of the door, so he must be feeling the heat, despite the fact his house is well screened from the sun by a canopy of azaleas and I'd drilled ventilation holes at the top of a side wall under the roof.
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We planted a whole bunch of lillies today along one of our fence lines. We have a lot more plant species that we want to plant around the yard too. My wife is putting different things around different parts of the yard too. The lilles don't look that great, but I think they are just a bit shocked from the transplant.
She has been working on this little area in the backyard, on the opposite side of the yard. We will eventually bury the rocks so they are flush, and then we'll add some mulch and maybe an arbor. We'll see.
She has been working on this little area in the backyard, on the opposite side of the yard. We will eventually bury the rocks so they are flush, and then we'll add some mulch and maybe an arbor. We'll see.
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The missus ordered new table and chairs for the patio, the old table was glass and suddenly exploded one day. Anyway, I unpacked the new ones which were in large cardboard boxes; a good addition to the mulch on the veg patch paths.
Watered.
Re-potted a 'Hot lips' salvia that was completely pot bound and made up some juicy mix with wood ash, manure, bone meal, and a bit of compost and topped up a couple of pots. Too hot to do much, I finished the book I was reading instead, 'The heart's invisible furies' by John Boyne, excellent, some terrible things happen, but still very funny.
Watered.
Re-potted a 'Hot lips' salvia that was completely pot bound and made up some juicy mix with wood ash, manure, bone meal, and a bit of compost and topped up a couple of pots. Too hot to do much, I finished the book I was reading instead, 'The heart's invisible furies' by John Boyne, excellent, some terrible things happen, but still very funny.
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I'm probably wrong but they look like Irises to me?
I spent a boring afternoon washing plant pots and plastic labels. Now stashed away in the shed until next Spring.
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No, too floppy, look like day lilies to me, if I mistook them for something it would probably be crocosmia
They are going to look good when they get established.
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I've done nothing today other than a bit of watering. I was going to do a bit more path and patio repointing but it's far too hot.
I watched and recorded two Bette Davis films on BBC2. "Dark Victory" and "Now Voyager." Not strictly "film noir" but I've added them to that file on one of my Humax recorders.
Both have music by Max Steiner. In my opinion the master of "incidental music" for films.
If you're unaware, it's hard to imagine how many films for which he wrote the music.
en.wikipedia.org
I watched and recorded two Bette Davis films on BBC2. "Dark Victory" and "Now Voyager." Not strictly "film noir" but I've added them to that file on one of my Humax recorders.
Both have music by Max Steiner. In my opinion the master of "incidental music" for films.
If you're unaware, it's hard to imagine how many films for which he wrote the music.
Max Steiner filmography - Wikipedia
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