Tootfinder

Signs of things to come
#gardening

The cucumbers are flowering already. It's 3°C tonight. What the heck.
#gardening #climatecrisis

We’ve been getting a handful of blackberries everyday now, but it appears after last nights rain, we may soon be on track for a blackberry explosion. Jelly and Jam time!
#gardening #oklahoma

Last October when I pruned my fig tree I threw the clippings into a moist bin in my basement in case some of them rooted. Which they did. Now I have to unload them on neighbors and passersby. "Hey, pssst: want a fig tree?" #figs #ficus #gardening

Squash Bug War Casualty Report: Adults 0, Egg Pods 0.
No enemy contact, but I know they are out there, it’s like they are taunting me . . .
“Hallo, you tiny-brained gardener! You frighten no one! Today we did not come, because we did not feel like it!”
#gardening #oklahoma

This feels very much like a Fediverse thing…I’m looking to re-wild my backyard.
Anyone know someone in Metro Vancouver who could help me?
Boost for each please.
#gardening #rewilding #vancouver

Good morning Oklahoma.🌻
#oklahoma #gardening #sunflowers 🌱

Traktörden de korkmuyorlar
#garden #garten #gardening

Upon learning that we had harvested the very last cabbage for the summer, an overwhelming, undeniable Teutonic command came welling up from within me demanding immediate fermentation activities.
#gardening #oklahoma 🌱

Squash Bug War Casualty Report:
Adults: 1, Egg Pods: 2
Too tired to attempt dad humor tonight, but feels like we have reached a equilibrium. Great news is the it’s in our favor, we got 4 more squashes and zucchinis tonight.
#gardening #oklahoma

Just a reminder that gardening centers will happily sell you plants such as Pelargonium citrosum that are supposedly able to repel mosquitoes. But don't be suckered. No plant has that ability even if thousands of Pinterest pages insist it's true. #mosquitoes #gardening #gardens #plants

We had a leek escape our notice and we are letting it go to seed. They make such an interesting flower structure.
#bloomscrolling #gardening #oklahoma

My son has put up herb drying hooks for me in the utility room! I'm beyond delighted! He's also put up the plastic greenhouse we got weeks ago so it is now filling with things that need potting on and generally sorting out. I'm also hoping to sort out a small raised veg plot and a pond, so my garden mojo is well and truly back. It's nice to feel enthusiastic again. #gardening

Had a productive morning in the garden. Got all the beds weeded. Said bye to some old friends. Harvested the last cabbage. Pulled our garlic crop which was pretty much a failure this year. Started harvesting the onions, which did great this year. Out with the kale too. 🧅
#gardening #oklahoma

Bu fotoğrafı dün çektim. Can eriği. Ve yarın büyük olasılıkla çoğu donacak. Zirai don bekleniyor.
#garden #garten #gardening

'Midnight Snack' has the darkest leaves I've ever seen in a tomato. Not the best tasting cherry variety, I've read, but will definitely add some interesting color to summer salads. #tomatoes #gardening #anthocyanin

Today's harvest.
#gardening

Hot peppers are on their way. The Thai Chilis are the first to appear this year. 🌶️
#gardening #oklahoma 🌱

I have sown basil, lemongrass, and coriander seeds in trays on the kitchen windowsill. I’ve also planted some marrow seeds into pots and put them in a warm place to germinate. Finally, I have sown some Welsh onion seeds in a large pot and again put it somewhere warm indoors to germinate.
#gardening

I noticed an army of ladybugs 🐞 🐞 🐞 🐞 in the yard recently. We had a hard freeze last night, so I covered some young trees with sheets to protect them. When I removed the sheets just now, they had lots of aphids on them. Now I know why the ladybugs are so active! #gardening

#raspberry #gardening

Here's my tomato waterer in action. The screening attached to the wine-bottle funnel prevents insects and garden debris from getting trapped inside the PVC tube. #tomatoes #water #gardening #allotment

SQUASH BUG WAR CASUALTY REPORT
KIA: 0, Egg Pods Destroyed: 0
No contact with the enemy today. Not one bug. Not one egg. The leaves are still. TOO still.
This is not a victory. This is a TRAP.
#gardening #oklahoma

Our Espresso Gladiolus have started blooming.
#gardening #oklahoma

I’m going out into the garden to check what seeds I have left over from last year, get some herb seeds into trays, and place them on the kitchen windowsill. I’m going to put the seed potatoes in over the next few days.
#gardening

#garden #garten #gardening

BATTLE REPORT: 2 adults eliminated, 4 egg pods destroyed, 1 enemy escaped.
Comrades! Today we struck at the squash bug bourgeoisie — even catching two saboteurs in the shameless act of expanding their counter-revolutionary forces! They were dealt with accordingly.
#gardening #oklahoma

Is it too early to plant beans? Probably a little. But I did anyway. I also mixed all the seeds up so I'll end up with a wall of vines with colors scattered everywhere. Hopefully. No guarantees in gardening. #gardeningthoughts

