Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: July 17~23, 2022

ReneeT

Veteran Member
Good Morning, All!

The temps are in the low 70's but the humidity is 97% so you feel like you're walking though water when you go outside. The hummingbirds were landing on the feeders as I was hanging them out, and there were birds at nearly every port of the feeders. Weatherunderground says we are supposed to have rain/thunderstorms most of the day, and my barometer says it's probably going to be soon, so that is probably why they are hitting them hard this morning.

I gave a thought to grabbing my hoe so that I could get some weeds out of the the back garden before the rain hit, but when I walked out there to chase the bunny out of the back pole bean row there was enough dew/humidity that it's actually muddy in the garden - had to scrape mud from the bottom of my garden shoes level muddy. I didn't hear any rain during the night, and there is just a teeny bit of moisture in the bottom of the rain gauge, so I don't think it has actually rained yet; the moisture is just from the heavy dew. I'm pretty sure that the weeds will still be in the gardens waiting on me after the rains - especially with a forecast of temps in the mid to high 80's and a couple of days edging into the low 90's for the rest of the week.

And here comes the rain.... My internet has been going off and on, so I'm going to - hopefully - post this; y'all let me know how things are going where you are; and I'll hopefully be back later to chime in :)
 

Marseydoats

Veteran Member
The case of canned cat food I ordered last week came this afternoon, so I got everything I ordered. Fed Ex rode some of it around on the truck for 3 days before they delivered it, but it did finally get here.
Have to take dh to the Dr. tomorrow, which will probably take all day. They overbook appts. so badly, you have to wait for hours. Plus I don't want to be around a bunch of sick people in the waiting room. On well, it can't be helped...
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
We might actually get some rain, tomorrow. I'm going shopping anyway. I'll take getting wet trying to shop if it means we can get some rain and relief from these temps. Tomorrow's high, with the rain, only 88 degrees. The rest of the week 100+ each day with the heat index of 110 or higher. What's left of our gardens will probably burn up under that kind of heat, even though, we're keeping everything watered.

I got my Sam's order, today. I got everything I ordered.

I got up with a really bad headache this morning. I took 2 extra strength tylenol, but it hasn't touched it. Hope I'm not coming down with something. I haven't felt well all day.
 

John Deere Girl

Veteran Member
We might actually get some rain, tomorrow. I'm going shopping anyway. I'll take getting wet trying to shop if it means we can get some rain and relief from these temps. Tomorrow's high, with the rain, only 88 degrees. The rest of the week 100+ each day with the heat index of 110 or higher. What's left of our gardens will probably burn up under that kind of heat, even though, we're keeping everything watered.

I got my Sam's order, today. I got everything I ordered.

I got up with a really bad headache this morning. I took 2 extra strength tylenol, but it hasn't touched it. Hope I'm not coming down with something. I haven't felt well all day.
I had a pretty bad headache yesterday. Not fun. Praying you feel better soon!
 

ioujc

MARANTHA!! Even so, come LORD JESUS!!!
Well, have been holed up in the RV for, this will be the third day, trying to get my body back on track.

Today is bearable, supposed to rain, but they lie about the weather constantly. Hopefully it will rain a slow steady rain tonight and soak the ground. I don't know how the garden is still growing. It just seems to cook in the heat and it is very weird....some of my tomatoes look like SUPER 'MATERS, and some look like 90 lb. weaklings.....same row, same soil, same attention and same amount of water????

I have not been able to complete all I wanted to do in the garden, hopefully a fall garden will do better!?

Staying inside, there is little to do except to read, can't run too many lights or electronics as it stresses the voltage and flips the current. So, I have been reading and reading and reading!!

Baby chicks ready to go outside....hopefully tomorrow!!

Stay well everyone and those of you under the weather...take good care and start to feel better SOON!
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I found my stack of old sheets and put up a sunshade for cucumbers. I'm moving some pots off the deck since it's cooler on the ground.
Sent my Walmart order in.

It's so hot and humid here that our tomatoes are boiling on the vines. The air is so hot and wet........It's actually hard to breathe. Even the old sheets aren't helping the sun scald on some of my peppers.
 

