Squash is done for- plant died overnight- army of squash bugs. Still have a few green cherry tomatoes so should get another batch of those.
Sorghum is ready to harvest-have to read up on the harvest, uses, and seed saving for that - new crop for us this year.
No real plans for this holiday - just working hard to get the outdoor projects done before cold weather. Hope all is well with you and yours.
Have a great weekend. Prayers up for all. God Bless.
Pinging the list. Posting and then heading for bed. Really tired. Will be back tomorrow, but posting now in case I sleep in tomorrow.
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We are still harvesting corn, cucumbers and potatoes. I was trying to trap the raccoon that was sampling the corn but caught a skunk that I dispatched. It will be awhile before the tomatoes are ready to eat
Could use some of that rain.
Need to start digging potatoes, such as they are, and carrots.
We finally got a meal of wax beans, but Kentucky Wonders haven’t put out any yet, despite plenty of flowers & bees.
The butter beans seem to be producing well; just waiting for them to start drying on the vines.
Plums and apples are ready to harvest.
It’s now a nail biter to see if the peaches and winter squash mature before our first frost.
Need to get some firewood cut this weekend, too.
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I have almost a bumper crop. Last year, I took a clean hair comb and used that to detach the almost BB sized berries from their stalks. It worked well enough.
I cut a bunch of stalks off this year to do that but ran out of time. So I shoved them in the freezer--a chest freezer. After freezing, the berries tend to thaw in a mushy state. So, I tried taking them off by shaking them and using my fingers while they are still in the plastic grocery bags in the freezer. That may be better even than the comb.
FWIW. BTW, elderberry syrup is great for helping lung health.
Squash Bugs? Eyew.
I mentioned a while back that we have been using Mint Extract in a spray bottle of water to keep the rats/squirrels from eating the tomatoes and sunflowers. Just spray some around the stalks and onto the veggies and it seems to fool their noses.
Just planted a bunch of new sunflower seeds yesterday. I use inverted clear plastic cups with a wood skewer pushed through a drilled hole in the bottom (which is now the top). The clear cup protects the seeds from the vermin until the plant starts to outgrow the cup.
Had some extra seeds left over so as another experiment, instead of the Mint Extract spray, I cut off some of our Mint plants that we are growing in our 28 cup hydroponic Tower Garden and spread the cut vines around where the seeds were planted.
Just an experiment but since Mint “grows like a weed” and is free, compared to the Extract, might be nice to know if simply spreading some cut Mint around the seeds, will deter the rodents.
I’ll report in...
Pickles done - 16 quarts in refrigerator. Also 6 quarts of zucchini, squash and onions.
2nd crop of string beans producing. Will freeze; maybe pickle a quart or two.
Anybody got an organic deer repellent? Took one bite of every apple on my tree. I’ve got photos of a deer within 50 feet of the house - in broad daylight. I live in a small subdivision, so shooting is out of the question.
Bump
There has been a brief, but welcome, cool down. Less heat and humidity has helped the tomatoes to set bud once again so looking forward to a nice crop of fall tomatoes. Maybe not the cucumbers as the vines look pretty beat up. Seedlings of romaine and bibb lettuce almost ready to transplant. Thinking I’m going to take a nap. Hope everybody has an enjoyable and safe weekend.
Hot and humid here in Central Missouri. We got about 1.5” rainfall while you were getting drowned.
I got most of the potatoes out over the weekend. I’m a bit disappointed with the outcome of that exercise. 5 gallons from 20’ of row is what I normally get. 50’ of row didn’t make that this time.
All of the sweet corn has been cut and packed for freezing. I picked almost a bushel of green beans yesterday. Got about half of them snapped and ready to pack for freezing.
The cucumbers are finished just in time for the okra to go insane. That will keep Mrs. Augie busy making pickles until we leave for vacation later this month. Can’t keep up with the tomatoes at this point. I’m going to start cutting pumpkins after work today.
In spite of all the work we still made time to have some fun over the weekend. Dove season opened on Saturday and Boomtown was booming. The storms we had last week pushed a lot of birds out, but enough of them hung around or maybe new ones moved in, that we had plenty of opportunity to send lead flying. We’ve got a gallon ziplock bag full of dressed birds that will go on the smoker tonight.
Went to the Lake Ozark racetrack Sunday night for sprint cars and midgets. Smoked three slabs of baby back ribs yesterday. Those matched up nicely with the fresh green beans, sweet corn, and tomatoes from the garden.
My (mostly) seedling Cannas have been a mixed blessing this year. Had to move them up on the deck after deer were nibbling on the leaves. Not enough sun, so they are spindly. Get a huge bloom head and rain - they nod over or snap off. A few haven’t even bloomed despite good growth.