Ducks4you for 2022

[heirloomgal]

5) White grape, growing next to the Citronella
&
6) Concord grape #1, growing next to
7) Concord grape #2, both by the west facing basement window.
DD's gave me a particle board round table (brand new) with very secure folding legs. I gave it a couple of coats of water seal before I brought it in for a plant table, then covered it with an old, plastic table cover
I brought the 3 baby grapes in last November, two are on the new plant table. Old plant table will soon be recycled, metal to recycle metal storage, particle board top to be burned...soon.
Pay attention to what SIZE grape you buy! All of these had shallow roots and I didn't dare put them in the ground.
The hope was that this winter they would put on some decent roots growing in the cool basement, ~50 degrees or more, cool but not cold, and then I will transplant them next Fall.
I checked them this morning.
LEAF GROWTH !!!!!!!
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I so LOVE garden grapes! So scrumptious!

 

[Zeedman]

I've got NUTHIN' on my beds this winter, trying to erase the burrowing squash bugs. We have had several freezes overnight.

Squash vine borers over-winter underground, but I don't think you have those west of the Rockies (yet). Squash bugs, unfortunately, over-winter in nearby debris or sheltered locations. They can also over-winter where nearby farms & gardens grew squash or pumpkins, and will fly to your garden from there. Very hard to get rid of. All you can really do (other than sprays) is to cover squash plants during the egg-laying period. Hopefully by the time the vines get female flowers, the bugs are gone, and the plants can be uncovered. If I cover the plants until mid-July here, it will usually protect from squash bugs, squash vine borers, and the first hatch of cucumber beetles.

 

[flowerbug]

Squash vine borers over-winter underground, but I don't think you have those west of the Rockies (yet). Squash bugs, unfortunately, over-winter in nearby debris or sheltered locations. They can also over-winter where nearby farms & gardens grew squash or pumpkins, and will fly to your garden from there. Very hard to get rid of. All you can really do (other than sprays) is to cover squash plants during the egg-laying period. Hopefully by the time the vines get female flowers, the bugs are gone, and the plants can be uncovered. If I cover the plants until mid-July here, it will usually protect from squash bugs, squash vine borers, and the first hatch of cucumber beetles.

yeah, we find squash bugs all over the place here all winter long, any time there is a break in the weather they'll crawl out of their hiding places. borers are no fun, but i just hope that what i plant will survive their attacks. so far i'm letting the bugs select the survivors for me. sometimes the surviving plants are hanging on by threads of stem that are still alive and barely, but if they can do that then i'll keep trying.

 

[Zeedman]

A little OT I know... but @flowerbug , how did your Little Greenseed pumpkins fare against the borers? I observed the adults hovering over the vines (and killed a few) but none of the vines appeared to suffer from them. Only flooding & squash bugs eventually killed them, and the pumpkins were already beginning to ripen by then.

 

[flowerbug]

A little OT I know... but @flowerbug , how did your Little Greenseed pumpkins fare against the borers? I observed the adults hovering over the vines (and killed a few) but none of the vines appeared to suffer from them. Only flooding & squash bugs eventually killed them, and the pumpkins were already beginning to ripen by then.

i had an early crop and a later crop. total plants probably were six and i had nine fruits that were ripened enough to harvest by the time i gave up on them. three of the nine fruits where white hulled seeds so i roasted those or discarded them. i also ate a fair amount of the green seeds roasted, but i did save seeds from all of the green seeded fruits. the plants did well. no bug problems that i noticed on them at all. i will be growing them again this coming year so we'll see how they continue.

p.s. Little was not a word i would use for the fruits. all of them were near basketball sized except for one tiny one at the end which didn't ripen fast enough.

 

[baymule]

You are off and running! Ice storms don't stop you! I'll hook the disc to the tractor pretty soon-to prepare it for the new owners of the farm. It will at least give me a little dirt therapy.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

I tried neem oil. No good. I squished hundreds with my fingers - they smell icky. I finally resorted to chemicals. I'm going to be on top of them better this year.

 

[ducks4you]

Today is pressure canning day!!
Check out the canning thread for previous details:

What are you canning now?

Not canning but I froze these 16 cups of cauliflower today.

www.theeasygarden.com

#1083 post
Chili is cooling, and broth is almost done cooking. I will take the canner off of the burner in about 10 minutes and LEAVE it there until tomorrow morning, when I will remove the pints.
DD and I agree that you Buy broth in quarts, but USE pints, hence the pints of broth today.
I started Saturday morning. I started a large package of chicken thighs for the dogs, then added some bratwurst, bc I wanted some to eat, and I thought that they would cook up from frozen to done in the crockpot WITH the chicken.
It Really changed the taste of the brats and was Very good, better than cooking them on their own. When I removed the meat, I added frozen turkey bones, and yesterday we had a roast, and I added Those bones to it. I had defrosted some corn a few weeks ago and never used it, so That went in. The tops of a celery went in, and the onions from hamburgers Saturday night that had been left out.
I was only going to pressure can the chili today, but I was tired of the smell of the broth permeating the house, so I drained it, ladeled in pints and let it cool while the chili cooked. It is now 5 minutes from done. This is what I drained off:

According to DD, Chef John would be proud!

 

[ducks4you]

I have a brand new REALLY NICE crock pot. I also own 2 old crockpots that do "hot" and "hot". They are perfect for hot tomatoes ready to be hot water bath canned, and work pretty well for the broth.
Eldest DD and middle DD Swear about cooking with broth, so I will suffer through the smell in the house. It's very nice to come home to, just a little too strong all day. I use NO seasonings, so this is NO SALT broth.
Still, broth is now $1.72/quart at Aldi, best local price, and will probably be a spot shortage item at some point this year, but NOT for our households!

 

[ducks4you]

I got tired of using my one bin for both onions and potatoes. I had spotted a very nice wooden one,
Kinda like this one:

but I was tired of shopping and ended up buying this:

Good for me!! I didn't leave it in the car until July!!! I Even took a few minutes to water seal the thin veneer of plywood at the bottom. Here are both bins, and Both are scrubbable since I also water sealed the first one when I got it 2 years ago.