Posted on 05/18/2012 5:59:55 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232
Good morning gardeners. JustaDumbBlonde asked me to post the thread this morning because she and her Husband are out in the fields harvesting their wheat. Looks like they will have good weather.
I hope all of your gardens are doing well. My gardening efforts have been scaled back this year to a 6x6 raised bed planted with eight of my three favorite tomato varieties. I am also continuing to pursue my Homebrewing hobby and will be brewing up a Honey Bee Ale later this afternoon and also bottling a Cranberry Mead that I started last November with a cork popping planed for this up coming Thanksgiving.
If you are a gardener or you are just starting out and are in need of advice or just encouragement please feel free to join in and enjoy the friendly discussion. Our Freeper community is full of gardeners, each with varying interests and skill levels from Master Gardener to novice.
Weekly Gardening Thread
Thanks Red. I’m in pretty good shape for the shape I’m in ;(
So much good news on the thread today!
My ‘invisible’ tomato growing off-the-decks project, knock on wood, is going gangbusters. I have at least a hundred little fruits, and have harvested some amazing ripe ones.
You are welcome! Did I disturb your slumber this morning with the early post?
I must have missed it, but what is your ‘invisible’ tomato?
We have strawberries!!!! When I checked the garden on Wednesday they were still green, but Thursday morning there were about a dozen cheerful red berries just begging to be picked! And more of them today, too.
My backyard garden isn’t doing as well as I’d like, but it’s growing. The peas have blossoms on them, and the radishes are plump. I’m curious, has anyone else grown Golden Midget watermelons before? They seem to be short on chlorophyll, the leaves are yellow even though the plants around them are fine. The watermelon vines also seem to be lacking in vigor. I noticed that last year but thought it was a nutritional thing. I’m not so sure anymore because other plants should have been effected too. Maybe it’s the variety?
I was reading the thread from comment 50 upward, with NN’s certification, then tube’s birthday and your new ale, all fantastic news and then it darkened a bit, so I want to apologize to upthread gardeners who had not-so-great-news also.
Invisible tomatoes are planted in large containers on the deck, with the plants forced between the balusters and dangling down to the ground so you pick your tomatoes reaching up from the ground. In the containers all you see is flowers, herbs and whatnot. I’ll take pics tomorrow when the sun comes out.
You can post these threads as early as you want but I won’t log in til 7AM BT (that’s Benderville time). I forgot to mention that everything seems to be slow here in the garden and the greenhouse and the sun doesn’t seem to have the intensity this year which is possibly related to diminished solar activity? Is that even possible?
Happy Birthday Mr. Bender.
Now, don’t get caught up in any black holes or alternate universes ;)
Have you considered hydroponics?
Blue tomatoes have more the of stuff blueberries do which we're supposed to eat or drink or at least buy more of.
Every year I grow a very small quantity of wheat planted by birds that crap wheat kernels on my driveways, sidewalks, or garden.
I wait until it matures and turns golden, then pull off the heads, and crumble in my hands, and save the grain, discard the chaff. If I do not eat it immediately, I store it in pill bottles. Then, I eat the grain whole.
Thanks for the tip - I’ll look into it!
Hi, Red! Did you use an ‘old ping list’?
Do you think a small greenhouse would help?
| Location | Start Partial Eclipse |
Start Annular Eclipse |
Max Eclipse |
End Annular Eclipse |
End Partial Eclipse |
% of sun diameter covered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crescent City | 5:07 pm | 6:23 pm | 6:26 pm |
6:28 pm | 7:35 pm | 97% |
| Albuquerque, N.M. | 6:29 | 7:33 | 7:35 | 7:38 | 8:36 | 97% |
| Redding | 5:11 | 6:26 | 6:28 | 6:30 | 7:36 | 96% |
| Zion National Park | 6:23 | 7:31 | 7:34 | 7:36 | 8:37 | 96% |
| Lake Tahoe | 5:15 | 6:29 | 6:31 | 6:32 | 7:37 | 95% |
| Chico | 5:13 | 6:28 | 6:30 | 6:31 | 7:37 | 95% |
| Eureka | 5:09 | 6:25 | 6:27 | 6:29 | 7:36 | 95% |
| Grand Canyon | 5:25 | 6:33 | 6:35 | 6:37 | 7:38 | 94% |
| Yosemite Village | 5:18 | 6:33 | 7:39 | 92% | ||
| Sacramento | 5:15 | 6:31 | 7:38 | 92% | ||
| Las Vegas | 5:23 | 6:35 | 7:39 | 92% | ||
| San Francisco | 5:15 | 6:32 | 7:39 | 90% | ||
| Monterey | 5:18 | 6:34 | 7:41 | 88% | ||
| Palm Springs | 5:26 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 86% | ||
| Lancaster | 5:24 | 6:37 | 7:42 | 86% | ||
| Downtown L.A. | 5:24 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Malibu | 5:24 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Griffith Observatory | 5:24 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Burbank | 5:24 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Woodland Hills | 5:24 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Chatsworth | 5:24 | 6:37 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Santa Monica | 5:24 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Alhambra | 5:24 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Arcadia | 5:24 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Rowland Heights | 5:25 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Ontario | 5:25 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Anaheim | 5:25 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Oxnard | 5:25 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 85% | ||
| Long Beach | 5:25 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 84% | ||
| Redondo Beach | 5:25 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 84% | ||
| Palos Verdes | 5:25 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 84% | ||
| Huntington Beach | 5:25 | 6:38 | 7:42 | 84% | ||
| San Diego | 5:27 | 6:39 | 7:43 | 83% |
I used the list I have always had with the new additions added since JADB to over the thread. I did miss two that JADB had that I didn’t have.
