Posted on 06/17/2017 5:29:37 AM PDT by greeneyes
The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds.
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Sorry to be late to posting. Came in exhausted from shopping trip, sat down, and accidentally fell asleep. Didn't wake up till 5 am today. At least I finally caught up on the sleep deficit. LOL
Garlic now has scapes, so getting closer to harvest time. Usually I have those pulled by June 1. I haven't decided what I'll plant in that space, when they are finally harvested.
I have a volunteer growing in the middle of the potato patch. It appears to be a curcubit of some sort. Most likely a melon or cuke. I'm hoping that it can survive and yield some fruit.
Hope all is well with you and yours. Have a great Father's day weekend. Prayers up for all. God Bless.
One question for everyone in the Midwest; how can you grow peaches in Missouri? Every dang creature with mouthparts eats peaches, from insects, to coons, possums, and deer have destroyed my crop year after year.
My herbs are all in good growth mode. I have a rogue dill plant myself. It’s doing better than the ones I intentionally planted. I got a lettuce mix seed pack this year. There is one plant I can’t identify but it’s growing well. I am about ten days away from daily servings of Swiss chard.
No one can wait for the first sun ripened tomato, but after a long summer and a bumper crop, folks are dropping them on your door step under cover of darkness trying to get rid of them because they don’t want to process them or cant eat them all.
Remember me my lazy friend..
MMMmmmm ‘mater sangwich
Speaking of peaches... I am in North Carolina. This is the first year that my (now 4 year old peach trees) have produced a bumper crop. I have many peaches that have worms that have pretty much destroyed the pit. The worms tend to be around the pit. I want to be on top of this next year, so that I can have some really nice peaches. The ones that I picked that were not wormy were really really good!
Brest method? Critter control
Seals will disseminate the fish
Racoon’s will disseminate the corn
Pinging the list.
I get that part on critter control. Would you care to share specific advice on how to?
Chances are ,according to the damage you stated, that you have an insect known as the ' plum curculio ' which attacks plums, apricots, and peaches.
Insect control is timely application of a control spray, or an insecticide, immediately after petal fall, but before fruit development.
I would suggest you contact the local Cooperative Extension, or Farm Bureau as to recommended control agents,
and approximate timing of a springtime 'dormant oil spray' to minimize any other unwanted insects.
It is very difficult to grow peaches in Missouri. When we first moved to this part of the state, we had a peach tree growing outside our trailer.
Most years, there were almost zero peaches due to spring frost. Once every 4 years there would be a crop. For some reason, nothing attacked the fruit, and I processed so many peaches, I never wanted to see another. LOL
Next to my daughter’s house is a peach tree growing in a subdivision that was formerly a cow pasture. My daughter wasn’t picking it because it had some insects/worms. So I picked a bucket full and took it with me on a vacation trip.
Simply cut off the bad parts, and ate some fresh -put the rest in a little lemon juice, and sugar water, and ate that later.
I’ve read that trees should be sprayed as a preventative measure in February for pests, and fungi. Since we are growing our own food to get away from pesticides, and other bacteria, this is not for us, but so far, our peach trees have produced nothing for critters to chew on.
Aside from birds, possums, coons, and a red fox, we don’t have critter issues. Our dog used to keep those at bay, if they came close to the house, and since the peach tree was right next to the dog/children play fenced area, I have never seen any issues in that respect.
Other places, we do have squirrels, and the afore mentioned critters that get plenty of berries etc. Last year, the corn was planted at the very back of the property, and our dog was missing, and a coon got all the corn.
I have used old pie pans, old computer disks, and the kid’s whirley gizmos that spin when the wind blows to help keep the birds and critters away from the stuff I plant.
Hubby used to live trap the squirrels, coons, and possums and haul them far far away. Now he uses them as practice for his air rifle.
If we ever get peaches, I am thinking that I may just make some sacks out of light weight insect row cover material and put it over the fruit as an experiment to see if that will work.
I’ve noticed since our dog died, that the squirrels are having a great time on the back patio, and I never used to see them there, so don’t underestimate man’s best friend.
About tomatoes: If you have too many, I am more than happy to take them off your hands.
I haven’t had much luck with toms for the last several years, but there is a farmstand in Keremeos that LOVES me, and gives me a pretty good price when I buy 400 lbs. I’m down to my last 15 jars.
My peas are 3’ tall, kohlrabi is spreading, peppers went in the ground yesterday, and the oregano needs a second harvest already. Marjoram is slow this year.
There is a baby bunny that is hanging out in the backyard, too. Grrr.
I always like to let those unknowns grow and see what happens. Last year, I got a very tasty dwarf cantaloupe that tasted great, and a bunch of grape sized tomatoes that produced loads for daily eating.
Direct a few of those my way! We don’t yet have any other than the few I grew this winter from last year’s hacked off branches, which we already ate, and they are done for.
Hi everyone, I finally got several pictures posted yesterday to last weeks thread in case anyone wants to check them out. Should have waited til today. Sorry.
I’m in NC too...Wilmington area. Frost got all my peaches this year and last. Blueberries did well this year, frost got them last year.
I have mostly buried 4 shallow storage bins and planted Pennywort in them. I eat several leaves each day. Internet says an Indian Sultan lived to be 256 doing that.
A regular spring practice in an orchard is to use a 'dormant oil spray', early enough in the season, to suffocate and/or freeze any insect eggs that may over-winter.
Over-wintering either in and under the tree bark, or in the soil.
A spray that uses natural ingredients is Neem oil.
I saw those early this AM. I even tried to copy them onto my post, but it just printed the words, and not the pics.
They are really nice pictures, and thanks for sharing them. Sorry I didn’t get the new thread posted in time for your pics.
That’s a good point. I tend to forget about the Neem Oil suffocation option.
I’m going to have to look into pennywort. I can use all the help I can get with life extension.
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