The Old Guy's Garden Record

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Friday, August 7, 2026

I'm not getting any gardening done, but also keep busy filling bird feeders and such. When "our hummingbirds" have their second bunch of babies leave the nest, things get busy at the feeders. I went to two 32 ounce feeders this year that I now have to fill each day! As some of the birds will soon begin their fall migration south, I've upped the sugar in their nectar a little beyond the usual 4:1water to sugar ratio to allow them to put on weight before beginning the migration.

Things will begin to slow down at the feeders towards the end of this month. But we'll still have migrating hummingbirds at our feeders well into October.

We leave a bit of dogfood kibble on our back porch for our dog. But we now have possums visiting the porch most nights to feast on the kibble. Possums are non-aggressive and eat lots of bugs, so we don't bother them.

We still have transplants on the back porch that probably will never make their way into our garden plots. But it is what it is. I'm currently not physically able to garden. But I'm using up the flowers where I can.

Speaking of flowers, we have a beautiful Pinto Salmon geranium growing in a planter over our cistern. I keep being impressed by how hardy and productive of blooms this variety is.

Even if I'm physically able, I probably won't get to plant our East Garden plot again. Over the last decade or more, I've cared for an 80' x 80' area for melons, sweet corn, and other space hogs while keeping the field mowed. The land owners now want their farm renter to take over mowing the field. My agreement was with the farm renter whose equipment is too big to farm the small field. He's been happy to not have to mow it. I suspect the land owners have some plan of developing the barn, pond, and field.

And, we have a data center going in about a mile away. At a recent community meeting, the data center company said all the right things about potential noise, water and electrical useage. We'll see.

Wednesday, August 5, 2026

I've received a couple of notes of concern from a couple of regular readers of this site.

I simply didn't get a garden in this year due to some weather and physical issues. I'm waiting on word from a doctor on whether or not I have a serious condition.

In addition, our TV went down, then our washing machine, and the monitor I use to write this site. We now have a new TV, and I just got a used monitor online today. The washing machine is still down after a month of fighting the Home Depot's warranty service.

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Contact Steve Wood, the at Senior Gardening