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WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD VOLUME 25 JUNE 21, 2013
Free Republic | June 21, 2013 | greeneyes

Posted on 06/21/2013 12:40:17 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 ... 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.


TOPICS: Gardening
KEYWORDS: agriculture; food; gardening; hobby; walkingonion
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Summer is here. A great sunny day temperature at 84 degrees. Rainfall so far this year has been good-all the rain barrels are full. Life's good on our little Missouri Acre.LOL.

Still eating lettuce from the spring planting and peppers from the indoor plants taken from the garden last fall.

Spring plantings are coming along. Pests have been minimal so far. Carrots failed to germinate, but the beets next to them are coming along fine. I'll plant carrots later this fall to keep in the winter garden.

Dew berries are starting to ripen and are really big this year. Blackberries must be trying to recover from the drought or something, they are very small this year and not ripening very well. We are just letting the birds have them.

Yucca plants are starting to bloom. Passion flowers are blooming in the blueberry bed. We'll get the seeds this year and plant them in a bed of their own for next year.

Hope you are all doing well, and having some successes too. Have a great weekend. God Bless.

1 posted on 06/21/2013 12:40:17 PM PDT by greeneyes
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To: greeneyes; Diana in Wisconsin; gardengirl; girlangler; SunkenCiv; HungarianGypsy; Gabz; ...

Pinging the list.


2 posted on 06/21/2013 12:42:53 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: greeneyes; All

My squash (zucchini & straight neck) are blooming like gangbusters ... and I have yet to see a baby squash! I’m getting nervous. Too many recipes ... not enough zucchini! We have gotten two out of mom’s garden & picked the first cucumber today.

It has been a beautiful two days here, but humidity is creeping its way back in & the temps will be heating up.


3 posted on 06/21/2013 12:47:05 PM PDT by MissMagnolia (You see, truth always resides wherever brave men still have ammunition. I pick truth. (John Ransom))
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To: greeneyes
Lettuce still good here in SE PA, weather has not been hot yet. Starting to get beets. Also eating swiss chard and turnip greens.

Found a big ol' volunteer tomatillo amidst the taters when I was weeding and hilling them. Moved it to its own spot.

Pulled a muscle in my back from all the hilling and hoeing. Ouch.

4 posted on 06/21/2013 12:47:35 PM PDT by dirtboy
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To: greeneyes

Hi! I’m doing nothing with the garden this year because of my recent surgery. It looks awful. I can’t even mow because I’m still traumatized by my mower accident 2 weks ago.

I was starting to mow the front pasture, which was really long because of all the rain we’ve had. I was proceeding slowly with the blades set up as high as I could set them. Suddenly, thud,, crunch. I turned around and found that I’d mowed over a newborn fawn. There was no sign that that little creature was underneath the long grass.

After talking to people around here (I’ve lived here more than 25 years) I find that this kind of accident is rather common among the farmers when they are cutting hay. But, I amstill devastated, and there is no way I can get to my garden area now because it is surrounded by chest high grass. It will stay that way until Fall.


5 posted on 06/21/2013 12:51:04 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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To: greeneyes

I’m an all fruit cropper this years.. The nets seem to have kept birds and squirrels from feasting while we cruised Alaska.. could be a bumper crop for Asian pears, 3 kinds, and Fuji apples look good too. Bees were around but some of these trees pretty much take care of their own pollenious stuff just fine regardless. Wish I had cherry and a berry or two too.. oh vell


6 posted on 06/21/2013 12:51:14 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi --)
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To: MissMagnolia

Never have I ever had anyone complain that they don’t have enough zucchini.LOL


7 posted on 06/21/2013 12:53:00 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: dirtboy

I had some trash in a garden cart that I was going to burn as soom as it got full. Before it got full, a volunteer tomato came up.

I am not sure what to do with it.LOL

I hear that peppermint essential oil is good for muscle aches and pains.


8 posted on 06/21/2013 12:55:03 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

I am so sorry for your trials this year. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.


9 posted on 06/21/2013 12:56:37 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: greeneyes

Just had a meal at work that featured (fresh from my garden) marinated and grilled zucchini and straight neck squash. We also had cucumbers from the garden. Things are looking good. Last year I had a bad fungus invasion. It looks like I am holding it back this year.

