I got my garden tilled this morning. I've made a lot of improvement this week. Tilling is like a cleansing, like a renewal, its getting a clean fresh start.

I'm afraid though, that my 30 yo Craftsman front tine tiller is on its last legs. Its puffin burnt oil smoke. I can keep adding oil but that's a sign it doesn't have much life left.

I'll plant the rye and austrian pea tomorrow.

Rick, if your weather is anything mine, I doubt you will be getting anything up in your east garden. I was only able to get my turnips and rutabagas up because I was here to wet the soil often. The insects are feasting on them, but other than that they look pretty good. I need to do a lot of thinning, but for now I am letting them shade the ground hopping to lower soil temp.

I hope to plant more greens, but neighbor told me that our water restrictions have been tighten to no outside watering. I will call and check before I plant anything else. I have a 12 volt pump and can haul water from the pond if I have to, but if that is the case I will wait till winter gets a little closer. I want to have a little reserve food growing just in case.

Rutabaga on the left, turnips on the right.

Lynn, I have about a 20 year old Poulan Pro, made by the same company that made the Craftsman. I put a 6.5 HP Harbor freight motor on it a few years ago for a little over $100.00. I don't know what a new tiller would cost, but It might be worthwhile to repower your old unit.

That's some mighty good lookin rutabaga you got there , turnips too. You got a mess of greens there now from the rutabaga.

I have to pay a water bill over east so it's probably just as well I 'm not there to water everyday.

I sowed some more turnips and rutabaga over at Jennifers. We're gonna try to water about everyday now. She's on well water. And we got most everything shaded/mulched too.

Rick

Well, I call out water department and was told "no outside watering at all", that really hurts my fall gardening plans. I would really like to start 2 more rows of greens, so I have to try to come up with the water get the seeds to germinate, and to keep the plants alive through fall. I only have 3 possible options, and none of them good.

Larry, IDK if I'm enough of a mechanic to trade that motor out. When I get into projects like that, they just never seem to go like they're suppose to. There's always complications.

Here's a pic of the winter cover on my garden on this day in 2014 with a rabbit sitting in the middle of it, enjoying the day. Pic was taken from inside through a screen. I just planted seed today . I hope we have a late freeze to give it time to get going.

Lynn, I glad you fattened that rabbit up, he probably thought he had died and gone to heaven.

I don't think I have ever got a cover crop that early, it seems as tho I still have things growing. With our watering being cut off we wont have things growing long this year.

I can relate to not being able to do the things we use to. My wife needed to go to Ft. Smith to pick up some medicine, she came back into the house to tell me that she needed a tire aired up, which I did, but I could not see the pressure gauge well enough to tell if it was sitting on PSI, bar, or whatever. I had to get an old style pressure gauge out of the truck to tell what the tire pressure was.

The Harbor Freight 6.5 hp engines are now $160, and the more I think about it, I might take this project on. I priced new rear tyne tillers for $900 to $1100, small 16"ers that would be good for my small garden.

I could see where the new engine would probably bolt on to the frame just like the old Briggs/Stratton. But what about the belt drive ? The drive shaft from the new engine would have to be the same distance from the tynes as the old one ? What about taking the pulley off the old engine shaft and putting it on the new one ? Whats involved with that.

I've had a rabbit living in my backyard for the past 2 months or so. Its very tame, doesn't run unless I get real close and then it just hops away slowly. IDK if its coincidence, but I took the basil plants out of the garden last week and I've not seen the rabbit in a few days.

Living in a housing addition, any wildlife is appreciated, except for rats.

Lynn, unless your tiller has a centrifugal clutch, which I doubt, it has to have a lever to activate the tines. Which makes swapping an engine easier. You may have to change the drive pulley because the old shaft may be S.A.E, and the new China engine may be metric. Its no big deal to get a new pulley. The pulley should have a key way and set screw, most have an allen head set screw. Is your tiller a worm, or chain drive?

There should be you tube videos to show everything you need to do.

I went to check for water. I may have to spend a little money for PVC fittings, but I think find enough water on the place to keep a small garden going till rains come. It is going to cost a lot to haul water for a garden, but I want to have that ability. I should have been storing water before it got to this point.

A larger problem is it is so dry that the timber is starting to die, and grass and brush will burn like gasoline.

Jennifer I have apparently needed rest as well. Saturday I did nothing outside of animal care and eat.

Larry, I"m pretty sure my tiller is belt drive.

