Gardening: (2016– )

[Shelby]

Going to haul the dehydrator up today.  

 

Just came in from the garden .....yes, boys, there are those GREEN BEAN things in there.....

 

[kayb]

A question, for you tomato-growers out there.

 

I have a variety of different kinds of tomatoes in my garden -- Romas, cherries, hybrids, heirlooms. I've been getting four or five tomatoes every two or three days, along with a dozen or more cherry tomatoes, in the past few weeks. My plants are pretty well populated with green tomatoes. But for some reason, the ripening seems to have gone on hold, and in the last week, I'd say my tomato take is down to maybe one every three days, and a small handful of cherries.

 

The plants look no different. The green tomatoes seem to be thriving. There's just a ripening hiatus going on, apparently. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

On the other hand, the cubanelle sweet banana peppers are producing prodigiously. They're a key ingredient in my tomato relish.

 

And of course, there are the cucumbers. Which, thank all the saints, seem to have slowed down to a manageable pace. I'm getting a couple of zucchini every couple of days, but the yellow squash is slow.

 

[Shelby]

5 minutes ago, kayb said:

A question, for you tomato-growers out there.

 

I have a variety of different kinds of tomatoes in my garden -- Romas, cherries, hybrids, heirlooms. I've been getting four or five tomatoes every two or three days, along with a dozen or more cherry tomatoes, in the past few weeks. My plants are pretty well populated with green tomatoes. But for some reason, the ripening seems to have gone on hold, and in the last week, I'd say my tomato take is down to maybe one every three days, and a small handful of cherries.

 

The plants look no different. The green tomatoes seem to be thriving. There's just a ripening hiatus going on, apparently. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

On the other hand, the cubanelle sweet banana peppers are producing prodigiously. They're a key ingredient in my tomato relish.

 

And of course, there are the cucumbers. Which, thank all the saints, seem to have slowed down to a manageable pace. I'm getting a couple of zucchini every couple of days, but the yellow squash is slow.

 

Have the temps been into the 100's over there?  High temps make them stop ripening.  They like heat....but not too hot for long periods of time.  It makes them stop producing the chemical that helps them ripen--I forget what they are called. 

[Toliver]

Not related to the current tomato question up for discussion, but intriguing nonetheless:

"Tomatoes can turn plant-eaters into cannibals, study shows"

 

I had previously heard about the chemical release warning neighboring plants. But the cannibalism angle was new to me.

[kayb]

2 hours ago, Shelby said:

Have the temps been into the 100's over there?  High temps make them stop ripening.  They like heat....but not too hot for long periods of time.  It makes them stop producing the chemical that helps them ripen--I forget what they are called. 

 

No. We're getting into the low, mid-90s daily, but haven't hit three digits. Yet.

[ChocoMom]

Well, I did a boo-boo.  In my haste to get the garden planted, I neglected to diagram the garden. I even failed to label the rows.  So, while I was out pulling weeds today, I came to the conclusion that in about 8 weeks- I will be able to figure out what I planted where.  

 

The potatoes, beans, peas and beets are obvious.   Its the brussel sprouts, cabbage, kale, chard and rutabaga that I am clueless about.  To top it off, hubby and the kids tossed all the old squashies from the root cellar out into the garden. The chickens and turkeys ate plenty, but some seeds appear to have planted themselves. Now, I have absolutely no idea what is growing all over the south west corner of the garden.  Its maddening. No clue what I need to plant elsewhere.   Grrrr.  

 

I rototilled today, and will plant the carrot varieties tomorrow morning.  Also need to get more of my tomato seedlings planted- because all eight of my tomato plants died.  There were 4 Belarus, and 4 of the 50 day BuckBee.   I am totally bummed about that.  Tomorrow is our last warm day for awhile.  Wednesday, we are forecasted to get 3/4" rain with a high of 59F.  So much for "summer". =(

[JoNorvelleWalker]

6 hours ago, Toliver said:

Not related to the current tomato question up for discussion, but intriguing nonetheless:

"Tomatoes can turn plant-eaters into cannibals, study shows"

 

I had previously heard about the chemical release warning neighboring plants. But the cannibalism angle was new to me.

 

Any word on getting blueberry plants to eat birds?

 

[Shelby]

[rotuts]

@Shelby 

 

re lettuce bolting 

 

when I had a garden I grew many varieties of bibb and other thiings

 

never bolted w shade clolth

 

get 50 %

 

I got black as that was all they had in the previous century

 

white might be better

 

easy to ' hang ' from a few posts about 3 - 4ft high

 

http://www.gemplers.com/shade-cloth

 

best stuff ever.

 

never bolted all summer long

 

also consider  Remay woven cloth for covering beds in very early spring and fall

 

you will get 2 more months of lettuce and etc.

