Good morning!!!!

[rswyan]

76F and sunny @ 10:30, "feels like" 75F ... heading up to a high of around 85F for the day supposedly.

Slow to get rolling this morning, yesterday kicked my butt (lack of sleep, but stayed up anyways and worked all day)

Got the East Planting Bed all weeded back on Tuesday. Used the little rolling seat, worked out pretty good since it allows mobility without having to get up repeatedly ... but still have to bend to reach the ground which is a strain. Still need to rig a tow rope for it.

Finished mowing front as well. Probably about due to be mowed again ... lol.

Water Buffalo retrieved from barn, tire pressures checked and filled and moved around back.

Last of mulch removed from van. Most of it placed around the Stella D'Oros and hosta in the East Planting Bed:

... but some also placed on the slopes of that (soon to be) new hosta bed around the hawthorn tree back behind the pump house.

Have several more hosta varieties that will get added to the East Planting Bed before any more mulching takes place.

5 bags of concrete, 3 bags of lawn fertilizer, and 2 bags of gypsum unloaded from van as well. Two of the bags of got applied to the lawn using the Chapin tow-behind spreader. But I forgot to run the first bag through a screen before dumping in the hopper to break up any clumps ... so I had to scoop it out and run it through a piece of hardware cloth to break them up.

Still have to get the 55 gallon aquarium out of the van ...

Hand pump sprayer was retrieved from top shelf in garage, cleaned up and filled with glyphosate. Tank looks like it may be cracked (but is not leaking) on the side, unsure how that might have happened but it bears watching.

Two new 1' diameter x 2' tall chicken wire plant cages cut and closed up, placed over the new blueberry bushes to replace the old temp covers. Was thinking the current (three) rhubarb plants will fit nicely between the blueberry plants.

Hopper feeder relocated to the west side of the house, for viewing out of the kitchen window. Rethinking it now, after having done it, think it might be just a little to close to the house (25') ... not sure I want critters that close. Refilled hopper and two suet feeders yesterday morning. Suet feeders still need relocated.

Took battery string trimmer up and mowed down the grass and weeds along the hosta bed behind the shop. Still need to hit the edges with some glyphosate.

Made up another 1' diameter x 2' tall chicken wire plant cage after it got dark (day before yesterday)

Caught Squeak yesterday morning pushing back the clear top cover on one of the planting trays and nipping off a few marigold heads. She is very bad ... the Cat Grass can't get here soon enough ...

Hawk fished out of frog pond yesterday morning and hauled up to the burn pile. From the looks of it, the frogs were disappointed ... despite the stink.

Made up a batch of hummingbird juice, filled the feeder and stuck it out on the pole.

UPS dropped off the plastic mulch (4' x 200' x 4 mil) for the pumpkin patch yesterday, Amazon dropped off another 30 plant labels and 100 six plastic pots. The plastic pots are the cheap ones, pretty thin ... but should work for starting seeds ... with some room to grow.

Four old 4 x 4's retrieved from the pole barn to use for the base below the 55 gallon drum in the Water Buffalo and set out on saw horses behind the house. Will get those washed off today and then cut to length once they dry.

Got another tarp laid out over the grass in the garden expansion area. Also planted the three rhubarb plants between the new blueberry bushes and got everything there watered:

Woman flew out yesterday to go visit a dear friend and her family, so I'm on my own for a week. Cats think She has deserted them.

When I talked to Her last night after She got in, She joked about me having to make my own coffee (She always makes it ... as She is ... very particular) ... told Her I was thinking about just making the run to Dunkin' in the mornings and picking up a large, iced Butter Pecan (what I did immediately after dropping her off at the airport) She was like "Oh no ... you're NOT going to be doing that !" ...

Probably going to be a fairly laid back day today, for the most part.

Have a few plants I might get planted over in that East Planting Bed.

Wash off the 4 x 4's, maybe cut them later.

Run to Menards and pick up mulch and other items. Ordered some trick potting soil that is supposed to have an additive that helps to retain moisture ... will see if that helps, as most of the stuff I have put in peat pots seems to dry out awfully fast.

Need to fill the gas cans for the Cub while I'm out.

View from behind the house, looking northwest:

Have a doctors appoint later this afternoon as well so I need to get moving.

Hope everyone has an enjoyable, productive, and safe Thursday ...

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Good morning to all! The low was 49, only going up to around the high 70's. Wind was supposed to be light today, but there have been a few strong gusts already. I don't think it will get too bad.....

RNG, ---- "Table and label rime, but...." Way to mess with Helo.... don't you mean 'rhyme'..... I know the spelling would be harder.....

