[JRandomFreeper]

I was asked to start the thread because Greeneyes isn't feeling well. Prayers up for her.

/johnny

[JRandomFreeper]

Ping to the Weekly Garden Thread.

/johnny

[skr]

May God bless her with healing.

[JRandomFreeper]

It's been hot here in this part of Texas. I've spent the last week clearing fence line and getting a field ready for some calves, and I'm whipped and scarred from all the briars and barbed wire.

I don't want to do that again anytime soon.

My garden is burning up.

I need cheap shade cloth that I can put up to protect the sensitive stuff.

/johnny

[ApplegateRanch]

This week, we have received 3” of rain, 0.3 more than the entire July average. Unfortunately, it was partially hail, though it looks like everything is recovering from the damage, except the various beans.

We did pick about 6 quarts of cherries from the bush cherry; and have another couple of quarts that will be ready tomorrow, to finish. Also getting cucumbers, but not much else yet.

That gives me a respite to harvest the winter rye...and discover just how dangerous a scythe can be. At least I didn’t need stitches. LOL Also discovered that scything is NOT nearly as easy and effortless as several Youtube videos make out.

Now it’s your turn; take it away Gardeners!

P.S., to keep it coming, if you haven’t already, Click the link to DONATE! https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/

[matthew fuller]

My neighbor and I have been looking for the fall shipment of pepper plants (in Central TX/Austin area) and it seems that they aren’t in the stores (Lowes, Home Depot, WallyWorld, others) yet, and that they are about three weeks late. Has anyone else run across this, or seen their normal fall shipment?

[tflabo]

Greeneyes get well and rest up. Hope your all having at least some measurable success at the gardening ‘thang’ out there.
Always a mixed bag it seems. Yeh we got the Tx heat from hades showing up now—whats new? My cukes were growing just dandy until the oven came along-— I got a total of 4 fruits from 4 vine plants——not a so a good a. Swiss chard in pots is surprisingly good even in the heat but with some PM shade.
Maters were all replacements so have to wait for Fall if I can get them past the scorch of August. Peppers got big and leafy and finally some blooms but same as above. The sweet and cinnamon basil are good, reliable soldiers out there and I salute them before eating them up on their designated food entries.

[Engraved-on-His-hands]

About bedtime here (early day tomorrow), but here are a few pictures from a couple of recent harvest days (plus a sunflower picture). My garden is elevated slightly and tends to be a little dry, so the wet weather here over the last few weeks has been a Godsend.

Squash is mostly gone now, and banana peppers and cucumbers are fading. Purple hull peas are doing really well. Cantaloupe, too. I picked eight cantaloupes within the last few days. Will be giving some away at church. (What I've taken thus far has been much appreciated.) Picked one watermelon. Several more almost ready. Yellow-meated variety a little later.

Green beans are doing fair. Tomatoes are doing well...not the prettiest in the world, but still doing well. First batch of corn is about ready. Okra amounts are modest but steady. Bell peppers are doing well. Baby lima beans and butter peas will be ready to start picking within a week. Have a giant pumpkin starting to fruit. Have some seedlings started also.

Grass and weeds are ready to harvest. A bumper crop as usual, although thankfully not as bad as most years.

Gardening is good for the soul.

Night all.

[Starstruck]

Prayers up for Greeneyes. Canned 9 quarts of salsa yesterday. My 15 tomato plants are heavy producers this year. It’s starting to get hot now so I imagine they will slow down.

[mojo114]

Praying that Greeneyes is feeling well soon.

[Qiviut]

Greeneyes .... hope you feel better soon!

We have been very dry for quite a while so it was a small relief yesterday to get maybe a half inch of rain via a couple of T-storms. The result of that rain was a major June bug hatch .... they’re flying all over the place. The crow family was in the field (where the garden is located) today, catching June bugs - it was rather comical, seeing them jump up and down trying to snag a bug. The two young ones were doing more begging the adults for bugs rather than catching their own. At least the bugs kept them occupied/distracted and away from the tomatoes. Actually, I’m putting up a ‘hoop house’ and have it far enough along to put netting over it - haven’t lost a tomato since the netting went up.

[tubebender]

Thanks for hosting the thread and best wishes for greeneyes. We picked another 1 1/2 gallons of strawberries today that Lady Bender is prepping for Fellowship at Church Sunday. I like them warm right off the plants in the garden. I watered. the corn yesterday and it still has a couple of weeks to go.

[bog trotter]

Anybody besides me seeing signs of early winter?
Here in West MI, I’ve got BLACK berries ripening, mum’s blooming, birds flocking, fruit flies swarming, and several other late Aug early Sept flowers blooming for a couple of weeks.
Scarey, after last winter.

[Rembrandt]

I live in Sarasota, Fl. Surprisingly, there are areas of a house which are difficult to populate with a robust, growing plant. Such was the case with the NW corner of my house which gets a lot of sun and the ground slopes so that the sand filled soil drains very rapidly.

I solved the problem with a Macho Fern which loves both sun and shade and thrives even in drought conditions.

I planted it two weeks ago and it’s doing great.

[Neoliberalnot]

The Lord bless green-eyed lady. It has been a bin-buster year for squash, cukes, peppers, and beans in Missouri. Tomatoes are looking good except for fungus and the danged chickens. Corn is also outstanding but I have to watch for the coons. I woke up at 3 a.m. And had that feeling, so I grabbed the 20 gauge, exited the back door and found 3 coons in the front yard. They scrambled for the brushy border but I downed one. There is an endless supply. Last year I killed 13 in the yard and garden.

[DuncanWaring]

I planted a batch of Italian Red potatoes about two months ago that seem to be about ready to harvest (the above-ground part is dying off).

Two months from now (late September) is well-before expected first frost.

Can I harvest this batch, dry some for a few days, and replant for another crop this year?

Or do I need to do something else?

Or just plant spinach, which grows fast?

[mlizzy]

Many prayers for greeneyes; get well soon.

Does anyone have information on something that works to get rid of whiteflies on tomatoes? And do you know what can be done to prevent the attack in the first place?

[Engraved-on-His-hands]

Today's harvest: about 30 ears of Silver Queen corn, a watermelon, cantaloupe, and a few tomatoes.

[Ellendra]

Hey Johnny! I have a question for you. When making sunflower seed butter, is there anything you add to it other than sunflower seeds?

I ground up some seeds in my new grinder and got something that’s too dry for sunflower butter, but not dry enough for sunflower flour.

It did add a new dimension to my beef gravy, though!

[Augie]

It was a productive weekend at my place.

We bought a new machine to replace Mrs. Augie’s old JD 400 lawn tractor. Decided to go with a Kubota commercial model zero-turn. It is a beast. 25hp with a 60” cutting deck. Should cut our mowing time by half or better compared to the old machine.

And we canned 6 1/2 quarts green beans, 3 1/2 gallons sweet corn and 20 quarts of cucumber pickles.

[trisham]

Thank you! Somehow I missed this thread. I hope that Greeneyes is better.