Author Topic: Planting / Growing your own 2018  (Read 94134 times)

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #500 on: July 18, 2018, 12:52:15 PM »
@Tris Prior yes, determinate tomatoes do seem to get BER more easily. They don’t have root systems as deep as indeterminate varieties.

Sprinkling a liberal layer of oyster shell at the beginnng of the season usually does the trick for me.

If you’re applying calcium regularly but still constantly seeing BER make sure

1. Soil is staying evenly moist.

2. Soil pH. Calcium becomes highly non-bioavailable in pH below 7, particularly 6.5 or lower.

For a faster calcium fix, I’ve heard of folks using antacid tablets ground up. Eggshells are very slow release, slower even than oyster shell in my experience.

Now the Roma at home has it too. Only on a couple of the tomatoes, though? Maybe I'll try the antacid tablets. I think I might have a pH test somewhere in the basement still, from when I put the soil acidifier on my blueberries (which are producing pretty well!).

It's been very dry here. I water daily but it probably needs 2 waterings a day as it's bone dry every time I go there; but I don't think I can cram in a morning community garden trip considering that I'm already having to arrive at work stupid early every morning during the summer. (and TBH am feeling SUPER overwhelmed this year by maintaining 2 gardens.) I haven't had this problem at home yet. Usually I have a Roma in a container and it initially gets rot on some fruits but then it goes away. 2 plants getting it is unusual for me.

Ate the first ripe Sungold right off the vine yesterday. It was delicious!

Trifle

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #501 on: July 18, 2018, 01:50:14 PM »
Ate the first ripe Sungold right off the vine yesterday. It was delicious!

Sungolds are wicked, wicked good.  I am a tomato junkie (see my avatar!) and Sungold is one of the absolute best. 

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #502 on: July 18, 2018, 03:02:58 PM »
@Tris Prior - I pretty much have no tomato crop - and the potatoes are dying off too.  It is not a watering or heat issue - it is a fungus in the soil.  My research found no solutions to treat the existing plants.  So I have accepted low yields this year and have made plans to grow in pots next season and solarize the soil this fall and early next spring.  Hopefully in 2020 I can go back to planting in the ground with the cause of the wilt removed from the soil.

Allie

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #503 on: July 19, 2018, 02:20:53 PM »
Oh guys!  I think my raspberries have cane blight.  I am so sad.  :-(


I have my fingers crossed they live and produce berries this year, but they are dying back as fast as the flowers can pop and start to turn into berries. 

StarBright

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #504 on: July 20, 2018, 07:34:24 AM »
Been a while since I checked in.

Been picking about a pound of bush beans every few days for the last week or so. I suspect they'll end their run soon. Pole beans are starting to flower. Yellow squash are just starting and I have a tiny cantaloupe the size of a gumball - fingers crossed that it turns into something.

Starting to get cherry tomatoes and romas. My Early Girls haven't produced anything; so much for early! Dreaming of Cherokee Purples but I think they are still a few weeks from ripeness.

My basil is meh this year. I decided to experiment with broc and brussel sprouts. I had some brocolli in Mid June but the sprouts just keep growing giant leaves. They look gorgeous but I'm not seeing anything that looks remotely likely a brussel sprout. Did I miss something when I was on vacation at the beginning of the month? Anyone here grow brussel sprouts?

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #505 on: July 20, 2018, 08:29:14 AM »
I am going on holiday for three weeks so last night I harvested the garden really hard.  I took 6 grocery bags to my local food pantry last night for distribution to their clients today at their weekly morning food supplement.  Five of the bags were lettuce, the remaining were the yellow beans and six green peppers.  I missed the zucchini that I found this morning.

nessness

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #506 on: July 25, 2018, 11:36:37 AM »
My sweet pepper plants are FINALLY flowering, so maybe there's still hope of getting some peppers this year.

I thought I'd killed my mint plants, which was kinda embarrassing because of how famously easy it is to grow mint, but after dying way back they're getting some new growth again.

