Mystery Seedlings

[surviort_wwdnet]

Thanks for the info - the more I read, the more my head spins in circles😂 Being able to backup the whole house with solar would be great, but also expensive. Then again, maxing out a solar generator system can also be very expensive. When I think about needs, the refrigerator, the freezer, fans, and maybe a small window AC; our gas generator runs the whole house, including the central AC, with the exception of the oven and water heater and that's great but when TSHTF, getting gas will most likely be a memory. I looked at the EcoFlow because it has 30A RV plugin option, and with extra batteries would last a while. Husband thinks a solar generator is a waste of $$, so I'm getting no meaningful input from that corner, but he forgets we don't even have a battery for our existing solar.😂 I looked at the Inergy but it's out of stock right now.

I don't worry about cooking because we have multiple options with plenty of fuel (especially for the Coleman stoves and the portable propane grill). If I wanted to max out a system, I could put in a transfer switch but I'm not sure that's what I want to do. If I can run the essentials off power cords, good enough. Maybe I should get some barrels of gas or buy a gas station😂

Anyway...picked a yellow squash and another bag FULL of tomatoes. The tomato plants in the bag garden are about at the end of their life, but they've served me well. A couple of them are bare after my picking trip today, but I was just able to beat the storm so there was no time to start pulling them out. From the look of the radar, it's far from over. On the plus side, the outside temp is now 77°. Tomorrow's another day. I'm glad I got the beefsteaks planted yesterday but I think I'll start some more and see if I can keep it going for a few more months. I stuck a couple more butternut squash seeds in the pot because I'm seeing no action from the one I planted and all its brothers and sisters are in the ground already.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Just FYI, I forgot about the Bluetti solar generator. That has had good reviews as well. I only got the Inergy as they have made others, the Apex and Kodiak, and they had a pre-sale that was hard to turn down. I don't know if they still sell the Apex or Kodiak, but do know one of those had a 30a plug. Maybe you could buy a used one of those from someone who upgraded to the Flex.

Really did very little in garden yesterday, a little weeding and such, but overall very little. We are expecting rain today, so hope that happens.

[surviort_wwdnet]

I've looked at Bluetti before, which has good reviews also. I could just buy a lithium phosphate/lithium iron phosphate battery and see if we can make something using what we've got with addition of more panels. Maybe later I'll sit down and go over all of them again once my canner depressurizes and cools down. I hear intermittent pings from the canner😁

Canning tomatoes in the pressure canner was easier, faster (25 minutes at 11 lbs pressure vs 85 minutes in the water bath canner), and produced much less external heat and hard water spots than the water bath canner. From all my recent harvests, I ended up with a full canner, 6 qts and 1 pt. That puts me up to 13 qts and 1 pt so far this season. My feet hurt after spending the last 5 hours prepping, coring and peeling, and cleaning up, so now I'm having a sit-down strike.😂

I'm going to spray the squash and beans again if it doesn't rain (weather forecast is calling for heavy rain this afternoon). I don't feel like pulling dead tomato plants today! I stuck another watermelon seed in a pot to see if it would grow again, and thinking I need to restart a couple more tomato plants just for eating. I'll can the rest of the tomatoes that are still growing once they're ripe.

Took the butternut squash seeds out of the dehydrator and put them in the freezer, and put in some more watermelon seeds. I have enough watermelon seeds to start a farm!

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Sounds like you needed a sit-down strike...LOL

Have not done much today. Grandson stopped by and of course I had to sit on floor and play a while. OBTW, wood floors get really hard after a while...
Was able to get outside a bit with him, but neighbor was mowing and GS did not like the noise much. He stayed right next to me and tried to climb in my lap. I comforted him and told him not to worry, but when mom came outside he went right to her...lol

Saw that one of my new corn is popping through the soil, however everything else is still sleeping, it has only been about 5 days...wife picked some more peppers but thats about all today..oh..one bean! Have three cantaloupe starting, the largest being about a marble size. Wait and see is where we are right now. I started a diary on the second planting so that may help as well.

Neighbors came by and we went and saw their garden...some tomatoes and they have one watermelon. Their tilapia farm is coming right along and they harvested 8 of their chickens today.

