Author Topic: Planting / Growing your own 2018  (Read 94150 times)

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #550 on: August 06, 2018, 11:38:32 AM »
Forgot to add that the cucumbers, zucchini, and green beans are all picking back up now that we’re getting some rain again. They struggle on city water alone - anyone else notice this? (And yes I know how to properly water.)

Need to go debone a bunch of rabbits now :)

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #551 on: August 06, 2018, 11:57:57 AM »
Forgot to add that the cucumbers, zucchini, and green beans are all picking back up now that we’re getting some rain again. They struggle on city water alone - anyone else notice this? (And yes I know how to properly water.)
 
My water is from a well, but hard where rain water is soft.  It is fine for the garden, I just have to make sure I water enough to really soak the soil, instead of the top inch or less.  My house water goes through a softener becasue of all the minerals.  I don't use it at all on house plant, as it is gradually lethal.

Our drought is over, but barely, we are still getting thunderstorms instead of proper rainfall.  I have watched the storms go south of me, and north of me, and ended up with 3 mm.

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #552 on: August 07, 2018, 10:18:49 PM »
@Sun Hat BER is a calcium deficiency, not a magnesium one.

It took me a while to remember why I had done the addition of magnesium, but it's because I read that often there is enough calcium in the soil, but that it isn't being taken up because of a shortage of magnesium. I went with the Epsom salts first because I had them handy. Some of the newly formed tomatoes are free of BER, so it's possible that one of the additions was useful, though to be safe I should add some calcium too.

Now for an exciting evening of de-worming my kale!

BER is a calcium deficiency, but it can be happen in soils with plenty of calcium and high pH, due to a lack of water.  The water is needed to allow the calcium ions to get to the fruits of the tomatoes, as I understand it.  We have very high calcium soils, but very hot dry summers, and blossom end rot is an issue for us when the watering levels drop off.

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #553 on: August 08, 2018, 04:48:08 AM »
Forgot to add that the cucumbers, zucchini, and green beans are all picking back up now that we’re getting some rain again. They struggle on city water alone - anyone else notice this? (And yes I know how to properly water.)


Yes, I noticed this too when living in the city.  Huge difference between city water and rain.  During dry periods my watering would keep them alive, but that was it.  Then when the rain came the plants would stand up tall and take off.  I always assumed there was some additive in the city water they didn't like(?)  I know they added fluoride. Not sure what else.   

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #554 on: August 08, 2018, 07:19:27 AM »
Forgot to add that the cucumbers, zucchini, and green beans are all picking back up now that we’re getting some rain again. They struggle on city water alone - anyone else notice this? (And yes I know how to properly water.)


Yes, I noticed this too when living in the city.  Huge difference between city water and rain.  During dry periods my watering would keep them alive, but that was it.  Then when the rain came the plants would stand up tall and take off.  I always assumed there was some additive in the city water they didn't like(?)  I know they added fluoride. Not sure what else.

I asked my parents last night when they were over for my birthday and they confirmed that was their experience as well when they still had a veggie garden, and they’re on the same water system as I am.

Make me wonder if it affects plants that strongly (perhaps because it’s altering the soil microbiome?) whether I shouldn’t spend the $$ on a really good water filter like a Berkey because we’re super reliant on our own microbiome.

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #555 on: August 08, 2018, 07:59:16 AM »
I have noticed too that rain is better than me personally watering. Of course, god only knows what's in the city water here. We've gotten a lot of rain over the past couple days; haven't visited the community garden as a result but I'm hoping that everything's happy.

ender

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #556 on: August 08, 2018, 08:23:15 AM »
blight + massive inconsistent rain ==> lots of lost tomatoes (between blight killing the plants slowly and tomatoes splitting).

:'(

we still picked 25 pounds yesterday though, so there's that. And our peppers look GREAT - not a ton off them yet but the ones we started from seed are huge plants right now and I see a lot of started peppers and flowers yet. Still a few months for them.

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #557 on: August 08, 2018, 08:46:06 AM »
@ender what varieties of peppers are you growing?