Vasilisa

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #507 on: July 25, 2018, 11:58:16 AM »
Jumping in here mid-year- so neat to read about everyone else's gardens!

I share three different community/neighborhood vegetable gardens with my DH and neighbor. We're able to garden year round and harvest year round.

What are you growing this year?
Currently: tomatoes, bush beans, pole beans, onions (red italian, "Walla Walla", green, and yellow), "Wee Be Little Pumpkins", cucumbers, zucchini ("Magda" and green), basil, "Glass Gem" corn, peppers (Anaheim, Poblano, and a new one), kale, chives, last of the lettuce, arugula, potatoes, amaranth, malabar spinach, purslane, alpine strawberries, and oregano.

Trying anything new this year?
Some new varieties of tomato ("Rose de Berne" and "Eva Purple Ball"), a gorgeous new variety of popcorn "Glass Gem" (seriously GTS), artichokes (they were delicious to us and the gophers) and garlic. Looking forward to planting more garlic- such an awesome thing to be eating homegrown garlic.

Best tips to pass along.
Take time to sit in your garden and just enjoy the season.
Composting is worth it- you are so badass if you can grow soil.
Share the bounty- pass along the extra produce, take friends through your garden, let them pick produce or flowers, share the beauty.
Grow flowers! "Hearts starve as well as bodies, give us bread, but give us roses."

nessness

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #508 on: July 25, 2018, 02:24:29 PM »
Where do you guys buy your seeds from? I'm starting to plan my fall/Winter garden - I promised my daughter we could grow rainbow carrots, and I think I'll do some lettuce and cabbage too.

Vasilisa

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #509 on: July 25, 2018, 03:01:02 PM »
@nessness I have had good success with ordering from Pinetree Garden Seeds https://www.superseeds.com/ . I like their smaller sized seeds packets and the variety of things they offer.

I also like Renee's Garden too: https://www.reneesgarden.com/ They're local to me and really passionate about trials and offering interesting, tasty veggies.

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #510 on: July 25, 2018, 04:03:33 PM »
Got some more sungolds, and so far 3 decently sized jalapeños. One of my "Fourth of July" tomatoes is finally showing tiny signs of ripening. (haha, they're supposed to be ripe by the 4th of July, which never happens here). I have to do some serious pruning in the backyard as the tomato jungle has started already. All other varieties remain green, so far. I am impatient; looking back at my garden photos from last year, I was already getting a decent crop by now.

Oh, did I mention that the purple raspberry that I thought was dead and did not do jack shit last year is now producing small amounts of gorgeous deep purple and very juicy raspberries? Hooray! The dwarf raspberry in the community bed has also finally gotten with the program, though I don't think I'm going to get a huge yield like last year. It just seems behind schedule. Maybe they're just coming later. I came home from vacation Monday and found 4 ripe berries on it, which were delicious.

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #511 on: July 26, 2018, 07:48:21 AM »
Two months ago I thought that only two of the five raspberry canes that I planted last year survived the winter, but then seemingly overnight canes started sprouting everywhere. I now have a lush little raspberry patch that yields a nice handful of berries a day. A real delight!

Are volunteer raspberries indeed a thing? I have something sprouting up next to my (red) raspberry container that sure looks like another raspberry. I didn't realize they did that. I assumed it was a weed but now I feel like I shouldn't pull it just in case.

StarBright

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #512 on: July 26, 2018, 07:53:04 AM »
I have a question - what do I do with 6 romas? Not enough to make sauce and I don't have an immediate use for them for a few days. I don't want to waste them.


Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #513 on: July 26, 2018, 08:00:55 AM »
Caprese salad? Slice them up with some fresh mozzarella, basil, and drizzle with balsamic.

nessness

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #514 on: July 26, 2018, 08:34:27 AM »
@nessness I have had good success with ordering from Pinetree Garden Seeds https://www.superseeds.com/ . I like their smaller sized seeds packets and the variety of things they offer.

