Posted on 09/01/2024 6:06:00 AM PDT by 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.
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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.
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Has anyone made Fire Cider? I put together a batch (all you need is a quart Mason Jar) last week to steep for a month.
Traditional Fire Cider Recipe
Fire Cider is a popular (and tasty!) herbal folk remedy popularized by esteemed herbalist, Rosemary Gladstar (who inspired the recipe below). This tasty vinegar infusion powered by warming and wellness-supporting ingredients is an especially pleasant and easy way to boost natural health processes, stimulate digestion, and raise your internal thermostat on cold days. Mmm...mmm!...how we love this hot and sweet, zesty, vinegary recipe!
https://blog.mountainroseherbs.com/fire-cider
bookmarked for later
Good Morning!
Foliage Season just getting underway here, but it’s raining cats and dogs!
I’m getting late tomatoes! So far just two, but for a garden-clumsy oaf like me, this is BIG. :-)
Wish I could figure out how to prevent blossom-end rot on my Sugar Baby watermelons, though. So frustrating to see the vines loaded with melons, only to go out of a morning and find them black and mushy on the bottoms. If I can figure out what I’ve done incorrectly, I’ll plant ‘em again next year.
well, cleaning out the garden and prepping the garlic beds for next year’s crop. It’s still a bit early to plant them, but getting the beds prepped in this God awful soil is labor intensive.
Digging the trenches is NOT that easy in dry, claylike soil.
Amending it as I go as well, with a little bit of everything I can get my hands on.
My green bean crop is doing so well, I’ve got lots extra to freeze.
The ones I planted by my back porch are doing GREAT. They get full sun all day and yet shaded from the really hot afternoon sun. And it’s sheltered enough that it must be about a growing zone warmer than out in the garden.
We do, too. The foliage is turning more brown as a result, so the color won’t be as good.
When mr. mm and I were out and about on the property yesterday, I saw a bunch of trees that looked like they had emerald ash borer damage. >:(
Yes...we need it too. We’ve gone weeks without a good rain.
Yesterday and Today want to make up for it, I think.
Yumm....thx for recipe..gonna make it
I've got a charge controller on the way to charge the RV/marine battery for drip and side/gable motors. Already had the solar panels.
Been near 90 degrees for highs all week but we're about to get a cool down so Fall might officially be starting.
Need more drip line since what I have isn't much and has been used one season and rearranged for a second season in the little garden. It was the cheapo 1/4" brown stuff and emitters varied in drip rate. It was visibly obvious.
Toro Aqua-Traxx® Azul™ is supposed to be the bees knees of drip line/tape. It comes in 4" to 24" emitter spacing - 4 to 15 mil wall thickness - 5/8 or 7/8 inside diameter. Have to buy 1,000, 2,000, 2,500, 7,500, 10,000, 13,000 feet of it.
My choices are:
$118 for 2,000 ft of 1.00 GPM/100' OR
$124 for 2,500 ft of 0.67 GMP/100' - both in 4" emitter spacing. Flow rate is at 8 psi.
I'm leaning towards the 2,500' of 0.67 gpm/100' with 4" emitter spacing due to my heavy soil. Low and slow so it has time to spread through clayey loam. Add in fittings, a pressure regulator and for $200, I could do the tunnel 4 times over. If it lasts 5 years, that's 20 years worth. ($10/yr)
I'm heading out now to get a yard of compost to continue my 30" row down the center of the tunnel and then add another row on each side of that. That will leave plenty of working room for the sides and ends. Later on, I'll add another row on each side.
Isn’t it fun when you find a spot with all that is needed to grow something perfectly? :)
Blossom End Rot is a nutritional issue when CALCIUM is lacking in the soil.
When you plant your watermelons next time around, put 1/2 cup crushed eggshells in the planting hole and about a cup of powdered bone meal.
That should do the trick!
If you’re direct seeding, once they are up and running apply a liquid bone meal (mixed with water in a watering can per label instructions) when the plant starts producing adult leaves.
Easy Peasy! Blossom End Rot will also effect tomatoes, peppers, zukes, cukes, melons and winter squashes. I pretty much give that application to everything when I’m first planting out in the spring.
We had the ‘Last Ash Standing’ in our back yard and it was killed by that evil bug!
However, the thing will not die! It keeps sprouting from the stump and we keep cutting it back down.
Nature wants to LIVE! Beau will be taking the stump out this fall, I hope. He loves nothing better than wielding his chain saw and then having a good old-fashioned stump burning party. ;)
Progress! :) See? All it takes is time and money, LOL!
Many thanks Diana! Excellent advice, and the things you mentioned are things I always either have on hand, or can get from my sister. I was only going to pull up one small section of the vines this morning, but decided to go ahead and take them all. It’s getting late in the year anyhow. At least I did get one beautiful, sweet melon a few weeks back . . . Hey, gotta take my small victories where I can get ‘em! :-)
It was another dry week here in Central Missouri. Hot as a popcorn fart yesterday. Rain on the way today. We need it. I’ve been watering orchard trees twice a week.
Working on garden cleanup. Ran the mower over what I could reach this morning. After this weather system moves out I’ll take the weed whacker to the rest.
I picked a few nice tomatoes earlier in the week and there are more coming. Several of the plants are still in good shape so maybe I’ll get lucky with some late season bounty. I’m still feeling shortchanged on my BLT quota for the summer.
When I drove up the driveway last evening, part of it was covered in leaves! ‘Fall’ is definitely here and falling, all over the driveway, patio & yard. The front is oak leaves, the back are tiny maple leaves which will go in the raised beds. The small leaves are what I have at the old homestead & they disintegrate quickly.
It’s 79° & feels like 82° after a pleasantly cool morning. If we don’t get showers this afternoon (in forecast after 2 pm, but widely scattered) I will start mowing. Showers tomorrow too, but less chance than today.
Flotzie’s flavor of the week: banana. :-)
Yes!
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