Weekly Garden Thread - June 25-July 1, 2022 [Grow, Baby! Grow! Edition]

June 25, 2022 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[Diana in Wisconsin]

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.

If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located.

This thread is a non-political respite. 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! Send a Private Message to Diana in Wisconsin if you'd like to be added to our New & Improved Ping List.

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 to Gardeners are welcomed any time!

[Ellendra]

Seems like a lot of plants are getting “stalled” at the seedling stage this year.

I’ve seen that happen once before. About 12 years ago, I think. Only that time they stalled just before flower buds would form. That was incredibly irritating! Even things like sunflowers just kind of hit “pause” and didn’t open until just before first frost.

No idea what causes it. The weather isn’t that different from other years.

[Pollard]

RE: That subject from last week on gene-editing of ag plants as opposed to GMO. The gene-editing people say it's the same as basic plant breeding to target traits but this guy says that's not so.

Dr. Antoniou is not someone who can easily be dismissed as ignorant of genetics or unfamiliar with the technology involved.

As he explains in the interview, he is a career-long molecular geneticist who has studied the structure and functions of genes for decades.

And, as part of that research, he has long used “all manner of genetic engineering technologies,” including gene editing.

In fact, it is his deep familiarity with gene editing that makes him so concerned about the way it is being used in agriculture, as he explained in a recent edition of the BBC’s popular Countryfile program.

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Gene-Edited Crops Endanger Human and Planetary Health

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/gene-edited-crops-glyphosate-roundup/

More specifically, it’s why he rejects all those claims about gene editing’s supposed precision. He told the interviewer:

“The gene-editing tools in question here invariably produce unintended DNA damage [and that can] end up changing the biochemistry and the composition of the crop and that could include the production of novel toxins and allergens.”

This is why Dr. Antoniou is critical of the tendency of pro-GM scientists, the U.K. government and a compliant media to mislead people about the level of complexity and risk involved in gene editing, never mind attempts to pretend it is not even a form of genetic modification.

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Gene-edited plants are about to be used extensively in vertical and other high tech farming and the US has no intention of regulating it because it's been framed as something other than GMO.

As of now, I've only read of one gene-edited plant in use and most vertical farms are simply growing leaf lettuce and baby greens that fit their systems. However, they're working on other plants such as that weird tomato with no main stem. Kroger is already big on sourcing from vertical farms so before too long, Kroger will likely have gene-edited veggies.

Could be harmless but we do have an issue with regulatory capture and safety these days. Just look at Big Pharma and their collusion with the FDA with these covid jabs for babies. Before that, it was Monsanto with their seed patenting and lawsuits that ruined a lot of farmers. Speaking of Monsanto, the SC recently ruled that lawsuits against Monsanto and roundup can go forward and Bayer who now owns Monsanto, has set aside $15 billion to pay out settlements. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/bayer-supreme-court-roundup-lawsuit-cancer/

While a <40 day cherry tomato plant is tempting, I think I'll stick with heritage, open pollinated.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

When they start messing with Chocolate, they’re gonna hear from ME!

I watched a few rant-videos yesterday on You Tube about contaminated soil that people were adding to their gardens. Mainly, this was through larger firms and we’re talking dump trucks full of dirt, versus bagged soil or amendments, so this was for medium-scale market gardeners, etc.

Scary stuff, too!

[Pollard]

Watched one yesterday of a no-till market gardener farming couple who bought a local compost company and moved the operation onto their farm. I guess in KC, people actually pay services to pick up their compostables so these farmers are making $2k a month in tipping fees and keeping all the compost for their own use.

Most no-till market gardeners are buying tons of compost. They basically use it as a thick mulch and shallow rooted plants end up growing in nothing but compost. That’s why there lettuce looks so good:) Not cheap but these people all live near a trendy metro area and can get double the price of the grocery store for their stuff.

I bought a truck load of compost from St Louis Compost a few years ago. Quite a lot of tiny bits of plastic. They had buildings full of cardboard and I don’t know what their nitrogen sources are. They also sell OMRI certified which probably wouldn’t have the plastic in it. They sell soil too but who knows what the source is.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Random Puppy Cuteness! Three pups I raised summer of 2019. Sunshine, Ho Chunk & Fox. About 14 weeks old, here. I guess when you spend that much time in the womb together, touching each other is still essential. Sunshine (female, at bottom) has gone on to take Top Dog in Minnesota for Raccoon hunting. All three are Treeing Walker Coon Hounds. We still have Fox and Ho Chunk; they hunt black bear. The breed hunts raccoon or bear, depending upon the dogs inherent skills.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

[1Old Pro]

I guess when you spend that much time in the womb together, touching each other is still essential

They make these gadgets that fit into a toy dog for heat and a heart beating thing. Some dog guy on the internet says it works when you get a new puppy. Not sure about it personally.

