Gardening: (2016– )

[JoNorvelleWalker]

6 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

Dear Jo,

 

You work at a library. Could you not bring your excess tomatoes in there for your co-workers or the patrons? They would most probably very much love them. 

 

Just sayin.

 

Have.  Bread too.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

20 hours ago, Paul Bacino said:

The Guard Cat

 

for my Sungold's

 

 

Looks to me one is getting away.

 

[Toliver]

On 8/29/2018 at 9:57 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I pitched over the balcony tonight a couple pounds of past tomatoes.  They are rotting faster than I can consume them.  And my gag reflex isn't helping.

 

You could always make Parmesan Tomato Chips (click) unless you really just don't like the taste of tomatoes, period. These chips sound like dehydrated tomatoes which shouldn't go bad on you.

[kayb]

7 hours ago, Toliver said:

You could always make Parmesan Tomato Chips (click) unless you really just don't like the taste of tomatoes, period. These chips sound like dehydrated tomatoes which shouldn't go bad on you.

 

Oh...my...God. I am SO trying this. 

 

 

[rotuts]

Garden Fresh tomatoes :

 

 

and Imported  ( probably more like Exported ) to boot !

 

can't get this sort of Aroma any other way !

[chromedome]

I finally got a few pictures yesterday while I was at my garden.

 

This bed is chard interplanted with carrots, for space efficiency. I harvest individual leaves from the chard plants, so they keep going right until the frost.
 

 

Here we have one of my okra plants. I'm guessing I'll have my first actual okra within the week, which I'm pretty excited about (that's a guess, as I'm a first-time okra grower).

 

 

My lone surviving Mideast Prolific and the handful of Marketmore cucumbers are all just now hitting gear. The one in this photo was inhaled by our 3 year-old granddaughter for breakfast. It's a good thing she had healthy food this morning, as we're headed to the fair this afternoon.

 

It looks like I'll have a few weeks of tomatoes, as they're on the verge right now and it's only just Labour Day weekend.

 

 

I forgot to take a picture of the day's haul after I got home, but it included a couple pounds of carrots, a large bundle of mixed greens (chard, beet greens, turnip greens) for cooking, a spaghetti squash, some of the last lettuce from the first planting (second planting is almost ready to go), the first spaghetti squash and three good-sized cukes.

[heidih]

Circumstances have thwarted my vegetable gardening in recent years but I couldn't stand it anymore so I did a few herbs. I have fantastic local certified farmers markets so access is lovely but going out and picking - well not matched by shopping despite the frquent frustrations. SO I did some shiso, mint, thyme, and lemon verbena recently. The ridiculous rosemary is 2 years old! Pathetic. I used to have hedges of it at my cottage. This was a gift from a vendor - I think it is a dwarf recumbant variety. I don't use it that often so it is ok. Rosemary in my culture is for rememberance - a funeral herb. The men woud have a sprig pinned to their suit lapels with a tiny pale blue ribbon bow. 

[Shelby]

1 hour ago, chromedome said:

I'm guessing I'll have my first actual okra within the week

I'd be picking the one in the foreground and the one in the background   'Course it could be the camera angle, but they look the perfect size to me.

[chromedome]

It's the camera angle. That one in the foreground is about 1/4" long.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, chromedome said:

It's the camera angle. That one in the foreground is about 1/4" long.

 

It won't be tomorrow.

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

@chromedome,

 

Thanks for the pics of your great-looking garden.

 

I'm amazed you are harvesting (nearly) okra and lettuce at the same time. When I was growing them, the lettuce would have been fried to a crisp well before the time the okra even thought about flowering. Aren't the okra blooms beautiful? Okra is one plant that really tolerates heat well down here, so I'm surprised at your success with it in the Great White North. When you said you were going to plant some, I was thinking, "well, we'll see." So yah!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

On ‎8‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 6:16 AM, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

Dear Jo,

 

You work at a library. Could you not bring your excess tomatoes in there for your co-workers or the patrons? They would most probably very much love them. 

 

Just sayin.

 

I managed to dump a couple pounds tonight on an unsuspecting friend.

 

[chromedome]

5 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

@chromedome,

 

Thanks for the pics of your great-looking garden.

 

I'm amazed you are harvesting (nearly) okra and lettuce at the same time. When I was growing them, the lettuce would have been fried to a crisp well before the time the okra even thought about flowering. Aren't the okra blooms beautiful? Okra is one plant that really tolerates heat well down here, so I'm surprised at your success with it in the Great White North. When you said you were going to plant some, I was thinking, "well, we'll see." So yah!

I'd never even thought of growing okra, precisely because I thought of it as a hot-weather crop. That being said, I had to concede that it *does* grow in our climate, because the seeds I bought were locally produced (we have a great little seed company here that specializes in open-pollinated cultivars, mostly heirlooms). Part of the reason I'm excited to grow my own is that it's hard to get small and delicate okra pods in the stores here. They're usually 3 to 4 inches long, and I have to dig through the whole bin to find a fistful of smaller ones. Mind you, it's only been available at all for the past 8 or 10 years, so I'm not complaining.

