I am so chuffed! This is the first year I've ever done a garden and almost the first time I've tried to grow anything ever. I was about to give up on it, since nothing seems to be happening, when suddenly today I was astonished by this! <celebrates> I'm so happy!
Who else has a garden? Isn't it fun?
Posted by Miriya (Member # 7822) on :
Having a garden is great fun!
I grew lots and lots of different kids of hot peppers at my old house. I've been at my new place a year. We have rabbits here.... not so good. They eat just about any vegetables we plant other than tomatos and hot peppers. Luckily those are the favorites here anyhow.
No bountiful harvest just yet here. Partly because I put out my plants too late and neglected them (side effect of a difficult pregnancy) and partly because this is Canada and it takes a little longer here.
Will post some pics of my "bounty" when it arrives... I'm looking forward to it. There's nothing like telling the kids to go "pick some salad for lunch".
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Grr. Just lost a long reply.
The little squash looks so innocent, so small, and so alone.
This, too, shall change.
What else did you plant? Because we live in a farmstand-rich area, I mostly grow heirloom tomatoes, chile peppers, herbs, and fancy French beans, which are harder to find.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I planted squash, zucchini, eggplant, onions, bell peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, and green beans. I just don't get much sun where I am. A few hours a day at most. So all the plants are pretty small, still, except for the squash and zucchini. But there's something very very cool about it, about food that comes right out of the ground. <laughs> Next year I'm already contemplating cutting down some trees for more sunshine.
Elizabeth, have you begun to harvest anything yet? Have you grown things for a long time? I'm just amazed that something actually came up! Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Miriya, what all did you plant?
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
You're out of your gourd.
Posted by Miriya (Member # 7822) on :
In early spring I planted carrots, onions, peas, broccoli, and lettuce. Sadly only two small plants survived the rabbit invasion. =( Last year I got a lot of lettuce.
Right now I have tomatoes, both full size and cherry, bell peppers, jalopeno peppers, chili peppers, banana peppers and those two onion plants. I also saved a couple of cucumber and green bean plants which are living in my kitchen so they don't get eaten. They are doing surprisingly well indoors actually! I have a few cucumbers coming in nicely. The stuff outside is starting to flower but no fruit as yet.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Bob, there's certainly something a bit daft about it, though I can't think of a clever punning way to say it.
But I spent at least $30 and 30 hours of work for that one little squash. <laughs> Still, I'm incredibly excited about it! Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
A friend of mine once said that zucchini would grow in the dirt on his kitchen floor. Start collecting squash recipes!
Tatiana, I have only harvested lettuce and radishes so far. My Superchiles are green, so I could harvest a few, but I will wait until they turn read.
I need to plant anothre patch of beans so I will have some when this group is spent. They are "haricots verts," which you probably know just means green beans, but they are the gourmet beans you get in good restaurants. One afternoon last summer, I harvested about ten beans, and my kids and husband all hovered around. We each had a couple of beans. You have to watch themn carefully, because they can't get too big or they taste horrible.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
As for Bob, Tatiana, tell him you would appreciate it if he made a calm post.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Oh that's great! I feel like I'm standing around now waiting for the next ones to be ready. I'm debating whether to prepare this single squash for my supper tonight or hold off for the possibility of more. Dare I assume more may be forthcoming? That seems quite presumptuous at this point. Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Oh, Tatiana, assume!
Posted by Miriya (Member # 7822) on :
You have to eat your first harvest while it's fresh... that's the whole point of growing it yourself.
When I first planted beans I got only a handful of beans, hardly enough to make chili! Never the less we ate them as a side just because ... they were our very own beans! Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
I tried growing fava beans one summer. I think I had five beans, but tons of tiny black bugs.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Yay, I found five small greenbeans as well! Whoa, my basket runneth over!
[ July 04, 2005, 07:46 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tatiana: I spent at least $30 and 30 hours of work for that one little squash.
The most economical way to have home-grown, organic, freshly-picked produce is to sneak into your neighbor's garden (a la Rapunzel) in the dead of night (or while they are away at work) and help yourself.
Then commiserate with them over the fence about how impossible it is to have a decent harvest with all the (fill in the blank -- deer, moose, groundhogs). Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Tatiana, we want a picture!
Posted by Miriya (Member # 7822) on :
quote:The most economical way to have home-grown, organic, freshly-picked produce is to sneak into your neighbor's garden (a la Rapunzel) in the dead of night (or while they are away at work) and help yourself.
Then commiserate with them over the fence about how impossible it is to have a decent harvest with all the (fill in the blank -- deer, moose, groundhogs).
That's really evil. Hmmmm... but no my problem is genuine rabbits. I've seen them and they not only eat the fruits and veggies but the entire plants right down to the ground. Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Dang mooses! I mean, rabbits!
They also ate the garden hose that I left out in the yard. Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Rabbits are no longer cute to me.