Digger

Veteran Member
We did my contract job today because it was only supposed to be 98*. And this is the coolest day this week. It got to 102*. But we started very early and were done before noon. I have not gotten much done since getting home. I did get about a 30 minute nap before the phone rang. Dang spam callers need to get a real job. I told hubby that the tips are getting smaller. Today I only found one fish hook, a penny, and a cut off deer antler.

The first round of rain missed us today, but there are more chances tonight. I plan to water my new garden later if we don't get rain before the shade hits it. I have to haul water to this garden and hand water. I think of my dad's family hauling water during the depression and tending their livestock and garden.

If we get rain, I will burn the trash. We are in a burn ban and only get trash pick up once a month.

I canned a canner of potatoes. I figured it was the best way to save them. We made mostly small ones because of the drought and I got them planted later than usual. My second canner run had 5 pints of potatoes and 3 quarts of green beans. The beans had to pressure an extra 5 minutes to get the potatoes done, but I don't think it will hurt the beans.
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Faint and fall in it, DH and I went to church this morning. It was nice.

Then we went to a college town and DH treated me to a pedicure and got one himself. He almost had a stroke over the cost, $85, they charge more for a man, guess its cause their feet are usually in bad shape. I got polish this time and it looks nice, I can't do it myself anymore or I'd make a mess.

And I finally made it to walmart. I did get a case of pickled beets, although we have not really been eating them all that often, but we do like them.

I was looking at food savers and they had one on the shelf that was a return, but it was $50 off. I'm going to check it out tomorrow and if there is an issue with it then back it goes. It has the accessory port that I want. I was feeling anxious about mine since its 15 years old. They had two cases of 1/2 gallon jars, but I only got one. I had ordered three more cases of pints from wm.com. Two came to day.

I splurged on cold cuts, ham, roast beef and chicken (for some reason I didn't want the turkey. I'm going to get DH to vacuum seal half of each package. I got two loaves of the cheap walmart white bread that is back to 93 cents, a loaf of sour dough (it will be good for the sandwiches and a great value whole grain loaf. I carefully checked all the best buy dates. A couple of loaves of bread were out of date. Oh and a package of hot dog buns for DH. I also got Dh a package of fresh chicken wings for him to fry. It was 8.00, its a treat for him. He does so much for me. I must have gotten other things, but right now I can't remember. Oh, I got two cases of water, I try to keep a certain amount and I've been drinking more lately what with my UTI. I've been on the meds for two days and I might be having a little relief.

We were in town for several hours and are tired. I considered going to church tonight, but I'm just two tired, I might fall asleep.

We took some tomatoes to my cousin, at church. She looked bad and was having a hard time walking, she had covid a couple of weeks ago. She's my age, 75.
 
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skwentnaflyer

Veteran Member
Watched church online this morning, I’ve been sick since Tuesday, home test says covid. I’d been feeling pretty puny the last couple days , but there’s a definite change for the better today. Been taking ivermectin daily, along with the zinc,etc that I take normally.

A few Japanese beetles have been chewing on my okra plants , so I’ve been picking them off for the chickens. Had a few hornworms, too. The chickens haven’t gotten the memo that those are for eating, though. They just stare at them, kinda sideways like they do.
 

briches

Veteran Member
We had company leave yesterday, and boy was I exhausted. They stayed with us from Wednesday-Sunday. It was a great visit, but a 1 and 3 year old bring A LOT of energy to a (usually) very quiet house.

Yesterday I helped youngest son and his friend move into their first apartment since graduating from college this past spring. Such an exciting time for them. They are starting from scratch, and I enjoyed seeing them so excited about my yard sale and thrift store offerings.

While at a goodwill looking for stuff for them, I found an Aerogarden. It worked when I plugged it in so I bought it. Once I got home and looked online, I believe it’s an older model, but I think it will still be fun to try. It was 6.99. It has seven pod spots. I want to grow lettuce.

Slow and steady …..
 
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Illini Warrior

Illini Warrior
Watched church online this morning, I’ve been sick since Tuesday, home test says covid. I’d been feeling pretty puny the last couple days , but there’s a definite change for the better today. Been taking ivermectin daily, along with the zinc,etc that I take normally.