The pole beans in my garden have been so productive- picking pounds a week it feels like. Basil is coming in strong too. The bush beans petered out, so ripped those out this weekend and put in some lettuce, spinach, kale, zinnias and a couple peppers.


ender

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #558 on: August 09, 2018, 01:07:15 PM »
@ender what varieties of peppers are you growing?

The pole beans in my garden have been so productive- picking pounds a week it feels like. Basil is coming in strong too. The bush beans petered out, so ripped those out this weekend and put in some lettuce, spinach, kale, zinnias and a couple peppers.

Whole bunch of varieties - bells, bananas, a few various sweet pepper types I don't know off hand.

We have 36 plants (18 of which we started from seed, the others we bought).

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #559 on: August 09, 2018, 01:36:44 PM »
I got three mini red bell peppers yesterday. They are so little and cute!

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #560 on: August 09, 2018, 03:32:16 PM »

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.

Thanks again for this @Indio.  I checked out that website -- great stuff! I have read a few books, lots of articles, attended a day-long class, and this website is the first time I have read about small-cell beekeeping.  (I have sooooo far to go, knowledge-wise.)  This apiary's approach (let the bees do their thing, work with them both on the scale of individual hives and generations, let them build more natural small cells in small hives) resonates with me.  It feels like the way I feel about gardening, orcharding and chicken keeping -- I'm not the 'master' of any of this.  I'm the student, and privileged to observe and support.  I start from the assumption that the plant or creature knows best, and interventions into those processes should be rare and thoughtful.  And Anarchy's hive boxes look simple to build -- very encouraging.

I'm not worried about failure for my sake, but I would not want to let the bees down somehow due to my ignorance.  I wish I could find someone of more or less the same philosophy who could take me by the hand and show me what to do.  I'm such a newbie, I've never even seen a hive close up! 

I love watching the bees on our land though.  Not sure if they are wild? I don't know of any neighbors that keep bees.  I remember last summer we had loads of bees visiting our compost pile.  Do you know what they were doing? They were rubbing themselves on coffee grounds.  I watched them at it for months, doing vigorous scrubs on their bellies and then rolling onto their backs.  They didn't seem to be gathering the grounds or trying to eat them.  I'm guessing they were trying to treat themselves for some ailment?  Maybe mites?  They haven't been doing it this year as far as I've seen. 


 


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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #561 on: August 09, 2018, 04:54:02 PM »
Today, I sowed seeds for fall and over-wintering crops. It's been really dry here, and I expect that to continue, so I'll have to water, but I think it's worthwhile. I intend to sow more, but so far I have spinach (a heat resistant variety), carrots, kale, and arugula.

I want to sow a lot more kale, along with more bok choi, arugula, lettuce, and more.

Indio

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #562 on: August 09, 2018, 09:59:13 PM »

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.

Thanks again for this @Indio.  I checked out that website -- great stuff! I have read a few books, lots of articles, attended a day-long class, and this website is the first time I have read about small-cell beekeeping.  (I have sooooo far to go, knowledge-wise.)  This apiary's approach (let the bees do their thing, work with them both on the scale of individual hives and generations, let them build more natural small cells in small hives) resonates with me.  It feels like the way I feel about gardening, orcharding and chicken keeping -- I'm not the 'master' of any of this.  I'm the student, and privileged to observe and support.  I start from the assumption that the plant or creature knows best, and interventions into those processes should be rare and thoughtful.  And Anarchy's hive boxes look simple to build -- very encouraging.

I'm not worried about failure for my sake, but I would not want to let the bees down somehow due to my ignorance.  I wish I could find someone of more or less the same philosophy who could take me by the hand and show me what to do.  I'm such a newbie, I've never even seen a hive close up! 

I love watching the bees on our land though.  Not sure if they are wild? I don't know of any neighbors that keep bees.  I remember last summer we had loads of bees visiting our compost pile.  Do you know what they were doing? They were rubbing themselves on coffee grounds.  I watched them at it for months, doing vigorous scrubs on their bellies and then rolling onto their backs.  They didn't seem to be gathering the grounds or trying to eat them.  I'm guessing they were trying to treat themselves for some ailment?  Maybe mites?  They haven't been doing it this year as far as I've seen. 


