Posted on 07/17/2015 12:52:33 PM PDT by greeneyes
The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks.
No matter what, you won’t be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table(recipes)preserving, good living - there is no telling where it will go and... that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us!
NOTE: This is a once a week ping list. We do post to the thread during the week. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest are welcomed, so feel free to post them at any time.
Ooooh, yum! I plan to attempt buttermilk ice cream tomorrow!
We went to one of the Baker’s Creek festivals in May about 5 or 6 years ago. It was so much fun! I learned a lot and brought home a bunch of plants. I love their seeds!
Our corn isn’t ready yet. Just started showing silks in the last week or so. Tons of green beans, onions, cucumbers, and peas. Tomatoes are about to pop all at once as well as the blackberries! I’m seeing a lot of growth on the pumpkins! I really love growing pumpkins. Not sure we’ll get anything this year from the cantaloupe and watermelon plants. They just don’t seem to want to take off.
Have fun on your 50th! Congratulations!!
I keep my eye out for cattle panels that I can pick up for not much. My neighbor has a barn full of them so I’m working on him at the moment. Ha! I can think of a million ways I’d love to use them. I just can’t afford to go out and buy that many brand new ones. I’m hoping he’ll let me “borrow” some next year in exchange for fresh veggies.
If I’ve been a little out of touch, blame my work schedule. I can read FR from there, but can’t log in. And most of my non-work time is either spent gardening or studying.
I finally got my potatoes planted a couple of weeks ago! The neighbor still hasn’t plowed, so I got creative. Back when I first bought my land, there was a huge eroded spot where the hill was steepest. I had originally planned to terrace it, but health problems got in the way. When pondering my potato dilemma, I remembered that I still had the supplies I bought to do the terracing, I just needed stakes and fill dirt. So, I got those, put up about a 25-foot long terrace, and planted my spuds behind it.
It still needs some work, the potatoes are barely covered right now, but I should be able to cover them a little at a time now. And they’re definitely growing!
I also treated my corn for earworms by dribbling a little mineral oil in each ear, and I’ve started digging up my garlic. The bulbs seem to really like my soil. A little too much, actually, they didn’t want to come out! I’ve got about half of them dug.
Back to work, now.
Any advice for getting that whitish mold off the zucchini leaves (caused by too much moisture)?
Potato berries. You can either pick them off and toss them, or let them ripen and save the seed.
Actually, if anyone has a stash of seed set aside for SHTF, I’d recommend adding some true potato seed to it. Seed potatoes (the spud) don’t keep for more than a season, but true potato seed can keep on the shelf for years, just like tomato seeds do.
The catch is, while seed potatoes give you a genetic clone of the parent plant, true potato seed is unpredictable. What grows will always be a potato, but there’s no telling what kind or how good it might be. And, it will grow more slowly starting out, which means quite a lag until harvest.
That said, I think it’s fun. You can develop your own varieties and name them whatever you want.
I bought some true potato seed from Tom Wagners a few years ago. They’ve since changed their name, but they still offer it: http://www.tom8toes.com/
Oh, one note: However much potato berries might look like mini tomatoes, DO NOT eat them! There’s debate on how toxic they really are, but no reason to take a chance.
Nice, some of those are very clever and have gotten some ideas brewing. We originally used them for goat fencing in a small pasture. No more goats. Thanks for the link. I bookmarked it.
You are most welcome! I do hope they are helpful! Those OSU extension publications are amazing, IMHO!
I find it absolutely necessary here in SC. The sand here gets so hot you can't walk on it with bare feet. It can rain 2 inches here one day and by the next night it's dry down to 6 inches.
Powdery mildew can be controlled by A mixture of baking soda and mineral oil. Do a google search for baking soda for powdery mildew
2.6” of rain Sunday morning filled the pond right back up to the cut in the dam and it’s flatrocking again this morning.
It will stop raining eventually. Maybe. I hope.
Yes, ate the brandywine and picked half a dozen more. They are nice. It only takes one slice to make a sandwich.
Mrs. Augie and I put up some peaches and started another nine quarts of fermented pickles. I’m hoping that I was able to fill in all the holes that were in the recipe she got from her Russian friend. Time will tell.
Best news from the weekend - the sweet corn is ready. We will founder ourselves on it all week, then have a canning party next weekend.
We went to his house a week ago today (last Tuesday) and took him to the VA clinic in Fort Worth. They had his medical appointments wrong and he had to go there to get them corrected.
He is still a pistol he walked past the sign in clerk at the check in counter, kept going into a hall and down to the man who could correct the schedule. The man said, “Did you check in?” Johnny said something like, “No - this schedule is wrong, fix it.” The man corrected the schedule, and Johnny came back to the lobby and sad, “It's fixed, I'm ready to leave.”
That took all of about ten minutes and we were out of there. If he had signed in, we would have sat in the lobby until they decided to see him.
He goes to see his cancer doctors tomorrow and I think he will get the results of the three MRIs that have been made. No chemo will start again until the results of the MRIs are known.
My opinion of the MRIs is this:
He is better now than he was one month ago. I won't describe how he is better, as that would take up a lot of space. Everything about him is better in all his daily living activities.
If he is better in every way of daily living than one month ago, surely the MRIs will show progress. When I get those results, I will let you know.
He is cleaning out his house of anything he doesn't want or like, and replacing those items with new items he does like. Out with the old bed, in with a single bed he loves. Out with furniture he doesn't like, in with new furniture. When you are stuck at home, home becomes the new goal - fix it the way you want it.
The thing about changing his living space is this: A month ago, I don't think he could physically do this. When you are very sick, you don't think of your surroundings - you just want to feel better. He is better and his surroundings now matter - he is energized to make changes.
Sounds good Augie and having raised goats I am one who knows what “founder” means. LOL
Thanks for posting Marcella. A man’s home is his castle. Feel better every day one day at a time Johnny! Prayers continue.
Thank you for the update, Marcella. Johnny seems to be doing much better.
Just the story about the VA clinic alone is proof of that, but the added part about him improving his home is very reassuring.
Continuing prayers. Thank you again, Marcella.
Thanks for the nees about Johnny.
Thank you Marcella. Making his surrounding to his liking, makes it sound like he has a future. He’s on our prayer list and he mentioned quite a few times a day.
Does he use his computer. Are his eyes better/balance? I truly hope so.
What can I say about central Texas? It is HOT and it is HUMID. My tomatoes and cukes did well, there are still some tomatoes on the vine, but they are small and green. Don’t have much taste. Did make a lot of tomato sauce when they were nice, big and red. The cukes made a lot of friends, as did the cantaloupe. I’m not a canner, but I can freeze just about anything. We’re tearing everything out of the gardens, composting it and getting the gardens ready for fall and winder produce. We’ll wait until September to put things in the soil. I’m putting in a 1.5’ h x 1.5’. w x 20’
long. It’s for flowers, in ground veggies and herbs.
“Does he use his computer. Are his eyes better/balance? I truly hope so.”
I don’t know how often he is using his computer but he now has three pair of glasses to take care of seeing at different distances so seeing is now okay.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.