Weekly Garden Thread - August 15-21, 2020

August 15, 2020 | Diana in Wisconsin/Greeneyes

[Redleg Duke]

Greetings from southern New Hampshire, where we are having cooler weather for the first time in I can’t remember when!

Barb and I have been bustin’ hump out in our garden area, and as usual, getting out of control. Thirteen of our 16 raised beds have been de-weeded and forked by yours truly. Barb has planted...responsibly...tomato, summer squash, pole beans and herbs. Also, she has worked on her strawberry bed, which is responding favorably and given us a nice desert of strawberry short cake.

In the center of the garden, is a large pergola we built about three years ago. There is a pond with a pump and cascade filled with parrot feather and a few, local frogs. The planter bed around it was also de-weeded and forked by yours truly, and Barb has covered it with landscape fabric and black mulch. It looks wonderful.

As to getting out of control, after we moved that tall, garden shed from the northwest to the southeast corner of garden, we were left to cogitate that newly emptied area, and the paucity of covered storage for garden carts, tools and equipment. Bang! Enter phase one of our backyard improvement plan. I had gotten three 4’ by 10’ dock sections for free. Last week, I dug and poured nine footings for three 12’ four by four, pressure treated beams...during that hot, hot weather! They are now secured to the footings, ready for the dock sections. They may go on, tomorrow. Once secured, I will start stick-building a 10’ by 12’ garden shed.

Long term, we are considering a large pole barn to form a “T” across the back of the new shed, a place for our garden tractors and maybe a boat. It will go a long way towards cleaning up our backyard clutter.

[PrincessB]

Hi there, I make my own kimchi, sauerkraut, cucumber pickles, apple cider vinegar and cultivated my own sourdough starter from grapes.

The big ones are equal parts patience and vigilance. It takes time to draw the water out and for the process to unfold. At the same time, the vegetables or fruits should be submerged. I think all batches have a “sweet spot,” about a twelve hour window to move from the counter to the refrigerator. The surface bubbles will increase.

Also if you still want your peppers a little crunchy invest in grape leaves. I put a half a grape leaf in with a quart of cucumber pickles. The tannins in the leaf have kept the pickles from going to soft.

Enjoy!

[devane617]

I’m zone 8/9 sw GA and nw FL...

[PrincessB]

Lowe Midwest container gardener here. I am getting ready to start spinach and Arugula inside and will transplant outside mid September.

With the sun moving south again, my lavender is getting a lot of late afternoon sun. I am hoping for some more blooms be fore winter.

Does anyone grow small fruits/veg indoors. I have two French doors that face full south and am thinking about putting an open bookshelf with plants in front of one for the winter. I had an office plant there when I came home for the great confinement and it went so nuts, I moved it to a larger pot outside.

I know herbs won’t be a problem, but I am hoping for some small peppers, strawberries, etc. too.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Zone 8/9? Oy! LOL!

I’ve only had veggie gardens up here on ‘The Frozen Tundra,’ though I had two years in San Diego - but no place to garden. :(

Try this handy chart:

https://www.ufseeds.com/learning/planting-schedules/Zone-8-Planting-Calendar

[Diana in Wisconsin]

WOW! Impressive! Sounds like a great plan. :)

[Ellendra]

Pics from the farm:

One day's harvest:


Baby watermelons forming. There are a lot of these out there!


My "Shark Fin Squash" are doing well:


A pumpkin from my breeding project. It will most likely turn orange when it gets ripe, although I wouldn't object to a green one. There was so much glare when I was taking the picture that I couldn't actually see what I was doing, so it ended up being zoomed in closer than I wanted. Oh well.



My potato patch has been going gangbusters. The fingerlings came out kind of bitter, but the other varieties are tasty. They're averaging about a pound per foot of row space, which makes the math easy. 5 rows, at 50-ft long, equals a LOT of potatoes this winter :)

My wheat patch, on the other hand . . . Well, let's just say I'm counting that in terms of "lessons learned". Hopefully my winter wheat will do better.

My chickens are enjoying tomato season. They get to eat any that are too cracked or bug-eaten to take inside. I love watching them play keep-away with a big red tomato piece!

[Ellendra]

Beets and radishes grow fast enough you can harvest them in the fall if you plant them now.

If you want something that can be planted now and will overwinter, there are several options. For grains, winter wheat and winter rye would work. Or, plant garlic and harvest it next August.

