Gardening: (2016– )

[heidih]

2 hours ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

Naw, I know mouse poop when I see it.   

 

Bit more elongated

[Margaret Pilgrim]

4 minutes ago, heidih said:

 

Bit more elongated

I seldom add flax seed in the country.

[Paul Bacino]

The Babies  (  fall garlic seeds )

 

 

Edited July 22, 2020 by Paul Bacino (log)

[rotuts]

my mother ( In California ) used to plant garlic in the fall

 

she collected many varieties , some with Russian sounding names

 

some were very hot .

 

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/garlic/different-types-of-garlic.htm

 

I did this myself in NE several years

 

and you plant the largest 'clove' you can find , resulting in larger heads in the spring.

Edited July 22, 2020 by rotuts (log)

[TicTac]

By in large the garden this year is doing fairly well, though oddly enough one of my zucchini plants along with one of my cucumber plants have decided to simply stop growing and begin wilting completely. Upon further queries with other local gardeners I’ve heard similar tales the season… Perhaps plants too can contract Covid?! 
 

On a more positive note my ground cherry plant is booming

 

And an absolute bumper year for the aurora peppers

[Smithy]

"Aurora peppers"? @TicTac, please describe them if you haven't already. 

 

My gardening is rather minimal. There are lush basil, rosemary and sage plants in a few pots. I planted 3 cherry tomato plants in pots, and they're starting to bear fruit. They're also huge: taller than my husband, in once case. That may have happened because we had that pot in a less-than-optimally sunny spot and then moved it, but all the plants are indeterminate. I was warned that they'd grow tall. They are. But oh, look at the first cluster, down near the base of one pot!

 

 

There are many more such clusters, surprisingly symmetrical, along all three plants: they're young, but they're daily growing.

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

Smithy, what variety is the tomato? Looks very productive. Back in the day I used to grow a variety called Gardener's Delight, which bore fruit in large clusters like this one. It remains one of my favorite tomatoes but I can't seem to find it anymore, or at least the one in most seed catalogs doesn't sound the same. An enormous plant, great flavor, hugely productive. I have to grow tomatoes in pots under shelter (roof overhang) because the rain turns them into black mush. Very disappointing.

[TicTac]

@Smithy - One of my favourite peppers, (along with Poblano's and Serrano's to give you a sense of my taste/heat tolerance) - these can be fairly hot, but certainly not overbearing and have a nice flavor to them.

 

Last night I made tacos and ground one of these up with some salt, then added lime, Vietnamese coriander and green onion - made for a fantastic and tremendously beneficial (to the taco, and my taste buds) addition.

 

 

[Eatmywords]

23 hours ago, TicTac said:

By in large the garden this year is doing fairly well, though oddly enough one of my zucchini plants along with one of my cucumber plants have decided to simply stop growing and begin wilting completely. Upon further queries with other local gardeners I’ve heard similar tales the season… Perhaps plants too can contract Covid?! 
 

Me too on the cukes!  2 of them - yellow wilted leaves, no more sprouting.  Pulled maybe 15 good ones so not a total bust.  Maybe the heat? W love to know.  Zuchs are thriving and yielding nicely though.  Tomatoes, most varieties are still green w some cherries and hybrid romas coming in. It seems like they're taking longer than usual. Several are scrawny and haven't yielded much.  (Probably my fault on the soil not being rich enough).  Collard greens,  red leaf, string beans, peppers (habanero, jalapeno and purple bells) have done well.  White and black eggplant, e plant has one good one and that's it.  I've never done well with them.  Trying pumpkin for the first time.  Had no idea what I was getting into. Leaves are huge and tracking around like a vine grabbing anything in it's path.  Lots of flowers but no kins yet.  I'm nervous since the kids are expecting a full patch for Halloween. Neighbor is trying too so I have some backup but not optimistic.

 

 

 

[Toliver]

9 minutes ago, Eatmywords said:

...Trying pumpkin for the first time.  Had no idea what I was getting into. Leaves are huge and tracking around like a vine grabbing anything in it's path.  Lots of flowers but no kins yet.  I'm nervous since the kids are expecting a full patch for Halloween. Neighbor is trying too so I have some backup but not optimistic.

I have a friend who is growing pumpkins. She feeds the pumpkin to her dog.

She says you have to leave them on the vine until they turn 100% orange (they don't ripen any further once picked). She also said pumpkin farmers will pick the pumpkins and then store them away to "harden". When first picked, they're surprisingly tender and can bruise easily. After storage they can sit out for a while (like what you see in grocery stores at Halloween) which made them ideal for early farmers here in the US. They could be stored away in the root cellars for future meals.

I will keep my fingers crossed for your pumpkin harvest.

[Eatmywords]

8 minutes ago, Toliver said:

I have a friend who is growing pumpkins. She feeds the pumpkin to her dog.

She says you have to leave them on the vine until they turn 100% orange (they don't ripen any further once picked). She also said pumpkin farmers will pick the pumpkins and then store them away to "harden". When first picked, they're surprisingly tender and can bruise easily. After storage they can sit out for a while (like what you see in grocery stores at Halloween) which made them ideal for early farmers here in the US. They could be stored away in the root cellars for future meals.

