What did you do in your garden today?

[CLSranch]

we have a large pile of hives out back from the beekeeper, they're not ours. plenty of bees around of several kinds.

If your interested in beekeeping, throwing a swarm trap up could be a good way to get started. If the beekeeper has inhabited hives not just a pile. Sooner or later one of the hives will swarm. Sooner (earlier in the year) is better. Also if? it is just a stock pile you could assemble one in the spring and just see what happens. A drop of lemon grass oil would help.

 

[Mini Horses]

@CLSranch you can freeze garlic. I buy -- yes, buy -- roasted garlic, frozen in clove size cubes. . One year I'll get to growing it. But I love just popping that ready stuff into whatever I'm cooking

 

[flowerbug]

while i do like bees i don't have any desire to have any bee hives here. the hives the bee keeper puts along the NE property line is plenty enough.

 

[The Porch]

CORN
I am not a corn growing expert. I did several months ago look up youtube videos, growing articles, MENews, etc.......
Some said, leave the suckers your corn will do better-- some said take the suckers off-- all had different reasons and all,,,,, so, I just left them,,,,
I just came in from watering, the corn. Before i watered I walked down each row and looked, most suckers we not serving a purpose, ,maybe they were helping hole the corn stalk up, I dont know.
the suckers that had no corn on them I knocked off. I figure they could be taking water that the ears of corn needs.

We'll see how it goes. the ears are 1/2 ready, a few are ready, should I have knocked them ogg sooner or not at all???
I dont know

 

[flowerbug]

CORN
I am not a corn growing expert. I did several months ago look up youtube videos, growing articles, MENews, etc.......
Some said, leave the suckers your corn will do better-- some said take the suckers off-- all had different reasons and all,,,,, so, I just left them,,,,
I just came in from watering, the corn. Before i watered I walked down each row and looked, most suckers we not serving a purpose, ,maybe they were helping hole the corn stalk up, I dont know.
the suckers that had no corn on them I knocked off. I figure they could be taking water that the ears of corn needs.

We'll see how it goes. the ears are 1/2 ready, a few are ready, should I have knocked them ogg sooner or not at all???
I dont know

we do not grow corn or sweet corn here so i can't help you with that. if you sign on to TEG and ask that you'll get a much wider audience including people who regularly grow corn.

we don't grow corn here because of all the raccoons and that we generally do not eat a large amount of corn (a few meals a year and some frozen corn in a few dishes we make once in a while). i'd need a much better fenced garden (including an electric barrier that raccoons could not climb over and a gate they could not get through) and currently (all puns intended ) they can go up, over and through any fences and gates i have so i can only daydream about corn.

 

[FarmerJamie]

CORN
I am not a corn growing expert. I did several months ago look up youtube videos, growing articles, MENews, etc.......
Some said, leave the suckers your corn will do better-- some said take the suckers off-- all had different reasons and all,,,,, so, I just left them,,,,
I just came in from watering, the corn. Before i watered I walked down each row and looked, most suckers we not serving a purpose, ,maybe they were helping hole the corn stalk up, I dont know.
the suckers that had no corn on them I knocked off. I figure they could be taking water that the ears of corn needs.

We'll see how it goes. the ears are 1/2 ready, a few are ready, should I have knocked them ogg sooner or not at all???
I dont know

I knock em off early. Just the way I was taught. No reason other than that

 

[The Porch]

I knock em off early. Just the way I was taught. No reason other than that

I think it is something that should be done, glad to hear you do it, seams everything is trial and error and do better next time hahaha

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

I am on the opposite side of the world, so I am busy prepping for spring. I checked on my garlic, divided up and planted out a bunch of alpine strawberries, added calcium and fertiliser and then mulched over several garden beds, and kept on pondering where to plant the last of my winter tree and shrub plantings. I'm dreaming of harvest time but not so much dreaming about all the work in putting the abundance into storage!

I've got some cool new metal framed cloches that I've got over my strawberries, and more coming so that will really help me get a jump on spring planting.

The garlic that is in the greenhouse - it's ahead of what's in the garden:

 

[flowerbug]

cleaned out the crawlspace entrance, spider webs, a start of a mouse nest, swept up the debris, got rid of the spiders and webs and refreshed the chemical deterrent (bleach in a small glass jar with holes in the lid so that the fumes slowly leak out and settle - it seems to work well for about a month). a lot more spiders down there than i ever recall so after getting them all removed and the webs cleaned up i also washed off the underside of the cover and then wiped it down with a little bleach solution to see if that will discourage them for a while.

spiders i really don't mind but i still don't want them nesting in there. for sure mice i do mind and really do not want them nesting in there...

i also cleaned up the birdbath and then let it sit empty in the sun all day to make sure the algae got fried out of there. sure, it will be back sooner or later, but we'll refill it in the morning.

and since i was on a critter of various sizes control binge i also mixed up some ant bait to see if i could start getting that ant nest out of the shed at last. all ants leaving that nest were not stopping at the bait so i smooshed them and any returning from elsewhere's i also smooshed, but after most of the afternoon nobody had yet taken a sip from the bait so i brought it in for the night (raccoons, etc. may get into it) and will put it out again tomorrow after spraying some vinegar or bleach solution around (to mess up their scent trails). i really need to lift up the sill plate and clean that out and probably caulk it all shut again when i'm done, but it would be really nice to get the nest out of there first before getting into that...

not quite gardening, but...

 

[CLSranch]

while i do like bees i don't have any desire to have any bee hives here. the hives the bee keeper puts along the NE property line is plenty enough.

Probably a good thing. If you had more it may hinder the overall production of the other hives depending on how many they have and the environment. Plus you get pollination and don't have to mess with any hives.

cleaned out the crawlspace entrance, spider webs, a start of a mouse nest, swept up the debris, got rid of the spiders and webs and refreshed the chemical deterrent (bleach in a small glass jar with holes in the lid so that the fumes slowly leak out and settle - it seems to work well for about a month). a lot more spiders down there than i ever recall so after getting them all removed and the webs cleaned up i also washed off the underside of the cover and then wiped it down with a little bleach solution to see if that will discourage them for a while.

Good to know. I should try it. I usually just wipe the webs out of my way whenever I have to get down there.