Posted on 08/31/2018 8:43:10 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. 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 any time-and don't have to be about gardening.
Squash is done for- plant died overnight- army of squash bugs. Still have a few green cherry tomatoes so should get another batch of those.
Sorghum is ready to harvest-have to read up on the harvest, uses, and seed saving for that - new crop for us this year.
No real plans for this holiday - just working hard to get the outdoor projects done before cold weather. Hope all is well with you and yours.
Have a great weekend. Prayers up for all. God Bless.
Pinging the list. Posting and then heading for bed. Really tired. Will be back tomorrow, but posting now in case I sleep in tomorrow.
Add me to your ping list please. Thanks
We are still harvesting corn, cucumbers and potatoes. I was trying to trap the raccoon that was sampling the corn but caught a skunk that I dispatched. It will be awhile before the tomatoes are ready to eat
Could use some of that rain.
Need to start digging potatoes, such as they are, and carrots.
We finally got a meal of wax beans, but Kentucky Wonders haven’t put out any yet, despite plenty of flowers & bees.
The butter beans seem to be producing well; just waiting for them to start drying on the vines.
Plums and apples are ready to harvest.
It’s now a nail biter to see if the peaches and winter squash mature before our first frost.
Need to get some firewood cut this weekend, too.
Please add me to your list. Thanks.
This Swedish Creme might be nice with those berries.
METHOD Heat/stir/dissolve in bain 2 c h/cream, cup sugar, 1 1/2 tea cornstarch;
before bain water comes to a boil, set pan on counter; cool. Beat in 2 c sour cream, tsp vanilla; chill.
SERVE over strawberries---simple, and delicious.
Thanks for posting. But maybe it would be better to post in Sat. AM.
Thank God for literally hundreds of tomatoes so far, with lots of greenies and flowers for more. But I intend to pick the flowers off in a couple weeks since the decreasing sunlight and increasing means they will not ripen. Usually the first frost hits in October, though last year we were able to picks toms and squash until the end of Nov, praise God.
But the plants are showing stress, likely due to overcrowding and lack of regular watering and then too much rain, and nutrient depletion and 90+ days, once hitting 98.
Tomatoes do not tolerate temperatures that are too low or too high. If temperatures fall below 55 degrees Fahrenheit at night or rise above 95 degrees during the day, flowers will not develop or will drop off the plant. If the plant is already blooming, it will not set fruit. While tomatoes require six to eight hours of full sun daily, adding afternoon shade in hot climates helps prevent flower and fruit drop. - https://homeguides.sfgate.com/long-after-flowers-tomato-plants-until-tomatoes-grow-56871.html
Butternut squash is overall pretty good, with some picked already, though as usual some do not ripen, and the older leaves are yellowed. Some vines got trampled trying to get to the tomatoes.
The few cuke plants never set fruit. A neighbor gave me the seeds.
I did pump out over 200 gallons of water earlier this week in the light of over a week of heat and no rain being expected.
A neighbor gave me some old hose, and I bought a cheap ($8+) 12 DCV pump, and fashioned a screened container will a rock ballast in it to put in the 64 gal containers i use to catch rain water. It pumps out over 100', if slowly. But I can seldom even see where the plant base is, so it is a general watering.
If we can do this next year far better structure is needed.
More tomatoes than we can count. We’re going to a car show at a neighbor’s lakefront yard. Sliced tomatoes anyone?
Plus local news claims the Lake of the Ozarks will have 250,000 visitors this three day weekend.
Good time to stay off the water.
I have almost a bumper crop. Last year, I took a clean hair comb and used that to detach the almost BB sized berries from their stalks. It worked well enough.
I cut a bunch of stalks off this year to do that but ran out of time. So I shoved them in the freezer--a chest freezer. After freezing, the berries tend to thaw in a mushy state. So, I tried taking them off by shaking them and using my fingers while they are still in the plastic grocery bags in the freezer. That may be better even than the comb.
FWIW. BTW, elderberry syrup is great for helping lung health.
Still hot her in SoCal. So many days of heat have taken all the energy out of me ... and my garden. Praying for a cessation of earthquakes and fires and a wet, rainy winter.
Squash Bugs? Eyew.
Simple to build and install. It's just a common 9 volt battery with one long bare wire attached to the Positive/+ terminal and another one attached to the Negative/- terminal. Both bare wires are stretched around whatever you want to protect from the slimy creatures, separated by about 1/2". The wires don't touch each other. The idea is that the Slug crawls over the first wire and when it reaches the other it gets a small tingle/shock. Doesn't kill them but notifies them not to crawl "across the border". The 9 volt battery lasts for a couple months since there is nothing drawing power from it except when the Slug makes is illegal crossing.
Sort of like testing a 9 volt battery with your tongue.
We have a 28 cup hydroponic Tower Garden where we are growing Milkweed for the Monarch Butterflies and Parsley/Dill for the Swallowtails. We don't have the Slug problem but I'm going to see if the "electric fence" concept works for our local Geckos that like to eat the baby butterfly caterpillars. No idea on that since their feet have to be somewhat wet for the electricity to conduct. I'll report in...
PS: Look up "Electric Slug Fence". Lots of links plus someone who is making/selling them.
PPS: Many years ago, while well-versed in the 9 volt battery-tongue testing method, I tried it with a telephone line that I was installing. Found out that 9 volts is a bit different than 48 volts. Branded my tongue.
I mentioned a while back that we have been using Mint Extract in a spray bottle of water to keep the rats/squirrels from eating the tomatoes and sunflowers. Just spray some around the stalks and onto the veggies and it seems to fool their noses.
Just planted a bunch of new sunflower seeds yesterday. I use inverted clear plastic cups with a wood skewer pushed through a drilled hole in the bottom (which is now the top). The clear cup protects the seeds from the vermin until the plant starts to outgrow the cup.
Had some extra seeds left over so as another experiment, instead of the Mint Extract spray, I cut off some of our Mint plants that we are growing in our 28 cup hydroponic Tower Garden and spread the cut vines around where the seeds were planted.
Just an experiment but since Mint “grows like a weed” and is free, compared to the Extract, might be nice to know if simply spreading some cut Mint around the seeds, will deter the rodents.
I’ll report in...
Mint seed ?
I’d rather use that vs. .22 cal...
Pickles done - 16 quarts in refrigerator. Also 6 quarts of zucchini, squash and onions.
2nd crop of string beans producing. Will freeze; maybe pickle a quart or two.
Anybody got an organic deer repellent? Took one bite of every apple on my tree. I’ve got photos of a deer within 50 feet of the house - in broad daylight. I live in a small subdivision, so shooting is out of the question.
Wow! I’ve been gardening for a few too many decades. I’ve never seen such a thing. Thanks for sharing. Never too old to learn something new. :)
Bump
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.