What Did You Do In The Garden?

[digitS']

See the cucumber?



The only plants with more limited growth are the melons but everything is coming along.

There were 2 more cukes, each about the size of my index finger ... I have a big basket like @Zeedman 's and thought of using that for the picture background with the lonely cucumber in there . Really was surprised to find it and DW was delighted to peel it and share half with me .

Oh, the first tomato other than the few golden cherries is a Bloody Butcher ... of course . They aren't usually that shape and I did pick it a little early.

Steve

 

[Zeedman]

@digitS' , almost all vegetables get drained in that basket, after washing. The gherkins were one day's harvest, I probably could have lumped a couple day's worth to better effect. We had to pick them every other day, pretty much the same schedule as zucchini.

The basket got its first use of the year today. We picked the first meal of green beans; not as pretty as usual (probably due to the heat) but tasted just as good.

We also picked the first eggplant today - quite a few of them. The heat has been working magic, I can't believe that the eggplant grew as fast as the beans! This was the first year growing Gretel, and I'm really impressed with its performance. All that remained was the taste test, and it passed with flying colors today. Tender, virtually no developed seeds, and mild, slightly sweet flavor with no bitterness. DD is vegan, and loved them just steamed, split & fried in oil. Gretel will permanently replace Casper as my white eggplant (Diamond will remain as my purple, stronger-flavored eggplant).

Gretel

We've had downpours the last two days & the water spinach has exploded with growth, so we should get the first picking this week.

 

[flowerbug]

@Zeedman did you start Gretel from seeds?

 

[digitS']

The neighbor running irrigation water stopped me from running the rototiller on Thursday. That stopped me from spraying weeds, yesterday. However, I wasn't gonna spray in the vegetables.

The cucumber vines are now growing into the paths. They love the 90 degree afternoons ... or, maybe, it's the 60 degree mornings that they love. Anyway, I noticed that the vines are covered with flowers!

The rototiller is already loaded in the pickup. Maybe, DW will go with me and move vines of this and that outta the way so that I can get through so I don't have to stop to do that. Hey. There is something on one vine I didn't expect! If I can get back to @seedcorn 's Northern Gardens thread, I'll post a picture .

Steve
who only wishes his eggplants look as good as that Gretel ...

 

[flowerbug]

the forecast is calling for chances of rain today and tonight, but i will go out in a while and water anyways. it's good for the clay here to get a good soaking over time so it can percolate down instead of mostly running off.

picking cucumbers today. probably won't be more than half a bucket as we picked half a bucket yesterday for my brother to take with him. that's good to me as we already have plenty put up and i won't have to spend so much time scrubbing and all that. [edit, two buckets... arg... luckily we can give most of them away if we want]

sister-in-law wanted to pick some peppers to take, but they were red peppers and i don't think the flavor is all that good when they're picked early (green). we also have some green peppers growing there, but they don't have as big peppers on them yet. all coming along well as far as i'm concerned.

after today we get a break in the heat the rest of this week so i'm hoping to get into the gardens for light weeding and whatever else i can manage. probably will lift the garlic sometime.

i have a lot of veggie scraps to feed to the worms along with watermelon peels. that's their candy, they love it.

 

[Zeedman]

@Zeedman did you start Gretel from seeds?

No; they were purchased as plants from a local greenhouse. Pretty small at the time, but we put them in large pots, and they seem to be well adapted to pot culture.

Began "harvesting" something else today - Japanese beetles. There were about a dozen on the soybean plants, and a couple were actually flying in as I stood there, which doesn't bode well for the future. Their numbers have been steadily increasing since they first appeared 3 years ago. I tried using one of those hand-held bug zappers (the ones shaped like a tennis racket), and they just bounced off & flew away... so I knocked them into a container of soapy water instead. I used a soap spray last year that killed them, but the beans appeared to have been damaged by it; so I'll use Safers soap as the base this year, and hope for better results. If I find a good recipe, I'll post an update.

 

[flowerbug]

No; they were purchased as plants from a local greenhouse. Pretty small at the time, but we put them in large pots, and they seem to be well adapted to pot culture.

Began "harvesting" something else today - Japanese beetles. There were about a dozen on the soybean plants, and a couple were actually flying in as I stood there, which doesn't bode well for the future. Their numbers have been steadily increasing since they first appeared 3 years ago. I tried using one of those hand-held bug zappers (the ones shaped like a tennis racket), and they just bounced off & flew away... so I knocked them into a container of soapy water instead. I used a soap spray last year that killed them, but the beans appeared to have been damaged by it; so I'll use Safers soap as the base this year, and hope for better results. If I find a good recipe, I'll post an update.

they're pretty inactive early in the morning and you can often grab them off or knock them into a container with very weak soap solution (just enough to break the surface tension of the water).

eggplant seems to do well in heat so container culture is probably good for them up north.

just had a nice rain come through so that on top of me watering this morning should hold things for a while.

 

[digitS']

Finished tilling the paths between the vegetables ... well, between the vegetables and everything else. Did I say that I'm growing wheat again this year?

It's supposed to be blue but it's heading up now and there is yet no blue on it. Terrible germination, too. I did what the local wheat farmers do when they get a poor stand - allowed some tomato volunteers to grow in the wheat.

Kidding! I'm probably the only person in 100 miles with tomato volunteers surrounded by wheat plants !

Went ahead and sprayed the paths in the ornamentals and the perimeter. The rototiller is just too much work and, there is no doubt, the weed situation is the worst ever. Bringing so much new ground into the garden is the reason. I've forgotten how long it's been since that ground grew orchard grass. 4 years? Not that it didn't have a varied population of species then but since, it grew nothing but weeds! One tilling by the tractor guy each year accomplished nothing but reducing the fire hazard.

Many of the garden plants are doing okay, however. Lucky ...

Steve

 

[ducks4you]

Very jelly of all of your productive gardens!! I have gotten some tomatoes, but other plants are late this year. Still, I have found a way...my helper/neighbor/friend's wife has been taking extra eggs--they live 2 blocks away--and their cucumbers are doing great, so we will do some swapsies soon, since mine bit the dust.
LOTS of weeding, weeding, weeding!!!
I cut the burdock that survived under the fenceline of my training area, and cut the ones that survived a fire--YES, VIRGINIA, a bonfire!!--out in the north pasture and poisoned them and anything else that was growing out there. Still some wood, since I burned on a wet day. I was dumping burdock and other weeds on top of what I poisoned (with D-2), but I will keep the horses off of that pasture for a good week, just to be sure. They WILL eat burdock leaves, but not when they start drying out.
Yesterday, I went to DD's house and removed 3 very large limbs and a couple of smaller ones and bagged up the sticks and leaves that they had not bothered to clean up. It looks beautiful now. Tomorrow all of THAT gets dumped on the dead weeds are the north pasture fire area, too.
Today was inside sports, hot aGAIN, but I managed to cut down 4 saplings and 2 burdock growing beneath my fence lines.
Yesterday I planted brussels sprouts seeds in a 72 cell starter. I have it on the cement cistern and I am keeping it waterlogged bc otherwise the seeds will dry out. I am trying those coated seeds this time. I bought enough that I only needed 1/2 of the seeds I had on hand, all 2018 labelled.
I have to weed the bulk of the garden, and I think it's going to be me and my spade tomorrow.

 

[ninnymary]

I added two more plants to my butterfly habitat. Only need to find one more. Nursery is going to order it for me.

Mary