We had a problem with them a few years ago, and now they stay away from the garden. We do have a bobcat who lives nearby, so I think he has taken a large part of the population.
The most destructive and disgusto(and frightening!) pest I have ever had, though, was a tomato hornworm:
I'm seriously thrilled. I know it must seem funny to be so excited over such a small thing, but wow, it's really wonderful to me! Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
It is so cute!
It is not funny at all to be thrilled by bringing food to your table.
What will be funny is when you are ready to throw your squash at walls to get rid of it. So make sure to get a bigger basket, especially if you forget to check the zucchini for a few days.
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Part of my harvest so far. That was a couple of days ago, I just picked another two pounds this evening. Coulda got more, but the mosquitos were out.
Other than that, so far I've only harvested herbs this year. It'll be awhile before my tomatoes or eggplants are ripe, and those are the only other things I planted this year.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
<laughs> I won't mind that at all!
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Whoa, ElJay! That looks scrumptious!
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
They were delicious. Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Oh, man! I am NOT going to miss raspberry picking season this year. I should post that picture on my desktop.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
I like the way they are wearing a tiny little leaf. For modesty's sake, I presume?
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Garnish. It's lemon verbana. Even when one is eating alone, there's no reason not to make the plate pretty.
Posted by Stray (Member # 4056) on :
I've planted tomatoes, cucumbers, a whole bunch of bell peppers, and some hot peppers. I actually got around to watering them yesterday, because we've had only one brief rainstorm in the past several weeks and they were all looking kind of droopy and sad, and man, the difference a couple hours later! I swear the cucumber vines got three inches taller in that time. Thus far I have one bell pepper smaller than my fist, one hot pepper about an inch long, one about a half-inch, and just this morning I spotted a couple of tiny green tomatoes! I got a late start, as this was a fairly impulsive endeavor, but I have hopes. The peppers I started from seeds are way, way smaller than the ones I bought as transplants; I'm not sure I'll get anything from them this year, but at least the transplants should produce something.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Where do you live, Stray? (just the climate if you don;t want to say)
Sometimes, I can extend my season quite a bit just by draping sheets over the plants on frosty nights, until a deep freeze hits.
You can also dig up a few chile pepper plants and bring them inside.
Posted by Stray (Member # 4056) on :
I'm in southern Indiana; I can never remember if it's zone 4 or 5. My gardening book (Square Foot Gardening, since that's the only method that will work in my yard) says that if the temperature goes below 70 or above 90 for any significant length of time, peppers will stop setting fruit, so I guess that's why I'm not getting much out of them, even though they have lots of flowers. I hope the tomatoes start producing soon, though.
Posted by theCrowsWife (Member # 8302) on :
I like the square foot method. We use it, even though we have 4 acres of land, because it makes it easier to protect the gardens from all the ravenous beasts. After yet another garden was decimated before anything even sprouted (stupid birds) we have now taken to encasing each 4-ft plot in chicken wire. Maybe that will work.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Stray, You can spray the chile pepper flowers with a soultion of one tablespoon epsome salts to a regular sized spray bottle. Itwill help them set.
Posted by Stray (Member # 4056) on :
Elizabeth--cool, thanks! I'll try that. Yeah, I really like the square foot method too--not just because we have such a small yard, but because we don't have a hose hookup. I'd never be able to water a larger area with the cup-and-bucket method, but it works fine for my two 4x4 squares.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Hey, if anyone's interested, I just wrote an article about fall/winter gardening for Southern Exposure Seed Exchange's email newsletter that I'd be happy to share...
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
"below 70 or above 90 for any significant length of time, peppers will stop setting fruit" See, I did not know this. Of course it spends most of the summer above 90 here! So I shouldn't try to grow bell peppers?
plaid, that sounds interesting! I'd like to read it.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
quote: Rabbits are no longer cute to me.
I protest. You haven't even met may, how can you say I'm no longer cute.
And I can assure that I am not responsible for anything that has gone missing from your garden. I haven't even been in the US for the past 3 weeks.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Tatiana -- OK! Don't have it with me right now, but I'll try to post it tomorrow.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
I've met The Rabbit, and she's definitely cute.
Posted by theCrowsWife (Member # 8302) on :
I've got a freezer-full of desert cottontails as a testament to how cute I think rabbits are.
Posted by Stray (Member # 4056) on :
Tatiana, the bell peppers should start/resume producing once the weather cools off a bit in early fall. It's over 90 for most of the summer here, too, so I guess I just have to be patient :-/
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Rabbit, watch your back! I haven't seen our bobcat in three weeks, either.