A few Japanese beetles have been chewing on my okra plants , so I’ve been picking them off for the chickens. Had a few hornworms, too. The chickens haven’t gotten the memo that those are for eating, though. They just stare at them, kinda sideways like they do.


just read this article the other day >> neat gardening trick for finding pests like hornworms - use a black light flashlight at night - not sure if other bugs can be spotted that way also
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
The food saver I got yesterday at a discount, because it was returned is the FM 2100. All the bags that came with it are missing and it may have had a hand held sealer. I don't need any of those things, and as long as it seals bags and jars then I got a bargain. I got it out to try and will get to it a little later. The regular price on this machine at wm is 156, but its on sale on amazon for 119.

The tortilla section at wm was almost completely empty. There was some chicken but wings at 4.00 a pound is pretty pricey, but they are nice and fat, I got the 2# package, a treat for DH, its his favorite part of the chicken.

Green beans can still be had for 54 cents a piece, but that's probably not going to last. The bread section was sparse, same with the egg section. There was bacon but it was high. I got a 12 oz package for 4.98. Its the same brand I got last time. The pieces are kind of fatty looking and produced almost no bacon grease, they did taste good though. Just enough grease left in the pan to fry eggs. The bacon ends and pieces are almost all fat, but at least that will give me bacon grease.

Except for checking the price of green beans and getting a case of pickled beets, I didn't even look at other canned food, except the prices are a good bit higher on things I have in my pantry.

I meant to look at the dried beans but I was getting tired and didn't go down that isle. It felt like I had to go half way across the store to find the canning section.

Since we still have tomatoes I bought salad fixings, ice burg lettuce for him and mixed greens for me, now I just have to remember that we have them.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
We just got back from town, and got everything put away. Walmart was fully stocked, again. Prices were still high, but I saw no shortages or low product at all. I restocked what I had used over the past 2 weeks, plus fresh produce, and bought a few extra food items for storage. I also needed a new laundry basket and toilet brush. Cary bought more lawn and garden care products while they still had it in stock. So, I'm set for another 2 weeks......... $471.34 :shkr:We can not continue to do this!!!! It's a good thing I had extra budget money to spend, today, or something would have had to go back on the shelf. I only had a limited amount of cash with me. I didn't even buy any meat, except for 2 family packs of boneless rib-eye pork chops. It's a good thing I still have a freezer full of meat. If I had bought more meat, the cost would have been $500+!
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
We just got back from town, and got everything put away. Walmart was fully stocked, again. Prices were still high, but I saw no shortages or low product at all. I restocked what I had used over the past 2 weeks, plus fresh produce, and bought a few extra food items for storage. I also needed a new laundry basket and toilet brush. Cary bought more lawn and garden care products while they still had it in stock. So, I'm set for another 2 weeks......... $471.34 :shkr:We can not continue to do this!!!! It's a good thing I had extra budget money to spend, today, or something would have had to go back on the shelf. I only had a limited amount of cash with me. I didn't even buy any meat, except for 2 family packs of boneless rib-eye pork chops. It's a good thing I still have a freezer full of meat. If I had bought more meat, the cost would have been $500+!
For the actual food we eat we probably spend around $200 a month. But our meat is wild game with an occasional package of ribs and the last two times I went I bought a package of bacon each trip.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
For the actual food we eat we probably spend around $200 a month. But our meat is wild game with an occasional package of ribs and the last two times I went I bought a package of bacon each trip.

Before all the price increases, we spent, on average, about $200 every 2 weeks. As you can see, that has more than doubled for a 2 week supply. We're buying basically the same things, plus a bit extra for storage. Eggs today were over $3/doz. $5 for a gallon of milk. I picked up a bag of our dog's treats.....$44. That size bag wouldn't even last him 2 weeks! I put it right back down. Our area may still be seeing an abundance, but the sky high prices are more than making up for it. Even if there is food to buy, who can afford it?
 

