WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD JULY 15, 2016

freerepublic | July 15, 2016 | greeneyes

[Alas Babylon!]

Well, Diana in Wisconsin said she keeps them on the vine unitl they're full ripe. I pick mine a few days early. We're both right.

In a hoy, humid climate like mine, a not quite ripe tomato can go from not ripe-ripe-rotten in 24 hours. When I was stationed in Germany, I could keep them on the vines for a week. So it also depends on your climate, and how hot and humid it is.

Oh, and what kind of little critters you got. I have a LOY of big, mean, leaf-footed stink bugs this year. It's been dry rain-wise, and they drink by piercing the tomatoes (and every other plant and fruit/veggie) with their proboscises. That can cause premature rot, too.

Ugly SOBs look like this. They'll actually fly at you, trying to scare you off.

[SaveFerris]

OK 2 large with blush harvested and 3 more towards orange.

All 5 wrapped in some newspaper.

[SaveFerris]

Just pulled 5 - it’s hot here in the Midwest - little rain.

I’m a little early so it will be fun checking on them on the table this week!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I get more done when there’s more to do, it seems. Beau retires at the end of the month. If today was any indication, we are going to spend a lot of time on the couch watching movies, napping and reading, LOL!

I’m six months in, now. I’m getting better about slowing down. A little. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Good points about the climate making a BIG difference as to when you pick your tomatoes!

We have Box Elder Bugs that look like your stink bugs, but are black and red and horny little buggers, too!

I guess when your lifespan is a matter of hours, you do what you have to do - and be quick about it, LOL!

[Ladysforest]

HAhaha - no worries. That is a funny story about the squirrels though as I have never head of them doing that to hide nuts. While I have seen an occasional squirrel on the roof here, I have never seen a chipmonk up there. :) I do see them in the chicken pen/yard. They like to swipe scratch. They will eat strawberries, and other berries as well as young melons and even gourds.

[TEXOKIE]

Our problem was an annoyance, but we went to visit a relative a couple of years ago. They had chewed through from under her porch and got into the attic and played all kinds of havoc up there!

There’s a reason why people call them “tree rats!”

As I said, I am not as familiar with chipmunks, but any of the little rodentoid varmints are a potential mess when it comes to gardening!

[tubebender]

This is a Douglas Squirrel on my garden shed that is found in the pacific northwest extending down here into N/W Calif coast. He is a little bigger then a chipmunk and is a very dainty eater taking no more than one sunflower seed or peanut at a time. Lots of fun to watch…

[Ladysforest]

Looks like our grey squirrels, but smaller. Our glutenous squirrels are often seen with their cheeks bulging and more food in their claws. I like watching them bury food in the yard - they actually arrange each blade of grass when they are done to camouflage the location.

[SLB]

Bought a pomegranate tree at the Farmers Market in Franklin, TN last weekend. Will have to keep it in a pot here in the Ohio River Valley of Kentucky, but am interested in seeing how it does. It is a 3 to 4 year old tree so might have some fruit on it next year if I get it through the winter.

[Augie]

Hot, hot, and more hot here in Central Missouri over the weekend, but on the bright side my tomatoes and cucumbers are beginning to produce.

I took 30lbs of cull tomatoes and half a bushel of cucumbers to the produce auction in Clark on Friday, met the owner, and got squared away on how to do business with those folks.

We made the first BLTs of the season over the weekend, and a gallon of tomato/cucumber/basil salad. Yummy on the tummy!

The roma tomatoes are loaded. I've got a local mexcan food truck lined up that will take up to 10 cases/week for as long as they are producing. First delivery should be towards the end of this week.

The sunflower field is loving all of the recent rainfall. We've gotten a little over 10" at my house since the last week of June.

[nascarnation]

Sunflowers look great!

Mine seem to be feeding the local deer population, not sure if any will get to actually flowering. The birds will be unhappy.

[Ellendra]

I’ve been splitting my time between job-hunting and the farm. My current job isn’t giving me enough hours to pay the bills, so I’m hoping to find something better.

In the mean time, garlic! I had 4 kinds of garlic planted in one bed. They were jumbled together enough that it’s hard to tell which is which. Some were ready to dig, most weren’t. But circumstances changed.

The spot where I was growing them is on a terraced part of my hill, near the road. This is a private road, not a public one. On a busy day you might see 10 cars pass by. Because it’s privately owned, most years that means I can plant stuff right alongside it, and only have dust to deal with. That makes this terrace a perfect spot for root crops most of the time.

Until now. This year, at the meeting with the other property owners who share this road, it was decided that it was time to spray the wild parsnips along the shoulders. So, ready or not, out the garlic comes! I have some that are so small it’s hard to tell they’re even there, and I have some that are full-sized and ready to pull. I dug every last one of them, no matter what stage they were at. Now I have two bags full, and not many places to store them. I’m thinking of braiding the smaller ones so I can hang them up. The biggest ones will be saved for planting.

Eventually, I have selected the perfect strain for my growing conditions. For now, everything’s still in testing phase.

On the plus side, my corn and beans are doing fantastic! They were late getting planted, but they caught up fast! I’ll have to start taking my squirt gun full of mineral oil next week so I can treat for ear worms.

[Ellendra]

Make sure no one walks through that area barefoot! Broken marbles mean broken glass.

I tend toward ball bearings, myself.

[tubebender]

Dust would be a real problem but oil is even worse. Do you have enough water to hose the dust off? And when do you plant your garlic. It’s mid October here on the west coast.

[tubebender]

It’s hard to to find ball bearings the size of marbles. I have arthritis in both hands making it difficult to hold the ammo and pull back.

[Augie]

I planted enough for all of the wild critters to share.

I also planted oats, pearl millet, and turnips in that patch.

The oats have already ripened, which is making the local mourning dove population very happy.

[Ellendra]

There’s no well yet, so no water to wash as they grow. They seem to deal with the dust just fine.

I plant the garlic in September.

[greeneyes]

Thanks for the link.

[greeneyes]

They should ripen very well, that way. Even when they don’t ripen on the vine, they have a superior taste to what you can get in the supermarket.