I also like Renee's Garden too: https://www.reneesgarden.com/ They're local to me and really passionate about trials and offering interesting, tasty veggies.
Thanks! I just ordered from Renee's Garden.

Vasilisa

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #515 on: July 26, 2018, 08:49:06 AM »
@nessness awesome! What did you end up ordering?

@StarBright Try chopping them up and cooking them with scrambled eggs! Or any kind of veggie stir fry or curry mix. I find if I'm chopping up veggies and cooking them together it's a great place to use that tiny amount of random veggies. 

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #516 on: July 26, 2018, 09:01:18 AM »
@Vasilisa I got "sweet greens and reds" lettuce blend, "harlequin mix" carrots, and "pixie" cabbage. I'm pretty excited. :) Shipping cost was a bit high ($5), but the seed costs seemed pretty reasonable, and I like that they sell seed blends for the carrots and lettuce, rather than having to buy each type separately.

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #517 on: July 26, 2018, 09:27:44 AM »
I grew the Sweet Greens and Reds this spring and it did well and was really pretty!

Thinking about trying for a fall crop of lettuce, but I've never had success with it. It just doesn't seem to want to germinate, ever. The weather's probably too iffy here for it.

Trifle

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #518 on: July 26, 2018, 10:30:55 AM »
I have a question - what do I do with 6 romas? Not enough to make sauce and I don't have an immediate use for them for a few days. I don't want to waste them.

You could chop them up and put them in a mason jar and freeze them.  I've done that when I don't have time to can.  Frozen tomatoes separate a bit, but you can still use them for soup, chili, etc.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #519 on: July 26, 2018, 04:24:08 PM »
Where do you guys buy your seeds from? I'm starting to plan my fall/Winter garden - I promised my daughter we could grow rainbow carrots, and I think I'll do some lettuce and cabbage too.

Primarily FedCo. Good quality, very good prices, especially for the minimum packet sizes. I also order occasionally from Johnny’s and have ordered from several independent plant breeders to get unusual strains/varieties I’d read about.

krmit

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #520 on: July 26, 2018, 04:58:59 PM »
Trimmed and cleaned up my garlic harvest! Almost 2 pounds harvested from one head of garlic planted last year. It made a delicious batch of pesto.  I'm absurdly pleased at how easy it was to grow.

My cherry tomatoes and zucchini are coming in at a manageable level. First of the Moskvich tomatoes are ripening too.

My Italian parsley has all bolted - I thought parsley was a biennial and only flowered in the second year. Is that only curly parsley that does that? Or should I have been trimming off the stems as they sprouted up?

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #521 on: July 27, 2018, 07:14:22 AM »
Two months ago I thought that only two of the five raspberry canes that I planted last year survived the winter, but then seemingly overnight canes started sprouting everywhere. I now have a lush little raspberry patch that yields a nice handful of berries a day. A real delight!

Are volunteer raspberries indeed a thing? I have something sprouting up next to my (red) raspberry container that sure looks like another raspberry. I didn't realize they did that. I assumed it was a weed but now I feel like I shouldn't pull it just in case.

Hahaha. Raspberries will take over the world. I planted 3 or 4 canes, and could probably open a U Pick, if I didn't whack them back every year.

Any, the June crop of raspberries is over, and conveniently was pretty much finished just as we left for vacation. The canes are loaded with flowers and new fruit - I think we'll be having round 2 in about 10 days.

Tomatoes look pretty good. I'm getting a few Romas and a lot of grape and cherry tomatoes. The squash is spreading fast, but not setting yet. The basil looks great - we should have the first batch of pesto this weekend. The perennial herbs are in full swing - makes the bees happy!

I've experimented with lettuce in pots this year, and it has worked well. I've planted a pot every other week and we've had lettuce since May.

