Mystery Seedlings

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Got back and we have a small watermelon...and the sunflowers have started opening....have some squash showing fungus in spite of pre-treating. Unloaded camper and watered and trimmed some yellow leaves from squash...then grand baby came over so world spins around him right now...

Had a great time camping....as always. Got some paddle boarding in twice and visited some friends.

Question, I have a purple flower blooming on one sweet potato plant...is this normal? Does it mean anything?

[surviort_wwdnet]

Sweet potato plants produce the most beautiful purple flowers, which tell you that the sweet potatoes are forming and everthing's healthy! Rejoice in the flowers👍😁

The squash leaves may be showing signs of overwatering (rain) or excessive heat. I just trim those off and keep going. It rained lightly here for about 10 minutes, and that means I have to water the garden again.

Glad you had a good time camping. It's always nice to get away. Good to come home to your grand baby too😁

Nothing much here, as my husband decided he needed an edger that was easier to handle with his health issues, so we spent the morning shopping for, buying and assembling the new one, and it worked really well. Fortunately, although it's a pull start, it pulls really easily and he was able to get the edging done. I got to clean up the trimmings😂 so I didn't get much done except that and more guestroom cleanup, basically shifting things around to make room for our daughter and granddaughter.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

The sweet potato flowers are beautiful, so it is good to know they are a good thing to see.

I have been going to battery operated tools over the last several years. I have Ridgid and Ryobi for the most part and Atlas (HF Tools) and have been pleased with them all. I would like to keep all the same battery, but the companies do not all make the same tools. I have a Ryobi battery edger that I love. I have about 200' of edges to trim and one battery will last for 6+ edges. The Atlas batteries run my self propelled mover and a weed eater and a 16" chainsaw. All have held up well so far. Believe it or not the chainsaw holds up well. I used it cutting up an oak tree for about 2 hours and it did well. The chain you get does not last long as it dulls easily, but you should have a couple chains in the shed anyway to replace and sharpen. We changed to battery for lighter weights (helps my wife) and less maintenance (fuel, oil and filters). Another reason for battery is I can charge them with solar, and save my fuel for other things like generators in a SHTF mode. A lot of people do not think about the grass growing tall in a grid down/SHTF...which will attract rodents/pests and other crawling things including humans sneaking in. I like to view my yard and fences before I see the grass moving...

[surviort_wwdnet]

We have almost every Ryobi tool made, battery and otherwise. The new edger is gas (which is replacing the Ryobi edger) because it gives my husband something to hold onto while he walks behind it. We may need to look at a walk-behind gas trimmer for the same reason.

No yard work today since the lawn service is spraying the whole yard and I don't want to walk through it - and it stinks! Once again we have chinch bugs. I contracted service for the next year. My husband can't keep up with it and neither can I. I would rather spend my outside time growing healthy, fresh vegetables 👍

In the meantime, I'm almost done with the guest room so tomorrow I'll start some seeds. Excited to get going again and see the bag garden filled up! My seedlings are ready for transplanting, so I'll do that too. With the shade cloth up, it will help protect the plants from this endless heat 🥵,

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

So, we got rain on and off from about 10am to 4pm yesterday. That was a nice treat.

Went out last evening and was looking around and low and behold we have a cantaloupe about the size of a softball...and no worms that I can see...yet..... It was hidden by some leaves. And our small melon seemed to have gotten a bit bigger as well. Sunflowers are almost fully opened and looking lovely. Still amazed with the beautiful sweet potato purple flower...Have 4 "sweet heat" peppers and a slew of jalapeños, seranos and cayenne peppers showing up, about 60 total. Not sure on the corn as they are growing but just look "funny" to me, but I have not grown corn before. Everything else seems to be doing okay, but anything can be disrupted literally over nite, so we will see what today brings.

[surviort_wwdnet]

Sounds like the anti-worm treatment you're using is working. How often are you treating? Neem oil or a combo treatment? Nice that the cantaloupe and melon are growing unmolested by worms and bugs!