 

As for the lettuce, some years it does bolt by mid-summer even here. In this particular instance I planted late because of our wretched spring, which helped. Also I interplanted that particular bed of lettuce between my garlic plants, which (since they're a fall planting) were already tall and vigorous by the time the lettuce started to leaf out, and gave them some much-needed shade from the direct sun. The second planting is at little risk for bolting, because the hot summer weather has pretty much broken here. We're still getting daytime highs into the 20s (ie, 70s F) but our overnight lows this week will range from the mid-teens (ie, low 60s F) down as low as 7 (mid-40s F), and that really keeps the lettuces from getting too ambitious.

 

I may splurge on some row covers to keep my greens going as long as possible this year, but I haven't decided for sure. I do have an enclosed front porch with lots of windows that get the afternoon light, so I've been toying with the notion of keeping some things out there in boxes over the winter. You know those "ladder" type shelves that lean back against the wall? I was thinking that one of those against the end wall of the porch, with a window box on each shelf, would probably work pretty well for growing some fresh lettuce and greens over the winter. As long as they're established before the cold weather sets in properly, and don't see a hard freeze (which they shouldn't, in the porch) they're surprisingly hardy.

[Anna N]

 

Pickage. Not from my garden which I don’t have but from my daughter’s garden. 

 

 

There is no room for a garden I say. But if you study this photograph the shadow pretty much marks the demarkation between my property and my neighbours’. They are not being deterred by lack of space!  Amazing people.  They are elderly Asian people who speak no English but manage to express their kindness  wordlessly. 

 

They have had quite the crop of tomatoes  and various herbs  etc. from this tiny space. 

 

Edited September 3, 2018 by Anna N
Grammar and to remove a redundant photo (log)

[kayb]

2 hours ago, Anna N said:

There is no room for a garden I say. But if you study this photograph the shadow pretty much marks the demarkation between my property and my neighbours’. They are not being deterred by lack of space!  Amazing people.  They are elderly Asian people who speak no English but manage to express their kindness  wordlessly. 

 

They have had quite the crop of tomatoes  and various herbs  etc. from this tiny space. 

 

 

I was intrigued, when in Japan, at the extensive gardening use of every scrap of land. Lawns landscaped for looks were the province of the wealthy. All else was fruits and veggies.

[dcarch]

This just happened a minute ago.

 

I was gardening outside, taking advantage that it was cloudy. All of a sudden, a big flash and an instantaneous gigantic blast. Based on the blast happened at the same time as the flash, I was probably not far from the thunder/lightning. I could have been deep fried with my tomatoes.

 

When you are gardening, you are in a place where lightning strike happens most likely there.

Warning! Google "lighting/thunder" and learn about the dangers and safety considerations. This year, 17 people have been killed already, not counting injuries.

 

dcarch

 

 

[heidih]

Yup it is not a "when pigs fly" rarity as one would think. We had a tragedy locally a few years ago when a young man didn't get out of the water (Santa Monica bay) and was struck. Cardiac event. A golfer during same storm system was struck on Catalina Island offhore and I think bounced onto chain link fence - not good but he survived. Gardening - not for the weak or timid 

Edited September 3, 2018 by heidih (log)

[chromedome]

2 hours ago, dcarch said:

This just happened a minute ago.

 

I was gardening outside, taking advantage that it was cloudy. All of a sudden, a big flash and an instantaneous gigantic blast. Based on the blast happened at the same time as the flash, I was probably not far from the thunder/lightning. I could have been deep fried with my tomatoes.

 

When you are gardening, you are in a place where lightning strike happens most likely there.

Warning! Google "lighting/thunder" and learn about the dangers and safety considerations. This year, 17 people have been killed already, not counting injuries.

 

dcarch

 

 

One of the regulars in my cooking classes had a lightning strike on his house just 30 seconds after leaving it. All of his home electronics were destroyed, his appliances were fried, all of his wiring needed to be replaced, and there was a large hole blown in the wall of his house. The guy from the fire department said that if they'd still been in the house they would likely have been killed. 

 

[lindag]

We have some severe lightning here at times.

A couple years ago I had a whole-house surge protector added to my electrical panel

I sleep better at night knowing that my expensive appliances and electronics are protected.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

11 hours ago, dcarch said:

This just happened a minute ago.

 

I was gardening outside, taking advantage that it was cloudy. All of a sudden, a big flash and an instantaneous gigantic blast. Based on the blast happened at the same time as the flash, I was probably not far from the thunder/lightning. I could have been deep fried with my tomatoes.

 

When you are gardening, you are in a place where lightning strike happens most likely there.

Warning! Google "lighting/thunder" and learn about the dangers and safety considerations. This year, 17 people have been killed already, not counting injuries.

 

dcarch

 

 

 

Sorry that happened. I know it's scary.

 

Here's a piece on where the most lightning strikes occur in the US. 