Barry Natchitoches

Has No Life - Lives on TB
It is peak season for harvesting dried-on-the-stalk curly doc seeds. A local farmer who is also an amateur veternarian and herbalist assures me that dried curly doc seeds are an excellent source of protein for my chickens, so I gather the dried seeds this time of the year, and then feed it to the kids in the winter time.

I do know that curly doc leaves are my girls’ favorite plant to eat in its fresh state. I gather lots of fresh curly doc leaves for them from early March through late June, and they eat right through what I give them. When placed side by side next to commercial feed pellets, they will eat the leaves first every time. Their yolks are a deep orange during fresh curly doc season. Not as much in the heat of a dry summer.

My brother paid my annual membership fee for the Memphis Runners Track Club, and also paid the $100 fee for me to run their annual 10 race Road Race Series. They start off with two 5Ks in July, then two 5-milers in August, two 6.2 mile races in September, two 10 mile races in October and then two half marathons (13.1 mile races) in November.

Paying my fee to do the race series was his birthday gift to me this year.

So yesterday, I went out to Audubon Park to run the series first 5K of the year. It felt so good to run a race again.

I never win. That is not the point. It feels good to run, and I got to see lots of runner friends that I have not seen for awhile. My time was very slow compared to before my wife’s cancer, as I have not run much since I retired to take care of her. She has been feeling better the last couple of weeks (she is on a chemo holiday right now), but she did not want to risk catching Covid, so she stayed home.

And, yes, it is so great that she has been stronger and feeling better lately.
 
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WanderLore

Veteran Member
Took boys to little birthday party, they had in ground pool so that was really nice.
Garden looks like a forest. DD pulled one of the tater patches. There is another one still plus more to put in for fall garden.
Beans are coming on. Tomatoes, okra, cabbage, peppers, broccoli, tons of cukes. Corn all has 2 ears each.
Pumpkin has little pumpkins on it. Cantelope limping along. Watermelon and squash doing well. onions are softball size. Strawberries, elderberries, mulberries too. I know theres more.
Now why? It has rained for two days and nights. Now we will have several days of high heat. My glads and marigolds, sunflowers etc are huge. Its been weird weather.
Today hubs and i got at it and built a kitten pen on side of the cabin. Thank God they are staying in.
Taking boys and their buddy to local state park beach tomorrow. Hike group meets for hike Sunday.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Well, we finally got some rain. It was nice, yesterday. Only in the upper 80's. We didn't even have to turn on the ac. Today, is a different story. It's been raining all morning, and it's so humid. We're back under a heat advisory for the rest of the week. 104 heat index, today.

I walked down to the volunteer garden late yesterday afternoon to check on everything. To my dismay, something had eaten all of my cucumber plants down almost to the ground. All the tomato plants are still good, and have baby tomatoes on them. They look really healthy, unlike the ones in the raised beds. One of the new squash plants died, but the other one is coming along, slowly. Green beans are loaded, but the vines are already dying. Planted too late, but I might manage to get a good mess off them. Even a couple of my new azalea bushes I set out this Spring are looking diseased. The leaves all look a pale yellow. Looks like a blight or some insect infestation. I don't see any insects. It's just been a bad year for everything we've tried to plant.

I cooked out more ground beef from the freezer this morning. I'll can that up tomorrow. I've got loads of laundry to do today, and house cleaning to do. I think I'm going to can up at least 2 more cases of pints, and start eating what I've canned already. Then, I'll can more as we eat a case. Keep all of it in a good rotation within a year. We do eat a lot of ground beef. It's Cary's favorite, besides steak.

Cary ordered me two replacement gaskets for my canner this morning. I wanted to have those in storage in case I need them in the future.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Sheree we got that Captain Jack's organic spray and it did an amazing job! It's 6.77 at Walmart I think.