If its as simple as taking the belt off, unbolting the old engine, and putting the new one in its place, then I'm all in on this. My concern was if the dimensions would be the same.

But my current engine is still running, its not burning a lot of oil, that I can tell. I will run it until it runs no more. My only reason for a new one is if a rear tyne would make the job easier. But I have concerns about manuvering a rear tyne in my small 20' X 25" garden

Lynn, nearly all larger tillers have a belt drive as the first stage of power transfer. The Mantis and all of small tillers have a centrifugal clutch and a worm drive.

This is my tiller, this was one of the cheaper ones about 20 years ago. I paid $519.00 for it back then. This is a very easy tiller to use, it has counter rotating tines, meaning the tires are slipping most of the time. The tires rotate forward, the tines rotate backward, it wont lunge forward if the tines hit a solid object.

This picture shows the gear options, it only has forward and reverse, the tines only turn if the tiller is going forward.

This picture shows where you change gears and tighten the idler pulley on the drive belt to make it go forward or backward. The small lever under the handle grip is very easily pulled up to activate the gear box. This tiller will till a 17 inch path and has the taller tires, 16" I think..

If I had to buy another tiller, I would go with the same design if I could find it, I might go with a better built, but this one done a great job so far.

If you don't have a fence around your garden the rear tine is much easier to use.

I had a Troy Bilt Horse, but gave it away, they are a very good tiller, but hard for an old man to use because they are so heavy.

I will be happy to help you if I can.

I'm guessing a rear tyne tiller needs a forward and reverse gear ?

My Dad had a big full size Troy Built. He passed in 1996 and it sat in his shed for years as my Mom just could not let anything of his go. But it was far too large for my garden and my brother sold it when we moved Mom out of the house.

My best bet is a new motor on my old Craftsman as I don't know how many more years I'm gonna be gardening. I don't need another 30 years from a tiller.

Lynn, it sounds like you are on the right track. If you have a front tine tiller now, and like it, you need a good reason to change. I had a front tine tiller many years ago, and planned to keep it for the rest of my life because it was so easy to maintain, but I loaned it out and it never found its way back home. I retired and moved out into the country, and had a much larger garden, and the rear tine tillers did not cost a lot more than the front tine, that is how I switched over to the rear tine tiller. I am glad that I made the switch, but I think that if I had still had my old tiller, I would have used it as long as I could still keep it repaired. It was made back in the 1950's

I dug 4 sweet potato plants this afternoon, it looks like a bad sweet potato year for me also.

Far right is one hill of Covington, center is one hill of Red Wine Velvet, top left is another hill of Red Wine Velvet, bottom left is a hill of purple sweet potatoes.

The Covington is my old favorite. I had my sweet potatoes stored in our spare bedroom, and let friends and family go in and pick out potatoes when their stash at home got low (with the exception of the RWV, which seem to be harder to store ), and I ran out of the Covington and did not have any seed stock left tor slips.

I had given my neighbor 150 Covington slips the year before, so I had to borrow some potatoes from him to make slips with this year. That one hill of Covington will make me more than enough slips for next year. I might add that I got the Covingtons in several weeks later then the other potatoes because I had no potatoes for slip making.

If I can get the hang of storing and slipping the Red Wine Velvet, they may become my new favorite.

This is the area where I had the flash flood and a lot of my top soil washed away, and many plants were just hanging on by a few roots, and it looks like some hills wont have any potatoes in them at all, plus the dry summer was rough on them.

Not too shabby.

Rick

I think drought sucks. So does a flood. Why can't we just get a normal rain.

Guess I'll be trying to grow something under row cover hoops this winter,

if I don't have to fire up a propane stove under it.

Rick

Yes, Rick, our weather has been a little on the rotten side the past 2 years, but the weather has not been the only rotten thing happening.

I wish I had, had a well drilled several years ago when I was first checking on one. At that time I could have had a well and pump for around $3,500, I am afraid to even price one now.

With all the bull going on over seas, and here also, propane may become like gold, food also.

I am thinking about sitting a 275 gallon tote in the back of my truck and hauling water from my well on the back side of the property and parking it by the garden to get some seeds started. This cutting all outside watering off has really kicked the props from under my fall gardening plans.

I am going to be short on winter squash and sweet potatoes, matter of fact I am short on about everything because of the drought. I have over 800 feet of rows of turnips planted in the wildlife garden, but they may not live till we get rain. The turnips I have in the house garden I can haul enough water to keep them going.