My two adult sons visited last week. Of course they wanted quality time with Mom and Dad. (Taking back home a free motorcycle, 100+ quarts of homemade salsa, jalapeno relish, peaches, and other vegetables, 12 bottles of homemade wine (almond-raisin and jalapeno wine were their favorites), and about 40 pounds of bacon, smoked pork chops and homemade sausage probably influenced their decision to make a detour on their way home from attending a wedding in Wisconsin.)


10 posted on 06/21/2013 1:02:45 PM PDT by american_ranger
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To: NormsRevenge

This year is the first for our cherries, and they are awfully small. Some of our apple trees, and peach trees seem to be suffering, but we have not figured out what their problem is yet.

They may just be too close to the walnut tree, have a pest that we haven’t been able to see, deficient in nutrients, but we did use a fertilizer that is specifically for fruit trees. Hubby is still researching it.

We did figure out what was happening to our Goji berries and bush cherries. After hubby told me it happened again, I went out to look, came back and told hubby it was two-legged varmits-most likely some teenage boys that walk through the neighborhood sometimes.

The plant had obviously been cut with a knife.


11 posted on 06/21/2013 1:02:59 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: greeneyes

I’ve got volunteer squash, cilantro, dill and basil as well as the tomatillos. I don’t even bother buying tomatillo plants or seeds any more, I can count on them coming up as volunteers each year. But the one by the taters was much bigger than the other ones in their normal spot.


12 posted on 06/21/2013 1:05:23 PM PDT by dirtboy
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To: greeneyes

Not much you can do , unless you can catch the kids,, keep watering and such,, the kids, like squirrels, will eventually move on If your lucky, I hate folks that feed them peanuts.

TRY Alfalfa pellets,, a local old timer talk show host gardener swears by ‘em, natural source for nutrients, just work ‘em in and water normally.


13 posted on 06/21/2013 1:07:23 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi --)
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To: american_ranger

Wow, impressive haul, are they pulling a giant cooler? :-)


14 posted on 06/21/2013 1:08:53 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi --)
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To: greeneyes
The New Mexico peppers are moving into bulk harvest mode. I expect I'll be processing a bunch of them by mid-next week.

Tons of green tomatoes, even after losing some limbs from the wind.

The remaining squash after the wind storm are doing well, and I'll have fresh squash tonight again for supper.

Tobacco is doing great, and I'm keeping ahead of the horned tobacco worms, mercilessly killing the little buggers every morning and evening when I find them. They are getting rare.

Everything is doing great, including the dipper gourd plant that I didn't expect to do well here.

Oh, and I have my first baby cantaloupes now, too.

/johnny

15 posted on 06/21/2013 1:11:01 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: greeneyes

My green beans are being decimated this year. I’ve begun to apply hoy sauce/soap mixture. I hope they recover. Little white thingy’s are having a feast.


16 posted on 06/21/2013 1:16:46 PM PDT by UB355 (Slower traffic keep right)
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To: american_ranger
12 bottles of homemade wine (almond-raisin and jalapeno wine were their favorites)

Would you share a recipe or two???? ;)

17 posted on 06/21/2013 1:19:06 PM PDT by Sarajevo (Don't think for a minute that this excuse for a President has America's best interest in mind.)
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To: american_ranger

I would surely visit you as well with all that bounty.LOL
Hubby just brought in the first cucumber this year, and said he had a lot of small ones coming on.

Maybe I’ll get to make some dill piclkles this year. We haven’t had a decent cucumber crop since 2010.

Hubby thinks that the last summer was so hot and dry that a lot of the bugs died, because we have been relatively free of insects etc. so far this year. Thinks the soil got baked free of pests and soil borne diseases.


18 posted on 06/21/2013 1:22:54 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: dirtboy

We often have volunteers in our compost pile too, but I never thought that a mesh cart would be subject to volunteers. LOL


19 posted on 06/21/2013 1:24:47 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Makes sense. Alfalfa is good source for nitrogen.


20 posted on 06/21/2013 1:25:40 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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