Gotcha. JADB had removed me from the updated list...I got a ‘ping’, and thought maybe my computer had a ‘glitch’of some sort...
Indigo Rose? I am growing those this year for the anthocyanins, which are supposed to be of benefit to people dealing with insulin resistance syndrome.
Does she know you were removed?
She must have...I haven’t received one over the past seven or eight Fridays...just one of those things, I guess.
ROTFLMAO!!!
Thanks RD. It will most likely be cloudy and it’s just as well because people don’t realize the danger in watching...
Julienne tomato and mango
Julienne tomato and banana
If you have a little space, a small hydroponics setup may work.
Hydroponics May 2012
Hoophouse gone wild:
Cukes and beans:
We've already harvested summer squash, peppers, and zucchini. Acorn squash, ebony squash, and cukes will be ready to start harvesting soon. The melons and corn will probably be ready in mid-summer. The peanuts are so-so. About half the plants look chlorotic, even though I've amended the soil with ferric sulfate and super phosphate.
We've already suffered an attack by the deer.They jumped the fence in a small enclosure by the back door to the house and ate the Morning Glory......missed the grape plant though ☺. I think we have a rabbit in the neighborhood too.
The ducks have been nesting like crazy. One duck has already raised two clutches of 6 ducklings each, and the second female duck is currently sitting on another clutch. It looks like we'll have duck in the freezer this fall.
What are the dimensions on your raised beds?
Okry planted and watered in this morning. Five varieties, five rows. It should be interesting to see how our new garden in the way outback does. I did not invest in a drip system and timer yet, I ran soaker hose down the rows and will manually start and end the cycles. If we leave town for a few days, I will put a timer on it though.
How do you avoid powdery mildew? If I plant cukes or melons or squash, one fairly rapidly develops it and infects the others, but my cukes seem to come down with it first.
Cukes are my favorite crop to watch grow, but I’ve never harvested one, no matter how many vines I plant.
Arrowhead can grow them fine, and we have nearly identical climate and soil conditions. I have a little more wind than he does.
Don’t crowd your plants they need to have good air circulation. Plant where they will get the max sunlight. There are powdery mildew (PM) resistant cukes one is called “Diva”.
You can spray your plants with a mixture of milk, water, baking soda and dish washing soap. 1 part milk to 9 parts water a couple of drops of soap and a tablespoon of baking soda. The baking soda raises the pH which makes it difficult for PM to survive. I don’t know what the milk does. The soap is there as a surfactant to help the spray spread and cling to the leaves. It is best to start the spraying before PM sets in. Reapply once a week. Spray the tops and bottoms of the leaves.
If your plants are already infected with PM - apply a fungicide.
Sorry to hear about this. Hope you and your Mother get better soon. It’s almost never too late to plant bush beans. LOL.
Of course, the lettuce and garlic are the main spring crop growth, but I plant them in late fall in a sheltered location, and top with a row cover. Just finished pulling all the garlic.
We have eaten all the lettuce, except one plant which I have allowed to bolt to eventually collect seeds. Strawberry crop is just about finished.
All the tomatoes have been transplanted. I have seeds for a few varieties that I will plant directly in the ground.
Rosemary, Tarragon, Lavender, and Stevia have been transplanted to a sheltered location as well. I will be sowing a bunch of herbs in the front of that bed.
Next week, I'll finish the newest raised bed, and begin to plant the corn, beans, and melons.
Hubby has been busy cutting down trees to make way for some more fruit trees, and has planted about 140 tomato plants. Have a great week. God Bless.
When you cut it. Bind it into sheaves, and allow it to dry in the open or in a shed with plenty of air circulation. It is important to get the harvest, drying, and separate the wheat from the chaff done and avoid rainfall during that time.
I just use the blender or an electric coffee grinder to make the flour as I need it.
You are going to have an okra forest soon.
Especially not with the fire ants that are going to be all over them!
