Posted on 07/15/2011 5:13:42 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232
Good morning gardeners. It has been another week of hot humid weather. My little garden got its small share of a 60% chance of rain yesterday afternoon. A nice pop up T-storm spent about half an hour dropping a nice steady rain on my garden. There is a 70% chance of rain today. If the percentage for rain is not above 50 the pop up T-storms seem to pass me by. I did get to harvest about a dozen ripe tomatoes this past week but they are on the small side. My replacement paste tomato plants are coming along just fine so far. I will leave them to develop in their 5 inch peat pots for a couple of more weeks before setting them out in the garden.
If you are a gardener or you are just starting out and are in need of advice or just encouragement please feel free to join in and enjoy the friendly discussion. Our Freeper community is full of gardeners, each with varying interests and skill levels from Master Gardener to novice.
I hope all your gardens are flourishing.
The shade cloth helped the ones I covered. I didn’t know before that either but it made all the difference in the world. The tomato plants that weren’t covered died and the ones covered are still setting fruit. I used 60 percent shade cloth.
Thanks. I’ll give that a try. Don’t know if it works in 100+ heat, but it’s worth a try.
We are still picking peas, thanks to the unseasonably cool weather that has been putting a damper on everything else. However, that has finally changed with a vengeance, jumping 20 degrees literally overnight this week, and forecast to continue.
Without measurable rain for over a week, the ground was dry down to 2-3” before finding damp (not wet) soil, so 1,200 gallons—3 trips to the town spigot— went on it last night & the night before. Most of that went into the trenches between the potato rows, so that should hold them until harvest, except the long season russets.
We have gotten a single pattypan squash, and 2 —count them!TWO— yellow pear tomatoes is all so far.
The early planting of Blauwschokkers Peas are loaded with maturing pods; the later planting is still flowering. They are really strikingly pretty: purple pods hanging from pea-green vines. I sampled a couple of pods, and they had a good flavor & sweetness; being a soup pea, I had expected them to taste starchy. I'll definitely save some of the seed for next year. The other peas are Alaska, and are very prolific and quite sweet.
The volunteer spinach has bolted and is starting to flower; we'll let it go to seed, as well as the leaf lettuce volunteers. This time, though, we'll COLLECT seed, and put it where WE want it!
The potatoes are almost finished flowering, and have had their final hilling. Red and Walla-Walla onions are doing great, too; really bulbing up; just have to keep’m wet.
We also were able to get a late picking of rhubarb. I used most of it to make 3 quarts of syrup. It was really good on our sour milk hotcakes, and should also be wonderful on strawberry ice cream.
The barley is headed up beautifully, and just starting to ripen. The spring wheat is a disappointment so far: only a few of plants have tillered & headed. Almost 90% remain with just the basal crown, but they may still head now that it's heating up. I may try winter wheat, as that is what most farmers around here grow...maybe for good reason. ;-)
I can vouch for this recipe. You posted it on the cooking thread and my wife made it and it was great. My wife did add just a little bit of sugar to take some of the tart off, not enough to make it sweet though. We will probably make some again this weekend and will add a little heat to it this time.
Thanx!
Gonna be getting some today... will report back!
I needed to do something quickly to try and save some of my tomatoes and shade seemed like my best bet. I just used an old king sized bed sheet and used the poles I use to stake the tomatoes as the support. The shade helped quite a bit. The shaded ones are the only ones that survived the heat and harsh sun.
Buy direct from the Earth Box company, but just the box...you get a bit of a discount on multiples. Get your OWN mix, fertilizer, and dolomite...theirs are WAY overpriced, and shipping would be killer. Boxes by themselves don’t weigh all that much.
Is rhubarb easy to grow? I'm comparing it to chard in my mind, which grows wonderfully here.
One thing I would like to point out about potassium - but not just any potassium - potassium bicarbonate!
Here near Seattle, we have a strong propensity towards downy or powdery mildew in curcurbits.
Last year, I did not gwt a SINGLE zuchini - NOT ONE!
Knowing that fungi have a hard time in alkaline environments, and wanting to stay as organic as possible, I ordered a pound of potassium bicarbonate.
I mix it about 1/2 tsp per quart and spray it on.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE!! Knocks all the mildews right outa the park! Also works great on black spots for roses!
Already got some cukes and the squashes and pumpkins etc are vining like crazy!
This has worked for the zukes and cukes also. Eggplants are so-so.
I’m not in Texas...no heat problems in my area. :-)
Out here, in the northern sticks, fresh veggies are expensive, even in season; and types and varieties of those types pretty limited, so growing is is the only option.
Bulk water costs $1.25 for 400-425 gallons, and is a 7 mile trip to the spigot with a 450 gallon tank. It takes about 3 trips a week in the hottest part of the year, with May & June rains being sufficient for those months. Some of the trips need to be made anyway, and the water from those goes into a 1,300 gallon storage tank until needed.
A lot of gray water goes into the flower beds, rather than into the septic tank.
The garden area is 50 X 150, plus some perrenial plantings and fruit trees. Not bad cost wise for us, but water is cheap here.
I could use some well water, but I would have to haul a generator to the well site, and buy a pump--I will NOT use the hand pump that is on it, even if it didn't need new leathers, for that much water!
You can make your own...I have seen them referred to ‘Earth Tainers’ on the net. HOWEVER...an in-law made my wife a couple, but the material deteriorates so quickly that they will pretty much fall apart within two or three years. Materials cost about the same as an Earth Box; then there is the labor...it IS more cost-effective if you compare them to the EB ‘kits’ at garden centers or HSN ($50? Please...); but you can buy the box itself direct from EB for $25 or so. The three original Earth Boxes I own were purchased several years BEFORE the home-mades were built, and are still going strong several years after the home-mades fell apart.
Thanks for that info. I didn’t know you could buy direct for $25; I would definitely be interested in that option.
Is a Windmill an option?
Or a wind generator to drive a pump?
Even solar panels will work, but are generally a very expensive way to generate electricity.
We have REA power at our farm, cheap. We have windmills. We have 2 gasoline powered generators/welders. But they are not high duty cycle devices.
And yes, I suspect our produce is very cheap compared to what you face in the Northeast.
There are always options. Hauling water is time consuming and fuel is expensive. We haul water to use with our spray equipment in a 1200 gallon tank on a trailer.(for chemical application on the farm). The local coop furnishes the water for that for free.
Don’t forget the shipping...they have specials on shipping now and then...I purchased six, and was only charged $12.95 FedEx HD...$2 per box? Fine with me. :-)
Yes, it is easy to grow, though it takes a couple of years or so to establish, same as asparagus.
Have to take that into consideration when planting the roots, and really work on amending the soil for the long haul.
Need good, heavy roots with at least 2, preferably 3 or more, crowns to get a good start. Like most things, ‘bargain” roots are no bargain.
Our plants were here when we bought the property in 1996; and it had then been ‘abanboned’ for 15 years, so once established, they are ESTABLISHED!
All things rhubarb: The Rhubarb Compendium
http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/maincontents
Thanks so much, I’ll check out the link.
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