Posted by Miriya (Member # 7822) on :
quote:Tatiana, the bell peppers should start/resume producing once the weather cools off a bit in early fall. It's over 90 for most of the summer here, too, so I guess I just have to be patient :-/
Peppers are one thing I've grown with quite a bit of success. I find that so long as the temperature dips below 30 C.....uh 86 F..... at night mine sit set. I am quite a bit further north so this happens fo r a good deal of the summer here. If it's a consolation, in late summer once it starts to cool I get a nice second harvest period with my peppers. Just be patient.
Posted by SC Carver (Member # 8173) on :
I've got more basil, oregano, parsely, cilatro and mint than I know what to do with, but they come in handy when cooking.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
SC C,
You might know this, but you can chop up all the herbs and fill up ice cube trays with them. Then cover the herbs with water and freeze. When they freeze, store them in a freezer bag. You can just drop a cube in sauce, or dfrost, when you are ready to use.
Posted by theCrowsWife (Member # 8302) on :
That's an interesting tip. I'm guessing that they retain more of their flavor than by drying?
I'll have to keep this in mind, should the herbs that I just planted do well.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Oh, it's usually in the 80s at night. It just goes into the 90s nearly every day. So I'm good, maybe... the bell peppers can set their little fruits all night long. Well, assuming they ever grow big enough, that is.
Hey I found 2 small zucchini growing, too! Not big enough to pick yet, but getting there. This is really fun! I think I'm eating my one squash tonight and my 5 green beans. Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Tatiana, how many squah plants did you plant?
theCrowsWife, it preserves the fresh flavor a little better.
You can also do the same thing, but cover the herbs with oil in a jar. it keeps in the fridge for a long time.
And if you like pesto, which I do, you can make different pestos and freeze them. I usually just freeze the herbs, oil, and garlic, and add the cheese and nuts after I defrost it. It is fine to just make pesto and freeze it, though, and I usually do the ice cube trick with it, without the water.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Elizabeth, I think they thinned down to about 8 or 9 squash plants, and 8 or 9 zucchini plants. I only have a small plot under cultivation, so I did basically one row of each type plant, in ascending order by height, facing the direction of the most sun.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Oh my lord-a-mercy, Tatiana! You are going to need a wheelbarrow! ha ha.
[ July 05, 2005, 11:13 PM: Message edited by: Elizabeth ]
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Ooooh I love all of the above. Do you really think I'll get a lot? I have to say I would be delighted! I still don't want to count my incubating poultry, though, so I'll reserve judgement. But you encourage me. Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
Eight or nine plants?!?! You'll need more than one wheelbarrow.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Should we tell her the truth, Dana, or just wait and watch?
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
Somebody should probably reserve a backhoe now so we can dig her out after the zuchinni take over her yard.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Tatiana, I plant one zucchini and one yellow squash now.
Still, they are beautiful plants. Just start planning menus like this:
Zucchini bread for breakfast Curried yellow squash soup for lunch Zucchini parmesan for dinner with a zucchini chocolate cake for dessert. (I actually have a really good recipe for this in my Joy of Gardening cookbook; it is really good)
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Hey who could resist zucchini chocolate cake? Sounds delightful!
This patch gets so little sun, though, that I'm thinking no backhoe will be needed. Still, I'd be delighted if you were right. I could give away baskets to everyone I know, as well as eating my fill. That would be awesome!
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
OK, I'm gonna paste in my fall/winter gardening article here... SESE (Southern Exposure Seed Exchange) doesn't have a link up for it yet (not sure if they're done editing it yet), but here it is, I'll do separate posts to break it up:
Note: this article is written with Mid-Atlantic growers in mind. The article is based on our experience with Central Virginia climate, where our zone is 6b, it usually gets down to zero Fahrenheit sometime during the winter, and the average first fall frost is October 14th. Keep this in mind when reading the dates and temperatures below, and adjust it to your own climate!
Second note: this article is relatively short, and skips over many details about fall/winter gardening. SESE hopes to publish a longer, pamphlet-sized article about fall/winter gardening in the next few months!
So it’s July, and it’s hot as heck out there and the tomatoes are just coming on and the melons will be a while yet… and it’s time to think about the fall/winter garden!
Actually, for a few crops such as parsnips, broccoli, and cauliflower (see below), it’s probably already too late… but there’s lots of other greens and root crops that can still get planted over the next 3-4 months.
You don’t have to own a greenhouse, a hoophouse, or a cold frame to still enjoy veggies from your garden during the fall and winter. Floating row fabric cover is an excellent cheap investment for protecting crops from freezing. Generally, every layer of floating row cover adds 4° of protection. As an example, in our area it usually gets down to 0°F once or twice during the winter. That’s cold enough to kill even the most hardy greens. But it’s only for a night or two that the temperature drops that low; if the crops can be covered up and protected during that brief window of vulnerability, they’ll survive the winter and put out vigorous new growth during the spring. So kale, for example, is hardy to 12°F… if it’s getting down to zero overnight, then we add three layers of row cover; 3 layers x 4° of protection = 12° of protection = enough to protect the kale until daylight comes and warms things up again.
