WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD JUNE 29, 2018

freerepublic | JUNE 29, 2018 | greeneyes

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Oh, no! I hope Mrs. AR gets better soon!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I didn’t have good onion production this year, either. I think I have too much nitrogen in the soil, so lots of top, not much bottom!

Beau gets a little generous with the mule compost in some places!

[greeneyes]

I would mix peat moss, compost, and vermiculite in approximately equal amounts by volume and add some of that to the dirt and see if that helps.

[Black Agnes]

That’s the very one!

I have a porch that’s perfect for stuff like that. I’ve got my dehydrator out there right now drying blueberries and apple dices.

[greeneyes]

You are welcome.

[greeneyes]

Thanks for that link and the info.

[Black Agnes]

Yes, that one too!

Another Christmas list item for me.

Although there are some really good recipes on the freshpreserving.com site too.

Hubby is interested in sorting out pressure canning. Both our moms do that but we’ve been slacking because we know our moms would do it. This is the recipe that’s prompted our interest:

https://www.freshpreserving.com/bbq-pulled-pork-—ball-recipes-br3534.html

[greeneyes]

right back at you.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

My Handsome Guy, Boyd, staying cool as a cucumber under a zucchini plant.

Harvesting this week: Broccoli, Green peppers, Lettuces and Zukes. Snap peas are just about pooped out in the heat; I had to pull a lot of the lettuce due to the heat, but I have one big container still going strong.

Red Lake Currants. Good production this season with all of the rain. Ben Sarek (black) are almost ready, too.

Long view of the garden, facing East.

Long view of the garden facing West, a few rows in. Behind you are my Garlic and strawberry beds.

Our Jackmanii Clematis. She is just GORGEOUS this year and is lasting for weeks and weeks, even through all of the rain & heat. My secret fertilizer for her is - MILK! When we finish a jug, I fill it with water & the little bit of milk still in there and feed it to her. Works like a charm!

As an Added Bonus we have been WEALTHY with Golden Oyster Mushrooms this spring season. We are STILL harvesting them from our woods, but the fun won't last for long. We actually like the flavor of these over the Morels we find. Nature will provide!

[greeneyes]

Thanks for all the pics. Quite a lot of bounty you have going there.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

...and all it took was trial and error for the past 40 years, LOL! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I’m going to try your tomato powder idea. I’ve purchased it in the past and it is Da Bomb...on just about anything.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Mmmmmm!

I FINALLY got the brine right for the wild hog that Beau shot last fall in TX. That stuff is TOUGH, but if I brine it right, it’s edible enough.

Waste Not, Want Not!

[NTHockey]

Got my first vegetables this week - green beans and lettuce. Major problems with bugs eating holes in my eggplant leaves. I’ve sprayed them (with a 1% solution of Neem oil and water with a little Dawn detergent and sprayed from a spray bottle).

My problem here is that I believe some of the Neem oil solution got on my green beans, making them sticky. Can they still be eaten? Wife has had them soaking all morning.

[Black Agnes]

My hubby’s trying to find a place to hog hunt. Feed family of 5 long time!

[tubebender]

Diane’s vegetable porn should not be allowed!!!

How long did it take you to format the HTML for these photos?

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Hey! If Garden Porn is your STRENGTH - you go with that, LOL!

I always use the same (width = 300) when I type in the HTML codes. Setting those pictures up probably took me all of 10 minutes...with interruptions!

I link them from my FB Page. Let Zuckerberg pay for the bandwidth! ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

They were down on the Tex/Mex border. It was a trip he won at a Game Feed. He probably won’t do it again due to the quality of the meat.

We’re spoiled living a stone’s throw from the Iowa Border where Pork Is King. YUM! :)

[Ellendra]

I just got back from an unexpected trip to Missouri. While I was there, I had a meeting with one of my contacts at Baker Creek, who offered me a behind-the-scenes tour of their facility.

If you ever get the chance to go behind the scenes at Baker Creek, take it! That place is AWESOME!!! I got to see their main warehouses, the seed processing areas, their seed bank (80% of the varieties they have never make it to the catalog), and their test plots. Just the drying racks take up more room than my entire house!

I had mentioned to the warehouse manager that I was interested in a couple of melon varieties, one that was sold out and the other had been discontinued. He went into the seed bank and got me the LAST PACKET of the one that was discontinued! And then he went out to one of the greenhouses and found a ripe melon from the other variety for me!!!

I don’t know if such tours are available on request, or if it’s just for contract growers, but if you ever get the chance, check it out!

[Black Agnes]

Ya, the quality depends on the size of the pig and what it’s been eating.