WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD JUNE 23, 2017

freerepublic | June 23, 207 | 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. Planting, Harvest to Table(recipes)preserving, good living - 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.

[Ellendra]

My garden isn't producing as well as it usually does. Mostly the result of neglect, I've been so busy with the chickens and with trying to earn some extra money, that I haven't been weeding as much as I should. There have also been several delays with getting my field tilled up. The tractor is working, but the days I have off work, it's almost always raining!

The way things are going, I'm just hoping to get it tilled in time for the fall-planted crops.

I may be picking up a new hobby soon. I found a book on at-home wine making. Normally that wouldn't be of interest, I've never liked the taste of wine, it always tasted like mold. But, twice this spring I tasted wines that I actually liked. No moldy flavor at all! I'm determined to figure out how to replicate that. And if I get my berry bushes all planted like I want to, I'm going to have plenty of ingredients :)

Just for fun, here's a pic of the chickies playing:

[MightyMama]

...well, I’m gonna quit feeling smug about my day’s preserving prowess. :D

Went blueberry-picking with the Kid (we don’t have any producing yet, but there’s a farm near us with the best-tasting berries I’ve ever had) and got three gallons. One gallon for the dehydrator and two for jam. I tinkered with a sage/white wine flavor for one batch of blueberry jam; it came out pretty tasty but needs about twice as much sage, I think.

My backyard veggie garden is giving me about a pound and a half of squash per day so far, and the cherry tomatoes are juuuuust starting to ripen, which will be a whole ‘nother level of busy. (Thanks to the Kid, we have three phases of summer around here: “DON’T TOUCH THE TOMATOES”, “okay, you can have some tomatoes for a snack”, and “PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE EAT SOME TOMATOES”.)

[Black Agnes]

I did NOT know that about bok choy. I adore chinese cabbage salads alas.

I am definitely going to freeze a bunch of blanched stuff though, we do a LOT of stirfry stuff when we have the greens to do that.

[Black Agnes]

The only way I’ve dehydrated blueberries that didn’t drive me nutso was to freeze them first for a couple days and then put on the dehydrator. Otherwise it took daaaaays to get them dehydrated. White wine sounds good with the blueberry jam, I’ll have to think about that when I can some this weekend.

We love squash casserole at my house. I’ve also dehydrated zucchini shreds and made powder for using in zucchini bread recipes.

Now I’m hungry again :P

[mrsmith]

Bookmarking to see what answers you get. The beetles love my plum trees.

[greeneyes]

I never got around to planting the lettuce. Too much rain and other stuff.

[Maudeen]

Doggie Dog and the chickens wouldn’t mix. :)

[greeneyes]

The description in the catalogs and instructions that come with the traps should give you and idea. I don’t recall the particulars.

We just had one trap that we put close to the Rosa Rugosa, since the beetles were totally swarming the rose hips. The other stuff they haven’t really bothered since we put out that one trap.

I’m thinking the Rosa Rugosa may be sort of like a “trap” plant having such an attraction that they forget about the other stuff, but that is sheer speculation on my part.

[greeneyes]

Wow, that’s some tall bushes.

[greeneyes]

Thanks for the picture. Nice birds.

[MomwithHope]

I have a rosa rugosa too and its the only thing in my yard that had Japanese beetles. I just hit them hard with a hose in the evenings and that seems to keep the numbers down. Plus we have a lot of insect eating birds they help too.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

A blurry picture of our Supper Salad (I made 2 on 8" plates) this evening with kale, lettuces and zucchini from the garden. Leftover roast chicken (No one we knew!) chopped HB eggs and avocado & croutons. I am doing a 'Garden Produce Challenge' with some of my girlfriends and we're seeing how many days out of the year we can eat directly from our garden or eat something we've preserved/frozen ourselves. Bonus Points for ANYTHING 'local' that you've purchased thrown in there, too! Since I have a freezer full of meat (venison, bear, wild hog, fish just caught in Canada-Eh! and 30# of ground beef & one more roast from our steer) I am also seeing what I can use up from the freezer every day, too. Thanks to Pollard for the photo-sizing info. *HUGS*

[tubebender]

Cute Chickens :)

[tubebender]

Looks too damned healthy to me...

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Got your message...and now that I see your post I am SO JEALOUS!

When I had my other farm, and lived a few miles up the road from my (ex) in-laws (I divorced their son but kept THEM to this day!) they were SO generous to me and their Grandchildren.

It wasn’t unusual for me to find 5-gallon buckets of grapes or apples or asparagus on the back porch in season.

Now that I’m establishing a bigger and better garden at my ‘new’ (1900!) farmstead, I could USE a few buckets of goodies on my porch for the next few years until I can get my production levels up to snuff! :)

[tubebender]

I was so proud of my 2 !/2 quarts of Blueberries and then someone says they picked 15 gallons of them...

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“Also eating and blanching and freezing baby bok choy.”

I always forget to plant that! Can I do a fall crop here in Zone 4/5? When should I start the plants ahead of time? Can they take any frost?

It would be a lovely alternative for soups and casseroles versus the KALE I usually have coming out of my ears each year, LOL!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Re; Your blueberry varieties - Patriot? And I can’t remember the other really big one. ‘Chandler’ produces big berries, but not sure on the height.

We’re adding blueberries, for sure. We have a TON of Black Cap (wild) Raspberries and wild Blackberries as well. Beau actually took the big mower and mowed paths to the best picking spots, so that’ll be fun later in the season.

He also has Black Cap canes that grow around our mailbox, but I make him keep those under control so the Mailman doesn’t get all scratched up!

You know, for someone that HATES wild roses, and will mow them over with abandon, (I LOVE them for the hips in the fall) he sure is NUTTY over the other PRICKLY cane ‘junk’ that grows wild around here!

*Rolleyes*

[Black Agnes]

What great birds!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Interesting! I have never seen a leek bloom - I’m too busy washing them and then caramelizing them for later use on top of flat breads and pizza!

Our bee population is pretty good around here, but it can always be better, for sure. ;)