Posted on 09/13/2013 1:04:36 PM PDT by greeneyes
The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you.
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I use a quality hose and brass fittings everywhere, but that is no guarantee. We have gone through 2 -3 sprayer heads per season, from the cheapest to the best, all are useless after a bit. We are currently use 2 of the $1 kind.
Drip systems are ideal for containers on a deck. That’s where I picked up on the drip idea 15 yrs ago. All our containers(about 30) are on drip with timers. We like to get away sometimes for a few days and have no one to water for us when we are gone.
Well, I am usually up at midnight to 2 or 3 am also. However, Monday through Friday I have to get up a 6am to get grand daugter off to school. Then I get the rest of my sleep, but while she is getting dressed, I can get my garden watered, and it is usually lots cooler then than the rest of the day.
I have no experience with that. The only winter wheat I have ever grown is hard red winter wheat.
Maybe you could sing a little jail house rock and that would make them happier.LOL
If you dig some up and stick them in a pot, it can help to improve their chances of tasting good when ripe.
I'm about 60 miles northwest of you. I'd use rye grass for a cover crop.
My garden did better this year than last year..probably due to adding 38 bags of miracle-gro garden soil to it.
Sounds great. Keep us posted.
You are one hard-working woman!
Lake Travis dropped below 620’ MSL this week. Lowest mark in over 50 years. Spreadsheet at the link below with August levels being the latest posted.
We are already in stage two, which means we can water one day per week and our day is tomorrow. I’ll be outside from 7 - 11 AM tomorrow trying to water all areas of the yard.
Ummm - the carrots or the tomatoes? LOL
Same here in NW Travis county. I really wanted to clean the old plants out of the garden, but it's too hot. Planted the garlic and onion seeds I harvested last year.
Got inside just after noon, and daughter called about one hour ago from Wichita KA. She said it is 75 and had the windows down on the way home from work. They've had over a foot of rain the past two weeks.
Man that is tough weather. Got to have water, you may have to start using desert growing techniques and edible vegetation that can survive drought(is their such a thing).
LOL. Tomatoes.
Going to sink to 39 tonight here in west Michigan. Picked out most of the rest of the tomatoes, including the Russians which are late, don’t know if I will grow some of them next year. Out of the 7 varieties I tried I would probably do 4 again. Also picked a bunch of cayenne peppers, one last zucchini and a bunch of jalapenos. Don’t think my tomatillos will mature. I have lots but it doesn’t feel like there is much inside the blossom. Hubby taking off out of town for work so I hope to get caught up and there are a few nice pictures posted next week. I’ve been canning beeta and have a half bushel of tomato sauce on the stove and am going to break down and buy a foodsaver sealer. On mu bucket list is to use my Grandfather/Fathers cast iron sausage stuffer which I have had for years to actually stuff some sausage. I used it for many years as a hard cheese press but never did sausage. We’re going to smoke half and do half fresh and hen seal and freeze. Splitting the work with a family friend - 40 pounds total ground pork. I’m psyched. He used to work for a butcher and can get the casings from them. Been on FR since 98 and this gardening thread has been the most fun I have really enjoyed it so thanks to all for keeping it going.
Does anyone here have experience growing potatoes from seeds?
Bummer on the low temps. But kudos on all the rest. You have a lot of work ahead of you.
I miss him terrible when he’s gone but I get SO MUCH done!
Raining gently; just 1/3” so far, for the second time this past week.
Sent an infested sunflower with at least one beetle in it to County Weed & Pest Control; they in turn sent it to Rapid City, and I should hear back from the entomologist Monday or Tuesday. It looks like seed loss is secondary, rather than primary, as they burrow through the seeds into the heads, then proceed through the neck and into the upper stem. Not only are the seed where they directly burrow through lost, but the tunnels to get to the stem kills the seed bed, and those are lost as well.
We have canned more carrots, and right now there are 5 trays of diced carrots in the dryer. Have also canned more beans, and have another pickings worth to do something with. The bush speckled butterbeans need a couple more hot days, which NWS assures me will occur, starting Monday.
The dry beans are almost finished for the season. I picked some Wednesday, and didn’t have time to shell them until last night. They were in plastic bags, and some of the pods were not quite dry, though fully mature, and ‘sweated’ inside the bags. That was enough to let several actually pods full sprout! I have never shelled out bean sprouts from pods before; the sprouts were already up to an inch long, and trying to penetrate the pods. I put those into a sprouter to finish growing for the table.
We dropped off a load of pattypan, zucchini, and cukes at the local Ministerial Association food pantry yesterday while in town, but still have plenty for our own use.
A batch of pears got harvested, and are awaiting getting soft enough to process. Candied pears? Dried pears? Pear butter? Who knows at this point! And then there’s the apples. Oh, my, are there apples! Chickens and the wild turkeys have been getting the windfalls & damaged ones. We’ll be drying, freezing, saucing, and canning them, giving them away, and donating them and we’ll still not come close to using them all. Don’t suggest selling; that would be coals to Newcastle, assuming there were a market for small, often bug or bird damaged fruit.
Several of the Buttercup squash stems are becoming ‘corky’ as the fruit takes on color; should be ready sometime in the next week or so, along with their “squashkin” brethren that were born of seeds out of the same, single, Buttercup from last year’s garden. Not sure if they’ll be more squash-like, or pumpkiny; they are 12-16” in diameter, and ribbed; but the skin color is more like that of the Pink Banana squash the female parent was planted near, so suspect they will have a good flavor & texture.
The Jerusalem artichokes finally started forming flower buds beyond all reason; been busy pinching them off.
The Brussels sprouts are loaded, and the lower sprouts are finally starting to put on some size. Another month, and a couple for frosts should do wonders for them.
The volunteer grain milo may or may not mature before a killing frost, as there’s still some flowers open on it, while seed just forming on the rest. Also on the grains front, this coming week, as soon as it dries out enough, will see the wheat & rye planted.
Potatoes STILL are nowhere near ready to dig, though they are beginning to lay down, and lose some of their darker greens.
I’ll have a good crop of radish seed for next year, as the pods are turning color; also have some good candidates for pattypan seed.
All in all, it sounds like a very successful planting season for you for the most part.
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