This morning I prepped the spots at my allotment where the tomatoes will go. The soil becomes rock-hard clay at approximately 6", so I use a posthole digger to make an 18" hole that gets filled with compost. And to make watering easier and more effective, I have PVC pipes, capped at the bottoms, that have 1/8" holes along their lengths so that I can quickly slosh in a bunch of water and let it slowly percolate to the roots. A bit of work to make these watering funnels but the tomatoes develop very deep roots and are fine if ignored on a hot day. #tomatoes #gardening #allotment #soil #vegetables #wine #roots

Dispatch — Squash Bug Front
Casualties: Adults 0 | Eggs 4
After last night's slaughter, both sides withdrew to their lines. No sentries crested the trenchline. Scattered egg fire at 0600 — harassing only, a reminder they still hold the zucchini salient.
#gardening #oklahoma

Evening Squash Bug War: Casualty Report
10 adults KIA, 4 egg pods destroyed.
O cursed stinkèd foe, thou crept upon my vine!
But lo — my thumb of justice, swift and firm,
Hath crushed thy copper eggs and broke thy line.
The Union garden stands. Begone, thou bug.
#gardening #oklahoma

Morning Squash Bug War Casualty Report: Adults 1, another adult was able to escape. Egg Pods: 0
#gardening #oklahoma 🌱

#Annabelle #hydrangeas going nuts this year!
#gardening #garden

Evening Squash Bug War Casualty Report: Adults: 9, Egg Pods: 3.
After several days of light contact, the enemy returned in force. Much squishing was inflicted and some good leaves were lost. But we survive to harvest another day.
#gardening #oklahoma 🌱

Husband has been out in the yard this morning...
#Pumpkins #Tomatoes #Gardening #Canberra

The onion crop is getting close, very excited. #gardening #oklahoma 🌱

Evening Squash Bug War Casualty Report: Adults: 0, Egg Pods: 6. This is starting to feel less like a war and more like a scene from Alien. On the plus side, we did get to harvest our first squash, albeit a small one. #gardening #oklahoma 🌱

Dug a new weed pit at my allotment this morning. The victims spend a week or so drying out, then get buried. I've been doing this for years and the soil is slowly getting better. #allotment #gardening #weeds #weeding #composting #soil

Tonight’s Squash Bug War Casualty Counts: 6 adults, 2 In flagrante delicto. 4 egg pods. #gardening #oklahoma

Morning Squash Bug War Casualty Report: Adults: 0, Egg Pods: 1. Suspect enemy has retreated into hiding to regroup and resupply.
Will need to increase our sentry duties in preparation for the next attack wave. #gardening #oklahoma

I gave away some fig treelets yesterday and boy did they go fast. If you have one that gets pruned I urge you to do the same: just throw the stems in a bin, cover with moist sand, and ignore in your basement during the winter. In the spring, just pot them up. Easy peasy. #figs #ficus #plants #gardening #swarthmore

I had a mad idea this spring to allow all of my volunteer sunflowers to grow in the yard. I hope this pans outs into something magical because right now mowing is difficult and I am afraid I might get lost in my own yard.
Music by the genius Kristy Kruger. #gardening #oklahoma 🌱

I had to rearrange the cane fruit in my garden but failed to transfer the identifying stakes. Anyone have an opinion on what this might be? Options are Prime Ark blackberry, Jewel black raspberry, raspberry, tayberry, and boysenberry. The fruit should resolve it in several weeks but I'm dying of curiosity. #berries #rubus #garden #gardening #flowers

My Sisyphean battle with the squash bug has begun. I face this battle with resignation in my heart. On the plus side though, there are blackberries. #oklahoma #gardening 🌱

If you grow milkweed to support monarch butterflies, spring is the time to pot up all those volunteers in your yard and to gift them to neighbors without asking them whether they want them. #monarchs #butterflies #milkweed #asclepias #plants #flowers #gardening #garden #pollinators

From the archives but resharing because it's that time of year: my blog post on protecting pea plants from birds. And soon I'll post pics of my new and improved pea cage. #peas #gardening #garden #pisum #birds #allotment #blog #VegetableGardening https://colinpurrington.com/2024/05/birds-are-eating-my-pea-plants/

My local arboretum had a plant swap for members and I scored four perennials and a bunch of seed packets from Burpee. It was a mob scene, with numbered admittance so that nobody got into fights about being first. My contribution was nine fig trees, and they went fast, I think. #swarthmore #garden #arboretum #gardening #flowers #plants

For probably the 100th time I've pruned the neighbor's border privet (Ligustrum obtusifolium) that was planted right along the property line. Always makes me grumpy. #invasive #noxious #privet #gardening #ligustrum #oleaceae

There's a single strawberry ripening in the garden and you know I'm checking on it twice a day. 'Eclair', a June-bearing variety that per one site has "notes of raspberry and orange." #strawberry #strawberries #fragaria #berries #garden #gardening #fruit

My 12 tomato plants are now in. Each gets a deep hole filled with compost, plus a root waterer made from a cut-off wine bottle and some PVC pipe that has holes drilled along one side. Now hoping weather cooperates. Zone 7b. #tomatoes #allotment #garden #gardening #watering

