Gardening: 2016 (midyear)

[Wayne]

 

I harvested the last of my garlic last Sunday and have it curing in the garage. Although the season has been very dry and everyone is complaining about yellow lawns the conditions were perfect for garlic. I was able to control the watering and they came out of the ground in near perfect condition. This year was about two weeds early.

 

 

Planted 140 this year and harvested 145. Guess some had twins .

 

Lots of tomatoes coming in but won't see any on the table for 3-4 weeks.

 

 

Yard long beans and cucumbers coming along.

 

 

@ElainaA My guess is you've got a runner or pole bean and they're all looking for something to cling to.

 

One garlic bed planted with bush beans.

 

 

I've been harvesting bush beans, beets, lettuce, chard, collards, kale, white onions and spring onions and herbs. These are some of the first zucchini and kohlrabi.

 

 

As always it's great to see everyone else's photos and how their gardens are progressing.

 

Cheers!

 

 

[blue_dolphin]

Beautiful garden, @Wayne - love the garlic!

 

48 minutes ago, Wayne said:

This year was about two weeds early.

 

I my garden, I'm usually more than two weeds late !

[Shelby]

12 hours ago, ElainaA said:

This was supposed to be part of my above post.

These beans are supposed to be Tongue of Fire - beans for drying, that, in everything I can find about them (I have never grown them before) are bush beans. Yet the plants are looking more and more like pole beans - thrashing around for something to climb on. So, either these are atypical Tongue of Fire beans or the seeds were mislabelled. Tomorrow i am putting in some poles and trellis for them to climb. And, in time, I will see what I have.

 

Gorgeous stuff, Elaina.  

 

Those beans look just like the pole beans I had growing...before bunnies and hail lol.  I bet they will enjoy having something to climb on.

[Wayne]

28 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

Beautiful garden, @Wayne - love the garlic!

 

 

I my garden, I'm usually more than two weeds late !

 

 Don't know how I missed that.

 

 

[blue_dolphin]

37 minutes ago, Wayne said:

 

 Don't know how I missed that.

 

 

It was just such an appropriate typo for the topic that I had to comment - thanks for the chuckle!

 

[Okanagancook]

How about a shade cloth for the bolting lettuce?  I have been using cloth over all my greens with good success.

[Shelby]

Wayne, that garlic looks so good.  So do the tomatoes!

 

I'm slowly harvesting the onions.  No laughing, I know they're small--I never can grow big red onions....the white ones are bigger...., but they are good

 

 

 

 

 

[Wayne]

32 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Wayne, that garlic looks so good.  So do the tomatoes!

 

I'm slowly harvesting the onions.  No laughing, I know they're small--I never can grow big red onions....the white ones are bigger...., but they are good

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

Looking forward to tasting the garlic. Had a few that were harvesting casualties that will be used as fresh garlic.

 

I like growing onions however it's always a trade off between my amount of space and the cost of growing compared to buying. White onions are very expensive compared to yellow (once fall rolls around I can buy them locally for sometimes less than $1/10 lbs.

and store. This year I put in two sets (200) and utilize them as green onions until the green onions planted from seed are ready. I then harvest them as bulb onions. I use them fresh or pickle them. I find them much better in salsas them other onions.

 

I pickled a batch yesterday in cider vinegar however the photo sucked so I didn't post it. Love pickled onions.

 

 

 

[chefmd]

My first and so far the only tomato of the season.  Eaten with salt, shared with my son and husband.  Hopefully many more to come!

 

[sartoric]

8 hours ago, Shelby said:

Wayne, that garlic looks so good.  So do the tomatoes!

 

I'm slowly harvesting the onions.  No laughing, I know they're small--I never can grow big red onions....the white ones are bigger...., but they are good

 

 

 

 

 

I like the smaller red onions, we seem to only get giant ones here. Tuscan tuna and bean salad is screaming try me.

 

[Deryn]

On ‎29‎/‎06‎/‎2016 at 0:04 AM, sartoric said:

Help ! What's killing the snow pea seedlings ?

 

We started with about 20 of these from seed. Two nights ago five disappeared. The gardener sprayed the remaining seedlings with pyrethrum. Last night another 11 went missing. The whole plant is gone, roots and all. Here's photos of the remaining three seedlings, and one that has been uprooted but left.

 

I don't think it's the dogs, there's lattice that deters them.

 

I fear the last three will meet their demise tonight...thoughts ?

 

I realize that I am late to the conversation .. hadn't read this thread for a few days ... but was the problem maybe earwigs?

[Deryn]

My herbs are growing fine on the deck. I have parsley stems that are 20 inches long and the marjoram is loving it where I put it - and the rain we have been getting. The lemon verbena nearly bit the biscuit - I let it sit a couple of days before I transplanted it to a large pot - but slowly it is coming back. I still haven't planted the berry bushes .. can't decide where they are going so they are still sitting on my deck .. but the currants have almost finished fruiting and the raspberries are showing signs of beginning to ripen as well.