Veggies don’t stop growing as soon as frost sets in. Growth slows, but it still continues! Fall weather varies from year to year, but generally there’s enough sunlight and warmth that veggies continue to grow until ~Dec. 15. From Dec. 15 to Feb. 15, unless it’s exceptionally mild, plants in our area go into stasis – they stay alive but don’t put on any new growth. If you can, plant extra spinach, kale, collards, etc. so that you’ll be able to harvest more during this period when there’s no active growth! After February 15, plants put on fresh growth again, and for a couple months it gets hard to keep up with the flush of new spinach, kale, collards, parsley, etc. before the plants flower and go to seed…
Greens and roots are the main crops to plant for the fall garden. Well, there’s also broccoli and cauliflower, but unless you’ve already sown these or can pick up some seedlings from a nursery, it’s probably too late to get them started in time to head up before major frosts set in.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
ALL-WINTER GREENS If you don’t have much space available, all-winter greens are the best option for planting – greens such as spinach, kale, collards, cilantro, and parsley can be kept alive and keep producing all the way until next spring.
Spinach is the most hardy winter green. A savoy variety such as “Long Standing Bloomsdale” does well – spinach is hardy to at least 5°F. (Large leaves are good to 10°, small leaves to 5°.)
Kale and collards are a good second choice. With both kale and collards, it’s a good idea to have a summer planting be the one that overwinters. This way the plants don’t get too tall and are easier to cover up and protect if temperatures drop below 12°F. Mulch the plants deeply to help protect them from winter freezes!
“Vates” is a good winter kale. It’s a dwarf Scotch curled variety – larger varieties such as “Red Russian” are more tender and not as winter-hardy.
Parsley – curly-leaf varieties are the most cold hardy, usually down to 15°F.
Cilantro is hardy to 15°F. Younger plantings make it through the winter in better shape, so a good strategy is to plant a main crop early for fall harvest, and have a second, smaller planting that’s not quite mature by mid-December. In our area, that means 9/15 for the main planting, 10/1 for the secondary planting.
Broad leaf sorrel is a great winter crop. If you do have to resort to buying greens during the winter, it’s nice to perk up a salad with some home-grown sorrel. Smaller leaves overwinter better than large leaves; large leaves get damaged around 15°F, small leaves around 5°. It’s a perennial, easily cultivated from seed or from dividing older plants. (Note: broad leaf sorrel is different from wild sheep sorrel. They have a similar lemony flavor, but sheep sorrel has small leaves and is very tender, dieing soon after frosts start.)
Burnet (aka salad burnet) has leaves with a strong cucumber-like flavor, great for winter salads. Hardy to at least 5°F. It’s a perennial that actually deals better with cold than heat – try to give it shade during the summer!
FALL GREENS Some greens are good for the fall, but don’t plan on having them past December unless the winter is unusually mild.
Lettuce does well until December; usually by mid-December its quality starts going downhill fast – rot sets in when lettuce has to deal with too many cold nights. Plant red varieties – cold weather brings out their colors vividly, whereas regular green varieties become an anemic yellow-green in late fall cold weather. Lettuce is hardy to at least 25°F – small lettuce leaves will be even more cold hardy.
Chard is hardy to 25°F (though this varies somewhat with the variety). Chard is such a vigorous grower that it’s worth keeping alive for a while in the fall, but usually by the time it’s too hard to keep alive any longer the fall spinach crop is happily ready to take over. Chinese cabbage does well as a fall crop – it holds better than it does in the heat of early summer. Sow during July. Usually hardy to 25°F.
Cabbage – smaller heads (spring type) such as “Early Jersey Wakefield” will head up in time for fall harvest. But at this point, unless you can get hold of seedlings for the big head cabbages, it’ll be too late to sow seeds for big head cabbages. Cabbage is hardy to at least 25°F.
Mustard greens do well during the fall, and the cold weather sweetens them. Frilly-leaved varieties such as “Mizuna” are less cold-hardy. The most cold-hardy mustard is “Tat soi,” it’s hardy to 22°F.
Arugula is hardy to 25°F. There’s a wild version of arugula – “Sylvetta” – that’s supposed to be smaller and more cold-hardy. If you try “Sylvetta,” start it in a seedling container and transplant it – it has difficulty germinating when directly sown.
Dill is only hardy to 25°F.
Basil: for those who haven’t already experienced the sadness of seeing slimy dead basil in the fall, basil is NOT at all cold hardy. It dies with the first fall frost, and usually its quality goes downhill fast in the last couple weeks leading up to frost.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
ROOT CROPS Most root crops can be left in the ground until December. Some are more tender than others, so keep an eye on temperatures to help you decide how long to keep the crops in!