Quick update on my quest to rid my yard of plants I dislike. Bamboo, privet, and English ivy are 100% gone, though latter still tries to creep in from neighbors' yards. Hosta, wisteria, garlic mustard, and unidentified invasive bulbs are next on the list. #garden #gardening #weeds #bamboo

Sharing my solution to squash vine borers (Eichlinia cucurbitae), the larvae of which burrow into the roots and eventually kill the plant: inject Thuricide Bt into stem wherever you see frass accumulating. This is easier to do if you train your plant vertically so that lower parts are visible. I also regularly police for eggs. #garden #gardening #squash #zucchini #vegetables #allotment #insects #lepidoptera #moths

Inside view of my fruit cage. The blackberries and raspberries are too new to produce much this year but the strawberries (raised bed and hanging baskets, upper right) have hundreds of developing fruit and I can't wait. When everything is ripe it's very satisfying to watch the birds and squirrels try to break in. #fruit #garden #gardening #blackberries #raspberries #strawberries

My fruit enclosure. On the left side along the back is a raised bed with strawberries, plus aerial baskets with even more varieties. Four blueberry bushes are on the back right but still too small to really provide much this year. In the front are blackberries, raspberries (normal and black), tayberries, and boysenberries that I put in last year (and also a bit small). In the corners are grapes that are being trellised to grow along the back in a single vine. Spanning the width (27 feet) are several galvanized wires onto which the berries and grapes will be attached when they get bigger. #berries #strawberries #garden #gardening #fruit

Strawberry plant blinged out with droplets of xylem sap. I've never seen it, but apparently the minerals in the fluid can leave a white residue when the water evaporates. #guttation #biology #strawberry #fragaria #gardening #plants #xylem

One of the shelling peas grew up on the wrong side of the bird netting. Sad, but a nice reminder that all the effort setting up the structure was worth it. #peas #sparrows #gardening #pisum #birds #allotment

Flowers on my 'Belle of Georgia' dwarf peach (Prunus persica). Squirrels ate every single fruit last year so this season I'm going to encase them in stainless steel mesh bags. Might even use a finer mesh plastic bag inside to prevent peach-loving moths from ovipositing. #flowers #blumen #peach #prunus #tree #gardening

Silly gardening tip: before using a hose on a hot day, purge the superheated water into a container for later use. #watering #water #garden #gardening #hose

Anyone have a recommendation on elbow-length gloves for harvesting berries from thorned plants? There are lots of leather ones but I'm worried it would be hard to pick off individual fruit. #blackberries #raspberries #garden #gardening #thorns #gloves

The strawberry section inside my bird- and squirrel-proof garden cage. No fruit yet but hundreds of flowers. #strawberries #fragaria #garden #gardening #raisedbed #fruit #erdbeeren

I finished caging my peach tree to keep the squirrels and catbirds away. Each fruit is also bagged to keep flies and moths from ovipositing. #peaches #prunus #fruit #trees #gardening

From the archives, here's a drip-irrigation device I made for spot watering at the allotment. Because watering is just a drip or a trickle (you choose), it goes fully into the soil rather than running off to the side. As a bonus, fewer weeds around the plant because they never get water. #garden #gardening #water #artichoke #allotment #wine #bottle #diy

Every spring I reread this article on how tomatoes respond physiologically to even a single night below 50 °F (season-long reduction in yield). I'm always left wondering whether planting them out now (lows in upper 40s) might allow an earlier harvest, albeit at the expense of total productivity. Because I'd be OK with that. Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. USDA 7b. #tomato #tomatoes #garden #biology #circadian #gardening #temperature #weather #allotment #philadelphia https://agresearchmag.ars.usda.gov/1996/oct/tomato/

Made labels for the raspberry, boysenberry, tayberry, black raspberry, and blackberry I planted last year. Quickly realized that the some of the temporary markers had disappeared during the winter and that I'll need to guess which is which. Oops. Hoping they'll be useful differences in stems, leaves, and fruit. #garden #gardening #rubus #raspberry #boysenberry #tayberry #blackberry #plants #berries

Hornfaced bee (Osmia cornifrons) using mud to cap a nest at one of my insect hotels. Called the bean-flower bee (mame-ko bachi) in Japan because the balls of pollen and nectar they pack inside stems for their larvae to eat are as tasty as a dessert made from honey and soybean flour. The species was introduced to North America in the 1970s as a way to increase productivity of apple orchards. #InsectHotel #BeeHotel #pollination #bees #osmia #insects #orchard #gardening

The tulip display at Longwood Gardens was incredible this year. #LongwoodGardens #tulip #tulips #tulipa #tulpen #flowers #bulbs #garden #gardening #pennsylvania

Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) flower in the female phase, with anthers still packed into a ball that looks like an osage orange. Mostly pollinated by beetles and flies attracted to the unpleasant odor. I'm hoping for fruit this year. #pawpaw #fruit #botany #flowers #tree #nature #pollination #annonaceae #gardening