What a weird year this has been Gardening Friends Life

I'm not just talking about Covid or Race wars, other things too.

My garden has been so weird this year. Flowers that are normally prolific haven't even grown, yet others I've never seen are bigger than ever.
I usually have a problem with Japanese beetles, but not this year. So many are trying their hand at gardening, and they are putting those bags up, they are all attracting them away from my yard to theirs. Yay!

I've lived in my house for a while, every single year the wasps build their darn nest in the same few place... This year nothing.

Friends that were thought to be in rock solid industries are in fear of losing their lively-hood, while those in shaky industries seem to be doing OK. I think everyone has been treading water but it seem the tsunami is approaching. I fear for a lot of people that have been laid off when that next check doesn't arrive. I see it coming. In my region the evictions have already started.

Commercial areas have been hit hard too. Thriving areas are now all empty. I drove into town and was looking around to see what was still open. There is a business district, and everyone is work from home now. All those surrounding businesses were frequented by business people, for lunch, shopping, dinner, coffee etc. All gone now.

Here's the other weird thing. Hotels seem full. My husband and I are trying to figure this out. We don't know if it is the National Guard, or people that have been evicted.

Obviously, the food supply has been changed. Not just size, but I feel the quality of many items has changed. In the past it was usually just the size, but now I wonder if they are changing ingredients to save money, or that they just can't get it.

2020 will be a year we'll never forget

a reply to: JAGStorm

Yeah, instead of hoarding toilet paper, now they are hoarding toilet bowl cleaner.

I went to the 3 stores in my town. All completely out of toilet cleaner.

Guess everyone had to catch up on cleaning from all that extra sh!tting.

And BTW, it’s cuz Niburu is coming. We are all gonna die. But at least we will be well stocked with TP and toilet cleaners.

I'm not seeing any race WARS. I'm seeing mostly protestors and some that want that as an excuse to steal and destroy. Nope. No race wars in my city. Nice day today. Very quiet. No gunfire. No tanks. No military. Just a nice sunny Saturday like most people in America are experiencing. Tell me I'm wrong.

It's a weird year for sure but to the hotels being full...not where I've been. I just took a road trip from Minneapolis to Coos Bay, OR and all the hotels (6 of them) I stayed in were near to empty. In Portland the hotel door was locked and I had to call to get in. There was a lady in the parking lot remarking how creepy it was, I think there were 3 cars in a huge lot. And this was around 4th of July weekend.

a reply to: JAGStorm

I'll agree about the weird gardening year.

I've been gardening for ten years, and this is the first year that I've had so many pollination issues. My beans won't grow at all, they're usually one of the first things to harvest.

We've only harvested a few zucchini, and usually we're bagging them up for people to take. Our salad box is still huge and thriving despite it being super hot.

Who. Knows.

This may seem odd, but I never really felt the anxiety that seemed so common among those around me “when Life Changed”.

That is until all the Starbucks around me started closing at odd hours (sometimes in the middle of the day), and wouldn’t re-open for a day or more.

I mean, Starbucks!

That’s when I knew, for a fact that the “S” had actually hit the Fan.

And now, for some reason, I keep remembering that scene from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” with Gene Wilder in the boat...

I started tomato and pepper plants from seeds inside this year. They were growing really well under full spectrum LED lights along with one conventional spotlight for heat. When the frost danger was gone I transplanted them outside and they went into hibernation. They completely stopped growing. I moved the plants and soil from the containers all together into fresh topsoil and you would think someone just shut off the switch. After about six weeks some of my tomato plants have finally kicked back into gear but nothing else has. My neighbors put nice plants outside in a brand new garden and they're showing peppers already.

(sigh)

Maybe I should have kept them indoors.

originally posted by: Atsbhct
a reply to: JAGStorm

I'll agree about the weird gardening year.

I've been gardening for ten years, and this is the first year that I've had so many pollination issues. My beans won't grow at all, they're usually one of the first things to harvest.

We've only harvested a few zucchini, and usually we're bagging them up for people to take. Our salad box is still huge and thriving despite it being super hot.

Who. Knows.

I know our season is late, off a few weeks, but I've been gardening a looong time and I know this year is different. Your beans are similar to flowers that I've been growing for decades. They are my go to standard and this year they are very puny.

a reply to: HalWesten

When the frost danger was gone I transplanted them outside and they went into hibernation. They completely stopped growing. I moved the plants and soil from the containers all together into fresh topsoil and you would think someone just shut off the switch.