StarBright

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #522 on: July 27, 2018, 07:35:09 AM »
Caprese salad? Slice them up with some fresh mozzarella, basil, and drizzle with balsamic.

I had turkey burgers and fries on the menu last night (gotta have a meal for the kiddos every now and then). I turned the grown ups meal into Caprese Turkey Burgers and a green bean/tomato salad!

nessness

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #523 on: July 27, 2018, 03:26:15 PM »
I think I'm going to get rid of my guineas. I'd heard they were loud but OMG I had no idea. It's only a matter of time before my neighbors start complaining.

Of my 14 chickens, there are 3 I'm sure are roosters and 3 more suspected. Someone at the feed store told me about a local biweekly livestock auction where she said she always sold her roosters. So I think I'll probably take the roosters and guineas there, though it makes me a bit sad.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #524 on: July 27, 2018, 04:38:01 PM »
I think I'm going to get rid of my guineas. I'd heard they were loud but OMG I had no idea. It's only a matter of time before my neighbors start complaining.

Of my 14 chickens, there are 3 I'm sure are roosters and 3 more suspected. Someone at the feed store told me about a local biweekly livestock auction where she said she always sold her roosters. So I think I'll probably take the roosters and guineas there, though it makes me a bit sad.

Could eat them too :)

nessness

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #525 on: July 27, 2018, 07:49:14 PM »
I think I'm going to get rid of my guineas. I'd heard they were loud but OMG I had no idea. It's only a matter of time before my neighbors start complaining.

Of my 14 chickens, there are 3 I'm sure are roosters and 3 more suspected. Someone at the feed store told me about a local biweekly livestock auction where she said she always sold her roosters. So I think I'll probably take the roosters and guineas there, though it makes me a bit sad.

Could eat them too :)
I did think about that, but I don't think I could handle processing them myself, and paying someone to process them didn't seem worth it, given how rarely we eat meat. Plus my 3-year-old is going through a phase where she doesn't want to eat fish because she has a pet fish and it makes her sad, so I can't imagine how traumatized she would be over eating our chickens.

Indio

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #526 on: July 29, 2018, 12:00:38 PM »
My tomatoes are finally starting to ripen. Yesterday, I had enough cherry toms to make a salad. It was a major culinary event.

Went through inventory of canning jars, emptied old food, scrubbed jars, bleached reusable lids to remove smell, and now I'm ready to stand over a boiling pot of water to preserve some summer goodness. I've got pickles and zucchini relish on the prep list. Every canning season, I dream of an outdoor kitchen setup. One of these years, I have to get on it.

Finished the honey harvest from one hive and had 26.2 lbs of honey. Yes, I weighed it. It's almost all bottled. Put honeycomb into a few widemouth canning jars and filled it up with honey. Looks good.

Trifle

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #527 on: July 30, 2018, 05:35:52 AM »
That's awesome @Indio.  Have you been beekeeping long?  I am hoping to get into that soon.  I've done a day-long cooperative extension class, and found it totally fascinating. 

Haven't posted much here lately.  The early summer fruits (cherries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries) are all done, and the tomatoes and peppers are not ripe yet. 

Tree fruit is looking pretty good.  One of our apple trees is nearly ripe, so we have that to look forward to.  Our grand old Kieffer pear tree is loaded with fruit again this year.  We actually had to thin the fruit quite a bit to avoid branch breakage.  I have no idea what that old tree used for a pollinator this spring (I don't know of any other mature pears within bee range) but somehow the job got done.  Kieffers are known to be partially self-fertile, however it's got a lot of fruit on it!  We have three young pears in the ground that will hopefully flower next year.  Our fig trees have quite a bit of fruit on them, but a long way from ripe.  The pomegranate I bought this spring on a whim looks fantastic -- has tripled in size -- but no fruit on it.  Of the 4 young persimmons I planted last year, only one has fruit on it.  Two of the other three are suffering some kind of leaf-curl problem.  Grapes look good.  The Concords are loaded with fruit, and the baby Muscadines are growing well.

