The full article can be read @: Texas Co-op Power
Other interesting articles can be found at Daves Garden and Morena's Corner.
A google search of "keyhole gardens" and clicking on "images" bring a plethora of useful ideas.
Today is nice only 82 degrees, sun has been shining, but a Thunderstorm is moving this way. Our nights have been in the 60's-great for processing in the canner.
I have pickles in the crock soaking in brine. I have 8 quarts of green beans waiting to be washed, snipped, and snapped for processing later today.
Sad to report the death of all sunflowers except 1. Will have to replant. Some of them developed spots on the leaves, and shriveled and died. The other were preyed upon by some sort of critter that chewed off the leaves, and in some cases gnawed the stems down about halfway too.
Hubby is busy thrashing the wheat. We got our first serving of blueberries, so I made blueberry muffins. We also had the first serving of blackberries, and they were inferior in taste to prior years.
Strange because the dewberries we had earlier were quite good. I have not been on the computer this week until today. I actually accomplished some must do stuff, but my to do list still has plenty left to do.
I haven't read all of last week's thread, so I'll be reading it today too. Hope you are all doing well. Have a great weekend. God Bless.
Pinging the List.
There was an interesting link, last week on pocket gardening, and also one on the death of bees. I think it would be nice if the Freepers who posted those, would post them again on this week’s threads.
Likewise, if anyone has any other links or articles, please fell free to post them today, and anyother time.
Thanks for all the interesting information everyone.
Hope you feel better soon. Sorry about the sunflowers going down.
Glad the green beans are producing nicely. My little garden has like 7 green bean plants and only 4 pods total were harvested.
Blooms fell off and/or some bug or worm is having a feast.
My arugula has long since bolted and some of the seed pods are crumbling to maturity so I’m saving the seeds. The arugula did quite well this season. Getting hot again in North Texas—would like to see a little rain now—otherwise its garden hose moisture distribution until then.
Harvested the last of the broccoli today, but I’m too tired to blanch and freeze. Is it wrong that a fasting glucola test can wipe mommy out? I think we might eat out tonight!
That’s terrific. Sorry about the sunflowers, though.
The full article can be read @: Texas Co-op Power
Other interesting articles can be found at Daves Garden and Morena's Corner.
A google search of "keyhole gardens" and clicking on "images" bring a plethora of useful ideas.
Hi greeneyes!
The romaine showed quarter inch long rootlets, so we decided to pot it. I mixed up some potting soil and put it in a pot. We bought another head of nicely trimmed romaine today and decided to see if we could replicate the results. So we put the stump into root hormone dust in a dish of water. So far the celery stump has not responded. Maybe it got shaved too far back.
We harvested my first ever home-grown tomatoes! What is with the stretch marks??? The skin on one of them was splitting open. At any rate, split or no split, what they say is TRUE: homegrown tomatoes really DO taste better!
My squash are not doing well. Good green leaves, good blooming, and the straight neck is forming squash, but they have not been developing. My scallop squash will bloom, but then the end of the vine will wither with the blossom on it. No squash developed at all.
I asked the lady at our local gardening store - not the box store - and in our conversation, we decided that probably I have squash bugs on the yellow squash. She said that several things could account for the problems with the scallop squash. I purchased a soap solution for killing bugs. She suggested I try that on both and see what happens.
Re my legume problems: I had what I thought might be a “Duh” light bulb moment earlier today. I realized I had not obtained any inoculation bacteria. I specifically went to the garden store for it. The lady at the store said that this was the first year that they are not selling it because no one is buying it any more. She said that legumes usually do just fine without it. As far as my problems are concerned, it could be too damp, too dry, micro creatures, fungus, bugs, and disease. *sigh* The advice is to squirt the soap on them as well and see if that helps, as a first measure.
I had some extra dirt, so covered up my sweet potato vine some more. I saw a sweet potato peeking up at me, so with more dirt, here’s hoping that more will form! The vine is very pretty.
I bought some fish emulsion (5-1-1) and some osmocote (14-14-14). They have directions and I’ll see about applying it sometime in next few days. Can anyone tell me why I would use one and not the other? Would I use both on the same plant? Not sure at all what I’m doing here. My Darlin has been urging me to open and use the Miracle Gro blue stuff as well.
My grand experiment is harvesting me so far two tomatoes, an active lifestyle, 4 chigger bites in delicate places, quite a bit of fun, and loads of realization that I know nothing! Nevertheless, my learning curve is trending straight up, and I’m so grateful that we are not dependent on feeding ourselves at this point from our garden! We would surely starve. Maybe I can do better next year, by God’s grace.
Just re-read carefully your post. I hope you guys are feeling better! Thanks for posting the thread! And happy belated Fourth of July!
Sorry to hear about your sunflowers! We had ours attacked by a herd of little black crawlie worms which I immediately neemed, then stomped! The leaves they had chewed on looked like little transparent ghost leaves. So far the plants are surviving, but it is a blow to lose a sunflower. They are so very dear and special.