[Augie]

Another hot week has come and gone here in Central Missouri. Couple light rain showers mixed in, but not enough to stop irrigation in the victory garden.

Tomatoes continue to look good. Garlic is a week or so from harvest. Peppers are doing well. Squashes are going insane, except for the Turk's Turban that all croaked. Not sure what happened. There was no indication of vine borer or cutbug activity. Potato vines are starting to die back. Basil is ready for harvest again.

Pole beans, butternut and spaghetti squash are looking happy on the panel arbor. Gardener needs to get busy pulling weeds. The japanese beetles showed up in small numbers a few days ago. After work today I'm going to set up a pheromone trap on the pond dock that will drop the vermin straight into the water.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Looking good! That beetle trap over the pond is a great idea!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Just like clockwork, every July I get Beatles in my garden!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I’ve heard of those, too. I’m usually raising puppies in groups of four or more; my largest litter to date has been SEVEN. Not sure how I, or the landscaping, survived that one!

Training them from fighting over food is usually the biggest hurdle. They are always fed ‘communally’ when they are pups, so they learn to not be aggressive about food.

These three were wonderful pups. I was also raising a Plott Hound with them, but he was about 3 weeks older, so Oneida was the one that was more aggressive about food. He learned. ;)

[Qiviut]

Late to the thread, but “circumstances” kept me out of the garden this weekend.

Today I had to go and buy two jalapeno plants after all my little seedlings, which were way too small, died after I planted them. I want enough jalapenos for some poppers and also to make jalapeno pepper jelly in the fall so buying plants was a necessity. Next year, I will start months earlier with seedlings to give them time to get bigger; however this year with the knee injury and surgery, I was about 3 months late getting in the garden!

So I was at the Garden Center early enough that the doors weren’t open and the plant selection wasn’t great with maybe eight plants left, but I got the two that I was willing to pay money for - then I had to walk all the way around to the main entrance to pay for them which was annoying (I went before I had any coffee so a bit grumpy - I was still nice to the cashier who was so new, he messed up a cash transaction & needed help!). The jalapenos are now in the garden and hopefully they will grow although one is not looking too happy already. The day should be cloudy with rain showers this afternoon so hopefully Mr. Unhappy Jalapeno will perk up.

After planting the jalapenos, I went and weeded the sunflower bed which only has one volunteer sunflower in it that is now blooming. It’s pretty tall so I need to stake it up to make sure it won’t blow over in a thunderstorm. I planted three rows of giant sunflower seeds and watered them in, so hopefully they will germinate. Once they start coming up I am sure I’m going to have to protect them somehow because we have a million squirrels and the deer are looking for anything they can eat and they love baby sunflowers.

I still have some fencing to put up however I am red as a beet, sweaty, and slightly nauseous from being out for 2+ hours in the horrible humidity that we have today and this is with some cloud cover too. So I am drinking pickle juice, iced tea, and sitting in front of a fan right now to cool off before I go back outside to get the fencing straight. We have an 80% chance of rain this afternoon and I am hoping that we get it.

By the way, who needs PT when you have a garden? LOTS of knee bending opportunities!

[Pollard]

My one remaining survivalist hen left after the hawk massacre a couple of years ago has always been somewhat broody but after the hawks, I let her free range 24/7/365.

She hung out with the goats and LGDs or up by the house a lot for safety, would dash across open areas and would still lay eggs in the open coop that had a high opening to get in and out and I wasn’t feeding her.

Locked her in the coop recently so I could have a garden and was also hoping she’d go full broody. That was March and I think she finally has. Last few days, she’s been setting on the eggs most all the time and doing that flattening of the body they do to make sure they have all the eggs covered.

I really want this hen to hatch out eggs and raise the chicks because she’s a survivor and laid eggs with zero feed for two years so I think she’d raise her chicks to be the same, at least some of them.

Fingers crossed.

[dkGba]

That’s a great story!! I hope she does! 🤞

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Glad you’re getting to be in your garden again. Good therapy all the way around!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

[MomwithHope]

Still miss JRandomFreeper!

[MomwithHope]

I have not been posting much. Too busy with the garden. Hope to report in the next couple of days, and I have pictures. Our best garden ever.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Can’t wait! I have a bunch of pix to post, too. :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]