Root crops are somewhat tender, so most should be harvested by the end of December. Carrots and parsnips can be left in the ground if insulated by snow or by floating row cover, but check to make sure that voles or other critters aren’t munching their way through your crop where you can’t see it.
It you’ve got a good root cellar setup, store your root crops in it! If you don’t, root crops will keep for a few months refrigerated – even longer if packed in moist sand.
Parsnips are the ultimate winter root crop, only parsnips don’t germinate in hot weather – they need to get seeded by late spring in order to germinate. If you’ve got a patch, wait until at least December to start harvesting them – they really sweeten up in cold weather.
Carrots: fall carrots are a great root crop. Spring-planted carrots are often bitter when maturing in hot weather, but carrots planted mid-summer for maturing in the fall’s cool temperatures are mild and sweet. Carrots are hardy to 12°F. “Danvers” is a good fall variety.
Radishes, daikons, rutabagas, and turnips are all hardy to 20°F. Keep mulch up around the sides of the roots to protect them. The greens themselves are hardy to 15°.
Beets can be hard to do for the fall. It’s usually difficult to get them to germinate in the summer heat. Well, germinating’s not really the problem – they germinate just fine, but then the seedlings rot and disappear within a few weeks of appearing. You can try sowing them in early-mid September for a batch of small 2” beets… but if you want to make sure you’ll have beets in the fall, a more reliable strategy is to plant extra beets in the spring and wait until fall to harvest them. “Chioggia” and “Lutz Green Leaf Storage” are good fall beets. As with radishes and all, the roots are hardy to 20°F, the leaves to 15°.
MISCELLANEOUS: broccoli, cauliflower, peas, onions, and garlic Broccoli and cauliflower, as mentioned above, are great crops for early fall. They make even larger heads than in the spring, but they need to get started on time (early June in our area) in order to head up before hard frosts damage the heads. Broccoli is a bit more cold hardy, while cauliflower gets damaged at 30°F.
Peas can be grown as a crop for early fall – grow the short varieties, and seed them so that they start flowering 2 weeks before first frost. Since you can still be getting green beans that late though, most folks skip growing peas as a fall crop… but it’s a neat trick to pull off, worth trying sometime!
Green onions (scallions) get damaged around 25°F.
Multiplier onions can get planted in the fall; once established, they can be harvested every spring and fall.
Garlic is best planted in the fall – fall-planted garlic makes the largest heads. (Exception being for truly cold northern climates, where the cold can damage topgrowth, and where it really is better to wait until spring to plant.)
Happy growing! And happy eating!!
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
You know, you can water your garden all day, but when it rains, I swear everything grows two inches. It is pouring right now, and I can feel the garden growing from here.
I almost killed this beautiful caterpillar today for the offense of eating my dill. It was a monarch butterfly caterpillar!
And, the way I figure it, it trimmed the dill, which is starting to go to seed.
Now, if it had been a tomato hornworm, there would be a different ending to the story. (shudder)
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Bump
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I harvested my second squash yesterday. The third one was sitting in water during the Cindy flooding and rotted. I should have picked it when it was smaller, alas. There are some finger sized zucchini out there too.
How do you decide when is the best time to pick? Won't they taste best if they're ripened on the vine? But then are you gambling that the bugs, bunnies, or bacteria will eat them first? What's the right trade off?
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Tatiana,
Don't let the zucchini get too big. It will grow to the size of a baseball bat, the baseball bat of the Jolly Green Giant.
Usually, about six to eight inches is a good size for harvesting zucchini. About the same size for yellow aquash.
Both are good harvested tiny as well.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
I sure miss not having a garden this year! It is usually the highlight of my spring and summer.
But just couldn't do it this year because of still cleaning up from the ice storm, and so much else going on. It was probably a good year to rest the ground, though -- since our weather really hasn't cooperated with area gardeners at all this year.
Hopefully next year I will be back in the produce business
FG
Posted by Marek (Member # 5404) on :
Are raspberries and strawberries very hard to grow?
Because the backyard here seems to grow a lot of plants, and those ones would be worth having i think.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Raspberries are pretty mellow, the most important thing being to make sure to prune them on time every year.
Strawberries tend to be a lot of work -- they need a LOT of weeding. They also tend to have problems with diseases, and often patches need to get renewed every 2-3 years with fresh plants.
Posted by Grisha (Member # 6871) on :
Ok, thanks for the info.
Also i can't beleive with my updates pon the harvest i missed the news about the green beans.
Posted by Stray (Member # 4056) on :
Thanks for the great article, plaid
I'm seeing a few more chile peppers, and the cucumber vines have started flowering. No more bell peppers yet, though, and still just the one tiny tomato. I need to get some organic fertilizer mix from my neighbor-cum-gardening-mentor, that should help speed things along.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Stry, i usually don;t get peppers until the emd of the season.
