WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD VOL. 35 AUGUST 31, 2012

Free Republic | August 31, 2012 | greeneyes

[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 ... there is no telling where it will go and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us!

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[bgill]

Yeah, I’m concerned. I don’t know that hot pepper would help since I’ve squished some on the H-O-T peppers though I haven’t seen any damage.

[rightly_dividing]

I used to get upset while towing my ute trailer too, it would wag back and forth at 53mph. Other people would be flying with trailers doing well over the 70 speed limit. Why can't I go 70? Well, after a little searching I got it figured out. The trailer's front end was up, the trailer was catching air under it. I changed the ball mount to a lower one and that solved the problem. When we moved the trailer to Tx, I ran with everybody else on the road and the trailer tracked perfect right behind the truck. Now both my trailers have a slight nose down attitude and tow well at speed, well enough to get me a 73 in a 55 zone ticket! Just a thought, you could have something else wrong.

I know your dog was happy to see the old homestead, and you too, to see your pears.

[greeneyes]

I’m afraid you are right about too little too late. All of the great crops my Hubby planted died long ago. I only have 6 stalks of heirloom corn that might make it in one of my raised beds.

Watermelon and Iraquois melons are still going, but very small compared to past years. Perennial herbs are looking good. Harvested a bunch of Tarragon today.

One amazing thing - I have 3 clumps of leaf lettuce that actually grew during the drought, and are now ready to harvest. They were in the shade most of the day, and I watered them daily.

[rightly_dividing]

We have collard seeds to go in this weekend where the okry has been. We didn’t do a soil sample when we started that patch, so we really don’t know if it will grow or not.

[greeneyes]

That’s the beauty of the spray. one or more of the other ingredients may be effective.

[greeneyes]

I don’t do soil samples either.LOL. I just work in some healthy amount of compost and hope for the best. Sometimes I put some egg shells in the space where I plant tomatoes and melons, and use a little liquid fertilizer when they are blooming and making fruit.

[Sarajevo]

Thanx for opening the thread, greeneyes.

We still haven't had a drop of rain in the central Texas Hill Country. It seems like all the weather systems track around us, leaving us high and dry.

Pumpkin, peppers, okra, and greenbeans are growing well. We also planted some new tomatoes, kale, carrot, cabbage, radish, and kohlrabi. I'm waiting for the peanut plants to dry out so we can harvest them and see what we got from that experiment.

Has anyone heard from "JustaDumbBlonde"? She's been away for a couple weeks now.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Check Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.
rareseeds.com

[rightly_dividing]

We just threw together this garden patch on short notice. For our main garden this year we did a soil test. The soil was 5.0ph and no nitrogen, so we added what they recommended and had a better crop this year. This little garden area is not to far from our main garden, so I suspect that the soil is pretty useless also. When the season is over, I am going to till in some store bought compost and hope for a better crop next year.

[greeneyes]

You are welcome. We are going to try for some peanuts next year, and make our own peanut butter.

Someone last week said that JADB was in the path of the storm, and probably frantically trying to get everything prepared for the worst.

Again prayers up for all.

[greeneyes]

Thanks, I will definitely check them out if I don’t get enough seed corn from what is remaining.

If I get any corn, I am thinking it might be kinda drought resistant, so I am hoping to get a few ears at least.

[metmom]

Thanks. That’s a big help. I don’t think we have any Oxi-Clean but I do know that we have trisodium phosphate.

[Red_Devil 232]

Hey thanks for that tip on towing. I was suspecting very flexible springs to the weight distribution of the load in the trailer. When were leaving Meridian the trailer was towing great at the speed limit of 60 mph and then I hit a rough spot on an overpass and things got wild. Even slowing to 55 the trailer would sway but was acceptable. The drive was very tiring for me watching the slight sway. Peggy was in her car following behind me with her hazard flashers on to warn traffic we were slow movers.

[texas_mrs]

I'm now only getting okra, lots of black-eyed peas, bell peppers and a few hot peppers. I still have tomato plants, but they haven't bloomed in awhile. Been too busy to bother with them. My green beans still look good, but the pods are pretty empty, the beans aren't maturing. I probably need fertilizer.

I remember last year when the whole garden died due to the drought, all I had left was okra and the green beans, which weren't producing beans AT ALL and I blamed my husband getting yard fertilizer on the garden. The plants were beautiful, but not producing. After fall set in though, they began producing very well and they were tasty, too. SO, I'm hoping as it gets cooler this years green beans will produce again, as well.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

[greeneyes]

We are hoping to get a few beans this fall too. Tomatoes have quite a few blooms. Main problem this year has been every single tomato disappears while still very very green.

I think the squirrels have been eating them for moisture.

[tubebender]

Prayers to you and your wife Red...

[Red_Devil 232]

Thanks Tube! I think I will be making more frequent trips to the ol’ homestead from now on. The guy we hired to mow the grass was mowing a commercial property across the street from my property. He had been mowing it for years and agreed to mow my yard at least once a month for $50. He mowed it 3 times since April which we paid him for but had not mowed it for at least two months. Disappointing to see when we drove up. He has one of those zero turn commercial mowers and could mow my property in 20 to 30 min. Me with my mower takes a couple of hours if the grass is manageable.

[greeneyes]

poobear has requested to be deleted from the garden list. Thanks.

[Cindy]

It’s probably a carpet beetle — the fuzziness gave it away.
They are found in gardens and in houses.

http://buginfo.com/article.cfm?id=42

SNIPPET: “The beetles we more commonly think of when we speak of “carpet” beetles are some very small ones, most with sort of a checkerboard pattern of black, white, and orange colors on its back. This is the adult stage, and in a sense this is not the stage that you need to worry about, because the adults do not feed on wool fabrics. Instead, they feed on pollen and other plant tissues outside in the garden. However, since little carpet beetles only come from bigger carpet beetles, then the adult beetles are unwelcome in the home too.”

More photos and info here:
http://www.livingwithbugs.com/carpet_beetle.html

[bgill]

Thanks, but no, that’s not the critter. This one has the markings of what my pic was but isn’t hard shelled. Also, no white. Just orange and black. I used the wrong word with fuzzy, it’s more like those sticky out bumpy things on caterpillars, sort of... like rash bumps but pointier??