Anyone doing a garden?

[Goodwill_HiFi]

I cut down my blackberries yesterday. I transplanted wild plants about 5 years ago. The one that survived started doing really well at spreading and flowering, but not so good at making berries. I'd never get fully formed berries, and the spreading was getting out of hand, so I decided that enough was enough. Now the pile is sitting on my garden.... that's as far as I've gotten to outside dirt stuff. We JUST got decent weather last week, Though. I've got some Beech tree seeds that are sprouting in the fridge, and I need to do something with those. I need to finish up the brakes on my truck, and I want to get the garden tilled, and ready to go.

 

[gogofast]

I have a question about some insects I found in my backyard. These are about 1/2 inch long. Found them under some lumber I stacked for a backyard project. They look much like brown banded roach to me. Not sure if they came with the lumber - I have never seen them around the house before.

What do you guys think? So far, I found about 5-6 outside and a few near the inside of the backyard door. Some must've came in while the door was left open.

 

[Hyfi]

I just got my main garden tilled yesterday. We talked about downsizing or scrapping it altogether because I am tired of being a slave to my house, property, and gardens. But we decided to go ahead but leave out a few crops. we scrapped Potatoes and Onions this year along with Peas.

We have about 20 various Tomato plants and 20 Pepper plants doing well under the grow lights and just started hardening them this week. We added heat to the sowing room this year and the results were better than in the past.

 

[Ranchman]

I would love to get my garden going, If it would just stop snowing

 

[onwardjames]

I have a question about some insects I found in my backyard. These are about 1/2 inch long. Found them under some lumber I stacked for a backyard project. They look much like brown banded roach to me. Not sure if they came with the lumber - I have never seen them around the house before.

What do you guys think? So far, I found about 5-6 outside and a few near the inside of the backyard door. Some must've came in while the door was left open.

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I'm not for sure, but I don't think it is a roach. I've been wrong before, tho. Anyone else want to take a stab at it?

 

[jheu02]

Just got some seeds in Sunday and we've had two days of rain. Wondering if it's washed them away...

 

[mkane]

Very small garden this year. I did get all 500 apple trees pruned though.

 

[faber12]

Just got mine tilled up before the rain started again.

 

[gogofast]

I'm not for sure, but I don't think it is a roach. I've been wrong before, tho. Anyone else want to take a stab at it?

Just to be safe, I placed a few bait boxes outside and in kitchen cabs.

 

[Eywadude]

I have a question about some insects I found in my backyard. These are about 1/2 inch long. Found them under some lumber I stacked for a backyard project. They look much like brown banded roach to me. Not sure if they came with the lumber - I have never seen them around the house before.

What do you guys think? So far, I found about 5-6 outside and a few near the inside of the backyard door. Some must've came in while the door was left open.

View attachment 1171344 View attachment 1171345 View attachment 1171346

Just to be safe, I placed a few bait boxes outside and in kitchen cabs.

I'm happy to let you know those are NOT cockroaches. That is what's called a Dirt-colored seed bug. Completely harmless, so you can put those traps away. They feed on fallen seeds in the soil and in leaf litter, and can often be found around wood, which explains why you found them where you did. They are a somewhat similar species to Boxelder bugs (they're harmless too), in that they can explode in numbers and can even be found by the hundreds on the sides of houses, on sheds, or on fences and woodpiles. But again, they are completely harmless and will not attack you or damage your house, or any other structures. They are completely benign. I get Boxelder bugs on the side of my house sometimes, but I just leave them there to do their thing. If I ever find one indoors (which is rare), I just put them back outside to live their little lives. They are so docile you can pet them, so I wouldn't worry about them at all.

 

[gogofast]

I'm happy to let you know those are NOT cockroaches. That is what's called a Dirt-colored seed bug. Completely harmless, so you can put those traps away. They feed on fallen seeds in the soil and in leaf litter, and can often be found around wood, which explains why you found them where you did. They are a somewhat similar species to Boxelder bugs (they're harmless too), in that they can explode in numbers and can even be found by the hundreds on the sides of houses, on sheds, or on fences and woodpiles. But again, they are completely harmless and will not attack you or damage your house, or any other structures. They are completely benign. I get Boxelder bugs on the side of my house sometimes, but I just leave them there to do their thing. If I ever find one indoors (which is rare), I just put them back outside to live their little lives. They are so docile you can pet them, so I wouldn't worry about them at all.