As for chiles, they will keep going as long as they are cvered. if it gets to the end of the season, and you know you are going to have a hard frost, just pull up the whole plants of chiles and tomatoes, and hang them in the garage(if you have one) upside down. They will continue to ripen for quite some time.
Posted by Space Opera (Member # 6504) on :
I love gardening threads. We ate from our garden tonight. Operaetta and I picked a bunch of peas and green beans this afternoon, and we also had some zucchini. Our strawberries (first years) have stopped producing, and so have the raspberries.
Still growing is corn, onions, squash (1 in the fridge so far), and tomatoes. Some kind of rot got to the radishes, alas. The cucumbers were smothered to death by the peas, which grew to mammoth proportions while we were gone for a week on vacation. The guy at the hardware store said they were the kind that didn't climb, and obviously he was wrong.
Strangely enough, I haven't had any problems with rabbits. They did shear off the tops of half of my bean plants one day, but have pretty much left them alone since. No issues with deer yet either. What I'm worried about is raccoons. I only recently found out that they love corn, and we have an issue with coons getting on our front porch and making off with entire jugs of cat food accidently left out! I put a bucket of old acquarium stuff out there to be stored and didn't realize till the next morning that I had left fish food in the bucket. A coon had actually unscrewed the lid and eaten it all. I read to plant vines (such as pumpkins, etc.) around your corn but it's too late for that now.
space opera
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
An extreme protective measure I've read about (but never tried) = before the corn ears finish ripening, use strapping tape to fasten the ears to the stalks...
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Are the vines supposed to stop the raccoons?
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Elizabeth -- yeah, in theory the spiny leaves discourage the raccoons.
I tried using squash vines as a barrier around corn one year. It didn't work, but that might've been because I had to leave a gap in the patch in order to be able to get to the corn.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Raccoons are amazing.
I think you pretty much need two beautiful red coon hounds and a gun to get rid of them.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
But but but... they're so CUTE! Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
They are adorable. I think I would just give them the corn.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Me too! Especially the baby ones. I'm tempted to try to adopt them as pets, since they are getting so tame, but Dr. George says they're immune carriers of rabies so I'm not allowed. I really do like animals too much! I could never care about a plant enough to want to harm an animal over it. I know people think deer are terrible pests but I would be enchanted if any deer came to my garden. We don't have enough woods here for deer, I don't think. I've never seen one in this area.
I've planted all non-starchy vegetables, so that should help keep the racoons away, I hope. But since I put out food for wildlife on the back deck, I'm pretty sure they'll eventually find the garden out front and think "Yum, more food! What a nice human!" Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :
This thread makes me want to start a garden when I move. Hmmm...there's nothing better then fresh green beans from the garden. Mmmmm. Yum! And zucchini. *dies*
Yeah, I'll have to start a garden.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Tatiana, if all of your squash grows, you will be begging the racoons to come!
Raccoons are rabies-laden, especially in urban/suburban areas.
Interesting thing that we learned is that bobcats don't get rabies. Since we have one that frequents our yard, that was a good thing to know.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Elizabeth, that's cool about bobcats. Are they friendly to people at all?
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Cool! Tatiana, definitely keep those pics in a slideshow over the course of the summer and fall, and keep taking pics of veggies in the same basket.
As for bobcats, I hesitate to tell you the whole story, as you are a cats-inside cat owner.
However, we have a cat window, and our cats come in and out.
So has "Bob." I have caught him eating cat food a couple of times. He just stopped, looked over at me in utter disdain, and bounded back outside.
He and the cats have a sort of love-hate relationship. He might even be a she, for that matter. He looks like a big housecat, but hen he runs across the yard, you can see his rabbitlike hind legs and bobbed tail, and he is lightning quick. We have some pictures, but all of the "Bigfoot" variety, when he is moving off into the woods, or the picture is blurry, or he is just sitting there, looking like a fat housecat.
Apparently, bobcats make excellent pets when raised from kittens. They become so attached to their owners that they often stop eating if separated from them.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Elizabeth, I'm glad the bobcat doesn't consider your cats competition. I've heard that they can even cross-breed with house cats upon occasion. They're supposed to live here too but I've never seen one, so perhaps they've been driven out long ago.
It would be awesome to get one to trust you enough to have a litter of kittens in a spot where you can see them and be around them from an early age. My cat Mouse was rather wildish (I'm guessing she was a barncat) and she taught her kittens to be afraid of humans, too (except for me -- I don't count as human). So I wonder if they would still be wild, given the wild genes and the wild mom, even if you raised them from kittens. It would be so cool, though, to have pet bobcats!
As for vegetables, I cooked that bunch and had them for supper last night. The green beans were truly scrumptious. The squash and zucchini tasted good but no better than regular grocery store squash and zucchini, I guess. It made a really good meal, though. I'm eager for more to be ready to pick. My tiny little bell pepper is very cute.