Next spring I will be FIREd and will be able to really go to town on my garden.  Can't wait!     
« Last Edit: July 30, 2018, 08:51:31 AM by Trifele »

Indio

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #528 on: August 01, 2018, 06:53:22 AM »
Had bees for almost a decade now. Got into it after I noticed a drop off in backyard garden veg. Then I realized that pollinators declined cuz town was spraying for west mile mosquitoes. When they stopped, ecosystem balanced out with more birds and bats to feed on them.
Bees are a great hobby. It’s good exercise too cuz im always carrying around lots of heavy stuff. Was in Volvo’s early on with a new bee group in our area and this year we started offering free mentoring to new beekeepers. It’s so satisfying to see others get interested in it. Happy to answer any questions if you need help when you get started.

Trifle

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #529 on: August 02, 2018, 05:34:16 AM »
Cool -- thank you @Indio !  One thing I've been pondering is the start up costs of beekeeping.
I know there are those who say it can be reasonable if you DIY your hives, rent/borrow equipment and so on.  Since I am "lean FIREing" next year, I will not have lots extra in the budget, so figuring out how to start up cheaply will take some careful planning . . .

Indio

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #530 on: August 02, 2018, 08:01:12 AM »
You're right the start up costs can be very high. When I first got into beekeeping, I had no idea that you could DIY, but I've met lots of people that have done it with great results. Probably the only thing you would need to buy would be a bee smoker/bellows. I saw one guy who was a cigar smoker who got around it by puffing cigar smoke on the bees. Don't think it is worth the trade off.

If you want to pick up used equipment, keep checking craigslist. There are always people that get out of beekeeping cuz it became too physically demanding for them. 

You can easily make hive bodies out of discarded wooden wine boxes and then modify them slightly, if you want a langstroth style hive, but there are many successful hive bodies out there. I've experimented with a few that were given to me and I've had the most success with Langstroth and Warre. Frames can be made from kebab skewers. And you can pick up bees when they swarm, but this can be difficult and requires really good timing, usually Spring, and the ability to react quickly. sI saw a swarm on a Home Depot truck in their parking lot this May. They wouldn't let me take it for insurance reasons. :( Look on FB for a local bee group. When homeowners have a swarm on their house or car, they might post it there for someone to come and get it. Alternately, beekeepers might have a rapidly growing colony that they need to split to prevent it from swarming and they don't have enough space or hives for the bees so they give it away. That would be the best scenario for you to get a starter bee colony.

For tools to manipulate the hive, a straight edge screwdriver, small spackler/trowel and a soft broom used for sweeping into a dustban, should be enough.

Check out anarchy apiaries http://anarchyapiaries.org/ in upstate NY. I believe he has built all his own hives and has photos. He specializes in queen rearing, which is where the big money is. He inspired me to breed winter hardy, mite resistant queens.  Another beekeeper imported the winter hardy queens from Canada and I'm crossing them with my mite resistant queens to see if I can create a bee that is impervious to a few of the environmental factors that are leading to their die off.

What hardiness zone are you in @Trifele ?

Trifle

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #531 on: August 02, 2018, 08:37:48 AM »
You're right the start up costs can be very high. When I first got into beekeeping, I had no idea that you could DIY, but I've met lots of people that have done it with great results. Probably the only thing you would need to buy would be a bee smoker/bellows. I saw one guy who was a cigar smoker who got around it by puffing cigar smoke on the bees. Don't think it is worth the trade off.

If you want to pick up used equipment, keep checking craigslist. There are always people that get out of beekeeping cuz it became too physically demanding for them. 