I had a wonderful day off of work yesterday and was able to get many little things done.

We've had an issue with ants in the kitchen--just really around the sink area and the counters on either side of the sink. Wondering if it's the drought bringing them in...?

I cleared off the counters and cleaned really well. I'm trying to keep the compost bowl emptied everyday and the sink clear of dishes. Anything to help, but I'm not sure if it will. We're trying Zevo spray. It's supposed to be safe for pets and children.

The racks for garden produce were put away. The jug with the kombucha and SCOBY are in the pantry. Hoping that is an okay place for it.

Other than that, I cleared off the stack of papers, gathered some sage and have it bundled and drying, started getting the herb cabinet organized again. Stuff like that. It always feels good to be organized.

Has anyone here made their own apple cider vinegar? I did not get that done yesterday, but it's something I do want to try. My apples this year are a little small. They are tasty, but just very little. So, I'm going to cut them up and make vinegar.

The drought. Ugh. It's gotta end, right? Probably the week I have outdoor community events planned...and I'll have to deal with moving 1000+ people indoors. lol

Rick and I are watering everyday. The ground is just so dry. The cracks are huge.

I've decided to keep a garden journal. Noting thoughts about this year in the garden.

The fall cucumbers are making fruit, but the vines look so wilty and sad.

And the peppers! I cannot figure out what is wrong with them other than lack of rain. They're being watered about every other day. The only time they looked good was after the rain we got a few weeks back. Their production isn't good at all. I don't think it's the soil because peppers are planted in several places on the property.

Some of the fall seedlings look great and others not so much. A couple of trays just never sprouted at all. The strangest thing.

Several cabbages look great (I can't remember the variety) and a few of the broccoli. The Prize Choi, kale, and arugula look okay. I'm about ready to put them all in. They are sitting in trays in the hinged hoop. Maybe this weekend. Honestly, I'm going to give them a spray of Bt. Insects around here are out of control. I don't have a lot of time to handpick loopers right now...and I don't have a great love of them. I think they're kinda cute, but normally feed them to the chickens.

Probably on Friday, the sweet potato buckets will be dumped and the curing process will begin. I'm excited to see what we get. I'm hoping for a couple dozen. They were put into three 5-gallon buckets and three mineral tubs. Rick and his roomie don't eat them often--just need some for the holidays, but I put them in many recipes like black bean, sweet potato enchiladas and soups all year.

You know, I'm really missing my Seminole pumpkins. I haven't grown them since 2019. Next year they may come back to my garden.

Chickens are doing fine. Still laying eggs but have slowed down some.

Thinking ahead to the 2023 garden often.

Hoping we aren't so dry next year. If we are, it might change a few things in my garden planning.

I really miss rain. I like a good, non violent thunderstorm. Especially during the night. Helps with sleep. I'm missing the rain and cooler temps so much that I've started listening to ASMR videos. There's one that popped up as a suggestion for me--it's something like "Staying in the Good Witch's cabin in the autumn". There's a day version and a night version with a rain storm. There's two black cats too---so I rather like it. I'll put the 'day' version on when I'm home alone (rare) and the rain storm version at night.

It's time to get back to my work. Still have a couple of hours here.

Take care friends. Pray for a nice, soaking rain.

I think maybe drought or whatever we're going through, can drive pests inside. A month or so ago, I found a cockroach in our shower. In 30 years in this house, we've never had a problem them. I think it came inside looking for moisture.

I have a strategy for ants in the kitchen. I get everything off the counters. Then in places about 4 foot apart I put down a dollop of some jelly or preserves or something sweet. Then just let it be. Let the ants find it and they will form a caravan taking the food back to their colony. I can follow that and find where they're coming in the house. I then spray that area with some kind of ant insecticide like Raid or something and seal off any opening they're crawling through, using silicone caulk or duct tape.

And of course, I spray them on sight anywhere on the counter after I've followed their trail.

A typical spot is around water or drain pipes under the sink. Other than that, it will be some where near the foundation where they've found an opening.

And then around the outside of the house, I use this termiticide.

Taurus S/C

Its made for termite treatment but it also kills ants. Its a bait and does not kill them immediately, the termites or ants take it back to their nest and it then infects all the others.

I use a little 2 gallon sprayer and go around the outside of the house, where the walls meet the ground. I spray 2 or 3 feet up the wall and 2 feet out on the ground. I also spray the eaves of the house. But not all houses have large eaves.

