Cucumbers, green beans, squash, zukes continue to produce well, and I am now out of jars. Will have to buy more to can some more pickles and green beans.
Some tomatoes have started to ripen, and we are bringing them in as soon as they get a blush. One of the tomato plants had about 14 big tomatoes on it, and they all disappered, leaving just a few new starts. Originally, Hubby said there was nothing left, and he thought maybe someone had taken them.
So, today, I asked him to show me the plant. Walked on down the hill, and found the remainder of a chewed up tomato close to where a family of bunnies is known to hangout. They ignored the trap with nice red tomatoes from the grocery store-ha ha- smart bunnies.
I have found that slugs are what happened to the sunflowers, so beer bait and diatemaceous earth are the treatments we are trying.
Still pending: What is chewing on the grain Amaranth plant and ignoring the leaf amaranth? Why are the peach trees dying? Still researching and looking at pics of various diseases I have found on the web.
In addition to Hubby's peach trees, his grapes have issues. The fruit is turning bad before ripening.
Anyway, I have been able to get cukes and melons growing for the first time since 2010. After last year, I am happy as a clam for the produce we have aquired so far. I have canned about 6.5 cases of produce, put up some frozen green beans, and have another batch of cukes and squash waiting.
Hubby's corn is not doing so well, He won't give it additional water, and while the rain has been adequate for most of our stuff, it hasn't been enough for the corn. I did catch him watering some of the tomatoes and squash, so I guess we know what he likes best.LOL
Pinging the List. Hope you are all doing well. Have a great weekend. God Bless.
/johnny
I have tomatoes that are sooooo close to being ripe, it’s hard not to pick them early! My runner beans are starting to get fat enough that I’m leaving them for seed (which was the main reason for planting them, I needed to expand my seed supply.) My potatoes have needed hilling for about a month now, but all the lawn clippings I was promised for mulch are getting thrown out instead. When I can stand for more than 2 minutes, I’ll start looking for alternatives around the yard. There’s a maple tree growing through the fence that I can take all the leaves I want off of, that might work.
I sort-of got permission to raise rabbits in the back yard. Dad was talking in baby-talk again, which means he didn’t think I was serious or else that I’m not capable of such a thing. He does that a lot. But I’m going to anyway, and mom is backing me up! As soon as I heal enough to build a cage for them. I’m thinking bunny-tractor, just because it would be easiest to clean. I’m using my recovery time to study rabbit nutrition and dispatching techniques, which were kind of ignored by the rabbit-raising books I have. (On nutrition, the books refused to acknowledge anything other than commercial pellets. One author even said he wouldn’t sell to anyone who planned to raise all their own rabbit food. Fortunately, there are other resources.)
Oh, I should mention that the rabbits I raise will, of course, have nothing to do with the ones currently breeding in my front garden, which I now have permission to live-trap. Even if they do turn out to look exactly the same...
Did some calculations, and it might be easier to make a living off my plant-breeding than I thought, assuming my crosses are successful and I get them stabilized soon. Especially with seed prices climbing the way they are. A few years ago, you could get a packet of 100 tomato seeds for $0.95. Now it’s a packet of 25 seeds for $2 or more.
Last week we had killer heat and humidity. This week, to pay us back, we are having reasonable temperatures and low humidity. Tomorrow I plan on pulling up the thistles that took over last week.
I love the Scots, but curse their thistles!
100º here again today. Nothing growing in the garden for now. I need to pull up all the dead plants and get ready for the fall garden. Just a slight chance for a shower later today.
I have Ear Worms eating my corn and Powdery mildew killing my cantaloupes and squash.
Zone 9 central Florida
Any advice is more than welcome.
Started using Bacilus Threngiensis on the Corn but now it looks pretty dried out, may be too late.
Thinking using Chlorothalonil on the lopes but they look pretty bad by now as well.
New at this so be nice ;-)
I’m all shades of green with envy. Hubby’s corn didn’t do - again. They’ll make little bitty ears but won’t fill out and then die. Yes, plenty of water.
The only maters producing are some of the yellow pears. I’m all excited that one is giving me some that are nearly twice the size of the norm. Definitely saving those seeds. It’s one that I had intentionally grown from saved seeds so saving the larger seeds each year might be paying off. The other varieties are either taller than my head or still little bitty plants after all these months. None are even thinking of blooming. Maybe this fall will change things around.
