Weekly Gardening Thread – 2010 (Vol. 19) June 11

Free Republic | 06-11-2010 | Red_Devil 232

[trisham]

Wow. I wouldn’t post another thing about your “gardener”. You may find strangers holding bouquets and little velvet boxes showing up on your doorstep.:)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Taters! I'm testing out the Grow Sacks that we sell to see how well they work. So far, very, very good...but the potato plants are taller than they should be. Don't know what caused that, and I can't cram any more dirt in there!

Coming up on the last of the lettuce. When it gets hot, it's bitter and turns into chicken food.

'Tumbler Tom' tomato, blooming away. Small tomato with true tomato flavor. Great for drying, too.

More lettuce, a small Curry Plant and a pot of French Lavender on the picnic table.

Clematis climbing up an old metal bed frame. The hot pink is 'Ernest Markham' and the white is 'Gillian Blades.' It's been a great clematis season for some reason. They look terrific!

Long view of the garden on June 10, 2010. Hurry up, tomatoes! Cardboard in the rows keeps down the weeds. Straw helps weed control and water retention.

[elli1]

Parsley is a biennial. You’ll get a few leaves before it bolts which gives you some supply of fresh parsley while replacement plants are growing.

Chives are extremely winter hardy—no problem overwintering them w/ no cover at all here in central Wisconsin (Zone 4). I grow them in with my ornamentals/ perennials. Can be something of a nuisance because they readily reseed themselves.

No experience w/ oregano or thyme and have grown basil only once before this year. Has been cool & wet & my basil isn’t growing much. I think it likes the wet but not the cool so much.

[trisham]

Your rosemary is gorgeous!

[tubebender]

Not a chance especially after yesterday when I emptied her bank account and bought her a new car. The old one was a 1995 Riviera and she was starting to get restless about the struggle to get 2 or 3 of her Blued Haired Church ladies in the back seat so they go to lunch one Saturday a month...

[tubebender]

I hate you!!!

[trisham]

LOL!

[RoseyT]

texanyankee, I use Justin Wilson’s okra and tomato recipe. Bacon, a little wine, splash of pepper sauce. Tasty!

Diana, gorgeous photos!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Mine seem to be on hold too, Trisha. I’ve been reluctant to fertilize because I prefer a liquid and with all the rain we’ve had it’ll just be wasting product.

My garden was put in earlier this season, but the plants are looking smaller than last season based on photos I took around this same time last year.

BUT - I predict sunny, hot days ahead! :)

[Tatze]

My garden is going great at the moment. Tomatoes, cucumbers, some peppers (Cayenne not producing any peppers yet, and Jalapeno slowly growing buds).

The potato plants and sweet potato vines are looking great too.

I had extra sweet potato slips and an extra russet seed potato. I planted them in 16 large planters and seem to be doing well in those too.

[Black Agnes]

Just picked a gallon of blueberries from just 3 4yr old bushes. Had to come back in because my picking bucket was full and I was being eaten alive. Danged mosquitos. Off to find bug spray. Hopefully it hasn’t gone bad since last year.

May post more later. Peppers are finally blooming and my tomatoes are getting about golf ball size. Still picking zucchinis every day and more cucumbers than I know what to do with. Little canteloupes and melons are starting to appear and my corn is silking up nicely. Sunflowers are blooming now too. Found a tomato horn worm this morning. Made hubby dispatch him. That’s HIS job. Critter and pest control are, IMHO, Y chromosome things.

[tubebender]

I love Clematis and at one time had 15 different varieties but most of them have died off the past 2 or 3 years and I am going to dig the rest and get a few new ones. I’m sure the potatoes will flop over soon and look “normal”

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I’d plant peppers. Lots and lots of peppers. Some hot, some bell, some in-between. If you do, I’ll send you my recipe for Hot Pepper Jelly. Awesome stuff! :)

[tubebender]

I’m just repeating what she said to me a few weeks ago...

[Black Agnes]

Cowpeas, asparagus beans (yardlong beans) and okra all love heat. So do winter squash but you have to watch out for SVB’s with them. Plant c. moschata ones and they’re less likely to have a problem (butternut are c. moschata).

I’ve got garlic coming out just now and we’re going to plant some butternut squashes (vine and bush kinds) there.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Thanks for the compliment, but that’s Lavender, LOL! :) I’m going to make some lemon & lavender muffins for work in the very near future.

(I’ve been in a funk and have been neglecting my baking obligations to my staff at work; the complaints have been long and loud, LOL!)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

No you don’t. You love me. Admit it! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Thanks, Rose!. I really love my camera and my garden...and my Facebook page makes posting here really easy. :)

[tubebender]

Link to the EPA classifying waste milk as a hazardous product... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2532500/posts

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Nicely done! :)