 

@Trifele So glad you enjoyed the info. Not sure how far away you are, but if you wanted to visit Anarchy apiaries, I'm sure he would love to show you around. His passion comes through when you speak to him. He might even be open to the idea of an "intern."
 
Another great resource where you could take a class, which is closer to your hardiness zone, is spikenard bee sanctuary. https://spikenardfarm.org/ Gunther is like the bee whisperer. It's amazing to see in person. I'm on his email list and saw that he was offering a class online at one point, but couldn't find it on the website.

Bees are fascinating creatures. It wouldn't surprise me if they were sucking the leftover coffee liquid out of the grinds. They may have had too much caffeine, which led to their tricks. I have several bowls of water throughout the yard for the bees to drink from and they prefer the soaker hoses and the leftover duck bath water. Go figure.

One of my favorite things to do is watch the bees flying in and out of the hives. They have flight paths, similar to aircraft, and do an amazing job of not crashing into each other as they zip in and out of the hives. Recently, I took a video of a bee, about to take off foraging, and she spent about 5 mins getting ready by grooming herself, while seemingly oblivious to all of her sisters comings and goings.  Between the chickens hysterical dust bathing, wild bees hopping from cucumber flower to flower without flying, a praying mantid (that probably hatched from an egg case I found on a rue plant) hitchiking into my living room, firefly's sky writing mating dance, its all fascinating to observe.

Meanwhile, I just discovered that dehydrated zucchini chips are delish. Don't know if anyone else has tried this, but I highly recommend it. They dehydrate much faster than apples and tomatoes and the texture is similar to chips.



Indio

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #563 on: August 09, 2018, 10:04:47 PM »
I have noticed too that rain is better than me personally watering. Of course, god only knows what's in the city water here. We've gotten a lot of rain over the past couple days; haven't visited the community garden as a result but I'm hoping that everything's happy.

I believe that it's fluoride and chlorine that are in water supply that slows plant growth.

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #564 on: August 10, 2018, 05:56:16 AM »
Thanks @Indio!  I am not that far from Spikenard Farm -- I will definitely plan a trip there to check it out.  Unless I missed it -- I couldn't find an address on the Anarchy website (other than 'the Hudson Valley' ?).  I do make one or two trips to upstate NY a year, so that is also a possibility.  And I'll keep putting out feelers (har har) locally. There may be a local bee guru who'd be willing to show me the ropes.

Haha - you may be right about the bees in my coffee grounds.  Maybe they were just wriggling and buzzing on a coffee high.  ; 

One more question for you -- what do you recommend (if anything) that I plant just for bee feed?  I'd like to get going on that now, as there's a chance I'll start with bees next spring.  Are flowers like monarda the best way to go for that? We have a fair size orchard and garden, and some ornamentals as well -- but I have loads of space to plant more.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #565 on: August 10, 2018, 06:28:44 AM »
I liked zucchini chips until I suddenly started not liking them, now I can’t eat them anymore, there’s a weird flavor note or something. I can’t remember, it’s been a couple years since I last tried.

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #566 on: August 10, 2018, 10:14:23 AM »
I got my first zucchini last night - I didn't think we were going to get any (it was producing a bunch of rotten ones early in the season, so I fertilized it and applied some eggshells, and didn't see any fruit at all for weeks), then last night I spied two zucchinis that had been hiding, one of which was already like 15" long! I was inspired by this thread to try making zucchini chips - they're in the oven now.

I prepped the soil yesterday to plant our cool season crops - carrots, lettuce, and cabbage - which I plan to plant this weekend. My daughter has been asking to plant broccoli too, which should have been planted in July in my area but I might try it anyway if I find some seeds in the next couple days.

I'm planning to take my guineas and my one remaining confirmed rooster to a poultry auction on Sunday. The guineas are just too darn noisy, and I'm pretty sure they're all males, so no eggs. We might get another hen or two at the auction if they have any young ones.

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #567 on: August 11, 2018, 08:12:10 AM »
A friend of ours made zucchini noodles, too. Those were really good and considerably better for me than regular flour based noodles.

Makes me want to plant another zucchini again next year!