 

Other than that since summer is never going to arrive here this year I think ... if I actually get to planting any seeds I think I will only bother with 'cold weather' crops and very quick growing things that don't mind if there isn't much sun (since by the time I get them in the season will be almost over). Hasn't even gotten to 70 F yet at all. We don't get super hot here normally (though 50 miles from here it can easily be 20 degrees hotter than here) but this is a really cold summer in this locale. Today was low 50s most of the day - and misty/foggy/rainy. Yesterday was a brighter but it is also black fly season - I was out at the music festival and now am covered with itchy bites.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

53 minutes ago, Deryn said:

I realize that I am late to the conversation .. hadn't read this thread for a few days ... but was the problem maybe earwigs?

 

I have no idea what is killing sartoric's snow pea seedlings, because almost every vegetarian or omnivore would love to partake, including me. I love pea shoots, but I like to let them get bigger than those in her photo. So all I can say for sure, is it wasn't me this time. 

 

Deryn, I had heard of an earwig, but didn't know what they looked like. Thanks for identifying the especially creepy creatures I occasionally find in my house crawling on the floor at night. They really skeeve me out, and it looks like from some of the images of stings or injuries from these things I found online, I was right in my instinctual avoidance of the pincers. They look like a missing link between insects and arachnids (scorpions) to me. At least my unwelcome night visitors are well under an inch long. Even creepier, according to what I learned, they are hiding in crevices during the day. Ewww! They will eat seedlings though, and hide in crannies in plants.

 

 

[liuzhou]

 

 

As I believe I've mentioned, I don't have a garden. Just a balcony. .But I'm please with these. Today.

 

 

 

 

[sartoric]

3 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

I have no idea what is killing sartoric's snow pea seedlings, because almost every vegetarian or omnivore would love to partake, including me. I love pea shoots, but I like to let them get bigger than those in her photo. So all I can say for sure, is it wasn't me this time. 

 

 

Ha ha, that's so funny TftC.

I don't think we have earwigs here, guess it's rats or mice. He's caged both planters now.

I asked what happens when the plants outgrow the mesh, apparently we'll worry about that then. 

 

[KennethT]

@liuzhouwhat type of mint is #2?

[liuzhou]

10 minutes ago, KennethT said:

@liuzhouwhat type of mint is #2?

 

The same as mint #1. #2 is a cutting from #1, as is the unpictured #3.

 

As to what kind, I have no idea. They are all grown from a cutting of mint from my local market, which I managed to get to root.

Don't believe people who tell you that it is virtually impossible to kill mint. I am an expert at it. Hence the insurance of having three batches.

[KennethT]

Our hotel near the Great Wall (near Mutianyu) has an organic herb garden... Most stuff is standard and marked, but I saw these growing on a trellis and wondered what they were... I figured I could ask someone here, but maybe it's more fun to ask you guys instead??

[Wayne]

1 hour ago, KennethT said:

Our hotel near the Great Wall (near Mutianyu) has an organic herb garden... Most stuff is standard and marked, but I saw these growing on a trellis and wondered what they were... I figured I could ask someone here, but maybe it's more fun to ask you guys instead??

 

 

Tamarind tree?

 

 

[KennethT]

@WayneInteresting, but it looks more like a vine than a tree... Unless it's a tree you can espalier. But it gets really cold here during winter, so I don't think it could be tamarind.

[Martin Fisher]

Chinese wisteria. 

[KennethT]

@DiggingDogFarmGood call! That looks like a winner.

[shain]

Not from my garden, but rather a nearby grove. Those are some of the first carob beans of the season. Those are quite sweet and tasty.

 

One can tell they are ripe by the appearance of cow pies around the trees... Iv'e been told by a friend that horses also enjoy those.

[blue_dolphin]

I have loads of tiny oranges on my Valencia orange tree.  Poor tree.  Small fruit is a sign of stress.  Partly drought, partly not being fed properly.  I'm responsible for the latter but not the former and I partially blame the drought for the lack of feeding as I usually get started when there's a big rain forecast.  No big rains around here in years.  

This one apparently went into a frenzy of trying to reproduce itself before I kill it and is absolutely loaded with these little guys.  I thought they'd fall off before they ripened but they hung on.  The poor navel tree had hardly any oranges at all.  

 

They are around 1.5 - 2 inches in diameter:

 

I picked a bunch and juiced them yesterday.  I think I got about 1.5 cups of juice out of 16 oranges.  It was fine and orange-y, not bitter.  Not as super sweet as some, but the same as the big oranges from the same tree in years past.

If they weren't so seedy, I'd try to candy some.  They make cute cocktail garnishes.  I can make marmalade, though picking out the seeds will annoy me.  

 

Anyone have any ideas for fun things to do with tiny oranges?

[shain]

@blue_dolphin

My grandparents had a small orchard of those back then, just by where my house is now. Most were removed, but a single tree still stands.

I'll agree about lack of water causing small fruits, but your tree looks quite healthy. Valencias are strong. They also make a very "classic" tasting juice.
Every tree is different, but they do seem a little paler then I'm used to. Perhaps if you'll give them some more time they will get sweeter, it's a late season orange, and can hang a long time on the tree unharmed.

You can juice them, then cut the peel to strips and candy those. Seeds shouldn't be a problem in this method. I'm a fan of candied orange strips coated with dark chocolate.

If juiced before cutting, it will also be easy to be made into marmalade. And they can probably make some really nice liqueur.

You can also dry them if you find ornamental use in those.

Edited July 4, 2016 by shain (log)