Gardening: (2016– )

[Jacksoup]

@Shelby  last year I made Spiced Plum Chutney from a recipe on Epicurious.  Sorry can't figure out how to link.  I made about 30 pint jars which I thought might be too much.  But this year the rain knocked the blossoms off the trees and we have very few plums.  We use it on pork and Greek yogurt and with cheese and crackers.

[kayb]

@ElainaA, here's today's tomato harvest:

 

[ElainaA]

21 minutes ago, kayb said:

@ElainaA, here's today's tomato harvest:

 

Oh yes, I am jealous. I won't have many (if any) tomatoes until August. But then, we have very few days above mid 80's. Summer is wonderful here. That is if it would only stop raining every other day. 

[Shelby]

33 minutes ago, kayb said:

@ElainaA, here's today's tomato harvest:

 

Now that's just downright mean to those of us without

[heidih]

I finally got some flowers on the 2 potted tomatoes and....June gloom with foggy mornings set in  Grrrr-  One tomato is about golf ball size and I saw a racoon going to check it out this morning. What!?!

[kayb]

This morning's pickage. The cucumbers continue to advance. The gates are in danger.

[Shelby]

Kay, your tomatoes look SO good!

 

My pickage has looked like this for about a week and half now.  Green beans, squash, zucchini, a couple cucumbers (not enough to start a batch pickling though.....I'm down to 3 cuke plants so I'm hoping I get enough) a few cherry tomatoes,  and an onion or two.  Lettuce is starting to bolt.  I'm going to miss having it.  But, hopefully the tomatoes will make up for it   I have one plant that looks wilty and the leaves have rust spots.  I'm hoping what ever it is doesn't spread to the others.

 

\\

Anyone ever grown artichokes?  My plants look like this now....they don't seem to be growing very fast.....is this normal?

 

 

Annnnd, I went over to our pumpkin area the other day and discovered there are also zucchini and watermelon interspersed amongst the pumpkins.  And also these:

 

 

 

They are not yellow squash.  Maybe a pumpkin and a zucchini crossed?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

9 hours ago, Shelby said:

Anyone ever grown artichokes?  My plants look like this now....they don't seem to be growing very fast.....is this normal?

 

 

 

Yes, I grew beautiful artichoke plants last summer.  Let us know if you actually get artichokes.  I did  not.

 

[dcarch]

On 7/2/2017 at 1:11 PM, Shelby said:

 

Anyone ever grown artichokes?  My plants look like this now....they don't seem to be growing very fast.....is this normal?

 

 

 

Yes,I have a few. They are doing OK.

 

My artichokes have a cousin growing near by, a big Canada Thistle. Yes, I know Canada Thistle can be a horrible weed, but I intend to eat it soon. :-)

 

dcarch  

[Shelby]

1 hour ago, dcarch said:

Yes,I have a few. They are doing OK.

 

My artichokes have a cousin growing near by, a big Canada Thistle. Yes, I know Canada Thistle can be a horrible weed, but I intend to eat it soon. :-)

 

dcarch  

Nice!!!  Approx. how many months did it take to make an artichoke?  I should have until about the middle of October before a freeze......

[dcarch]

5 hours ago, Shelby said:

Nice!!!  Approx. how many months did it take to make an artichoke?  I should have until about the middle of October before a freeze......

 

Kansas (zone 6a) is not ideal for growing artichokes. It depends on variety and how early you start seeds.

I am growing Imperial Star in Zone 6b.

 

dcarch

 

[Shelby]

[Okanagancook]

Garlic is out and drying in the sheltered dog run.  Gets some nice breeze.  Not as big as other years.  I need to move them to a new location next year.

[Toliver]

On 6/25/2017 at 9:41 AM, Shelby said:

I'm not counting my chicks before they hatch, but the garden here looks so much better than last year.  I really really hope the tomatoes keep on keepin' on.  You can't tell the scale by this picture, but some of the 'maters are almost baseball sized already.  I can't wait for red ones!

This year both of my older brothers have had to harvest their tomatoes once the fruit gets a blush on them. If they wait too long before harvesting, the night critters  will get them.

My oldest brother had to yank out his zucchini plants due to some sort of leaf disease and discovered some critter had stashed oodles of cherry tomatoes under the leaves. The fruit looked unscathed and he couldn't figure out what kind of critter could have transported so much fruit without piercing the fruit with their teeth. Raccoons, maybe? Very odd....