You can easily make hive bodies out of discarded wooden wine boxes and then modify them slightly, if you want a langstroth style hive, but there are many successful hive bodies out there. I've experimented with a few that were given to me and I've had the most success with Langstroth and Warre. Frames can be made from kebab skewers. And you can pick up bees when they swarm, but this can be difficult and requires really good timing, usually Spring, and the ability to react quickly. sI saw a swarm on a Home Depot truck in their parking lot this May. They wouldn't let me take it for insurance reasons. :( Look on FB for a local bee group. When homeowners have a swarm on their house or car, they might post it there for someone to come and get it. Alternately, beekeepers might have a rapidly growing colony that they need to split to prevent it from swarming and they don't have enough space or hives for the bees so they give it away. That would be the best scenario for you to get a starter bee colony.

For tools to manipulate the hive, a straight edge screwdriver, small spackler/trowel and a soft broom used for sweeping into a dustban, should be enough.

Check out anarchy apiaries http://anarchyapiaries.org/ in upstate NY. I believe he has built all his own hives and has photos. He specializes in queen rearing, which is where the big money is. He inspired me to breed winter hardy, mite resistant queens.  Another beekeeper imported the winter hardy queens from Canada and I'm crossing them with my mite resistant queens to see if I can create a bee that is impervious to a few of the environmental factors that are leading to their die off.

What hardiness zone are you in @Trifele ?

I am in Zone 7a.  Funny you mention capturing wild bees -- there is an article this month in Mother Earth News about doing just that.  It seems sort of advanced for a newbie though!

Edited to add:  When I attended the workshop, I won a really nice hive tool as a door prize!  So all set there.  :)
« Last Edit: August 02, 2018, 12:24:58 PM by Trifele »

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #532 on: August 02, 2018, 05:41:39 PM »
I watered like mad during our drought and now we have had some rain (but need more more more).  My reward - tonight my first 2 tomatoes (Celebrity), 2 cucumbers, and 2 cherry tomatoes that were eaten while I was still in the garden.  Cherry tomatoes are our gardening reward right?  They are not meant to make it to the house.

I also cut one basil way back and have lots of leaves drying.  I have two more that also need cutting back, no place to put the leave while they dry.

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #533 on: August 04, 2018, 11:23:53 AM »
I absolutely love August when the garden is producing like crazy. This morning I picked 6 quarts of tomatoes. We've had heavy rain this week so I needed to stake some of the plants upright again. About a 1/3 of tomatoes were split from rain so I'm popping them into the food dehydrator. I love "sundried" tomatoes in Winter salads and soup. Chickens will get some of the more damaged tomatoes. One of the 4 chicks we added to the flock, has started laying. Oh yeah... egg production has been on the slow side from the big girls. Averaging about 5 eggs a day. Will need to thin the flock of the older hens soon.

The zucchinis are humongous too. Might turn the gigantic ones into zucchini bread. Made 8 quarts of zucchini relish and it's sitting on the pantry shelf with the soothing yellow glow of added tumeric.

The cuckes need to be pickled asap. Using ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, red onion, I made a delish salad with very thinly shaved cuckes. Ate that for dinner and breakfast.

Going to make pesto today, harvest more dried cilantro seeds and dill heads to use in the pickles.

I keep thinking about how good the eating is this time of year.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #534 on: August 04, 2018, 01:22:26 PM »
I picked my third Celebrity tomato today.  This is the best my tomatoes have done in years for early ripening, especially since they went in so late because of the cold spring.    There is one more sort of orange one, and the rest are green.  The Sweet Chelsea and unknown cherry are also doing well.  My 3 Italian paste tomato plants have masses of green, oddly shaped tomatoes - I hope they don't all ripen at once!

My bush beans have not done well the last few years, but I planted some short rows a week ago and they are all up, and no mis-shapen leaves. This was seed ordered from a good seed company instead of off the rack at the garden centre.  So that is a win!  I also started some broccoli indoors for planting out in a few weeks, and half the seeds are up.   We've had long mild falls the last few years, so I am hoping for some harvest - both are early varieties.

nessness

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #535 on: August 04, 2018, 04:30:52 PM »
An animal broke into the coop where I keep my five Silkies last night and four of them are missing. I'm hoping a couple of them will show up at dusk but I'm not that optimistic. :(

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #536 on: August 04, 2018, 04:42:43 PM »
Oh @nessness -- I am sorry to hear that!  Fingers crossed for you.

