Posted on 07/18/2014 12:31:17 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. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks.
No matter what, you wont be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isnt asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. There is no telling where it will go and... that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us!
NOTE: This is a once a week ping list. We do post to the thread during the week. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest are welcomed, so feel free to post them at any time.
RUH ROH!!!!! Didn’t lose any tomatoes yesterday/last night with the bird netting up, but ....... was sitting in the living room just now watching TV (Mountain Men rerun - too tired to do anything else) & what do I see peering through the storm door at me but a groundhog! We have them down at the barn, but this was all the way up the yard and up on the front porch. If you walk off the porch, across the yard and into the field, there is my garden.
I now have two larger live traps set with watermelon and cracked corn - one down at the tractor shed where they’ve been digging & one under the apple tree. Those little green apples attract squirrels (saw another one this morning), ground hogs, and deer (had a doe under the tree last night). If the groundhog finds the garden, I think that’s going to be the end of it. :-(
In the coming weeks, if this gardening topic keeps being posted, I’ll be able to provide results of my experience with San Marzanoes.
And, BTW, my grower didn’t have any more San Marzanoes so I bought some “regular” plum tomatoes and will plant them this afternoon.
This week I’ve made two squash pies, a squash casserole, and 12 pints of squash relish. The pig got half of a five-gallon bucket, and there is more waiting for her. We took a bag to friends at church this morning, and the plants are just blooming their little heads off. Whew!
Send it to Trisham. She thinks they are cute, and she calls them her little whistle pigs.
Another gallon of Seascape Strawberries headed for Church Fellowship this morning plus she kept a quart for us
LOL!
Paging Marcella...
You haven’t checked in with your FRamily here on the gardening thread in six days.
We are having people over in 2 weeks that will be looking around in the yard and I am cleaning up the veggie garden, but first am going to get cuttings for a fall crop or indoor winter crop. The peppers are getting containerized.
I managed to get out to my land this weekend. The fishing line fence worked great! You can see the trail where the deer came up to the fence, then turned and walked around it. If they had run at it, they would have broken through, but if they approach slowly, they get disconcerted by strings they can feel but not see, and avoid the area.
I had brought another spool of fishing line to repair breaks, but there wasn’t a single broken line there!
I have pictures, but I need to get them uploaded. My first planting of corn is doing well, the silks are starting to dry down. Several stalks are doing the “octo-corn” thing, which multiplies the harvest but would make it impossible to use machinery to pick. My second planting of corn is about a foot tall, not bad for 2 weeks old. Everything is up except the tobacco.
I also transplanted some of my surviving strawberry plants out to the land. They’re hardy enough not to need much tending, and I’d like a big strawberry patch when I finally move there.
Closer to home, the peas are drying down faster than I thought they would. I took a sturdy needle and some upholstery thread and strung them up by the stem end of each pod, that should help them dry down completely. As the plants dry down, my one nuna bean is filling in the space, I hope it flowerrs soon. It’s from the pack the seed bank sent me. They would only send me 10 seeds, and of the 7 I planted only one grew.
Today I canned black raspberry syrup, mulberry-plum sauce, and chunky cherry syrup. There were odds and ends from each type, so I also have one jar that has all of them mixed, along with a few diced strawberries. I didn’t want it to go to waste.
(They were all small batches, so this wasn’t as much work as it looks like. Everything fit in a single canner load.)
I finally got my new grain grinder unpacked and cleaned up. The guys at the factory didn’t wash it, there was a greasy fingerprint right in the hopper! The burrs are taking long enough to dry that I’ll have to wait before I can try it out. Oh well.
Melons have blossoms, tomatoes are getting bigger but still green, and my chickpeas have little pods on them!
My grandfather’s caretaker is planning on unloading her extra produce on us this year, I’m looking forward to having too many tomatoes. Last year I didn’t have enough!
It sounds like you accomplished a lot this weekend. I am glad your fishing line worked to keep the deer at bay.
LOL! Not sure if it is truly helpful, or even correct. Sometimes I just picked them out and drove on with watering! I didn’t want my ‘maters to be deprived because of some pesky ‘shrooms! But still, there were times when I realized I had probably overdone the water works!
I wish you well. I just hope someone from the company will listen to the complaints and get their quality control people to fine a solution!
I had not known for sure it was actually in the dirt I used in my pots which brought the mushrooms to my garden, and not just some spores in my neighborhood. I was appreciative to get confirmation of the origin of them from your post.
I survived the 2nd half of Sprint Week. It was a little rough but I made it. lol
Mrs. Augie sent me some nice pictures of the fresh sweetcorn and green beans she enjoyed while I was gone. She also made a couple quarts of fermented dill pickles.
I noticed before I left that there were some big tomatoes getting close. It’s time to stock up on bacon...
I’ll read the thread and get back to you later today.
I miss my new gardening thread . . . I hope you’re OK!!!
I miss the thread too- greeneyes hasn’t posted anything since 07/20, hope all is well.
I came on to FR looking for the new thread, too. Hope all is well with greeneyes, also.
So Sorry I am sick as a dog. Lost track of what day it is.
Johnny, is you get a chance could you start a new thread?
Thanks to all for your concerns. Going back to bed now.
I hope you’re feeling better soon.
Prayers up.
/johnny
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