Weekly Garden Thread - August 21-27, 2021 [Extending The Growing Season Edition]

August 21, 2021 | Diana in Wisconsin/Greeneyes

[Mariner]

I know folks struggle with the duration of the growing season in the northeast, upper med west and northwest.

But I have a new spurt of heirloom beefsteak tomatoes that just set fruit and I should be harvesting pounders in October. All they need is water and a TON of fertilizer.

Looks like a second harvest of all my peppers in mid Sep.

Salsa, salsa, salsa.

Here in the Big Valley.

[Qiviut]

Cherry tomatoes out the wazoo ... waaaay too many! Celebrities are still producing. Bell peppers are now producing & I made the first batch of jalapeno pepper poppers last weekend - SO good!!

What I am especially loving right now is the Hummingbird Garden. The sunflowers I staked back up after being flattened by ferocious storm winds a week ago are all doing well and goldfinches are feasting - they’re just beautiful (flowers & birds). The one tithonia I had to stake back up is wilting during the day, but coming back overnight so it’s not dead yet - the other two are fine. I’m seeing 4-6 yellow swallowtails at a time almost constantly during the day. We’re getting the occasional black swallowtail & I’ve even seen a couple of Monarchs. Right next to the tithonias is the hummer nectar feeder - having to refill every other day ... it’s mobbed (so is the one hanging from the maple tree in the front yard).

I ordered a 3rd hummer feeder like the two that I & the hummers like. I had bought an extra one (32 oz) last year at the hardware store - very pretty with red glass, but it just doesn’t work. The perches are spaced incorrectly & the hummers cannot perch while feeding. I was going to fabricate something for perches, but I’m just not in the mood to fiddle with it - found a feeder like I already have at a good price & just went ahead & ordered it. It should be here Tuesday. The shade I made out of a plastic bowl for the one feeder hanging in full sun at the hummer garden is working great - I did pick up an extra bowl so I can make a shade for the new feeder - that will also be full sun & will need it.

Caught a box turtle in my groundhog trap - LOL! He hissed at me when I got him out, so not very grateful. The fig bush is loaded with ripening figs & between the birds, bees & butterflies, that is a “happening place” as well. Two of the 3 buckaroos were visiting the apple tree night before last - I had just mowed and cut up some apples with the mower, so I’m sure they could smell them. I like seeing the buckaroos - as long as they’re eating non-garden/flower items! :-)

[FamiliarFace]

That tzatziki recipe doesn’t have dill. You MUST use fresh dill to get it to taste right, IMHO. Here’s the recipe I use, that I serve to guests and they rave over it. It’s almost the same as the one Pete gave. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/easy-tzatziki-recipe-1924366

[FamiliarFace]

Beautiful!

[FamiliarFace]

Gorgeous! I’m jealous! One day I will have more sun in my yard. Too many mature trees right now, but the good news is that keeps the shade going from time to time. That’s not great for growing many vegetables, but I manage to find plenty of flowers that like partial sun. ;)

[FamiliarFace]

P.S. When I use 0% fat Greek yogurt, I add a dollop of sour cream to give it more oomph.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

FF; What? Yes, I agree!

Groan! My Drive by Recipe posting! My bad! A tzatziki recipe should include dill! (Its almost as bad as using Rice in your "malt beverage"!)

Dilly Dilly!

"Lavender's blue dilly dilly, lavender's green
when I am King dilly dilly you will be Queen!"

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

F.F. Shade makes a garden really difficult! It took 3 major ice storms to finish off the the Silver maple weeds that were growing in our back yard and get enough sun to garden!

(Now I need to start working on moving to a place where I can have vegetable rows longer than 6 feet!)

[left that other site]

I LOVE Tzatziki!

And it MUST have dill.

[left that other site]

Ah....Middle Eastern Food. I LOVE IT!

[Pollard]

Just noticed your subject, extending the growing season. Might as well post these links again.

Greenhouse info https://permasteader.com/cloud/index.php/s/erJoEN8fDDnrr7j
High Tunnel info https://permasteader.com/cloud/index.php/s/aZaTSykw9b6Mo3g

[Diana in Wisconsin]

After harvesting most of the day in high 80 degrees and way too much humidity, rolling in the Lapland snow looks SO inviting! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Thanks for the links! This is a subject near and dear to me. I want to continue to improve using my greenhouse and cold frames and anything else I can learn about to extend my growing season in Zone 4/5.

Usually I’m sick to DEATH of my garden by September, but I’m really inspired these days - most likely by the collapse of other things near and dear to me like, oh, our vanishing FREEDOMS, our faltering ECONOMY, INFLATION, the price of GAS and the ME on fire. *Rolleyes*

[FamiliarFace]

Another tip on the tzatziki. First I get rid of the seeds from the cucumber, then grate it with a box grater. Then I collect it into strainer and press most of the juices out. Even though I love cucumber juice, you can add back in a little at a time, if you need to. I usually don’t need to add any back in.

Of course, the more dill, the better! I go heavy on what the recipe calls for.

[left that other site]

Sounds Awesome!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

The boy in the booth at a Ren Fest was calling out! "Don't feel awful! Try a Falafal!"
My first real taste of middle eastern food!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Shifting over to your tagline! (Good to be out in the country!)

[FamiliarFace]

That’s neat. I don’t remember exactly how I tried ME food the first time. I’ve been an adventurous eater since I was a kid.

[Augie]

It was another mostly dry week here in Central Missouri. We got a little shower Thursday night, but it didn't do much more than knock down the dust.

Green beans are doing well. Starting to pick on the basil. Butternut squash is close to harvest. Getting enough tomatoes for BLTs a couple times a week. Fall crops are coming on strong.

The 1972 Craftsman tiller has been raised from the dead with a new Kohler engine. High idle on the new engine is quite a bit faster compared to the old 5hp Briggs engine. If I can't figure out a way to set a throttle stop I may need to put a smaller drive pulley on the crankshaft. Definitely need to slow the ground speed a bit.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I have a Kohler engine on my zero-turn Ariens mower. It’s the only part of it that hasn’t failed, or I haven’t accidentally broken yet, LOL!

But, when you go with Wisconsin-manufactured goods, you usually get something reliable. ;)