Exciting today, when my neighbors were over we saw my solar panels produce 2370w...that is awesome as I only have 2750v on roof..so these used panels can produce (not bad for $70 panels)...thats 86% yippee!! If you are looking at a battery look at signature solar. I have one of their batteries and my neighbors have 4 of them.

[surviort_wwdnet]

Sounds like you needed a sit-down strike...LOL

Have not done much today. Grandson stopped by and of course I had to sit on floor and play a while. OBTW, wood floors get really hard after a while...
Was able to get outside a bit with him, but neighbor was mowing and GS did not like the noise much. He stayed right next to me and tried to climb in my lap. I comforted him and told him not to worry, but when mom came outside he went right to her...lol

Saw that one of my new corn is popping through the soil, however everything else is still sleeping, it has only been about 5 days...wife picked some more peppers but thats about all today..oh..one bean! Have three cantaloupe starting, the largest being about a marble size. Wait and see is where we are right now. I started a diary on the second planting so that may help as well.

Neighbors came by and we went and saw their garden...some tomatoes and they have one watermelon. Their tilapia farm is coming right along and they harvested 8 of their chickens today.

Exciting today, when my neighbors were over we saw my solar panels produce 2370w...that is awesome as I only have 2750v on roof..so these used panels can produce (not bad for $70 panels)...thats 86% yippee!! If you are looking at a battery look at signature solar. I have one of their batteries and my neighbors have 4 of them.

Which Signature battery do you have? I went to their website and there are several.

Sounds like you had a fun day with your grandson, in spite of his objections to the mower noise; certainly more fun than I was having😂

But I did have a productive day, so I won't whine. Of my 6 qts of tomatoes, one siphoned and didn't seal, so I stuck it in the fridge and will make something to use it up, maybe some marinara. Done with canning, I washed dishes and pots, mopped the floors, took out the trash, started dinner, and did some laundry. By the time the laundry was finished, my husband was at the door wanting to know if I wanted to go swimming, so off to the pool I went. Told my husband I will need to can tomatoes one more time, and he suggested I give them away; he contributes nothing to the canning chores, so not sure why he cares. I think not! I tried to give tomato plants to the neighbors for them to grow, and they weren't interested. We will definitely use up all the tomatoes I've canned.

My new acorn squash plant that I just transplanted got knocked over by something (yesterday's storm?) so I planted a couple more seeds - RIP little acorn squash😵 While I was outside, I sprayed the squash and bean plants and said hello to the rest of the garden. Turned the compost when I walked by (it's heavy!). I have another yellow squash that's starting to grow bigger, and the rest of the squash plants look good so far. A couple of eggplants are ready to pick but I'm not ready for them just yet. Maybe I'll make marinara and use it for eggplant parmigiana. I want to make some eggplant jerky, and freeze some breaded eggplant slices for lasagna. I need to think up a lot more to make than that!

Not only do I need to tear out the spent tomato plants, but the old limas aren't producing enough to bother with, so I'll replace them with something else (other than beans or peas).

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

I have two systems, a 48v and a 24v. The 24v will be for our tiny home (480 sq ft) and will use this battery https://signaturesolar.com/eg4-lifep...ery-24v-200ah/

The 48v system has a HSKY from Bigbattery.com, however, I am thinking of adding a battery to this system and it will be this https://signaturesolar.com/eg4-lifep...ery-48v-100ah/

Signature solar is cheaper...my neighbor is currently using four of the the 48v battery from signature solar.

Did some fertilizing yesterday evening. really nothing else as am now just watching and waiting. How can you tell if corn has worms? Will I see them in the silk? Have a couple cantaloupe growing and it looks like one very small watermelon. My white summer squash is popping thru, and will watch to see which is strongest before culling others. My pepper plants have not shown themselves, but they are usually slow starters. Been getting our afternoon rainstorms, so no watering for me the last 4 days. Not very many gullywashers, but enough to water garden.

Had grandson for most of the day as momma wanted to have some time to deep clean her house while daddy and son away. So he was with us for 6 hours and he is an energizer battery on steroids....