The two in the foreground of the hoophouse are 10ft x 10ft x 12inches deep, and the one at the end of the hoophouse is 12ft x 12ft x 12inches deep. If I were to do it again, I would make them 12ft x 2ft x 12inches for easier access down the center.
I haven't had a problem with powdery mildew (yet)....[knocking on wood]. My biggest problem is the deer.
Thanks! I’m going to be doing some improvised processing this year but, in the future, I hope to have small scale machines to handle annual needs. Winnowing in front of a fan is probably just exactly what I’ll be doing - thanks again!
WOO HOO!!! Congratulations, FRiend... I know you worked very hard for that designation.
Hope you had a nice celebration this weekend! :-)
Your garden photos are awesome. The fruit looks so luscious...
How do you avoid powdery mildew?
I haven't had a problem with powdery mildew (yet)....[knocking on wood]. My biggest problem is the deer.
Surrounded by miles and miles of houses and roads, deer are not a problem for me. Hard to believe when we first bought this house cows and horses still grazed at the end of the street. Now all you can see in any direction are miles and miles of houses and roads. The wildlife pestering my little garden are squirrels and birds.
This morning I will be spraying for powdery mildew which has attacked my threeYamato Sanjaku cucumber plants. They are in an earthbox. In the earthbox next to them are three truly prolific Baby Cucina cucumber plants which are not infected. Directly across from them at the edge of my ground garden are two more earthboxes. One has three Sooyow Nishiki cucumber plants and the other has three Suyo Long cucumber plants. Off by itself is a 15-gallon pot are four sprawling Spacemaster plants. Along the patio are twelve Diva cucumber plants. Thus far, only the Yamato Sanjaku plants are infected. Go figure.
I'm going to try Daconil which is supposed to be a broad spectrum fungicide. Will let you know how it works out for me.
Thus far, the only difference between the plants is the Yamato Sanjakus get a bit less sun. Maybe the variety, the shade or both have something to do with the infection.
BTW, my Baby Cucino, Suyo Long, and Spacemasters have been producing for three weeks now. Baby Cucino seeds are expensive (ten seeds for nearly $5) but plants are so prolific and cukes so tasty the price is worth it. Suyo Long cukes will produce thick fruit to about two feet. I've been picking them early but now that the fridge is full have let them continue to grow on the vine. Last year I picked some which were well over two feet and still very tasty. Spacemasters produce thick, eight inch cukes. The skin does have a slightly bitter taste. The Yamato Sanjaku, Sooyow Nishiki, and Diva's are just now starting to produce fruit. First year to grow them.
When I built mine I made them 4'x4'x1' deep. The idea at the time was
1- simplicity. A sheet of 3/4" plywood split down the middle, then ripped into 1' strips would make frames for 2 boxes.
2- EZ maintenance. By being 4' square you can reach the center from any side with ease for planting & weeding.
If I ever build another set of raised beds I would keep them 1' deep, but make them long. Maybe 20 - 24 feet long. As for width, I would make it the width of my full size rototiller + 1" clearance on each side. Then I could blast through it in the spring in one pass and be ready to plant.
We had thin clouds to filter the eclipse late yesterday but people who took the time drive a few miles up 299 had unrestricted views. Despite the clouds it was obvious we were experiencing dimming sunlight.
Your welcome. Keep me posted about how it goes, and the effectiveness of whatever equipment you get.
I did not notice anything here in Midland.
Happy belated Birthday, tubebender.
That is an accomplishment. I’d never be able to pass the identification part. Congratulations.
OH YUCK. This morning I noticed a fire ant bed at the end of my 16 door raised bed. They are so feisty when then are disturbed. I’ll take care of them tomorrow morning, as soon as it’s daylight.
I’ve been picking green beans, salad stuff, cukes, squash, tomatoes, green beans and hubby is humming hisself happy, picking all that okra. He picked some today and said they may have to be fried. I don’t eat okra...but do cook it for him and his buddies. My red and green yard long beans are beginning to dangle, I’ll pick them in a couple of days, I let them go about 12 to 18 inches, no more. They are very tasty. I have them travelling along a bent 10 foot rebar. Looks neat. One bean, I’ve forgotten the name, but it’s in a pot, with a cucumber. I’d run out of rebar, so put two tomatoe frames together and they are climbing that. Looks kind of neat.
I have some purple tomatoes, but they have yet to bud. I’m really looking forward to the fruit. Gardening is exciting, when something new is growing, and you’re wondering what it will taste like.
It's sad, isn't it. When I lived in your neck of the woods, my plants were attacked by everything that could attack them, aphids, vine borers, tomato cutworms, everything......
Of course, I did get quite a few Pecan and Loquat trees. The squirrels would constantly raid my neighbors trees and bury the seeds in my yard.
Well I can understand RD as I have been through Midland and I didn’t see anything either...
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