Frogs Aplenty

While checking out the garden and seeing the devastation that the groundhog did, i noticed a bunch of black things hopping around.

Initially I thought they were crickets but on closer inspection I see it is a bunch of baby frogs!

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Have you seen anything interesting lately?

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Open For Suggestions

Last week I actually caught the groundhog in my garden and was able to see how he got in and out. I fixed that hole with more fencing and checked the perimeter for and other slight openings. No others where found.

Since I believe that all is now good, Friday I go and buy some string beans and peas and plant those in the garden.

Saturday and Sunday everything looks good, everything is fine.

This evening I go to water the garden and I am hurt….my string beans, soinach, brussell sprouts and peas are gone!

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  String beans

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  Peas

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  Potatoes-last weeks feast

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  Luffa gourds and also eaten in last weeks feast

On a good note…my birdhouse gourds, tomatoes, carrots, onion, and several varieties of peppers are doing GREAT!

Birdhouse gourd is vining nicely and has its first flower.

Does anyone know how to get rid of this groundhog without killing it?

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Finally

I have been a bit remiss in my postings. But I wanted to make sure that a post on my luffa gourds went up today.

They were picked at the end of October just before the first frost hit. The luffas where no where near ready to be peeled until now.

This is the first one that I cleaned. Out of the 13 that I had only 7 made it. The others rotted.

Here they are getting a quick bleach bath to rid them of any possible bacteria.

Two more that are not ready to be peeled. Hopefully in another week I can clean them up too.

Most of these will be cut up into small pieces to use in my new hobby of soap making.

As always thank you for visiting!

Dried Out

As many of you know I have been growing birdhouse gourds in my garden, 12 have been cut from the vine and there are 3 still hanging.

I think some of these are bottleneck gourds.

From different sites on Google it can take anywhere from 30 days to 12 months from them to completely dry out…I think that depends on size and where you choose to dry then out.

There is only one that is completely dried. I like the marble effect that it has and think, for this one, I will only use a clear coat of polyurethane to shine it up

Once all are dried I will post then next phase.

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Emergence

This pod has been growing in one of my flowerbeds for most of the summer and I have no clue what it is.

Yesterday I noticed that it has opened up and a bunch of seeds are emerging.

I still have not figured out what it is. I don’t know if it is something that I planted or a weed.

The pod looks like a string bean that is growing straightup instead of down.

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It Has Begun

As many of you know I planted birdhouse gourds awhile ago and they have been growing just fine. There have been no issues with bugs or anything like that (the smell is probably keeping them away.. lol) .

They have been easy to grow. They do need lots of water.

I knew the gourd would need picking soon as the plant started to die a few weeks ago. I learned from reading that although the plant is dying you do not remove the gourds until their stem is completely brown.

I have been checking and checking and nothing until this morning. I don’t know how I missed it but I was able too “harvest” my first birdhouse gourd.

The gourd has started to turn brown too. Now I don’t know if harvesting it late makes a difference or not. If anyone knows please share.

There are 12 more and most of their stems have started to turn brown so just a matter of time.

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Still Hanging Around

The Praying Mantis’ are still hanging around my yard. Today I photographed 2, one hanging upside down on my car window (picture to blurry to post) and one hanging around the luffa vine.

Speaking of luffas they are still growing like crazy. I can not put my fingers around it anymore.

Here are 4 more that are going just as fantasticad as the first 2. So in total I have 7 luffas growing.

There is one that is not doing to much growing.

This one started at the same time as my 2 large luffas. For some reason it is not growing at the same rate.

More gardening updates coming soon.

As always thanks for visiting!

Twice the Size

Last Saturday I posted about how much my luffa gourd grew in 5 days. Now 7 days later it has doubled in size again.

It states that luffas can grow over 2.5 feet long!

There are several more that are starting to form. I am hoping top get atleast 10 for the season.

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What a Difference 5 Days Makes

This morning when I go out to check on the luffas progress I am astonished as to how much it has grown in just 5 days.

From Monday 8/19/19

Tuesday 8/20/19

Wednesday 8/21/19

Saturday 8/24/19

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They Have Appeared

Yesterday when I walked the garden I noticed that my luffa plants are finally forming. It first bloomed 30 days ago. Currently there are 2 luffas.

I hope to have many more.

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