Cary bought something or other, yesterday, for the gardens at Walmart. I haven't looked at it, so I don't know what it's for. All of our tomatoes have a virus that's causing them to develope brown rotten spots all over them just as they are ripening. Plants are all dying, too. Everything is dying, so I don't know if anything will help at this point. It's just too hot, and we didn't work the gardens good, before planting (soil needed a lot of work). I'm ready to just give up gardening, again. I'm sick of these raised beds. If we can't do it with a tiller the old fashioned way from now on, I'm done.
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Several years ago, when I was still working, I collected hurricane/oil lamps. There are two styles that I have several in different colors. Where I lived then I had a nice place to display them, but living here in a tin can the best option was to put them in DH's china cabinet. I'm trying to clean out the china cabinet to store canned dry goods so they are handy to the kitchen. So what to do with the lamps. DH built a shelf in the bedroom, that you see right when you walk in the door, to put the lamps on. He made it very secure. Last night I went to check out the shelf and DH had put several of the lamps on the shelf, it looked so nice with all the bright colors.

Its nice what with all the things going on to have something pretty to look at. Now if I could just get all that clean laundry folded and put away.

In digging out bulk items from my pantry room to vacuum seal I found two bags of whole almonds. I was afraid they might be rancid, but no, they smell perfectly fine. So they are all vacuum sealed.

I had two cases of 1/2 gallon jars in my cart on wm.com, well they came up for shipping, so I ordered them. This size is perfect for many things, including crackers and cookies.
 

Barry Natchitoches

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Well, we finally got some rain. It was nice, yesterday. Only in the upper 80's. We didn't even have to turn on the ac. Today, is a different story. It's been raining all morning, and it's so humid. We're back under a heat advisory for the rest of the week. 104 heat index, today.

I walked down to the volunteer garden late yesterday afternoon to check on everything. To my dismay, something had eaten all of my cucumber plants down almost to the ground. All the tomato plants are still good, and have baby tomatoes on them. They look really healthy, unlike the ones in the raised beds. One of the new squash plants died, but the other one is coming along, slowly. Green beans are loaded, but the vines are already dying. Planted too late, but I might manage to get a good mess off them. Even a couple of my new azalea bushes I set out this Spring are looking diseased. The leaves all look a pale yellow. Looks like a blight or some insect infestation. I don't see any insects. It's just been a bad year for everything we've tried to plant.

I cooked out more ground beef from the freezer this morning. I'll can that up tomorrow. I've got loads of laundry to do today, and house cleaning to do. I think I'm going to can up at least 2 more cases of pints, and start eating what I've canned already. Then, I'll can more as we eat a case. Keep all of it in a good rotation within a year. We do eat a lot of ground beef. It's Cary's favorite, besides steak.

Cary ordered me two replacement gaskets for my canner this morning. I wanted to have those in storage in case I need them in the future.
The electric canner needs replacement gaskets?

…. Sheepishly asking for a friend…


Where did you get them?
 

Barry Natchitoches

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Cary bought something or other, yesterday, for the gardens at Walmart. I haven't looked at it, so I don't know what it's for. All of our tomatoes have a virus that's causing them to develope brown rotten spots all over them just as they are ripening. Plants are all dying, too. Everything is dying, so I don't know if anything will help at this point. It's just too hot, and we didn't work the gardens good, before planting (soil needed a lot of work). I'm ready to just give up gardening, again. I'm sick of these raised beds. If we can't do it with a tiller the old fashioned way from now on, I'm done.
Don’t give up gardening because of this year, SB…

This is a TERRIBLE year for growing veggies in our neck of the woods.

I remember the summer of 2007 - it was just as hot and dry, from the second week of April right into the fall.

If that had been my first year gardening, I think I would have given up too…

But I had 10 years experience growing by that time, so I knew to just wait till next year…

We have had lots of great growing years since that horrible summer of 2007…

Hang in there.

Maybe you should just pull the plants out of your raised bed right now, put some good soil amenders into the soil (finely chopped fresh - chemically UNTREATED - grass clippings, used coffee grinds, too old powdered milk, epson salts, etc) and then just wait till the end of August, when you can replant the bed with little lettuce, cabbage, broccoli and spinach seedlings from the local gardening store, or plant something like leaf lettuce seeds or turnip green seeds if you miss the opportunity to purchase the little plant starts.
 

skwentnaflyer

Veteran Member
Speaking of canning, I found a couple of half size canners at a garage sale and grabbed them. Nice flat bottoms, very little use. One was a Presto, fairly old, the other was a very new Mirro.