How do you know when it's time to pick onions? Do you have to start digging them up before you can tell? No eggplants showing so far or tomatoes.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Tatiana,
I have not botheres to grow onions for a few years because I can get them at farms stnds for next to nothing. You can really harvest them at any time, but I think they are officially "ready" when the foliage starts to flop over.
Did you ever see Cats: Caressing the Tiger? It was a PBS special that was so amazing. I remember thm saying that, basically, cats are cats. A feral "domestic" cat acts the same as a wild tiger, and a tiger will act like a domesticated cat, except that, obviously, its play is quite a bit more dangerous. It was ana amazing show. Also, have you read Life of Pi?? A tiger is featured in the story.
Some poeple who have seen Bob think he(she) is a half bobcat. Others, one a seasoned hunter, said it was a babcat for sure. I would sure love to see its kittens!!
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
That's good to know about onions, thanks. I will watch for floppy foliage.
I never saw that PBS show but it sounds great. I've had my tame cats play with me in ways that drew blood, even when they were just being friendly, so I don't think I'd want a pet tiger. A pet bobcat, though, sounds awesome.
No I haven't read life of Pi but BunnV is reading it and I was planning maybe to read it after he's done, if he likes it. Should I?
I think for next year I'm going to cut down these 2 pine trees in the front yard to give the garden more sun, plus I think I'll skip the onions and maybe eggplant too in favor of something that performs better.
Do you actually try to save money by gardening? I guess that possibility hasn't really sunk in yet for me. So far it's just for fun, and I don't even hope to make back my investment in seeds, plant food, stakes, seedling cups, potting soil, and certainly not in time. You're right that onions are super cheap at the store. They must be easy to grow for someone somewhere or that wouldn't be true!
Maybe the best crops for kitchen gardens are those that have high handling costs, delicate things like bell peppers. Also things that taste much better when vine ripened, like tomatoes. If I get many bell peppers they will certainly save me some money. Those things are expensive! Especially the red and yellow and orange ones which I love particularly, because they're so pretty as well as being tasty.
[ July 11, 2005, 08:56 AM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Tatiana, Read Life of Pi! It was fascinating. I kept thinking it was boring, while I could neither put it down nor stop thinking about it.
As for saving money, you can save money by gardening, but I don't really try to anymore. In fact, it usually costs money, because I have been too lazy(and don;t have the space or time) to start my own seeds anymore. Oh, for a greeenhouse!
With a small garden, though, you really could grow enough to store for the winter.
The things I grow these days are mostly things I cannot find in the stores at all, like heirloom tomatoes and certain varieites of chile peppers. Well, that isn;t even true, since I have not started chile seeds. But I just like to have a load of them at hand.
Growing and preserving herbs definitely saves money, though. Yowza, I am always amazed at how expensive they are to buy.
Posted by Space Opera (Member # 6504) on :
Oooh! We're putting in a gigantic herb garden next spring; I'm so excited. I'm not sure I save any money by gardening, but I like it so much I don't care. There's just something really cool about going out and picking your own corn, putting it on the grill, and eating it for dinner.
One book I think many of you would really enjoy is from the people who make the little Storey Books and is full of practical gardening, herbal, and crafty knowledge. It's called Country Wisdom and Know-How: Everything You Need to Know to Live Off the Land. I just got a copy and am fascinated with it. It's basically a compilation of everything from how to make a braided rag rug to building a flower press.
space opera
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
That sounds a lot like one of my old favorites, Space Opera: One Acre and Security, and old 70's book, from the days of Euell Gibbons.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
quote: Don't let the zucchini get too big. It will grow to the size of a baseball bat, the baseball bat of the Jolly Green Giant.
Isn't that the truth!!
We got back from vacation last week and had a monster lying in our garden. A few more inches and it could have been used as a bat. Scary!
My tomatoes are still green. Posted by Stray (Member # 4056) on :
My first bell pepper is starting to change color from green to orange! Unfortunately it's been through many cycles of too dry/too wet, and it's as wrinkled as an old man's behind. The plant that produced it isn't looking so hot, either.
Oh well. Even if it croaks, there are lots of others. And it's finally raining here, for the first time in a month! As (I think) another poster said elsewhere in the thread, no amount of hand-watering can match a good rain. I swear the cucumber vines grew six inches last night.
Posted by Tammy (Member # 4119) on :
I think I'm the only one in North Carolina that actually waters their garden. I water everything. I suppose being born in Tucson has something to do with this.
If there's rain in the forcast, I wait. If no rain is called for, I water.
My neighbor doesn't water at all, that I can see, and his crop is growing just fine. Posted by Space Opera (Member # 6504) on :
Tammy, my tomatoes are still green as well. There are something like 20 of them on the two plants waiting to ripen.