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #568 on: August 11, 2018, 10:09:21 AM »
@Trifele There are a lot of sites that post info about plants honeybees prefer https://thehoneybeeconservancy.org/plant-a-bee-garden/. Since the bees travel far and wide, chances are they won't linger in your garden for too long, unless you have a lot of land.

If you're looking for plants, I would focus on plants that bloom early spring and late summer, since that is when there is usually a dearth. Light colored spring honey is my favorite so I have a lot of daffodils, crocus and 12 different fruit trees that bloom in succession - nectarine, plum, peach, pear, apple. Your fruits trees will likely cover the early spring demand. One spring, I walked by blooming nectarine trees and there were so many bees on it, I could hear the high pitch buzz about 20 ft away from it. This is unusual because bees don't exhaust a pollen/nectar supply all at once, without having identified other sources.

For late summer, I've noticed that my honeybees prefer fennel, sedum, goldenrod (which is in my next door neighbor's garden.), zucchini, echinacea, flowers on lettuce/mustard/kale that go to seed, and clover in the lawn. There is also a vining plant, similar to kudzu, but I don't know its name that the bees are crazy about. I hate it because it is so invasive and fast growing. I watch the bees leave the hive and head straight for it. If you want some fennel seed, DM me because I save it every year and will have some fresh seed in a few weeks. The chickens like the fennel too so I throw it in the lower garden and let them eat it when it's a few inches tall. .

Monarda keeps the wild, solitary bees happy, which is also good for the habitat, but my bees don't usually spend a lot of time visiting it, despite the name.

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #569 on: August 11, 2018, 11:17:25 AM »
Thanks @Indio! Very helpful.  I'll start reading more about things I can plant.  We have the vegetable garden and the orchard, and we are lucky enough to also have an additional two acres that are currently fallow, and I'm just letting whatever grow there.  When we moved here three years ago it was just grass, but now some other wild things are getting a toehold.  There's a decent amount of thistle, which I personally like, and the bees, birds and butterflies seem to dig it.  I was planning to put in a bunch of milkweed.

Is this the vining plant you see?  I've been battling a fair amount of oriental bittersweet around here . . .it is so vigorous it literally covers and kills whole trees. I haven't seen bees going for its flowers, but now will pay attention.   

 

krmit

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #570 on: August 11, 2018, 02:55:33 PM »
DH is harvesting honey today - expecting at least a few gallons, but will know the final amount later today.

Worked all morning in a nearby community garden and brought home tons of summer squash, some tomatoes, peppers, and beans. My fridge is overflowing with produce, plus I've been making dried apples and applesauce all week from the bounty of my parent's apple tree....any ideas for more things to do with apples or summer squash?

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #571 on: August 12, 2018, 04:35:15 AM »
DH is harvesting honey today - expecting at least a few gallons, but will know the final amount later today.

Worked all morning in a nearby community garden and brought home tons of summer squash, some tomatoes, peppers, and beans. My fridge is overflowing with produce, plus I've been making dried apples and applesauce all week from the bounty of my parent's apple tree....any ideas for more things to do with apples or summer squash?

Hi @krmit -- love your updates from your urban gardening adventures.  For apples, we eat them all and never have extras, haha, so no advice there.  Winter squash we bake and freeze the extra, but I've never tried that with summer squash . . . Wonder if it would work? 

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #572 on: August 12, 2018, 05:03:50 AM »
If you like making zucchini bread or using shredded zucchini mixed into things like tacos, chili, etc you can shred and freeze in appropriate size portions. Works well, I’ve done it in the past with good results. This year I’m just giving away the excess though.

krmit

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #573 on: August 12, 2018, 11:38:18 AM »
A nearby community garden is doing a cider pressing today, just in the nick of time for my apples! Looking forward to bringing a few gallons home.

Total honey harvest almost 50 pounds (or around 4 gallons), plus beeswax. The ladies did really well this year; hopefully they'll survive the winter!

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #574 on: August 14, 2018, 06:56:49 AM »
One more question for you -- what do you recommend (if anything) that I plant just for bee feed?  I'd like to get going on that now, as there's a chance I'll start with bees next spring.  Are flowers like monarda the best way to go for that? We have a fair size orchard and garden, and some ornamentals as well -- but I have loads of space to plant more.