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #537 on: August 04, 2018, 06:58:31 PM »
Really sorry to hear that, nessness. :(

This week I have gotten the following varieties of ripe tomatoes:
- black cherry
- sun chocula (makes brown cherry tomatoes)
- a variety that's just called "cherry." My mom gave me the seed packet probably 5 or 6 years ago, it cost 5 cents on clearance. Every year it's my best producer and healthiest plant. Even with seed that is now very old. I will despair when I finally run out of seed for this thing.
- Fourth of July
- Inca Jewels. This one's a disappointment. I picked the one ripe tomato it produced today and tried a piece before cutting up the rest for salad. It is completely tasteless. WTF?
- Little Bites
- Sungolds sungolds sungolds! Including one that looks like a butt! :D

Not ripe yet, but making green tomatoes:
- Mr Stripey
- Brandywine
- Mystery Pink Brandywine
- Boxcar Willie
- Roma
- Martino's Roma
- Creme Brulee
- Rutgers

Doing exactly jack shit:
- Nebraska Wedding
-

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #538 on: August 04, 2018, 07:07:32 PM »
An animal broke into the coop where I keep my five Silkies last night and four of them are missing. I'm hoping a couple of them will show up at dusk but I'm not that optimistic. :(

Sorry. What did you build with and how did they get in?

nessness

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #539 on: August 04, 2018, 11:18:55 PM »
An animal broke into the coop where I keep my five Silkies last night and four of them are missing. I'm hoping a couple of them will show up at dusk but I'm not that optimistic. :(

Sorry. What did you build with and how did they get in?
It's a pre-built coop that my neighbors gave me. Two of the wood pieces were apparently attached to each other with plastic screws, and the animal pried them apart. I suspect a possum. There were a bunch of feathers around the coop, and I found a pile of feathers about 50 yards away, but no other evidence, and only the one live chicken.

My mom was housesitting last night and said she heard scratching but she thought it was coming from the roof, and she didn't hear any chickens making noise, so she didn't go out to check them. She feels terrible.

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #540 on: August 05, 2018, 05:18:11 AM »
So sorry Nessness.  In my experience, chickens go very quiet at night (they kind of shut off) and don't make much noise, even when serious shit is going down.  So there may not have been a lot of noise.

May have been a raccoon -- they are very strong, motivated, and have clever little hands.  For future repairs/construction -- hardware cloth is your friend.  It's work, but doable to build a coop that nothing bigger than your finger can get into.   Well, a bear can get in -- if you have those.  But at least here it is rare for bears to tear into coops.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #541 on: August 05, 2018, 06:17:29 AM »
Also, attach hardware cloth with either screws and fender washers or poultry staples that you hammer in. Regular staples from a staple gun are not strong enough. Predators can peel the wire off. Never lost a chicken that way, but lost a rabbit doe and her entire litter when a coyote peeled the hardware cloth off a hutch that was attached with staple gun staples.

Trifle

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #542 on: August 05, 2018, 08:52:42 AM »
Also, attach hardware cloth with either screws and fender washers or poultry staples that you hammer in. Regular staples from a staple gun are not strong enough. Predators can peel the wire off. Never lost a chicken that way, but lost a rabbit doe and her entire litter when a coyote peeled the hardware cloth off a hutch that was attached with staple gun staples.

+1. Yes -- use the big metal staples that you hammer in. 

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #543 on: August 05, 2018, 09:02:53 AM »
Also, attach hardware cloth with either screws and fender washers or poultry staples that you hammer in. Regular staples from a staple gun are not strong enough. Predators can peel the wire off. Never lost a chicken that way, but lost a rabbit doe and her entire litter when a coyote peeled the hardware cloth off a hutch that was attached with staple gun staples.

