Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 27, July 06, 2012

[Ellendra]

It's Friday once again, and our regular gardening threadmasters still seem to be MIA. If anyone has the gardening ping list, or if anyone can get hold of JADB and have her send it to me, it would be much appreciated. In the mean time, I'm going to try and rebuild the list. That's going take a while.

Welcome to the Weekly Gardening thread! Fell free to jump in, whether you're a master gardener, or have never touched a seed in your life, this is the place to have fun and learn! It's impossible to get off-topic, since this thread can range all over the place. So, pull up a lawn chair, grab yourself a lemonade, and join in!

[Petruchio]

BTW, I was on the missing Ping list too.

[hoosiermama]

It’s been hot, hot, and hotter. All four of rain barrels are really low. Invested in a couple of soaker hoses earlier in the summer.

Work only in the morning because of heat. Am picking burpless cuck, zuch, green beans. Dug some new potatoes and onions whenever needed. Have harvested garlic, beets. Pumpkins and squash are gigantic.....watermelon doing well.

Church started a Praise Patch have been supplying members and those in community in need. Those who can donate a little for the local food bank others a gratias. We’ve named our garden the Annex as it suppliments the churches.

We need rain so badly for the farmers. Corn and beans drying up.

[rightly_dividing]

I picked up some Habanero salsa at HEB thinking that it wouldn’t be THAT hot. Well, it was. Ouch!

[Augie]

Hot and dry here in Central Missouri. Today will be the 10th straight with a daytime high over 100°. Still no rain. Not good.

[Ellendra]

Added you back in, thank you!

[afraidfortherepublic]

No, I don’t have a list of the Garden group — just a Wisconsin interest list.

[Ellendra]

Afraid has the Wisconsin ping list. Not quite the same :) But thank you.

[who knows what evil?]

I should NOT be on the garden ‘ping’ list...thanks! :-)

[Ellendra]

Ok, I’ve removed you. My apologies.

[who knows what evil?]

No apologies necessary...I USED to be on it, but had requested that I be removed. Just want to make sure you have a ‘clean list’... :-)

[Darth Reardon]

Here in the Tampa area it’s getting pretty close to summer. The daily rains should have kicked in by now, but I’m still watching the dark clouds pass over me like a normal late spring. We got several inches one day from Debby, which was appreciated, but other than that it is dry.

I’m doing a better job this year picking my figs. I think I’m getting more than the birds are. Forgot, again, to treat for rust, so I suspect all the leaves will fall off and I’ll only get one crop.

Waiting for one last tomato to start to ripen and I can pull up the last plant. Got four varieties started for fall. Now if I can just find some plant labels that can make it through the season maybe I’ll be able to evaluate the different varieties.

Two years ago I planted a couple peach and a couple apple trees. Not long ago I removed the stakes. I was tired of dealing with them every time I mowed. Figured if a storm came through I could always stake them again, but overall it would be less work. Two days later the stakes were back in.

Only real issue I ended up with from Debby was that my bananas’ leaves got shredded.

[greeneyes]

Thanks for the thread,and the ping. Between AFTR and rightly dividing I can’t think of any more. Maybe Red Devil still has something somewhere that will help.

I really miss seeing this thread in the AM. Whew the heat and drought is really stressing everyone and the garden. It is making me feel more and more that we need to spend the bucks to put in a cistern and catch as much water as we can during the rainy season.

If the temps keep rising, we may have to have air conditioned green houses to raise food! LOL.

No produce this week from the garden. Everything is dying. Blackberries have dried up without ripening. Rose hips on Rosa Rugosa are suffering (it is planted at the wettest spot on our lot). Leaves are turning yellow and dropping off trees. Wild Polk Salad is doing great under the shade of the butternut tree.

Praying for rain. Have a great weekend. God bless.

[momtothree]

Hi, RD! I notice you mentioned not knowing what to do with Habanero peppers. I found a really interesting recipe for Habanero Hot sauce-Liquid Fire if you want it. We ALL know you are spicy enough already... but if you would like it, I can post it to you. Hugs, Mom

[CynicalBear]

Thanks for the ping. I do want to stay on it. I’ve been incredibly busy what with putting up the new house on the 2 ½ acres we bought, still maintaining my garden here and managing the RV Park which is totally full. Don’t have much time to contribute but do take time to read the thread. I’m so glad I put up the shade cloth over the garden this year. Plants are doing great rather than wilting and dying from the sun and dry conditions. Watering lasts a lot longer under the shade cloth.

