[Red_Devil 232]

Ping to the Weekly Gardening Ping List.

I hope all of you will stop by.

This is typically a low volume ping list. Once a week for the thread and every once in a while for other FR threads posted that might be of interest.

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[Thermalseeker]

My third planting of sweet corn went in last Sunday. Green beans are blooming and I should have beans shortly. Squash is blooming. Okra is up. A new lettuce patch and some newly planted carrots also went in last weekend in my raised beds. Tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, cucumbers, onions and previously planted carrots continue to do well in my raised beds.

I had a bit of a problem with some blackberry stock I got from Burpee this spring. I ordered 25 bare root plants to go in two raised beds I built earlier in the spring. I had also ordered 25 red raspberry plants from Johnny's Seeds. Most of the Burpee stock must have been shipped dead because out of the 25 plants I put in only five survived. These plants were bone dry when I got them and it was clear that they had been in the packaging for some time, perhaps since last year. I'm surprised that 5 lived. Of the 25 red raspberries all of them survived and are thriving. The difference in the stock I received from Burpee vs. Johnny's was really striking. The beds they were planted in were identical in terms of construction, soil and drip irrigation. I would highly recommend Johnny's. It has been very typical of both seed and plant stock I've ordered from Johnny's to be very high quality. Those folks are great to deal with. Burpee used to be a top notch company. It took me the better part of 2 weeks just to get Burpee to respond to my email and phone inquiries. They cited a "high number of customer service contacts" (read complaints) as their reason for taking so long to respond. After some arguing they reluctantly agreed to refund my money on 20 of the plants and included a rather terse note essentially saying that it was all my fault. Not sure what has happened to Burpee, but I don't think I'll be going back. I've always found their prices to be high, but the quality of their stock has always been top notch up until now. Buyer beware.

[Arrowhead1952]

I have been picking tomatoes every other day. Lots of little ones still putting on, so we should have a nice crop.

Picked more bell peppers and waiting for the Jalapenos to get ripe for fresh salsa.

I may pull most of the onions this weekend, but will save some for later.

[StopBigGovt]

Good morning! Last weekend we harvested a HUGE zucchini from our garden. It was nearly as tall as a 2-liter soda bottle. I made baked zucchini with couscous out of it, and it was delicious. I had read that sometimes huge zucchini are very tough. That was not the case with our huge zuke (thankfully). Our tomatoes are growing well. Can't wait for the bell peppers and cucumbers to start producing!

[I Buried My Guns]

There are no stupid questions...

Let me test that theory: I am growing a giant pumpkin plant. It's growing like crazy, and I even had to cut it back and retrain it after it began strangling my peace-loving tomatoes. The problem is that it is not growing any fruit. The delicate-looking flowers, about 30 to 40 in number, wilt after a day or two, so there is a small window for pollination. I am considering doing it by hand. The plant is generally very healthy, but demands lots of water.

Where am I failing?

[stefanbatory]

my tomatoes keep rotting before they get ripe...:(

[P8riot]

My 1st 1/2 acre planting (4/24) of "Texas Honey" open pollinated sweet corn is waist high as of this morning. My second planting (5/15) is almost knee high. and it's time to do another one. We got 1" of rain last night and temps over the last week and a half have averaged in the mid 80s. Looks to be a good year for corn. Some local deer have been eying it, so there will be more meat in the freezer too.

Taters are doing good too. I grow them in old tires. and have 9 stacks going in straw, gonna put the third tire on each stack this weekend, judging by the looks of it, I may have to go 5, maybe even more tires high before harvest. Last year I got over 200 lbs of spuds growing them this way.

Sweet taters are doing good too, but I may have been a little short sighted when planting them. I only stacked four tires high in four stacks, and I probably should've done six stacks of six, I might still be able to correct that.

Wife and son are planting zukes, cukes, and crooknecks today.

Maters are doing good too. This morning I brought in about 5 lbs of "Arkansas Travellers", mmmmmmmmmm.

I'm doin a happy dance.

[hoosiermama]

Worked outside with a helper this AM for four hours..WHEW!..Came in exhasted but now must get ready for DRs appointments for dad and I.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Thanks for the ping, I have it linked on our thread.