Gardening

It appears we will have a lot of raspberries this year, but the blue berries and lingonberries have not produced at all. Reasonable serviceberries and honeyberries/haskaps. Raspberries are just beginning to ripen here, so we'll see, but there are lots of green berries.

We are starting to get into our season of plenty, with cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, zucchini, peas all coming in. Beans are behind, but some varieties have a lot of baby beans and blossoms. Tomatoes in the greenhouses are beginning to ripen as well, although the cherry tomatoes have been coming on for a while. Peppers are behind and the corn--an iffy crop here in any weather--is finally growing and is about head-high, which is as big as it gets here. When we had livestock, corn was worthwhile, as if it didn't mature, the goats would delight in chomping the stalks and leaves. Now it really isn't dependable, but I have the seeds and will plant them until I run out since we have empty garden space ow that there are only two of us living here.
 
Mary Stetler said:
Deer basically ate all my blueberry bushes and the rest did not produce well. Drought related? Hope the blueberries come back. I got honeyberries and service berries back in June.
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You need another dog to chase the deer away ! We had squirrels and birds eating all of our berries and fruit, but now that we have the inside/outside kitty cats, they pretty well keep the small critters away from our property.
When I lived in Idaho, I always had salt/mineral blocks and water out for my horses, so I had deer in the pasture , too. They did chew up my garden, ecxcept for what I had right next to the trailer house.
Since I had to pack water for so many years, that is actually where I had most of my garden plants anyway. It was much easier to water them next to the house where I could get the pickup and the barrels of water.
 
Yvonne Smith said:
You need another dog to chase the deer away ! We had squirrels and birds eating all of our berries and fruit, but now that we have the inside/outside kitty cats, they pretty well keep the small critters away from our property.
When I lived in Idaho, I always had salt/mineral blocks and water out for my horses, so I had deer in the pasture , too. They did chew up my garden, ecxcept for what I had right next to the trailer house.
Since I had to pack water for so many years, that is actually where I had most of my garden plants anyway. It was much easier to water them next to the house where I could get the pickup and the barrels of water.
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I did get a new barn cat. Don't know how effective he will be but ,if he goes after the birds at the feeder, I wonder how long he will last. I saw a dog I would love to get but will it like chicken? Chase sheep?...Might just stick with a pew pew.
 
Mary Stetler said:
I did get a new barn cat. Don't know how effective he will be but ,if he goes after the birds at the feeder, I wonder how long he will last. I saw a dog I would love to get but will it like chicken? Chase sheep?...Might just stick with a pew pew.
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Mary, it has to be a barn cat trained by mom. Hunting is instinctive but not killing and identifying prey. Fluffy is not a mouser and a mouser will focus on easy prey.
 
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Marie Miller said:
Mary, it has to be a barn cat trined by mom. Hunting is instinctive but not killing and identifying prey. Fluffy is not a mouser and a mouser will focus on easy prey.
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Our last cat was a donated house cat with biting tendencies. He was perfect as a barn cat. I have taken cats home from a barn and they were worthless. I had one that waited till it heard the mousetrap snap and then go down to the basement to retrieve the spoils. We will wait and see.
 
I have never had a specific need for a mouser, but when I was allowing my cats outdoors, they would often bring me things, such as mice and voles, that they had killed, particularly when they were younger. Even at 13, Ella will hold vigil at a mouse hole for however many hours it takes. Some of my other cats lost interest in hunting when they got older or began bringing them in unharmed.
 
The blackberry bush is still producing, there are red ones that we're waiting to turn black, and there are some black ready for picking. My wife usually does the picking, with her having recent surgery looks like these berries are going to be saved for the birds. Last week my wife made blackberry jam with them.

Starting to get red tomatoes I've been picking them the last few days. Each day has had enough to make a nice tomato salad, and slices for sandwiches.

I planted my squash and cuke
plants next to each other in the same raised bed. I do have a trellis behind the cukes. I thought my squash were the bush type now I find I have cuke and squash vines growing out over the top of the raised bed Heading an all directions. Some cute vines did find the trellis, I haven't seen any baby cutes yet, I have seen yellow flowers. there are so many leaves and entangled vines it's hard for me to check for any fruit.
 
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