 

I was standing near (about 12 feet away) an electric pole in West Memphis, Arkansas at the entrance to the stock car race track on my way to check on my horse in the stable at the end of the road there during a storm. Lightning struck that pole and I have no idea why I am alive and writing this today. AR is number 5 on the list of most lightning strikes. I often worried about being caught in a storm when I was walking to the grocery store here in NC. We have frequent afternoon thunderstorms in summer, but I'm still here and I only got even rained on a couple times because I researched the forecasts before embarking. NC is number 7 on the list and 3rd for mortality from stikes. I came here from Memphis, and TN is number 10 on the list. My aunt still has a scar from a lightning strike on her stomach where she was washing dishes in my grandparent's home place in Louisiana. LA is number 2 on the list. My SIL's fancy Bernina electronic sewing machine was destroyed by a strike on their home in Durham, NC, but not, weirdly, their TV or computers. We read about people being struck locally frequently, so definitely not something to ignore!

 

In your case, just taking advantage of the coolness of cloud cover and it not raining yet without any previous thunder or lightning, well it seemed like a smart idea to do some gardening. It has to strike first somewhere though, and sometimes you get caught out or are just plain unlucky. I figure I got my free pass under that pole in West Memphis, so I am extra careful now. I would have taken advantage of cloud cover close to shelter like you did under the circumstances you described. If it's gonna get ya, it's gonna get ya, but no need to tempt fate, for sure.

[MetsFan5]

13 hours ago, dcarch said:

This just happened a minute ago.

 

I was gardening outside, taking advantage that it was cloudy. All of a sudden, a big flash and an instantaneous gigantic blast. Based on the blast happened at the same time as the flash, I was probably not far from the thunder/lightning. I could have been deep fried with my tomatoes.

 

When you are gardening, you are in a place where lightning strike happens most likely there.

Warning! Google "lighting/thunder" and learn about the dangers and safety considerations. This year, 17 people have been killed already, not counting injuries.

 

dcarch

 

 

 

  It’s been nasty in the NYC tri-state area this summer. I’ve gone nuts trying to get the dog inside— ironically she’s very casual about storms which most dogs aren’t. 

 

[chromedome]

On yesterday's trip I harvested mostly cabbage worms.

 

Well, I also got my usual large bag of greens, a handful of green beans, that one (1) okra pod that was nearly ready last time (there'll be more by the weekend), a few more cukes, and another spaghetti squash. I also helped myself to 10 or 12 squash/pumpkin blossoms, since the likelihood of seeing any mature fruit from them in the next few weeks was next to nil. Might as well enjoy the blossoms. Also, I'm at the stage now where I just grab a few carrots on each visit to meet our immediate needs and leave the rest to keep growing. I got my first few tomatoes, which are only about plum-sized but welcome nonetheless.

 

Seeded a few now-empty spots with lettuce and kale, which should get the opportunity to produce for a while with the help of late-season row covers.

[heidih]

I hold both Margaret Roach and Gayla Trail dear so thought it would be nice to share this Q & A. The semi-wild gadening style is mine as well.  https://awaytogarden.com/growing-diverse-greens-and-being-moreganic-with-you-grow-girls-gayla-trail/

[chromedome]

No photos from yesterday, because it was a gray and drizzly day, but a good enough haul. Another big bag of mixed cooking greens (turnip tops, beet tops, several kind of chard, broccoli raab, dandelions), a lot of late lettuce, a couple pounds of carrots (I'm just harvesting those as needed), another 8 or 10 cucumbers, and one big spaghetti squash. My tomatoes have already gotten more of a chill than they can withstand, alas, so I harvested a half-dozen that were nearly ripe and another 18 that were at least full-sized. I'll probably fry a couple of the green ones, and let the rest ripen on the windowsill of my sunny, sunny kitchen.

I have  a patio tomato that's just about to start producing, so I'm going to bring that indoors. It's actually three tomatoes in one pot (a full-sized red, a full-sized yellow, and a cherry cultivar) so hopefully I'll be able to keep it happy through the cold months in the kitchen.

 

I got no further okra. None of the pods have advanced at all from that photo three weeks ago. I think what happened is that the heat and sunshine failed just at the crucial moment, and that kept the plants from fruiting as they should have. The plants themselves still look healthy and flourishing, they're just not getting any further forward. All told I think that's encouraging, because in a normal spring I'd have been able to plant them 3 to 4 weeks earlier. I don't know if okra transplants well, but that's also something to look into before next spring.

 

Next year I'll also cover my brassicas with netting to deter the bloody cabbage worms. I'm only out there once or twice a week through the summer, and that's not often enough to stay ahead of them by hand-picking.

 

 

[ChocoMom]

I picked my concord grapes early this morning, and made grape juice- waterbath canning it the old way. Drop in a cup of washed grapes, 1/2 cup sugar, filled within 1/2" of the rim with boiling water, then can it for 15 min.  It has to sit for 3-4 weeks, then ready for drinking. 

Then, this afternoon, I snuck out to the horse pen- trying to escape being pounced on by Roadrunner- locked myself in the pen, and picked apples from the Northern Spy tree. I could not believe how large the apples are this year!  I embraced my inner-nerd, and proceeded to weigh each of the apples- 2 five gallon bucket's worth.  The heaviest was 420 grams, the lightest weighed in at 313 g.  And I barely scratched the surface. There are so many apples out there,  I will processing apples until Christmas! LOL!