I will keep my fingers crossed for your pumpkin harvest.

 

Thanks for the tips, great to know! 

 

This is a few days ago (maybe 5' longer since).  Started at the top of the 8' bed, grabbed the zuch's across the way before I had to direct it around the corner.  Have to measure but about 16' now.  Crazy.

 

 

[heidih]

2 hours ago, Eatmywords said:

 

Thanks for the tips, great to know! 

 

This is a few days ago (maybe 5' longer since).  Started at the top of the 8' bed, grabbed the zuch's across the way before I had to direct it around the corner.  Have to measure but about 16' now.  Crazy.

 

 

You have a ways to go "punkin". I like to give them a buffer between ground and soil (cardboard or ) so they do not get a rot spot if your soil is moist. 

[sartoric]

On 7/12/2020 at 9:45 AM, FauxPas said:

 

What types of citrus do you have, @sartoric?

 Late to respond! 
We have two types of oranges, navels and something else. Two types of mandarins (I don’t know the variety, but one is sweeter than the other), cumquats, bush lemons and kaffir lime. 

It’s the best mandarins that we’ve sold.

 

I’ve made orange marmalade, oranges in brandy, oranges in sherry and  pickled cumquats.
Todays task is supposed to be cumquat marmalade, but it’s raining and they’re still on the tree

[FauxPas]

10 minutes ago, sartoric said:

 Late to respond! 
We have two types of oranges, navels and something else. Two types of mandarins (I don’t know the variety, but one is sweeter than the other), cumquats, bush lemons and kaffir lime. 

It’s the best mandarins that we’ve sold.

 

I’ve made orange marmalade, oranges in brandy, oranges in sherry and  pickled cumquats.
Todays task is supposed to be cumquat marmalade, but it’s raining and they’re still on the tree

 

Sounds really lovely! 

[heidih]

52 minutes ago, sartoric said:

 Late to respond! 
We have two types of oranges, navels and something else. Two types of mandarins (I don’t know the variety, but one is sweeter than the other), cumquats, bush lemons and kaffir lime. 

It’s the best mandarins that we’ve sold.

 

I’ve made orange marmalade, oranges in brandy, oranges in sherry and  pickled cumquats.
Todays task is supposed to be cumquat marmalade, but it’s raining and they’re still on the tree

 

My kumquats are done and flowering for next year but this is my favorite. I basically follow this  bhttps://www.amateurgourmet.com/2013/05/sunday-morning-kumquat-jam.html 

Edited July 24, 2020 by heidih (log)

[sartoric]

2 hours ago, heidih said:

 

My kumquats are done and flowering for next year but this is my favorite. I basically follow this  bhttps://www.amateurgourmet.com/2013/05/sunday-morning-kumquat-jam.html 

 

Thanks for that, it looks great. 
Still raining, fruit still on tree

[Eatmywords]

15 hours ago, heidih said:

 

You have a ways to go "punkin". I like to give them a buffer between ground and soil (cardboard or ) so they do not get a rot spot if your soil is moist. 

 

Good to know, thank you!  It is out of the bed and trailing over weed mat w a layer of mulch so hopefully that will help.  We're having some crazy heat and humidity here so I'm hoping it doesn't derail it and the rest of the garden.

Edited July 24, 2020 by Eatmywords (log)

[kayb]

The grandson helped me pick a "whole bunch lot" of tomatoes yesterday.

 

 

And about five lonely green beans. Vines are luxuriant; just no beans to speak of yet.

 

[TicTac]

Looks like one happy dude to be spending time in the garden with his grandma!

 

Simple pleasures of life.

[kayb]

He wanted to pick every tomato that had a tinge of pink to it. I had to point out the ones I wanted. He says he will be back tomorrow to help me pick "the rest."

[heidih]

Young raw beans are tasty - did he? What a sweet heart

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

6 hours ago, kayb said:

He wanted to pick every tomato that had a tinge of pink to it. I had to point out the ones I wanted. He says he will be back tomorrow to help me pick "the rest."

I learned early on not to pick strawberries with children for the same reason.

[KennethT]

I'm curious as to what will happen. Yesterday I planted 4 nubs of cilantro stems with a bit of root still attached.

It looks like there is a small leaf forming in the center of each stem bundle but that could well be my imagination right now. Fingers crossed. I am very jealous of those who can get cilantro at their local market for like 35 cents a bunch. The going rate in every market within rational walking distance is 1.99.  The only place I know of that's significantly cheaper is (was) the Essex market in the lower East side, but that's not really walking distance for me.

 

My grocery store mint is doing really well - just repotted out of the solo cup yesterday. It's very fragrant.

[heidih]

This is a good tomato interview with sources I trust.  https://awaytogarden.com/late-blight-and-tomato-diseases-with-dr-meg-mcgrath/

[dcarch]

Speaking of tomatoes, interesting weather year for my garden.

 

Huge tomatoes. Lots. 

Shown here a few smaller ones. Many bigger ones have been given away as gifts. 

 

dcarch

Edited July 29, 2020 by dcarch (log)