Posted on 07/31/2021 6:31:55 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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Oh, fun! That is such a pretty Iris. I need to divide her and spread the love, for sure! :)
We are ‘awash’ in tomatoes. I have given two big boxes away to the fire station up the road - the last box had a gallon bag of cherry tomatoes to go with it. I’m guessing at least 20-25 tomatoes per box.
Today, I made a tomato pie for the folks which used up a couple that were going bad in spots - just cut off the half or quarter that was overripe & chunked up the rest.
This evening, mom took zinnias & sunflowers from my garden plus some tomatoes (of course!) and a couple of cucumbers to the neighbors across the street. The flowers were in two arrangements - zinnias for the little girl & sunflowers for her little brother. Mom said both kids were ‘beaming’ - the little girl is wild about flowers - anything mom takes over ends up in her bedroom - the little brother is old enough that if she gets anything, he wants something too. I think the mom/dad were happy with the tomatoes (about 8 Celebrities & some Sungold cherries).
Tomorrow will be a tomato picking day, so I’ll have a counter full again. :-) BLTs are SO good - love them. I think I might do a batch of jalapeno poppers this weekend - the jalapenos are getting big enough & I even have a couple that are going red.
Oshk! Good planning! I hope you both have a good trip and the water is warm enough for your wife! Hope you enjoy the local food as well!
I'm getting a lot of cherry tomatoes, of course, and I am trying something new...fermenting them....some of them are splitting anyway so I had to use them up....I'll know how they turn out in a few weeks..
Around December I broke open one of his dried peppers and germinated some seeds. They are just starting to produce pods now. I call them Canary Island Cayennes. They probably didn't originally come from the Canary Islands and they may not be Cayennes but that's what they remind me of.
Fig & Habanero Jam/Scotch Bonnet Pepper Jam - How to Make Fig Jam
(She looks so happy! :)
Diana, I do how this would work on this particular fungus, but this is interesting.
https://www.arbico-organics.com/category/bacillus-subtilis-products
Bacillus subtilis Products
“Bacillus subtilis, also known as “hay bacillus” and “grass bacillus”, is a hardy species of bacteria found in soils and the gastrointestinal tract of animals like cattle, goats, deer and humans. As one of the first bacterium species to be studied extensively, it is now widely used for industrial, agricultural and fermentation processes because of its ability to tolerate extreme temperatures and low humidity. Bacillus subtilis is heavily competitive in the soil and commonly outcompetes other soil microbes making it exceptional for fungal disease control in growing media and on foliage.
Bacillus subtilis competes with other microorganisms by producing antibiotics that either kill competition or reduce their growth rate. It is reported to induce SAR (systemic acquired resistance) against bacterial pathogens, whereby the plant’s defenses are triggered prior to pest incursion. Additionally, Bacillus subtilis hinders spore germination in plant pathogens and prevents pathogens from attaching to the plant. When applied to the soil, Bacillus subtilis works symbiotically with numerous beneficial bacteria to solubilize phosphorus. This makes it helpful in areas where phosphate-heavy fertilizers have traditionally been used, allowing plants to absorb what is already in the soil.”
B. Subtilus is also found in Natto, a fermented Japanese soy food, and in Nattozine, which can break up blood clots!
Water Water everywhere but not a drop to drink...
https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2021/aug/3/facing-dire-water-shortages-california-bans-delta/
They can be cooked up just like any other tomato. I juice and can mine.
Thanks for the info. I wasn’t sure how well zucchini held up to freezing
You’re welcome! :)
The quintessential summer flower, sunflowers (Helianthus) have so many amazing uses, from cooking to crafts! Not only are they pretty but also they are an entirely edible plant! See lots of great ways to make the most of sunflowers.
Honored as the state flower in both Kansas and Nebraska, there are about 70 species of sunflowers. Most are native to the Great Plains, Mexico, and Peru.
The Hopi Indians, who believed the sunflower warmed the earth and brought rain, carved wooden sunflowers as sacred objects to help enrich their harvests. They used the seeds for food, ground them into meal and flour, and used the oil for cooking, as a salve, to soften leather, and as a hair conditioner. The stems provided fiber for making cords and rope and the leaves were smoked like tobacco. They even bred a purple-seeded variety to use for dye.
Ethnobotanists think the sunflower may have predated other Mesoamerican crops such as corn, beans, and squash. Sunflower seeds and oil were important crops for the Incas in Peru who created images of the sunflower out of gold. The Spanish brought sunflowers back to Europe with them in the 16th century where they were viewed more as a curiosity than as a food plant. In Russia they recognized the importance of sunflowers as a major oilseed crop and by the 18th century they grew them in abundance.
One of the most interesting qualities of the sunflower is their heliotropism—they turn to face the sun as it travels across the sky. Many flowers have this tendency to move toward the sun but in sunflowers it is very pronounced, In the morning, when the plant is in bud, it faces east. During the day motor cells in the stem tilt the bud to follow the course of the sun across the sky so that it receives maximum sunlight. By evening it will be facing west. Overnight it goes back to the east awaiting the rising sun. Researchers have found that even if the buds are removed, the bare stem will still track the sun. Once the flowers have opened completely, they stop moving and face east.
More at link below:
It has been a tough year growing things. Mostly flowers doing very well. The one surviving tomato plant is covered with blooms; so I’m hoping for a great crop of fall tomatoes! Had to sow parsley seeds about 3 times and finally have a nice planter full of seedlings putting forth third and fourth leaves. One or two tubers of caladium have produced leaves but remain on the tiny side. The only tuberous begonias doing well are the ones indoors. Looks like buds are forming. I can hardly wait for them to bloom.
Ag Slide!
Ag Slide over!
Photo credit Jeb Buchanan, unsplash
It's gotten to be QUITE the 'thing' around here. I always have sunflowers in the garden - usually 'volunteers; from the previous year, but I always have to have my 'Soroya' variety. AAS winner, low pollen so they make a nice cut flower without the mess. :)
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