[Qiviut]

Sigh .... enviously reading about the wonderful gardens of everyone else. WE, on the other hand, are pretty much under water. This WAS the 10th wettest August on record a couple of days ago & moving up. Now, after days of downpours from T-storms that just sit overhead, I think we’re headed for #1. So far this month, we’re at 12.4”. Wednesday, my rain gauge showed 1.5”, yesterday 1.75” and thus far today, 1.5”.

So how does all this rain translate to the garden? Tomatoes are cracking, even though I’m harvesting early. The tomato vines (3 of the 4) are dying. Peppers (bell/jalapeno) are still producing - I have enough red ones for one batch of jalapeno pepper jelly & I think I’ll get at least a 2nd batch. My petunias got so soggy (blooms are mush) that I pulled them up & planted something else. On the postive side, the zinnias I planted a week ago are “up & at ‘em”, growing like weeds. There are many puddles & low places are inundated - local flooding in many areas nearby. The ground is so soggy, it’s “squishy” - cannot drive any equipment (mower being one of them) without making muddy tracks or getting stuck.

When does it end? Tomorrow (Sunday) still has am showers. Monday & Tuesday should be “drier” - Wednesday through Friday have popup showers. No real “dry” weather until next weekend. Temps are ‘cool’ .. upper 70’s, into the mid-80’s, but humidity values will be fairly high.

While I do not like to complain about rain, too much is just too much & that’s where we’re at right now. On a nature note, the rain is not stopping the birds .... the hummingbird feeders are as busy as can be & the regular feeders have birds just hunkered down, sitting on the perches, grabbing a black oil sunflower seed now & again.

[campaignPete R-CT]

I just got back from watering the dusty forest with the hose. I skipped 2 days. A 3-foot oak turned crispy. The weeds are dead. Poison ivy will never recover from this.

The trees that are showing signs of being drought-struck ... I hope watering them now can save them.

It’s only 78 degrees today ... and rain expected in the next few days. A much needed break. Serious drought and heat waves in northern CT & Western Mass.

[Bon of Babble]

We’ve been talking about putting up a greenhouse (we have quite a bit of land).

My brother has one that is full of blooming orchids and bug-eating plants like venus fly traps, protected from the blazing heat and winds. It’s absolutely beautiful and I believe he built it himself.

Hubby is handy so that may be a good gift for our upcoming wedding anniversary!

[Bon of Babble]

Those are wonderful photos!

My brother has a pumpkin-growing contest with his daughter and wife - they grow the super-large pumpkins and hope to have some huge ones to enter in the local contest - he came home last year and his pumpkin had broken off at the stem. You’d a thought he lost one of his children the way he was carrying on.

We are harvesting lemons, figs and have quite a few pomegranates that are ripening - if my kitty can keep the tree rats out of the pomegranate bushes.

[Ellendra]

I would guess that the rain means more birds are using your feeders. If the rain is turning blossoms to mush, the hummingbirds won’t have nectar to drink. And the ones that eat seeds are probably having a hard time finding any, too.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

We built ours - Beau did most of the work, but I was, 'Head Go-Fer.' It was a Palram Bella Hobby Greenhouse, 8' x 12'. About $2K. They come in smaller and larger sizes.

[Qiviut]

That all makes sense.

[TheConservativeParty]

New greenhouse looks awesome!

[BipolarBob]

I think all batches have a “sweet spot,” about a twelve hour window to move from the counter to the refrigerator. The surface bubbles will increase.

All the videos I see call for a week fermentation and some say they go as long as a year! I'm already past the 12 hour window. About 48 hours now and still getting bubbles. Should I stop here and why?

[BipolarBob]

Nice green house. I’m jealous.

[PrincessB]

The twelve hour window comes after the food has fermented for some time. It comes anywhere from two days to two weeks for the foods I ferment. The surface starts out with no bubbles. Then you see one or two. Then you see almost foamy spots. Once those start to develop, you are ready to move to refrigeration. You will, with experimentation find the sweet spot for moving to refrigeration that works for you. I have a friend that uses the foamy spots as a 24 hour warning. The 12 hour time period isn’t as important in a cold house in winter. My house is about 78 degrees right now and I am refrigerating at the first sign of foam. In the fridge, yes, some stuff keeps for a year.

[PrincessB]

The second question. Temperature effects speed of fermentation and fermented food can move past the healthy preseved food into yucky, rotten mush. The higher the temperature, the faster the fermentation. If you have your stuff in a cool place, wait a few more days. If it’s warm (above 70) start tasting and see if you like the consistency. Refrigeration will slow down the fermentation process,.