[Shelby]

22 hours ago, Toliver said:

This year both of my older brothers have had to harvest their tomatoes once the fruit gets a blush on them. If they wait too long before harvesting, the night critters  will get them.

My oldest brother had to yank out his zucchini plants due to some sort of leaf disease and discovered some critter had stashed oodles of cherry tomatoes under the leaves. The fruit looked unscathed and he couldn't figure out what kind of critter could have transported so much fruit without piercing the fruit with their teeth. Raccoons, maybe? Very odd....

UGH.  I feel for them.  Yeah, maybe raccoons.  

 

Today's :

 

[ElainaA]

On 7/2/2017 at 1:11 PM, Shelby said:

 

 

Anyone ever grown artichokes?  My plants look like this now....they don't seem to be growing very fast.....is this normal?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm growing artichokes this year - 2 plants in the green house and 2 in the garden. I've grown them 3 times before (never in the green house though) and only got actual artichokes once. In my experience they grow very slowly for quite a while, then send up stems that (if you are lucky) produce chokes. The plants in the green house are much bigger than the ones in the garden. But then the tomatoes in the green house are twice the size of the garden ones. I need to take some garden pictures.

[Shelby]

17 hours ago, ElainaA said:

I'm growing artichokes this year - 2 plants in the green house and 2 in the garden. I've grown them 3 times before (never in the green house though) and only got actual artichokes once. In my experience they grow very slowly for quite a while, then send up stems that (if you are lucky) produce chokes. The plants in the green house are much bigger than the ones in the garden. But then the tomatoes in the green house are twice the size of the garden ones. I need to take some garden pictures.

Thank you!!!  I'd love to see pictures of yours.

 

Ronnie started mine in the green house --probably in February?  I'm dying to see them make some chokes.  I have no idea what I'm doing....I haven't even googled about them lol.

 

Todays pick:

 

 

The squash are here 

[ChocoMom]

I'm not entirely certain this should fall under "gardening", because technically, I was not in the garden. But, I did combat all kinds of insects and pick these little gems. Wild strawberries have an intense flavor for such a small berry. The hayfield was packed with them, and I was able to pick some for a puree.  Unfortunately, to find them, hubby had to cut the 3' tall hay first.  So, he pureed a few of the berries via tractor tires.    Still, despite a dozen or so bug bites, I prevailed. 

 

[Shelby]

49 minutes ago, ChocoMom said:

I'm not entirely certain this should fall under "gardening", because technically, I was not in the garden. But, I did combat all kinds of insects and pick these little gems. Wild strawberries have an intense flavor for such a small berry. The hayfield was packed with them, and I was able to pick some for a puree.  Unfortunately, to find them, hubby had to cut the 3' tall hay first.  So, he pureed a few of the berries via tractor tires.    Still, despite a dozen or so bug bites, I prevailed. 

 

Ooooooh those are the BEST.  I used to find those way up in the mountains when I lived in Colorado.  

[ElainaA]

The only things really ready for picking in my garden are garlic scapes and salad greens. I'd grow garlic scapes purely for their weird decorative value - but they do taste good.

[kayb]

I don't grow garlic ... need to start ... but I buy garlic scapes in the spring for the single purpose of making garlic aioli. I can eat the stuff with a spoon.

[dcarch]

If you are attacked by squashes, fight back!

Dehydrate and vac pack.

Wonderful for the winter months.

dcarch

[Shelby]

1 hour ago, dcarch said:

If you are attacked by squashes, fight back!

Dehydrate and vac pack.

Wonderful for the winter months.

dcarch

NICE!!!!  Did you salt them and let them rest for a bit first?  What temp did you dry at?  Approximately how long did it take?

[Shelby]

Todays haul:

 

 

I've got to buy a lot more pint and quart jars.  Most of mine are at least 20 years old--and a lot are even older because I got them from my grammy and my great gramma.  A lot of them are cracking just from sterilizing them in the dishwasher.  I didn't think I'd have this many beans to can   

[dcarch]

14 hours ago, Shelby said:

NICE!!!!  Did you salt them and let them rest for a bit first?  What temp did you dry at?  Approximately how long did it take?

No, I didn't salt or flavored them. Just plain. I set the dehydrator at 130F overnight.

 

dcarch