In 2020 I had carpenter ants nesting in the eave of the house. I talked to a pest control guy. He said he uses Taurus S/C. I also called the State agency that regulates pest control people and they confirmed that Taurus S/C was widely used. I sprayed the eaves of my house and from that day on, I never saw another carpenter ant. It really works.

As this stuff goes, its expensive but highly effective. I paid $50 for a 20 oz bottle and it will go bad before I use it all. I've never found it in smaller containers.

The active ingredient is fipronil. There are other brand names using fipronil like Termidor S/C. Taurus S/C is 9% fipronil. There's others available in retail stores that are just 1% fipronil and not as effective, one brand of that version is Combat.

I try to treat the outside of the house twice a year, but I get lazy and don't always get it done. Or I get pneumonia :) and don't get anything done.

Thanks, Lynn. I've passed that info onto Tom.

I’ve gotta a couple of cucumbers ready. The leaves are so wilty, though.

What kind is that

I cant believe its 42 degrees outside. I got up and ask Madge if the grass was wet ( she usually gets up before me ) she said that she had no idea, why? I told her that I would like to go brush hog if the grass was damp. When she told me the temp I changed my mind quickly.

I have a bad case of cucumber beetles and blister beetles. When I have blister beetles I always hit them with the hard stuff because they just wont stop. This is the first time I can remember having them on food crop, but that is about the only thing left to eat.

Kim, it's a Persian cuke. I really like them a lot. Only a couple got bitter and it was at the end of July when it got so hot. I pulled them out shortly after.

I just can't figure out the wilty leaf situation. I decided to give them a drink of MG. Normally, I don't use it, but have an old bottle. I really want these to produce so I can ferment pickles again.

Lynn, the ants we have are so tiny. You almost can't see them. In fact when I first discovered them, they were all over the butter. Which sucked because we all know how expensive butter is right now. (We use a stick of butter within a couple of days, so we just leave it on the counter in a covered butter dish.) The little ants were able to get around the cover on the butter dish.

Someone called them sugar ants. They are a pain.

I'm about to head home. We are going to a Greek Festival tonight. I would rather not, but Tom really wants to go. I figure it's better to go out and be social tonight and that way we'll have the whole day tomorrow to work on projects around the house. I want to get my Halloween stuff up...and maybe buy a few pumpkins.

Pansies? Has anyone seen them in the stores yet? Is it too warm for them?

I started a few from seed at the end of June but only 3 made it and they are so small still! Weird.

Also, want to see what the sweet potato situation is. Can't wait to dump those buckets tomorrow! Hoping for the best!

And will probably plant some of the brassicas. Maybe look for some collards. The collards I started from seed never germinated.

Lots to do tomorrow! But, it will be my kind of day.

I got the area near the well cleaned up enough to get my rtv in close enough to use a 12 volt pump to pump water to the two 55 gallon barrels i had in the bed. It took a while to get about 80 gallons of water, which I hauled to the south garden.

I will try to improve on my water delivery system, but this will keep my greens alive, and also be good enough to get some seeds germinated.

I have taken out one row of okra, which will give me room to start a row of mustard. I had mustard planted next to that area a few weeks ago, but the armadillos dug them up. I may have to run a tiller through the soil and kill the earth worms so the armadillos wont be temped to dig this planting of greens. I will try first with out tilling, I may even try running a hot wire low enough to shock the armadillos. I have never tried that, but I do have pretty good luck with an electric fence.

This cooler weather, and maybe the pacemaker is helping me feel better, I hope I can keep improving.

H/J , They sound like what I've always called " pissants " haha ...... they're all tiny, some more tiny than others. To my knowledge, they live in the ground. And there will be a mound of dirt where they've dug their colony somewhere around the outside of the house. There might be a variety that builds nests in the walls, but I don't know that if so.

It seems I find where they're coming into the house, seal it up, and then the next year they find a new way in.

The Taurus S/C around the outside of the house is the best defense. And btw, its only for outside use.

I just lost a post that took about 30 minutes to type out. Not going to try to repeat that. It was depressing anyway.

Did stuff today--garden related and otherwise.

Lots of stuff.

It's way too dry...and I'm stressed about it.

Ants in the house are pissers, Lynn. LOL

It's probably good that I lost that post. Because I feel "over-it" right now. Don't want to be discouraging to anyone else.