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My 2019 Gardens/Flowerbeds
#21
I hope , some have already started vining outward. They're all an experiment so it all remains to be seen.

We did pollinate a squash this morning before heading out so hopefully at least one will grow to maturity. I'll probably just keep watch of them and pollinate them as much as I can since there doesn't seems to be many actually bees, but we do have a lot wasps and even yellow jackets!
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#22
I'm not sure if wasps and yellow jackets do any pollinating. Maybe you two can try your hand at raising bees[Wink].
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#23
Yeah, pretty sure they don't[laugh].

We even joked about maybe needing to supply our own bees. I am hoping this late-to-warm-up summer we are having has put the bees behind schedule as well.

We did harvest another 2qts of strawberries this morning. They are sure producing well this year. Looks like most of June bearing ones maybe be about done fruiting and now we are getting the much smaller everbearing ones. But both are so tasty.
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#24
Wow, two qts, that is impressive. How were your overnight temps last night? Our temps here the warmest of the Summer, it never got below 75 all night[crazy]. Glad to hear it suppose to cool off a little after Sunday, to the low 90's[Wink].
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#25
We've been lower 50s , but last night we only got down to 56.
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#26
10 degrees cooler here overnight, must have been that rain storm that cooled things down, it really poured for a few minutes and lightly rained for close to an hour.
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#27
We had no downpour as the heavier rains went around us we were left just on fringe with only a sprinkle. Our low last night was 50* so once the cloudiness dissipated we were able to cool house down to a nice 62* by this morning.
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#28
I was surprised it rained as much as it did, from the reports on the news, it did not sound like we would get more than a sprinkle. One thing good about a decent rain is, it washes my solar panel and they are clean today.[Wink]
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#29
Yes that is plus for sure. Also, we have found this time of year that even though we longer days, the panels don't produce as well . Not sure if its just heat or the angle of sun. [:/]
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#30
When I was figuring out what the best angle was for my panels, it was panels that were facing South at an 18 degree angle in the Summer. The best Winter angle was 54 degrees I believe. So if your angle is steeper than 18 degrees, say 30 degrees and it's not facing South that might explain why you are not producing as much power in the Summer but that's just a guess.
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#31
I am sure angle has lot to do with it. Our system is designed to be a net-zero account meaning through out the year we create more power then we consume, so far we haven't had a power bill (other than a basic metering bill of less than $9) for 5 years and we still give more unused/excess power back each March-April when they zero out/reset our account.

Got cooler than we had expected, which was a nice 50*. We both have small yard projects to start working on before Jeff's knee surgery shuts down most of our activities for a few weeks. So we'll start working on them together earlier in the day when it cooler like this and possibly even shaded [cool] and bit by bit we'll get both done keeping ourselves out of the sun and heat.

My sweet potatoes are all growing nicely. But I still wonder how many poatoes we'll actually get ot have. It so hard since you can't really really see them to know how they are really doing. The plants just haven't seemed to really take off like the squash the other garden plants have since we finally warmed up.
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#32
Still got down to 50 last night, although the forecast was for 55. Can't complain about that. It sure made for a nice temp to get out and do a little yard working before the sun started creeping over our back hillside. Totally finished one project, but the second one is 1/2 way done - we've sprayed some weed killer over top as some of the pulled weeds broke off so we want to give it time to kill the roots before we add some soil, then pea gravel, then take some of our ground cover that is doing too well in a nearby area and transplant it into the now cleared space.


We harvested the last of our first crop of peas. So this afternoon, in the cool comfort of the house we'll have a shelling party as we relax a little. The old peas, once they dry out, can all be added to the compost and the pots will be all prepped for re-seeding with a fall crop come early August.
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#33
Sounds like you two are keeping yourselves busy, I know I've always seem to have things to do around here too. No fishing trips this week?
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#34
We are. Since our son and his girls vacationed up with our extended family in N Idaho we thought we'd have a chance to fish more often, but we got so caught up getting stuff done here around the house (things we needed the both of us to do so they get done before his next knee surgery) that fishing dropped off [Sad] Now they're on their way home today having had a great time since they were in cooler and wetter time up there (mid 70s, odd for this time of year) but they were totally enjoyed by all the family and all hope they come again - and soon!

Well I'm heading out to mow the yard while its still cool.
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#35
Took a walk around the gardens with Jeff today. The watermelons are finally setting fruit like crazy, hopefully it's not too late for us to actually get eat some before frost kills the plants.

Tomorrow I need to pick another cabbage. We read that some get up to 4 second (and smaller) heads once they harvest the main head off. Doubt we'd have long enough season here to manage doing that very well, but I can see from my previous picking that there are 4 sprouts coming out from the stub left behind. It said once they've grown a bit you can chose just one head to grow possibly harvest one larger head so maybe we'll just see how it does for as long as we can , they handle those cooler nights better than some plants so just maybe it'll grow another head - who knows?

Also need to harvest several cukes (not counting the one I already gave to our son yesterday, several more squash are also ready for picking - I alone cannot eat them fast enough to keep ahead of how fast they are maturing , such a problem to have - NOT. The second crop of fall peas/pods have also taken off they are about 3 inches tall now.
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#36
Wow he is walking outside already, that's impressive. My sister is hear visiting, so I've been busy the last few days.
I did not realize cabbage could grow a second head, that's interesting. Good deal on the cukes, mine are still growing but no blossoms yet[Sad].
So by saying peas/pods is that the same as snow peas? Sounds like they are doing good.
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#37
yes pea pods, that if left longer you'll get some peas.


Not walking around with any speed, but yes, no crutches or walker, he just limps a bit - LOL

Saw several green beans today, but I am going to be careful and not pick them too soon. Also it may be that I need more plants next year than I currently have or we'd never have enough at any one time.

The watermelons are growing and producing melons like crazy right now, so really hope we don't have an early freeze - we can protect it if light frost but a hard freeze and we'd be toast for sure.
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#38
I usually plant about a dozen green bean seeds for my plants but most of them got crowded out this year because of all the zucchini and buttercup plants. For sure the more you plant the better crop yield.
Of the two watermelons the started to get bigger, only one has continued to grow, the other one stopped growing[Sad]. One thing that will give them a better chance of maturing is to cut the vine growing pant the watermelon, that way the growth will all go to the melon instead of the vine.
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#39
My melons are past now, but I like the idea of cutting the vine past the melon. I'll try that next year. I did get a 33 lber this year and was as sweet as honey. Just can't buy home grown for sure. I'm still rusty on when to pick them as I did leave a few too long on the vine. Any tricks??
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#40
Hey that's an idea, we'll see as we get closer to a frost or freeze if that will help speed up any that haven't ripened yet.

Thanks
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