[surviort_wwdnet]

Picked the rest of the tomatoes in the bag garden and started tearing the old plants out. One thing I can confirm: those grow bag tomatoes have some STRONG roots!! I got half of them out yesterday and then the sun was pounding down on me with a 97° vengeance. Was hoping for some clouds but the rumbling in the background suggests more than just clouds, and the trees outside are whipping around like crazy. I pulled the flag down to keep the flagpole up😂

Rain came, so on to the laundry and making some marinara from yesterday's unsealed tomatoes. No need to water the gardens, and just like that it was 86°👍

Finished the tomato plant destruction today between showers, and took the remains out to the curb. Now I have 15 lonely bags of potting soil sitting there, minus some to fill an ankle-twister dip in the garden. It's only 85° but feels like 97° and the humidity is thick!

Corn earworms are difficult to spot until you peel the top husk back. I didn't have that problem this year, but you can spray the silk with Sevin or Neem oil to gag them to death, or at least spoil their appetite. Watch out for moths around your corn! Here's a good article on the subject of corn earworms and corn borers:

https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/yardandgarde...0filled%20ears.

I ordered a case of canned black soybeans since they refuse to grow for me. I have an order of FD chicken and beef coming this week. Never have enough food or enough room for it😂.

In the meantime, I still have eggplants and container garden tomatoes to harvest but it's too wet out there. I did get another pinto bean transplanted in the midst of destruction before the first shower.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Had a young sunflower go droopy on me. This is the second time, but two different plants. But both occurred when they were about 12" high. They were both in a 7 gallon growbag with another plant that was not affected. Later in the day it perked back up. I mean, really drooped over to the point where the top of the plant was more than half way down with leaves touching the soil. The last plant has gone on to be about 6' tall now, so hope this does the same.

I will spray my corn again with neem oil. I usually spray in evening for fungus and bug prophylaxis, but it has been raining or plants still soaked. I have heard to not spray in morning when in sun.

I have some new watermelon plants coming up and a couple Red Kuri Squash. My cantaloupes are growing and cannot wait til they are at least a tennis ball size...wife wants some fruit to grow...

I clipped a couple lower small branches off my mulberry tree and stuck them in ground and leaves died, but I left them in. Sure enough, I now have several green leaves growing on each branch.

Getting three or more peppers each day and wife is finding ways to use them. Cannot wait til my poblanos and habaneros start to show themselves, as I planted them 7 days ago.

[surviort_wwdnet]

Sunflowers are such a "normal" flower and yet they can be so finicky. I hope yours will grow as big as the other. Do you have it staked? Good move on the mulberry tree saplings (if I had a mulberry tree I'd do that too, but we have no fruit of any kind here right now except for the watermelons I already harvested). It's another one of God's miracles.

Rain on and off all day long, but I did manage to pick some Roma tomatoes and transplant 3 pea seedlings and 1 lima bean seedling. Picked an eggplant and made eggplant parmigiana stacks for dinner with the sauce I made the other day. Good stuff. Got in a little swimming before the thunder started again. Used my rain time to make some blueberry muffins. I surely don't need to water anything today! I'm sitting in my office watching another downpour...

Drying out peach and nectarine pits to see if I can get the kernels out and try to grow some fruit trees.

My butternut squash seedling was just peeking out of the soil this morning, and now it's sprouted with leaves. Amazing. My watermelon and new acorn seeds haven't sprouted yet but I have bags for them when they do. The beefsteak plants look very healthy and are growing nicely. The container tomato plants in one container are starting to look "old and sad" so I expect soon I'll be able to clear them out. I still have 3 more plants in another container. I may try to start a couple more. Bell peppers are still producing and the jalapenos are getting bigger. In a couple weeks I'm going to start cauliflower and broccoli.

My daughter and teenage granddaughter are coming down in August - lots to do before that because the guest room is my storage area. Everything will need to be moved into my office that I just got reorganized; I don't mind as I haven't seen them for over 2 years due to CV, and this will give me a chance to get my daughter brushed up on her prepping. I have a couple things I can send home with her if she has any room in her suitcase.