Indio has lots of ideas below, but one thing I noticed a few years ago is that the local bees love broccoli flowers.  Some of my fall broccoli had flowered and had lots of visitors.  I let the rest flower and the bees were there every day.  This gave them a post-frost nectar source.

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #575 on: August 14, 2018, 08:38:02 AM »
For people looking to help bees, particularly native bees, the Xerces Society has a wonderful resource for the U.S.:https://xerces.org/pollinator-resource-center/ It has lots of info about how to help local native species.

If you just want the plant list of what best to plant for native bee species, this page is a good one: https://xerces.org/pollinator-conservation/plant-lists/ It has regional lists with bloom time, water needs, and a lot more.

One thing that was new information for me is that there are two types of bees, to generalize. Generalists, which visit a wide variety of species, and specialists, which might visit a few or even one single species. Honey bees, mason bees, and bumble bees are generalists. There are, however, lots of native bees that are specialists, and they are having a hard time as their plant species die out. If you care about native bees, I'd encourage you to plant plants that are native to your area.

After all, the native bees don't have beekeepers looking after them. They're on their own.

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #576 on: August 14, 2018, 09:30:13 AM »
Thank you @RetiredAt63 and @clarkai !  Yes -- I'm interested in both the generalists and the native specialists, and I'm lucky to have lots of space, so I'll probably plant many things -- focusing on natives. 


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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #577 on: August 14, 2018, 11:12:25 AM »
My garden is now a jungle.  I have planted a great number of species that support various different types of pollinators.  Right now the sneezeweed, cup plant, grey coneflower, purple coneflower, brown-eyed susan and one of the goldenrods are blooming.  The different types of bees and butterflies we are seeing is lovely.  The goldfinches are back eating the cup plant seeds.  They are so joyful with their goldfinch chatter.

While we were away - two of the buckets of oyster mushrooms fruited and are now an ugly mess.  Just before we left I added a third of a bucket of sawdust substrate to all the buckets and moved them outside so they didn't dry out too much.  Guess they liked it.  The straw topping is not colonized but the sawdust is and no evidence of the mushroom flies.  Not sure whether to move them back inside now because they actually look a little too wet.  I think I will put them under the porch if it rains so they don't get wetter but keep watching them for another fruiting.  And starting to prepare more substrate to feed them again.  We are now beyond what I had hoped to harvest when I paid $25 for the spawn. 

I have beans, beets, carrots, cuke, delicata squash, onions, leeks, zukes, peppers, garlic and potatoes in the vegetable patch.  Last night I made a warm potato salad and fried eggs for supper and the only ingredients I had to buy from the store was bacon, mustard, salt, pepper, paprika and vinegar.  It felt so cool to chop up all the veg from the garden and top it with eggs from the neighbours.  Tonight I hope to plant a number of new seeds for fall harvest and some more beans that will be used mainly for green manure if we have early frost. The beans planted before holiday are up but I am not sure we will get a harvest.  The late planted peas in early July are not producing well.  I have lots of old seed so I may try more peas and if it doesn't work out consider them more green manure. I need to get the soil deeper for carrots. And the south end of the garden is really poor soil.  The last two rows are very sad indeed.  We will be cleaning out the hen house onto that end of the garden next week.  I think I should do another truck load of manure this fall as well.

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #578 on: August 16, 2018, 09:30:09 AM »
My plan for the weekend was to buy two more pullets and sell my rooster and guineas at an auction. My neighbors also had a rooster they wanted to get rid of, so I offered to take their rooster too. I bought the pullets off Craigslist on Saturday. Sunday morning two or the guineas escaped and flew up on the roof while I was attempting to put then in a box, but I decided to take the rest anyway. And...the auction was cancelled. So now instead of getting rid of four unwanted birds, I now have five unwanted birds (since I still have the neighbor's rooster, who is way louder and more annoying then mine). Eating them is looking more appealing by the day.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #579 on: August 16, 2018, 10:57:29 AM »
My plan for the weekend was to buy two more pullets and sell my rooster and guineas at an auction. My neighbors also had a rooster they wanted to get rid of, so I offered to take their rooster too. I bought the pullets off Craigslist on Saturday. Sunday morning two or the guineas escaped and flew up on the roof while I was attempting to put then in a box, but I decided to take the rest anyway. And...the auction was cancelled. So now instead of getting rid of four unwanted birds, I now have five unwanted birds (since I still have the neighbor's rooster, who is way louder and more annoying then mine). Eating them is looking more appealing by the day.

