The Garden Thread - June, 2024

June 1, 2024 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[Diana in Wisconsin]

The MONTHLY Gardening Thread is a 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 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/removed from our New & Improved Ping List.

NOTE: This is a once a MONTH Ping List, but we DO post to the thread all throughout the month. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest to Gardeners are welcomed any time!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Never mind! I see you saw the shipping container...

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“Have either of you ever tried growing beans in an 18” grid pattern rather than spaced every three inches in a straight line? If you have, what were the results? Trying it this year. (More room between plants is supposed to result in a larger yield.) “

I do pole beans, too - sometimes I’ll throw in some purple or yellow bush beans when I have spots to fill in the summer months.

Square Foot Gardening recommends planting bush beans 9 seeds within their 1-foot squares so I do that. My beds are 4 feet across, so I can get a ‘square or two of bush beans’ tucked in here and there. I will most likely end up doing that this season to replace a few FAILURES due to all of our @#$%^&*! rain.

[MomwithHope]

I believe you will have a higher yield spacing them more. Since we discovered the Chinese long beans that’s all we grow.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Nobody likes to be crowded. ;)

I didn’t have room for the long beans this season - because I’m growing more drying beans - BUT I will get to them in the near future. I’ve grown them before and they are great! :)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

I like pole beans but I have problems with Green June bugs and Japanese beetles. And yes, they get into an absolute tangled mess. In spite of the lack of room I am going to try bush beans again.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Thanks Diana! I will try this in a small area. Most of my beans (Contender) were already planted in something like a 18 inch pattern. I will let you know how this 18" Square thing works out for me.

I found a Youtube about someone who tried this:

Grid planting bush beans

[Augie]

There’s no doubt the JBs love green beans. They were a plague here for a few years but diligent trapping three summers in a row put a serious dent in the population on my property. The few that remain always go for Mrs. Augie’s Contorted Filbert before anything else which makes it easy to spray them without getting poison on anything that the bees like.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

OK! Enough whining on my part. Time to get serious about this overly-wet growing season and better prepare for it next time around:

Gardening in the Rainy Season, You Must Follow These 14 Essential Tips

Soil preparation
Planting Plants in Grow Bags
Pot or grow bag drainage system
Attention to watering
Use of fertilizers
Pruning and Deadheading
Shifting indoor plants outside
Lossen the soil
Creating a shed in the garden or using a rain cover
Insect repellent
Rainwater Harvesting for Plants
Support plants in the rain
Planting the right plants
Protects the roots

https://gardeningholic.com/14-tips-for-gardening/

Also found this. Fertilizing the Tomatoes is on the list this week as temps are cooling a bit and there’s not as MUCH rain in the forecast. I’m not sure the Peppers can be saved unless we go STRAIGHT to drought conditions from here on out. :(

Gardening With Too Much Rain – The Secrets To Success. (With Video)

https://oldworldgardenfarms.com/2019/06/23/gardening-with-too-much-rain/

[Augie]

We had quite the squall roll through last night. It was looking like we were going to get hammered here but it split about ten miles west of here and the worst of it went around us. Wound up with a little over half an inch of rain. That will save me from watering until Sunday.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Japanese Beetles; I have made a point of using Milky Spore in my yard in 3 of the last 5 years and it may be starting to work. (The delay is expected.) I have also used Parasitic nematodes on my lawn and in my garden in the last 3 years so I am making it as inhospitable for them as possible.

Two weeks ago I made a spray that included water, som BT, several drops of Red Cedar and Eucaluptus oil, and a a little soap (as a surfractant) and sprayed the watersprout tops of my Plum trees and my Viking Aronia. I have seen some chewed up new growth and a few J.Beetles, but not the swarms of previous years. I hope its not just a later hatch in July and what I am doing is kicking in.

Good luck with your infestation!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

It has been very dry here, but I see how so many people to the North of me who are having flooding problem. (I am also on a hilltop and drain quickly so all of my garden is an Upper Garden. )

My sympathy to those experiencing Flooding! A terrible destructive thing!

Going with the flow....If you expect long term ponding and wet conditions:

Water Cress; in a spring or in water gardens.

Hudson Valley Seeds Watercress

Water Chestnuts:

They suggest buying fresh water chestnuts at an oriental market . (These are not the Invasive European Water Chestnut but the edible Chinese type, Eleocharis dulcis.)

Growing-Water-Chestnuts

Wasabi!

Territorial Seeds Wasabi

Pond Plants: Amazon Pond Plants

[Pollard]

Grow under the protection of a high tunnel 😁

[Qiviut]

First canning batch of the season is cooling on the countertop this morning. I made Apple Cranberry Preserves and used the recipe in the Ball book on page 65. Mavis’s recipe is the same other than she peels her orange and the Ball book does not so I left the peel on. I used the food processor to chop the orange pulp and peel very fine.

First time using the gas cooktop and it was really nice to use my big pot and process all nine jars at the same time without having to worry about breaking the glass stove top which is what we have at the old house. I also used my thermometer spatula for the first time and for some reason could never get past 210°, however the preserves had thickened up and they look like they gelled okay without getting to 220. I think all nine jars sealed too - yay!

Big storms supposedly coming through tonight with heavy winds. We need the rain badly - river level is dropping & some localities are starting water restriction measures.

[MomwithHope]

We just applied the Chicken Soup for the Soil a fee days ago.

[MomwithHope]

Fee = few.

Also picked out first shishitos.

[Pollard]

New Smart Gadget came in. Good gawd if has a lot of inputs and outputs. I could control 2-3 tunnels with this thing.

Had a little scare with it. I can normally connect to these things right off the bat via ethernet but couldn’t with this one. Tried direct to my laptop via ethernet crossover cable. Tried going through the router with regular cables. Nothin.

Finally connected it to the network switch/hub that will be in the tunnel and the Tunnel PC that’s on that network connected to it right away.

My new modern modem/router with ethernet ports didn’t like it. It’s a 3rd generation model and all my other modules are are the current 4th generation.

They can fully communicate with each other and the 3rd gen was more limited and the interface was pretty bad, but I can control it from a 4th gen and get the 4th gen functionality and interface.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Lucky! We’ve gone two DAYS without rain...a FIRST this season! Walking across the lawn, underfoot feels ‘spongy’ which is kind of creepy! I asked Beau if he felt that too - and he did - so I’m NOT imagining it. We are easily 10” AHEAD of rain for June! :(

Fingers Crossed that we both have a good remainder to our growing seasons. Drought for the rest of the season would NOT be unwelcome to me at this point; our water table is FULL to the brim! All private wells are maxed out.

Tomorrow is supposed to be the nicest day of the week - low humidity and lower temps. Family gathering here tomorrow, so I hope that sticks! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Smart@ss! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Fertilizing is on the agenda for this week. I’m using AlgoFlash for Tomatoes. Have, for-ever with really good results, but your ‘Chicken Soup’ still intrigues me! ;)

Walked through the garden this evening and aside from some staking on a few volunteer MONSTER-SIZED Sunflowers, it doesn’t look all that bad. Even the Peppers were kind of perky after a full day of SUNSHINE. The ‘Lieutenant’ Broccoli WILL be harvested by the weekend. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

You will LOVE cooking with gas. You’ll never go back. I hate electric.

This new stove that I have (just a GE, nothing fancy, but a TOTAL upgrade to what Beau had me using for the past eight years) has all cast iron grates, so it has been a learning curve - those grates REALLY hold the heat!