I finished the guest room (not without near disaster, as I got the night stand drawer stuck and had to call for backup), then headed out to the garden to harvest the rest of the tomatoes and eggplants, plus some bell and jalapeno peppers. Except for the eggplants, everything was unceremoniously dumped into the crisper for processing tomorrow. I knew if I wanted eggplant lasagna, I needed to get it started. It was a fairly long process because I had to make the sauce and slice and roast the eggplant before I could assemble. I planned to plant and transplant after that, but the rain beat me to it. I ran outside to move my garden cart under cover, and when the rain stopped it was like a steambath outside. I can plant/transplant tomorrow morning after I cut down and pull the tomato plants. There are still blossoms on the eggplants, so I'll let them stay for now. I'll douse the tomato container with some nematode annihilator once I get the plants out, or move the beefsteaks and cover the container with plastic for a few days. In this weather, the nematodes should bake nicely.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Don't you hate getting a drawer stuck...It seems you hardly have an effort to get it stuck, but yet you need the jaws of life to "unstick it"...

Love the rain, but hate the sauna that follows...

I used sevin dust for critters.

Tomatos (beefsteak and cherry) are showing buds, so hope they produce. All we have had so far this season are cherry. Two more small (marble size) cantaloupe showing up...and Sunflowers are standing tall...

[surviort_wwdnet]

I had been pulling weeds for about an hour when the rain came in - morning instead of afternoon. It only lasted about 20 minutes but afterward it certainly was stickier than it was first thing this morning. After it stopped, I headed back to the weed pulling...

It took a big screwdriver and a hammer to free up the drawer, then my husband removed the female metal drawer guides from the bottom of both drawers. The nightstand is probably 50 years old and the male wood guides had seen better days - splinters everywhere! No problem now, and I sorted through the contents and was able to toss a few items. Most of it is souveniers from my husband's travels as a field engineer so none of that was tossed; mostly it was my junk that I just threw in the drawers as an out-of-sight, out-of mind experience.

Sevin dust and spray are pretty durn effective and I use them, especially on the squash plants. The aphids are still swarming those plants but apparently they don't stay around long enough to lay eggs on the backside of the leaves. I need to spray my bean plants because they look like they may be suffering from powdery mildew. I have spray for that too. All those tomato blossoms are a promise of a good harvest, and the small 'lopes are so much fun to watch grow. Is it safe to assume you're watering the sunflowers more?

Flower bed weeded (the big one), crepe myrtle suckers trimmed, transplanted seedlings in grow bags, 20 seed starter cups filled with potting soil and watered them to keep the soil from blowing away, spent tomato and basil plants were pulled and dumped into a yard waste container. There are 3 full trash containers now. I removed the beefsteak tomatoes from the container and repotted in large cups. I gazed lovingly at the new spaghetti squash that's twice as big today as it was a couple of days ago. It loves the attention. Husband said we have a roll of clear plastic in the shed, so I didn't need to go get a roll to solarize the containers that are infected with parasitic nematodes. With clear plastic, I can solarize for just a few days (instead of a few months with black plastic) and it should fry those little worms. After six hours working outside, the only other place I went was the shower😂

The smaller flower bed weed situation isn't too bad so tomorrow I'll give it a few more weed tugs and then wait for the weeds to start growing back🙄 I have one more tomato plant I'd like to pull but it's in the back and is firmly entangled with a plant that still has tomatoes on it. Also, tomorrow I'll pull out my weed whacker and do a little cleanup where my husband can't get to comfortably. Then I'll pull out my seeds and get the seed starters planted and labeled. I want to start more tomatoes, cukes, broccoli, cauliflower, We need more tomatoes just for us to eat. I didn't get the weeds between the containers sprayed because of the rain that happened and the rain that threatened (with a lot of thunder) but never came. The neighbor's vines are growing over the fence again, but I can clean that up in just a few minutes. More weeds lurking in the tropical bed but I'll only pull the tall ones for now. I could go out now and start seeds but....

I'm exhausted and my back is cursing at me. So are my feet 😂😂

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Not much that I am doing right now except watching and pulling weeds. Of course I fertilize and bug control, but no planting now. I have some grow bags that will be losing the plants soon so will revitalize the soil in them and get them ready for some fall plants. The temps have not let up yet, so I have not started any seeds for fall. When I start seeing overnight temps dropping I will likely plant some indoor pots and wait.