[Oshkalaboomboom]

A few years ago I grew a Tabasco and those little pods are hot hot hot! It was prolific. I used just two of them in a pot of red beans and they made it pretty darn hot!

We use Tabascos to make our own sauce. I fill up a jar with Tabascos, cherry tomatoes, garlic cloves and apple cider vinegar then stick it in the fridge for 6 months to a year, depending on how soon I need more. Then I put the mix into a blender and puree it. I adjust the thickness with more apple cider vinegar, add a bit of salt and end up with a wonderful homemade sauce. This is our first season growing Datils but odds are they will also end up in a sauce. Still looking for a recipe but I'll probably try to copy what is used in a commercial hot sauce called Datil DoIt.

I also grew a Habanero Pepper plant and did not know what to do with them.

The vast majority of our Habaneros and Ghost Chiles get dried out. Thanks to this blistering hot weather I've been letting Mother Nature do most of the work. I put the freshly picked peppers on a paper plate, stick the plate on the dashboard of a car that is sitting outside all day and walk away. It usually takes 1 day to dry out Ghost Peppers and 2-3 days to dry out Habaneros. It's easy to tell when they are ready. If the skin of the Habanero feels leathery and still a bit pliable leave it in until it is completely dry. Once you dry them out I use a mortar and pestle to grind them into a powder. Hint: make sure you are wearing a dust mask or the fine powder will get into your nostrils and drive you crazy. If you don't have a dust mask improvise by using a paper towel draped over your bowl and a hole for your grinder. If you want you can first break them up on a plate and separate out some of the seeds for future crops but nowadays we just grind them up seeds and all. We keep them in sample jars and other small jars like baby food jars with those little spoons you use for samples of ice cream. That way you can season your food to taste.

We also pickle some peppers and soak them in Vodka. Gives a whole new meaning to the words "flaming shot."

[afraidfortherepublic]

I have notice a clear vacancy of US in the flyover midwest whining and moaning about our drought!!!!!!

That is true. That is also typical of mid-westerners. We don't complain much; we just do what has to be done. I was pointing that out a couple of days ago to the mid-atlantic folks who were tsk-tsking about their derechos with their uprooted and broken trees. I commented that we've had straight line winds for years in the mid-west and everyone just called them straight line winds, or straight line tornados. Nobody in the mid-west had to come up with a fancy name like derecho! LOL

[KosmicKitty]

Finally got out my husband's camera to take some pictures of my garden AND actually uploaded them so I could share. I do everything in raised beds and grow bags due to a very large black walnut tree in the yard. So FWIW, my little Connecticut garden

Corn - first year trying it. Keeping Mr Raccoon out is not easy

Purple Kohlrabi - I've done kohlrabi before, but not purple

Red Sails Lettuce - last of it for the summer

Escarole - also first this year

Kale - I have two types this year. Forgot to get the Tuscany kind seeds - oops

Celery - some is going into a creamy celery soup in a few minutes - you can see my fennel and Swiss chard too

Thai peppers - I'm going to have 100's in a few days as I have 5 other plants!!

Tomatos are setting fruit. Already picking some Early Girls. The closest is a Black Krim

Lastly, Collard Greens. Last year I picked some on New Years Day!! You can also see the huge catnip plant that makes my kitten herd very happy.

Thank you for letting me share. My friends aren't always that thrilled when I send them garden pictures. Next week I'll try to get the herbs and flowers including two huge shrubs of oregano.

[Arrowhead1952]

This heat has shut down their pollination ...

Same here in the central Texas area, but we have a large pile of tomatoes on the counter top. Peppers have also shut down, except for the jalapenos. Cukes are still doing OK.

[momtothree]

KosmicKitty.... your garden is just stunning! Everything looks so wonderful!

[Red_Devil 232]

I like your style. I have a few dried Tabascos left and may try a sauce with them - same with a bunch of frozen Jalapeno and dried cayenne peppers.

Problem is my wife is really adverse to hot spicy foods. Drats!