I had planted a carrot top and it’s blooming so am looking to get seeds off it soon. There’s a broccoli that is starting to bloom so need to grab the seeds off it, too. Weeding this morning, I found 3 red onion blubs so guess something dug them up. I thought they had all disappeared a couple months ago so planted them by the gate to see what happens. Something went through all the sweet onions and then made the red onions disappear, too. Never did figure out what happened.
I gave up on the two zukes and pulled them up yesterday. I’m tired of trying to save them from the bugs. I have some other squashes coming up so we’ll see if later plantings work any better. I know they won’t but whatever.
The chicken wire is keeping the armadillos out (knock on wood) but the cat that’s been hanging around left me a present in the enclosure this morning. I’m going to view it as fertilizer. It’s my fault because I’ve started leaving food and water out for him/her this week. The big slobber bucket also left a present in the middle of the path to the garden and he just looked at me like he had no clue what I was talking about. Clueless is his normal look except when he’s called to the kitchen or told it’s time to go to the garden.
No rain this week and three digit temps. Whew, the weeds are taking over. I can’t keep up with them.
I don’t know if this is the right thread but thought I’d post this for those who don’t know.
When buying produce at the grocerty store, check the numbers by the bar code or on the little sticker. You’ll see a 4-5 digit code. If the digits begin with “8” it was grown from GMO/GE seeds. If it begins with “9” then it was grown organically. If it’s a four digit code then pesticides were used on it.
Countries also have codes:
00 – 09 USA & Canada
30 – 37 France
40 – 44 Germany
471 Taiwan
480 Philippines
489 Hong Kong
49 Japan
50 UK
690 - 692 China
740 - 745 Central America
880 South Korea
885 Thailand
888 Vietnam
890 India
899 Indonesia
930 - 939 Australia
955 Malaysia
http://augureye.blogspot.com/2012/11/know-your-gmo-bar-codes.html
The grain amaranth thief may have wings and feathers.
Let me know what is going on with your peach trees. I found a problem with our three yr old peach tree and wonder if it’s something to worry over.
1/4” to 3/4” rain every few days for the last couple of weeks, so don’t need to water.
WInter squash has run wild, with runners up to 12’ or so long, with a lot of fruits coming along. Same for the pumpkins.
Second planting of carrots have suddenly taken off with the cooler, damper weather.
The Siberian—or Mongolian; I always forget which— apricots are nearly ripe, with a few precocious ones taste tested. They are very small, only about 1.5”, and the flesh drier and less sweet, though not tougher, than commercial ‘cots; but good flavored: good for cooking, less so for out of hand eating. Not surprising, as that is what the Farm Bureau description said when they sold them as ‘shelter belt’ trees.
As I think of more, I’ll add it later.
Howdy from Tennessee. The gardening is coming along well. Mild temps and some rain with loads of mosquitoes thrown in to the mix. Put up a couple more batches of pickles and relish. Tomatoes are on the vine-still green. The hybrids are doing well-the heirlooms not so much.
Going to plant some bush beans soon. We’ve had better luck growing them on the back end of the season than the beginning when the bugs are worse. Our season lasts until mid to late October. Lots more time.
Appreciate the info on stuffing peppers and growing paprika and planting carrots. Very, very helpful info.
Happy gardening everyone!!
I just did something crazy and requested seeds from GRIN, the government seed bank! Eeek!
Really cool/cold weather here in the Twin Cities far flung areas.
It was down to 46 degrees last night and has me concerned about the tomatoes. I’ve been reading that the lycopene/ripening gene turns off at 55 degrees or below, same with the taste enzyme.
Bad gardening season so far. Too cold...too hot...to cold and so on. Bah!
Critters have decimated our garden this year. Deer and one nasty groundhog have treated our garden like the neighborhood buffet. We were finally going to have a wonderful crop of brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes. They chewed those down. They’ve eaten our green beans, snagged the zucchinis off the plant, eaten the tops off of our carrots and even eaten the leaves off of the pumpkins. They’ve chewed down all of our hostas and the roses we just recently planted.
Need more fencing.
And a gun.