Ordered a gasket for the presto and gave it to my daughter. Behold, she's come by twice to get cucumbers for pickles! I guess it being the half size makes it less intimidating.

I'm going to hang on to the mirro for another month and try to sell it. It's nice and shiny, barely used, but boy is it thin walled. The weight is kind of a snap together plastic and metal deal, not something I've seen before.
 

ioujc

MARANTHA!! Even so, come LORD JESUS!!!
Well, it's Wednesday, the day new sales come out at the stores. After perusing the ads, I find nothing that particularly stirs my interest or that I would even consider at the current prices!

Oh well, I guess I can spend the "excess" (LOL!!) money on food for the livestock. Speaking of which, one of my goats.....my billy, apparently succumbed to the heat yesterday. He did have some strange marks on him, which leads me to wonder about several things......but he is now gone. He was not showing signs of any problems in the past week, but there it is.....

Also had one of my rabbits apparently die from the heat also......not really surprised, the heat has been suffocating for me also, and that is WITH the A/C!! From about 3:30 to 6:30 PM, the sun just cooks this RV. It gets up to about 83 or 84 in the afternoons. I am anticipating today will be hellacious, since it is barely cool in here this morning at 4 AM! The heat and humidity combined are KILLER!! Dan Dan and I will probably break out the pool again today and soak and play for a bit this afternoon. Don't know how this RV is going to work out.....HOT during summer and FREEZING in winter!! Had NO IDEA it would be SO MUCH FUN!! (NOT)
Oh well, you know what they
say, what doesn't kill you makes you STRONGER!! Just makes it fun along the way, eh??

The baby chicks are now about 2 months old and they are going OUTSIDE TODAY!! They will be fine in the coop and I will get them acclimated to the nesting area. They should have no issues with the heat, as they have been in an UNair-conditioned room, that gets sunlight all day.

My garden is doing "OK," as I have mentioned before, some of my tomatoes are looking GREAT, and some look spindley. Cukes are good, in a partially shaded area of the garden......gets sun about half a day. Still watering about every other day....... peppers have not even come up this year, I only have about 3 total!! Used NEW seed too!! Have MORE to do and trying to get a fall garden ready to plant. I should have an excess of tomatoes and cukes, as well as HOPEFULLY cantaloupes!!
We will see!! NOTHING like what I thought my garden would be like this year!!

I did use mesh bags to protect my grapes and elderberries, we shall see how that works......looks like it is keeping the majority of the bugs off, except for some very talented spiders. They just don't seem to be getting ripe????

If I am reading the 'signs' right, there is a large herd of deer bedding down in my yard each night. I have not mowed the grass at all this summer, and there are smashed down round places everywhere in the tall grass.......they also have eaten all of the sweet potato slips and ALL of my beets from spring.

I do plan on at LEAST one deer this fall!!

Well, no need to go shopping except to get scripts and animal feed....probably will wait until tomorrow, as they are saying a small (10%) of rain today, however, if I filled the back of the truck with grain, it would DEFINITELY cause a down pour!!

Hope all of you are having a wonderful morning and enjoying your caffeine starter like I am mine!! GOD bless you each and everyone!!!

Maranatha!!
 
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Barry Natchitoches

Has No Life - Lives on TB
All of the nurseries here close up pretty soon. So if you want a fall garden you have to use seeds or maybe order online.
Many years of failure in the garden. Sad but true. But it helps to learn so when it's a good garden year.
Lowe’s, WalMart, Kroger and Home Depot carry fall transplants in my area in late August - the proper time to plant them in my area - until they sell out.

Don’t they do that in your area?

Plant nurseries are not the only stores to sell plant starts, at least not in my area.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
The electric canner needs replacement gaskets?

…. Sheepishly asking for a friend…


Where did you get them?

My DDIL has the same canner, but hers is much older, and has been used more. She had the lid gasket to fail the other day, so she had to order a new one. It must have been a defect, cause it shouldn't have failed already. I told Cary to go ahead, and order me two just to be on the safe side. I'll have to get Cary to give you the link, though. The replacement gaskets aren't that expensive. $10, I think.
 
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