Drew, good luck with finding larger shrubs. A nursery will be your best shot. Everything we have ordered from the mail order nurseries have always been very small sticks. We only use them for seeds now.

Hoping everyone ailing continue to get better.

Roy, still try to take it easy.... the continued dizziness may be a concern.

Thomas, I hope you can find the MIA gamecam. Has BooBoo been back?

I behaved myself at Harbor Freight yesterday, only getting the face shields. I looked up and down just about every isle..... nothing else jumped into the cart. The wifey was relieved.

Not sure what trouble I can get into today.... I'm sure I'll find something.

Everyone have a great day!

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

I think we had two shrub/tree gonners..... the Crepe Myrtle has not popped any buds, nor does it have anything growing from the base. I'm still going to give it a little more time.....

The Mimosa looks dead, but if you scratch the bark, it's green underneath. Definitely more time will be given for it to pop. At least another couple weeks.

It's hard to tell if they are truly dead.... we have two Wisteria plants, one much larger than the other, the smaller one is a few years older than the big one and has always been "struggling" with growth. This year it has tons of flower buds ready to pop.... the bigger one which has always had a bunch of blooms, is just now (2-3 weeks behind) popping some leaves.

Surprised that our lilacs aren't flowering..... the neighbors lilacs bloomed... strange things this year....

 

[sodamo]

66°F and .93 inches rain.

Sophie has GP appointment this afternoon in Honokaa, opposite direction from Hilo. So decided on an impromptu trip to Costco this morning.

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

 

[Looking4new]

Got the neighbours 2 stumps out. The first one was 2' in diameter and cut off 3' up as per my instructions. The second was 18" high and 18" in diameter. Took 2 hours from door to door. She is happy and that is all that counts. She is also my goodie maker in winter.
Black flies are out with vengeance. Hurry up and get up here check, the flies ALWAYS like fresh meat.

 

[daugen]

Ted, I agree, these tiny snowball bushes would be fine if one planted them, let them grow, and then replanted.
But I did find two nice larger ones today at local nursery, so I got them planted out front. My root shovel did fine, missed all the big roots.
Then Burpee orders showed up so I had four petunias
and four coleus to plant. Those I did with cordless drill and planting auger.
That pretty much wraps it up. And then mowed the lawn and most of the remaining dandelions. Put seed out for birds, ready to chill out
for afternoon, but first coffee at local diner with friend from church.

now I need to go online and order the right switch for my gen.

 

[PJSprog]

Cats think She has deserted them.

Our critters are the same, with my Wife out of town this week. The dogs look at me when I'm locking up and setting the alarm like, "What are you doing? Mom's not home yet!" Last night while talking to her on speakerphone, one of the cats meowed into the phone then started rubbing on it. I think they miss her.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Yes, it is surprising how our furry friends know when we are gone. Max goes nuts when he doesn't have a visual on where the wifey is / gone. I'm just his play-toy or treat giver.....

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Drew, glad you were able to find some larger hydrangeas.
My mom had 4 very large (at least 8x8'), different colors.... white, blue, pink, and a variegated. I have been tempted to get some here, but not sure how well they will tolerate the wind and arid conditions.

Now I'm gonna have to go look ......

 

[txdon]

Good afternoon! 87˚F no rain in sight for 10 days.

I'm On batch 3 of trying to find the perfect BBQ sauce with jackfruit that will also totally fit our WFPB requirements. In this last recipe I was able to eliminate the maple syrup and molasses by replacing them with dates. I'll let the jackfruit soak up the BBQ sauce flavors overnight and then see if this is the recipe I will serve next week at the big spring-fest luncheon where there will be both meat eaters and WFPB eaters from the garden club. This will be a surprise baked potato topper. It looks just like pulled pork so I will have to have a very noticeable label so the WFPB people will know they can eat it and the others will naturally shy away.

Since RS noticed that the term "Plant Based" also means some people also eat meat but mostly plants, some of the true plant chefs are getting away from the term "Whole Food Plant Based" and instead using "Unprocessed Vegan". So our Special Interest Group (SIG) might have to substitute WFPB with UV.
We could also use NOSSOAP
No Oil, Sugar, Salt, Or Animal Products. However soap in a food group label does not sound appetizing and it would only say what we do not eat.

Today I Picked first of the red potatoes - 2 plants (of the 42) yielded 9 potatoes. I will wait another week to 10 days till the plant tops just start to turn yellow before I do the rest of the harvest. Meanwhile I'll just pick when we run out of potatoes at the house. No more buying organic potatoes for the rest of the summer, yea!