Even when the frost danger is gone most tomatoes & peppers want hot weather, so what they do is wait for that hot weather.

a reply to: HalWesten

Yeah, tomatoes and aphids are doing well. Tobacco and hot peppers are not interrested in life.
It may be my fault though. The lack of Ph meter and growing in pure compost with woodchips was a bad new idea.

Here's a real agroman

We were hoping the company we work for would be able to weather this year but we just got word that despite cutting more than the amount of spending that was asked for, because of low revenue last quarter it's going to lead to a reduction in world-wide staff of around 6% starting early next year. I'm sure our department isn't going to be safe from this cut so I'm starting to look again. Unfortunately no garden would feed us year-round so my few tomato plants aren't going to help much.

a reply to: JAGStorm

It's not just that.. he transplanted them.. all plants, some varieties more than others, hit "pause" for a time after transplant. Could be three days, could be three weeks depending on variety and conditions.

And that's not the only factor..

What was the light cycle for the led's (his grow room) compared to the light cycle outside?

In all honesty if the tomatoes were anywhere near producing flowers,let alone actual tomatoes. Hal would have been better off moving the containers outside and not transplanting at all..


some things just hate being transplanted, even when they are in their "vegetative" state.

as an example.My asparagus transplants take up to two years before they start "really" producing,

Some things just like to be directly sowed, and as counter intuitive as it may seem for some plants its actually harder to make the transition from indoor to outdoor ,not to mention and putting aside the shock of transplanting..

On a sidenote I have noticed my squash is doing exceptionally well this year, and my yellow and green beans are lagging.. the lettuce bolted early, and my potatoes are kicking major buttocks



Respectfully,
~meathead

That makes sense, I was giving them full light during daylight hours inside. Unfortunately the containers were far too small to leave them in as they grew.

a reply to: HalWesten

Ahh, I pictured them in buckets before transplanting , not the quart sized containers.

Yes you didn't really have a choice then, they had to be transplanted, I would ask more questions but I don't want to pry.




Respectfully,
~meathead

a reply to: JAGStorm

Agreed, the garden's been weird this year.

Flowers that are normally prolific haven't even grown, yet others I've never seen are bigger than ever.

Similar to this, we've had plants that normally do pretty well end up not doing so well, while others that have never really done well have done suprisingly well this year.

the wasps build their darn nest in the same few place... This year nothing.

Same, the wasp nests that're always on the basement door and outside the living room window are absent this year. But, on a positive note, i've seen more honey bees so far this year than I have the last 5 years combined. Less of the weird bumble bees that had been replacing them this year.

All those surrounding businesses were frequented by business people, for lunch, shopping, dinner, coffee etc. All gone now.

Here's the other weird thing. Hotels seem full.

Again same here. Most restaurants and stuff on town are still closed, most od the little touristy type stores are heavily restricted or closed, yet the town's been packed with tourists for about a week and a half maybe two weeks now.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Mushroom season is a a couple of weeks early.

Also the last can of tuna i bought ended up in the trash, would not even give my dog some.. Ugh.. Horrible.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Hummingbirds. Where are the hummingbirds? We had one that abandoned its nest and disappeared. Other than that I haven't seen a single hummingbird this season, and we have several feeders that usually get lots of action this time of year too.

originally posted by: Mike Stivic
a reply to: HalWesten

Ahh, I pictured them in buckets before transplanting , not the quart sized containers.

Yes you didn't really have a choice then, they had to be transplanted, I would ask more questions but I don't want to pry.




Respectfully,
~meathead

Ask away, I haven't gardened in years before this year because a previous attempt on this property failed miserably. At our old house I had great luck.

a reply to: Atsbhct

That's strange. While my cowpeas (purple hull and zipper cream), bush beans, and lima beans are doing awesome, my squash and zucchini did not. I got like two squash and 1 zucchini total, when I'm usually overwhelmed with both—and I planted the same as I always do.

Pears were abundant, until the squirrels....

a reply to: JAGStorm

I've lived in my house for a while, every single year the wasps build their darn nest in the same few place... This year nothing.

I haven't seen as many wasp nests as I usually do, but one thing almost nonexistent this year: mud daubers and carpenter bees. I usually battle with the former every day as they take over and build in the garage.

I usually have a problem with Japanese beetles, but not this year.

The only time I recall those beetles being bad was back in the late 80s/early 90s; however, they are pretty abundant at my dad's this year.

Friends that were thought to be in rock solid industries are in fear of losing their lively-hood, while those in shaky industries seem to be doing OK.

Makes one really reconsider becoming an essential business or service....