Marcella, I’ve been thinking of the Jerusalem sun chokes you have been discussing. I’m wondering if it might be possible to obtain oil from sun choke seeds. I realize they are quite a bit smaller than the mammoth, but in extremis, I’m thinking they might be a possible oil source as well as food source from the roots. Have you looked into that or run across that info in your researches by any chance?
Fortunately, the sugar snaps have taken it in stride. We're picking daily. Tuesday, we sold 15 pounds to a private customer. Wednesday, we gave 5 pounds to a local restaurant owner; she has been giving us the coffee grounds from both of her locations for the past year and a half. Yesterday, I prepared a couple of pounds of them as a side dish for dinner with friends: bacon & balsamic glazed snap peas; we also took large bags of fresh ones for each of the other two couples.
We've been eating carrots & radishes, but so far, while coming along well, nothing else is even remotely ready to harvest...except a Giant Marconi pepper in one of the hanging upside down pots.
Need some FReeper garden help:
Some of my Grey Stripe sunflowers looked diseased; tops withered & drooped over. When I touched them, the stem separated cleanly, as if cut or bitten through. On close inspection, the stem had small, shallow brown pits and short channels, like insects chewing; and where it separated, it had been girdled by them. No bugs in evidence; and none of the native Blackeyed Susan types or the black oilseed seem affected. I have no idea what is doing it.
Although it has been cloudy and gloomy here in Missisippi the temps for this time of year have been beautiful, mid eighties during the day and mid sixties overnight this whole week. Some nice rain today with current temp at 75. Yesterday I picked 12 Breba figs, early maturing figs that grow on last years old growth. New growth figs are just two numerous to count and should be a good crop late August or early Sept. We ate the fresh figs for snacks and desert yesterday. My pear tree has a low volume of smaller fruit compared to last year. Lovely canning pears, we only have one jar left from last years crop.
“Sad to report the death of all sunflowers except 1.”
Sorry that happened. I’m going to grow the ones I have sprouted (Sunspot) in grow bags and make a decent net cover over them so varmints can’t get to them. That will take some rigging to get the net far enough away from the plants that the varmints can’t reach them. That is the plan. I’ll do it in the next few days.
You have so much growing and know so much. Could you box up what you know and air mail it to me?
Not much to report from here, but we need rain. My pear tree has a lot of fruit. Hope to find a way to keep the raccoons, possums, and squirrels off when they get close to ripe.
I ask for help some time back in identifying a plant in my neighbor’s yard. It is a wild plant and I can tell you two names that it goes by. The plant is known as a “yellow goats beard “ and also a “yellow salsify” I understand it is common in many states. One of my neighbors that is better on the computer than I came up with the answer.
Thanks for your interest in my question several weeks ago.
I spent most of the 4th working on my land, only to realize about 5 hours in that I had forgotten to put on sunscreen. Fortunately I was wearing a good hat, but still, my forearms are a very bright red right now. Guess I won’t be outdoors much for a while. I’ve got stuff that will heal it completely in 3 days, but I’m having major surgery on Monday and won’t be able to move for a week or two.
My black raspberries are producing, and with all the rain they’re plump and sweet this year. And I have blossoms on my runner beans!
The local hardware store had a good sale on black plastic sheeting, so I got a bunch on that for when I’m able to work on the land next. I did some calculating and decided that I want a 10,000 square foot garden (slightly less than 1/4 acre). With the sale I might actually be able to afford enough plastic sheeting for that, but since I’m on medical leave I’m kind of hesitant to spend the money. Sale ends Sunday. We’ll see what I decide before then.
I absolutely LOATHE temps in the 90’s with oppressive dew points in the low 70’s (South Carolina weather in Red Hampshire...go figure)...on the other hand; my sweet potatoes are LOVING it. Peach Bhut Jolokias are fixing to bloom. Cattle panels are serving well as both trellis and fence...keeps pests like New Yorkers and M*ssholes out of the garden. :-)
Major thunderstorm storm came through last night, around 2 AM. 1.9 inches in the garden gauge. About 1/4” on the basement floor. It blew in underneath the front door, and rain & small hail was bouncing off even the upper half of the door; and the door is set 3 steps up, 6 feet back from the porch eaves. We need every drop.
We have several inches of standing water in the gully behind the house, but surprisingly little damage to roads, trees, or the garden. Some of my newly emerged seeds got buried by washed dirt, rather than washed out; hoping they push back through it. I’m sure most of the unpicked peas have hail damage, so won’t be salable; breaks my heart that we’ll have to eat them. ;-) Too muddy to pick today, so they’ll be over mature “shellers” anyway.
At least the “half dollar size” hail NOAA radio said was coming stayed near Cottonwood Springs Reservoir, a mile & a half south of us. There were flash flood warnings issued with the storm warning, so I imagine the lake level rose somewhat. It was also claimed to be packing up to 80 MPH winds, and I believe it.
The high school Weatherbug station is reporting 1.12 inches in town; and peak gusts of 43 MPH; it was much wetter & windy here, but the hills between us and town must have wrung most of it out before it got there.