Coq au Vin is a recipe for old roosters.  Just saying.   ;-)

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #580 on: August 16, 2018, 12:18:43 PM »
@Frugal Lizard isn't eating your home-raised food amazing? I have meals like that too where I categorize everything that was grown by me or someone I know!

Picked the first "Wee Be Little" pumpkins last week- darn those things are cute. Will enjoy them for awhile and then make something tasty with the flesh and the seeds. Still getting an amazing amount of pole beans in, but the bush beans petered off- those got ripped out and composted. Planted lettuce and kale and my salad bowl is empty until they get a bit bigger, not much left of tasty greens to eat raw. Still plenty of Malabar spinach, amaranth and arugula for cooking though. Harvesting beautiful basil bunches and enjoying large leaves on sandwiches and chopped up with the few tomatoes that are ripening.

In coastal California I'm starting to think about and plant fall veggies- we have the luxury of gardening year-round here. Where is everyone else growing and any fall tasks on the horizon?

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #581 on: August 16, 2018, 01:01:03 PM »
I didn't check last night because it was storming..... but, pretty sure the first Cherokee Purple of the season is ripe and ready! :D I'll pick it tonight!


clarkai

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #582 on: August 16, 2018, 02:01:42 PM »
@Frugal Lizard

In coastal California I'm starting to think about and plant fall veggies- we have the luxury of gardening year-round here. Where is everyone else growing and any fall tasks on the horizon?

I'm on the west side of Washington state, so we don't get active growth year round, but we can have year-round harvests. I've just started some arugula, kale, bok choi, carrots, and spinach. I'm going to sow some more lettuce, probably today when it cools down a bit.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #583 on: August 16, 2018, 03:32:54 PM »
Year round growing here is only possible in greenhouses or similar protected climates and I just don’t have a great spot for one when combined with the rules concerning them. So the only thing I grow in the winter is eggs and rabbits ;)

My main fall tasks are spreading compost and mulching. I may tackle another garden layout change but unsure if I will have the time to do it before winter, or if it will end up being a spring 2019 project.

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #584 on: August 17, 2018, 07:51:58 AM »
I still haven't gotten the seeds planted this week and last night it rained.  But I did work on clearing out the finished plants to prepare an area for solarizing.
Beets that I planted four weeks ago are only sporadically germinating now.  I cut back the beans to see if they will re-flower in the nothing ventured nothing gained....

plainjane

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #585 on: August 17, 2018, 08:51:12 AM »
An insect or something chewed on the base of my zucchini stalk, and the leaves started to yellow/wilt, so I cut it down. There is a second plant, but like the first it is only giving flowers and only of one kind (so I can't hand-polinate).

I feel like a failure, the beginning gardener who kills zucchini and rhubarb and never got a strawberry from the 4 plants purchased this year. My parsley is still happy, but that is it.

Indio

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #586 on: August 17, 2018, 09:09:47 AM »
@krmit You could try making apple butter with excess apples. I'll be starting a batch today with a mix of crab apples and regular apples, just as soon as the caffeine from my coffee kicks in to get me up and out the door to pick crab apples.

I'm going to try to make the most of today's reprieve from the heat to fling open all of my windows and do a round of canning and blanching veg to freeze. I have AC, but it seems wrong to use the stove to produce heat, only to have the AC work to remove it.

How about canning apple pie filling and making apple cider vinegar? Vinegar takes a few weeks but it's so easy to do.

Vasilisa

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #587 on: August 17, 2018, 09:14:52 AM »
@Tris Prior yum! 'Cherokee Purple' are some of the best tomatoes! Enjoy!

You guys are inspiring me to start some seeds this week! Definitely want to get some more lettuce going and might try and squeeze in one more round of bush beans too.