Stray, I'm glad for the rain too. Though now I'm worried that we'll get too much dumped on us and that it will end up hurting the garden in the long run. Yesterday the forecast said rain every day this week.
space opera
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Fry those green tomatoes!
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Tatiana? Tatiana? Tatianaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
we are concerned that the zucchini has attacked you. Please report.
(I will be gone for a week, and facing a similar attack when I return. But I only have two plants!!!)
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Oooh, we had tropical storm Cindy come through, then hurricane Dennis, and yes my tomato plants grew about a foot from all that. No tomatoes on them yet, though. I haven't seen them flowering, even. (Tomato plants flower too? So far it seems that all these things I had been calling vegetables are biologically-speaking fruits, right?)
Am I supposed to tie these green bean plants to these stakes? I thought since they were vine-type plants they would grab on themselves (and I've been trying to encourage them to do that) but they aren't doing it. Should I tie the tomato plants to the stakes too?
No more squash or zucchini yet has ripened, but I picked about 10 more green beans today. Wow, if only mimosas were a cash crop! I've got about a million of those guys sprouting. I'm pulling them out as fast as I can manage, but not keeping up with them.
Sammy, the neighbors' cat, helps me with the gardening (by doing the leg-rubbing, purring, and lying-in-the-sun duties while I tend to the weeding, of course.) He's a cool cat with huge green eyes. He likes to look you right in the eyes aand search your face as if to say "Are you the one? My true human?"
There are lots more flowers on the squash and zucchini plants, but so far the only other fruits are tiny. The leaves have gotten spotted with white, and some of them have yellowed and withered. No doubt it's some sort of zucchini blight.
The green bean plants had lots of ants on them this time when I went to pick them. Do ants like green beans?
Elizabeth, hope your zucchini grows big old bats to attack you with, and being super-Elizabeth, you disarm them before they manage it. Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Are the green beans pole beans or bush beans? If they're pole beans, they should be able to climb by themselves; if they're bush beans (i.e., short), then they'll never get tall and viney -- they'll keep themselves upright.
Posted by Tammy (Member # 4119) on :
My tomatoes are ripe, my tomatoes are ripe. Woo-Hoo! I'm eating one right now! Yummy!
Does anyone know why cucumbers would grow yellow instead of green?
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Yellow cukes... possibilities =
1) There are a few varieties of yellow and white cucumbers available that are never green -- they're ripe when they're yellow or white.
2)With most cukes, though, they're ripe when they're green... but if they stay on the vine too long, they turn yellow and hard and bitter. (Kinda like some people...)
3) Sometimes the first few cukes on the vine don't mature properly -- they never size up properly, and instead of getting any bigger they just go to that yellow/hard/bitter stage. (Again, kinda like some people.)
Offhand, that's all I can think of, hope that helps...
Posted by Stray (Member # 4056) on :
I have a few tomatoes, but they're all still small and green. Not sure if they just really need fertilizer, or if I'm doing something else wrong. The cukes are growing like crazy, but only blossoms so far. Quite a few chile peppers, but none ripe enough to pick yet. One bell pepper has turned almost completely orange and I'll probably pick it in another day or two, but it looks kinda sad and its plant is pretty wilted, I'm not sure why.
I saw my first Japanese beetle last week. *scowls menacingly* I took a moment to admire his gorgeous bronze color before smashing him into oblivion. I haven't seen anymore, so hopefully he didn't get a chance to tell his friends before I caught him.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Cuke blossoms -- with cukes (and also with zukes) the first flowers are male -- the plant puts out several male flowers before it puts out female flowers, the theory being that this way it'll make sure that there's enough male flowers around to pollinate the female flowers when they open... usually with cukes the pattern is to just see flowers for a while, then one day suddenly there's lots of cukes out there...
Posted by Stray (Member # 4056) on :
Yeah, I planted the cukes kind of late and the vines are only about two feet tall. I figure I'll have a while to wait for those yet.
Lessons in patience, and all that Posted by Stray (Member # 4056) on :
*bump*
I have now harvested one tomato and one Aji Cristal chile from my garden. Yummy! And two more tomatoes look to be ripening, and some tiny little cucumbers are forming.
I watered yesterday, because everything was looking so wilted and sad and the forecast only gives a 30-40% chance of rain anytime soon. By the time I finished the last square, the plants in the first few squares I'd watered were looking significantly better. It seemed to me that the leaves at the top of the plant were freshening before the leaves at the bottom; is that actually how it happens, or was I just imagining things?
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That's really evil. Hmmmm... but no my problem is genuine rabbits. I've seen them and they not only eat the fruits and veggies but the entire plants right down to the ground. ![[Wall Bash]](graemlins/wallbash.gif)
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You'll need more than one wheelbarrow.
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I should have picked it when it was smaller, alas. There are some finger sized zucchini out there too.![[Cry]](graemlins/cry.gif)
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