[surviort_wwdnet]

Just FYI, I forgot about the Bluetti solar generator. That has had good reviews as well. I only got the Inergy as they have made others, the Apex and Kodiak, and they had a pre-sale that was hard to turn down. I don't know if they still sell the Apex or Kodiak, but do know one of those had a 30a plug. Maybe you could buy a used one of those from someone who upgraded to the Flex.

Really did very little in garden yesterday, a little weeding and such, but overall very little. We are expecting rain today, so hope that happens.

I have two 24v solar panels, a 24v inverter/50A controller, and am going to get batteries next week. Hoperfully my husband won't notice😂😂

Looking to see if anyone locally has used panels.

[surviort_wwdnet]

Finally pulled out the old limas - some of them had huge, gnarly looking roots. I need to research this. Otherwise, I have more peppers and yellow squash growing, the new limas are looking healthy - one of them is climbing the upright stake for the trellis net. 2 butternut squash and 1 acorn squash seedlings are close to transplant time, and there "may" be a black soybean sprouting. That's fine, as I just got a case of canned black soybeans yesterday. 😂

Otherwise, another FL day with a hot morning🔥 (I went out early to avoid the heat) and a rainy afternoon. Grocery shopping, general cleanup, and doing some research.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Put up a sunshade for my tiny home entrance and had to move two sunflowers...boy are these guys sensitive. All I did was lift the grow bag and move it 10' and they started drooping at their tops. By end of day they were 90% recovered. Today they are up but a couple leaves have not recovered...

Have a fifth ear of corn showing, we'll see if I make it to the end with these ears...

New Ali Baba watermelons are up and growing, I have four of them and three Red Kuri squash...have sweet crimson watermelon plants growing with plenty of flowers, but no melons. Have several pollinators flying and landing on them, but nothing yet. Tomatoes are growing well from second planting from seed. My little white summer squash has popped up as well. Still waiting on peppers I planted 12 days ago to show themselves, but peppers can take a while IIRC. All in all, I am learning and that is what is important as I will learn more as I plant more...

[surviort_wwdnet]

Knowing the germination timetable for various seeds can spare us a lot of frustration. I have to look things up as I tend to get very impatient waiting for sprouts😂 That's how I ended up with a dozen Bell pepper plants - I couldn't wait and just kept planting.

Not much going on in the garden right now. I'll pick some peppers and get them sliced and frozen. Lots of blossoms but no new watermelons or acorn squash yet. I hope there are some female blossoms! I've yet to learn how to tell them apart. I'll spray everything after I water, because our latest rains haven't amounted to much.

Glad your sunflowers rebounded - they are so sensitive.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Fertilizer day for me....and fungus prevention if still dry tonight.

Wife made some jalapeno cheese biscuits yesterday with some jalapeños from the garden...yum yum....

Gonna try and work more on solar today, hope to run another circuit...

[surviort_wwdnet]

Doctor's appointments all morning, then home to do some cleanup in the garden, trimming off dead leaves, pulling weeds, and feeding the aphids😉Asked my husband if we'll have time to finish the shade cloth structure and he said yes, so maybe Wednesday as tomorrow morning is another appointment. Seedlings checked but still not quite ready for transplanting. My watermelon seed I planted is doing nothin'! I'll replant it. That matches the black soybean seeds that are also doing nothin'. It threatened rain but another empty threat so I'm watering now. My oldest spaghetti squash plant has decided to attach tendrils on the trellis net in the next row, so I'll need to go out and carefully reposition on the correct trellis net😂 Otherwise, I'll be trapped and the lima beans will be covered up!

With it still being so hot, I'm holding back on starting any more plants right now. When we start getting into the high 60s/low 70s overnight, I'll put some more seeds in.

I have tons of jalapenos out there and will pick, seed, and throw them in the freezer for later, although I must say jalapeno cheese biscuits sound pretty good! Eggplants - I am drowning in them. This hot weather has really made all the small ones balloon into big ones. I will need to take a whole day (or two) to harvest and process them. Tomatoes are about done - I have some Romas and a few Rutgers tomatoes to pick, and then I'll tear those out to make room for the fall garden.