Yes, sunflowers are getting more water....:)

[surviort_wwdnet]

I put in seeds for snap peas, turnips, spaghetti squash, turnips, more tomatoes, pinto beans, cauliflower, broccoli, cucumbers, and Brussels sprouts. We'll see how they do. Pulled weeds in the small flower bed, sprayed weeds in the driveway, got bell and jalapeno peppers and eggplant lasagna, into the freezer. Weeds between the containers sprayed. Short workday as husband had a doctor's appointment that ran an hour late and it was HOT by the time we got home. Weedwhacking was out of the question for today. That's an early morning project. I transplanted into empty grow bags from the spring garden and I still have lots left, but if there's too much overlap between the existing plants in the grow bags and new ones that will start growing in a couple of weeks, I'll just order more bags. I did have to order more plant markers🙄

Weeds and FL - a match made in heaven for the weeds and a nightmare for the rest of us who have to pull them! Seems I clear one container and there are more weeds in it the next day😂

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

I did some weeding myself...FL= weed capital for sure. Found some sevin spray on sale at Aldi for $2.99/bottle. Picked two up as I only have the powder at home. This allows me to be more direct and avoid flowers, which helps the pollinators live. Was able to get sevin spray down and fertilizer in the A.M. We had an overcast day, but very little rain.

[surviort_wwdnet]

Went grocery shopping early, then grabbed the weedwhacker and headed out to do all the "tight" spaces around the gardens, between the shed and the fence, behind the workshop, and around the motorhome. Not much else to do in the garden but water the seed starters and bug spray, and that will be after the pollinators are finished with their business👍Everything else looks good albeit they're wilting mid-day from the heat🔥Waiting for FEDEX to deliver an ultralight rollator, perfect for the car - they say it's "out for delivery" but that could be any time between now and 8 PM

[surviort_wwdnet]

The turnips, broccoli, and cukes have sprouted! That sure was fast. Everything in both gardens looks healthy and very green.

Mostly cloudy day with copious amounts of rain this afternoon - no watering the gardens today. Instead I ran to the pharmacy and then back for laundry, cleaning, cooking, more laundry, mopping, more cleaning.....

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

we had quite a bit of rain yesterday and expect more over the next couple days.

Sunflowers fully opened, two more looking close. The ones open have flowers now looking down...don't know what that is all about....

The largest cantaloupe is now starting to get the "harder brown skin". You can see more of it daily. We have 5 other small cantaloupes showing now as well. Watermelons now total three. Peppers are really starting to come in. Tomatoes still doing good, cannot wait for the beefsteaks to show as all we have been growing has been cherry types.

Cleaning out the two Aerogardens and getting ready for seeds. Not sure I know what I want to put in them though, thinking of lettuce and cherry tomatoes for the winter.

[surviort_wwdnet]

The sunflower heads may be getting too heavy to look straight ahead - seriously. That's what mine did once they were fully open. In order for the flower seeds to "go to ground", the downward tilt is necessary and completely natural.

I didn't grow cantaloupes because I got sick on them when I was young and never could eat another one! I can appreciate them from afar😉 I should have planted some because my husband likes them - next year.

My new watermelon is a long way from harvest. Pinto beans sprouted today, and so did the Brussels sprouts. Still waiting for cauliflower and beefsteaks to sprout. Out in the garden, the grow bag limas are flowering, new container spaghetti squash and acorn squash have blossoms, and my almost full-grown grow bag acorn squash should be ready for harvest next week. I watered both gardens. A busy day doing laundry, more cleaning, and a trip to the lawyer to sign the new deed so my husband's name will be on it and my original purchase name will be corrected to my married name. I was reminded how much I hate rush-hour bumper-to-bumper traffic😂

Daughter and granddaughter come tomorrow, and I'll see if I can get my granddaughter interested in grow bag gardening. My daughter works long hours and she only likes to grow houseplants. Probably just as well, as her house doesn't even have an outside spigot to be able to water plants. I guess my love of gardening didn't rub off on her.