@plainjane Bummer! Sometimes plants just don't make it. But YOU are not a failure just 'cause one plant in your care died- all of our annual vegetable plants die, some sooner than others. Sometimes it's just a matter of finding what plants thrive in your unique location. And some years the things you always have success with, don't thrive. Oh the joys and struggles of being a gardener.

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #588 on: August 17, 2018, 09:32:41 AM »
@plainjane I can't grow zucchini either. The plants always make only male flowers and then get powdery mildew and drop dead. I've given up. And critters got all but 4 of my strawberries this year. They're flowering again though so maybe I will have more success.

I also have never had any success whatsoever with fall crops. I've tried fall greens, but they never germinate.

Last night after work I went in the backyard and discovered I'd had a tomato plant avalanche. One plant had busted out of its cage and was leaning against the stakes I'd placed outside the cage so heavily that the plant was nearly horizontal. I swear, I turn my back for a day and everything turns into a tangled jungle. I gave everything a good haircut and now everything's more or less vertical-ish. Some of the tomato vines are nearly snapping in two due to the weight of the tomatoes.

Indio

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #589 on: August 17, 2018, 09:35:09 AM »
Here's the update from my 1/4 acre homestead.

This week I've been fighting sneaky little critters off my tomatoes and I'm losing. I cut up leftover mosquito netting into large squares and wrapped it around clusters of toms, all to no avail. Now I'm picking green tomatoes that are ripening indoors, which is better than nothing. They don't seem to prefer the cherry toms so whatever isn't eaten in salsa, grilled, salads, are being dehydrated. I'm going to look into getting a stronger netting, possibly a type of pvc like plastic, that is still a fine mesh for protecting fruit trees and plants.

I'm in full on preservation mode now. Last night, while watching Blacklist on Netflix, I cleaned dill seed heads, cilantro seeds and the dried leaves off of lemon balm stalks. The half gallon canning jars are filling up on the pantry shelves all labeled with mint, tulsi basil and lemon balm.

Made 3 quarts of refrigerator pickles - 2 dill and 1 sesame.  Will make a batch of canned cucumber relish soon since the cucumbers are so abundant. I want to try using a little bit of jalapeno in the recipe to add some zing.

Used a few tablespoons of wax cappings from a recent honey harvest to make 18 tubes of lip balm. Infused olive oil with comfrey, calendula and plantain for healing properties and added peppermint essential oil. Not sure if this will be enough to get us through winter, but the plantain feels good on mosquito bites. Speaking of which, the mosquitoes are horrendous now that we've had a rainy summer.

Have been drying out the dragon tongue beans to shuck in a few weeks and use for winter chili. I know you can buy these in the store cheaply, but the fresher ones are so delicious.

Seed saving for next year is also fully underway. I've been hanging onto large junk mail envelopes, instead of shredding them for the compost pile, they are being repurposed as seed packets.

Zucchini plants are almost finished and in a way I'm relieved. Pulling them out and planting cold crops and fast growing herbs in its place.

Still waiting on sweet and red potatoes.

March chicks have all started laying and the little eggs are always a nice suprise. Added 2 ameracaunas and 2 Buff Orpingtons to the flock this year. They are still in their mini cooper and will need to be moved into the main coop with the big girls soon. Will need to clean out the main coop in September and want to put a new roof on it using metal roof panels instead of plywood.

Happy growing everyone.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #590 on: August 17, 2018, 11:50:51 AM »
An insect or something chewed on the base of my zucchini stalk, and the leaves started to yellow/wilt, so I cut it down. There is a second plant, but like the first it is only giving flowers and only of one kind (so I can't hand-polinate).

I feel like a failure, the beginning gardener who kills zucchini and rhubarb and never got a strawberry from the 4 plants purchased this year. My parsley is still happy, but that is it.

Zucchini - sounds like squash borer, which is a SUPER common pest. And, as others have pointed out, zucchini loves to die for lots of other reasons too. Mine will probably be dead from mildew in next couple weeks.

Rhubarb is hard to kill once established, but often tricky to get established in the first place. I think about half or more of the crown divisions I planted never got established.