Ah ha!
Thank you for the information. I searched what you suggested online and looks like what I have is Mediterranean seed bug. I'm glade it's not the roaches.

 

[gogofast]

Just finished filling the first row of raised beds. Mostly herbs, onions, salad mix, and some tomatoes for now...

 

[onepixel]

I have a lot of weeding to do.

What's you don't/can't see are, two mango trees, one very large avocado tree, a mulberry, couple of pomegranates, huge macadamia nut, date palm, couple of coconut trees, out of control passion fruit vine, surinam cherry, loquat, lychee, grapefruit and maybe a pineapple. I did plant some ginger and papaya. Will plant some bananas, limes, oranges and tangerines. Oh... and some coffee too! Veggies will be after I gain control of the backyard.



Mango planted from seed that came from grandma's.


The avocado tree, just below the coconut, has 100s of fruit, about the size of a lime at the moment. Just as many on the ground that got blown off. They get bigger than anything I've seen in at the market.

 

[toxcrusadr]

Wow pixel, it's a tropical paradise!

So my earlier complaints about a long cold winter and spring have given way rapidly to excessive heat. Just when the lettuce was finally getting going, now it's going to hit 90, possibly a record high today. So the lettuce season, instead of being about a month long, is apparently about a week long, and it was last week.

 

[jimfet]

Good luck.

 

[onepixel]

Wow pixel, it's a tropical paradise!

So my earlier complaints about a long cold winter and spring have given way rapidly to excessive heat. Just when the lettuce was finally getting going, now it's going to hit 90, possibly a record high today. So the lettuce season, instead of being about a month long, is apparently about a week long, and it was last week.

This part of the island is usually much dryer. In the past I couldn't water the plants enough and it looked scraggly. Often in the past years, there have been droughts and water rationing. This current season, it's rained like crazy and everything has grown like crazy. It's amazing what all that water can do.

 

[gogofast]

onepixel, that truly looks amazing. I'm sure there are both good and bad for being in the tropics, but you surely have a dream backyard for some of us.

 

[onepixel]

onepixel, that truly looks amazing. I'm sure there are both good and bad for being in the tropics, but you surely have a dream backyard for some of us.

Did I mention the bugs or the heat and humidity? lol! It's amazing how fast spiders can rebuild webs. I shouldn't complain, I am truly fortunate. Once it's back into shape, it will be sweet!

 

[toxcrusadr]

At least you don't have lava in your garden, like some tropical paradises this week.

 

[Wildcat]

I got one of these last year from amazon and used it for the first time a few days ago. Wow, this thing makes gardening much easier. I was able to turn the soil (roughly 20x6 planting area) 12 inches deep in less than 10 minutes. Plus, even though it was a bit of work, tilling a grass area with hard soil (6x6) took about 10 minutes as well. I think this is the best thing I've bought for my garden so far.

Indispensable!

I've had a mini tiller since 2003 and it has made so many projects easier. Never realized how helpful it could be until I owned it.

I just finished a re-landscaping project in the backyard, moving a flower bed back to the new fence and planting an area of grass seed. It cuts way down on the work. When I had a garden here, I would get the tiller on it in mid May (about now, actually) and get it ready for the season.

The bad thing is, there has been so much buried "crap" in various places over the years that I have already had to rebuild the transmission once. (Essentially, the brass gear wears out and strips due to the shock of hitting the objects and jamming up the tines.) Broken concrete chunks, tree roots, old bricks, miscellaneous garbage (I even found three old beer bottles buried during this past project), and they can't even be seen until the tiller hits them and jams up.

I will not need the tiller for a while again. I do have a lawn thatching attachment for it, though, and I may give that a whirl once I get the lawn in shape. (Basically it replaces the tiller tines with an elongated pair of thin metal tines, and includes a metal shield so the clippings do not get stuck in the cooling fins on the engine.) Otherwise I'll run the gas out, change the oil and store it until next time.