 

Edited July 13, 2017 by rotuts (log)

[Shelby]

1 minute ago, rotuts said:

@Shelby 

 

re lettuce bolting 

 

when I had a garden I grew many varieties of bibb and other thiings

 

never bolted w shade clolth

 

get 50 %

 

I got black as that was all they had in the previous century

 

white might be better

 

easy to ' hang ' from a few posts about 3 - 4ft high

 

http://www.gemplers.com/shade-cloth

 

best stuff ever.

 

never bolted all summer long

 

also consider  Remay woven cloth for covering beds in very early spring and fall

 

you will get 2 more months of lettuce and etc.

 

 

Interesting.  Thank you!  I will have to look into this for next year.

[rotuts]

sorry , its reemay cloth

 

https://www.amazon.com/Reemay-Garden-Blanket-67-100/dp/B001FA9SNE

[KennethT]

They sometimes use shade cloth when growing lettuce in greenhouses too.  Very effective - lettuce doesn't need or like full sun.

[rotuts]

Lettuce and everything else  grows under the Reeay , its very light and you use it for many years.

 

it also helps  warm the earth after your first tilling , which might be when there is still a little snow on the ground

 

I used 4 ml black plastic after the till and reemay on top of that.

 

as soon as I could.

 

warms the soil nicely and w no extra work.

 

I miss my garden terribly.

 

I had a large yellow Lab and two seasoned ' hunting ' cats

 

no bunnies , no woodchucks ever !

[rotuts]

here are three pics scanned at the same time :

 

 

top : Reemay

 

then shade cloth

 

then my fine gardening tools

 

cheers !

[Shelby]

You had a beautiful garden!

[Shelby]

Eggplant!  

 

[shain]

Plenty of cherry tomatoes this year.

And figs are just starting.

[Jacksoup]

Today's haul.  The gardener thinks bigger is better so he lets a lot of squash get over large.  The extra large one pictured with the basil was a complete oversight.  I also have 3 large zip locks full of frozen yellow cherry tomatos which ripened while I was on vacation.  Making the roasted tomato sauce today.  Also some fennel fronds with pollen which I'm going to try to harvest.

Edited July 16, 2017 by Jacksoup
Fennel (log)

[KennethT]

I planted 5 yu choi seeds in a rockwool cube and put in my diy cloner on Sunday afternoon... Check this out!!!

 

[KennethT]

This is the yu choi 7 days after planting - just about to set true leaves. There were 5 plants but I plucked 2 - I usually set 3 plants in one cube; 5 would be too many and would shadow each other.

[heidih]

Grrr - had a full flat of pumpkins sprout within a week and sport several true leaves within another week - done for local botanic garden. Only to find out all mowed down within day of ground planting. Probably cotton til bunnies.... Next flat planted and they will cover/protect

[Thanks for the Crepes]

11 hours ago, heidih said:

Grrr - had a full flat of pumpkins sprout within a week and sport several true leaves within another week - done for local botanic garden. Only to find out all mowed down within day of ground planting. Probably cotton til bunnies.... Next flat planted and they will cover/protect

 

Surprised to hear that the grounds maintenance crew responsible for taking care of destroying my landlord's property here in Cary gets out to LA to.  Sorry for your frustration, and I share it. I won't get started, because if I did, I'm afraid I might manage to get myself banned from the site. 

[Shelby]

Pulled all of the onions.  Ronnie washed them and we let them dry on these screens for a bit.  They are now all snug and cozy on shelves in the basement.

 

[HungryChris]

Normally, most of the peppers I grow are shishitos, but this year I have a broader selection and here is why. One of the clients of the truck sales and repair shop where deb works is Bonnie Plants. This spring, Bonnie had a truck in for service that required a special order part that would take a few days. The folks at Bonnie Plants said that in that case, the employees at the shop were welcome to help themselves to the entire cargo. Deb was on the phone when the word spread and the melee began and by the time she was able to look, the only things left were a few pickling cukes and hot peppers. Here is my little pepper patch.

The ones along the fence are shishitos.

Here is a habanero.

A jalapeno

A red bell that I am wondering if it was mislabeled. the peppers are bigger than a soft ball and no sign of redness.

We are going to a picnic tomorrow and they may find themselves in the sausages and peppers.

So far, the only tomatoes I have picked have been 5 of these little yellow cherries.

Plenty of tomatoes.

Including these from Burpee called Fourth of July, I wonder why?

I call these ground hogs. As soon as they get big enough it's fried green tomatoes and off with the runners.

HC

[Shelby]

Those bells will eventually turn red.

 

What will you do with the habaneros?  I grew them one year....they were pretty, but they were atomically hot.