+1. Yes -- use the big metal staples that you hammer in.

Though the screw+washer is easier, and easier to pull out. Slightly more expensive.

Trifle

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #544 on: August 05, 2018, 09:25:38 AM »
Also, attach hardware cloth with either screws and fender washers or poultry staples that you hammer in. Regular staples from a staple gun are not strong enough. Predators can peel the wire off. Never lost a chicken that way, but lost a rabbit doe and her entire litter when a coyote peeled the hardware cloth off a hutch that was attached with staple gun staples.

+1. Yes -- use the big metal staples that you hammer in.

Though the screw+washer is easier, and easier to pull out. Slightly more expensive.

Agree -- I have pried those staples out, and it is a pain.

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #545 on: August 05, 2018, 10:39:40 AM »
The caterpillars got my Kale and Brussel Sprouts :( I'll be pulling them all in the next day or two and possibly putting starts in for a fall crop.

My single cantaloupe is still hanging on. Tomatoes, squash, and green beans are all producing just as they should! The weather has heated up the last few days and my basil likes it.

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #546 on: August 05, 2018, 05:34:47 PM »
- a variety that's just called "cherry." My mom gave me the seed packet probably 5 or 6 years ago, it cost 5 cents on clearance. Every year it's my best producer and healthiest plant. Even with seed that is now very old. I will despair when I finally run out of seed for this thing.

If they are an open pollinated variety you could save the seeds from this year's tomatoes.   If it doesn't say "hybrid" or "F1" on the packet you should be fine.  Tomato seeds are easy to save, lots of instructions on the net.   Pick from your best plants and your next generation will be that much better adapted to your growing conditions.  I am growing an Italian paste tomato that I got from someone who got it from someone who got it from someone - so it has had several generations in my area since it left Italy.  ;-)

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #547 on: August 05, 2018, 07:38:46 PM »
Thanks @Trifele and @furrychickens . We're going to try to fix the small coop and fortify both coops tonight.

Unfortunately the one remaining silkie is a rooster. I think I'm going to take him and my 3 guineas to a poultry auction next week. I need to examine my other suspected roosters closely this week and decide whether there are any others I'm confident in. They're mostly mixed breeds which makes identification harder.

In happier news, my pepper plants are suddenly full of tiny xzbaby peppers. I was thinking about giving up on them at one point because they barely grew for several weeks after I planted them, but  I'm glad I didn't.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #548 on: August 06, 2018, 09:19:15 AM »
Today I will pick  my 4th Celebrity tomato. Then there will be a break, the rest are doing well but still green.  I saved egg shells (rinsed and dried) all winter and added crushed eggshell to all my vegetable beds this spring.  Despite the lack of rain and my hand-watering (which is never a full substitute) I have had no blossom end rot on the tomatoes or peppers.

I have a raised bed that I hadn't planted, it had strawberries from last year.  In the heat I never managed to keep it properly weeded.  The last few days I have dug out all the weeds (a lot of grasses, some of it is quack grass so the underground stems go for ever) and will solarize it with clear plastic for a few weeks.  Then the baby broccoli (9 seedlings so far) can go in that bed, and garlic can go in there for the winter.  The strawberry plants will go where the garlic is now.  It is about ready to harvest so I can do soil amendments before I move the strawberries.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #549 on: August 06, 2018, 11:34:48 AM »
@Sun Hat BER is a calcium deficiency, not a magnesium one.

On that note, I completely forgot to put calcium down on my tomato beds this year, so other than cherries I’m probably going to get zero/little usable fruit. Even the ones so far that have looked nice have had internal rot in them.

I’m probably going to take a break from tomatoes other than a few cherry plants next year and put all that space into doubling/tripling my peppers because I really want to try my hand at making chili powder, paprika and other pepper based seasonings. Still have lots of hot sauce but maybe I’ll grow hot peppers too because it makes a great gift.