Strawberries are tricky to actually get them productive. I’m still figuring them out, will probably rip out the remainder of my current planting and may/may not start over fresh with a new variety next year, or wait another year.

krmit

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #591 on: August 17, 2018, 12:17:38 PM »
Preservation results from the epic apple haul:
Canned 6 quarts of slices for baking
Canned or froze 12 quarts applesauce
Dried apple slices 4 gallon bags full
1 and a half gallons apple cider from a community pressing last week. Drinking half a gallon fresh and put the gallon in primary fermentation for hard cider.
Still got a couple pounds in the fridge for fresh eating and baking. 

Spent the week canning almost daily - made 2 half pints of jam from the invasive blackberries reaching into our yard from the neighbors, and picked up some tomato seconds and canned salsa, whole tomatoes, and sauce. Dumped the cooled down canning water on my tomato plants this morning. I'm getting a handful of Romas and cherry tomatoes every day; probably won't ever have enough ready at the same time for more canning, so I'll dry whatever we don't eat fresh.

It feels like fall is coming. I'll be glad when it cools down a bit.

nessness

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #592 on: August 19, 2018, 01:21:52 PM »
I sold my roosters and guineas today! I didn't stay for the auction, so I don't know how much they sold for (they just mail a check after), but I'm just happy to have them out of the coop, and not waking up the whole neighborhood at 5 a.m.

I thought the auction would have mostly roosters, but I saw hens, chicks, pigeons, quail, and rabbits. I'll definitely go back there if I want to add to (or subtract from) my flock in the future.

In plant news, I thought I'd planted mini red bell pepper plants, but the peppers are getting big and showing no signs of turning red yet, so I guess they're full-sized peppers? I'll have to pay more attention to what I'm buying next year lol.

ETA: Got the check. $32 for five birds after the auction house's cut. Not bad, I guess, and it's much more pleasant not to have all that squawking and crowing.
« Last Edit: August 23, 2018, 03:22:00 PM by nessness »

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #593 on: August 22, 2018, 05:20:26 PM »
What do you think a fair price for used canning jars is?

I need to downsize dramatically. Especially quarts. I’m thinking $4 for dozen if they’re just jars and rings, $5-6 for the cases I have still new in the shrink wrap.

Trifle

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #594 on: August 23, 2018, 02:57:28 AM »
Sounds about right to me, @furrychickens.  Just did a quick peek at our local CL and the going rate seems to be $0.40 - $0.50 per quart jar.   

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #595 on: August 23, 2018, 04:39:08 AM »
Sounds about right to me, @furrychickens.  Just did a quick peek at our local CL and the going rate seems to be $0.40 - $0.50 per quart jar.

Already have a buyer lined up, lol. Friend of mine will clean me out of whatever I’m willing to part with.

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #596 on: August 23, 2018, 07:27:51 AM »
My sweet potatoes have flowers!  This is year 4 of growing them, first time ever for flowers. Very pretty, deep purple throats and palest lilac petals.  If they are happy enough to bloom, I am hoping for a great harvest.

Tomatoes and cucumbers are producing consistently.  Garlic was a bust.

plainjane

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #597 on: August 23, 2018, 08:39:36 AM »
@furrychickens looks like you are right. The second plant is suffering from something else, so I'll put it out of its misery.

My mom says the rhubarb is probably a light issue, which is very probable in our garden. Our parsley is still pretty happy.

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #598 on: August 24, 2018, 07:49:33 AM »
Hmm. Wavering over trying to start some fall plantings. Greens, maybe peas. I have the seeds. But I can never get anything to germinate in the fall. Should I bother? I wonder if cilantro would work? I hate that my cilantro always has already bolted in the heat by the time I'm getting tomatoes (and would like the cilantro for salsa canning).

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Planting / Growing your own 2018
« Reply #599 on: August 24, 2018, 07:58:49 AM »
Hmm. Wavering over trying to start some fall plantings. Greens, maybe peas. I have the seeds. But I can never get anything to germinate in the fall. Should I bother? I wonder if cilantro would work? I hate that my cilantro always has already bolted in the heat by the time I'm getting tomatoes (and would like the cilantro for salsa canning).

I’ve got snap peas a few inches tall right now :) That’s about the only fall planting I do.

 

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