Posted on 09/19/2014 12:39:42 PM PDT by greeneyes
Grain is done. Potatoes are done. Onions are still half done; half still green and presumably growing. Leeks haven’t even begun to throttle back. Swiss chard, cabbage, and lettuce are naturally going strong.
We MIGHT get a half dozen tomatoes, though not vine ripe: a couple of bearing plants were not totally killed by frost. I was wrong about the butterbeans; they just took longer to succumb to the frost, with still empty pods.
The corn didn’t survive, either, but most of the ears were already well developed, and will be fine for their intended feed purposes. Just leaving it standing in place to dry on the stalks.
Concentrating on getting our firewood split & stacked; most of it was cut last year, or the year before, so doesn’t need further seasoning. Also getting apples picked; trees are loaded; getting a few pears, too.
How did you kill yours?
I’m in the burbs in Connecticut so shooting the darn thing is out of the question.
Last night dear Hubby put firecrackers down the burrow opening before covering the opening. I think we may have to end up going full Bill Murray on it.
Anyone know where you can get SarpoMira seed potatoes here in the states.
Thanks
I would use an air pellet rifle with hollow point pellets to kill the woodchuck. Be sure the rifle is WITHOUT BLOWBACK. The blowback feature is what makes them loud. I have an air pellet handgun without blowback - they are made both ways. The rifle will make it easier to hit the target. The pellet handgun was enough since my garden was very small.
The garden where I am now is much larger. Hmm, significant other asked me what I wanted for my birthday which is next month. Think I will tell him I want an air rifle. Yep, that’s what I’m going to do. Cheaper Than Dirt gun/supply store is in Fort Worth and not that far from this house.
The garden has not been doing anything other than a few hot peppers. My wife’s flower beds and container are still doing okay, but we have been very dry. The only rain has been in 1/4” increments every couple of days. Just enough to give everything a drink of water.
The last part of the week, that changed. Thursday it rained long and moderately hard, and rained some since. I had an injury to my bad leg Thursday, so I did not go out to the rain gauge to check it out till this morning, Saturday. I had 4” in the gauge! That was needed. I hope that plenty soaked in, not just went down the hill.
Have been making preserves from our pear crop. We have lots of pears so I did some research on other options like simple canning.
Found this interesting website that is a wealth of information on preserves, jelly, canning & cooking. Thought if you had not seen it, you might also want to look at it.
http://headspacecanning.blogspot.com/p/preserving.html
A handful of tomatoes, that is just about over (groan).
But made up for it roasting pablanos and frying peppers. Perfect weather for it, warm with a cool breeze. Nothing like that aroma.
Best crops of snow peas in years, still just enough for everyone to have a couple to munch raw, but more to come next week.
Lettuce and radishes and peppers for a salad tonight along with grilled pizza topped with the last of the garden tomatoes, basil and roasted peppers (yum).
Bok choy and then turnips next week, parships in a couple of weeks.
Butternut everywhere. Some big honkin’ acorn squash.
Some varmint got ahold of the last of the corn, looks like a hurricane went thru it.
nothing on peanuts, however got compost into planter boxes 5 and 6. nothing like carrying 2.5 yards of compost into back yard via 5 gallon buckets!!!!
Weather is much more like fall and summer plants are starting to look ragged. I want to redesign one planter and use it exclusively for vegetables and culinary herbs. The smaller containers can be used for pansies, spring bulbs etc. Roses are in bloom again and will be cutting them back when there are no more flowers. One good thing about this cooler summer is that there was no black spot to deal with.
Checking in. My garden is wearing me out, so much stuff to carry down the hill! Corn needs a little longer, but the squash and watermelons are ripe. Not sure yet about the winter melons, I think they need a bit more time.
Why is a fence not an option? If it’s the cost, I made a “fence” by stringing fishing line between poles to keep the deer out.
If they’d run at it, they would have gone right through it. But instead they approached it slowly. They can’t see well enough to make out an 18Lb fishing line, but they could feel something was there. It makes most creatures nervous when they can feel something but can’t see it, so they avoid the area.
It worked at my garden, at least. There were tracks where they went around it.
Well, you have had some good successes this year, and some are still going. So I think that’s pretty good.
I have one very small patch of potatoes left to dig up. Since the bins are full indoors, I am leaving them a while longer in the ground.
I had some supermarket taters with sprouts, and hubby said if I planted them now they would be ok for next spring. Even if the frost kills the plants, they will restart come spring.
So I cleared a space and in the ground they went. We shall see if he is correct. When I cleared up the space, I found a volunteer tomato that had grown out of the compost can through the one of the air vents. It has flowers. If the weather gets colder, I may cover it up and see what develops.
That sounds like a good thing to ask for. My birthday comes in December, so I get to think a while longer.LOL
Great news about getting 4 inches of rain. We have been a bit dry here too. I still have some rain barrels of water though, and we usually get good rains later in the fall.
I have been reviewing the Baker Creek Seed catalog, and Bountiful Gardens. I let the fall season sneak up on me, and I need to get some stuff planted for the winter garden, but don’t have seeds for some of the stuff.
Sorry about your leg. Hope it is better soon.
Thanks for the link. I will be looking at it later this week when I have plenty of time for reviewing it.
We have some vine peaches which are native melons, kinda bland with a slight lemony flavor. I have found a few recipes for them, but always looking for more. These are the only melons which seem to grow well here, and they are coming up voluntary in several spots.
So I used a bread and butter type pickle recipe, added some red hots, and made a pint of pickled vine peach cubes. I’ll see in the morning if it’s a hit or not.LOL
Tomatoes weren’t very prolific here this year either, but we have had some to eat fresh almost everyday, and about 9 lbs. of romas in the freezer.
I am trying to come up with a salsa recipe without heat for hubby. My first attempt he said it tastes better than store bought. Then he came back and said, that he couldn’t eat as much of it.
After a eating a rather small amount, there’s some spice or flavor that kicks in, and he can’t eat any more. So it’s back to the drawing board. He looked at the list of ingredients, but couldn’t identify the one he was having trouble with.
Any way, I’ll just use a lb. each time, so I have nine tries-like a cat.LOL
Peppers have been great here too. Best year ever for them. My Basil plant is overdue for harvest. It’s in a small pot and has been growing since spring of 2010. I keep harvesting and it keeps on going.
That’s only slightly worse than carrying water in 5 gallon buckets from the side of the house to the back yard garden plots when it doesn’t rain.
I have 14 plots, and they take 8 gallons for each one every week minimum, and more if it’s hot or if the crop is not drought tolerant.
Well, that’s what happens this time of year, when you have had a successful growing season.
I had zero luck with melons the last 3 years, so this year I didn’t even plant them. Hubby planted some, but they were a bust as usual.
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