Saturday we ventured to the farm.
The sky looked like this when we arrived. Cloudy and sunny but a quick check of the radar showed big storms were coming.
I checked the fruit trees and all is still looking good and no deer bothering the trees. So far so good. This is the other fruit tree and it's starting to bloom. I need to see with this variety when the normal bloom time is.
As for the garden there is good and bad. Above is the good. Look at that beautiful squash just waiting to be picked. There are two more on there (further behind) but we harvested this one. It's waiting in a basket in the kitchen for 2nd Man to figure out something to do with one squash, ha.
Here is one of the tomatoes. I had to pull it. What kind of damage does this look like? It was up high, not down low so we're thinking birds? I need to get some bird netting and draped over the tomato plants.
I did get to mow, the usual time and distance, more or less. But we did have a problem with the Zen Machine...
The nut broke off and the belt came off. Ugh. I started smelling burning rubber and a cloud of white smoke behind me. Thankfully it happened literally at the last moment of mowing. I was as done as I could be and was mowing over the grass clippings to disperse them a bit when it happened. So I turned off the blades and drove to the shed. I'm not sure how to fix this as I have never replaced a drive belt like this but I'm guessing it might not be too difficult, need to check out some youtube videos and see what can be done. With our weather this week, this coming weekend would be out for mowing so I'll see what I can do. The dealer does have mobile service so that's always an option too.
This is what it looked like when we decided to call it a day. It was late anyway and storms were coming.
This is not our pond (we don't have one, yet, ha) but it's across the street on the way out and when I stopped at the mailbox to check the mail, I took this picture. On first glance, we had an "oh crap" moment thinking this was a funnel cloud but thankfully it just turned out to be heavy rain.
Today though we are having some severe weather and a chance of funnel clouds IS in the forecast.
Hope you had a good weekend!
Friday evening when the storms moved in and the rain came; we received 2 1/2 inches; Friday evening and into Sat. morning.
ReplyDeleteAs for your tomatoes; Deer, squirrels, raccoons and birds all relish a ripening tomato. Watch for clues to determine which pest is at large. Deer usually leave tracks and droppings behind. They're also more likely to munch on the leaves than smaller animals and they can damage your entire vegetable garden. Squirrels and birds usually take small bites out of the tomatoes before moving on, while raccoons might pull the tomatoes off the vines. Squirrels and birds move about the garden in the day, while raccoons are mostly nocturnal, making them harder to catch.
It may not be an animal or a bird. It could be insects or Hornworms. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ixaMpeNh6c
Preventing damage from animals often requires several approaches. Barriers are usually the most effective. Depending on the animal invader, as well as the size of your tomato plants, you can surround tomatoes with a ring of chicken wire. Spreading several sheets of bird netting over the plants can also reduce damage. Blood meal, a fertilizer made of dried steer blood, has an unpleasant odor which might deter the pests. It loses its effectiveness once wet, so place it in plastic cups and use soaker hoses to water your tomatoes. Commercial chemical repellants usually contain pepper spray or predator urine. These products can be effective, but they usually must be reapplied after a rain. You can also try playing a radio in the garden area or installing owl or moving pinwheel decoys; or hanging metal pie pans. Installing owls in the garden really don't do much good unless you move them around in different areas of your garden and then there is no guarantee that they will help.
I'd say birds for sure on the tomato damage.
ReplyDeleteI had a thought about your house plans, what if you moved the present house to a different spot for use as a guest house? Then you could build your home to live in where the present house is. Just a thought, as I love old houses.
Looks like bird damage on the tomato. So far the birds are leaving our veggies alone. I can't say the same for the squirrels and chipmunks though.
ReplyDeleteI just posted about the $1 Walmart snakes I put on my chair to keep birds away and put in my garden to keep birds from pecking vegetables. The birds were pooping on my table and wicker chair. Since putting a snake there, no poop. The chair and table are so close to my porch full of vegetables that I only need one snake that I rotate from chair to table to porch. I doubt that leaving them in one place for a week would make the birds accustomed to them and poop or eat things like tomatoes. I love plastic snakes. Snakes will probably work for the trees too, to keep birds away.
ReplyDeleteThat’s a beauty of a squash. Nothing tastes better than fresh from the garden.
ReplyDeleteYour tomato looks like it was a tasty meal for someone. I usually leave the damaged fruit on the plant in the hope that the culprit will munch on it rather than a new tomato. I had trouble with something eating fruit from my trees. I finally left the damaged fruit at the base of the tree and they seemed to appreciate the convenience and left the remaining fruit on the tree alone.
Hoping you get your lawn mower repaired soon. With all of this rain, your grass is really going to grow.