onion harvest

so it is time to harvest the onions,

the tops of most of them have fallen over,

but a few are still growing,

but I want the space more, and they are mostly done anyway,
so here is 3 rows of the onions all pulled up

you are suppose to let them dry out in the field,
or harvest them and let lots of air through them as they dry,
I don't want to leave them out due to things eating them
so I took them all inside and am going to hope they dry out well there.

and here is my 3 empty rows that are going to get all fixed up and replanted

now time to go plan what to plant (I am already sure about planting more potatoes here)

raised beds

raised beds are the new thing lately and are getting more popular every day

so why don't I use them ?
the plants do great in them

and the gophers can't get in if you do it correct (hardware cloth on the bottom, and metal flashing on the sides)

so they would seem perfect,
but they are pricey, and they don't scale well.
everything I am doing can be done on a much large scale. just because I don't have lots of room now does not mean that I will not ever, so I only do things that I can do on a much larger scale

the original reasons for raised beds are that they thaw out faster in the spring that the regular ground (if you are in an area with a harsh winter), and they have very good drainage (for if you live in a very rainy place)

I have neither of these issues, so make them kind of pointless

there are a few other reasons people have them, like rocks for dirt, so they just build new soil in them,
or trying to keep gophers out,
but mostly it is because it is the fashionable thing to be doing.

so if you do make raised beds, first ask if you have any of the issues they really fix

now for something totally different:
here is one of the things I now see every day, my mom made it

deer

deer are a great threat to a garden,
and just because no one has seen one in a long time does not mean they are not out there

deer prints in the unfenced squash plot...

and here are the tops of a potato missing (the deer have to be very hungry to eat something so toxic)

and it is not the only one

they are also eating the squash leaves that are toxic

good thing they have not figured out how tasty the grape leaves are

you can eat deer, and that is one way to keep them from eating your garden,
if the deer eat your garden, then you eat them, it is called a protean converter,
but they are great ninjas, and you have to do pretty good to catch one.

a fence usually works to keep them out,
just make sure they have no where to land if they jump the fence, 
they will not jump if there is no clear landing spot

on another topic:
I found out that a black widow spider died the day that the ants started to die, and all the ants died in that ant hill,
black widow spiders and ants are very resistant to dying,
makes me really want to know what went wrong

here is a black widow spider in case you are wondering what one looks like (and this one is doing just fine)

and here is a kitty that was hanging out near that spider

runner beans

runner beans are fun,

they have large beans,

they are perennial if the roots do not freeze,  

and they are not huge producers, my 4 plants only have the one bean so far,

I have the streamline runner beans growing this year, and they are suppose to be the best producer of them all, but they are still not doing a huge amount
could be all the high heat, quite a few days in a row over 105F
I did loose one plant from the heat (it was wall watered),

and all the rest quit flowering in the heat,
so they might start making more beans later when it cools down,

and the real sad thing about no more flowers is that they are pollinated by the humming birds,
and they are super fun to watch, and they eat insects

I do have hope of more flowers though, because here is one just starting,

so don't think that you can live on the runner beans if you grow them,
but they sure are fun.

and now for something entirely different,
here is my biggest squash at about 12 inches across

BRIX

you can measure the sugar content of liquids with a BRIX refractometer,
here is the page showing mine 
save yourself pain and get a temperature compensating one,

I am all set up to test things,

first run through the calibration to make sure your reading will mean something,

then find something to test,
my first test will be store got table grapes, PLU #4023 should work well

here is my test subject

a garlic press is the easiest way to get the liquid out

you only need a few drops,

and these are at 18% sugar,
I have been told that good table grapes should be at least 20%
and they are some of the sweetest store bought grapes I have had, and they are almost to 20%,
but it does makes me wonder about the bad ones I have had before,

just goes to show that when you start measuring the quality of your store got food,
you might be a bit sad.

I can't wait to test the grapes I am growing, but they are not ripe yet...
now I am going to try checking watermelon (update, it is 10%)

chuffa

chuffa is neat,
also called nut grass or other things (but don't buy it with names like that as they are not exclusive names, and you may get something else),

it grows a tiny sweet tuber under the ground,
click here for pictures of the tubers

they are a neat food crop that it seems not many people are growing now,
many people do have it growing in the lawn, and they make a tasty snack of you are weeding them,

food is very fashionable, and I am not sure how this one got forgot, but maybe it will be the next new thing.

they are a bit hard to grow here as all the animals love to eat them...

new camera

I got a new camera,
so the pictures here should be better now,
but it is not just any camera,
it will also take infrared pictures,
and full spectrum pictures that go past visible each way
here is its web page
http://www.clevelandparanormal.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=69
you can also get it on amazon

I got it to look at the plants (never know when I might figure some new things out)
but it is sold by the Cleveland Paranormal Supply Co.
so I figure that I should test it on something paranormal first...

closest thing I could find is a mass ant die off, it happened between the late evening on july 9th, and early morning before the sun came up on the 10th
the black specks are dead ants

and here it is from a bit further back

and in IR (infrared) mode (not that it helps)

and in full spectrum mode (not that it helps either)

some of the ants are still still living, and they are ignoring the dead,
other ant hills with the same kind of ants near by are doing just fine,
it does not appear as if they were fighting, 
and more of the ants are dying each night, and it is double to triple this morning from what the pictures show,
I have just never seen it before,
very odd,
it is right next to a squash plant, so it is not like they dried out, and I don't use any chemicals at all on anything,
I like the ants for how they help the soil (old ant hills make for amazing soil in the area)
I just don't know what is going on,
enough of that, on to more camera things,

here is my lunch cooking in visible mode

and in IR mode

and in full spectrum mode

here is the overcast sky, and the camera is pointed at the sun

sunflowers in IR

corn in IR

squash in IR

squash leaves and fruit in IR

same thing but in visible

cactus in IR

and in the visible range

and in full spectrum mode

and visible kitties (said as if invisible ones are out there)

and IR kitties

and full spectrum kitties

IR kitties at night (they are under the plant stand)

IR kitty on the steps

and after I turned on my light (it started walking away)

IR squash at night, center frame the ground is wet

so it is looking like all the plants are reflecting most of the IR light,
my guess is to help with the heat issue of being out in in the sun.

here is an inside picture with IR mode in what appears to be total darkness with just looking,

now time to fill the ceramic crock on the left side of that picture with cucumbers and salt,
I hope it will make pickles
or maybe time to set the clock on the camera...